We had been warned…
St. Francis of Assisi Prophecy:
“A Man, not Canonically Elected, will be raised to the Pontificate… In those days Jesus Christ will send them not a true Pastor, but a Destroyer”
[UPDATE: Some people dispute the authenticity of this prophecy, claiming it was concocted by certain dissident members of the Franciscan order in the 13th century and only subsequently attributed to St. Francis. Whether that be true or false, always keep in mind that ultimately, the case against the Vatican II antipopes is not based on private revelation.]
Shortly before he died in 1226, St. Francis of Assisi called together the members of his order and warned them of great tribulations that would befall the Church in the future, saying:
Act bravely, my Brethren; take courage, and trust in the Lord. The time is fast approaching in which there will be great trials and afflictions; perplexities and dissensions, both spiritual and temporal, will abound; the charity of many will grow cold, and the malice of the wicked will increase.
The devils will have unusual power, the immaculate purity of our Order, and of others, will be so much obscured that there will be very few Christians who will obey the true Sovereign Pontiff and the Roman Church with loyal hearts and perfect charity. At the time of this tribulation a man, not canonically elected, will be raised to the Pontificate, who, by his cunning, will endeavour to draw many into error and death.
Then scandals will be multiplied, our Order will be divided, and many others will be entirely destroyed, because they will consent to error instead of opposing it.
There will be such diversity of opinions and schisms among the people, the religious and the clergy, that, except those days were shortened, according to the words of the Gospel, even the elect would be led into error, were they not specially guided, amid such great confusion, by the immense mercy of God.
Then our Rule and manner of life will be violently opposed by some, and terrible trials will come upon us. Those who are found faithful will receive the crown of life; but woe to those who, trusting solely in their Order, shall fall into tepidity, for they will not be able to support the temptations permitted for the proving of the elect.
Those who preserve their fervour and adhere to virtue with love and zeal for the truth, will suffer injuries and, persecutions as rebels and schismatics; for their persecutors, urged on by the evil spirits, will say they are rendering a great service to God by destroying such pestilent men from the face of the earth. But the Lord will be the refuge of the afflicted, and will save all who trust in Him. And in order to be like their Head [Jesus Christ], these, the elect, will act with confidence, and by their death will purchase for themselves eternal life; choosing to obey God rather than man, they will fear nothing, and they will prefer to perish [physically] rather than consent to falsehood and perfidy.
Some preachers will keep silence about the truth, and others will trample it under foot and deny it. Sanctity of life will be held in derision even by those who outwardly profess it, for in those days Jesus Christ will send them not a true Pastor, but a destroyer.
(Works of the Seraphic Father St. Francis Of Assisi [London: R. Washbourne, 1882], pp. 248-250; underlining and paragraph breaks added.)
To verify for yourself that these words have been transcribed accurately from their source, we are providing scanned images of the pages from which they are taken:
In addition, the book that contains this prophecy is available for free PDF download at Google Books. Click here to download it. If you would like to purchase a paperback copy, click here.
Clearly, these prophetic words of St. Francis have never been more relevant than today. It has been rumored that St. Francis also said that the false pope he was warning against would take his own name (“Francis”), but we have not been able to verify this information or find a source for it. In fact, if the prophecy refers to our times, it probably refers to the false pope John XXIII instead, who emerged from the highly-suspicious 1958 conclave.
While we ought not to seek after prophecies, special revelations or apparitions, nor make them the basis for our theological position, we share this prophecy with our readers in order to reassure them that our times, though extraordinary, have been foreknown and foretold in various ways by various Catholic authorities. St. Francis was by no means the only one, as the other examples found under our “We Had Been Warned” menu option on this web site demonstrate.
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
License: public domain
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