Malachy’s
head was spinning; he was short of breath, gasping, and a
cold chill flushed his face. He wondered: was he about to
meet the Lord or was he having another sorcerous
vision?
http://www.raidersnewsupdate.com/petrus-one.htm
He
wanted rest. Bernard, oh where is Bernard? Then he
remembered, confusion…so much confusion over the papacy.
The words came fast and furious again. Phrases in liturgical
Latin danced in his mind. Had the devil taken the papacy?
Schismaticus, popes and antipopes, power-mad, political
posturing in the house of God. The prophecies of the popes
writhed in his feverish conscience; the dragon…oh no the
dragon, Draco depreſſus and then Anguinus uir was
this to be a serpentine pope? Just last year, on the
twenty-fifth of January, 1138, the antipope Anacletus had
died, finally allowing the appointed Innocent II to ascend
the Holy See. When the conspiring Cardinals had launched
their coup, the opposed Innocent II fled Rome under his
given name, Gregorio Papareschi, finding refuge with dear
Bernard at the abbey. It was just this year Pope Innocent
had reclaimed the Holy See prompting this pilgrimage from
Ireland to Rome.
The
fatigue began to fade and Malachy recalled what led him here
to Janiculum Hill on this day. After his arduous journey
from Ireland to Rome, only a brief respite at the Clairvaux
Abbey in the Vallée d’Absinthe had given him hope. Yet,
despite his fondness for Bernard, the bitterness of wormwood
had infected his soul. He had requested permission from his
holiness to end his days with his loyal friend Bernard in
retreat at the abbey. Unfortunately, the Pontiff had only
increased his responsibilities, making him Papal Legate for
all of Ireland. But Malachy was weary of it all—so very
tired. What was driving the Pope so hard? Had not Christ
admonished His disciples, “but whosoever will be great
among you, let him be your minister?” (Matthew 20:26
KJV).The beast was coming one day and Malachy knew it…
Bellua inſatiabilis. It was then that he knew the popes
had taken the unspeakable bargain and there was no taking it
back. After the fullness of time, Petrus Romanus would mark
the end of Mysterium Babylon magna.
The Man
Who Foresaw the Final Pope?
In the
modest settlement of Armagh, in the beautiful, sweeping,
emerald lands of Northern Ireland, in the year 1094, a
nobleman and chief by the name of Lector Ua Morgair and his
well-cultured wife celebrated the dawning of new life in
their son, Máel Máedóc Ua Morgair. Neither of them could
have known how the tiny boy they had just delivered would
become a central figure in End-Times prophecy.Little Máel Máedóc
Ua Morgair (anglicized to the more modern “Malachy”)
lived his early, boyish days skipping amidst the comfortable
sounds and familiar, candlelit ambiance of the Armagh
Cathedral. He remained educated under the personal tutelage
of his learned father, Lector of Armagh, until the fateful
day of Lector’s death in the year 1102. Malachy and his
brother and sister were then raised by his mother alone, a
woman who had been described as “A dutiful, Christian
woman”[i] by St. Bernard de Clairvaux.As the years
progressed, Malachy continued his studies under the
mentorship of Imar (also spelled “Imhar”) O’Haglan: a
man who focused his teachings on renouncing earthly
pleasures to preserve the eternal soul. Following in
O’Haglan’s ascetical footsteps, Malachy showed astute
perception within the walls of the cathedral and the shabby
cell beneath where O’Haglan spent his days like a hermit.
Despite the protests of his sister and school acquaintances
when self-flagellation, penance, and other religious
practices grew to be ultimately more important than becoming
an inspired professor like his father before him, Malachy
continued searching for opportunities to express his passion
for the Church and the life he believed he was chosen to
lead. Drawing everyday nearer to the effects of
O’Haglan’s authority and vision, Malachy soon introduced
Gregorian chants into his regime, and a zeal for Church
reform.
By the age
of twenty-two, the archbishop Cellach of Armagh (also
spelled “Ceollach” and “Celsus”), a good
acquaintance to O’Haglan, found such promise and exception
in the young man that he put aside canonical law and
ordained the youth as a deacon three years prior to custom.
In 1119, he declared Malachy vicar-general and entrusted him
with the duty of reforming the diocese while he was away.
The changes observed in the diocese were immediate and
extraordinary. Malachy’s sermons of penance ignited a
passion in the common people and stirred the laity to
respect canonical rules of the Church.
Eventually
Malachy headed to Lismore to revise and sharpen his
knowledge of the canon under the teaching and advice of
well-known scholar Bishop Malchus. (St. Bernard writes that
Bishop Malchus was “an old man, full of days and virtues,
and the wisdom of God was in him.”[ii] He goes on to
further explain that the bishop was later acknowledged as
performing two miracles, one wherein he healed a young boy
of a mental disorder who later became his porter, and
another wherein “when the saint put his fingers into his
ears on either side he perceived that two things like little
pigs came out of them.”[iii] These distinctions of Bishop
Malchus’ reputation are of importance to St. Bernard,
“that it may be known to all what sort of preceptor
Malachy had in the knowledge of holy things.”[iv] Needless
to say, Malachy worked and studied with associates whose
names circulated within the Church as significant.)
Though his
trip to Lismore was meant for a time of quiet learning,
Malachy’s was not idle there, taking opportunities to
speak out on current affairs within the Church that
concerned him, and was often sent by Malchus himself “to
preach the word of God to the people and to correct many
evil practices which had developed over the years. He
achieved notable success. To reform the clergy he instituted
regulations concerning celibacy and other ecclesiastical
discipline, and reinstituted the recitation of the canonical
hours. Most importantly, he gave back the sacraments to the
common people, sending good priests among them to instruct
the ignorant. He returned to Armagh in 1123.”[v]
This same
year, Malachy was appointed Abbot of Bangor where he
assisted in helping rebuild the abbey and establish a
seminary. More importantly, from this time forward, a series
of miracles and the gift of prophecy were attributed to him.
One notable prophecy, especially hard to chalk up to pure
coincidence, finds fulfillment in the twentieth century:
Ireland will suffer English oppression for a week of centuries [700 years], but will preserve her fidelity to God and His Church. At the end of that time she will be delivered, and the English in turn must suffer severe chastisement. Ireland, however, will be instrumental in bringing back the English to the unity of Faith.
Complete
Anglo-Norman domination of Ireland was achieved a century
after Malachy’s prediction. Independence for the southern
part of Ireland came 700 years later in the early 20th
century. If this utterance is not apocryphal, then it
predates the schism between the Church of England and the
Catholic faith by four centuries and implies that
Anglicanism will falter sometime in our near future when the
final pope finishes his reign.[vi]
Yet, Yves
DuPont argues this began in the twelfth century and ended
after WW2. He says, “The liberation has come in stages:
World War I, independence within the British Empire; World
War II, complete independence. Thus, Ireland was under
British rule for seven centuries.”[vii] However, it just
as likely applies to the rampant secularism in England
ultimately being conquered by Christianity.
At thirty
years of age, Malachy became Bishop Malachy of Down and
Connor. John Hogue says of Malachy’s new position: “The
bishopric was considered one of Ireland’s blackest holes
for the faith. Malachy would face a moratorium on church
tithes, a shortage of priests and an even greater shortage
of celibate clerics; he would wince at the improvised
performances of the sacraments based on the rejection of
canon law in favor of native and often semi-pagan Irish
rituals.”[viii] With passion, yet still humble as a true
servant of God, Malachy spoke out about Church reform and
continuously brought more and more attention to himself as a
true trailblazer.
Never
before had Malachy seen such lax cohesion to the laws of God
within the walls of the Church. Discipline, offering,
tithing, giving of the first-fruits, and going to confession
were things of the past; marriages were made illegally.
Christians behaved like pagans. “Never had he found men so
shameless in regard of morals, so dead in regard of rites,
so impious in regard of faith, so barbarous in regard of
laws, so stubborn in regard of discipline, so unclean in
regard of life.”[ix] Nevertheless, believing that he was a
“shepherd and not a hireling,”[x] Malachy fought the
issues head-on and in his enthusiasm, discovered followers
who were willing to flock to his side to reestablish
devotion to the rituals.
About this
time according to legend, Malachy had a dream in which a
woman appeared to him and revealed her identity as
Archbishop Cellach’s wife. She handed Mallachy a pastoral
staff, and then disappeared. He shared this with those in
his company and it was esteemed important because for
approximately fifteen generations by this time in Armagh,
people high up in both secular politics and the Church had
maintained office within family hierarchies. As a result, it
was normal to nominate a successor to the seat of the
archbishop by heritage instead of Church works. Archbishop
Cellach, however, impressed by Malachy’s ministry,
rejected the expectations of his family in this regard.
Hoping that Malachy could bring new life and hope to the
Church, and wanting to put a stop to hereditary succession
of the office, Cellach charged those under him with the task
of spreading word that Malachy would be given his seat as
Archbishop of Armagh. When the word reached Malachy, it came
as no surprise after the dream he’d had, and just days
after Cellach passed away, Malachy received Cellach’s
staff (the one from his dream), and a letter confirming the
news of his latest promotion.
Cellach’s
family was outraged. Feeling usurped by his decision to
appoint someone outside the family as archbishop, tension
rose between them and Malachy. Cellach’s cousin, Murtagh
(also spelled “ Murtough” and “Muirchetrach”),
fancied himself worthy of the role, and his family stood
behind him in his campaign to become archbishop, ready even
to use force to claim the position if necessary. The people
of the Church fell in support of Malachy, equally ready for
the hereditary succession of the office to end.
Three years
passed while Malachy remained at the monastery, not refusing
the archbishopric but unwilling to participate in a war
between Murtagh and the Church. The papal legate eventually
became revolted enough by Murtagh’s tyranny that the
Church ordered Malachy, by threat of impending
excommunication, to take his position. Malachy conceded and
in response to the order, accepted his bishopric from a
distance to avoid the mayhem of political/religious war. He
made a deal with the legate that if the Church was ever
fully restored to freedom in matters of succession, in
return he wanted a leave from leadership so that he might
find time to be alone in his studies and away from
obligatory office. Remaining safely just outside the city,
he maintained governance as the acknowledged Archbishop of
Armagh, without immediately taking possession of his See.
When
Murtagh passed away in 1134, he revealed that Niall,
Cellach’s brother, would be his successor. During this
time, the people generally believed that anyone in
possession of the crosier of St. Patrick (the Bachal Isu, of
“Staff of Jesus”) and the Book of Gospels (or Holy Book)
was the true archbishop. In lieu of this, Niall saw and
seized his opportunity to appear the legitimate and rightful
archbishop by stealing these two artifacts from the
cathedral of Armagh. Although history is cloudy when it
comes to the issue of retrieving the stolen artifacts from
Niall (most records point to a small war between the two
sides, which was rumored to be brought to an end by
diplomacy from Malachy, followed by his purchasing the
artifacts back from Niall), Malachy did eventually get them
back and take his place as primate in the cathedral city of
Armagh. “In 1138, having broken the tradition of
hereditary succession, rescued Armagh from oppression,
restored ecclesiastical discipline, re-established Christian
morals, and seeing all things tranquil, Malachy resigned his
post as originally agreed.”[xi] Malachy retired to Bangor
to live in rest for a time, among the camaraderie of his
fellow monks, but with few demands on his schedule or
solitary study.
Eventually
Malachy felt the need to gain meeting with Pope Innocent II
in Rome to officially recognize the archbishops (and the
Sees) of Armagh and Cashel with a pallium, an official
woolen cloak of authority, for each to signify the bishopric
jurisdiction over the ecclesiastical provinces and to gain
favor and blessing from the papal for the developments
within the Church. In 1139, he gathered a few travelling
companions and pack animals and headed to Rome through
Scotland, England, and France. It was during his travels
that he arrived at the Cistercian Abbey of Clairvaux, where
he met the future-saint Bernard (who would later be his
central biographer). Resting there for a short time, Malachy
became enchanted with the Abbey and made a very close
friendship with its abbot. Abbot Bernard was unusual in his
approach to ministry. He maintained fitness of the body by
practicing martial arts and kept those in his presence ready
at all times to be counted upon for defending the Church at
all costs. He proved to be such a wellspring of religious
passion for Malachy that when the time came for him to leave
the abbey and continue his pilgrimage to Rome, Malachy made
a secret plan to ask for retirement in the seclusion of
Clairvaux.
Sixteen
months after the journey began Malachy finally arrived in
Rome, his heart and mind lifted and hopeful. Quickly, he was
brought to Pope Innocent II for official audience. Innocent
approved Malachy’s request for the pallia but with strict
conditions: Malachy would take on new responsibilities. He
was now the Papal Legate of Ireland with all of its ensuing
political intricacies. This was not what he had wanted; he
so desperately desired the peace and serenity of the Abbey.
It was upon leaving the seven-hilled city so frustrated,
framed by the breathtaking Western view from Janiculum Hill
that it came upon him. Because of the impiety of the popes,
Rome would burn.
As the
legend goes, Malachy experienced what is today considered a
famous vision commonly called “The Prophecy of the
Popes.” The prophecy is a list of Latin verses predicting
each of the Roman Catholic popes from Pope Celestine II to
the final pope, “Peter the Roman,” whose reign would end
in the destruction of Rome. According to this ancient
prophecy, the very next pope (following Benedict XVI) will
be the final pontiff, Petrus Romanus or Peter the Roman.
The final
segment of the prophecy reads:
In persecutione extrema S. R. E. sedebit Petrus Romanus, qui pascet oves in multis tribulationibus: quibus transactis civitas septicollis deruetur et judex tremendus judicabit populum. Finis.[xii]
Which is
rendered:
In extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep through many tribulations; when they are over, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the terrible or fearsome Judge will judge his people. The End.[xiii]
The Good
News and the Bad News
After
studying the history of the prophecy of the popes and the
surrounding scholarly literature, we have some good news and
some very bad news, which we will begin discussing in the
next entry.http://www.raidersnewsupdate.com/petrus-one.htm
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