Bl. Elizabeth Canori-Mora on the Martyr-Pope

The prophecies of Bl. Elizabeth Canori-Mora (1774-1825) concerning the future persecution of a pope have some interesting affinities with the rather profound words of Pope Benedict XVI at his inaugural address: "Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves". (See the full text of the Holy Father's inaugural address here). These words appear to reference Jesus' prophecy of the persecution of Christians in Matt 10, where Christ depicts the disciples as sheep surrounded by wolves:

"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." (Matt 10:16-22).

But the Holy Father's words also appear to echo the prophecies of Bl. Elizabeth Canori-Mora (you can find some biographical information on Bl. Elizabeth at Catholic Online here), which are strongly reminiscent of those of Fatima. At the request of her confessor, Bl Elizabeth began to record her revelations, which ended up spanning hundreds of notebooks, and are now stored in the archives of the Trinitarian Fathers at San Carlino, Rome.
On 22nd March, 1814, Bl. Elizabeth was praying for Pope Pius VII, when she suddenly had a vision of the Holy Father being persecuted by a pack of "wolves":  During this vision, she saw the pope: 

"surrounded by wolves who plotted to betray him… I saw the Sanhedrin of wolves which surrounded the Pope, and two angels weeping… when I asked them why they were sad and lamenting, looking upon Rome with eyes full of compassion they responded, ‘Wretched city, ungrateful people, the justice of God will chastise you.’”

The two angels in this vision recall the two angels of the Third Secret of Fatima, who gather the blood of the martyrs during the Great Tribulation:

Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.

In the earlier posts The Two Witnesses and Prophecies of the Martyr-Pope, we discussed how these two angels appear to represent the two cherubim which adorned the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant, and that they also may symbolise the Two Witnesses described in the Book of Revelation.

Bl. Elizabeth continued to receive private revelations concerning the plight of the pope, and on 16th Jan 1815, she stated that angels showed her:

“many ecclesiastics who persecute Jesus Crucified and His holy Gospel under the guise of doing good… Like furious wolves they scheme to pull the Church leader down from his throne.” Then she was allowed to see the terrible indignation these wolves aroused in God. “In terror I saw the blazing lightening bolts of Divine Justice fall about me. I saw buildings collapsing in ruins. Cities, regions and the whole world fell into chaos. One heard nothing but countless weak voices calling out for mercy. Countless people will be killed. [I saw that God was] extremely angry with those who persecute Him. His omnipotent hands were holding bolts of lightening, His face was resplendent with indignation and His gaze alone was enough to incinerate the whole world.”

This part of Bl. Elizabeth's vision, with a vision of lightening bolts and Divine Justice recalls various biblical passages related to the Second Coming of Christ:

For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  (Matt 24:27-28)

Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke! Flash forth the lightning and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them! Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
(Psalm 144:5-8)

Note that the imagery in the above passage in Psalm 144 evokes not only imagery of volcanic eruptions "Touch the mountains so that they smoke!", but also that of a flood "deliver me from the many waters". (See the earlier post The Casting Down of Mountains for an overview of the many other passages in the Bible which connect the Second Coming with earthquakes, volcanoes and massive floods).
The above prophecy of Bl. Elizabeth, which describes "buildings collapsing in ruins" leading to worldwide chaos also mirrors the visions of Matous Lasuta during the Apparitions at Turzovka:

there will be terrible floods and other misfortunes through the elements (iii) there will be earthquakes and mountains will move (iv) Churches will collapse, houses will move and be carried away by the floods...

The prophecies of Bl. Elizabeth written on 7th June 1815 continue to describe further upheavals, where she saw:

“fierce wolves in sheep’s clothing, relentless persecutors of Jesus Crucified and His spouse the Holy Church…I saw the whole world convulsed, especially the city of Rome. How can I possibly relate what I saw of the Holy College? Because of contrary doctrines, together with the secular clergy, they were scattered, persecuted and murdered by the impious… The regular clergy had not suffered a total dispersion, but were also decimated. Countless men of all conditions died in the massacre, but not all were condemned, for among them were those of decent customs and others of holy life.”

Then in a vision which rather frighteningly reflects the current anti-Christian policies of various governments throughout the Western world, Bl. Elizabeth saw apostates attempting to wrench the Christ-child from her motherly arms - actions which would cause her to no longer attempt to hold back God's immanent wrath:

On Christmas, 1816 Blessed Elizabeth saw Our Lady, who appeared extremely sad. Upon inquiring why, Our Lady answered, “Behold, my daughter, such great ungodliness.” Blessed Elizabeth then saw “apostates brazenly trying to rip her most holy Son from her arms. Confronted with such an outrage, the Mother of God ceased to ask mercy for the world, and instead requested justice from the Eternal Father. Clothed in His inexorable Justice and full of indignation, he turned to the world.
“At that moment all nature went into convulsions, the world lost its normal order and was filled with the most terrible calamity imaginable. This will be something so deplorable and atrocious that it will reduce the world to the ultimate depths of desolation.” (See here).

This irreversibility of God's impending wrath is also reflected in the words attributed to Pope John Paul II during the 1980 Fulda conference in Germany:

With your and my prayer it is possible to mitigate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it, because only thus can the Church be effectively renewed. How many times has the renewal of the Church sprung from blood! This time, too, it will not be otherwise. We must be strong and prepared, and trust in Christ and His Mother, and be very, very assiduous in praying the Rosary."
(See the earlier post John Paul II - The Third Secret and a Prophecy of a Mega-tsunami?)

It also recalls the words of Our Lady of Akita: "If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them".

Yet Bl. Elizabeth's prophecies also gave a glimpse of mercy to be seen through these horrendous trials, with a vision which recalls the prophecy of the Angelic Pope who it is foretold will restore the Church. Here this Angelic Pope, symbolised by St. Peter (St. Malachy's Peter the Roman?), restores the Church before the onslaught of the chastisement, and a great war:

On the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 1820, she saw Saint Peter descending from heaven, robed in papal vestments and surrounded by a legion of angels. With his crosier he drew a great cross over the face of the earth, separating it into four quadrants. In each of these quadrants, he then brought forth a tree, sprouting with new life. Each tree was in the shape of a cross and enveloped in magnificent light. All the good laity and religious fled for protection underneath these trees and were spared from the tremendous chastisement. “Woe! Woe to those unobservant religious who despise their Holy Rules. They will all perish in the terrible chastisement together with all who give themselves to debauchery and follow the false maxims of their deplorable contemporary philosophy!
“The sky took on a morbid blue color which terrified everyone who looked at it. A dark wind blew everywhere. An impassioned and mournful shrieking filled the air, like the terrible roar of a fierce lion, and resounded all over the earth in blood curdling echoes.
“All men and animals brimmed with terror. The entire world convulsed and everyone pitilessly slaughtered one another…
“When this bloody fight will arrive, the vengeful hand of God will weigh upon these fated ones and with His omnipotence He will chastise the proud for their rashness and shameless insolence. God will use the powers of darkness to exterminate these sectarian, iniquitous and criminal men, who plot to eradicate the Catholic Church, our Holy Mother, by tearing Her up by Her deepest roots, and casting Her on the ground.

The reference to those who seek to eradicate the Church can only refer to the secularising forces sponsored by Freemasonry. Her private revelations continue with a vision of the unleashing of demons upon the earth, which corresponds with the prophecy of Pope Leo XIII:

“God will laugh at their malice, and with a mere wave of His almighty right Hand, He will punish the wicked. The powers of darkness will be allowed to leave Hell and enormous crowds of devils will invade the whole world. They will wreak great destruction and thus execute the orders of Divine Justice, to which they are also subjected. They will chastise man’s goods, families, towns, wretched cities, palaces, houses and everything else that exists on the face of the earth to the exact degree that God decrees…
“God will allow wicked men to be cruelly chastised by fierce demons, because they voluntarily subjected themselves to the devil and joined in his attack of the Holy Catholic Church…
“I saw the horrible prison, Hell. There I saw the devils that would be released on earth to carry their wicked destruction everywhere. They will decimate every place that idolatry was practiced to such an extent, that no trace of them will remain.”

After this part of the visions of Bl. Elizabeth, which are to be equated with Pope Leo XIII's period of the 100 years given to Satan, she again makes reference to the Second Pentecost under Ss. Peter and Paul - who as the two pillars of the Church (Gal 2:9) martyred under Nero (the precursor to the Antichrist), also represent the Two Witnesses of Rev 11 who are killed by the Beast who rises from the sea:

However, all will not end in this death and destruction. After these purifying punishments, she saw Saint Peter return on a majestic papal throne together with Saint Paul, who went through the world shackling the devils and bringing them before Saint Peter, who cast them back into the dark caverns from where they had come. “Then a beautiful splendor came over the earth, to announce the reconciliation of God with mankind.”
The small flock of faithful Catholics who had taken refuge under the trees will be brought before Saint Peter, who will “choose a new pope. All the Church will be reordered according to the true dictates of the holy Gospel. The religious orders will be reestablished and the homes of Christians will become homes imbued with religion.
“So great will be the fervor and zeal for the glory of God that everything will promote love of God and neighbor. The triumph, glory and honor of the Catholic Church will be established in an instant. She will be acclaimed, venerated and esteemed by all. All will resolve to follow Her, recognizing the Vicar of Christ as the Supreme Pontiff.”
Early in 1821 Our Lord said to her, “I will reform my people and my Church. I will send zealous priests to preach my Faith. I will form a new apostolate and send the Holy Ghost to renew the world. I will reform the religious orders by means of new holy and learned reformers. They will all have the spirit of my predilect son Ignatius of Loyola. I will provide my Church with a new pastor, who is learned, holy and full of My Spirit. With holy zeal he will reform My flock.”
“He told me many other things about this renovation. Many sovereigns will support the Catholic Church and be true Catholics, placing their scepters and crowns at the feet of the Holy Father and Vicar of Jesus Christ. Many kingdoms will abandon their errors and return to the bosom of the Catholic Faith. Entire peoples will convert, recognizing the Faith of Jesus Christ as the true religion.”

For those seeking a more in-depth treatment of the life of this inspirational woman, there is an out of copyright book on the life of Bl. Elizabeth Canori Mora available free online here.