St. John Bosco's Prophecy of the Turn of the Millennium

I am currently attempting to find the original source of a prophecy attributed to St. John Bosco concerning the turn of the millennium, which is apparently related to his Dream of the Two Pillars. The prophecy seems to be genuine enough, having been quoted in Ted and Maureen Flynn's book Thunder of Justice (A213), and also appears to be connected to Don Bosco's prophetic dream "March of the 200 Days". I don't have St. John Bosco's Biographical Memoirs to hand to be able to pinpoint the exact source, but will update this post when I eventually find it. The prophecy in question directly refers to the turn of the millennium as a prophetic turning point after a period of chaos in the Church, following an Ecumenical Council in the 20th century (Vatican II):

"There will be an Ecumenical Council in the next century, after which there will be chaos in the Church. Tranquility will not return until the Pope succeeds in anchoring the boat of Peter between the twin pillars of Eucharistic Devotion and Devotion to Our Lady. This will come about one year before the end of the century."


The above prediction is similar in many respects to the various prophecies of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and again can be used to bolster the hypothesis I forward in Unveiling the Apocalypse - that the eschatological Fall of Satan foretold in the Book of Revelation occurred at the turn of the millennium, which coincided with the eschatological astronomical phenomena described at the opening of the sixth seal. This in turn heralds not only the sealing of the saints in heaven, but also the fulfilment of the prophecy of the mark of the Beast on earth, and the moment when Satan transfers his power and authority to the Antichrist.

As we shall see, the above prophecy appears to be directly related to Don Bosco's March of the 200 Days, which can be found in volume X of the Biographical Memoirs pp49-59. The dream of the March of 200 Days is set among a section of the memoirs containing three prophecies, the first of which is connected to St. Dominic Savio's vision of the Pope and the conversion of England:


...there will come a great warrior from the North carrying a banner and on the right hand that supports it is written: "The Irresistible Hand of the Lord." At that very moment there went out to meet him the Venerable Old Man of Lazio, holding aloft a brilliantly glowing torch. The banner then increased in size and turned from black to snow-white. In the middle of the banner, in letters of gold, there was written the name of Him who is able to do all things. The warrior with his men bowed and shook hands with the Venerable Old Man.
(You can find the full text of the three prophecies here).


This vision of St. John Bosco appears to be related to the prophecies of the Angelic Pope and the Great Monarch, which as I suggest in the book, is directly connected to the Two Witnesses of Rev 11 - the two figures symbolised by the two pillars in his prophetic dream.
We can see the similarities between the above prophecy and that of St. Dominic Savio below, where like the "Venerable Old Man of Lazio" (who represents the Pope), the pontiff holds aloft a flaming torch to enlighten a nation residing in spiritual darkness:

One morning as I was making my thanksgiving after Communion, a very strong distraction took hold of me. I thought I saw a great plain full of people enveloped in thick fog. They were walking about like people who had lost their way and did not know which way to turn. Someone near me said: ‘This is England’. I was just going to ask some questions, when I saw Pope Pius IX just like I have seen him in pictures. He was robed magnificently and carried in his hand a torch alive with flames. As he walked slowly toward that immense gathering of people, the leaping flames from the torch dispelled the fog, and the people stood in the splendour of the noonday sun. ‘That torch’, said the one beside me, ‘is the Catholic Faith, which is going to light up England.’”


The conversion of England is foretold in many prophecies to inaugurate the beginning of the Second Pentecost - including those of the 1846 version of La Salette, and of St. Malachy. So St. Dominic Savio's vision here is clearly associated with the new springtime envisioned by Bl. John Paul II and Bl. John Henry Newman.
The first prophecy of St. John Bosco then continues with the theme of the Second Pentecost:

Things follow too slowly upon each other, but the great Queen of Heaven is at hand; the Lord's power is Hers. Like mist She shall scatter Her enemies. She shall vest the Venerable Old Man with all his former garments. There shall yet come a violent hurricane. Iniquity is at an end, sin shall cease, and before two full moons shall have shone in the month of flowers, the rainbow of peace shall appear on the earth. The great Minister shall see the Bride of his King clothed in glory. Throughout the world a sun so bright shall shine as was never seen since the flames of the Cenacle until today, nor shall it be seen again until the end of time...

Note the mention here of "two full moons" shining "in the month of flowers", as it becomes important later.
The theme of the Second Pentecost is continued in the second prophecy, concerning the 200 day march, which as well as being directly associated with the Dream of Two Pillars, also contains imagery strongly reminiscent of the Third Secret of Fatima:

It was a dark night, and men could no longer find their way back to their own countries. Suddenly a most brilliant light shone in the sky, illuminating their way as at high noon. At that moment from the Vatican came forth, as in procession, a multitude of men and women, young children, monks, nuns, and priests, and at their head was the Pope.

But a furious storm broke out, somewhat dimming that light, as if light and darkness were locked in battle. Meanwhile the long procession reached a small square littered with dead and wounded, many of whom cried for help.

The ranks of the procession thinned considerably. After a two-hundred day march, all realized that they were no longer in Rome. In dismay they swarmed about the Pontiff to protect him and minister to him in his needs.

At that moment two angels appeared, bearing a banner which they presented to the Supreme Pontiff, saying: "Take the banner of Her who battles and routs the most powerful armies on earth. Your enemies have vanished: with tears and sighs your children plead for your return."

One side of the banner bore the inscription: Regina sine labe concepta [Queen conceived without sin], and the other side read: Auxilium Christianorum [Help of Christians].

The Pontiff accepted the banner gladly, but he became distressed to see how few were his followers.

But the two angels went on: "Go now, comfort your children. Write to your brothers scattered throughout the world that men must reform their lives. This cannot be achieved unless the bread of the Divine Word is broken among the peoples. Teach children their catechism and preach detachment from earthly things. The time has come," the two angels concluded, "when the poor will evangelize the world. Priests shall be sought among those who wield the hoe, the spade, and the hammer, as David prophesied: 'God lifted the poor man from the fields to place him on the throne of His people.'"

On hearing this, the Pontiff moved on, and the ranks began to swell. Upon reaching the Holy City, the Pontiff wept at the sight of its desolate citizens, for many of them were no longer. He then entered St. Peter's and intoned the Te Deum, to which a chorus of angels responded, singing: Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. When the song was over, all darkness vanished and a blazing sun shone. The population had declined greatly in the cities and in the countryside; the land was mangled as if by a hurricane and hailstorm, and people sought each other, deeply moved, and saying: Est Deus in Israel [There is a God in Israel].

From the start of the exile until the intoning of the Te Deum, the sun rose 200 times. All the events described covered a period of 400 days.

The two angels in this vision are highly reminiscent of the two angels described in the Third Secret, which we have previously identified as symbolising the Two Witnesses of Rev 11 - who spearhead the religious renewal towards the end of the world. And like the two pillars in St. John Bosco's dream, the angels bear banners containing Latin inscriptions. The vision of the pope weeping at the sight of the city's "desolate citizens, for many of them were no longer" is also similar to the secrets of Fatima . Compare this with the words of the Third Secret below:


"...before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way..."


Fr Frank Klauder forwards an interesting possible interpretation of the March of 200 days, which also gives a date relating to the turn of the millennium. I will quote the relevant material below:


1. The four hundred "days" refer to four hundred months, or thirty-three-and-a-third years;

2. The two hundred "days" refer to sixteen and a half years;

3. The first "brilliant light" before the beginning of the procession or march refers to Vatican Council II, which ended in 1965;

4. The "furious storm" that broke out refers to the controversies that arose after the council;

5. The end of the first two hundred "days" or sixteen-and-a-half years, brings us to 1982, when the Pope visited Fatima, one year after the attempted assassination on his life. At that time, speaking, in the third person the Pope said:

"Today John Paul II reads the message of Fatima again, with trepidation in his heart, because he sees how many people and societies-how many Christians have gone in the opposite direction to the one indicated in the message of Fatima. Sin has made itself firmly at home in the world, and the denial of God has become widespread in the ideologies, ideas, and plans of human beings."

Before concluding his talk, the Pope recited a prayer, called "apocalyptic" by the New York Times, as follows:

"From famine and war, deliver us.

From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us.

From sins against the life of man from its very beginning, deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us.

From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.

From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us.

From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us, deliver us.

May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of Hope."

It was at this time that John Paul renewed the consecration of the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, having invited the bishops of the world to join him in a collegial manner and thus complying completely with one of the requests of the Fatima message. Two years later, in 1984, he repeated the same consecration. Events thereafter (1989) witnessed the collapse of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe.

6. The end of the four hundred "days" brings us to 1999. In that year two full moons occur in the same month, as also in 1988, when there were two full moons in the month of May, as a prelude to the events of 1989.

7. The splendid era of peace, with which "the first prophecy" ends refers to the era of peace promised by Our Lady at Fatima, and which is being gradually prepared by the papal initiatives for the third millennium.
(See full text here)


On a side note to the above material, 1999 had the rare occasion of two blue moons occurring in the same year - a phenomenon which occurs once only every 19 years. It is interesting that Fr. Klauder links the intoning of the Te Deum at the end of the first 200 days with the Act of Entrustment made by Bl. John Paul II in the mid-1980's, which has been so often associated with the collapse of communism in Soviet Russia. And as we shall go into more detail in a future post, Pope John Paul II once again made an Act of Entrustment to the Virgin Mary during the Great Jubilee, on 8th Oct, 2000.
Another of aspect of these prophecies is complimented by Don Bosco's architectural plans for the Church of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, which were based on his prophetic visions. They show that the visions were based on the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and intriguingly contained a prophetic date pointing to some time in the 20th century as the time of another great Marian victory.

...additional work on the Church of Mary Help of Christians was in progress. Each of the two belfries flanking the facade was to be surmounted by an angel, nearly eight feet tall, fashioned from gilded wrought copper, according to Don Bosco’s own plan. The angel on the right held a banner…bearing the word “LEPANTO” drilled in large letters through the metal, while the one on the left offered…a laurel wreath to the Blessed Virgin standing atop the dome.
In a previous design, the second angel too held a banner on which the figure “19” was drilled through the metal followed by two dots. It stood for another date, “nineteen hundred,” without the final two numbers to indicate the specific year. Though ultimately, as we have said, a laurel wreath was put into the angel’s hand, we have never forgotten the mysterious date which, in our opinion, pointed to a new triumph of the Madonna. May this come soon and bring all nations under Mary’s mantle.
(Lemoyne, Biographical Memoirs IX, p276)

When compared with the other prophecies mentioned above, it seems almost certain that the date 19.. referred to the year 1999.

So it seems that the prophecies of St John Bosco also suggest that the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary would take place in a period of history beginning at the turn of the millennium. The promised Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the ultimate fulfilment of the protoevangelium - the moment when the Woman Adorned with the Sun crushes the head of the Serpent (Gen 3:18). It is the intercession of Our Lady which accomplishes the victory of St. Michael over Satan, when the Evil One is cast from heaven to earth:


And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him...
(Rev 12:9)


But while the War in Heaven has been won, the earth still has to bear the full brunt of Satan's fury, when he transfers his power and authority to the Beast that rises from the sea - the Levithan which bears the wounded head that was crushed by the Woman Adorned with the Sun:


Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
(Rev 12:12)


And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
(Rev 13:1-3)

It seems that the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is an ongoing process, spanning a period of eschatological history beginning with the end of the 100 year reign of Satan, through to the Second Pentecost, and which will ultimately result in the Second Coming of Christ. It is this Triumph of the Immaculate Heart which will enable the Second Pentecost to take place, allowing the Bride of Christ to prepare herself for the coming of the Groom:


"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
(Rev 19:7-9)


The marriage supper of the Lamb is to be equated with the coming Second Pentecost, when the Bride of Christ is allowed to dress herself in the pure virginal linen of the righteous deeds of the saints. The Church must purify itself through the Second Pentecost and spread the Gospel to "the fullness of the Gentiles" (Rom 11:25), in order to prepare itself for the Coming of the Bridegroom.


And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
(Matt 24:14)


It is this renewed Church that is represented by the Heavenly Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven to meet the Bridegroom.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
(Rev 21:2)


If this interpretation is correct, then it would explain why Fr Gobbi stated that the Triumph would take place between two points in time - starting from the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, and would ultimately be accomplished in the Second Coming of Christ:


"I confirm to you that, in time for the great Jubilee of the year two thousand, the triumph of my Immaculate Heart, which I foretold to you at Fatima, will come about and it will be brought about with the return of Jesus in glory to establish His Kingdom in the world."