The Prophecy of St. Hildegard on the Great Apostasy

An Illustration from the Liber Scivias depicting St. Hildegard of Bingen receiving a prophetic vision.

I recently had a discussion with regular contributor Jamey Srdarov in the com box on the post The Abomination of Desolation which I thought would be worth posting up on the main part of the blog. As regular readers who take the time to read the com box will know, Jamey is a fervent supporter of Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), and is quite keen for its re-institution as the ordinary form of the liturgy (which I must confess, I would like to see also). During the debate, I was reminded of a prophecy made by St. Hildegard of Bingen concerning the state of the Church at the end-time, which I thought would be appropriate to mention so that everyone can read...
The exchange goes as follows:


Jamey:


Fr Stephen Somerville was a member of the Advisory Board of the International Commission on English Liturgy for translating the new post-Vatican II Latin liturgy into the English language.

http://www.fisheaters.com/frsomerville.html

Fr Somerville using scripture presents another angle linking the abomination of desolation to the end times this time in regard to replacement of the Tridentine Mass with the Novus Ordo Missae of Paul VI [NO].

http://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/f007ht_Abomination_Somerville.htm

Note to readers be wary of some of the other stuff on TIA, at times they unfairly go after recent popes at other points justifiably IMHO, a bit of a mixed bag.

Emmett:


I'm all for a return to the Old Latin Mass, and the re-establishment of the High Altars. I think it would be a great blessing for the Church. But I think it is a step too far to deny the validity of the sacraments in the NO. Not only does it sow the seeds of schism in a direct disregard for the express request of Jesus that "they may all be one" (John 17:20), but it also ignores Christ's promise that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church (Matt 16:18).
Christ said "behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20) - a promise to be eternally present in the Eucharist until the end of the world.
The use of a different language from Latin doesn't invalidate the eucharist. Less beautiful perhaps, but not invalid. Christ almost certainly would have said the first Mass in Aramaic.
The validity of the Eucharist depends on whether the priest was ordained in apostolic succession, and whether he was using the correct words (the personal holiness of the priest doesn't count, as was determined following the Donatist schism). For an ordained priest to invalidate the Eucharist, different words would have to be used, such as "this is a symbol of my body".
Fr Gobbi depicts such a scenario for the abomination of desolation in relation to the Eucharist. He seems to suggest that the Antichrist will install an anti-pope in Rome, creating a schism, with a large portion of Catholics following the anti-pope. Fr Gobbi appears to predict that the anti-pope will then take away the sacrifice of the Mass by asserting that the Eucharist is merely a symbol of Christ's body and blood. I suppose such a scenario would fit in with Melanie's later unapproved portion of message of La Salette, that Rome would "become the seat of the Antichrist", while the true pope would be forced into exile, as is suggested by other prophecies.
But I don't think that the NO is the abomination of desolation, even though it is an inferior version of the Mass.


Jamey:


Emmett, I don't think the NO is invalid for the reasons you mention. I also don't think Latin is the biggest issue with the changes of the Mass, I think the priest facing the people (back to the tabernacle) hence being man centred, the removal of high altars and the elimination of various prayers, not to mention the stripping off churches the sacred which has led to great irreverance. The loss of the sacred is killing our times.

Although he may gone too hard at times, I thought it interesting Fr Somervilles analysis that a certain abomination occuring in the temple, specifically regarding altars that would herald the end-time. Given the Masonic connections with the NO it is in a way an abomination and I believe has led to desolation, "There we have it: desolation means being desolate, being abandoned by good people, and worse, being abandoned by God and by His grace".

I think many people stay away from the NO because they realise there is something seriously defective with it. When I have been to NO there appear to be few devout people, the main body of people have departed by the time the final hymn is finished. In fact some Masses I have been to I can only describe as abominations with the stuff going on. Lex orandi, lex credendi. I think it takes a special grace to attend the NO and maintain ones faith well, or at the very least a very strong grounding in Catholic beliefs.

It is a sad time when most bishops seem hostile to the TLM. Our new bishop in Perth has pulled the plug on 3 trad vocations. Reading at Rorate people from all over the world commented on their dioceses being generally averse to the old Mass, something which made the Church what she is, the most beautiful thing this side of heaven.

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19978542&postID=8924370084366731914


"Pope Pius XII warned about the suicide of altering the faith in the liturgy. Something that is suicidal is neither healthy nor sane. When you consider the Masonic influences on the Novus Ordo Missae you realise the utter madness of continuing with it." Fr Paul Kramer


(Emmett again):


Before we go on to look at the prophecy of St. Hildegard, it should be worth noting that according to traditional Catholic theology, the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit when acting corporately as whole - which is especially so in the case of ecumenical councils held in union with the pope. If Masonic influences were responsible for the changes to the liturgy made in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, then they could only have infiltrated the Church to such an extent with the permission of the Spirit. Perhaps the changes made to the liturgy and the TLM being taken away from the Church was a punishment for the apostasy of the majority of the laity, and a large part of the clergy. As the new Israel, the Church has always been judged as a lump - the sheep together with the goats; just as ancient Israel was judged collectively for its sins with the rods of Assyria and Babylon. Apostasy does not go unpunished, and perhaps the changes to the liturgy reflect the fact that the Church as a whole no longer gives adequate glory to God. The apostate Church may simply not be worthy enough to offer the highest form of praise to Our Lord, and will first have to be cleansed with the fire of the Holy Spirit at the new Pentecost.

In her most renowned work Scivias, St. Hildegard predicted that the Church would be in a terrible state towards the end of the world. The Church is depicted as a battered and bruised figure, and suffering being raped by the Devil, it subsequently gives birth to the Antichrist. But significantly, despite being in such a decrepit state following the assaults of the Devil weakening the faith of her children, thus giving rise to the birth of the Antichrist; the Church remains resolute, and is eventually restored in the Second Pentecost:


The image of the woman before the altar in front of the eyes of God that I saw earlier was now also shown to me again so that I could also see her from the navel down. From the navel to the groin she had various scaly spots. In her [genitalia] there appeared a monstorous and totally black head with fiery eyes, ears like the ears of a donkey, nostrils and mouth like those of a lion, gnashing with vast open mouth and sharpening its horrible iron teeth in a horrid manner.

From that head to the knees the image was white and red, bruised as with many a beating. From the knees to the two white transverse zones which crosswise seemed to touch the bottoms of the feet from above, the image appeared to be bloody. Lo, the monstrous head removed itself from its place with so great a crash that the entire image of the woman was shaken in all its members. Something like a a great mass of much dung was joined to the head; then, lifting itself upon a mountain, it attempted to ascend to the height of heaven. A stroke like thunder came suddenly and the head was repelled with such strength that it both fell from the mountain and gave up the ghost. After this a stinking cloud suddenly enveloped the whole mountain. The head was surrounded with such great filth in the cloud that the people standing by were struck with the greatest terror as the cloud stayed upon the mountain somewhat longer. The people standing there beheld it and struck with much fear said to each other: " Woe! Woe! What is this? What does that seem to be? Who will help us, unfortunate as we are? Who will deliver us? We are ignorant of how we have been deceived. Almighty God, have mercy on us. Let us, oh let us return. Let us prepare the covenant of Christ's Gospel, since we have been bitterly deceived." Behold, the feet of the aforementioned female image appeared to be white, giving out a brightness above that of the sun. I heard a voice from heaven saying to me: "Even though all things on earth are tending toward their end, so hardships and calamities is bowed down to its End, nevertheless, the Spouse of my Son, though much weakened in her children, will never be destroyed either by the heralds of the Son of Perdition or by the Destroyer himself, however much she will be attacked by them. At the End of time she will arise more powerful and more secure; she will appear more beautiful and shining so that she may go forth in this way more sweetly and more agreeably to the embraces of her Beloved. The vision which you saw signifies all this in mystic fashion."
(Scivias 3:11; Translated by B McGinn, Visions of the End, pp101-102)


It is interesting to find language in this prophecy which clearly echoes Cardinal Ratzinger's description of the "filth" within the Church, first made during his now famous Way of the Cross sermon on Good Friday, 2005:

"Should we not also think of how much Christ suffers in his own Church? How often is the holy sacrament of His Presence abused, how often must he enter empty and evil hearts! How often do we celebrate only ourselves, without even realizing that he is there! How often is his Word twisted and misused! What little faith is present behind so many theories, so many empty words!
How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the Priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him! How much pride, how much self-complacency!"

"Lord, your Church often seems like a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side. In your field we see more weeds than wheat. The soiled garments and face of your Church throw us into confusion. Yet it is we ourselves who have soiled them! It is we who betray you time and time again, after all our lofty words and grand gestures. Have mercy on your Church... You stood up, you arose and you can also raise us up. Save and sanctify your Church. Save and sanctify us all."

The fact that St. Hildegard is one of the most revered saints in Pope Benedict's native Germany, helps to further cement the relationship between the "filth" described by the Holy Father and the "filth" depicted in the vision of the battered Church in Scivias. And it also reflects the Pope's connection of the Third Secret to the "sin" existing within the Church during his pilgrimage to Fatima in 2010:

As for the new things which we can find in this message today, there is also the fact that attacks on the Pope and the Church come not only from without, but the sufferings of the Church come precisely from within the Church, from the sin existing within the Church. This too is something that we have always known, but today we are seeing it in a really terrifying way: that the greatest persecution of the Church comes not from her enemies without, but arises from sin within the Church, and that the Church thus has a deep need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn forgiveness on the one hand, but also the need for justice.

The "filth" that now pervades the Church, described by both St. Hildegard and Pope Benedict is a direct consequence of the apostasy we have been enduring for the past 52 years, since the passing of the date of 1960 mentioned by Sr. Lucia as when the contents of the Third Secret would be "better understood". It is from this date which marked the beginning of the sexual revolution, that we have witnessed the greatest decline in the two thousand year history of the Catholic Church, thus firmly establishing the Great Apostasy foretold in the New Testament:

And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
(Matt 24:10-12)

As St. Paul tells us, the rebellion must come first, before the "man of lawlessness" is revealed, just as St. Hildegard predicted that the battered Church would give birth to the Antichrist.

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
(2 Thess 2:3-8)

So it seems that the ultimate fruit of the Great Apostasy we are currently enduring is the revelation of the Antichrist himself. The falling away of the faithful, and the lack of adequate worship being offered to God ultimately leads to the appearance of the Son of Perdition - to whom Satan transfers his great power and authority once he is cast to earth:

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.

(Rev 13:1-2)

Yet St. Hildegard foretells that the people will eventually realise the depths of their delusion, and that the Church will be restored to her former glory - preparing herself in virginal linen to meet the bridegroom, who will bring the appearance of the Antichrist to nothing with the sword of his mouth:

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
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...

...Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
(Rev 19:6-8, 11-15)