The Prophecies of St. Patrick

The collective burial ground of St. Patrick, St. Colmcille and St. Brigid, in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland

In light of the impending publication of Sr Lucia's biography, A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary, I thought it would be timely to revisit some earlier material posted on this blog about the prophecies of St. Patrick, which also seems to tie into the events seen by the last visionary of Fatima at Tuy, 1944, when she was instructed by Our Lady to write down the contents of the Third Secret. As is by now widely known by readers of this blog, Sr Lucia witnessed a devastating tsunami type event during this vision, which appears to be a prelude to the final passover of the Church detailed in the Third Secret, which describes the martyrdom of a pope followed by clergy, religious and laity, in what can only be the final persecution of Christians under the Antichrist. It seems that the content of the 1944 Tuy apparition is in some way related to the interpretation of the secret itself, which Our Lady had order Sr. Lucia not to commit to writing at the same time as the Third Secret:

"...be at peace and write what they command you to, but not that which you were given to understand about its meaning,’ intending to allude to the meaning of the vision that the Virgin herself had revealed to her."

If this 1944 Tuy apparition is in some way related to the content of the Third Secret itself, then we are prompted to compare the unifying motifs which are found in both visions - that of the description of the dazzling light of God:

‘I felt my spirit flooded by a light-filled mystery which is God and in Him I saw and heard: the point of the flame-like lance which detaches, touches the axis of the earth and it [the earth] shakes: mountains, cities, towns and villages with their inhabitants are buried. The sea, rivers and clouds leave their bounds, they overflow, flood and drag with them into a whirlpool, houses and people in a number unable to be counted; it is the purification of the world from the sin it is immersed in. Hatred, ambition, cause destructive wars.
(The Tuy apparition of 3rd January, 1944)

And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark... (The Third Part of the Secret of Fatima, 3rd January, 1944) It seems that the above parallel descriptions of the dazzling light which represents the radiance of God are meant to be viewed side by side here, and is intended to provide the reader with some sort of chronological indicator as to the sequence of end time events contained in the Third Secret. In the Third Secret, we are told that the final persecution of Christians under the Antichrist follows a vision of the light of God, while in the 1944 apparition, the appearance of the radiance of God is followed by a cataclysmic tsunami event.  We are thus prompted to connect both events together, and link the tsunami seen in the 1944 vision as being in some way related to the end time persecution of Christians under the Antichrist. This sequence of events also appears in an ancient prophecy attributed to St. Patrick, which foretells the destruction of Ireland by the sea seven years before the end of the end of the world, in order to spare the Irish from the reign of the Antichrist:

These are the three prayers of Patrick, as they were delivered to us by the Hibernians, entreating that all should be received on the day of judgment, if we should repent even in the last days of our life. 

That he should not be shut up in hell. That barbarian nations should never have the rule over us. That no one shall conquer us, that is the Scots, before seven years previous to the day of judgment, because seven years before the judgment we shall be destroyed in the sea, this is the third.

 

This prophecy can be traced back to original documents dating from the 7th century (Tirechan's untitled memoirs of St. Patrick), which are based on the The Book of Ultan - an earlier now lost source written by a disciple of Patrick himself (the full text of Tierchan's work can be found online here). The prayer that "no barbarian nations" should ever have rule over Ireland, has so far proved true in the fact that it has only ever been conquered by Christian nations. We should also note that the word "Scots" here refers to the Irish people rather than the present sense of the term. The Irish were referred to as Scoti in Latin, and Irish rule over Northern Britain during the Dark Ages gradually saw the term being transferred to that country.

This prediction of the end-time flood of Ireland is often associated with another prophecy attributed to St. Colmcille (who is also known by his Latin name St. Columba).

 

I concede a favour to them without exception, 
and St Patrick also did concede the same; 
that seven years before the last day, 
the sea shall submerge Eirin by one inundation

The above prophecy is believed to be taken from a 9th century document titled Colum Cille cecinit, but so far the earliest source it can be traced back to is O'Kearney, N. The Prophecies of Ss. Columbkille, Maeltamlacht, Ultan, Seadhna, Coireall, Bearcan, Malachy, &tc (Dublin: John O’Daly, 1856) – a book which is known to contain many spurious prophecies formulated as rhetoric for the 1798 Irish rebellion. It is possible that this quatrain is based on an earlier source or tradition, such as the Leabhar Breac, but currently its origins remains untraceable. It is unlikely that the original prophecy was made by St. Colmcille, but instead may have developed from the earlier, almost certainly authentic literature concerning the life of St. Patrick.

The prophecy of Ireland being destroyed by end-time floods is intimately related to the other material in Public and private revelation which tells of an eschatological inundation, and seems to be inextricably linked to the threat posed by the collapse of the volcano Cumbre Vieja into the Atlantic ocean (see the earlier post Mega-tsunami, where I show how this event is connected with the "great mounatin, burning with fire" being thrown into the sea in Rev 8:8, as well as several other biblical passages).

As we can see from the diagram below, Ireland is one of the countries that would be most affected be a mega-tsunami generated by the collapse of the volcano Cumbre Vieja in the Canary Islands.

According to a long standing Christian prophetic tradition, the tribulation period at the end-time which sees the rise to power of the Antichrist, will last for a total of seven years. The fact that the prophecy of St. Patrick foretells that Ireland would be destroyed by the sea seven years before the last day in order to spare the Irish from the reign of the Antichrist, suggests that the Beast ascends to world domination as a direct consequence of the catastrophic flooding caused by the lateral collapse of the volcano Cumbre Vieja into the Atlantic Ocean. The Beast therefore literally emerges from the chaos of the sea:

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. (Rev 13:1)

 

Another even more obscure prophecy attributed to St. Patrick appears to foretell the previously unthinkable - a time when Ireland would lose its faith in Christ. Sadly, this prophecy pretty much describes the current state of our beautiful island, which to a large extent, is now shunning the Roman Catholic faith.  What was once before a inextricable part of Irish national identity, is now subject to the calumny of the growing anti-clericalism in the Irish media, which has now filtered out into wider society. The prophecy appears in chapter CLXXV of the vita by the Cistercian hagiographer Jocelyn of Furness (fl. 1175-1214):

The different States of Hibernia are in a Heavenly Vision
shown unto the Saint.

 

 

And the man of God anxiously desired and earnestly prayed that he might be certified of the present and the future state of Hibernia, to the end that he might be assured of the faith, or of the value that his labors bore in the sight of God. Then the Lord heard the desire of his heart, and manifested the same unto him by an evident revelation; for while he was engaged in prayer, and the heart of his mind was opened, he beheld the whole island as it were a flaming fire ascending unto heaven; and he heard the angel of God saying unto him: "Such at this time is Hibernia in the sight of the Lord." And after a little space he beheld in all parts of the island even as mountains of fire stretching unto the skies. And again after a little space he beheld as it were candles burning, and after a while darkness intervened; and then he beheld fainter lights, and at length he beheld coals lying hidden here and there, as reduced unto ashes, yet still burning. And the angel added: "What thou seest here shown, such shall be the people of Hibernia." Then the saint, exceedingly weeping, often repeated the words of the Psalmist, saying: "Whether will God turn himself away for ever, and will he be no more entreated? Shall his mercy come to an end from generation to generation? Shall God forget to be merciful, and shut up his mercy in his displeasure?" And the angel said, "Look toward the northern side, and on the right hand of a height shalt thou behold the darkness dispersed from the face of the light which thenceforth will arise." Then the saint raised his eyes, and behold, he at first saw a small light arising in Ulydia, the which a long time contended with the darkness, and at length dispersed it, and illumined with its rays the whole island. Nor ceased the light to increase and to prevail, even until it had restored to its former fiery state all Hibernia. Then was the heart of the saint filled with joy, and his heart with exultation, giving thanks for all these things which had been shown unto him: and he understood in the greatness of this fiery ardor of the Christian faith the devotion and the zeal of religion, wherewith those islanders burned. By the fiery mountains he understood the men who would be holy in their miracles and their virtues, eminent in their preachings and their examples; by the lessening of the light, the decrease of holiness; by the darkness that covered the land, the infidelity which would prevail therein; by the intervals of delay, the distances of the succeeding times. But the people think the period of darkness was that in which Gurmundus and Turgesius, heathen princes of Norwegia, conquered and ruled in Hibernia; and in those days, the saints, like coals covered with ashes, lay hidden in caves and dens from the face of the wicked, who pursued them like sheep unto the slaughter. Whence it happened that differing rites and new sacraments, which were contrary to the ecclesiastical institutes, were introduced into the church by many prelates who were ignorant of the divine law. But the light first arising from the north, and after long conflict exterminating the darkness, those people assert to be Saint Malachy, who presided first in Dunum, afterward in Ardmachia, and reduced the island unto the Christian law. On the other hand, the people of Britain ascribe this light to their coming, for that then the church seemed under their rule to be advanced unto a better state; and that then religion seemed to be planted and propagated, and the sacraments of the church and the institutes of the Christian law to be observed with more regular observance. But I propose not the end of this contention, neither do I prevent it, thinking that the discussion and the decision thereof should be left unto the divine judgment. 
(See here for the full vita of St. Patrick by Jocelyn of Furness)


It is uncertain whether this prophecy was actually made by St. Patrick himself, since it does not appear in the earlier works on the saint's life. The other more well-known prophecy of St. Patrick (which foretold that Ireland would suffer from a terrible deluge seven years before the end of the world to spare the Irish from the reign of the Antichrist) is of far greater provenance. But it certainly interesting, given the current state of affairs in Ireland.
Jocelyn attempts to make sense out of the prophecy by linking it to the appearance of the Viking invaders, who ravaged the coasts of Ireland in the early Middle Ages. The light in "Ulydia" (an archaic name for Ulster) which brings about the reversal of the apostasy is rightly connected by Jocelyn to St. Malachy, who was the abbot of Bangor Abbey in the north of Ireland, just outside of Belfast (unfortunately, nothing of the original building remains of Bangor Abbey today, other than a stump of a wall in the grounds of the modern Anglican abbey). St. Malachy had ensured unity of the Church in Ireland with the Roman Catholic Church by travelling to Rome to obtain pallia for the sees of Armagh and Cashel. And in his famous account of the saint's life, St. Bernard of Clairvaux tells how St. Malachy had helped to restore the Church in Ireland, which had fallen into a terrible state of decay.

The above prophecy is based on the story of St. Patrick lighting the Paschal Fire on the Hill of Slane circa 433AD, in opposition to the pagan festival of Beltane practised by Laoghaire, the High King of Tara. This defiant action was an instrumental moment in the conversion of Ireland. 
This prophecy attributed to St. Patrick also appears to be associated with the Great Apostasy foretold in Scripture, which speaks of a general falling away of Christians from the faith towards the end of the world. 
To see the work of St. Patrick being reversed in such a terrible fashion is something cruel to behold for any true Irish person. But through the intercession of St. Patrick, the once fiery zeal of the Irish faithful will one day return to the shores of our beloved land, and the religion which our ancestors strived and died to protect will once again reflourish on the verdant pastures of the Emerald Isle.

A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary

Sr. Lucia's biography, A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary, is finally being published in English on 22nd March, 2015 by the World Apostolate of Fatima. This biography is based upon the personal diary of the Seer of Fatima, and contains the details of the vision she witnessed in Tuy, Spain, 1944, when she was commanded by Our Lady to write down the Third Secret. This vision seems to accord with the purported words of St. John Paul II at Fulda in 1980, who when asked about the contents of the Third Secret and why it wasn't being published, he stated that since there was a "message" connected to the Third Secret which described a tsunami which takes the lives of "millions", it was not desirous to have its contents fully revealed to the public:

 "Given the seriousness of the contents, my predecessors in the Petrine office diplomatically preferred to postpone publication so as not to encourage the world power of Communism to make certain moves. On the other hand, it should be sufficient for all Christians to know this: if there is a message in which it is written that the oceans will flood whole areas of the earth, and that from one moment to the next millions of people will perish, truly the publication of such a message is no longer something to be so much desired."

We now know that there was at least some element of truth to these words, since the 1944 Tuy apparition was accompanied by a vision of just such an event, in which Sr. Lucia saw an innumerable multitude of people being swept away in a huge deluge, followed by "destructive wars" caused by hatred and ambition:

"I felt my spirit flooded by a light-filled mystery which is God and in Him I saw and heard: the point of the flame-like lance which detaches, touches the axis of the earth and it [the earth] shakes: mountains, cities, towns and villages with their inhabitants are buried. The sea, rivers and clouds leave their bounds, they overflow, flood and drag with them into a whirlpool, houses and people in a number unable to be counted; it is the purification of the world from the sin it is immersed in. Hatred, ambition, cause destructive wars."

The only type of tsunami which would be capable of taking the lives of "millions" is that of a mega-tsunami, which are usually generated by lateral volcanic collapses - such as the threat posed by Cumbre Vieja in the Canary Islands. In my book, I argue that this volcanic eruption will be triggered by the "eschatological earthquake" described in the Bible - which appears to be the exact same event that Sr. Lucia describes as the cause of the tsunami she had witnessed during this vision - which occurs after the angel touches the axis of the earth with his flaming sword. The Apocalypse also tells us that the destruction of "Babylon" will occur as a direct consequence of the eschatological earthquake:

And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.

(Rev 16:18-19)

And of course the destruction of Babylon itself is caused by a "huge mountain, burning with fire" being thrown into the sea (Rev 8:8):

Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more"...

(Rev 18:21)

In my book (which was first published in 2011), I proposed that the eschatological earthquake which is prophesied to take place in Jerusalem during the end time, would in fact be the primary cause of this volcanic eruption in the Canary Islands, and in the aftermath of these events, the Antichrist will seize power in Europe (which will most likely under direct control of Russia - which Sr. Lucia foretold would be the instrument of God's chastisement). The exact sequence of events seen by Sr. Lucia in this recently published private revelation can be independently determined from Scripture by combining the details concerning the destruction of Babylon in the Apocalypse with a parallel passage in the Book of Ezekiel - which describes how the eschatological earthquake will cause the collapse of entire mountains, leading to the summoning of a (flaming?) sword against "Gog" during the battle of Armageddon:

For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every man's sword will be against his brother.

(Ezek 38:19-21)

So it seems that the greatest earthquake in human history will be quickly followed by the most catastrophic volcanic eruption in human history, leading to the destruction of "Babylon" and subsequent rise to power of the Antichrist - the Beast who emerges from the watery chaos of the sea:

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)

The following is the relevant material from my book on this subject:

If this earthquake in some way triggered an eruption of Cumbre Vieja, which in turn generated a mega-tsunami, this would explain how the "cities of the nations"  would be destroyed by this one event.
Scientists have recently theorized that seismic events of a strong magnitude can lead to wider geological instability around the world, and may even cause a chain reaction that can trigger volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions have followed high magnitude earthquakes in the past, and academics are still debating whether a link can be established between the two. If such a link does exist, then a particularly strong earthquake centred on or near Jerusalem may theoretically trigger a volcanic eruption on the Canary Islands.
The city of Jerusalem lies very close to the seismic fault line of the Jordan Rift Valley, which borders the unstable region between the African and Arabian tectonic plates. The Jordan Rift Valley, which is home to the Dead Sea – the lowest geographical point on dry land, has been particularly active in the past. Some major seismic events in this area have even been recorded in the Bible. The prophets Amos and Zechariah for example, inform us that a major earthquake struck the region of Judah during the reign of Uzziah in the mid-8th century BC (Amos 1:1; Zech 14:5).

But the Apocalypse tells us that the eschatological earthquake that will strike "the great city" (which Zechariah specifically identifies as Jerusalem) will be the greatest such event in human history (Rev 16:18). In order for an event such as this to occur, there would have to be a massive slippage of either the African or Arabian tectonic plates, or a collision between the two. If the African plate shifted as a result of this colossal earthquake, then it could theoretically cause a surge of magmatism in the volcanic hotspot at the other end of the same plate in the Canary Islands. This could then trigger an eruption of Cumbre Vieja which would cause a lateral collapse of its western flank, generating a mega-tsunami that would devastate the eastern shorelines of North and South America. If this brought about the demise of the USA as the world‘s leading superpower, then as we proposed earlier, it would leave a political vacuum that could be exploited by the Antichrist, who will then set about creating the conditions for the battle of Armageddon.
(Unveiling the Apocalypse: Prophecy in Catholic Tradition, p210)