Pope Leo XIII and the Prayer to Saint Michael

I would like to recommend an excellent book by Kevin Symonds, titled Pope Leo XIII and the Prayer to St. Michael.  This recently published book, which examines the history behind the composition of the Prayer to St. Michael, presents a wealth of scholarly evidence which attests to the authenticity of the vision of Pope Leo XIII.  The author has obviously undertaken a painstaking amount of research for this book, and has translated several key documents which were previously unavailable in English.  A fresh batch of information is brought to light here, including additional material emanating from the eyewitness testimony provided by Fr. Pechenino, and a homily on Pope Leo's vision attributed to Cardinal Pedro Segura y Saenz. Among these new findings we find the surprising fact that the earliest accounts of this vision records that Satan had actually requested a period of 50-60 years in which to destroy the Church, rather than 75-100 years. 

While these documents which Symonds has unearthed are undoubtedly the earliest of their kind, and therefore possess the strongest claim to the full truth on this matter, we cannot fail to notice that this contradicts the common perception that Pope Leo's prophetic vision comprised the entirety of the 20th century, rather than just the first half of it.  On the surface, this discovery appears to indicate that the period of Satan's greater power ended around the middle of the 20th century, at the close of the Second World War. Once again, such a scenario appears to contradict the actual sequence of historical events, and it is plainly evident that the true grip of Satan's greater power only seemed to really take hold in the latter half of the 20th century, after the events of the Second World War, when the Sexual Revolution which took place in the 1960's coincided with a massive decline in the Church - paving the way for current apostasy we are still enduring today.

Symonds is solely concerned with presenting the facts on this matter however, and his efforts are to be commended, as they allow us to see this prophecy from a completely fresh perspective.  I have been very fortunate in the timing of the publication of this book, as its findings have helped greatly with my own research for the forthcoming new version of my book, titled Unveiling the Apocalypse: The Final Passover of the Church.  One of the central features of this new version is how the prophetic vision of Pope Leo XIII is directly related to the unbinding of Satan described in Rev 20, so Symond's work has been of enormous benefit. In The Final Passover of the Church, I argue that the 50-60 years requested by Satan during Pope Leo's vision was actually only Satan's first attempt to destroy the Church. If we compare this prophecy with its primary inspiration in the Book of Job, the exact manner in which Satan tests Job is comprised of two distinct parts.  In his first attempt, Satan claims Job's children by tearing down the house of their elder brother. After Satan's first attempt fails, he then comes back to request another chance to destroy Job's faith, this time by afflicting the prophet himself with a plague of terrible sores:

And the LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.   

(Job 2:2-10)

So if the prophecy of Leo XIII corresponds with the trials of Job, it would follow that Satan would have returned before the throne of God to request another attempt to destroy the Church after the period of 50-60 years had elapsed, this time by changing tack - manifesting a plague of sores upon the Church itself, rather than the physical destruction of its children through war. Such an interpretation would explain why there was such a sudden swerve in the middle of the 20th century, going from the two world wars in the first half, to the modern apostasy in the second, which yielded not only great changes within the Church itself, but also saw the rise of the sexual abuse crisis, as well as the worldwide resurgence in occultism brought about by the New Age Movement.

We can find some evidence to support this hypothesis in Symond's work, which contains the account of the vision of Pope Leo given by Cardinal Segura, who provides an additional detail about Satan's first request of 50-60 years, stating that "God granted that period and said they would talk again at a later time…" (Symonds, K. Pope Leo XIII and the Prayer to St. Michael, p50).  This strongly suggests that the conversation between God and the Devil would be continued after the failure of the first attempt, just like during the trials of Job.  And if Satan was granted a further period of 50-60 years during this second attempt, this would bring the total amount of time up to 100-120 years, which is much more in line with the more well known version of this prophecy, and this revised figure fits much better with the actual unfolding of historical events.

The beginning of this time period appears to have been signified by Pope Leo's consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1899, which was requested by Christ Himself when He appeared to Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart in 1898.  This parallels the 100-year time period between the request to consecrate France to the Sacred Heart during Christ's apparition to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the beginning of the French Revolution.  This interpretation identifies a major turning point in the period of Satan's greater power (when blemishes would be manifested on the Church itself) at around the year 1960, which ties us into the significance of Our Lady's words concerning when the Third Secret should have been originally published. 

Satan's request of 50-60 years to destroy the Church is also extremely similar to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich's prophecy of the unbinding of Satan towards the end of the world, which she seen during a vision of the binding of Satan during Christ's Descent into Hell:

In the centre of Hell I saw a dark and horrible-looking abyss, and into this Lucifer was cast, after being first strongly secured with chains; thick clouds of sulphureous black smoke arose from its fearful depths, and enveloped his frightful form in the dismal folds, thus effectually concealing him from every beholder. God himself had decreed this; and I was likewise told, if I remember right, that he will be unchained for a time fifty or sixty years before the year of Christ 2000. The dates of many other events were pointed out to me which I do not now remember; but a certain number of demons are to be let loose much earlier than Lucifer, in order to tempt men, and to serve as instruments of the divine vengeance. I should think that some must be loosened even in the present day, and others will be set free in a short time.

Blessed Emmerich's vision can therefore be completely reconciled with the vision of Pope Leo XIII if we are to understand the period of the unbinding of Satan above as lasting for 50-60 years, starting at an unspecified date before the year 2000, rather than taking place 50-60 years before the turn of the millennium.  This would mean that the 50-60 year timeframe mentioned by Blessed Emmerich is one and the same as the period of Satan's greater power, rather than placing the unleashing of the Devil at around the years 1940-1950.  Interpreted in this way, the true meaning of Blessed Emmerich's words would be "he will be unchained for a time [period lasting] fifty or sixty years before the year of Christ 2000".

If the period of Satan's greater power consists of two separate lots, just like the trials of Job, bringing the total up to 100-120 years, then it is interesting to note the timing of the end of this time period points not only to the significance of the turn of the millennium, but also to the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917.  In The Final Passover of the Church, I hope to show how both the separate figures of 100 and 120 years are of equal importance in this regard, as the defeat of Satan at the end time is actually also comprised of two separate events.  The first is the eschatological expulsion of the Devil from heaven, when Satan is cast down to the earth by the Archangel Michael.  This event, which takes place at the end of the period of Satan's unbinding, is the ultimate fulfilment of the Prayer to St. Michael, and is marked on earth by the appearance of the signs in heaven - all of which occurred at the turn of the millennium.  Once he is cast down to the earth, the Devil becomes even more enraged at the Woman Adorned with the Sun, and spews a flood out from his mouth in a last attempt to completely sweep her away.  

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 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. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 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!”

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.  (Rev 12:7-16)

If the appearance of the signs in heaven occurred at the turn of the millennium in order to herald when Satan has been cast down to earth, this means that this is the time period we are currently experiencing, and explains the significance of the 100-year element of this prophecy.  However the flood sent out of the mouth of the Ancient Serpent is eventually swallowed up by the earth itself, which marks the second defeat suffered by Satan at the end of the period of his unbinding, and symbolises the restoration of the Church by the Two Witnesses during the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  If this prophecy is related to the passing of the 120-year element of this timeframe, then we have every reason to hope that the words of Pope Benedict XVI will ring true:

May the seven years which separate us from the centenary of the apparitions hasten the fulfilment of the prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. (Homily of Pope Benedict XVI, Fatima, May 13th, 2010)