4

May 13, 2017 will see the 100th anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima at Fatima, Portugal. Many of the prophecies may or may not be fulfilled according to how an individual interprets them. This is not of any concern to me in this question.

As the anniversary of Fatima is drawing near , I noticed that Our Lord appeared to St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), between the years 1673 and 1689. What was interesting to me was the fact that on June 17, 1689 Our Lord wanted France to be consecrated to his Sacred Heart:

Our Lord also told the saint to tell the Catholic King Louis XIV that France must be solemnly consecrated to His Sacred Heart. This command, too, was ignored by the king and also by his heirs and descendants. As a result, France – first daughter of the Church – was not "triumphant over all the enemies of Holy Church" when France was besieged by the “enemies of the Church.” - The Example of the King of France

What was interesting in all this is the fact that on the 100th anniversary of this particular apparition, Louis XVI of France lost his crown:

Exactly one hundred years later, on June 17, 1789, the reigning Catholic king of France (Louis XVI) was stripped of his kingly power and authority by the godless “Third Estate” of the French Revolution. Thus the Reign of Terror went into full motion.

My question is this: Are there any Catholic authors that have written of the possibility of other Catholic prophecies being connected (fulfilled) to exactly one century intervals (date to date) from the date of any other particular apparitions or prophecies mentioned?

1
  • 1
    The blog you cite says that Alacoque received a vision on exactly June 17 1689, but this site says that she wrote a letter to Mother de Saumaise on that date, referring to a somewhat earlier vision that called for France to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart. This throws into doubt any divine connection to the event of 1789. The discrepancy could even suggest that the source used in the blog and the source used in the other site post-date 1789. It's happened before. Nov 13, 2016 at 21:18

1 Answer 1

1

I found this as a source on the miracle of the sun wiki and it might at least lead to the start of an answer. Not so much in terms of good things happening in centuries, maybe two centuries.

From the perspective of 2017, the timing also seems propitious. The apparitions took place four centuries after the start of the Protestant Reformation in 1517, and two centuries after the founding of the first Grand Lodge of the Freemasons in London in 1717, milestones in the shift from Catholicism to religious indifferentism. On the very day of the miracle of the sun in 1917, the Petrograd Soviet took military control in Russia, paving the way for atheistic communism to begin its ruinous domination of much of the world, persecuting the Church and leading to the cruel deaths of tens of millions of people.

Fr Andrew Pinsent - Fatima at 100 - Catholic Herald

So, that's 1517, 1717, 1917, so I guess we might get another hundred years before something else happens.

Semi-likewise Pope John Paul II published an encyclical called Centesimus Annus which was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's awesome encyclical Rerum Novarum. But there was also a 40 year commemorative encyclical (named as such) and a 90 year commemorative encyclical (not named for the year). This could be because 100 and 40 are "important" to Catholics, 90 not so much, or because no one knows the Latin for 90. But one thing is for sure, Pope John Paul II wanted to make it clear that everything Pope Leo XIII said would happen in 1892 did happen if the forces of Capitalism continued unbridled, the servile state became the norm and separate classes of laws were made for the rich and poor. I don't think anyone particularly looks forward to 2068's told-you-so commemoration of Humane Vitae, but there was a minor hubub at its 40th.

I don't know if you can blend Church commemorations with supernatural events, but the Church is a supernatural force and we are spiritual beings. It's clear from our physiology that 100 years is a marker in the natural lifespan of man and sociology and the Bible places 40 years as a marker in the natural lifespan of generations. So the time in which it takes a prophecy to be fulfilled could very well 100 years.

Given the conversion of calendaring systems though, leap years etc..., it seems that things happening to the day would be a bit of a game that we would be making up for God to play.

1
  • 2
    Pope Leo XIII had his now famous vision of Satan's desire to destroy the Catholic Church. It occurred after he celebrated Mass on October 13, 1884. that is exactly 33years prior to the Miracle of the Sun (October 13, 1917).
    – Ken Graham
    Oct 14, 2017 at 20:36

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .