St. Malachy, The Prophecy of the Popes, and 'Doomsday' 2012

St. Malachy, The Prophecy of the Popes, and 'Doomsday' 2012

Today, as never before, the planet is focused on the arrival of one particular date --- December 21, 2012 --- the day the ancient Mayan long-count calendar will end. Indeed, for centuries, millions have wondered what the day will portend. The uncertainty has been fed by the remarkable number of predictions spanning hundreds of years, in which many religions and cultures have suggested the day will bring a cataclysmic end to the world.However, despite the concentrated attention on the various predictions for this date, few seem to be aware of the end times prophecies of an obscure 12th century Irish saint and mystic named Malachy.Yet, could it be that Malachy's prophecies offer the most significant proof that the looming "Doomsday" date is real, and provide the greatest insight into what it will mean?Maybe so.The origin of Malachy's prophecies traces to the year 1139 when Malachy travelled to Rome to visit Pope Innocent II. Malachy was a successor of St. Patrick, and served as the Archbishop of Armagh and leader of the Irish Church in the diocese established by St. Patrick 700 years earlier. When Malachy arrived in Rome, he petitioned the pope for the pallia vestments to serve as further evidence of his authority over the Irish Church. (The petition was not granted on that visit, but was later awarded posthumously, and Malachy would later become the first Irish saint canonized in 1190 by the Bishop of Rome.) Before returning to Ireland, Malachy reportedly had a vision of a line of the next 112 popes who would follow Innocent, beginning with Pope Celestine II, until the end of time. The visions were written down and given to Pope Innocent as a gift, and according to legend, were locked away in The Secret Vatican Archives until rediscovered four hundred years later.The prophecies were first published by Arnold de Wyon, a Benedictine historian, in 1595, as part of his book Lignum Vitæ. However, skeptics have challenged their authenticity for centuries due to their being hidden for so long, with some claiming they are a forgery, and others claiming they were written by the famed French mystic, Nostradamus (d. 1566). Irrespective of the date or origin of the prophecies, many believe they've proved very accurate identifiers of the line of popes, both before and after their discovery in 1590. Indeed, although the prophecies are written as cryptic epigrams in Latin, and like most prophecies, can be esoteric and interpreted subjectively, a fair reading suggests they have been remarkably accurate in describing key identifying details about the line of successive popes.Although it's true that St. Malachy's biographer and close friend and contemporary, St. Bernard of Clairveaux, did not mention the prophecies of the popes, it's possible he may not have known about them, or may have kept them a secret at St. Malachy's request. However, St. Bernard's biography fostered belief among many that Malachy could have been the author of the prophecies because Bernard wrote

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