Prophecies of the Popes by Saint Malachy

When Pope Benedict XVI was elected in April 2005, the world of journalism grabbed hold of Saint Malachy's prophecies from 1139. His last prophecy was of Pope Benedict XVI and points toward the end of the age.

Saint Malachy gave these prophecies while visiting Pope Innocent II in Rome. He had a vision of the popes, during which he produced a short phrase in Latin given to each one.

I took a look at all the prophecies and Popes, starting with Pope Celestine II who reigned from 1143 to 1144. Since none of us lived backed then, I decided to focus just on the last three of our time.

Pope John Paul I

His Latin phrase is De medietate Lunae, meaning "of the half moon" or "of the middleness of the moon." Pope John Paul I, whose real name was Albino Liciani, was born in Canale d'Agordo, dioceseof Belluno. The name is like "bella luna" which means beautiful moon. He was elected pope on the day after the moon reached its last quarter on August 26, 1978, and reigned for only 33 days. He died the day before the next new moon, reigning for just over one lunar cycle. He was also born on the day of the half moon, October 17, 1912, when the moon was in its first quarter.

There is also a play on his name: Albino related to albus, "white" and Luciani perhaps like lux, lucis, or light, thus meaning "white light" like the moon reflecting the sun.

Pope John Paul II

He reigned from 1978 to 2005. His Latin phrase is De labore Solis meaning "of the labour of the sun." Labore Solis translates into "travails of the sun" which is often referred to as a solar eclipse. Pope John Paul II, whose real name was Karol Wojtyla, was born May 18, 1920 during a solar eclipse and was buried on April 8, 2005, during a rare eclipse over the Americas.

Other interpretations point to him as being the first pope from Eastern Europe, where the sun rises. Also, he was the first pope to travel around the world (like the sun) and the first to have spent much of his life under communism, thus labore and solis referring to "the sun of the workers" (the star of Communism). Lastly, he labored in the sun working in a quarry during World War II.

Pope Benedict XVI