THE SEVEN AGES OF THE CHURCH

Monsignor Richard Williamson. Conference given on September 17, 2004.

The situation today is desperate from the standpoint of faith. The devil is apparently
winning, God is increasingly cast out of His creation, men, full of pride, are
driving the world to its ruin: this is very clear. And we are approaching an event we do not know what.
but there will be a catastrophe, a disaster... we don't know which, but many people feel it. And apparently, not
there is nothing that can stop this.

What is happening today makes no sense. Because Creation is from God and God created everything for the
men go to heaven, but what do we see today? Corruption (the corruption, for example, of youth, the
corruption of customs, the increasingly growing confusion in spirits). If God has been lost, if
God seemingly does not act; what sense does this situation we are living make? In particular about the
corruption of youth, how can today's men know the truth? And how can they choose a
Isn't it true that you don't know?

So, what sense does this situation we are living in make?

That is why I believe that this analysis of the seven epochs of the Church not only allows us to glimpse a meaning, but also
until a plan and a future. Let's see what it's about.

The idea of these seven epochs is from a German in the first half of the 17th century, the Venerable Barthelemy.
Holzhauser. For the Church, he is not yet a Saint, but he was a very good priest, very holy and just like
Mons. Lefebvre encouraged the priests to live in community. He realized (like Mons. Lefebvre) that
isolated priests can only resist the influences of today's world with great difficulty.
Priests have to live together in a community to support and help each other. He did a lot.
In this sense. Then we see him as a reformer or at least a great helper of the German clergy.
in the terrible years of the Thirty Years' War (from 1618 to 1648). And he wrote a commentary on the
Revelation, the last book of the Bible.

I was convinced that I was writing this 'under inspiration.' I said: 'These are not my ideas, I receive these ideas.'
supposing that saying this doesn't mean that I was truly inspired, but when reaching chapter 15,
Verse 4, he stopped writing, saying: 'I have no more inspiration.'
What we will do here is essentially your commentary on chapters 2 and 3 of the Apocalypse. They are those
chapters that present the seven Letters to the seven churches (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia and Laodicea). Holzhauser says that each Letter corresponds to a period of the Church, that is: seven
Letters, for seven eras of the Church. And it adds that in those seven eras a certain beauty is seen, a
symmetry. That the history of the Church from Christ to the Antichrist is like a curve in which there are three
times that rise and three times that fall.

First period: The one of the Apostles. The early Church had a lot of strength, a lot of vigor. The first period of
the Church was that of the Apostles, from the year 33 let's suppose, the year of the death of Our Lord, until
the year 70, when the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem occurs by the Romans (the public end and
evidence of the religion of Moses, from the Old Testament.

That is to say, that the Old Testament ended with the death of Our Lord on the Cross despite everything.
what today's Jews pretend. It is completely false that the Old Testament is still valid. It has died with
Our Lord on the Cross, and the New Testament came into effect at that very moment. But nevertheless,
we see in the Acts of the Apostles that Saint Peter and Saint John still frequented the Temple, because the
worship in the Temple continued until the destruction of Jerusalem. And from there the Jews dispersed throughout the
world_ And its return today is something "allowed" by God.

The Apostles, between the years 33 and 70, sowed faith throughout the known world at that time. St.
Juan lived on after the year 70, but in general, that was the time of the Apostles. A time of
seeds

Second era: The era of the martyrs. Era of 'watering'. Watering with the blood of the martyrs, since the year 70.
until 313. There was faith, faith was known, but the Roman Empire, particularly in all its domains, resisted. And
There were ten more or less fierce persecutions from the first of Nero to the tenth of Diocletian.
The empire was against the Christians and murdered them: the martyrs appeared. Their number did not
He knows exactly, but there were a lot. Let's think, would we be capable of dying for our faith? In
Of course! In England, Catholics always sing that 'We will die, we are going to die...' and the
Old ladies sing 'Let's die...' And all the bourgeois who sing 'Let's die' are quite comfortable.
By the way. And the blood of the martyrs was the foundation of the Church, the foundations of the Church. So,
this was the era of the martyrs (years 70 to 313). It ended in the year 313 with the battle north of Rome in the
that Emperor Constantine defeated Maximilian, who drowned in the river, and Constantine became the emperor
unique of the Empire. And he defeated "in hoc signo", in "the sign of Christ". Christ had given him his victory. Then,
Constantine converted, the Roman Empire converted, and a new era of the Church began.
the State was no longer against the Church.
Third period: The one of the doctors. The one of the Doctrine of the Church. When the State is against the Church.
And when it is in favor of the Church, two different situations arise. In the year 313, the era began.
Constantiniana of the Church, to which Father Congar (a fierce French modernist of Vatican II) said that the
Vatican II "had put an end to it." That is to say, the Constantinian era began with the victory of
Emperor Constantine and the third period of the Church as well.

Since the State was no longer against the martyrs but in favor, the martyrs disappeared from the
mouths of the lions. Then, as the devil could no longer swallow Christians with the lions, he had to
to change tactics. And instead of attacking the bodies, he attacked the heads... he attacked the doctrine. And the third
the time of the Church was the time of great heresies. Arianism was the first and the most terrible, but
there were also others (such as Nestorianism, etc.).

It was the great era of the doctrine of the Church. Not of course of the invention of the doctrine nor of its
discovery, because the doctrine was discovered or revealed before the death of the last Apostle. It was the
time of the explicit declaration of the dogma. And this process continued afterwards, each heresy pushed the
Catholics to explain more clearly the aspect of the Catholic doctrine that had been attacked in their time.
different times, different attacks, different defenses, different doctors. But many doctors of the
The church belonged to that third era. That's why Holzhauser called it 'the era of the doctors.'

Three of the four great Latin doctors and the four great Greek doctors, that is, seven of the eight
great doctors of the Church belonged to this era. The Greeks: St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St.
Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Gregory of Arianzo. The Latins: Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, and Saint Jerome. All
belonged to the era in which, faced with the doctrinal attack of the devil (through heretics), the Church
he had to explain and deepen his doctrine. And it is the time of the "consubstantial", those invented words
by Christians to express reality.

But the reality is of Christ, and it was revealed to the Apostles. A truth has been revealed and needs to be explained.
every time better that truth
There are Catholics who believe that definitions create truths. No: first of all, reality. Secondly
place, the truth that expresses reality, a true proposition that expresses reality. But without reality,
there is no truth.

Thirdly, a definition, which comes after reality and truth, and the definition does not make truth.
of reality. It is reality that creates the reality of truth, reality makes the truth of truth.
It follows the definition, and the definition adds nothing but the certainty of truth - Certainty, for
us; not reality itself, but the certainty for us.

Definitions are very useful for believers. But regarding the truth, they are not necessary, are they?
They change reality. Definitions make the truth appear, just like the snow that falls on a mountain.
The mountain does not change, but it makes it seen more clearly. Definition is nothing else. There is
Catholics who believe that the Pope can create a new truth with a new definition: no, there must be
subject the authorities of the Church to the truth.
So, doctors do not create the truths of the Church but express them better each time. Trinity (another
word invented by Catholics), consubstantial, and the concepts of nature and person are developed
completely, deepened by the Catholics, especially in this third period.
Fourth era: The era of Christianity. After the great rise of the Church in three epochs, now the Church is
it was in orbit, and flew for a thousand years: it was the fourth era, a very beautiful era of Christianity, of the
that today we feel so envious. In many ways, we would like to recreate Christianity. Like a
ideal yes, but depending on the circumstances, no, it is impossible. The men of that era are very different from
the men of today are different according to the eras. The very triumph of the Church changed men, and
the demon changed tactics.
Since that fourth period of the Church when the Church was the Queen of civilization, there has been no civilization without the
Church. Few heresies (martyrs yes) but many missions and the conversion of many nations. The nations
not only individuals were converted. In 496 Clovis in France, in 598 the conversion of the king of England,
the conversion of Germany, Ireland, many nations in this time. Even Sweden, Scandinavia, and Russia.
And all those beautiful conversions belonged to that triumph of the Church that we spoke of.

But later, let's say from 1300 onwards, there were signs of decline. Nominalism in philosophy; with the
In France, there has already been a de facto secularism, what we now call secularism.

As early as 1400, the great Dominican preacher Saint Vincent Ferrer was proclaiming that the end of the world was coming: 'The end
of the world is imminent, convert yourselves..." And he converted a lot of people because he was a thaumaturge, a great maker.
Of miracles. In 1400 he said: 'The end of the world is imminent.' He was wrong by six hundred years... a 'Little'
error. But it was just a small calendar mistake, because he saw that in the year 1400, before the end of the
Christianity, as we would think of it today, was already in a decline that would culminate with the Antichrist.
That is to say, the Saint, with his spiritual eyes, read in the events of his own time the end, where
it necessarily had to end. She saw the corruption and knew that she has to put an end to the Antichrist. And
Seeing this, it was so dramatic for him that he thought it was for tomorrow.
Likewise, today, we who see with somewhat spiritual eyes what is happening, know that it is horrible and
terrible and we think it has to end tomorrow. And we have been saying this for thirty years (since the years
sixty). We say: "It has to end, things cannot continue like this." And things go on, go on and
they continue... Until when?

San Vicente Ferrer saw what was happening in 1400, there was only a mistake in timing, but in fact, Christendom
it had been declining since the year 1300 from 1400...

Fifth era: The era of apostasy. In 1517, the rise of Protestantism with Luther took place. The end of
middle ages, the beginning of the modern times and the beginning of the fifth era of the Church. And that was the era
from apostasy. The faith was constantly declining. Then, unfortunately, it is completely
It's normal for faith to be constantly declining today. It's regrettable, it's not comfortable. If one has faith, it's not ...
comfortable because there is increasingly less faith around us, but it is 'normal'. Since Luther, it is normal.
There were three major episodes: 1517, Protestantism; 1717, the beginning of Freemasonry in London, and 1917, outbreak.
from communism in Russia. From Protestantism to liberalism; from liberalism to communism, it is a fall
inevitable.

From Protestantism to liberalism, the situation went from bad to even worse. But this fall of
Protestantism towards liberalism was inevitable, and so was liberalism towards communism.

Therefore, the fall of Protestantism in communism was the story of the fifth era of the Church.
apostasy). Today communism is the same revolution: from Luther to our days it is the same.
revolution that mutates, that is to say, that acquires another form and appearance (like a metamorphosis);

Communism has mutated in globalization. So today's globalization is the logical conclusion.

And this act allows us to see that from the immense grace given to humanity through the Incarnation of Christ,
The rise of their Church was normal. That there would be a triumph that lasted a long time, too.
Incarnation could not triumph for just fifty or five hundred years, no: it triumphed for a thousand years. But given the sin
original and the free will of men, the fall of this triumph was also normal. And if Holzhauser said that
He lived at the beginning of that era, we live at the end of this fifth era. What will follow? Corruption.
Today's is so great, deep and irreversible... How easy sin has become! The sins in the future.
family parents, for example. How will there be healthy families tomorrow? There are so many influences that are
destroying the family!

Men could change, but for that a global miracle would be needed. There will be a global miracle:
Garabandal. I believe it is authentic. It is not a matter of faith. It is a matter of opinion, and opposing opinions are
perfectly lawful. But for me, in this situation today, the triple prophecy of Garabandal takes on much
sense.

First: there will be a great announcement to awaken and reveal the truth when it has been so hidden by the
universities and above all the Church. A great warning that will allow everyone to see exactly where
they are before God, without dying, such is the first prophecy of Garabandal. Seeing the confusion of today, this
It makes a lot of sense to me. Many men today could stand before the Tribunal of God and say "
But, Lord, I did not know.” But after this warning, they will know how to save their souls.

Second: a great miracle, even greater than that of the sun at Fatima, which will last a quarter of an hour, said the
Virgin in Garabandal. And that she will leave a permanent sign in the mountains of Spain. In Fatima, it was seen the
miracle of the sun, but afterwards, there was nothing left. This time everyone will be able to go with their cameras and perhaps take a

image of that extraordinary event whose nature we do not know, but that will continue to reveal itself in
Garabandal.

So, with the warning and the miracle, there will be a great possibility for men to convert.

Third: a punishment. If men do not convert or if they fall back into sin, the third prophecy is a
punishment. And a terrifying punishment, corresponding to the sins of the end of this era. The story of the
humanity was once ended with the Flood in the times of Noah. We read in Genesis that men
they had corrupted their ways and only God could wash all that away and start anew, with the Ark. Noah tried
to explain things to his contemporaries and they mocked him. We would like to explain things to
our contemporaries either mock us or do not listen. It's as if we were speaking in Greek and they only
understood Latin. Today the language of faith and its concepts are strange to modern men. All are
Gentiles, sincere, have good intentions: they are all good. Before God… it's another story. God does not
see things like the men of today. Then, once there was a punishment that destroyed humanity. That
test that could happen again. There are many prophecies and the Venerable Holzhauser also spoke
of a terrible punishment that will take place at the end of the fifth era and that will cleanse the world.

Sixth age: The triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. After the punishment, all men will...
they will inspire the holy Fear of God, and for this reason the sixth period of the Church will be the greatest triumph of all
times: the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. There will be like an interruption of the fall.

Men will be very good because they will have the Fear of God, which has almost disappeared today. Who
Do you have the Fear of God today? The Fear of God, says the Holy Scripture, is the beginning of wisdom. Who
Is today truly wise? Who thinks today about the important truths of life? No one: only pleasure,
pleasure, and pleasure.

Then it will be the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But Our Lady says at La Salette (1846):
This peace among men will not last long: twenty-five years of abundance in their harvests will make them forget
that your sins are the cause of all the evils that exist on earth. That is to say, that well-being will make
forget God in a short time. The sixth era of the Church will not be long. Twenty-five years of good
harvests and some years for the Antichrist to arrive. And when the corruption of this sixth age of the Church
will happen, it will be the arrival of the Antichrist.

Seventh era: The Antichrist. The Antichrist will be the seventh and last era of the Church. The kingdom of the Anti-
Christ will last three and a half years; after his death perhaps (there is a verse from Daniel that allows
thinking about it), between his death and the end of the world, there will be about forty-five days of peace.

So: the fourth era, one thousand years; the fifth, more or less 500 years. Until the punishment in 2017,
possibly, I don't know. The sixth, 25 years of good harvests and a few more years... a few more years for the
Antichrist. The seventh era, that of the Antichrist who will reign for three and a half years, plus about 45 more days.
from Daniel) to the end of the world.

It is possible that today's youth know the end of the world. Saint Vincent Ferrer shortened the necessary years.
but the justice of God is very slow but very precise. So, from today until the Antichrist there will be 50 years,
perhaps more, perhaps even a hundred years: it would personally astonish me, but who knows? God knows...
not us.

Anyway, today we are not living in the time of the Antichrist, but in a corruption that is like the
general repetition of the corruption of the Antichrist. That is to say, today's corruption is very similar to the
what corruption will be under the Antichrist. But it is not yet: that is why many think today that
We are living in the times of the Antichrist. I don't believe it. But it is very similar to what it will be.

You all think that today's corruption is very subtle. There are so many Catholics deceived by the Council that they do not
They don't see it yet... after forty years of bad fruits, they still don't see it. And they are good.
Catholics, better than you and me, apparently. We have received a particular grace from God.
to see it, but many good Catholics do not see it, because this corruption is very subtle.

The men, upon leaving the caves, at the beginning of the sixth era of the Church, will have suffered all this
today's corruption and they will have understood what corruption was: through the terrible punishment and their suffering and the
the wrath of God, they will see it. That is to say, as they saw it, then they understood it.
The seminarians will complete three years of theology in three days. In three days of darkness, they will learn a lot.
about God, and the years of seminary may not be so necessary after that punishment, I don't know. But
if today's corruption is so subtle and despite this the period of peace will not be long, how subtle must it be
corruption of the Antichrist?

In the seventh Letter, to the Church of Laodicea, the Lord says: "You are lukewarm, I wish you were cold or
hot. But since you are lukewarm, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

Today as well... we see that there is indifference, but there is no hatred for God. And God prefers hatred, because whoever
Thanks to God, at least He takes it seriously. But today's men take God seriously, it's terrible.

So, we may not be too far from the end of the world, but it has not arrived yet.

The Letter to the Fifth Church, that of Sardis, is very interesting (we are in this Fifth Church). It says
Write to the angel of the Church of Sardis: This says the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven...
stars: I know your works, you are considered alive but you are dead. Be alert and strengthen what remains.
that is about to die. Because I have not found your works complete before God. Remember therefore such
As you received and heard, keep it and repent. If you do not watch, I will come as a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come.

about you. Nevertheless, you have a few men in Sardis who have not soiled their garments and they will...
walk with me dressed in white because they are worthy. The victor will be dressed in white clothing and not
I will erase his name from the Book of Life, and I will confess his name before my Father and his Angels. Who
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

They are the advice of the Holy Spirit for us:

I know your works, you are thought to be alive but you are dead: This whole fifth is an era of hypocrisy.
Protestantism is hypocrisy; it calls itself Christian but does its own will. Jansenism, puritanism.
his hypocrisy grew. Liberalism is hypocrisy as well. Liberals pretend to be as good as Catholics;
but without God without Christ, they are not. The claws of the liberals drip blood, they are hawks that pretend to be
pigeons.

The liberals of the official church pretend to be nice to us, but they have bloodied claws to
destroy us, if they could do it.

A word characterizes this time of the Church: it is hypocrisy. And it is logical, because it is a time that
it arrives after Christianity. Before it, men did not know it, so it was not necessary to pretend
To be Christian. But after Christianity, everyone knows it's better to be Christian. But they don't want to be.
more Christians than just pretending to be, and they have to be hypocrites. The hypocrisy of this era is logical and
characterizes today's men: "They are so good, so sincere, they have such good intentions, we are all
so gentle..." No, the claws drip blood.

... You are regarded as alive but you are dead.

...Be alert and consolidate what remains - This is exactly the task of the Catholic Tradition, to consolidate what remains.
This is what Monsignor Lefebvre did. In the ruins of the Church, after the Second Vatican Council,
Monsignor Lefebvre grouped the remaining parts to rebuild small chapels, small churches, small
schools, what was possible. Tomorrow there will not even be this remainder that Monsignor Lefebvre managed to consolidate,
because today what remains is threatened every day. But we have to do what we can to
consolidate the remaining.
... that is about to die. The rest is about to die! There are children who come here, young people
also; can they understand, do they want to understand? Some do. And the same Letter to the Fifth Church
it says exactly: 'there are a few good ones' meaning that there are many who are not. Fewer will remain each time
less. Our Lord says of the seventh period: "If those days were not shortened, even the elect would not be saved."
they would be saved.

...Because I have not found your works completed before God”: This is exactly what I said before: how we see
us to our contemporaries and how God sees them are two completely different things. We
We think that we are all kind, good, and sincere, but for God it is another thing.

"Remember therefore as you received and heard." The Tradition. "I transmitted what I received," says the tomb of Monsignor.
Lefebvre. We must take care and preserve what we always hear, the eternal truths, not today's novelties.
but what was received and heard in the past.

...Keep it and repent. If you do not stay vigilant, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will arrive.

“…Nonetheless, you have in Sardis a few men who have not soiled their garments”: Some today
they manage to live in a state of grace, they do not stain their garments, but not many. It is difficult, today that is a
Heroism. Preserving the state of grace today can be heroic.

“...They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.” The last words, the reward
magnificent for those who remain faithful in this difficult time as ours, the reward.

...The victor will be dressed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the Book of Life, and I will confess...
on behalf of my Father and His Angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
"churches". I recommend reading the complete text of the Venerable Barthelemy Holzhauser. He talks quite a bit about the
Thirty Years' War. Saw horrors in that war in Germany.

And one last point, briefly: throughout the history of the Church, there is a symmetry, a beautiful arc. Look at the
symmetry: the great era, the fourth, in the center. On both sides we have the rise of the doctors and the fall
from apostasy. To the martyrs corresponds, on the other hand, the triumph of Mary and that of the Apostles of Christ
they correspond to the apostles of the Antichrist on the other side, the success of the Antichrist that will almost annihilate the Church.
The Lord said, 'When I return, will I find faith on the earth?'... At the end of the world, the Church will be very
reduced.

There are many parallels between the fifth era and the seventh. More things could be added, but that is enough for now.
now.

Mons. Richard Williamson.