St. Giovanni (John) Bosco (1815-1888) was the founder of the religious orders of the Salesians and the Salesian Sisters. Don Bosco, as he was familiarly known, devoted himself to counseling and educating homeless children, and he has been their patron saint since he was ordained in 1934. St. John was gifted with prophecy, concerning which he said, "Do not call me a prophet until the things I have foretold have come to pass."

His predictions especially concern the Catholic Church and the Papacy, which will be forced to evacuate Rome when "Cossack horses will drink from St. Peter's fountain." The following is his most famous prophecy:

"War comes from the south, peace from the north. French laws no longer recognize the Creator, but the Creator will make himself recognized and will visit her thrice with the rod of his wrath. In the first visit he breaks her pride by conquest, plundering ruined harvest and butchery of men and beasts.

"In the second visit the great prostitute of Babylon, which makes decent people sigh and call the Brothel of Europe, will be left without a leader and will be a victim of disorder.

"Paris! Paris! Instead of arming yourself in the name of the Lord, you fortify with Houses of Immorality. They will be destroyed by you yourself. Your idol, the Pantheon, will be burnt to ashes in order that this may come true: "violence, uttereth lies against me." Your enemies will reduce you to want, to hunger, to fear, and will make you the abomination of nations. Ah, woe to you, if you do not recognize the hand that strikes you! I want to punish immorality, the despising of, and the contempt for My Law, says the Lord.

"In the third visit you will fall into the hands of foreigners. Your enemies standing afar offwill behold your palaces in flames. Your homes will become a heap of ruins with the blood of your heroes who are no more.

"But there will come a great warrior from the North carrying a banner and on the right hand that supports it is written: "The Irresistible Hand of the Lord." At that very moment there went out to meet him the Venerable Old Man of Lazio, holding aloft a brilliantly glowing torch. The banner then increased in size and turned from black to snow-white. In the middle of the banner, in letters of gold, there was written the name of Him who is able to do all things. The warrior with his men bowed and shook hands with the Venerable Old Man.

"Now Heaven's voice is addressed to the Shepherd of shepherds. You are now in conference with your advisors. The enemy of the good does not stand idle one moment. He studies and practices all his arts against you. He will sow discord among your consultors; he will raise up enemies amongst my children. The powers of the world will belch forth fire, and they would that the words be suffocated in the throats of the custodians of my law. That will not happen, they will do no harm but to themselves. You must hurry. If you cannot untie the knots, cut them. If you find yourself hard pressed, do not give up but continue until the head of the hydra of error is cut off. This stroke will make the world and Hell beneath it tremble, but the world will be safe and all the good will rejoice. Keep your consultors always with you, even if only two. Wherever you go, continue and bring to an end the work entrusted to you. The days fly by, your years will reach the destined number; but the great Queen will ever be your help, as in times past, so in the future She will always be the exceeding great fortress of the Church.

"Ah, but you, Italy, land of blessings! Who has steeped you in desolation! Blame not your enemies, but rather your friends. Can you not hear your children asking for the bread of faith and finding only those who smash it to pieces? What shall I do? I shall strike the shepherds, I shall disperse the flock, until those sitting on the throne of Moses search for good pastures and the flock listens attentively and is fed.

"Of the flock and over the shepherds My hand will weigh heavy. Famine, pestilence, and war will be such that mothers will have to cry on account of the blood of their sons and of their martyrs dead in a hostile country.

"And to you, Rome, what will happen! Ungrateful Rome, effeminate Rome, proud Rome! You have reached such a height that you search no further. You admire nothing else in your Sovereign except luxury, forgetting that you and your glory stands upon Golgotha. Now he is old, defenseless, and despoiled; and yet at his word, the word of one who was in bondage, the whole world trembles.

"Rome! To you I will come four times.

"The first time, I shall strike your lands and the inhabitants thereof.

"The second time, I shall bring the massacre and the slaughter even to your very walls. And will you not yet open your eyes?

"I shall come a third time and I shall beat down to the ground your defenses and the defenders, and at the command of the Father, the reign of terror, of dreadful fear, and of desolation shall enter into your city.

"But My wise men have now fled and My law is even now trampled underfoot. Therefore I will make a fourth visit. Woe to you if My law shall still be considered as empty words. There will be deceit and falsehood among both the learned and the ignorant. Your blood and that of your children will wash away your stains upon God's law. War, pestilence and famine are the rods to scourge men's pride and wickedness. O wealthy men, where is your glory now, your estates, your palaces? They are the rubble on the highways and byways.

"And your priests, why have you not run to "cry between the vestibule and the Altar," begging God to end these scourges? Why have you not, with the shield of faith, gone upon the housetops, into the homes, along the highways and byways, into every accessible corner to carry the seed of My word? Know you that this is the terrible two-edged sword that cuts down My enemies and breaks the Anger of God and of men?

"These things must come one after another. They are inexorable.

"Things are happening too slowly.

"But the August Queen of Heaven is present.

"The power of the Lord is in His hands. He scatters His enemies as a cloud. The Venerable Old Man attires himself in all his ancient raiment.

"There will come a violent hurricane.

"Iniquity is consummated. Sin will have its end. And before two full moons of the month of flowers will have run their course, the rainbow of peace will rise above the earth.

"The Great Minister will see the bride of his King arrayed in festive fashion.

"Throughout the world the sun will appear so luminous that the likes of which never has been seen since the tongues of fire descended on the Cenacle until this day, nor will such a sun ever be seen again until the very last of days.

"It was a dark night. Men could no longer tell which way to take in order to return to their homes. Suddenly there appeared in the heavens a very bright light that illuminated the steps of the travelers as though it was midday. At that moment there was seen a host of men and women, of young and old, of nuns, monks and priests with the Holy Father at the head. They were going out from the Vatican and were arranging themselves in line for a procession.

"And then there came a furious storm which clouded that light somewhat and made it appear that light and darkness were engaged in battle. In the meantime they arrived at a little square covered with dead and wounded, some of whom cried aloud and asked for help.

"Very many were dropping out of the line of procession. After having walked for a time that would correspond to two hundred risings of the sun they realized that they were no longer in Rome. Struck with fear they all ran to the Holy Father to defend him personally and to attend to his wants. Instantly two angels were seen carrying a banner; they presented it to the Holy father and said: "Receive the banner of He Who fights and scatters the strongest armies of the world. Your enemies are dispersed. Your children with tears and sighs beg you to return."

"Looking at the banner one could see written on one side, "Queen conceived without sin," and on the other side, "Help of Christians."

"The Holy Father joyfully took the banner, but looking closely at the small number of those who remained with him, he becamevery sad.

"The two angels add: "Go quickly and console your children. Write your brothers dispersed throughout the world that there must be a reform in the morals of men. That cannot be obtained except by distributing to the people the bread of the Divine Word. Catechize the children, preach the detaching of the heart from the things that are of the earth. The time has come," concluded the two angels, "when the poor shall evangelize the people. Vocations will come from among those working with the spade, the ax, the hammer to the end that they fulfill the words of David: God has raised up the poor from the land in order to place them on the thrones of the princes of His people."

"Having heard that, the Holy Father began the march. The farther he went the greater did the procession behind increase. When finally he set foot in the Holy City, he wept bitter tears for the distress in which he found the people and the large number now missing. As he entered St. Peter's he intoned the "Te Deum" to which a choir of angels replied singing: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will."

"With the end of the hymn there came an end to the thick darkness and the sun shone with a brightness all its own.

"The cities, the towns, and villages were thinly populated. The land had been leveled down as if by a hurricane, by a tempest, and a hail storm. People went from one to another saying in tones of great emotion: "There is a God in Israel."

"From the beginning of the exile until the singing of the "Te Deum", the sun rose in the East two hundred times. The time that passed for the fulfilling of these things corresponds to four hundred risings of the sun."