When people told themselves their past with stories,
explained their present with stories,
foretold the future with stories,
the best place by the fire was kept for the storyteller.
The 40 dreams of St. John Bosco. Dream 40. The two columns in the sea.
On May 14, 1862, Don Bosco had the joy of receiving the first religious professions
of 22 members of the Silesian Society just constituted.
Then among the rest, he told the newly professed that he had sure proofs that the Silesian
Society, by God's will, would prosper.
And in speaking to them, he manifested an extraordinary satisfaction.
Some days later, on the 30th of May, he narrated the following dream.
It concerns the battles of the Church against many adversaries, the sufferings of the Pope,
and the final triumph through devotion to the Holy Eucharist and to Mary, help of Christians.
I want to tell you a dream.
It is true that he who is dreaming is not reasoning.
Anyway, I, who would even tell you my sins if I were not afraid that they would make
you all run away and make the house tumble down, tell you this for your spiritual profit.
I had the dream some days ago.
Imagine yourselves to be with me on the seashore, or better, on an isolated rock and not to
see any patch of land other than what is under your feet.
On the whole of that fast sheet of water.
water, you see an innumerable fleet of ships in battle array.
The prows of the ships are formed into sharp, spear-like points, so that wherever they are
thrust, they pierce and completely destroy.
These ships are armed with cannons, with lots of rifles, with incendiary materials, with
other arms of all kinds, and also with books.
And they advance against a ship very much bigger and higher than themselves, and try
to dash against it with the prows or to burn it or in some way to do it every possible
harm.
As escorts to that majestic, fully equipped ship, there are many smaller ships which receive commands by signal from it and carry out movements to defend themselves from the opposing fleet.
In the midst of the immense expanse of sea, two mighty columns of great height arise a
little distance the one from the other.
On the top of one there is a statue of the Immaculate Virgin, from whose feet hangs a
large placard with this inscription.
Ogseliam, Christianorum, help of Christians.
On the other, which is much higher and bigger, stands a host of great size proportionate
to the column and beneath is another placard with these words, Salos Credencium, salvation
of the faithful.
The supreme commander on the big ship is a sovereign pontiff.
He, on seeing the fury of the enemies and the evils among which his faithful find themselves,
determines to summon around himself the captains of the smaller ships to hold a council and
decide on what is to be done.
All the captains come aboard and gather around the Pope.
They hold a meeting, but meanwhile the wind and the waves gather in storm.
So they are sent back to control their own ships.
There comes a short lull.
For a second time, the Pope gathers the captains together around him, while the flagship goes
on its course, but the frightful storm returns.
The Pope stands at the helm, and all his energies are directed to steering the ship towards
those two columns, from the top of which and from every side of which are hanging numerous
anchors and big hooks, fastened to chains.
All the enemy ships move to attack it, and they try in every way to stop it and to sink it.
Some with writings or books or inflammable materials, of which they are full.
Others with guns, with rifles, and with rams.
The battle rages ever more relentlessly.
The enemy prowls thrust violently, but their efforts and impact prove useless.
They make attempts in vain and waste all their labor and ammunition.
The big ship goes safely and smoothly on its way.
Sometimes it happens that, struck by formidable blows, it gets large, deep gaps in its sides.
But no sooner is the harm done than a gentle breeze blows from the two columns and the cracks close up and the gaps are
stopped immediately.
Meanwhile, the guns of the assailants are blown up.
The rifles and other arms and prowls are broken.
Many ships are shattered and sink into the sea.
Then the frenzied enemies strive to fight hand to hand, with fists, with blows, with
blasphemy and with curses.
All at once the Pope falls, gravely wounded.
Immediately, those who are with him run to help him, and they lift him up.
A second time the Pope is struck, he falls again and dies.
A shout of victory and of joy rings out amongst the enemies.
From their ships an unspeakable mockery arises.
But hardly is the pontiff dead that another pope takes his place.
The pilots, having met together, have elected the pope so promptly that the news of the
death of the pope coincides with the news of the election of the successor.
The adversaries begin to lose courage.
The new pope, putting the enemy turnout and overcoming every obstacle, guides the ship
right up to the two columns and comes to rest between them.
He makes it fast with a light chain that hangs from the bow to an anchor of the column on which stands the host.
And with another light chain which hangs from the stern, he fastens it at the opposite end to another anchor hanging from the column on which stands the Immaculate Virgin.
Then a great convulsion takes place. All the ships that until then had fought
against the Pope's ship are scattered. They flee away, collide, and break to
pieces one against another. Some sink and try to sink others.
Several small ships that had fought gallantly for the Pope raced to be the first to bind
themselves to those two columns. Many other ships, having retreated through fear of the battle,
cautiously watched from far away.
The wrecks of the broken ships, having been scattered in the whirlpools of the sea,
they in their turn sell in good earnest to those two columns.
And, having reached them, they make themselves fast to the hooks hanging down from them,
and there they remain safe, together with the principal ship, on which is the Pope.
Over the sea, there reigns a great calm.
At this point, Don Bosco asked Don Rua,
What do you think of the story?
Don Rua answered,
It seems to me that the Pope's ship might mean the church, of which he is the head.
The ship's men, the sea, this world.
Those who defend the big ship are the good, lovingly attached to the holy sea.
The others are her enemies, who try with every kind of weapon to annihilate her.
The two columns of salvation seem to be devotion to Mary Most Holy and to the Blessed Sacrament
of the Eucharist.
Don Rua did not speak of the Pope who fell and died, and Don Bosco also was
silent about him. He simply added, you are right. Only I ought to correct one
expression. The enemy ships are persecutions. The most serious trials for
the church are near at hand.
That which has been so far is almost nothing in the face of that which must befall.
Her enemies are represented by the ships that tried to sink the principal ship if they could.
Only two means are left to save her amidst so much confusion, devotion to marry Most
Holy and frequent Communion, making use of every means and doing our best to practice
them and having them practiced everywhere and by every body.
And here ends the 40 Dreams of St. John Bosco.
I hope that you all enjoyed it.
I would love to get more feedback on this particular series, and if you have any suggestions
of other books from other saints or stories.
I would be interested in what you'd have to recommend and you know as far as this
stream goes obviously it's symbolic we are going through one of the greatest
crisis in the church right now
This may be referring to it, or it may be referring to the crisis that comes after the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Well, hopefully we'll find out. I don't know how many of us are going to survive what's in store in the coming few months, 12 months, few years, whatever it might be.
We're obviously on the verge.
of the annihilation of nations that Alida Fatima had spoke of.
We also are on the verge of the coming of the great Catholic monarch
that's been prophesied for many centuries,
and the coming of the Holy Pope, a true Pope, a Catholic Pope,
one that actually defends the faith, that lives the faith,
and that is not in union with the enemies of the Church.
But it will be up for a future Pope, a Catholic Pope, a future council, and Holy Saints to
completely explain to us this dream of St. John Bosco.
And with that, I will leave it to them.
Just please remember to pray the Rosary every day.
to study the writings of the saints of the past, the true saints, the saints that gave us this church, that died for this church, the martyrs, the fathers of the church, the doctors of the church.
Before all the changes
before the 1960s. Read the popes of the 17th, 18th, 19th, and early 20th century.
They warned all about these enemies that St. John Bosco is speaking of.
There is an excellent book, The Popes Against the Modern Errors.
that you can buy, that has all the key encyclicals of those popes, of those periods dealing against freemasonry, against ecumenism, against modernism, socialism, communism, all liberalism, all the evils that we're facing today and that's being promoted by the Vatican II Novus Ordo sect.
So with that, again, I hope you enjoyed it. Please keep me in your prayers.