St. Hippolytus
Feastday 13th August
Born 170
Died 236
He was first Anti-Pope and only one honoured as a Saint. He was a disciple of St. Irenaeus and was ordained a priest in Rome.He was the most important theologian and the most proliofic religious writer of the Roman Catholic Church in the pre-Constantinian era. He had himself elected antipope by a small band of followers. He was banished to Sardinia at the same time as Portianus and about this time became reconciled with the legitimate Bishop and Church of Rome. St. Hippolytus died on Island of Sardinia and his mortal remains with those of Pontianus were brought back to Rome on the same day 13th August, and he was solemnly interred.
The Great Gaulish Monarch, who shall subject all the East, shall come around the end of the world."These things, then, coming to pass, beloved, and the one week being divided into two parts, and the abomination of desolation being manifested then, and the two prophets and forerunners of the Lord having finished their course, and the whole world finally approaching the consummation, what remains but' the coming of our Lord and Saviour from heaven, for whom we have looked in hope? who shall bring the conflagration and just judgment upon all who have refused to believe on Him
"Christ arose from among the Hebrews, and he (Antichrist) will
spring from among the Jews. Christ showed
His flesh as a Temple, and raised it up on the third day; and he, too, will
raise up again the Temple of stone in Jerusalem."
"In every respect that Deceiver seeks to make himself appear like
the Son of God. Christ is king of
things celestial and terrestrial, and Antichrist will be king upon earth. The Saviour sent the Apostles unto all the
nations, and he, in like manner will send false apostles. Christ gathered together the dispersed
sheep, and he in like manner will gather together the dispersed people of the
Hebrews. Christ appeared in the form of
man, and he in like manner will come forth in the form of man."
"But many who are hearers of Holy Scripture and have it in their
hands, and keep it in mind with understanding, will escape his imposture. For they will see clearly through his
insidious appearance and his deceitful imposture, and will flee from his
hands and betake themselves to the mountains, and hide in the caves of
the earth; and they will seek after the Friend of man with tears and a contrite
heart: and He will deliver them out of his toils, and with His right hand He
will save those from his
snares who make their supplication to Him in a worthy and righteous
manner."
"Dan, Moses said, is a lion's whelp; and in naming the tribe of
Dan he declared clearly the tribe from which Antichrist is destined to
spring."
"He will call together the whole people to himself, out of every
country of the Dispersion, making them his own, as though they were his own
children, and promising to restore their country and establish again their
kingdom and nation, in order that he may be worshipped by them as God."
"And the churches, too will wail with a mighty lamentation,
because neither oblation nor incense is attended to, nor a service acceptable to
God; but the sanctuaries of the churches will become like a garden-watcher's
hut, and the Holy Body and Blood of Christ will not be shown in those
days. The public service of God shall
be extinguished, psalmody shall cease, the reading of Scripture shall not be
heard; but for men there shall be darkness and lamentation on lamentation, and
woe on woe. At that time silver and
gold shall be cast out in the streets, and none shall gather them; but all
things shall be held an offence. For
all shall be eager to escape and to hide and they shall not be able anywhere to
find shelter from the woes of the Enemy; but as they carry his mark about them,
they shall be readily recognised and declared to be his. There shall be fear outside, and trembling
inside both by night and by day. In the
streets and in the houses there the dead shall lie; in the streets and in the
houses there shall hunger and thirst be; in the streets there shall be tumults,
and in the houses lamentations. And
beauty of countenance shall be withered, for their forms shall be like those of
the dead; and the beauty of women shall fade, and the desire of all men shall
vanish. But in spite of all this, not
even then will the merciful and benignant God leave the race of men without
some comfort; He will shorten even those days to the period of three years and
a half, and He will curtail those times on account of the remnant of those who
hide in the mountains and caves, that the phalanx of all those saints fail not
utterly. But these days shall run their
course rapidly; and the kingdom of the Deceiver and Antichrist shall be
promptly removed. And then, finally, in
the twinkling of an eye shall the fashion of this world pass away, and the
power of men shall be brought to naught, and all visible things shall be
destroyed."
Antichrist will order all things reminding him of Jesus Christ to be destroyed like the Shrine of the Holy Sepulchre on Mount Calvary and other holy places in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. In three and a half years will the antichrist reign as world emperor, he will prohibit under pain of death the administering of the sacraments and the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the mass. Mass will be celebrated mostly in the forests and in secret places as was the case in the first days of Christianity.
In
those times dew will not fall from the heavens nor rain from the clouds, nor
will the earth bear any fruits. The sea will reek with a fearful stench because
the rivers will have dried up and fresh water will no longer flow into it from
the mountain torrents. Pestilence will spread across the whole world and
because there will be few people left to bury the earth in many localities will
be strewn with corpses. Unconsolable mourning, wailing and weeping will prevail
everywhere.Men will consider those fortunate those who died before them.
Finally men will seek the help from antichrist and because he will not be able
to help them will come to the realization than he is not god. When finally they
understand how grossly he has deceived them they will seek Jesus Christ. People
will then cast away gold and silver and no one will even stop to pick it up.
The
saviour raised up and showed his holy flesh like a temple and he (antichrist)
will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem