A Statement on Fr. Michel Rodrigue – UPDATE

Dear readers,

With the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, one of Fr. Michel Rodrigue’s prophecies did not occur, which refers to Benedict’s martyrdom following the devastation of Rome:

The Antichrist is in the hierarchy of the Church right now, and he has always wanted to sit in the Chair of Peter. Pope Francis will be like Peter, the apostle. He will realize his errors and try to gather the Church back under the authority of Christ, but he will not be able to do so. He will be martyred. Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, who still wears his papal ring,^[1]the ring, in fact, was removed and “cancelled” by the Vatican; see catholicregister.org will step in to convene a council, attempting to save the Church. I saw him, weak and frail, held up on either side by two Swiss guards, fleeing Rome with devastation all around. He went into hiding, but then was found. I saw his martyrdom. —Fr. Michel Rodrigue

This was a clear “prophetic miss”. Further, as stated by Catholic News Service: ^[2]We have added the following news reference and photos to this update.

[Benedict XVI] stopped wearing the fisherman’s ring, one of the main symbols of the papal office, and went back to wearing an episcopal ring he wore as a cardinal. —March 7, 2013, catholicregister.org

You can clearly see from the photo of that article, compared to the ring Benedict XVI was wearing at the time of his death, are not the same:

While such “misses”, even from the saints, have happened (and will continue to happen), these situations must nevertheless be dealt with honestly. As St. Hannibal once wrote:

Conforming to prudence and sacred accuracy, people cannot deal with private revelations as if they were canonical books or decrees of the Holy See… For example, who could ratify in full all the visions of Catherine Emmerich and St. Brigitte, which show evident discrepancies? —St. Hannibal, letter to Fr. Peter Bergamaschi

We hasten to note, however, that this “miss” pertains only to some of the more precise details predicted by Fr. Michel, whereas the vast majority of his messages’ content (for example, the reality and imminence of the Warning, the Antichrist, the Era of Peace, etc. [see the bottom of this article]) overlaps squarely with what had already been confirmed by — and is still confirmed by — the “prophetic consensus”.^[3]We are aware that a few commentators who are critical of this website take issue with the very notion of a “prophetic consensus”, even categorically rejecting such a thing. We are frankly perplexed by their denunciation, which is not only manifestly illogical and contrary to Catholic Tradition but also in violation of the Magisterium’s call of the Faithful to “…discern and welcome in these [private] revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §67) We take note of the plural used here by the Church — “revelations” — as well as her insistence that all valid Heavenly calls of private revelations should be welcomed.

In all matters, both natural and supernatural, one is always well advised to seek out the consensus of qualified voices on difficult questions which are not themselves fully settled by clear Dogmas. This approach is, in fact, so fundamental to Catholic Tradition that the Church teaches that any unanimous consensus of the Fathers of the Church on matters of Faith and Morals is — by virtue of that very consensus — infallible. (Cf. Council of Trent, First Vatican Council, Unanimis Consensus Patrum, DS §1507, §3007) 

As the nature of what is coming upon the earth in the near future is anything but dogmatically settled in all of its details, it is only proper to read extensively so as to discover those points around which one finds a convergence forming — within the messages of various credible seers across the world. This is what we are doing at Countdown. Noteworthy is the fact it is precisely this regard we hold for the prophetic consensus that prevented us from ever including, for example, Pope Benedict’s martyrdom in our timeline. That was peculiar to Fr. Michel’s messages; never could any argument be made that it was part of a prophetic consensus.

To condemn seeking out the prophetic consensus even while, in general, appreciating the role of prophecy and private revelation, is tantamount to asserting that one must merely find a single seer (perhaps even a single living one), place the entirety of his confidence and care in that one person’s alleged messages, and proceed to ignore all of the other visionaries whom God has chosen to speak His words to us. This approach is not only absurd on its face, impiously disrespectful of the global action of the Holy Spirit in multitudes of souls, and a likely recipe for disaster and the generation of alleged seer-centered cults, but is also contradicted by the approach of all of the greatest minds of the Church on private revelation. 

Indeed, the notion of a “prophetic consensus” was not invented by Countdown to the Kingdom. We could scarcely begin to list all of the Catholic writers who have engaged in the same task we are undertaking with this website. (The only difference is a superficial one: they wrote books, while we are simply using a digital platform.) In fact, the “prophetic consensus” was sought out and promoted by, for example, the old Catholic Encyclopedia (its article on “Prophecy” even defers to what “all seers agree” on in relaying the surety of the Era of Peace), the many works of the unrivalled expert on mysticism and private revelation, the late great Fr. Rene Laurentin, the many works of theologian and professor Fr. Edward O’Connor, Yves Dupont (Catholic Prophecy), Fr. Charles Arminjon (whose book on prophecy St. Therese of Lisieux praised as “one of the greatest graces of my life), Fr. R Gerard Culletin (The Prophets and Our Times), Fr. Pellegrino (The Christian Trumpet), as well as many contemporary authors such as Dan Lynch, Michael Brown, Ted Flynn, Maureen Flynn, Dr. Thomas Petrisko, and too many others to list—all of whom have sought assortments of messages from likely authentic seers to discern and from which to glean a shared body of prophetic teachings.

Therefore, whoever condemns what we are seeking to do here, in compiling a “prophetic consensus,” is likewise condemning a multitude of far more authoritative voices than our own. Such content, therefore, is in no way called into question by this development.

UPDATE: A second prophecy of Fr. Michel that was published here^[4]Here is the full statement from Fr. Michel: On the night of March 17, 2021, the Angel of the Lord (later, I understood that it was Saint Gabriel the Archangel) came around 2:30 in the night to tell me about the holy and great discretion* of Saint Joseph with the Holy Family and his role at the end of bad times. I say “end of bad times” to express a period different from that of Christ’s glorious return at the end of time.

This experience, which I am going to relate . . . I call it a dream. Gabriel first presented himself as a splendid, radiant light. Gradually, I made out the form of a being of light with what looked like wings of light. There emanated from his being a luminosity that brought both joy and very deep peace in God. It was like stepping into a part of the sky, looking at it. Then his voice was heard:

I come to reveal the discretion of Saint Joseph from the time I spoke to him until the day he was to leave the earth. His role as protector and guardian of the Holy Family was one of great serenity and great confidence in God, the Eternal Father. To him, as to the Most Holy Virgin Mary, was given the first, most holy knowledge of the mystery of the Trinity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The free acceptance of taking the Virgin Mary as his bride gave him the joy of an infused knowledge imbued with a living and fatherly relationship with Jesus, his Creator, his King, and his Love—this knowledge Joseph received from the love he had for Mary, his bride, and from the will of the Almighty Father. From that moment, Joseph took Mary to his wife’s home and actualized the ministry of his love for Mary and the Child.

The drama that occurred at the time of the Savior’s birth heightens the consideration of his great authority, which made it possible to preserve the Child-God and His Mother from any omen that could have put the identity of the Child at risk—thusly, the devil and his henchmen could have harmed Jesus and His Mother. His strength and his love kept the devil and his acolytes at bay. Until the day of the birth of the Child King, even Herod and his entourage knew nothing about it. Yet the sign was in heaven; the Magi were already walking to meet the Child-God, and the shepherds, the smallest of the people, were instructed by the voice of the angels!

At the moment when Herod wanted to kill the Child-God, I warned Joseph in a dream, through the will of the Eternal Father, to take the Child and His Mother and flee to Egypt. He remained there until the death of the tyrant. Back in Nazareth, the Holy Family remained during all the years of Jesus’ growth. No one suspected who Jesus and His Mother were. Joseph’s discretion was perfect so as not to attract the eyes of the Evil One and thus hinder the plan of God, Our Father. Joseph’s putative fatherhood sheltered the Child and His Mother in a way so great that no one can express or approach. Joseph’s paternal tenderness was like the cave of the Rock, protecting the Child and His Mother from the untimely moods of this world. This discretion continued in silence and prayer, in daily work, and even in times of rest, so as to avoid suspicion of the existence of the Messiah of God. Joseph’s obedience in doing the will of the Eternal Father with a humble and pure heart made him the greatest representative male figure on earth, at the center of the Holy Family. His fatherhood and his masculinity were similar to that desired by God from the beginning of everything. So, as Saint Joseph protected the Child and His Mother, he protects the Church in its historical growth in an even more solemn way in these times of yours.

The present times require the lifting of the veil of God’s gift of discretion for Saint Joseph in his role for the Church of Christ. Now is the time to reveal the words of the second letter to the Thessalonians, hidden from the beginning of the Church. Indeed, the mysterious figure that holds back or prevents the manifestation of the antichrist and his present domination must now be unveiled to enable all the righteous to understand the events which are taking place. You must stand ready and keep your lamps on for the manifestation of the Son of Man. Here is the sacred text of Saint Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 2 (1-13):

We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one doomed to perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is a god—do you not recall that while I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. But the one who restrains is to do so only for the present, until he is removed from the scene. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord [Jesus] will kill with the breath of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming, the one whose coming springs from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that lie, and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing because they have not accepted the love of truth so that they may be saved. Therefore, God is sending them a deceiving power so that they may believe the lie, that all who have not believed the truth but have approved wrongdoing may be condemned. But we ought to give thanks to God for you always, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth.

Indeed, “the mystery of iniquity is already at work”; let it suffice that “the one who restrains” it now be discarded. Today, I say to you: The one who holds it back is Saint Joseph! Through his prayer and his intercession, Saint Joseph assists believers in a spiritual struggle for the defense of the faith of the Militant Church, with the prayers of the saints and souls in purgatory. That is to say, the Triumphant Church and the Suffering Church, the assistance of Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary, constitute a shield of faith that has been holding back the antichrist until now.

Hear my words well. The cup of iniquity is overflowing, and soon a time will come for the Church when the persecution of the righteous will take place. It is by the will of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit that this year, 2021, has been proclaimed by Pope Francis the year of Saint Joseph. A great blessing of protection has been offered to you. During this year, you will be forced to make a choice. What presents itself as a vaccine-savior is just an illusion. Soon, the Mark of the Beast will be imposed on you in order to buy, to eat, or to travel. The year 2021 is a year of discernment for those who want to be faithful to Christ. To all those who wish to follow Christ, Saint Joseph will assist you. But he must withdraw discreetly on December 8.

By that time, and it has already started, all those who reject Christ will find themselves entering into a force of delusion that will make them believe a lie—a social and planetary lie organized and prepared by the acolytes of the antichrist. They are forming a false Church, which is indeed the social body of the antichrist. They are the ones who rule by fear, domination, by communist and socialist ideologies. They are molding a false, universal brotherhood. They have infiltrated the Church of Christ with a view to disfiguring it and desecrating its sacraments. Everything is falling into place. Leading to December 8, these evil acolytes are organizing themselves through the media and creating a climate of suspicion, fear, and denunciation.

They must prepare for the coming of the Unholy One by organizing a world order where division and confusion will reign to the detriment of the Truth of the teaching of the Church. Scandals and accusations will hit the Church everywhere. Movements that deny men and women will become the new judges of this social lie. Conflicts will arise in families arguing the need for vaccines and the Mark of the Beast. Conflicts between nations will come to such a point that everything will seem hopeless. Hearts will cool, consciences will be bound and darkened by the sin that has pervaded everywhere.

Even though the antichrist’s weeds seem to suffocate the righteous and the saints, giving the impression of the death of God and the end of the Catholic Church, all of this is only an appearance. When Saint Joseph retires, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will initiate the beginnings of the Triumph of her Immaculate Heart for her children and for the Church. The Church will go through the pains of a purification through which the Virgin Mary will accompany her as Mother of Sorrows. Some of her children will be martyrs; they will wear the palm of the Victory of Christ on the day of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. At the time when the antichrist will appear, the time of the refuges prepared by the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the very pure heart of Saint Joseph will sound. The refuges are the work of the three and a half years announced in the Book of Revelation. They are the work of God.

Small herd, do not be afraid. Look with the eyes of faith, hope, and love. The shelters are under the special protection of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This is how her Immaculate Heart wanted it. Can you not now see the work of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph? Everything you need to know has been said. Live in confidence to accomplish the Divine Will, and repeat this prayer often: Jesus, I trust in you! for reader’s discernment was a message from St. Gabriel the Archangel that allegedly provides an answer to who the mystery “katechon” is (Greek for the “restrainer” holding back the Antichrist; cf. 2 Thess 2:1-13). On the night of March 17, 2021, Fr. Michel says St. Gabriel allegedly came to him around 2:30am and gave a small teaching on Saint Joseph and the Holy Family, and then declared:

Indeed, “the mystery of iniquity is already at work”; let it suffice that “the one who restrains” it now be discarded. Today, I say to you: The one who holds it back is Saint Joseph! Through his prayer and his intercession, Saint Joseph assists believers in a spiritual struggle for the defense of the faith of the Militant Church, with the prayers of the saints and souls in purgatory. That is to say, the Triumphant Church and the Suffering Church, the assistance of Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary, constitute a shield of faith that has been holding back the antichrist until now.

However, in what was said to be his last public conference, Fr. Michel has apparently backed away from this claim, now saying that the message does not refer to Saint Joseph but to “Joseph Ratzinger.” Hear the explanation in this video (timestamped at 52:31).

Since an objective consideration of Fr. Michel’s messages now indicates that their prophetic dimension cannot necessarily be considered reliable, we have chosen to remove his content from this website. It is unfortunate since we also recognize the countless conversions and deepening of faith that has occurred among many of our readers through the basic teachings of Fr. Michel Rodrigue. His message, ultimately, was not about the prophecies. What his talks emphasized most was the spiritual aspect — repentance, the Rosary, Confession, the Eucharist, Consecration to the Holy Family, etc. That emphasis did, in fact, bear tremendous good fruit across the world. We thank God for these fruits and encourage all those who have experienced them to continue to nurture them: their value does not depend upon whether or not Fr. Michel’s prophecies of future events play out. (Indeed, we re-emphasize here that the Public Revelation of Jesus passed on through Sacred Tradition and Scripture provides all that is necessary for our salvation.) However, this website is foremost a “first line” of discernment of credible alleged seers. As such, we must remain obedient to Sacred Scripture to “test prophecy” and “retain what is good”, setting aside the rest. (The articles of Fr. Michel Rodrigue from his talks in 2019, and more, can still be found here, and his video talks here.) 

Please understand that we are neither claiming nor implying that Fr. Michel is a “false prophet.” It is simply now clear that he was one alleged seer who has given a prophecy that has failed. A “failed” prophet and a “false prophet” are two very different things, and we remain confident in Fr. Michel’s good intentions. He remains, to our knowledge, a priest in good standing and the Founder and Superior General of The Apostolic Fraternity of St. Benedict Joseph Labre in Québec, Canada.

We also wish to reiterate our obedience to the Church. Although it is true that Fr. Michel’s bishop had personally “disavowed” his messages, we kept their content on this site even then, due to the simple fact that this “disavowal” was not — either in content or intention — a formal condemnation of Fr. Michel’s alleged private revelations. In other words, it was not a “constat de non supernaturalitate.” Had such a decree been issued, we would have immediately removed his material from this site.

Finally, what God plans for the world does not rest on one person, nor can God’s plans be taken down by one person or a mistake; and the bulk of Fr. Rodrigue’s prophecies square firmly with the prophetic consensus, which is what Countdown to the Kingdom concerns itself primarily with. Even a brief perusal of this website’s content will show the reader seeking truth that, even with Fr. Michel’s prophecies “out of play,” so to speak, this “prophetic consensus” remains absolutely solid and reliable. For example:

 

The Warning, The Illumination of All Consciences 

(See Christine Watkins’ revised and expanded edition of The Warning: Testimonies and Prophecies of the Illumination of Conscience, which adds even more consensus to The Warning with 6 additional credible prophets of this global event. Click here.)

Other prophets who have spoken of The Warning: The Church-approved Apparitions at Heede, Germany; St. Faustina Kowalska; Servant of God, Maria Esperanza of the Church approved apparitions in Betania, Venezuela; St. Edmund Campion, Blessed Ana María Taigi, Blessed Pope Pius XI, Elizabeth Kindelmann of the bishop-approved Flame of love movement in the Church; Friar Agustín del Divion Corazon, Founder of the la Legión de San José and cofounder of Los Siervos Reparadores de los Sagrados Corazones Imprimatur, among others. 

A schism and the introduction of a false Church

Other prophets who have spoken of this: St. Francis of Assisi, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Marie-Julie Jahenny, Luz de María de Bonilla Imprimatur; Blessed Ann Catherine Emmerich, Pedro Regis

The time of refuges

St. Francis de Sales; Lactantius (Church Father); Blessed Elisabetta Canori Mora; Luz de Maria de Bonilla Imprimatur; Fr. Stefano Gobbi (Imprimatur); and Abbé Souffrant, Fr. Constant Louis Marie Pel and Marie-Julie Jahenny (concerning part of France); Biblical precedence: Noah’s Ark; 1 Maccabees 2; Revelations 12:6

cf. Are There Physical Refuges?

cf. The Refuge For Our Times

Third World War

Blessed Elena Aiello; Fr. Stefano Gobbi of the Marian Movement of Priests; Garabandal; Luz de María de Bonilla Imprimatur

cf. When the Warning Will Come

cf. Did the Consecration of Russian Happen?

Three Days of Darkness

Blessed Elisabetta Canori Mora; Blessed Anna-Maria Taïgi; Blessed Elena Aiello; Marie-Julie Jahenny, Luz de María de Bonilla Imprimatur

The Era of Peace

Our Lady of Fatima; Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta; St. Catherine Labouré; St. Faustina Kowalska, Blessed Conchita; The Church-approved apparitions at Heede, Germany; Servant of God Cora Evans; Fr. Ottavio Michelini, Sr. Natalia of Hungary; Elizabeth Kindlemann of the bishop-approved Flame of Love movement; Gisella Cardia; Luz de María de Bonilla Imprimatur; Servant of God, Maria Esperanza; Fr. Stefano Gobbi Imprimatur; Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, papal theologian for Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II.

cf. The Era of Peace – Snippets from Private Revelation

cf. The Thousand Years

Regarding corroborations between Fr. Michel Rodrigue’s words and current events in the world, we can, at the present time, point to the following: social unrest, increased persecution of Christians and Christian values, dangerous “vaccines”,^[5]cf. When Seers and Science Merge the emergence of “fake food”,^[6]cf. On Fabricated Meat and the designs of The New World Order. 

 

— The Countdown Team:
Prof. Daniel O’Connor, MTh
Christine Watkins, MTS, LCSW
Mark Mallett, 8KIDS

 

References

Fr. Michel’s YouTube videos can still be found here.

Previous articles on Fr. Michel can be found here.

Read: Prophecy in Perspective