Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (1613-1658), a German priest, theologian, founder of priestly communities, and mystic recognized by the Church (declared Venerable in 1880), wrote one of the most impressive and detailed prophetic interpretations of the Book of Revelation. His principal work, Interpretatio in Apocalypsin (written between 1646 and 1656), divides the entire history of the Catholic Church into seven great periods, corresponding to the seven Churches of Asia Minor (Rev 2–3). For him, these periods are not merely symbolic, but chronological, spiritual, and historical, extending from the time of the Apostles until the end of the world.
Holzhauser claimed to receive special lights from Heaven to understand the Apocalypse. His writings were examined and approved by various bishops and theologians of his time, and even today they are studied with respect by many traditional Catholics, especially those seeking to understand the great crises of the present in the light of prophecy. This quest for understanding resonates with contemporary theological concerns, where preserving the integrity of the faith against relativism becomes an urgency, as so well articulated by Garrigou-Lagrange (1946) in his defense of the immutability of dogma.
📜 The Seven Periods of Church History
🌟 1st Age – Ephesus (c. 33–70 A.D.) – “The Desirable Church”
The time of the Apostles and the first Christian generation. Great fervor, ardent charity, but also the first falls (Ananias and Sapphira, false brethren). Corresponds to the “first day” of Creation: light separated from darkness.
🩸 2nd Age – Smyrna (c. 70–312 A.D.) – “The Poor and Persecuted Church”
The period of the martyrs under the Roman emperors. The Church is rich in blood, poor in earthly goods. God enriches her with miracles and holiness. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev 2:10).
👑 3rd Age – Pergamum (312–800 A.D.) – “The Church Married to Temporal Power”
From Constantine to Charlemagne. The Church receives freedom, temples, riches, and the protection of princes. Combats major heresies (Arianism, Nestorianism). But the danger of worldliness begins: “You have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam” (Rev 2:14).
🏰 4th Age – Thyatira (800–1517 A.D.) – “The Great Medieval Age – The Apogee of Christendom”
From Charlemagne to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Time of Catholic monarchies, crusades, Gothic cathedrals, religious orders, scholasticism. The Church rules the nations with a “rod of iron.” However, towards the end, the vices that will prepare the ruin appear: simony, clerical luxury, moral corruption.
🌑 5th Age – Sardis (1517–?) – “The Great Tribulation and Affliction of the Church”
Holzhauser is extremely severe in describing this period, which begins with Martin Luther and extends until the coming of the Great Monarch. His words seem written for our time:
“The Church will be punished because the majority of her members, clergy and laity, will lose the true spirit of the faith.”
“Heretics and bad Catholics will oppress the Church and her true children.”
“Princes will oppress the people with unjust taxes and tributes.”
“There will be wars, revolutions, famine, plagues, unknown epidemics, earthquakes, and signs in the sky.”
“The devil will receive almost total freedom; he will seduce a great part of the world.”
“The Church will be left a widow, stripped of temporal goods, reduced to extreme poverty.”
“Many bishops and priests will live as if spiritually dead.”
“True believers will be few, hidden, despised, but will preserve the pure faith.”
Despite everything, God will raise up extraordinary graces: the Society of Jesus, the Council of Trent, great saints (St. Francis de Sales, St. Vincent de Paul, St. John Eudes), the evangelization of America, Asia, and Africa. However, apostasy will continue to grow until it reaches its peak.
Many current readers see in these descriptions the French Revolution, the two world wars, communism, modernism within the Church, the post-Vatican II crisis, massive secularization, the abuse scandal, doctrinal confusion, and the moral collapse of contemporary society. This scenario of doctrinal confusion is precisely the fertile ground for what Garrigou-Lagrange (1946) diagnosed as the "new theology," a movement that, under the pretext of updating, risks dissolving the immutable substance of revealed truth into a relativistic historical flux. The loss of the "true spirit of the faith," prophesied by Holzhauser, manifests intellectually in the replacement of objective truth (adaequatio rei et intellectus) by subjective conformity with life (adaequatio mentis et vitae), undermining the very foundations of dogma.
🕊️ 6th Age – Philadelphia (near future) – “The Great Consolation”
After the climax of the tribulation of the 5th age, God will intervene powerfully:
A Great Monarch will arise, a Catholic king, humble, valiant, chosen and crowned by God Himself. He will be of ancient royal lineage (many associate with the House of France or the House of Austria). He will destroy revolutionary republics, defeat the Turks and Mohammedans, extirpate heresies, and unite nations under a single Christian monarchy.
At the same time, a holy Pope (called by Holzhauser the “Angelic Pontiff”) will convene a general council, reform the clergy, restore the liturgy, convert Jews, Muslims, and pagans en masse.
It will be an era of peace and prosperity never seen: one faith, one shepherd, one Christian empire. Science will flourish, but subordinate to faith. The Church will be exalted above all.
This period will last for several generations. The Great Monarch will have a long life and leave holy successors.
Holzhauser insists: this will be the greatest glory the Church will have on Earth, before the final trial. This restoration, however, will not be merely political or social, but essentially theological. The extirpation of heresies implies a return to the clarity of dogmatic definitions and perennial philosophy, reaffirming the real distinction between the natural and supernatural orders, and the objective validity of the mysteries of faith, against any attempt at modernist reductionism.
🔥 7th Age – Laodicea (distant future) – “The Great Final Apostasy and the Reign of the Antichrist”
When charity cools again, men will return to loving luxury, pride, and pleasures. Then will come the time of the Antichrist:
He will be born of a corrupt woman, possessed by the devil from the womb, perform false wonders, be worshipped as god.
A false prophet (a heretical antipope) will help him, changing the Mass, persecuting the faithful.
The mark of the Beast (666) will be imposed. Apostasy will be almost universal.
God will send the prophets Elijah and Enoch to fight the Antichrist. They will preach for three and a half years, be killed in Jerusalem, and rise on the third day.
Finally, Jesus Christ will return in glory, destroy the Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, judge the living and the dead, and inaugurate the new heavens and the new earth.
🕯️ Conclusion: Why Do These Prophecies Matter Today?
Holzhauser did not write to frighten, but to console and exhort to perseverance. He constantly repeats:
“Those who are faithful in this great tribulation will crown the Church with their victory.”
Even if we do not know the exact day or hour when we will pass from the 5th to the 6th age, the prophecies give us a clear map: we are in the time of purification, the “dark night” of the Church. But the dawn is near.
Holzhauser's final message is one of absolute hope:
“After the storm will come the calm; after the darkness, the light; after the humiliation, the glory. The Church, which now seems dead, will rise more beautiful and stronger than ever.”
This hope, however, is not a naive optimism, but a theological certainty founded on divine promise. In times of crisis, such as those described by Holzhauser and analyzed by Garrigou-Lagrange (1946), fidelity requires not only piety but an unshakable adherence to immutable truth. True restoration involves defending the intelligence of the faith against skepticism and vitalism, ensuring that the "Word that will not pass away" continues to illuminate the darkness of history.
May the Virgin Mary, the Woman clothed with the sun of the Apocalypse, Mediatrix of All Graces and conqueror of all heresies (Garrigou-Lagrange, 2013), keep us in these difficult times and lead us to the triumph of her Immaculate Heart and the final victory of her Son.
📜 References
Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., Fr. Réginald. "La nouvelle théologie où va-t-elle?". Angelicum, vol. 23, nº 3-4, 1946, pp. 126-145.
Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., Fr. Réginald. "On Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces". Chapter 6 of The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol. 1. Baronius Press, 2013.
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