Are these Prophecies of St. Bernadette Sound?

Dear TIA,

A friend from Colombia sent me the 5^th prophecy of St. Bernadette Soubirous which foretells a conversion of Persia/Iran to the Catholic Faith. I went to check about the other prophecies attributed to her and found the previous four as well. So, I am putting them all together here for you.

I ask: What is your opinion on the ensemble of these prophecies attributed to her, particularly the fifth?

Thank you,

    In Jesu et Maria,

    P.M.

1^st prophecy

The first prophecy speaks primarily of the development of the Sanctuary of Lourdes after Bernadette's death. It describes the flourishing of Lourdes as a place of pilgrimage and the efficacy of the famous healing spring.

2^nd prophecy

This message foretells a series of important scientific discoveries, such as the harnessing of electrical energy, the incandescent light bulb, the gramophone, and other electrical devices.

3^rd prophecy

The third prophecy relates to Hitler's rise to power in Germany and the rise of Nazism: in the 1930s, something terrible will happen, culminating in a war in which almost all nations will be involved.

4^th prophecy

The fourth message foretells humanity's efforts to travel into space. Around the year 1970, the Americans will successfully land on the Moon. This prophecy was fulfilled in 1969 when American Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon.

The 5^th & last prophecy

“Her Holiness, the Blessed Virgin, told me that with the end of the 20^th century the age of science will also come to an end. A new age of faith will begin throughout the earth. Proof will be given that it was God who created the world and humankind. This will be the beginning of the end of science, in which people will no longer believe in it. Millions of people will turn back to Christ, and the power of the Church will be greater than ever.

“The reason many people will turn away from scientists will be the arrogant attitude of the doctors working to create a creature resulting from a cross between man and animal. People will feel in the depths of their hearts that this is an unjustifiable thing. At first, the creation of these monsters will be impossible to stop, but the scientists will eventually be hunted down like a pack of wolves.

“At the beginning of the 21^st century, the clash between the followers of Muhammad and the Christian nations will occur. A terrible battle will take place in which 5,650,451 soldiers will lose their lives, and a highly destructive bomb will be dropped on a city in Persia. But in the end, the sign of the cross will prevail, and all Muslims will convert to Christianity.

“A century of peace and happiness will follow, as all nations lay down their arms.

“Great wealth will follow, for the Lord will shower His blessings upon believers. Throughout the earth, not a single family will remain living in poverty and suffering from hunger. To one in ten people, God will give the power to heal the illnesses of those who cry out for help. Following these miracles, cries of joy will be heard from many.

“The 21^st century will be called: 'Humanity's Second Golden Age.'"



TIA responds:

Dear P.M.

Thank you for sending us these prophecies. We have always heard that Our Lady of Lourdes had left some secret with St. Bernadette, especially about a coming era of peace, but we have never had the time to look for that unknown revelation. So, when we received these texts that are supposed to report that secret, it is with a previous position of good will and credibility that we approach them.

We will proceed to analyze the texts you sent us, as you requested.

I. Content

1. Regarding the ensemble of the content, it is a little singular that Our Lady would make specific predictions on sciences – electricity, light bulbs, gramophone, travel to the moon – which have no direct relation with the Faith, as she supposedly did in the 2^nd and 4^th prophecies above. What we principally know is that those electrical inventions were part of the Industrial Revolution, which changed the whole Western social-economic way of life with a great damage for souls. Think only about the moral damage that Hollywood and the television brought to Catholic morality.
   
   In authentic prophecies, Our Lady always gives priority to the glory of God, the Church and the salvation of souls. Here these concerns appear only secondarily.
   
   
2. Regarding specifics, only the 1^st prophecy is directly related to the glory of Our Lady in Lourdes. The 4^th prophecy regarding the rise of Hitler seems credible as far as the source is surely from St. Bernadette.
   
   
3. In the 5^th prophecy science appears as opposing Faith, which corresponds to reality, but still there is an exaggerated concern about secondary topics: the description of the coming Golden Era is based on wealth and health, not on the glory of God, the Church and the salvation of souls.
   
   The indirect criticisms of Eugenics with its concern of creating a super-race and its experiments with animals are just, although the super-race, which is the Revolution’s most important goal on this topic, is not mentioned.
   
   
4. The most curious part of the content is the one referring to the beginning of the 21^st century, which mentions a great explosion in Persia/Iran and a great loss of soldiers. In today’s international political landscape we are witnessing a situation that can produce such events, especially if the United States decides to put boots on the ground in Iran.
   
   Indeed, a great loss of American lives in Iran or a complete destruction of Tel Aviv by Iranian missiles can cause the US and Israel to send atomic bombs against Iran.

So, regarding the content, there are pros and cons that lead us to recommend caution when reading these revelations.

II. Sources

We asked one of our writers to do some internet research on these prophecies and the results follow:

1. These prophecies are said to originate from a letter that was purportedly found in the Vatican Library by Fr. Antoine LaGrande in 1998. He found this letter in a metal cabinet. This letter would have been written by St. Bernadette Soubirous to Pope Leo XIII reporting words that Our Lady in Lourdes would have spoken to her (here). It was considered lost for 120 years until Fr. LaGrande's discovery (here).
   
   
2. This letter allegedly contains five prophecies about the future, four of which have already been fulfilled. Only summaries of the first four prophecies are given, probably made by Fr. LaGrande. The last prophecy allegedly contains a full quote from the letter. We did not find a verifiable source guaranteeing that this quote has not been fabricated or altered.
   
   
3. This 5^th prophecy speaks about the 21^st century. It says that in the beginning of this century, there will be a great clash between Muslims and Christian nations of the West. A bomb will be dropped on one of the cities in Persia/Iran, which will cause the death of over 5 million people (an exact number is given), and after which Muslims will convert to Christianity. Then a long period of peace will follow.
   
   
4. About how this letter became known, it was first printed in 1998, in the German periodical Schwarze Briefe (Black Letters) whose audience was the clergy: (issue 45/98, November 4, 1998, Verlag Claus Peter Clausen, Postfach 1327, DE-4780 Lippstadt, Germany).
   
   
5. It is reported that the known progressivist conciliar perito Fr. René Laurentin denied the authenticity of the letter in the journal Chrétiens-Magazine, Bloc-Notes, no. 121, May 15, 1999. (here)
   
   
6. According to an old article in the "All About Mary" column of the International Marian Research Institute of the University of Dayton, Ohio (archived version of the article here), there is no documented evidence proving the letter's existence. Neither does there seem to be evidence for the existence of Fr. Antoine LaGrande. When the Vatican Library was asked about the research of Fr. LaGrande in its archives, it affirmed there is no register of such a name there.
   
   
7. There is no original source material we could find – not from the Schwarze Briefe, nor from some other sources – that repeat the information, including a fictional news tabloid called the Weekly World News. However, this does not mean the sources do not exist – these would be sources from the ‘90s, before the internet and the mass cataloguing of print materials.
   
   
8. Regarding the mention of the 21^st century, translations of the letter give different information. Some start one of the prophecies with "at the beginning of the 21^st century" (here); while another in English says "at the eve of the year 2000" (here and here)... Since the original is practically impossible to find on the internet, it seems either there have been accidental mistranslations or someone deliberately changed the original to make the excerpt more believable.
   
   
9. The best source we found was from a Breton website called Da Feiz Hon Tado Kozh (here), which means "the faith of our ancestors," the title of a famous Breton hymn. The site, by the way, has many other prophecies about our times, some not Church-approved (here).
   
   
10. The denial by the Vatican of the existence of Fr. LaGrande and the declaration of Fr. Laurentin that the letter is not authentic may be included in the general progressivist Vatican tendency to condemn prophecies that predict chastisements. Although the official Vatican document establishing this policy is from May 2024, this general policy has been governing its decisions for a long time before its promulgation.

III. General conclusion

With all this indecisive information at hand, TIA's readers can come to their own conclusions.

The best thing to do, in our opinion, is to wait and see whether in these first years of the 21^st century the predicted events will happen. We have already passed its first quarter... If they do, we may have a great conversion of the Muslims. With or without these prophecies, it is always good for Catholics to pray for their conversion.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk