PREDICTIONS OF THE GOSPEL.

No one is a prophet in his own land. — Death and passion of Jesus. — Persecution of the apostles.

— Impenitent cities.

— Ruin of the Temple and of Jerusalem.

— Curse upon the Pharisees. — My words shall not pass away. — The cornerstone. — Parable of the murderous vinedressers. — One sole flock and one sole shepherd. — Coming of Elijah. — Announcement of the Comforter. — Second coming of the Christ.

— Precursory signs.

— Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

— Last judgment.

RUIN OF THE TEMPLE AND OF JERUSALEM.

— When Jesus went out of the temple to go away, his disciples came to him to point out to him the structure and the grandeur of that building. But he said to them: Do you see all these constructions? I tell you, in truth, that they shall be destroyed in such a manner that not one stone will be left upon another. (Saint Matthew, chapter XXIV, vv. 1 and 2.)

— Then, having come near to Jerusalem, contemplating the city, he wept over it, saying: Ah! if only, on this day still granted to you, you had recognized the one who can bring you peace! But, now, all this is hidden from your eyes. A time shall come, then, for you, unhappy one, when your enemies will surround you with trenches, will shut you in and press you on all sides; when they will cast you to the ground, you and your children who are within you, and will not leave you stone upon stone, because you did not recognize the time in which God visited you. (Saint Luke, chapter XIX, vv. 41 to 44.)

— Nevertheless, I must continue to walk today and tomorrow and the day following, for it is necessary that no prophet suffer death in any other place than in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Jerusalem! who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how many times have I wished to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you did not wish it! The time draws near when your house shall be left desolate. Now, I, in truth, tell you that from this time forward you shall not see me again, until you say: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. (Saint Luke, chapter XIII, vv. 33 to 35.)

— When you see an army surrounding Jerusalem, know that its destruction is near. Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are within it withdraw, and let those who are in the surrounding region not enter into it. For those days shall be days of vengeance, so that all that is in the Scripture may be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant in those days, since this country will be overwhelmed with evils and the wrath of heaven will fall upon this people. They will be put to the edge of the sword; they will be carried away into captivity among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trodden under foot by the gentiles, until the time of the nations has been fulfilled. (Saint Luke, chapter XXI, vv. 20 to 24.)

— (Jesus advancing toward the torment.) Now, a great multitude of people and of women followed him, beating their breasts and weeping. Jesus, then, turning around, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep rather for yourselves and for your children; for a time shall come when it will be said: Happy are the barren, the wombs that have not borne children and the breasts that have not nursed. — All will begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us! and to the hills: Cover us! For, if they treat the green wood in this way, how will the dry wood be treated? (Saint Luke, chapter XXIII, vv. 27 to 31.)

— The faculty of having a presentiment of things to come is one of the attributes of the soul and is explained by the theory of prescience. Jesus possessed it, like all the others, in an eminent degree. He was therefore able to foresee the events that would follow his death, without there being anything supernatural in that fact, since we see it reproduced before our eyes, in the most ordinary conditions. It is not rare for individuals to announce with precision the moment when they will die; it is because their soul, in the state of detachment, is like the man on the mountain (Chap. XVI, no. 2): it takes in the road to be traveled and sees its end.

— All the more was this bound to happen with Jesus, since, being conscious of the mission he had come to carry out, he knew that death by torment would necessarily be its consequence. The spiritual sight, permanent in him, as well as the penetration of thought, were bound to show him the circumstances and the fatal time. For the same reason he could foresee the ruin of the Temple, that of Jerusalem, the misfortunes that were going to fall upon its inhabitants, and the dispersion of the Jews.