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What did Pope Leo XIII specifically say about the Great Apostasy and where is the text of his prophecy?
Executive summary
Pope Leo XIII is widely reported to have experienced a dramatic supernatural incident on October 13, 1884 and to have composed an extended “original” Prayer to St. Michael that some interpreters read as predicting a future “great apostasy,” especially centered in Rome; several devotional and conspiratorial websites reproduce the prayer and the story [1] [2]. The full text of the longer prayer and accounts of the vision are available on devotional and independent sites that present the material as Leo XIII’s “original Prayer to St. Michael” and link it to an apostasy in Rome [3] [2] [4].
1. The event being discussed: Leo XIII’s 1884 episode
Contemporary summaries and later devotional accounts say that on October 13, 1884 Pope Leo XIII collapsed after Mass, turned pale and reported a vision in which Satan boasted he could destroy the Church if given “one century,” and that God granted him a hundred years — material that is used to connect Leo’s experience to 20th‑century turmoil and apostasy [1]. Catholic News Agency recounts this story and links the vision’s content — wars, immorality, genocide, large‑scale apostasy — to events of the 20th century [1].
2. The “original” Prayer to St. Michael and where it’s published
Several online sites present what they call Leo XIII’s longer, original Prayer to St. Michael and explicitly call portions of it prophetic about a coming apostasy in Rome; these reproductions are hosted by devotional or traditionalist outlets and PDF compilations that claim to include the full text and commentary [3] [2]. The texts most cited by proponents are available on those pages and on sympathetic Catholic blogs and monastery websites that argue the prayer pinpoints an internal apostasy from “the Holy Place” [2] [4].
3. How advocates interpret the text: apostasy centered in Rome
Writers who accept the vision and the long prayer as authentic argue that Leo foresaw an apostasy emanating from Rome — language that fuels interpretations linking the prayer to Vatican II changes, modernism, or a “Vatican II sect” presented as the prophesied apostasy [2] [4]. Those sites emphasize the “bolded portions” of reproduced prayer texts and frame the removal of the longer version from liturgical use as suppression [2] [4].
4. Where mainstream reporting and scholarship stand (limited coverage in supplied sources)
The provided mainstream item (Catholic News Agency) recounts the vision narrative and links it to twentieth‑century events but does not supply a critical textual edition or scholarly authentication of a longer prayer text beyond reporting the story [1]. Available sources do not mention peer‑reviewed scholarly editions or Vatican archival confirmation for an explicit prophetic text beyond devotional reproductions [1] [2].
5. Competing perspectives and agendas in the material
Material reproducing the long prayer largely appears on devotional, traditionalist, or conspiratorial sites that have an interest in framing modern Church changes as apostasy; some sources explicitly use the text to argue the post‑Vatican II Church is a counterfeit or fallen entity [4]. Conversely, more institutional outlets (for example, mainstream Catholic reporting in the supplied set) often recount the vision story without endorsing apocalyptic readings; they present it as a historical anecdote tied to devotional practice rather than a verified prophetic blueprint [1]. This divergence suggests partisan or theological agendas shape how the unchanged text is used [2] [4].
6. What to read if you want the primary wording cited by advocates
If your goal is to see the prayer text and the full narrative as proponents cite it, the supplied links hosting the “Original Prayer to St. Michael” PDF and reproductions of the prayer are where advocates point readers [3] [2]. Several blogs and monastery pages also reproduce the prayer alongside interpretive commentary that frames it as prophecy [5] [4].
7. Caveats, limits of the available reporting, and next steps for verification
The sources provided include devotional reproductions, blogs, and a Catholic news account that retells the vision but do not include a definitive Vatican archival source, a published scholarly edition of Leo XIII’s private writings, or an official Vatican statement validating the prophetic interpretation; available sources do not mention such archival confirmation [1] [3] [2]. For balanced verification you should consult Vatican archival publications, scholarly editions of Leo XIII’s correspondence and private papers, or critical academic histories of the period — none of which are supplied here (not found in current reporting).
Summary judgment: the vision story and a longer Prayer to St. Michael are widely circulated in devotional literatures and linked to the idea of a coming apostasy centered in Rome [1] [2] [4], but the supplied materials are primarily interpretive and devotional rather than archival or scholarly, so readers should treat claims of a literal, authenticated prophetic text with caution and examine primary Vatican or academic sources for definitive confirmation [1] [2].