Public revelation is binding on all Christians, but private revelation is
binding only on those who receive it. The Catholic Church teaches that public
revelation was completed, and therefore was concluded, with the death of the
last apostle (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 4), but private revelation has
continued.
"Throughout the ages, there have been so-called ‘private’ revelations,
some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not
belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or
complete Christ’s definitive revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a
certain period of history. Guided by the magisterium of the Church, the sensus
fidelium [collective sense of the faithful] knows how to discern and
welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ
or his saints to the Church. Christian faith cannot accept ‘revelations’ that
claim to surpass or correct the revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment,
as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent
sects which base themselves on such ‘revelations’" (Catechism of the
Catholic Church 67).
Some people tend to go to one extreme or the other on private revelation; they
either completely reject the concept or they consider private revelation their
chief rule of faith. The original sixteenth century Protestant Reformers denied
all private revelation—they had to, for all the miracles that had occurred and
all the private revelations that had been received over the previous fifteen
hundred years had confirmed rather than attacked the Catholic faith. The
original Reformers’ actions were in direct disobedience to the binding command
of the New Testament: "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic
utterances. Test everything; retain what is good" (1 Thess. 5:19–21).
The Reformers’ eradication of all new revelation led people to forget the
distinction between public and private revelation. Thus when people appeared
claiming to have new revleation, Protestants were left vulnerable to thinking any
new revelations would be binding on all Christians. In the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, religious organizations which claim such new revelations
have evolved in Protestant circles; for example, the Irvingites, the Mormons,
the Seventh-Day Adventists, and the current "Word Faith" or
"Prosperity Gospel" movement.
When the Pentecostal movement started in 1900, it faced the problem of
explaining why private revelations had ceased for so many centuries, as the
original Protestant Reformers claimed, only to begin again during this century.
The correct answer, as the following passages from the early Church Fathers
show, is that private revelation never did stop.
Hermas
"The
vision which I saw, my brethren, was of the following nature . . . [An] old
woman approached, accompanied by six young men . . . [And] she said to me . . .
‘Lo! do you not see opposite to you a great tower, built upon the waters, of
splendid square stones?’ For the tower was built square by the six young men
who had come with her. But myriads of men were carrying stones to it, some
dragging them from the depths, others removing them from the land, and they
handed them to these six young men. . . . [And the woman said:] ‘The tower
which you see building is myself, the Church . . . the tower is built upon the
waters . . . because your life has been and will be "saved through
water" [1 Pet. 3:20–21] . . . the six young men . . . are the holy angels
of God . . . the other persons who are engaged in carrying the stones . . .
also are holy angels of the Lord . . . [And] when the tower is finished and
built, then comes the end’" (The Shepherd 1:3:1–8 [A.D. 80]).
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
"While
he [Polycarp] was thus at his prayers, three days before his arrest, he had a
vision in which he saw flames reducing his pillow to ashes; whereupon he turned
to his companions and said, ‘I must be going to be burnt alive.’ . . . [After
his arrest, the crowd called] loud demands for the Asiarch Philip to let loose
a lion at Polycarp. However, he told them that the rules would not allow him to
do so, since he had already declared the beast-fighting closed; whereupon they
decided to set up a unanimous outcry that he should have Polycarp burnt
alive" (Martyrdom of Polycarp 5, 12 [A.D. 155]). "Polycarp was
. . . bishop of the Catholic Church at Smyrna, and a teacher in our own day who
combined both apostle and prophet in his own person. For indeed, every word
that ever fell from his lips either has had or will have its fulfillment"
(ibid., 16).
Justin Martyr
"For
the prophetical gifts remain with us [Christians], even to the present time.
And hence you [Jews] ought to understand that [the gifts] formerly among your
nation have been transferred to us" (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew
82 [A.D. 155]).
Irenaeus
"In
like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church who possess prophetic
gifts and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages and who bring to
light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the
mysteries of God" (Against Heresies 5:6:1 [A.D. 189]).
Pionius
"I,
Pionius, have made a fresh transcript of [The Martyrdom of Polycarp].
I found them after Polycarp the Blessed had revealed their whereabouts in a
vision, as I will explain hereafter. Time had reduced them almost to tatters,
but I gathered them carefully together in the hope that the Lord Jesus may
likewise gather myself amongst his elect into his heavenly kingdom. To him,
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory forever and ever. Amen" (Martyrdom
of Polycarp, copyist note 2 [A.D. 250]).
Constantine the Great
"And
while he [the Emperor Constantine] was praying with fervent entreaty, a most
marvelous sign appeared to him from heaven, the account of which it might have
been hard to believe had it been related by any other person. But since the
victorious emperor himself long afterwards declared it to the writer of this
history [Eusebius], when he was honored with his acquaintance and society, and
confirmed his statement by an oath, who could hesitate to accredit the
relation, especially since the testimony of after-time has established its
truth? He said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline,
he saw with his own eyes a trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the
sun, and bearing the inscription, ‘Conquer By This.’ At this sight he was
struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which followed him on this
expedition, and witnessed the miracle. He said [to me], moreover, that he
doubted within himself what the import of this apparition could be. And while
he continued to ponder and reason on its meaning, night suddenly came on; then
in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had
seen in the heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he
had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with
his enemies. . . . [B]eing struck with amazement at the extraordinary vision,
and resolving to worship no other God save him who had appeared to him, he sent
for those who were acquainted with the mysteries of [God’s] doctrines and
inquired who that God was and what was intended by the sign of the vision he
had seen" (Eusebius, Life of Constantine 1:28–32 [A.D. 337]).
Anthony of Egypt
"[Anthony
told his monks:] When, therefore, they [demons] come by night to you and wish
to tell the future, or say ‘We are the angels,’ give no heed, for they lie. . .
. But if they shamelessly stand their ground, capering, and change their forms
of appearance, fear them not, nor shrink, nor heed them as though they were
good spirits. For the presence either of the good or evil by the help of God
can easily be distinguished. The vision of the holy ones is not fraught with
distraction: ‘For they will not strive, nor cry, nor shall anyone hear their
voice’ [Matt 12:19; cf. Is. 42:2]. But it comes quietly and gently that an
immediate joy, gladness, and courage arise in the soul. For the Lord who is our
joy is with them, and the power of God the Father" (Ambrose, Life of
St. Anthony 35 [A.D. 359]).
Augustine
"For
even now miracles are wrought in the name of Christ, whether by his sacraments
or by the prayers or relics of his saints . . . The miracle which was wrought
at Milan when I was there . . . [and when people] had gathered to the bodies of
the martyrs Protasius and Gervasius, which had long lain concealed and unknown
but were now made known to the bishop Ambrose in a dream and discovered by
him" (City of God 22:8 [A.D. 419]). "[T]he martyrs, by the
very benefits which are given to them that pray, indicate that they take an
interest in the affairs of men . . . For not only by effects of benefits, but
in the very beholding of men, it is certain that the confessor Felix . . .
appeared when the barbarians were attacking Nola, as we have heard not by
uncertain rumors but by sure witness" (ibid., 19). "A certain man by
[the] name Curma [was in a coma] . . . Yet he was seeing many things as in a
dream; when at last after a great many days he woke up, he told that he had
seen. . . . [He also saw] Hippo, where he was seemingly baptized by me . . .
After much that he saw, he narrated how he had, moreover, been led into
paradise and how it was there said to him, when he was dismissed to return to
his own family, ‘Go, be baptized if you want to be in this place of the
blessed.’ Thereupon being admonished to be baptized by me, he said it was done
already. He who was talking with him replied, ‘Go, be truly baptized, for you
only saw that in a vision.’ After this he recovered, went his way to Hippo. . .
. He was baptized [and] at the close of the holy days [of Easter] returned to
his own place . . . Why should we not believe these to be angelic operations
through the dispensation of the providence of God?" (The Care to be Had
for the Dead 15 [A.D. 421]).
Sozomen
"Gregory
of Nazianz presided over those who maintain the consubstantiality of the Holy
Trinity, and assembled them together in a little dwelling, which had been
altered into the form of a house of prayer, by those who held the same opinions
and had a like form of worship. It subsequently became one of the most
conspicuous in the city, and is so now, not only for the beauty and number of
its structures, but also for the advantages accruing to it from the visible
manifestations of God. For the power of God was there manifested, and was
helpful both in waking visions and in dreams, often for the relief of many
diseases and for those afflicted by some sudden transmutation in their affairs.
The power was accredited to Mary, the Mother of God, the holy Virgin, for she
does manifest herself in this way" (Church History 7:5 [A.D. 444]).
Patrick of Ireland
"And there truly [in Ireland] one night
I heard in my sleep a voice saying to me, ‘You fast well; soon you will go to
your fatherland.’ And again, after I very short time, I heard the heavenly
voice saying to me, ‘Lo, your ship is ready.’ And it was not near at hand, but
was distant, perhaps two hundred miles. And I had never been there, nor did I
know any person living there. And thereupon I shortly took flight and left the
man with whom I had been for six years. And I came in the strength of God, who
prospered my way for good; and I met with nothing to alarm me until I reached
that ship" (Confession of St. Patrick 17 [A.D. 452]). "And
once more, after a few years, I was in Britain with my family. . . . And there
indeed I saw in a vision of the night a man whose name was Victoricus coming as
it were from Ireland with countless letters. He gave me one of them, and I read
the beginning of the letter, which was entitled ‘The Voice of the Irish.’ And
while I was reading aloud the beginning of the letter, I thought that at that
very moment I heard the voices of those who dwelt beside the Wood of Foclut [in
Ireland], which is nigh unto the Western Sea. And thus they cried, as with one
mouth, ‘We beseech you, holy youth, to come and walk once more among us!’"
(ibid., 23). "Let those who will, laugh and mock. I shall not be silent
nor conceal the signs and wonders which were shown to me by the Lord many years
before they came to pass, since he knows all things even before the world’s
beginnings" (ibid., 45).
NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors. Bernadeane
Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004
IMPRIMATUR: In accord with 1983 CIC 827 permission to publish this work
is hereby granted. +Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004