In May of 1862 St. John Bosco had a propheticdream about the Church in these times: the battle and the victory. On October30, 1976, Ida Peerdeman, also, had similar prophetic messages in a dreamfollowed by two subsequent visions. Both visions occurred at the Consecrationof the holy Sacrifice of the mass in 1976 and 1979 on the feast of theImmaculate Conception, December 8.

St. John Bosco had a great affection for OurLady. His whole life was spent working for the glory of God and the salvationof souls with the aid of the Blessed Mother, whom he addressed as Mary Help ofChristians. He had an unusual charism of the Holy Spirit and that was the giftof prophetic dreams. The following is the prophetic dream of May, 1862 takenfrom a book, entitled Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco, compiled by Fr. J.Bacchiarello, S. D. B.

"Imagine yourselves to be with me on theseashore, or better, on an isolated rock and not to see any patch of land otherthan what is under your feet. On the whole of that vast sheet of water you seean innumerable fleet of ships in battle array. The prows of the ships areformed into sharp, spearlike points so that wherever they are thrust theypierce and completely destroy. These ships are armed with cannons, with lots ofrifles, with incendiary materials, with other arms of all kinds, and also withbooks, and they advance against a ship very much bigger and higher thanthemselves and try to dash against it with the prows or to burn it or in someway to do it every possible harm.

"As escorts to that majestic fully equipped ship(the Church), there are many smaller ships,which receive commands by signalfrom it and carry out movements to defend themselves from the opposing fleet.

"In the midst of the immense expanse of sea, twomighty columns of great height arise a little distance the one from the other.On the top of one, there is the statue of the Immaculate Virgin, from whosefeet hangs a large placard with this inscription: Auxilium Christianorum -'Help of Christians'; on the other, which is much higher and bigger, stands aHost of great size proportionate to the column and beneath is another placardwith the words: Salus Credentium - 'Salvation of the Faithful.'

"The supreme commander on the big ship is theSovereign Pontiff. He, on seeing the fury of the enemies and the evils amongwhich his faithful find themselves, determines to summon around himself thecaptains of the smaller ships to hold a council and decide on what is to bedone.

"All the captains come aboard and gather aroundthe Pope. They hold a meeting, but meanwhile the wind and the waves gather instorm, so they are sent back to control their own ships. There comes a shortlull; for a second time the Pope gathers the captains together around him,while the flag-ship goes on its course. But the frightful storm returns. ThePope stands at the helm and all his energies are directed to steering the shiptowards those two columns, from the top of which and from every side of whichare hanging numerous anchors and big hooks, fastened to chains.

"All the enemy ships move to attack it, and theytry in every way to stop it and to sink it: some with writings or books orinflammable materials, of which they are full; others with guns, with riflesand with rams. The battle rages ever more relentlessly. The enemy prows thrustviolently, but their efforts and impact prove useless. They make attempts invain and waste all their labor and ammunition; the big ship goes safely andsmoothly on its way. Sometimes it happens that, struck by formidable blows, itgets large, deep gaps in its sides; but no sooner is he harm done than a gentlebreeze blows from the two columns and the cracks close up and the gaps arestopped immediately.

"Meanwhile, the guns of the assailants are blownup, the rifles and other arms and prows are broken; many ships are shatteredand sink into the sea. Then, the frenzied enemies strive to fight hand to hand,with fists, with blows, with blasphemy and with curses.

"All at once the Pope falls gravely wounded.Immediately, those who are with him run to help him and they lift him up. Asecond time the Pope is struck, he falls again and dies. A shout of victory andof joy rings out amongst the enemies; from their ships an unspeakable mockeryarises. ( Possibly refers to Pope John Paul I who was deeply devoted to Fatimaand died under suspicious circumstances.)

"But hardly is the Pontiff dead than another Popetakes his place. The pilots, having met together, have elected the Pope sopromptly that the news of the death of the Pope coincides with the news of theelection of the successor. The adversaries begin to lose courage.

"The new Pope, [Pope John Paul II], putting theenemy to rout and overcoming every obstacle, guides the ship right up to thetwo columns and comes to rest between them; he makes it fast with a light chainthat hangs from the bow to an anchor of the column on which stands the Host;and with another light chain which hangs from the stern, he fastens it at theopposite end to another anchor hanging form the column on which stands theImmaculate Virgin.

"Then a great convulsion takes place. All theships that until then had fought against the Pope' s ship are scattered; theyflee away, collide and break to pieces one against another. Some sink and tryto sink others. Several small ships that had fought gallantly for the Pope raceto be the first to bind themselves to those two columns.

"Many other ships, having retreated through fearof the battle, cautiously watch from far away; the wrecks of the broken shipshaving been scattered in the whirlpools of the sea, they in their turn sail ingood earnest to those two columns, and, having reached them, they makethemselves fast to the hooks hanging down from them and there they remain safe,together with the principal ship, on which is the Pope. Over the sea therereigns a great calm."

St. John Bosco explains his dream: "The enemyships are persecutions. The most serious trials for the Church are near athand...Her enemies are represented by the ships that tried to sink the ship ifthey could. Only two means are left to save her amidst so much confusion:DEVOTION TO MARY MOST HOLY and FREQUENT COMMUNION, making use of every meansand doing our best to practice them and having them practiced everywhere and byeverybody."

"This night I dreamt as follows. I wasstanding in the center of St. Peter's Square in Rome and I saw fishing-netshanging all around. They hung on stakes in order to dry and were full of holesand gaps. Here and there in a hole a fish was still hanging, trying to get out.

"Where I was standing, there was a rock, and big,dark clouds were hanging over it. From there I heard the Voice complaining:'Cephas, My Cephas, look what has happened.'

"I had to look at these nets and over eachfishing-net I saw a mitre hovering, some bigger, some smaller. And I feltmyself caught within all those nets. Again I heard the Voice complaining:'Cephas, My Cephas, look at these holes and gaps. That is how it happened thatso many fishes got lost.'

"Then a thread came down from the clouds; itlooked like a golden thread. (The golden thread is the great graces from theproclamation of the final Marian dogma of the Lady of All Nations.) Meanwhile,a totally different large fishing-net was spread out before that rock. It hadbeen completely repaired by that thread, and I saw no more holes and gaps init. It filled up with wriggling fish and was firmly tied up by that goldenthread. Now a staff came down from the clouds and struck three times againstthat rock. It sounded hard as steel.

"While this was happening, I saw that rockgrowing larger and higher until it was a gigantic pillar. The net with fish washanging from its top."

"During Holy Mass, at the Creed, while we werereciting: 'The Word was made flesh,' 'the Light' came from the four corners ofthe Chapel and spread over the altar, the priest and all those present. At theConsecration, 'the Light' shone over the altar and the priest only, and it wasas if the people present were in the shade.

"On receiving Our Lord [in the Most HolyEucharist] I had a heavenly vision. I was again standing in St. Peter's Squareand I saw quite the same spectacle as in the dream I had in the night ofOctober 29th to 30th, 1976. This time, however, there were no dark clouds abovethe Square, but a blue clear sky. The Voice called: 'You are standing now inthe same Square, but watch what will happen.'

"All the torn nets disappeared and in theirplaces came new, undamaged ones. Again, I stood near the high pillar and at itstop I saw that fishing-net hanging full of live fish. The Voice spoke: 'Watch.'

"Suddenly, the net fell down near the foot of therock. I had to look at it and thought inwardly: These fish are dead, they havelost life now.

"Then the net opened and instead of fish, peopleof different races and tribes came stepping out. They gathered around the rockand all looked up. The Voice continued: 'Give these people My Bread.'

"Then I saw, on high, beams of light radiating onboth sides of the rock, and from them I saw baskets coming down at one side andbowls full of grapes at the other side. (Refers to the Most Holy Eucharist.)They were placed areound these people. 'Cephas, I have given you the power.'

"Thereafter a magnificent, glorious 'Light' beganspreading over the rock and the whole Square. And I heard: 'My Spirit willsupport you. Watch well.'

"Now a beautiful, highIvory Tower rose beside that rock (Refers to the Immaculate Virgin). It wasmore beautiful than the one I had seen before. Round about it twelve starsappeared one by one. But high in the midst I saw the most beautiful star, whichchanged alternately from a star into a Golden Rose.

"During Holy Mass in our Chapel at theConsecration 'the Light' came over the altar and the priest and in 'that Light'a beautiful, radiant Crown appeared. It was more beautiful and radiant thanever before.

"After the Consecration, the Crown slowlydisappeared from within 'the Light,' which then spread over all the peoplepresent and stayed till the end of Holy Mass. On receiving Our Lord [in theMost Holy Eucharist], I had a heavenly vision.

"I was standing on a beach and saw a wild, stormysea before me. There was a terrible gale and the waves were running very high.In the distance a fishing boat loomed up. I got afraid, for I realised thatthis boat was unable to make headway against the storm. Gradually, the boatcame nearer and I observed that it heeled to the left owing to the storm.

"As the boat drew still closer, I saw to myastonishment that it was a Dutch fishing boat where our Holy Father, the Popewas holding the helm and some Cardinals and Bishops were sitting. The storm wasvery violent and I saw that the Pope had a lot of trouble, because the boat wastossed about in all directions.

"Black, heavy clouds were hanging over the boat.But, suddenly,a splendid beam of Light radiated down from the clouds andlighted the entire boat. I heard the Voice calling from the sky and it soundedlike a command: 'Turn your helm to the right and hold it firmly.' The Voicepaused for a moment and continued: 'Keep your course straight and you willsafely reach the shore.'

"And really, I saw 'Our Pope' [Pope John Paul II]turning the helm to the right with all his strength and at once the storm dieddown and the sea was immediately quiet. Now I saw the fishing boat coming tothe beach in a straight line. The Pope, the Cardinals and the Bishopsdisembarked and, to my astonishment, the beach had turned into St. Peer'sSquare and I clearly saw St. Peter's and the Vatican before me.

From the dreams and visions of St. John Bosco andIda Peerdeman it is clear that the moment of victory for the Church over theopposing forces of evil will only come through TRUE DEVOTIONTO MARY, OUR MOTHER, THE MOTHER OF ALL NATIONS and TRUE DEVOTION TO OUR LORD IN THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST!

This victory will come through Pope John Paul IIwho "guides 'the ship of the Church' through the storm of persecutors 'turningthe helm to the right' by proclaiming Mary, the Lady of All Nations and therebyanchoring the Church to the Twin Pillars of Victory! "SHE will lead the nationsto 'HER LORD!'" (August 15,1979)