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BEE 1YJA
V
AMERICA OVERRUN
BY SAVAGE HORDES'
(N 1914?
The Many Amazing Predictions of "The
Nun of Uiierbo," Which Have Come Strange
ly True, Capped by a Deathbed Prophecy
of Incredible Disaster to the United States
Rome, June 26.
eT HE HOLY NUN OF VITERRO," Sister Maria
I Benedetta, who has JuBt passed away,
enjoyed a tromendouo famo throughout Italy
for her success In predicting coming events.
Her power was usually exercised with tho object ol
averting mlsfortuno from people or preparing them fot
Inevitable disaster. Hundreds of people were enabled
to e&capo from tho Messina earthquake through her
warning, and In many other cases her admonitions
wore timely. This gave hor great reputation for
sanctity, and she was particularly beloved among tho
poor and simple peasants.
Ono of the most remarkable predictions ever made
by tho nun'relatod to America and was uttered on her
deathbed. The. extraordinary and unquestioned
accuracy of many of hor previous predictions gives
added interest to this very alarming statement Aro
we to bellovo that the nun's mind was disordered by
her last illness, or was her prophetic faculty sharpened
by tho near approach of death?
This is tho terrifying statement which the dying nun
(s said to have mado to visitors just before her death:
"Trouble is coming from the East The Yellow Peril ,
threatens the world, butlt is against Americathat it
will be first directed. Prepare to defend yourselves t
the last gasp.
"Before two years are pMt-about the end of 1914
yellow invaders and negroes will be throwing dice fes
the last American girl In Central Park. New York,
amid the smoking ruins of the great city, given up te
the idolatrous cult of the Golden Calf.
"But true-hearted Americans will make a brave stags'
a A I VAT iV
aJsBBBSBffMPljaSBBBl
nurse, who grow old by her bodoido and -died before
her, said she never even heard her sigh.
' People of all ranks crowded to her bedside for years
to ask her help in timo of trouble, or else out of
curiosity to hear hor remarkable prophecies.
Tho room In which tho nun lived and suffered was
as baro eb a prison coll. Its only ornaments woro a
crucifix on tho wall and a small Image of tho Saviour,
which she kept near her bod and for -which sho had a
special veneration. It is stated that when unbelievers
went to see her out of curiosity, she would show them
this image and a strange change would com over
them.
Tho prediction that raised hor fame to the highest
pitch -throughout Italy forrtold the assassination o
King Humbert at Monza, on July 20, 1890.
On July 29 the Mother Abbess of Sister Maria Bene-
Sister Maria Benedetta,
the Nun of Viterbo, as
.She Appeared When
Lying in Death and
Viewed by Many Thous
ands of Italians Who
Venerated Her Prophet
ic Power.
and subjects on that day.
The King always paid respectful heed to tho warn
ings, and, although he never ran away from danger,
it is stated that being on his guard enabled him to
mako tho slight movement needed to put him beyond
danger on many desperate occasions. .
The nun warned King Carlos of Portugal that a
plot was being formed against him, but tho stout,
Jovial monarch replied:
"Thanks, very much; but I can take care of myself.
The King, who was killed with his son on February
1, 1908, was a first cousin of the King of Italy. His
mother, who was a sister of the late King Humbert,
was deeply Impressed by the.nun's message, but failed
to produce any effect on her son.
The forecasts and warnings of the nun at the time
of the dreadful Messina earthquake did more than
anything else to make her beloved by the common
people. On December 27, 1908, Bhe spoke more Impres
sively and tragically than she had ever done before,
saying:
"Woe to the people of Sicily. A dreadful catastrophe
"About the end of 1914 yellow invaders and negroes will be throwing dice
for the last American girl in Central Park, New York."
warning carefully and, al
though the Grand Duke
was the most hated of all
the Russian rulers, he
went unharmed for many
months.
On February 4, 1905, the
nun said:
"Tell the Russian Grand
Duchess that her husband
is in great peril to-day."
The warning came too
late, fory on that day the
Grand Duke Serglus, who
treated his wife with great
harshness, went out with
out her, in spite of her
warnings, and was blown
to shreds by Nihilist
bombs.
Warnings were repeat
edly sent from the nun to
King Alfonso of Spain tell
ing him to be on his guard
against assassins and rev
olutionaries. A timely mes
sage was sent to him tho
day before his wedding-,
and this Is said to have
enabled him to escape tho
murderous attack which
killed so many of hi3 suits
Thf Nun sent word to the Grand Duchess Sergius tnat her husband would be killed If
he went in public without her. He disobeyed the warning and was
Assassinated February 4, 1905."
or their race la the Interest of their country. I sea a
ret battle upon a vast plain by a great lake. I
cannot sea how It will end."
It must be admitted that this blood-curdling predlc
"or hardly eeejns like an outpouring of holiness, yet it
he sun, in her strange, psychic condition, caw such
hlogs about to happen, what could she do but utter
HwaT Doubtless she felt it her duty to warn Amer
. . Her prediction has been widely published here.
vAad Is Jmpljeltly believed by hundreds of thousands,
'robably by millions of people.
The sun's name was Maria Benedetta Frey. She
as born is, Rome In 1836 and brought up In a convent
f the Cistercian nuns. At the age of twonty-one she
-fused an offer of marriage, and then, having shown a
...oesly religious bent of mind. Joined the Cistercian
-rtfer. After two years of novitiate ahe became a pro-
jfwtxi bub aad toolc up fcir residence at Vltorbo, neai
oma,
la lUt she was stricken with paralysis of the spine,
vhleb kept her a helpless, suffering cripple for the rest
t fcr lift. It was after this attack that she developed
a gift of prophecy. She lived for fifty-two yearn after
ier atUett sM Jm iaereased during all this time.
Sister Maria aVfUMMtetta spest more than halt a cen
ury wHa Vr JmmmI tightly bandaged and supported by a
,.,f&el frame xi at both eads ol her bed. She endured
Cdntiasai rirrtt, but she sever complained. Ha
detta's convent Informed the sub-Prefect of Viterbo,
a Government official, that the sister had had a vision
of King Humbert's assassination. The official wired
to Rome for information and received word that noth
ing had happened to tho King. As a matter of fact,
the officials in Rome had not then received news of
the King's death. He was stabbed late In the afternoon
by Gaetano BrescU an anarchist, and died within an
hour in the castlo ot Monsa.
The extraordinary inquiry from Viterbo gave rise to
tho belief that tho pldt against' th King must have been
hatched there, but investigation showed that there was
no ground for this. Bread plotted the .King's assas
sination In Paterson, New Jersey, The widowed Queen
Margherfta soon afterward visited the nun and was
greatly Impressed by her gifts of second sight and
prophecy. The Queen becamo one ot her stanchest
believers and helped to spread her fame throughout
Europe.
Ten years ago the Pope allowed the nun to receive
visitors In her room, thus relaxing the rule ot the
Clstercl&n Order that etrangors can speak to the nuns
only through an Iron grating.
At tho tlrno the revolutionary disturbances were
acuta In Russia, tho nun told Queen Margherlta that
her friend, the Grand Duchess Serglus ot Russia,
should never let her husband go alone in public, or
2m would ba killed. The Grand Duchess followed he?
MA tlreedful catutropba l coming to Sicily. Wo to you people of Mestiaat Flea
lor your Hvel' Th Kuu'a warning tt day befora tho Messina ertk
auake U SS to kvre bea tha aui of living hundred of live,"
is coming to them. It will be worse than anything they,
have known. In their long tragic history. Woe to
Messina I The beautiful city will be destroyed. I sea
death, devastation, famine, pestilence everywhere. Tell
tho poor people to fly whllo there Is yet time. Let them,
leave everything they possess and savo their lives."
Tho nun had by that timo a great reputation, an
her warning, which came the day before the disaster,
was serviceable in inducing many hundreds to escape
or else to make timely preparations to leave the
doomed area.
Another prediction which made tho nun. a venerated
character throughout ' Italy related to tho war with,
Turkey. A party of young recruits, ordered to Join
the colors long before war had been decided on, visited
the nun to ask her blessing. To them she said:
"A war is coming. I see scenes of bloodshed and
agony on burning, sandy plains. But It will bo- a
glorious war. It will bo tho first glorious war In
which Italy has fought It will be a war of the Cross
against tho Crescent, and the Cross will be victorious.
Some of you will never return, but do not be afraid,
for you will meet a death that will be better than
years of sordid misery and labor. Fight bravely and
do not shrink from death. He that tries hardest to
lose his life shall keep It,
"For you, young man (here the nun turned her
eyes on a very handsome young soldier), I see a
splendid military career and a long and happy life."
When the war actually broke out her popularity
became enormous. She was constantly visited by
soldiers going to the war and by the mothers, wives
and relatives of thoso who had gone.
The mothers and wives of the soldiers usually asked
the nun to pray for her loved ones. She would ask
for the names of the . soldiers for whom she' was
requested to pray, and after thinking a while replied,
either bidding her visitor to hope or gently suggesting-
that the soldier would fall gloriously in tho
fight for his country and his faith.
It is declared that she never mado a single mistake,
and thousands of persons are ready to give evidence
that whenever she told them to hope, their sons, hus
bands and relatives at the post were not killed.
The nun's answer to Ill-judged requests for Infor
mation about the future frequently had a character of
dry humor. During the famous Camorra trial, Don
Ciro Vltozzi, who was particularly forceful and
dramatic In protesting his Innocence, sent to ask her
if he would be -cquitted. Slfo sent back this message:
'If you are innocent, you will certainly be acquitted."
The Nun's mind and supposed powers of second
sight tended to deal principally with death, war, dis
asters and tragic ocurrences. She Is credited with;
having foretold the Franco-German war of 1870, the
entry of the Italian army Into Rome, which occurred
In the same year, the assassination ot President Carnot
of France, and the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the
deaths of the Emperor Frederick of Germany and of
King Edward ot England, the Titanic disaster and many,
ether tragedies ot world-wide interest
It is widely believed that she has foretold further
disasters to the Italian royal family as a punishment
for keeping the Pope out of bis temporal possessions in
Rome. Much secrecy Is maintained upon this" point,
but sho is sold to have sent the following message to
the Dowager Queen Margherlta:
"As long as the House ot Savoy rules In Rome,
death and disaster will attend it Remove the throne
to another city and new glory will crown your house."
Tho nun predicted her own death a week ahead.
On the morning of the day she had fixed, Bhe called
the Abbess and the other nuns to her cell and begged
their forgiveness. She passed away at the very hour
she had foretold.
The room In which Bhe died was left exactly as sh'6
bad used it and was sealed up by order of the Bishop
of Viterbo. Every article left by the nun will be care
fully preserved for the veneration of this and future
generations.
Scientific men are greatly interested in the nun's
case. While not ready to accept every feat attributed
to her, they are Inclined to believe that she possessed
supernormal psychical powers. Her nervous system
was in an entirely abnormal condition. Many of her
nervous centres, which would have been used In a
normal existence, were destroyed by tho disease that
afflicted her and it is conceivable that the remaining
nervous centreB bad developed powers not possessed,
by those of ordinary persons. Her sense of hearing,
for instance, was acute to an almost incredible degree.
Those who take this view think that the disturbance,
of the earth caused by tho Messina earthquake, several
hundred miles away, may have been perceptible to her
The other cases are, of course, more difficult to explain,
but it is suggested that Bhe learned much from the!
actions ot those who came to make Inquiries of her, J