BISHOP GEORGE MICHAEL
WITTMAN (b. 1760 - d. 1833)
He was born in Pleistein,
Oberpfalz, Bavaria Germany. He studied first with the Jesuits, then
with the Benedictines at Amberg (1769–78), and at the University of
Heidelberg (1778-9). On 21 December 1782, he was ordained priest and
after doing parish work at Kenmath, Kaltenbrunn, and Miesbrunn he
became professor and subregens at the diocesan seminary of Ratisbon
in 1788 and regens in 1802. From 1804 he was also pastor of the
cathedral.
In 1829 he was appointed
auxiliary Bishop of Ratisbon and consecrated titular Bishop of
Comana. In 1830, when the coadjutor Johann Michael Sailer became
ordinary of Ratisbon, Wittmann was made his vicar-general; and after
Sailer's death he was nominated Bishop of Ratisbon, 1 July 1832, but
died before his preconization.
He exerted an influence
on the candidates (numbering over fifteen hundred) whom he prepared
for the priesthood during the forty-five years of his connection with
the seminary.
He was influential in
helping Bl. Theresa of Jesus / Karolina Gerhardinger discern her
vocation to found a religious community in order to respond to the
needs of the times through education. She founded the School
Sisters of Notre Dame.
By his zeal, charity, and
exemplary life, Bishop Wittman gained the affection and esteem of
all, and was believed to be a living saint by the people. He was also
a mystic. The process of his
canonisation was opened in 1956.
The prophecy attributed
to him is as follows:
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Woe is me! Sad days
are at hand for the Holy Church of Jesus Christ. The Passion of Jesus
will be
renewed in the most dolorous manner in the Church and in her Supreme Head. In all parts of the world there will be wars and revolutions, and much blood will be spilled. Distress, disasters, and poverty will everywhere be great, since pestilential maladies, scarcity, and other misfortunes will follow one another.
renewed in the most dolorous manner in the Church and in her Supreme Head. In all parts of the world there will be wars and revolutions, and much blood will be spilled. Distress, disasters, and poverty will everywhere be great, since pestilential maladies, scarcity, and other misfortunes will follow one another.
"Violent hands will be
laid on the Supreme Head of the Catholic Church; bishops and priests
will be persecuted, and schisms will be provoked, and confusion reign
amid all classes. Times will come, so pre-eminently bad, that it will
seem as if the enemies of Christ, and of his Holy Church, which He
founded with His blood, were about to triumph over her. ... A general
separation will be made. The wheat shall be winnowed, and the floor
swept.
Secret societies will
work great ruin, and exercise a marvellous monetary power, and
through that many will be blinded, and infected with most horrible
errors; however, all this shall avail naught. Christ says, “He who
is not with Me is against Me, and he who gathereth not with Me
scattereth.” Scandals will be but too rife, and woe to those by
whom they come! Although the tempests will be terrible, and will turn
away many in their passage, nevertheless they cannot shake the rock
whereon Christ has founded his Church. ”Porte inferi non
prevalebunt.”
"The faithful sheep
will gather together, and in Unions of Prayer will offer potent
resistance to the enemies of the Catholic Church. Yes, yes, the flock
will become small. Many of you will see those sad times and days
which will bring such evil in their train ... . Great confusion will
reign amid princes and nations. The incredulity of the present day is
preparing those horrid evils."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
