BROTHER
JOHN OF THE CLEFT ROCK – aka Johannes of Rupescissa, also Jean de
Roquetaillade – SUSPECT, HERETICAL, and NOT APPROVED.
Among
the prophecies of the Great Monarch and Angelic Pontiff that have
circulated we find prophecies by a 'Brother John of the Cleft Rock'.
They
have been shared as an 'approved' source, and even I was taken in by
his prophecies and included them in the book “We Are Warned: The
Prophecies of Marie-Julie Jahenny” as they are prolific on Catholic
websites and sound very much like the prophecies by approved mystics,
but after wondering who this unknown 'Brother John' could be and completing some research I discovered they are in fact by
a Franciscan monk named Johannes of Rupescissa, also known in French
as Jean de Roquetaillade. 'Rupescissa' is a play in Latin for 'torn' or 'ceft' "roche", the Norman-French word for 'rock', while"Roquetaillade" is the French version for the same. He was born
circa 1310 – died between 1366 and 1370 AD.
He is NOT an approved mystic and his texts are indeed DUBIOUS and HERETICAL. The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia website website says his prophecies are NOT Church approved and declared false:
He is NOT an approved mystic and his texts are indeed DUBIOUS and HERETICAL. The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia website website says his prophecies are NOT Church approved and declared false:
“His
false prophecies and violent denunciation of ecclesiastical abuses
brought him into disfavour with his superiors, resulting in his
imprisonment by Clement VI (1345) and Innocent VI (1356)”.
He
was an alchemist who invented distillation. He was interested in the
ancient prophecies and wrote prolific commentaries on them, and he believed all could be explained through alchemy, and even believed the Antichrist could be defeated through alchemy! (Source; see Footnote 1)
However, he did not have visions himself. Therefore, what sounds authentic comes from previously known prophecies, and the commentaries he provides are his own observations, which were heavily influenced by his study of alchemy and his search for the alchemical 'philosopher's stone', hence the symbols of the eagle, leopard and lion garbled into a strange mystic combat that is obviously borrowed from quasi-occult alchemical imagery. In all, it appears his 'prophecy' was an attempt to put his own alchemical stamp on the Great Monarch and Angelic Pontiff prophecies and are not real prophecies granted by Heaven.
Note, he was associated with the 'Spiritual Franciscans' who were condemned later as leaning towards heretical versions of Millanarianism.
He apparently was also one of the first (2) to uphold literal Millanarianism / Chiliasm, i.e. the interpretation of a thousand year reign of the Church on earth, which was denounced as heresy. (See more about that heresy, click here.)
He predicted that after the defeat of the Antichrist, those who fought him would be raised up from the dead and reign with Christ literally on earth for 1,000 years before the final battle of Gog and Magog at the end of the world. Those who died before the Antichrist's arrival would not rise from the dead until after the end of the millenium, aka, the end of the world. (Footnote 3)
This completely contradicted the teachings of St. Paul regarding the Antichrist and the Second Coming of Christ, (see more here about the Church's traditional teachin on the timing and reign of the Antichrist, click here.)
His 'false prophecies' and obvious leanings towards the heretical Spirituelles in preaching against the hierarchy of the Church and his belief in Millenarianism no doubt had something to do with his imprisionment by two popes, so that is basically non-approval of his prophecies by the Holy See at the time.
Stangely, he was allowed to write his prophecies while still in prision, even encouraged by a cardinal, but it is obvious this was not formal approval of his works, and, there is also the never-ending problem of clergy encouraging false mystics, either innocently or knowingly.
Obviously, as Rupescissa's prophecies regarding the end times are heretical, and are described as 'fake' in the Catholic Encyclopedia, they are not recognised by the Church as true prophecies or reliable commentaries on prophecies.
However, he did not have visions himself. Therefore, what sounds authentic comes from previously known prophecies, and the commentaries he provides are his own observations, which were heavily influenced by his study of alchemy and his search for the alchemical 'philosopher's stone', hence the symbols of the eagle, leopard and lion garbled into a strange mystic combat that is obviously borrowed from quasi-occult alchemical imagery. In all, it appears his 'prophecy' was an attempt to put his own alchemical stamp on the Great Monarch and Angelic Pontiff prophecies and are not real prophecies granted by Heaven.
Note, he was associated with the 'Spiritual Franciscans' who were condemned later as leaning towards heretical versions of Millanarianism.
He apparently was also one of the first (2) to uphold literal Millanarianism / Chiliasm, i.e. the interpretation of a thousand year reign of the Church on earth, which was denounced as heresy. (See more about that heresy, click here.)
He predicted that after the defeat of the Antichrist, those who fought him would be raised up from the dead and reign with Christ literally on earth for 1,000 years before the final battle of Gog and Magog at the end of the world. Those who died before the Antichrist's arrival would not rise from the dead until after the end of the millenium, aka, the end of the world. (Footnote 3)
This completely contradicted the teachings of St. Paul regarding the Antichrist and the Second Coming of Christ, (see more here about the Church's traditional teachin on the timing and reign of the Antichrist, click here.)
Furthermore, in his 'Liber
secretorum eventum' Rupescissa predicted that Antichrist would reign
for three and one half years before 1370, but that by 1415 a
millennium of peace and justice would begin. This would last
until 2370 when the arrival of Gog and Magog would herald the End of
the World. (4)
As we can see he, was completely wrong and contradicts the timing of the chastisements given to authentic mystics
– so, he produced a failed prophecy as well, another sign of a fake.
His 'false prophecies' and obvious leanings towards the heretical Spirituelles in preaching against the hierarchy of the Church and his belief in Millenarianism no doubt had something to do with his imprisionment by two popes, so that is basically non-approval of his prophecies by the Holy See at the time.
Stangely, he was allowed to write his prophecies while still in prision, even encouraged by a cardinal, but it is obvious this was not formal approval of his works, and, there is also the never-ending problem of clergy encouraging false mystics, either innocently or knowingly.
Obviously, as Rupescissa's prophecies regarding the end times are heretical, and are described as 'fake' in the Catholic Encyclopedia, they are not recognised by the Church as true prophecies or reliable commentaries on prophecies.
His
so-called prophecies on the Great Monarch are further suspect by the fact later editors,
especially those in the 16th
century, added their own additions, such as trying to fit the
prophecies to their times, e.g. the rise of the Protestant
heresy, adding Luther's name to the mix, when these predictions were
made long before in the 1300s. Johannes Rupescissa could not have
known the name 'Luther'. As a result it is difficult to discern which are his commentaries or those added by later editors.
In light of all of this, his Great Monarch prophecies are not included here on this site.
(However, you may appreciate his other alchemical discoveries in distillation in moderation - aqua vitae - basically whisky and spirits!)
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Footnotes:
(However, you may appreciate his other alchemical discoveries in distillation in moderation - aqua vitae - basically whisky and spirits!)
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Footnotes:
(1) Rupescissa: "Liber
lucis", 19rff., in Alyke Zwaantina de Vries, “The General
Reformation; divini et humani”, (2020),
https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/217422/217422.pdf?sequence=1,
p. 34.
(2) Kathryn Kerby Fulton, “The Voice of
Honest Indignation: A Study of Refomist Apocalypticism in Relation to
Piers Plowman”, Two Volumes, Vol. II, (University of York, Centre
for Medieval Studies, 1985), p. 507
(3) Rupescissa, "Liber secretorum
eventuum" (1349), 179: “Isti ergo vixerunt corporaliter resuscitati
et regnaveruntcorporaliter cum Christo mille annis qui futuri sunt a
die mortis Antichristi usque ad adventum Gog et prope finem mundi.”,
in Alyke Zwaantina de Vries, “The General
Reformation; divini et humani”, (2020),
https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/217422/217422.pdf?sequence=1,
pp. 50-51.
(4) Kathryn Kerby Fulton, “The Voice of
Honest Indignation: A Study of Refomist Apocalypticism in Relation to
Piers Plowman”, Two Volumes, Vol. II, (University of York, Centre
for Medieval Studies, 1985), p. 507
