Importance of Prophecy in Locutions to the World
The two “Importance of Prophecy” messages from Locutions to the World, dated August 30 and August 31, 2013, focus on the prophetic gift and its place in the life of the Church. They point to the Acts of the Apostles, where visions, prophetic warnings, and the guidance of the Holy Ghost helped direct the Church’s early mission.
These messages should be read as claims of private revelation and discerned according to Catholic teaching. Private revelation does not add to the deposit of faith or carry the authority of Sacred Scripture or the Church’s teaching. Yet Scripture itself shows that prophecy is a gift of the Holy Ghost, given for the good and building up of the Church.
The messages below are reproduced first in their original form. The sections that follow examine their main claims in light of Scripture and Catholic discernment.
The “Importance of Prophecy” Messages from Locutions to the World
Importance of Prophecy
Mary
Today, I will speak of the importance to the Church of prophetic visions and words. Later, I will teach about the use of prophesy. Look again at the Early Church. How did this great missionary enterprise reach the end of the known world in just a few decades? Was this the work of human genius? Not at all. Read the scriptures. All was guided by the revealing gifts of the Spirit.
By a prophetic vision, Peter knew to go to the home of Cornelius, the Gentile (Acts C10). By prophetic words spoken at Antioch, Barnabas and Saul were sent forth on the great missionary journey (Acts C13). On the second journey, the Holy “Spirit did not allow Paul to preach in Asia. Instead, a prophetic vision called him to Macedonia in Europe (Acts C16). Later, when Paul was to return to Jerusalem, he already knew clearly that he would be taken prisoner because of a prophecy given by Agabus (Acts 21:10-11). While in custody, the Lord himself told Paul, that, having preached the gospel in Jerusalem, he would also bear witness in Rome (Acts 23:11).
Where would the Early Church have been without the Holy Spirit’s prophetic revelations? The community would be floundering and subjected to every kind of failure. Such is the plight of today’s Church because the prophetic word is not spoken and the prophetic vision is not received.
Prophecy is not an extraordinary experience like God speaking from the mountaintop amid thunder and lightning. Prophecy is a quiet voice, heard within the heart.
At times the Spirit reveals the Father’s will for the soul. These words are just for the person. Sometimes, the words are for another person, a group, for the Church, or even for the whole world (such as these locutions). This is what I will explain.
The Importance of Prophecy
Mary
Prophecy is very important because it is the word of God. Paul writes, “Strive eagerly for the spiritual gifts, above all that you may prophesy” (1Cor.14:1) because “whoever prophesies builds up the Church (V4).
The Spirit has already given God’s word in the Bible and in the authoritative teachings of the Church. True prophesy never contradicts that word but applies the word and explains God’s plan in individual circumstance.
How the Holy Spirit wants to speak out! Through the gift of prophesy he guides the individual speaks to congregations and even leads the entire Church. To set aside this spiritual gift is to walk in a useless darkness. I ask “Can human solutions save the Church? Can the thoughts of man, even the thoughts of bishops and popes adequately guide the Church? God’s plans are hidden and he reveals the great mysteries through the prophets.
Oh, when will the spiritual gift of prophecy come forth to illumine the Church? When will those who guide my Church accept the prophetic word? Even when I speak in authorized apparitions, the words are set aside.
The future of the Church will be filled with a great light and power resulting from the Spirit pouring out his prophetic word. As Peter said, “Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.” (Acts 2:17). Yes, all from the greatest to the least will speak God’s word and new life will flow out.
Source: Locutions to the World. The original messages are reproduced here for study, commentary, and Catholic discernment. All commentary and analysis following the messages are original to Two Percent Survival.
What These Messages Teach About Prophecy
Taken together, the two messages present prophecy as a gift through which God may guide, warn, strengthen, or instruct His people. The first looks to the Acts of the Apostles and the prophetic guidance received by the early Church. The second stresses an essential safeguard: authentic prophecy cannot contradict the truth God has already revealed through Christ and entrusted to His Church.
Prophecy Guided the Early Church
The first message points directly to the Acts of the Apostles. The early Church did not spread through human planning alone. Again and again, the Holy Ghost guided the Apostles through visions, prophetic words, and divine warnings.
St. Peter’s vision prepared him to enter the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, and helped open the way for the Gospel to be preached beyond the Jewish people. At Antioch, the Holy Ghost directed that Barnabas and Saul be set apart for missionary work. Later, when St. Paul intended to preach in Asia, he was prevented from doing so and was called through a vision to Macedonia.
The same pattern continued as Paul made his way toward Jerusalem. The prophet Agabus foretold that Paul would be bound and handed over to the Gentiles. Then, while Paul was in custody, the Lord assured him that just as he had borne witness in Jerusalem, he would also bear witness in Rome.
These examples show an important distinction. God had revealed the Gospel in Christ, yet the Holy Ghost continued to guide His servants in the particular circumstances they faced. The prophetic gift did not create a new Gospel. It helped the Apostles know where to go, what to do, what dangers awaited them, and how God’s plan was unfolding.
That is the pattern these messages ask Catholics to notice. Authentic prophecy serves the work of God rather than drawing attention away from Christ. Its proper purpose is to help souls respond more faithfully to God within the truth He has already revealed.
Prophecy Can Be Given for Different Purposes
The first message also makes an important distinction about prophecy’s purpose and audience.
Some words may concern only the person who receives them. They may bring guidance, correction, encouragement, or a clearer understanding of God’s will in that person’s life. Other words may be intended for another person or for a small group. Still others may concern a larger body of people, the Church, or even the wider human family.
This distinction matters because not every prophetic word has the same purpose or weight. A personal inspiration is not the same thing as a message addressed to the Church. A warning meant for one soul is not automatically meant for everyone.
The message therefore presents prophecy as something that must be understood according to whom it addresses and what God intends it to accomplish. Its purpose is service: to guide, strengthen, warn, prepare, or call people more deeply into God’s will.
This also explains why claims of prophecy require discernment. A person should never assume that every inner thought comes from God, nor should a message intended for one person automatically be imposed upon others. As the claimed scope of a message grows—from an individual to a group, the Church, or the wider human family—the need for careful Catholic discernment becomes even greater.
True Prophecy Never Contradicts Scripture or Church Teaching
The second message gives the clearest safeguard in the entire series:
“True prophecy never contradicts that word but applies the word and explains God’s plan in individual circumstance.”
The sentence comes immediately after the message acknowledges that God’s word has already been given in Scripture and in the Church’s authoritative teaching.
This provides the central Catholic safeguard for evaluating any claimed private revelation.
Authentic prophecy cannot correct the Gospel, overturn Catholic doctrine, or reveal a different faith. God cannot contradict Himself. Any claimed private revelation that contradicts Sacred Scripture, Catholic faith or morals, or the authoritative teaching of the Church fails a fundamental test of discernment.
Prophecy instead serves what God has already revealed. It may call people back to prayer, repentance, conversion, fidelity, or trust in God. It may warn of dangers or help people recognize how the truths of the faith apply to a certain time or circumstance. But it can never replace the deposit of faith entrusted to the Church.
This is also why claims of private revelation should neither be accepted blindly nor dismissed without discernment. St. Paul teaches that prophecy can build up the Church, while Catholic teaching makes clear that private revelation remains subordinate to the deposit of faith.
The Catholic response is therefore one of discernment. The question is not merely whether a claimed message sounds spiritual. The question is whether it remains faithful to Christ, Scripture, Catholic faith and morals, and the truth the Church has already received. When prophecy is genuine, it leads people more deeply into that truth rather than away from it.
How the Prophetic Gift Serves the Church
Scripture presents prophecy as a gift ordered toward service rather than spiritual curiosity. Its purpose is not simply to disclose future events. Prophecy may strengthen, encourage, warn, correct, or help God’s people respond to His will. The two Locutions messages emphasize this practical purpose and connect it with the prophetic life of the early Church.
Prophecy Is Meant to Build Up the Church
The second message draws directly from St. Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians:
“Follow after charity, be zealous for spiritual gifts; but rather that you may prophesy.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:1, Douay-Rheims
A few verses later, St. Paul explains the purpose of the gift:
“He that prophesieth, edifieth the church.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:4, Douay-Rheims
To “edify” means to build up. Prophecy, then, is not presented in Scripture as a gift meant merely to reveal future events. Its purpose is much broader. It can strengthen faith, call people to repentance, give encouragement, warn against danger, or help people understand how God’s will applies to a present situation.
That is the point the message emphasizes. Prophecy is meant to serve the Church. It should lead people toward Christ, greater fidelity, and a deeper response to the truth God has already revealed.
This also explains why prophecy cannot be judged merely by whether a prediction appears to come true. Its purpose is spiritual. Authentic prophecy should bear good fruit by directing souls toward God, strengthening faith, encouraging conversion, and serving the Body of Christ.
The Holy Spirit Can Guide Through Prophecy
The message also teaches that prophetic guidance may be given at different levels. It may concern an individual soul, speak to a congregation, or, at times, serve a wider purpose for the Church.
This follows the pattern already seen in the Acts of the Apostles. Sometimes the Holy Ghost guided one person. At other times He directed a group or influenced the course of the Church’s mission. The gift served a practical purpose because God’s servants did not always know beforehand what path they should take.
The message therefore presents prophecy as one way the Holy Ghost may guide His people without adding to or changing the deposit of faith. Sacred Scripture and the authoritative teaching of the Church provide the standard by which claimed private revelation must be judged. Authentic prophetic guidance concerns how God’s will may apply within particular circumstances; it does not establish new doctrine.
This distinction is essential. A claimed vision or locution never places its recipient above the Church, nor can private revelation possess the authority of Public Revelation. When authentic, such gifts serve the Christian faith rather than govern or replace it.
The final lines of the message look toward a renewed outpouring of this gift and recall St. Peter’s words at Pentecost: “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17). The point is not that prophecy replaces the ordinary life of the Church, but that the Holy Ghost remains free to bestow His gifts for the good of His people.
For Catholics, this calls for balance. Prophecy should never be accepted without discernment, but neither should the gift itself be treated as though it no longer belongs to the life of the Church. Scripture presents prophecy as a gift of the Holy Ghost, ordered toward building up the Church and serving God’s plan.
How Catholics Should Discern Claims of Prophecy
Catholic discernment avoids two opposite errors. The first is credulity: accepting a claimed message merely because someone says it came from God. The second is dismissing every claim of prophecy simply because it comes through private revelation.
Scripture calls for a more careful response. Catholics are to remain open to the gifts of the Holy Ghost while testing what is claimed against the faith already received. This allows genuine spiritual gifts to be respected without giving private revelation an authority it does not possess.
Claims of Prophecy Must Be Tested
The two messages themselves do not give a full procedure for testing prophecy. They do, however, insist that prophecy has a real place in the life of the Church and that true prophecy must remain faithful to God’s revealed truth.
Scripture gives the principle for how Catholics should respond:
“Extinguish not the spirit. Despise not prophecies. But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:19–21, Douay-Rheims
Those verses hold several truths together. Catholics are not told to accept every prophecy. They are told to “prove all things.” At the same time, they are warned not to despise prophecy or extinguish the work of the Holy Ghost.
That means discernment requires examination, not dismissal.
A claimed prophecy should be tested for its faithfulness to Christ, Scripture, Catholic faith and morals, and the authority Christ gave to His Church. Its fruits should also be considered. Does it lead toward conversion, prayer, repentance, charity, obedience to God, and greater fidelity to the Catholic faith? Or does it produce contradiction, pride, confusion, or separation from the Church?
Discernment protects Catholics from false prophecy while also guarding against the opposite error of dismissing a possible work of the Holy Ghost without proper examination.
Scripture and Church Teaching Remain the Standard
The strongest safeguard in the second message is its statement that the Holy Ghost has already given God’s word in the Bible and in the Church’s authoritative teaching. It then says:
“True prophecy never contradicts that word but applies the word and explains God’s plan in individual circumstance.”
This establishes a clear order.
Public Revelation is never judged by private revelation. Every claimed private revelation must instead be judged according to the faith God has already entrusted to His Church.
A genuine prophetic message cannot introduce a different Gospel, overturn Catholic doctrine, deny the sacraments, contradict Christian morality, or demand belief in something contrary to the deposit of faith. God cannot reveal one truth publicly and then contradict it privately.
This also explains the proper role of prophecy. It may call people back to truths they have neglected. It may warn, encourage, prepare, or explain how God’s truth applies to a particular need or moment. But it cannot add to the deposit of faith, complete Christ’s Revelation, or establish a new doctrine Catholics are required to believe.
The standard remains what God has already revealed and what the Church faithfully teaches.
Catholics Should Remain Open to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The prophetic gift is not foreign to Christianity. Scripture records prophecy, visions, warnings, and other gifts of the Holy Ghost throughout the apostolic Church. St. Paul urges Christians to desire spiritual gifts, while also requiring that such gifts be rightly ordered and discerned.
Catholic caution toward claims of private revelation therefore should not become rejection of prophecy itself. The proper response is openness joined to discernment.
Openness, however, does not mean gullibility. The same Catholic who remains open to the Holy Ghost should also remain firmly grounded in Scripture, the sacraments, prayer, and the teaching of the Church.
That balance is central to Catholic discernment. Private revelation can never replace the faith handed down through the Church. When a prophetic gift is authentic, it serves that faith, strengthens Christian life, and leads souls toward Christ rather than toward the messenger.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the Gift of Prophecy End with the Apostles?
No. Public Revelation was completed with the apostolic age and will not receive another public revelation before the glorious return of Christ. This does not mean that every prophetic charism ceased. The Holy Ghost may continue to grant gifts for the good of the Church, but no private revelation can add to or complete the deposit of faith.
Can Private Revelation Contradict Scripture or Church Teaching?
No. An authentic private revelation cannot contradict Sacred Scripture, Catholic faith or morals, or the authoritative teaching of the Church. A claim that contradicts the faith already revealed cannot be accepted as a revelation from God.
What Is the Purpose of Prophecy?
In Scripture, prophecy serves the good of God’s people. It may encourage, warn, correct, strengthen, or call people to conversion. A claimed prophetic word may concern an individual or a wider group, but its authenticity and proper scope must always be discerned.
How Should Catholics Respond to Claims of Prophecy?
Catholics should neither accept every claimed revelation blindly nor reject every claim without examination. St. Paul gives the principle: “Despise not prophecies. But prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:20–21, Douay-Rheims). Claims of private revelation should therefore be tested in light of Scripture, Catholic faith and morals, their spiritual fruits, and the judgment of legitimate Church authority.
Charles Rogers is a resident of South Carolina and a retired computer programmer by trade. Raised in various Christian denominations, he came to faith in Jesus Christ early in life. In 2012, he began experiencing authentic spiritual encounters with the Blessed Virgin Mary, who led him on a seven-year journey that included a struggle with alcohol addiction, a widow-maker heart attack in which he died, and his conversion to the Catholic Faith. He is the exclusive author and owner of Two Percent Survival, a website dedicated to and created in honor of the Holy Mother. Feel free to email Charles at twopercentsurvival@gmail.com.
May Our Lady of the Rosary lead you deeper into the grace you have been given. Pray always, and trust the mercy of God while the door remains open.
— Two Percent Survival