St. John Bosco is said to have experienced more than 150 mystical visions that guided his ministry and provided prophetic warnings for the Roman Catholic Church. Among the most famous is the “dream of the two columns,” which came to him in 1862. In this vision, Bosco dreamed of the church as a great ship (known as the Barque of Peter) that came under attack by a fleet of small ships on a stormy sea during a violent naval battle. The ship’s captain was the pope. Bosco also envisioned two towering pillars rising from the waves: one topped with a large eucharistic host bearing the label “Salvation of the Faithful,” and the other topped with a statue of the Virgin Mary bearing the label “the Help of Christians.” These pillars provided a safe haven for the ship when it was moored between them. Bosco interpreted this dream as a prophecy of future attacks on the church by its enemies and as a message that devotion to Mary and frequent participation in the Eucharist are a vital means of salvation in times of trial.
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