Saint John Milic of Kromeriz

canonized 6 July 2013, Kiev

(Brief biography)

The beginning of the third millennium is the time when we need to think about the Scripture prophecy about the coming of the Antichrist. John Milic of Kromeriz, a preacher of repentance in Prague, warned of the presence of the spirit of evil in the world.

The brother of Pope Urban V, Cardinal of Albania, said about Milic: “Although my brother, the late Pope, shines with miracles, this Milic should be canonized before my brother.” Today, the time is ripe for the canonization of this prophet and servant of Christ.

This day, 6 July, is connected with the martyrdom of another Bohemian preacher of repentance, John of Husinec.

Czech history has its heroes. During the reign of Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Roman Emperor, there lived a servant of God and prophet John who served in the Kingdom of Bohemia. He was not afraid of telling the truth, even if it was not to people’s liking. He was not afraid of going against the stream! God’s words came alive in his mouth to confront the dismal state of society and the Church. What’s more, they convicted even the Emperor himself.

Milic was born in Kromeriz around 1320. He attended the Cathedral School in Olomouc. From Moravia then he went to Prague – the capital of the Bohemian Kingdom and of all Europe at the time. He gained a high position in the chancery of the Emperor Charles IV himself. He even accompanied him on some of his travels around the empire.

During the reign of the Emperor Charles IV, Prague developed into a city of unprecedented beauty. The Church boasting beautiful buildings seemed to be flourishing. However, the internal state was incomparably poorer. There was no question of an exemplary life of the clergy, let alone religious orders living in extravagant luxury. Church preferments, which brought no small revenue, could be bought for money.

Milic was not only a member of the Emperor’s chancery but also a high prelate of the Church. As Archdeacon, he had oversight of the clergy. From his position, he could see far more sharply than others the greed, selfishness and pride of the priests. This caused him unceasing anguish: Is not my life, too, different from what Jesus Christ demands? Consequently, he decided to change his life radically. In 1363, i.e. 650 years ago, he resigned his dignities and gave up lucrative revenues. He retreated into solitude. There in prayer, the process of his internal conversion matured and he became rooted in Christ. There he also received the spirit of prophecy. In less than a year, he returned to Prague as a preacher of repentance. He was convinced that the only remedy for the sick Church was the living Word of God.

He regularly preached in the Church of St. Giles, which was crowded with people. The poor and the rich, men and women came to listen to this “fiery preacher”.

The hagiographer testifies to the zeal of Milic

“His heart overflowed with love and deep mercy towards all people. He loved even his enemies and persecutors. All who talked to him or dealt with him sensed his love and kindness of spirit. No one was left without consolation. The only exception was people possessed with the spirit of the Antichrist. In every respect, this man appeared to be a second Elijah.

He worked with untiring zeal for the salvation of souls. He chastised, beseeched and urged in season and out of season, so that many were ashamed and turned away from their evil deeds. He allowed himself no rest: he would hear confessions, visit the sick, console the afflicted, convert the sinners. He gave people practical instructions on self-dedication to God in personal prayer.

He used to preach several sermons on the feasts and at least one sermon every day. He preached not only in Czech but also in German and Latin. His sermons not only encouraged and comforted many but also reproached severely and warned against the danger of damnation. His message was so radical and powerful that it changed the lives of many. Young priests and students began to gather around Milic eagerly. They formed a circle of his faithful disciples.”

Milic denounces the abuses of priests and prelates

“This priest burned with zeal like Elijah for the law of Jesus and for His truth. He struggled tirelessly against countless false prophets, religious, priests and proud scholars. He fearlessly chastised the highest prelates, archbishops and bishops for their chief errors. He faced death almost daily for the sake of the truth.”

The Babylon-like city of Prague became a “New Jerusalem”

“Without the voice of Milic,” writes the hagiographer, “the iniquities would have reached heaven. They would have turned us into Sodom. We would have perished like Gomorrah. But he returned Sodom to its ancient dignity. In spiritual terms, Prague changed from a Babylon to a Jerusalem.”

Little Venice in Prague was a red-light district. It was a hotbed of disease and infection – both physical and moral. People were powerless against this trend. Nevertheless, the message preached by Milic reached that place too. In a short time, more than 200 prostitutes turned to repentance. Many sinners started to repent and changed their lives. The owner of the largest brothel left the sinful occupation and donated her house. Milic ordered the house to be pulled down and purpose-built buildings to be erected in its place, which he called New Jerusalem.

The hagiographer recounts:

Milic, full of God’s mercy, cared for the penitent women like a most loving father. He saw to their re-education. How many tears, how much worry it cost him lest they should lapse into sin again! … Although he had no possessions any more as he had forsaken everything for the sake of Christ, he provided them with all they needed. He even sold the handful of books that served him as preaching aids. And after he had spent all the money, he begged for the bare essentials from the rich – of course, not without nasty insults or rejection.

One of his contemporaries describes the atmosphere of the New Jerusalem as follows: “Anyone who entered the place watched and listened with admiration to what was going on there. All seemed to prophesy, as the Apostle Paul said about the Christians in Corinth. Such a visitor praised the Lord and confessed that God indeed was in their midst. He himself either joined their communion or left weeping for himself and blessing them.”

Preaching about the Antichrist

Milic felt ever more oppressed by moral decay in the Church. He openly chastised all who contributed to it in some way or other. Again and again, he hinted at the dark figure against which the Apostles had warned the early Christians.

When asked the question, “Who is the Antichrist?”, Milic said, “There are many Antichrists. He who betrays and denies Christ is the Antichrist.” “And how does he deny Him?” “By being silent on the rejection of God’s truth and God’s laws and fearing to stand up against crimes.”

During one of his sermons, he prophetically lifted his hand and pointed to the Emperor Charles, saying: “You are the great Antichrist!” He was charged with public insult of the sovereign and put into prison. Milic, however, was greatly respected by the emperor. He was released before long. This shock therapy was also used by the prophet Nathan on the holy king David. The emperor was really under strong pressure of the cunning spirit of the Antichrist. The painful truth led him to repentance.

In 1367, Milic went to greet the Pope who was returning from Avignon in France to Rome. Before the Pope’s return, Milic placed a sign at the entrance to St. Peter’s Church saying that on a certain day he would preach about the Antichrist. It did not escape the attention of the Inquisition Court. Milic was arrested and imprisoned. After the return of Pope Urban V to Rome he was released.

“In Rome, he preached to the bishops and prelates that the Antichrist had come. He told them that they themselves were members of the Antichrist as their deeds were detestable to Christ Jesus.”

Milic brought forward a project of a reform of the Church – he urged the Pope to convene a general council where the decision would be made to send anointed preachers – evangelists – into all the world to prepare God’s army to fight the Antichrist and also to prepare the Bride of Christ for the Coming of Christ. The Pope agreed with Milic, yet the project failed to be carried out.

Persecution of Milic

Milic returned to Prague. There was nothing good in store for him there. His criticism of the situation in the Church and of the vices of the clergy outraged the Prague hierarchy to such an extent that they fabricated a sharp accusation against him. The Archbishop of Prague brushed it aside, knowing that it was denigration and revenge.

“The New Jerusalem provoked opposition on earth and terror in the realm of darkness. Many priests and monks, especially mendicant friars, felt threatened by Milic as he admonished their abuses and, moreover, won many listeners from among those who used to bring them a large profit. So they fabricated countless accusations against Milic, disseminated slander and even lodged a complaint with the Papal Curia and the Inquisition.

Although Milic performed many good deeds in Prague, he received nothing but curses and abuse from fellow Christians there, was subjected to constant persecution and finally sent into exile.”

The accusers appealed to the Pope who resided in Avignon again at the time.

Milic prays for enemies

Now Milic stands before the Pope again, this time in Avignon. His greatest adversary – a Czech whose name was Klonkot – a papal penitentiary in Avignon – was trying his best to achieve one goal only: to get Milic to the stake. Milic is allowed to defend himself before the Pope and is found innocent again. Klonkot suddenly falls ill and dies in spite of Milic’s most fervent prayers. Milic forgave not only Klonkot but all enemies. Believers and trustworthy witnesses reported: Milic had never prayed so urgently and so much as for Klonkot and other enemies. His prayer resembled the description in the Bible – the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Rom 8:26).

Milic won moral victory and cleared his name. But he was very exhausted and died in Avignon on 29 June 1374 as an exile.

The monks, priests and other temple officials, though they found no fault in him, hated him even after his death. Their anger turned against the New Jerusalem. It did not take long and they put an end to it.

Two biographies were written soon after Milic’s death. Both show respect to his life.

Conclusion:

Today, John Milic, a prophet who urgently warned against the Antichrist, has been canonized in Kiev. It is ironic that this year John Paul, a false prophet who paved the way for the Antichrist in Assisi, is to be canonized in Rome. Christians can in no case follow this ex-Pope and accept the spirit of Assisi. He who does so will share his lot – God’s anathema – a curse (Gal 1:8-9).

In contrast, the Apostle Paul and John Milic, too, might say, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” (1Cor 11:1) Those who want to imitate the prophet John must stand up against the spirit of the Antichrist today. To be a prophet today means to be a martyr – a witness of Christ. One cannot have both the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of the Antichrist. The Catholic hierarchy has betrayed the living God and is under the sway of the spirit of Babylon because it preaches heresies and commits acts of syncretism with paganism.

Who is the Antichrist today?

He who is silent and supports the adoption of the spirit of the Antichrist in the Church.

He who is silent and promotes the crazy gender ideology which holds that a man can become a woman.

He who is silent and promotes homosexuality which destroys all moral and Christian values.

He who is silent and supports the stealing of children from their parents by the juvenile justice system.

He who is silent on globalization and supports planned reduction – autogenocide of humanity.

Model saints, a pattern to follow, was holy martyrs – heroes who did not betray Christ and went to death for God’s laws. The Old-Testament examples of God’s warriors are Judah the Maccabee and the mother of seven sons, martyrs. In the early centuries, there were tens of thousands of Christians who laid down their lives for the sake of Christ.

We are living at the beginning of the third millennium. All formerly Christian nations are faced with accelerating mass apostasy from the saving faith and God’s laws. The main culprit is the apostate Church hierarchy which opened the door to heresy and the Antichrist.

Today, the restoration of the Church requires courageous prophets. They will bear witness to Christ even at the cost of persecution or martyrdom. Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s will save it (Mk 8:35).

May the canonization of the prophet John give rise to a generation of prophets willing even to sacrifice their lives as martyrs for the sake of Christ and God’s laws. May the Spirit of God, the Spirit of prophecy, descend today – on 6 July 2013 – not only on Kiev and Prague but on all Christian nations!

Stáhnout: Saint John Milic of Kromeriz (Brief biography)