Throughout ancient times and even today, many people have made claims of prophecy. While a prophet by definition is "a person gifted with profound moral insight and exceptional powers of expression," the most famous prophets remembered have shown varying degrees of such insight and the nature of its expression.

One well-known prophet, Malachy O'Morgair, who was born in Armagh, Ireland in 1094, is noted for his short statements regarding the identities of the popes from the eleventh century until the end of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. He predicted the nineteenth century Pope Leo XIII by calling him "Lumen in Caelo," which means "light in heaven." This is significant because Pope Leo XIII's crest was a comet. He named Pope Paul VI "Flors Florum," meaning "flower of flowers," and his coat of arms carried the fleurs-de-lis. John Paul I, whose reign lasted for only 33 days, was named "De Medietate Lunae," meaning "of the half moon." Strangely enough, he met his death in the middle of the lunar month, one month after taking his pope stand. O'Morgair called the current Pope, John Paul II, "The Labor of the Sun." In fact, John Paul II was born on May 8, 1920 during an eclipse of the sun. Like the sun, he came out of the East (Poland), and like the sun he has visited countries all around the globe while doing his work. According to the prophecies of O'Morgair, there are only two Popes remaining after John Paul II. The final pope, called "Peter the Roman" in O'Morgair's writings, is thought to be Satan, taking the form of a man named Peter. The final lines of O'Morgair's writings are the following:

"In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Petrus Romanus, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End."

Another famous prophet, and probably one of the most widely known, is the French astrologer, Nostradamus, who was born in the early 16th century. Most of the predictions of Nostradamus were in the form of his poetic yet cryptic quatrains. Of Napoleon's rise to power and years as Emperor, Nostradamus wrote the following:

An Emperor shall be born near Italy.
Who shall cost the Empire dear,
They shall say, with what people he keeps company
He shall be found less a Prince than a butcher.
From a simple soldier he will rise to the empire,
From the short robe he will attain the long.
Great swarms of bees shall arise.

Napoleon, who was considered a butcher even by his supporters, certainly cost the Empire dearly in both manpower and political strength. And after becoming Emperor, Napoleon adopted the beehive as his imperial crest.

Adolph Hitler can also be found in the writings of Nostradamus. Experts are in agreement that the sixteenth century prophet was referring to Hitler in the following:

Out of the deepest part of the west of Europe,
From poor people a young child shall be born,
Who with his tongue shall seduce many people,
His fame shall increase in the Eastern Kingdom.
He shall come to tyrannize the land.
He shall raise up a hatred that had long been dormant.
The child of Germany observes no law.
Cries, and tears, fire, blood, and battle.
A captain of Germany shall come to yield himself by false hope,
So that his revolt shall cause great bloodshed.
Beasts wild with hunger will cross the rivers
The greater part of the battlefield will be against Hister.

Prophecies and prophets are part of our tradition and history. Every culture, every age has lauded and feared the prophets and their prophecies. Some may choose not to believe these prophecies and may simply write them off as coincidences or the ramblings off "false prophets," which the Bible warns against. However, no matter what we choose to believe, we are still witnessing the phenomena today that these men predicted in their writings hundreds of years ago.