The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-07-19
The Year 1000. A. d.

his hand. And he laid hold on the drag
on, that old serpent, which is the Devil,
and Satan, and bound him a thousand
years. And casthim into the bottomless
pit, and shut him up, and set seal upon
him, that he should deceive the nations
no more, till the thousand years should
be fulfilled; and after that he must be
bound little season. And sawthrones,
and they sat upon them, and Judgment
was given unto them: and l saw the
souls of them that were beheaded for
the witness of Jesus, and for the word
of God, and which had not w~orshipped
| the beast, neither his image, neither had
received his mark upon their fOreheads,
or in their hands, and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection. Blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death
hath power, but they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and shall reign with
him for a thousand years. And when
the thousand years are expired, Satan
shall be lOosed out of his prison."
This prophesy, that we never will be
able to understand till it is accomplished,
if it ever will be, has given rise till the
singular belief of the Millenarians, a
few of whom may still be found; but
u-bo ooDop,Sco1 nluooc+ oil Tb,sc+;o,;4,
about the end of the first thousand years
Of our chronology.
The MiIlenarians or Chiliasts believe,
that AFTER the coming Of Anti Christ,
and thedestructiOn of all nations which
shall follow, there shall be a first resur-
rection of the just alone; that all who
shall be found upon earth, both good
and bad, shall continue alive-the good
to obey the just who are risen as their
princes-the bad to be conquered by the
just, and to be subject to them; that
Jesus Christ will then descend from
Heaven in his glory that the city of Je-
rusalem will be rebuilt, enlarged and
embellished, and thatits gates will stand
open night and day. The Millenarians
found their belief, besides on the above
cited verses of the Revelation, on the
Mosaic tradition Of the creation. Con-
sidering this as a prototype Of the fate
of the world, and concludingfrom Psalm
&c, ga thousand years in thy sight
are but as yesterday, wheniti is past, and
as a watch in the night"O that 1000 years
make with God one day, they behold, in
the six days of creation, 5000 years OF
terrestrial labors and suhferings, and in
the seventh, the day of rest, a period OF
1000 years, in which the reign of Christ
shall be established.
Now, in the earlier middle age, the
great majority of Christians were Millen.
arians. TWAS the universal belief, then
that the thousandth year from the ma.
tivity of Christ would be the end of the
world. All seemed to pointtO that event
The tenth and eleventh centuries, il
fact, were an almost uninterrupted series
of calamities, of famines and terrible
epidemics. Between 900 and 994 ragged
in outhern France dreadful pestilence
called the burning disease. The 1esf
= of those who were seized by it was as i
struck by fire, for it fell rotting from
, their bones. The highrOads to the place
of pilgrimage were thronged with thes'
wretched beings. They besieged tn,
. churches, particularly that of st. Martin
at Limoges, and crowded it's portals t.
, s~uffocation, Notwithstanding the terribl
stencil engendered by the disease. Mos
of the bishops of the South repaired
thither, bringing with them the relics o
their respective churches. The crow
increased, and so did the pestilenee; an
the sufferers breathed their last on til
relics of the saints.
From 997 down to. 1865 an almost un
q interrupted famine reigned in the East
: in Greece, Italy, France and England
The rich lost color and flesh. The poo
A dug up and ate the roots in the woods
Many were driven by hunger to feed o
> their fellow-men. The strong waylai
II the weak, tore them in pieces, rOaste
them, and ate them. Children wOul
q be tempted into lonely places by the Of
fer of an egg, or a fruit, and then mad
away with. To such extremities did tn;
y madness Of famine go, that the ver
n beasts were safer than man. AS if
- were an understood thing, thatit was I
be eaten, human flesh was exposed Il
# sale in the market-place Of Tourna
70 The vendor did not deny the fact, an
W was burnt. The night succeeding h
execution, the self-same flesh was du
+ up by a starving wretch, who ate it an
p was burned BIS vel. A miserable ha
built q hut in the forest of Macon, whe.
he murdered in the nighttime those wi
i had besought his hospitality, in order
feed on their flesh. Tho bones of b
r victims caught the eye of n of h
% guests who managed to escape; al
there were found in his hut forty-eig'
. skulls of men, women and childre
81 Driven by hunger, many mixed clay wi
- their -four. This was notthe last of Il
a misery. Allured by the number of u
buried bodies the wolves attacked Il
q living. The G~od-fearing then dl
"a trenches, whittier father and moth
ri were borne by son, and brother by brot
Ell, as soon as life began to fail and t
unhappy survivor, despairing OF Ii
would sometimes casthimselfdoWn aft
K them. Al council of the French prelat