C2C is proud to partner with the legendary FATE Magazine to provide our readers with a visit to the deep paranormal past via classic pieces from the iconic chronicle of high strangeness.
This week's installment is an article titled 'The Bishop's Dream of Murder' by Rev. Stephan A. Hoeller, published by FATE in the April 1962 edition of the magazine (Vol. 15, #4). It is being reprinted with permission from FATE Magazine and all reproductions rights remain with them.
And now, journey back into the FATE Magazine archives and learn about the incredible story of a Catholic Bishop who had a psychic vision of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand mere hours before the fateful event which many cite as the cause of World War I:
The Bishop's Dream of Murder
Rev. Stephan A. Hoeller
FATE Magazine, April 1962 (Vol. 15, #4)
A Fear and sorrow filled the hearts of Dr. Josef von Lanyi, Roman Catholic Bishop of Nagyvarad, Hungary, when he awoke at the unusual hour of 3:00 A.M. on June 28, 1914. A frightful dream that has been recognized as one of the most evidential precognitive experiences in the history of psychic research.
Bishop Lanyi had dreamt that while reading his morning mail he came across a large envelope, framed in black, and addressed in the characteristic, forceful handwriting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the ancient throne of the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Opening the envelope, the bishop saw what appeared to be a color photograph of a street scene in a Balkan town. The photograph depicted the archduke and his wife seated in an automobile; facing them was an Austrian general, in the front seat a chauffer and another army officer.
The street seemed lined by people and cordoned off by soldiers standing at attention. Suddenly, out of the crowd there appeared two young men. The men rushed into the street and fired revolvers at the car and its passengers. On the back of the photograph the following message was written in German, in the handwriting of the archduke:
My Lord Bishop:
Dear Doctor Lanyi:
I wish to let you know that today I will perish with my wife, due to a political assassination. We recommend ourselves to Godly prayers and Holy Masses of Your Lordship and ask you to remain as loving and devoted to our poor orphaned children as you have been before. With the most cordial greetings,
I am yours
Archduke Franz
Sarajevo, June 28 1914.
3:30 A.M.
Trembling and in tears the bishop got up and dressed. After looking carefully at his watch and comparing it with other clocks in the room he noted again the time. It was 3:30 A.M. Immediately he went to his desk and wrote down in great detail the contents of his extraordinary dream.
The face and the handwriting of the heir to the empire were very familiar to the provincial bishop. Indeed, Bishop Lanyi had done much to mold both the handwriting and the character of the archduke when, during the years 1900 to 1906, this intellectual and spiritual genius had been Franz Ferdinand’s tutor.
At 5:30 A.M., normal time to arouse the bishop, Dr. Lanyi’s butler found him seated at his desk, praying the rosary. The servant asked his episcopal master whether he felt ill and received the answer that the bishop had had a frightful dream concerning their imperial highnesses, the archduke and his wife, and that he wished immediately to say a mass for the souls of his royal friends.
The household, consisting of the bishop’s mother, his brother, his secretary, a guest, and several servants then attended a mass which the bishop celebrated in the chapel, offering prayers for the souls of the archduke and his wife. After mass the bishop recounted his dream to the household, making a sketch of the photograph which he had seen.
It was still early in the morning when the bishop had his notes and sketch signed and witnessed by two of the persons present.
The household anxiously consulted the morning papers and the wire-service but neither told of any important event; all seemed quiet and peaceful on the sunny morning of June 28th throughout the vast empire of the House of Hapsburg.
Bishop Lanyi’s shattering experience received little public attention; it was completely obscured by the calamitous events is presaged. Indeed, it is only through personal ties with the case that I have been able to preserve these facts. My great-uncle, the late Bishop Count Nicholas Szechenyi, served as bishop of the same diocese administered by Dr. Lanyi. I have also been able to interview an intimate associate of Dr. Lanyi’s brother, the Jesuit priest Eduard Lanyi. Eduard was one of the two witnesses who signed Dr. Lanyi’s notes and sketch.
Although the bishop prayed fervently on the morning of June 28, 1914, the records do not show that he made any physical effort to transmit his warning to the archduke. So, as the distressed bishop prayed, several hundred miles away Franz Ferdinand prepared for a day of festivities and parades in Sarajevo, capital of the turbulent province of Bosnia, part of modern Jugoslavia.
He had been warned that an attempt might be made on his life and he knew that his visit coincided with Vidovdan, the national holiday of the now-subjected Serbs. It was an emotion-charged time. But the crown prince of Austria-Hungary was not easily frightened and was no stranger to death. Having been tubercular in his early youth, he had grown up with the thought of meeting his Maker constantly on his mind.
Indeed, sudden death was a familiar phenomenon among the Hapsburgs; they were prepared to face the grim reaper at any time. The archduke was a profoundly religious man, spending long hours in prayer and religious exercises every day. In his ear echoed the words of the psalmist: “The just shall be in everlasting remembrance, they shall not be afraid of evil tidings.”
With Franz Ferdinand was his beloved wife, Sophie, for whom he had suffered and sacrificed much. Sophie Chotek was not of royal blood, but was the daughter of an obscure Bohemian nobleman. Franz Ferdinand had fallen in love with “Sofferl,” as he called her, and married her against the wishes of his family and of his uncle, the aged Emperor Franz Josef.
Though she came close to the throne, Sophie was never to occupy it with her husband; instead of sharing the royal purple they were to share the purple of death by murder when their blood mingled on a cobblestone street in Sarajevo.
When setting out on his last brief journey, Franz Ferdinand turned to one of his officers and said, “I would not be amazed if we were to receive a few bullets today.”
There was not long to wait. Along the main thoroughfare of the town two conspirators were lurking. As the automobile carrying the doomed archduke and duchess came to the spot where the two malefactors were standing they sprang up to it and began firing at their victims. Bragenz, the first assassin, was not a very good shot; his bullets missed their mark.
But the second assailant’s bullets hit both Franz Ferdinand and the Duchess Sophie with deadly accuracy. For a few moments they remained seated upright in their seats, then they both tumbled forward, their blood flowing in streams.
A few minutes later, accompanied by the mournful sound of the town clock striking the hour of 11:00 A.M., the heir to the throne of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Illyria and many other lands had entered into a kingdom without end, and had received—if his life can be taken as an indication of his future—an imperishable diadem, unrivaled by all earthly crowns.
The dark tragedy was finished and with it the bishop’s dream was fulfilled.
While the bells of Sarajevo rang out the sad news and the aged Emperor of Austria quietly prayed for the soul of yet another murdered member of his family, in the episcopal palace of Nagyvarad at 3:30 P.M.—exactly 12 hours after he awoke from his prophetic dream—Bishop Lanyi received the news that his friend and former pupil had met the fate which his dream had announced.
The bishop was not amazed, for he had been convinced that his dream was more than a nightmare, as had his mother, secretary and other members of his household who had been informed of the tragedy 10 hours earlier than anyone else in the empire—and seven hours before the events actually took place!