“That he should be born of a Virgin is foretold by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel—­that this Advent should be preceded by a special messenger, Saint John, is noted by Malachi, whom Isaiah confirms, adding for greater certainty that he should be as ’the voice of one crying in the Wilderness.’

“The place of His birth, Bethlehem, is mentioned by Micah; the adoration of the Magi, offering gold, myrrh and frankincense, is announced by Isaiah and the Psalm ascribed to Solomon.

“His youth and His calling are clearly suggested by Ezekiel, who speaks of Him as seeking the lost sheep, and by Isaiah, who tells beforehand of the miracles He would perform on the blind and the deaf and dumb, and who finally declares that He will be ‘a stone of stumbling’ to the Jews.

“But it is when they speak of His Passion and Death that the prophecies become mathematically exact, incredibly precise.  The offering of palm branches, the betrayal by Judas, and the price of thirty pieces of silver appear in Zechariah; and Isaiah takes up the parable to describe the rejection and opprobrium of Calvary:  ’He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities....  The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all....  He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief....  He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb.’

“David expatiates on the dreadful scene:  ’He was a worm and no man, a very scorn of men and the outcast of the people.’

“Details are multiplied.  The wounds in His hands are spoken of by Zechariah; David enumerates the circumstances of the Passion, word for word:  the pierced hands, the division of His raiment, casting lots for the robe.  The hooting of the Jews, bidding Him to save Himself if He be the Son of God, is mentioned in chapter ii. of the Book of Wisdom, and again by David; the gall and the vinegar offered Him on the Cross and the very words of Jesus giving up the ghost are to be found in the Psalms.

“Nor is this the last of the prophecies to be found in the Old Testament.

“Its prophetic mission is carried out to the end.  The establishment of the Church in the place of the Synagogue is foretold by Ezekiel, Isaiah, Joel, and Micah; and the Mass, the Eucharistic Sacrament, is plainly adumbrated by Malachi, who declared that for the offerings of the Old Law offered only in the Temple at Jerusalem shall be substituted ’a pure offering to be offered in every place and by all nations’—­by priests chosen from among all people, Isaiah adds, and David says after the order of Melchizedec.

“Pascal very truly remarks that ’the fulfilment of the prophecies is a perpetual miracle, and that no other proof is needed to show the divine origin of the Christian Religion.’”