Cornelius a Lapide

Apocalypse I

Table of Contents

Synopsis of the Chapter

The title of the book is set forth, together with its commendation, up to verse 4. Then follows the epistle or dedication of the book from verse 4 to verse 8, in which he dedicates his Apocalypse to the seven Churches of Asia, to whom he had preached, and prays grace and peace upon them. Thirdly, there is a prologue containing the narration of the first vision from verse 8 to the end. For he describes the glorious form of Christ, whom he saw in the midst of seven candlesticks, that is, of the seven Churches of Asia.

Alcazar observes that in each of these three parts the argument of the whole book is indicated: briefly in the title, somewhat more extensively in the epistle, and more distinctly in the prologue or first dramatic person. For Christ by His form and appearance as it were represents all the things contained in the Apocalypse, just as the prologue in a comedy summarily presents the entire comedy.

Vulgate Text: Apocalypse 1:1-20

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to make known to His servants the things which must shortly come to pass: and signified, sending by His angel to His servant John, 2 Who hath given testimony to the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, what things soever he hath seen. 3 Blessed is he, that readeth and heareth the words of this prophecy; and keepeth those things which are written in it; for the time is at hand. 4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from Him that is, and that was, and that is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before His throne, 5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 And hath made us a kingdom, and priests to God and His Father, to Him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, He cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also that pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth shall bewail themselves because of Him. Even so. Amen. 8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. 9 I John, your brother and your partner in tribulation, and in the kingdom, and patience in Christ Jesus, was in the island, which is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus: 10 I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying: What thou seest, write in a book, and send to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamus, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. 12 And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks: 13 And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 And His head and His hairs were white, as white wool, and as snow, and His eyes were as a flame of fire, 15 And His feet like unto fine brass, as in a burning furnace. And His voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And He had in His right hand seven stars. And from His mouth came out a sharp two edged sword: and His face was as the sun shineth in his power. 17 And when I had seen Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying: Fear not. I am the First and the Last, 18 And alive, and was dead, and behold I am living for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and of hell. 19 Write therefore the things which thou hast seen, and which are, and which must be done hereafter. 20 And the mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.

Verse 1: The Revelation of Jesus Christ

1. The Revelation (that is, the unveiling: for the Greek ἀποκαλύπτω is the same as revelo, I uncover veiled and secret things; for καλύπτω is the same as to cover, to conceal: hence κάλυμμα, that is, a veil; and καλύπτρα, that is, the bridal veil or covering of women's heads) of Jesus Christ (as if to say: This is, or here begins, the prophecy of Jesus Christ from God the Father, not enigmatically, but openly and clearly revealed; for the Father speaks plainly to Christ His Son), which God gave unto Him (namely Christ, in His conception and incarnation: for from then Christ was full of all knowledge, wisdom, grace, and power) to make manifest (that is, that He might make it known and reveal it not openly, but through riddles and symbols) unto His servants (the Christians: the Apocalypse, I say, or revelation belonging to them), the things which must shortly come to pass, — that is, things which will shortly begin to come to pass, although they will not shortly be ended. For the persecutions of Christians, which are here revealed, began under Trajan, who succeeded Domitian after Nerva, and they will end at the end of the world. Wrongly therefore from this passage some have suspected that the end of the world and the day of judgment would shortly come; which suspicion Christ wipes away in Matthew xxiv, 36, and St. Paul in 2 Thessalonians II, 1, as St. Thomas and St. Augustine have noted there, in book XVIII of the City of God, ch. LIII. Less correctly still do others say: "Shortly," they say, because a thousand years before God are as one day. For this explanation is not a sufficient consolation for human weakness, which does not endure such long delays. It is otherwise with the Prophets and divine men, as I shall say at verse 7.

Hence it is therefore clear that the Apocalypse was first revealed to the soul of Christ in His incarnation, and that clearly and perfectly; and to Him alone, not to the Prophets, nor even to the Angels. For these secrets were hidden from ages in God, as St. Paul says in Ephesians III, 9. For it pertained to the office of Christ alone to foreknow and foresee those things which were to happen to His faithful and to the whole Church after and through His death, especially at the end of the world: for there the glorious kingdom of Christ shall begin. Furthermore, Christ revealed this His Apocalypse through an angel to St. John, who here describes it and proposes it to be examined by all; just as in a comedy or tragedy the deeds and conversations of some Emperor formerly performed are recounted and exhibited through one who plays his role, as though they were his own and as though they were now happening and being performed by him. So Alcazar notes in the proem, note 3; who also adds, note 4, that John here tacitly refuses to allow the title of the book to bear the name of its writer: for he says, the Apocalypse not of John, but of Jesus Christ; just as the founder of our Society wished it to be called the Society of Jesus, not of Ignatius, for the sake of modesty. Yet the Church rightly bestows upon John the honor which he had refused, and calls it the Apocalypse of St. John.

Here therefore Christ reveals His Apocalypse, that is, the revelation which He received from the Father — not the whole of it, but the part more profitable to the Church — to St. John, and through him to the faithful; yet covertly and secretly, namely through riddles, in respect of which it is rather an Epicalypse than an Apocalypse. In substance therefore it is an Apocalypse, but in mode and expression it is an Epicalypse, that is, a concealment and a veil: yet to Christ Himself, to whom it was first clearly revealed, it was, both as to substance and as to mode, an Apocalypse, not an Epicalypse. Let this be a reply to Luther, who would have the Holy Scripture be clear to all, and therefore rejects the Apocalypse because it is obscure, and (he says) is falsely called an Apocalypse, that is, a revelation. Add that, although the prophecies in it are obscure, yet there are in it many most clear precepts of life, and especially exhortations to perseverance and patience in time of persecutions, as Bellarmine rightly replies to Luther in book I On the Word of God, ch. xix. In another sense St. Paul, 1 Corinthians ch. I, verse 7, and St. Peter, epistle I, ch. I, verses 7 and 13, call the Apocalypse, or revelation of Jesus Christ, that which is to be made by Christ Himself on the day of judgment. For then He shall lay open and reveal to the whole world Himself, and His glory, and His judicial power, and the deeds of all men, both good and bad.

Sending (namely this Apocalypse, or prophecy) by His angel to His servant John. — For God, and Christ, is wont to teach and enlighten men through angels. For the fitting order of divine providence requires this, that the lowest be directed through intermediate beings; and this is the office of angels, that is, of the messengers of God. For they themselves are ministering spirits sent forth to minister, Hebrews I. In like manner God ordinarily taught Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other Prophets not by Himself immediately, but through angels, and to them revealed His prophecies, as I said in the proem to the Prophets, Question I; therefore the whole Trinity revealed this Apocalypse to Christ according to His humanity, Christ to the angel, the angel to John, who here describes it and proposes it to be viewed by all.

Note: God is wont to speak to men and to Prophets in three ways. First, by inward speech and inspiration, either made in the imagination through an angel (as commonly happens), or made in the mind by God alone. For God alone can enter into our mind, He alone immediately enlightens the intellect, and moves and kindles the will. Secondly, by the outward appearance and speech of an angel. Thirdly, if God Himself or Christ should appear and speak, as He appeared to St. Paul converting him, Acts IX, 4, and at other times to others often. The third mode is nobler than the second, and the second nobler than the first. Wherefore St. Jerome, on Matthew ch. II, infers the dignity of Joseph above the Magi from this, that God sent an angel to Joseph, but taught the Magi by Himself in dreams. His words are: "Those who had offered gifts to the Lord consequently receive a reply not through an angel, but through the Lord Himself; that the privilege of Joseph's merits might be shown." For a king bestows greater honor upon a subject when he sends to him some prince of his own court, than when he sends him bare letters; for the inspirations of God are as it were His letters. So Alcazar.

And so in the present matter he speaks of the very vision which he received here in the Apocalypse: otherwise the discourse would not be to the point. For the matter concerns the testimony which John bore to Christ, not in the Gospel, but here in the Apocalypse, writing about whatever he saw and heard from God. So Alcazar. The following words confirm the same: "Blessed is he that readeth and heareth the words of this prophecy, and keepeth them."

Verse 3: Blessed Is He That Readeth

3. Keepeth those things which are written in it, — both by carrying them out, such as the warnings given in chapters II and III to the Bishops and Churches of Asia; and by devoutly preserving them in memory, that he may be aroused by them to the obedience of God, and a holy life, and patience, and indeed to undergo martyrdom for Christ: such are the visions which are recounted from chapter IV onward. Thus it is said of the mother of Christ in Luke ch. II, 19: "But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart."

For the time is at hand. — For "time" the Greek is not χρόνος, but καιρός, that is, opportunity; as if to say: Blessed is he who reads and keeps this prophecy, because the time and opportunity is at hand for receiving most abundant fruit from it. For the occasion is at hand of meriting blessedness and eternal crowns in heaven through the persecutions which I now foresee impending upon the faithful and the athletes of Christ, and here foretell, namely through brief constancy in them and endurance of death and martyrdom, by which they shall presently fly up to heaven to be made blessed. So Aretas.

Thus far the title of the Apocalypse; there follows the dedicatory epistle.

Verse 4: John to the Seven Churches of Asia

4. John to the seven Churches, — which he enumerates in chapters II and III. What he writes to these seven, he writes to all others; just as Paul, what he wrote to the Romans, Corinthians, and others, this he wrote to all the nations of the faithful. Hence mystically St. Chrysostom, homily 22 from his various sermons on Matthew: "All Churches," he says, "are seven, because of the seven spirits. All therefore in whom the spirit of wisdom abounds more, are one Church; and all in whom the spirit of counsel abounds more, are another Church." So also St. Augustine in book XVII of the City of God, ch. IV; Gregory, book XXIII of the Morals, ch. I; Isidore, book VIII of the Etymologies, ch. I, say that "seven Churches are written of for this reason, that one Catholic Church, full of the sevenfold Spirit of grace, may be signified."

Grace be unto you and peace. — This is the Apostolic salutation received from Christ, by which they invoke upon their own the favor of God and every good (for this is what "peace" signifies to the Hebrews).

Verse 2: Who Bore Witness to the Word of God

2. Who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, — that is, concerning Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God already mentioned: for this is a hendiadys and apposition. For "the Word of God" is the same thing as "Jesus Christ." So Ribera.

Secondly and more properly, by "word of God" he means the doctrine revealed by God, such as is the Gospel and all of Holy Scripture: for these are commonly called the word of God. Now this word, and this doctrine of God in this place, is nothing other than "the testimony of Jesus Christ," that is, the Gospel, or evangelical doctrine which we preach, by which we bear witness to Jesus Christ, namely that He Himself is sent by God as mediator, redeemer, and savior of the world. Here therefore John calls his Apocalypse and prophecy a gospel, that is, the best news concerning the impending persecution for the faith of Christ, and through it the martyrdom, and the happiness and eternal crown which Christ here promises and shows forth to His own. For the Gospel and faith are the substance of things hoped for, Hebrews XI, 1. The Apocalypse therefore contains the marrow and substance of the evangelical doctrine.

That this is the sense is plain, first, from the Greek: ἐμαρτύρησε τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, that is, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ. The word of God is therefore the same thing as the testimony of Jesus Christ, just as the doctrine of God and the doctrine of Christ are the same. For both are placed in Greek in the accusative, although our [Vulgate] translator rendered one in the dative and the other in the accusative for the sake of clarity. For in Latin it is clearer to say testificari verbo Dei (to give testimony with the word of God) than testificari verbum Dei; on the other hand it is clearer to say testificari testimonium Christi than testificari testimonio Christi. For testificari is to bear witness, as our [translator] renders it.

Secondly, this is plain from verse 9, where he says: "I was in the island which is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus," as if to say: I was banished to Patmos because I was preaching the word of God, and by it bearing witness to Jesus Christ, that He Himself was the Messiah: hence it is clear that the word of God and the testimony of Jesus are the same, namely the Gospel, or evangelical doctrine, which John was preaching.

Whatsoever he saw. — These words are not to be referred to the works and miracles of Christ (whether written in the Gospel, as Ambrosiaster, Bede, and Rupertus would have it; or preached by John, as Ribera and Viegas would have it), but to the visions of the Apocalypse itself, in each of which John always says: "And I saw, and I saw," which he does not say in the Gospel.

Verse 5: From Jesus Christ the Faithful Witness

Tertullian notes, in book V Against Marcion, ch. V, and following him Baronius, in the year of Christ 45, that the Jews, and after their custom Christ, were accustomed to greet their disciples with the name of peace; whom He admonished in Luke X, 5, that they too should greet in the same manner those dwelling within when they entered other houses. But after the Ascension of Christ, the Apostles added grace to peace in their salutation, indeed placed it first: namely because they were the announcers to the human race of the so sublime grace restored through Christ, and, as Tertullian says, "the evangelizers of good things." Hence Paul in his Epistles, and St. Peter, salute their own, saying: "Grace be unto you and peace." St. Ignatius used the same salutation in his epistles, and the other Bishops of Antioch as well. Hence St. Gregory, in epistle 37 to Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch, at the end, thus says: "Amen, grace: which words, taken from your writings, I therefore put in my epistles, that Your Beatitude may know about St. Ignatius, that he is not only yours, but also ours." For in the epistle of St. Ignatius to the Ephesians these same words are read subscribed, but in the rest they are thought to have fallen out. Without doubt St. Ignatius learned this from St. John, his master.

From Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, — that is, from Jehovah, namely from God. For St. John alludes to that passage of Exodus ch. III, verse 14: "I AM WHO I AM," and: "He who is, hath sent me to you." And so in the Greek there is here no solecism, as Gagnaeus would have it; nor is there no meaning, as Erasmus would have it: but it is a mimesis, or imitation of the Hebrew name, which God as it were indeclinable and invariable gave Himself, saying in Exodus III, אהיה שלחני eie schelachani, that is, He shall be (that is, He who is, was, and shall be: for the Hebrews by the future express the constancy and continuous duration of a thing) hath sent me.

For in like manner here, when St. John says: ἀπό, supply τοῦ λεγομένου, that is, who is called, or whose name is, ὁ ὤν, ὁ ἦν, ὁ ἐρχόμενος, that is, He who is, who was, and who shall come, or is to come. For the verb "sum" or "est," and "erat," or as it is in Hebrew, "erit," signifies a stable eternity, which embraces all the differences of times, present, past, and future. Hence the Hebrews hand down that the Hebrew "eie" embraces three tenses, present, past, and future. John explains this here, saying: "From Him, who is, and who was, and who is to come." These three therefore explain the τὸ eie, and consequently are as it were the proper name of God, namely Jehovah, and so John in the Greek prefixed the article, and retained the nominative, or the verb itself. For he says: Ἀπὸ ὁ ὤν (not ὄντος) καὶ ὁ ἦν, καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, as if to say: Grace be unto you and peace from Him whose name is Being, and was, and is to come. Hence it is plain that the article ὁ ὤν and ὁ ἐρχόμενος is added not as participles, nor as nouns τεχνικῶς, that is, taken materially, but as proper names: for this reason also they themselves are left uninflected. Thus St. Augustine says he writes letters to Deogratias, others to Deusdedit, because these names of men are proper and indeclinable. See what was said on Exodus chs. III and VI, where I showed that the name Jehovah is the same as that which is said, "He who is," or "I AM WHO I AM."

Learnedly does St. Augustine speak in the Sentences, num. 367: "Although," he says, "the immutable nature does not admit Was and Will Be, but only Is (for He truly is, because otherwise He who is could not be), nevertheless on account of the mutability of the times in which our mortality is engaged, we do not falsely say: Was, Is, and Will Be — He was in the past; is, in the present; will be, in the future. He was indeed, because He never ceases; He will be, because He will never fail; He is, because He always is. For He does not, as though He no longer were, perish with the things past; nor, as though He had not been, arise with the things to come. Accordingly, since human speech varies according to the rolling of times, of Him who could not be lacking through any times, nor can be, nor will be able to be, the words of any time whatever are truly said."

Furthermore, by these three some think the three persons of the Most Holy Trinity are noted. Alcazar takes these as referring to God the Father alone, not to the Son; for he immediately adds concerning the Son: "And from Jesus Christ;" nor to the Holy Spirit: for concerning Him he likewise adds: "And from the seven spirits." Better does Ribera take these as referring to God indistinctly, namely insofar as God is common to the three persons. Therefore take all and each of these things as referring to the Son and the Holy Spirit, no less than to the Father. For what follows, "from Jesus Christ," must be taken of Christ, not as He is God, but as He is man. For there follows: "Who hath loved us, and washed us in His own blood."

Alcazar here, in note 1, contends with ten arguments that the name Jehovah is precisely the same as "He who is, who was, and who is to come." For the name Jehovah is composed of these four words, יהיה הויה והיה ihie hoie vehaia, that is, He who shall be, He who is, and He who was. For each letter of the name Jehovah signifies one of these words by abbreviation and crasis, and so this name is called ineffable and tetragrammaton. Just as the name Maccabee was put together from the initial letters of verse 11 of Exodus ch. XV: Mi camocha baelim Jehovah, that is, "who is like Thee among the strong, O Lord?" Thus the Latins called bastards thus because they were marked with these letters S. P., that is, sine patre (without a father), as Plutarch testifies in the Roman Questions. Thus in the titles of the Cross of Christ we often see written I. N. R. I., that is, Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews). Thus the ancient Romans wrote S. P. Q. R., that is, Senatus populusque Romanus (the Senate and the Roman People).

But this is symbolic and cabalistic, not literal. For the literal meaning of the name Jehovah is "He who is," or "He who shall be." For it is derived from the root היה haia, that is, He was, as all agree, and is the same as היה ihie, that is, He shall be, as I showed at Exodus ch. III, 14. Especially because the letters of Jehovah do not correspond equally to the words of the other name. For in Jehovah there are four letters — whereas iihie, hoie, vehaia are only three words, not four. For Vehaia is one word, not two. So also these three do not correspond in order to the three epithets of St. John. For the first is, "He who is;" the last, "He who is to come." But in iihie, hoie, vehaia the first is, "He who shall be," the last, "He who was:" although Alcazar in note 3 replies to this that it was done deliberately by St. John, that he might signify that God, who to Moses and the Prophets was about to be, that is, was to come, the Redeemer, is now in the New Law present and at hand. Hence Moses in "Jehovah" begins with "He who shall be," but John with "He who is." But whatever the cause of the change may have been, it is at least clear from this that this name is not entirely the same as the name Jehovah. Therefore Jehovah, that is, He who is, is the same as "He who is, and who was, and who is to come," not in letters and etymology, but in signification and sense. For "He who is" signifies Him who always is, and who has constant, immutable, and eternal being, that is, Him "who is, who was, and who shall be." The Arabic favors this, which renders thus: "from Him who is, and who has existed, and who shall be."

Again Alcazar, in note 2, teaches that by the name Jehovah is represented the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. For three substances are denoted by the threefold repetition of the substantive verb; but the unity of essence by the conjunctive conjunction. And so τὸ "erit" (shall be) refers to the Father, to whom is attributed power and government, which looks to the future; "fuit" (was) refers to the Holy Spirit, to whom is attributed goodness, which was the first of all reasons that induced God to communicate Himself to creatures; "est" (is) refers to the Son, to whom is attributed the wisdom of God, which is present to things future and past, and beholds all things present in His eternity. Moreover, just as in these three the essential signification is not varied — for these three, "shall be, is, was," since they are derivatives of the substantive verb "sum" (I am): so they retain its essential signification, but only inflect and modify it through times. So the same essence of the deity is in three persons.

These things are likewise true, but they are symbolic just as the foregoing, not literal.

Thirdly, the same author, in note 3, observes that the name Jehovah, although it signifies the essence and substance of God, can nevertheless also be referred to the works of His providence. For τὸ "fuit" signifies that God gave His works their beginning; "est," that He gives them their progress; "erit," that He shall give them their perfection.

Therefore by these three it is signified that God was the beginning of the Church, and from the same is its progress, and likewise from the same shall be its consummation. This is what He adds in verse 8: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord almighty, who is, and who was, and who is to come." Hence morally, by this name hope ought to be aroused in every faithful soul. For, as St. Augustine says, sermon 3 On the Ascension: "Let every faithful one, when he has now received so much, learn from those things which he knows have been bestowed, to hope for what is promised; and let him hold, as it were, the security of things to come from his God's power and present goodness."

And who is to come. — He says "is to come," rather than "shall be," in order to signify that God shall come to judgment, and that shortly (whence the Syriac renders, "and who cometh"), in which He shall punish and condemn Domitian and other persecutors of the faithful; but shall deliver, glorify, and crown the faithful themselves and the Martyrs, that by this reason He may animate them to constancy. For St. John prudently judged this remembrance of Christ as Judge to be more useful for that, than that of Christ as about to reign would doubtless have been: since from the latter often arises vain presumption, but from the former only just fear. Whence St. Ambrose, in book I Of the Offices, ch. xxvi: "Nothing," he says, "is more conducive to an honorable life than that we believe Him to be our future judge, whom even hidden things do not deceive, indecent things offend, and honorable things delight."

Note: The phrase "is to come" properly belongs to the Son: for the Son is properly He who is to come, and is to judge the world (whence the Fathers from this passage prove against the Arians that the Son is truly and properly God); here, however, it is attributed to God in general, and consequently to the Father and the Holy Spirit as well as to the Son, because the whole Trinity shall come, that it may carry out the judgment and judge the world not by itself, but through the man Christ.

Finally, the τὸ "est" (is) properly belongs to God. For His eternity is always present and constant to itself; yet it is also said to have been, and to be about to be, because it is commensurate with every past and future time, and surrounds and embraces it. So St. Augustine, On True and False Religion, ch. XLIX, and Gregory Nazianzen, oration 42. Even Plato in the Timaeus: "'Was' and 'shall be,'" he says, "since they are species of begotten time, we do not rightly assign to eternal substance. For we say of it: It is, it was, and it shall be; but in truth only 'to be' belongs to it."

And from the seven spirits which are before His throne. — You will ask who these seven spirits are? I reply first, Aretas, Primasius, Haymo, Bede, Rupert, Ansbert, and Thomas the Englishman understand the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit Himself, who is the author of the seven gifts. For not from the seven gifts, but from the Holy Spirit, John here prays peace and grace upon his own. So also Eucherius in Questions on the New Testament, last Question: "These seven spirits," he says, "are those whom also the prophet Isaiah in ch. XI, verse 2, enumerates: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and piety, the spirit of knowledge and might, the spirit of the fear of God." This sense was approved by Marlorat and the heretics. But John would rather have said in that case: "And from the Holy Spirit." Add that this sense is mystical, as Peter Galatinus rightly noted here: as such, therefore, it can be admitted. For that according to the letter these seven spirits are seven angels is plain both from what I shall presently bring forward, and from the fact that they are said to "stand before the sight of the Lamb," or "of the Throne."

But this belongs to the angels, who are the ministering spirits of God, as is plain from ch. V, verse 6; ch. XV, verses 1 and 6; ch. XVI, verse 1; ch. XVII, verse 1; ch. XXI, verse 9; ch. III, verse 1; ch. VIII, 2.

Hence by these spirits Clement of Alexandria, in book VI of the Stromata, at the end, understands angels; so do Aretas, Lyra, Pererius, Ribera, Emmanuel Sa, Serarius, and others to be cited presently; and among the heretics, Beza, Tremellius, and Junius here, Francis David in his defense of his theses, in Faustus Socinus, p. 45, and Socinus himself, p. 46.

Secondly, others commonly understand by these seven spirits angels, but in various ways. For some, as Lyra, Hugh, and Dionysius, by the seven spirits understand all the angels; for the number seven is a symbol of universality. Others properly take them as the seven angels presiding over the seven Churches to which John here writes. But:

I say that these seven spirits are the seven principal angels, who attend upon God as it were His bodyguard and the chiefs of His kingdom, ready to execute every command of God, whether by themselves or through other inferior angels, especially in the care and administration of men. For these are called, and are, ministering spirits, to the Hebrews, ch. I, verse 14.

That this is so is plain, first, from ch. V, verse 6, where the same seven spirits are called the seven horns of the Lamb, and the seven eyes, that is, watchful and powerful ministers of God: "Which," it says, "are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." Therefore they are angels: for it belongs to them to be sent; indeed, an angel is the same as one sent, namely a messenger and legate. Hence in Zechariah VI, 10, these seven spirits are called the seven eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Secondly, from ch. VIII, verse 2, where they are expressly called angels. For it says: "And I saw seven angels standing in the sight of God." And ch. XVI, verse 15: "There went out seven angels having seven plagues."

Thirdly, because in Tobit XII, 15, Raphael says: "I am one of the seven who stand before the Lord," namely closely, as it were the chief next to the King and supreme governor of the world. For otherwise thousands of thousands stand before God, as Daniel says in ch. VII, verse 10.

Fourthly, because the Rabbis of the Hebrews and many Christian Philosophers and Theologians teach that seven angels are likewise set over the seven planets. Hear Trithemius at the beginning of the book which he wrote on the seven intelligences moving and ruling the world, to the Emperor Maximilian I: "It is the opinion of the ancients," he says, "that this lower world is governed by the ordinance of the first intellect, who is God, through secondary intelligences: with whose opinion the Conciliator of physicians, agreeing, says that seven spirits were set over the seven planets from the beginning of heaven and earth, each one of whom rules the world for 354 years. To this position many most learned men have given their consent." But Trithemius rightly adds: "I confess that in all these things I believe nothing and admit nothing, except what the Catholic Church believes; the rest I refute as vain, fabricated, and superstitious." For many add many things, both vain and superstitious, indeed heretical, such as the trifles of Saturninus, in Epiphanius, heresy 23, who dreamed that the world and the things contained in it were produced by seven angels. Moreover, whether the angels of the seven planets are the same as these seven spirits is very doubtful. For these have been sent into all the earth, while those attend their own planets and rotate them. But just as there are seven there, so also on the earth which lies under these planets it is fitting that there be seven presiding angels.

It is confirmed first because Christ, attended by these seven most splendid angels, has at times appeared bodily to the Saints, as to St. Sebastian, when He encouraged him to imminent martyrdom, and therefore surrounded him with wonderful splendor, and clothed him with a most white cloak through these seven angels, as the acts of St. Sebastian have it, faithfully and weightily recorded by the Roman notaries, which Ado, Usuardus, Baronius, and others cite and approve.

It is confirmed secondly because in like manner the devil, enemy of God, opposed against these seven angels seven demons, whom he is said to have set over the seven capital vices, according to St. Anthony in Athanasius, and Serenus in Cassian, Conference VII, ch. XVII, and from these Serarius, on Tobit III, 8, Question VI. Although others deny this and think that any demons whatever tempt men to any vices whatever.

Fifthly, because the kings of the Persians had as many princes: for Ahasuerus, as it is said in Esther I, 14, had "seven leaders of the Persians and Medes, who used to see the king's face, and to sit first after him." Now in this these kings imitated God and God's providence. For, as Aristotle (or whoever the author is) says, in the book On the World to Alexander, past the middle, and from him Apuleius, the majesty and government of the kings of the Persians was an image of the divine majesty and providence. The same is taught by the booklet On the Royal Persian Principate, from the adversaria of Barnabas Brissonius, fol. 64 and 65.

And this is the reason why in the Sacred Scriptures no mention is made of these seven angels, except after the Hebrews had been in captivity, and there in the court of the kings of the Persians and Medes had beheld these seven foremost princes of the kingdom. For then it was revealed to them that, after the likeness of those, there were as many princes of God in the heavenly court. Make exception of Tobit, who was long before Cyrus and the kings of Persia, and learned from Raphael in ch. XII that these seven were in heaven. For Tobit was carried off by Shalmaneser into the Assyrians. It is not certain, however, whether the Assyrian princes had seven men in their court, as the Persians had.

From these seven angels therefore, as from the ministers of God, but not as from the authors, St. John asks grace for his own: for he who in the king's court has the grace and favor of the princes most intimate to the king, has also the grace of the king himself. Hence we say: "Mary mother of grace, mother of mercy;" and: "Make us, loosed from our sins, gentle and chaste," not by themselves giving, but by obtaining for us gentleness and chastity, as well as the remission of sins. In the same way when John says: "Grace to you from the seven spirits," by this very thing he asks these seven angels to obtain grace for them from God. Therefore he invokes them. Therefore this passage sanctions the invocation of the Saints against the heretics. Wherefore this signifies not only that these seven spirits assist God, as Beza wishes; but also that they preside over us and come to our aid, and that, in order that they may the more aid us by their power, this is to be implored from us. Moreover, that they are the chief members of the heavenly court: for they assist God, as princes their king. Sixth, because the memory of these seven Archangels is celebrated in Sicily, Naples, Venice, Rome, and other cities of Italy, where their images are also seen artfully, indeed in mosaic work. At Naples a booklet was published about them in the year of the Lord 1594. At Palermo, which is the chief city of Sicily, there is a temple dedicated to the seven princes of the angels, in which in the year of the Lord 1516 ancient effigies of them were discovered. The rector of this temple, Antonio Duca, a priest of pious and innocent life, frequently admonished by divine instinct, came to Rome in the year 1527, to promote their cult there, and to find or prepare a church for them. Wherefore after many prayers and fasts, illumined by heavenly light, he learned that the Baths of Diocletian were the place of the seven spirits standing before God, inasmuch as in their construction so many incarnate angels had labored — namely forty thousand Christians and ten thousand Martyrs, condemned to this work — among whom seven illustrious Martyrs excelled, namely SS. Cyriacus, Largus, Smaragdus, Sisinnius, Saturninus, also St. Marcellus the Pope, and St. Thrason, who animated the Christians laboring in those works, and nourished them with their own resources. Of this revelation, which Antonio first published two years later at Venice, and afterwards at Rome in the year 1555, mention is made on his sepulchre, which in these Baths stands before the high altar. The Baths having therefore been purified, the place was in the year 1554 dedicated by Philip Archinto, Vicar General of Pope Julius III, to the Blessed Virgin of the angels, or surrounded and attended by the seven angels. And when through wars this place was again neglected and profaned, in the year 1555 it was again signified by another vision that by divine decree these Baths were to be consecrated as a temple in honor of the seven angels. Therefore Pope Pius IV, having heard his reasons and revelations, gave the task to Michelangelo Buonarroti, a noble architect, that he should sketch and prepare the form of a temple in these Baths. This being done, the Pontiff himself, having convoked an assembly of the Cardinals, on the 5th of August, in the year 1561, in the presence of the Cardinals, the whole curia, and the Roman people, vested in pontificals, with solemn prayer and rite dedicated the Baths in honor of St. Mary of the Angels, and adorned that church with a cardinalitial title, and transferred there from the church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem the monastery of the Fathers of the Carthusians. Afterwards Pius V and Gregory XIII illustrated the same with new privileges and ornaments. So have the chronicles of that church, which I received from the Carthusian Fathers and read through. The whole matter is likewise narrated by our P. Antonius Spinellus, in the treatise On the Feasts and Temples of the Mother of God, p. 690, and by Octavius Pancirolus in the Treasures of Rome Hidden Away, ch. 8 St. Mary of the Angels, and by D. Andreas Victorellus, in the book On the Ministries of the Angels, ch. XXI, where he treats the offices of these seven angels at length, and learnedly and piously. In the same chronicles I read that many possessed persons were there liberated from demons through the invocation of these seven angels. Their images were engraved and produced both by others elsewhere, and at Antwerp by Hieronymus Wierix, a noble sculptor, who in a single image represented this whole place of the Apocalypse. Whence the image bears the inscription: "Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come." Whence it is wholly fitting that the Pastors of the Churches and the faithful, imitating the example of these, indeed of St. John, who from these seven spirits begs grace and peace for the seven Churches of Asia, should frequently venerate, honor and invoke these seven Archangels with a special cult, as princes of the heavenly court, presidents of all the Churches, ministers of God, mediators and overseers of men.

Finally, that these seven spirits are the seven princes of the angels is the opinion of St. Cyprian in On the Exhortation of Martyrs, and Against the Jews; Peter Galatinus in his commentary On the Apocalypse, which exists in manuscript at Rome in the Vatican Library; Salmeron, vol. III, ch. III; Jacobus Suarez, bk. III on the Apocalypse, v. 8; John Fontana, Bishop of Ferrara, disciple and Vicar of St. Charles Borromeo, part 3, author 64. Moreover Clement of Alexandria explicitly says, bk. VI of the Stromata: "There are seven whose power is greatest, first-born princes of the angels." Irenaeus, and from him Aretas; Stephanus Weberus, On the Office of the Angels, ch. II, no. 8; Fidelis Danielius, bk. I On Divine Providence, ch. XX, p. 195; Laurentius Massellius, bk. III On the Blessed Virgin, ch. V; Pineda, bk. V of his Preliminaries on Solomon, ch. XIII, no. 17; Ribera, Viegas, Pererius, Maldonatus here, Gabriel Vasquez, part I, disp. CLXXX, no. 3; Franciscus Mayronis, the Illuminated Doctor, in his sermon On the Creation of the Soul of the Blessed Virgin: "The Mother of the Lord," he says, "is said to have seven notable angels, who assist at her throne, among whose number Blessed Raphael is named;" and Serarius on Tobit ch. XII, where he also enumerates the offices of these seven angels.

You will say: If the seven spirits are seven angels, why are they placed before Christ? For of Him it follows: "And from Jesus Christ." For this seems boorish and unworthy. I reply: John places them before Christ, because the discourse was thereafter to be continued concerning Christ as man. So Matthew places David before Abraham, saying: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham," because Abraham was immediately to be taken up again, by saying: "Abraham begot Isaac," etc. Furthermore the angels, since they are of St. Peter, and there built a monastery of his Order — about whose sanctity and revelations the Chronicles of the Order of St. Francis, part III, bk. VI, ch. XXX, contain much. Where, however, they add and warn that they do not exist in their pure form, but that various things have been added to them by various hands. I diligently sought them at Rome, found them, read them through, and so I discovered them to be. I found the names of the seven angels to be the same as I just recited, but I also read in the same place certain paradoxical things plainly suspect of falsity, such as: that the angels were created together with the empyrean heaven long before heaven and earth; that the earth was at the beginning of the world created as prime matter; that the light created at the beginning of the world was the sun, and therefore that the sun was created not on the fourth day, as Scripture says in Genesis 1, but on the first day of the world; that at the beginning the primum mobile and the heavens of the planets were created, and therefore there was an enormous intermediate void, which was filled on the second day, on which the crystalline heaven was created; that the body of Adam was formed by three angels, etc. Add to this that the opinions of Scotus (who was a Friar Minor, as also was Amadeus) are everywhere inserted in them as if oracles, so that not without reason a serious man has said: "The angel of Blessed Amadeus was a Scotist."

But concerning these names there is little difficulty and question, since the matter and the persons are agreed upon. For the angels among themselves do not have names, since they see each other face to face and so converse; but they assume them according to the office which they perform among men. So one is called Michael, that is, who is like God? — because he fights for men against proud Lucifer, Apocalypse XII, 1; Gabriel, that is, strength of God, because he announced God's mighty deeds and wars to Daniel, the Blessed Virgin, etc.; Raphael, that is, medicine of God, because he healed Tobit's blindness. In the same way is named Uriel, that is, light or fire, he who illumines men with knowledge of God and inflames them with love; Sealtiel, that is, prayer of God, who prays for men and stirs them up to prayer; Jehudiel, that is, confession or praise of God, who exhorts men to the confession and praise of God; Barachiel, that is, blessing of God, who procures for us God's benefits and impels us to the blessing and giving of thanks to God. About these seven Princes of the angels, and their offices and benefits, our P. Antonius Spinellus, Provincial of Naples, wrote a book. But prevented by death, he was unable to finish and publish it: the manuscript is preserved at Naples. Furthermore Salmeron, vol. III, ch. III, recounts and approves these same seven names of the angels, as also do Laurentius Masellius, bk. III On the Blessed Virgin, ch. V; Spinellus, Victorellus and many others already cited. The same names were found inscribed on their images in their temple at Palermo, in the year of the Lord 1516, with the proper epithet of each, in this manner: "Michael the victorious, Gabriel the messenger, Raphael the physician, Uriel the strong companion, Jehudiel the rewarder, Barachiel the helper, Sealtiel the prayer-giver." Indeed emblems proper to each were also seen affixed. For Michael, trampling Lucifer underfoot, in his left hand bore a green palm, in his right a lance, on whose summit a banner — [Michael] in his right hand bore a lance, on whose summit a white banner, interwoven with a red cross, wrapped itself about the shaft. Gabriel in his right hand bore a torch enclosed in a lantern, in his left a mirror of green jasper, interspersed with red spots. Raphael, his left raised, sustained a pyx, leading the boy Tobias by his right hand, [Tobias] carrying a fish caught from his mouth. Barachiel bore in the bosom of his cloak white roses. Jehudiel in his right hand displayed a crown of gold, in his left a scourge marked with three black cords. Uriel in his right held a drawn sword stretched across his breast, on the left near his feet a flame shone. Sealtiel, with downcast face and eyes, and with palms joined at the breast, exhibited the appearance of one praying. The same seven symbols of these angels, expressed it seems from this source, are shown by an image engraved at Antwerp by Hieronymus Wierix. Wherefore stirred up by these so ancient and pious schemes of the seven angels, Hector Pignatelli, Count of Monteleone, Viceroy of Sicily in the name of the Emperor Charles V, restoring and adorning this temple, in it from the Senate of Palermo and most of the citizens of the foremost nobility instituted a Sodality, called Imperial, to these seven Princes of the Angels, whose patronage he himself willingly and gladly undertook for Charles V, that the Emperor, supported by their aid and patronage, might both in peace and war well and happily govern the city of Palermo, and indeed all Sicily. These things our Fathers of Palermo, having precisely searched out from the public Acts, wrote to me at length.

Note, that the type and symbol of these seven Angels was the seven-branched candelabrum of Moses, Exodus ch. XXV (for it had seven branches), which symbolically, says St. Jerome, signified the world with the seven planets. But more properly it signified the Church, both militant and triumphant, over which these seven angelic spirits preside. For God in the world has distributed most things by the number seven: thus in the world there are seven planets, in the week seven days; thus also He has distributed the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the seven virtues, namely the three Theological and the four Cardinal, over which these seven spirits preside, that through them they may direct men to eternal life. So Nicolaus Serarius on Tobit XII, 13, where he adds that some recount the names of these seven thus: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel (who is named in books III and IV of Esdras), Sealtiel (whom they gather from Genesis XVI), Jehudiel (whom they gather from Exodus ch. XXIII), Barachiel (whom they gather from Genesis ch. XVIII). But the last four names are uncertain: for only the first three the Church recognizes and venerates, as the Roman Council asserts, over which Pope Zachary presided, which is cited in the Life of St. Boniface in Surius, June, fol. 598, and by Baronius, in the year of Christ 745, fol. 179. Understand this, that the Church does not recognize more names of angels, namely those which are not certain from canonical Scripture or from Ecclesiastical tradition. For otherwise the name Uriel is admitted by St. Ambrose, bk. III On the Faith to Gratian, ch. II, Isidore, bk. VII, ch. V, and it is contained in the Mozarabic Mass, which exists in vol. IV of the Library of the Holy Fathers; Andreas of Caesarea on ch. XXII of the Apocalypse; Albertus Magnus, Bonaventura, Prado, Sixtus of Siena, and others whom Alcazar cites, note 4 here, at the end. Zachary therefore only condemns the magical and fabricated names of Angels, which were brought forward by the heretic Adelbert, and, as it appears, a magus, in that council. Whence St. Boniface exclaimed in it, that those were the names of demons, not of angels.

Furthermore that the names of the seven angels just recounted were divinely revealed to Blessed Amadeus — a man illustrious for sanctity, miracles and prophecies — I read in the chronicles of the church of St. Mary of the Angels just cited, and that this happened around the year of the Lord 1460. The same is attested by Peter Galatinus, bk. II on the Apocalypse, ch. VIII. This Amadeus was of an illustrious Portuguese family, who, inflamed with the love of God, having scorned all wealth and stations, at the admonition of St. Francis embraced his order, and instituted that reformation of it which is called the Amadean. Whence by the Portuguese he is called Blessed Amator, by the Italians Blessed Amadeus. Hence chosen and adopted by Pope Sixtus IV as Confessor, he obtained from him the golden mountain, commonly called Montorio, where He is said to have been crucified

Now, however, whether these seven are from the highest order of Seraphim, or from the order of Principalities, or some other, is not certain. For the Seraphim are rarely sent: but these seven angels, or spirits, are said to be sent into all the earth. The Seraphim by assisting continually praise God: these seven assist God, that they may receive God's commands concerning the Church, and execute them either by themselves or by other lower angels. Add: that Raphael, who was one of the seven, St. Thomas on the Second Book of the Sentences, dist. 10, and others judge not to be among the highest angels, because he was present to Tobit in all things as a guardian angel: although we read concerning some great Saints that they had some Seraph appointed by God to them in the manner of a guardian angel. Wherefore some affirm and some deny that these seven angels are Seraphim. The already cited Galatinus, Fontana, Salmeron, Viegas, Pererius affirm it, and Clement of Alexandria, when he calls them first-born princes of the angels. Indeed Michael and Gabriel, who are first numbered among these seven, seem to be Seraphim. Gabriel Vasquez, Serarius and others deny it, of whom some hold them to be Archangels, others Principalities, others Cherubim, especially because those four foremost ones of the court and throne of God, Ezekiel I, are called Cherubim, not Seraphim. See what is said there, and Daniel VII, 10, where I taught that they are the same angels assisting and ministering to God, and that all are sent, even the Seraphim.

Furthermore from these seven angels standing before God, and as it were God's deacons, the Church militant, which is wont to imitate the triumphant, instituted seven Deacons, Acts V. Then in later years it endowed as many Deacon Cardinals. That as many were once accustomed to assist the Pontiff is plain from the book On the Roman Pontiffs, in the Life of St. Evaristus, who, the fourth from St. Peter, decreed that seven Deacons should assist the Pontiff, indeed even the Bishop, when preaching and celebrating. The chief of these, and as it were Prefect, was called Archdeacon, as St. Lawrence was to St. Sixtus. This number lasted until St. Gregory the Great, when, the Church growing, another seven were added to the former, and at last Gregory III added four others, so that in all the Deacon Cardinals were eighteen.

Symbolically, Rupert, and from him Alcazar (although he himself wishes this sense to be the literal one, and does not admit the seven angels along with what has been said), takes by these seven spirits the seven virtues, or attributes, of God, in which the entire perfection of providence consists (for spirit signifies that which is hidden and innermost in the manner of moving and governing), namely wisdom, fortitude, beneficence, justice, patience, threatening, and severity. For these seven are required and suffice for an exact and perfect government. For for that, threats and severity are also required; for these, while they terrify one, restrain him from evil, either himself or another. Therefore by these seven endowments God rules and establishes men. Furthermore these endowments are in God, and are in fact God Himself: whence from them John prays peace and grace for his own. These virtues therefore in God are immeasurable, and have no end or limit, and therefore are called spirits: although John in the Apocalypse generally calls the angels angels, not spirits.

And concerning these seven virtues of divine providence, Alcazar judges that they are treated of in order in the seven seals from ch. V to XI, and therefore that they are here at the beginning, in the as it were dedicatory letter, generally noted and touched upon.

The first four of these virtues are signified by the four living creatures, which surround the chariot of God the King, Ezekiel I. For the eagle is the symbol of divine wisdom, the lion of fortitude, the ox of beneficence, the man of justice. So also Pierius in his Hieroglyphics, bk. XXXII, brings forward a most ancient picture of God's providence, in which on the four corners these four names were inscribed: "Virtue, authority, knowledge, felicity." For where there is virtue, there is fortitude; authority pertains to justice; knowledge is wisdom; felicity indicates beneficence. "For it is more blessed to give than to receive," Acts ch. XX, v. 35.

About these seven Alcazar treats at length, note 5, where he shows that they are not only in God, but also in Christ as man, by which He rules the Church, as is plain from v. 8, and that all of them shone forth in the cross of Christ. For there appeared the supreme wisdom, fortitude, beneficence, patience, etc., of Christ. Alcazar adds that they are called seven lamps, because they are bright, and they illumine the world as much as they illumine God: and therefore they are aptly compared to the seven planets. For by the sun is signified God's virtue and fortitude, by Jupiter equity, by Venus beneficence, by Mercury wisdom, by Saturn patience, by the Moon threatening, by Mars severity. Again, that to these seven virtues of divine providence the devil has opposed the seven capital vices, namely to God's wisdom he has opposed pride, to fortitude sloth, to beneficence envy, to equity avarice, to patience wrath, to threatening gluttony, to severity lust: which is his ingenious speculation.

Furthermore God communicates and exercises these seven endowments of His providence through the angels, of whom I have already spoken. Therefore this exposition serves the former and completes it. For the seven angels have, exhibit and represent the seven endowments of providence: and conversely God does not exercise and display these seven virtues of His immediately by Himself, but through the angels.

5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness. — He alludes to Psalm LXXXVIII, v. 38: "A faithful witness in heaven," because Christ rendered true testimony among men concerning the Father, and His counsel and will concerning men's salvation through faith in Christ. For in Greek it is ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστός, that is, that faithful witness, namely that distinguished and outstanding one, that is the leader and prince of the Martyrs, who for the truth which He constantly preached, namely that He Himself was the Messiah sent by God, the Redeemer of the world, most courageously underwent the most cruel death on the cross. Whence the Syriac, three times repeating the demonstrative article, emphatically renders thus: And from Jesus Christ, that witness, that faithful one, that first-born of the dead. John Alba in Electorum, ch. C: The faithful witness, he says, is the same as the eternal prince. Whence in explaining he adds: "First-born of the dead," that is, king of mortals (for the first-born were of old the princes and kings of family and nation), "and prince of the kings of the earth." For that the witness is by catachresis called judge and prince, I have shown on Isaiah ch. LV, v. 4. But that the witness is here taken properly is plain from the testimony which He bore to the word of God in v. 2. Hence Christ is by St. Gregory Nazianzen, oration 18, which is on St. Cyprian, called "the first Martyr," and by St. Augustine, sermon 2 On St. Stephen, "the head of the Martyrs."

First-born of the dead, — that is, the first rising from the dead to a blessed and immortal life, and who was the cause and exemplar of the blessed resurrection of all others. For Christ alone is such: for those who before Christ were raised from death by Elijah, Elisha and others, rose to mortal life, that is, would die again. So Ribera and Gagneius. John adds this title to Christ, in order to encourage his Christians by this hope of resurrection with Christ to bear bravely with Him all persecutions and tribulations. For Christ suffering and rising is the leader and exemplar of the Church, and of every faithful sufferer, and of one gloriously emerging and rising from suffering. Whence as such He proposes Himself to His faithful in v. 18, saying: "I was dead, and behold I am living for ever and ever," as if He said: So you also, O faithful, under Domitian, Trajan, etc., must die; but hope and endure, for you shall live with Me forever. So too Paul strengthens his own by Christ's example, Rom. VIII, 29, saying: "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He Himself might be the first-born among many brethren." See what is said there.

And prince of the kings of the earth, — as if to say: Do not fear Domitian and the other kings of the earth: for Christ is the king and lord of all these. He Himself can restrain, restrict, indeed annihilate them all, and consequently He will make you, through patience and fortitude, superior to all of these, that you may be kings of kings — here through grace and unconquered strength, but in the last judgment through glory, judging the twelve tribes of Israel and all the princes of the world.

Who loved us. — Behold the delights of John's love for Jesus, who was his heart and his love. The Greek text here, as elsewhere, appears corrupt. For it has in the dative: τῷ ἀγαπήσαντι ἡμᾶς, that is, to Him who loved us; therefore the dative seems to have crept in for the nominative. So Ribera. Erasmus, however, tries to excuse it, saying that this dative is to be referred to "faithful," supplying "to Him," namely to the Father, who loved us and washed us through the blood αὐτοῦ, that is, of Him, namely of Christ. But Our [translator] more aptly and plainly renders, in His own blood, which cannot be referred to the Father, but pertains to the Son. For the blood of Christ is the most efficacious soap, which washes away all sins of all men. Alcazar, however, excuses it, saying that these words are to be referred to those that follow: "To Him be glory," as if to say: To Christ, who loved us, be glory.

Verse 6: He Hath Made Us a Kingdom and Priests

6. And He has made us a kingdom, — in which namely He Himself may reign through grace, and in the future through glory. Secondly, consequently "He has made us a kingdom," that is, kings, who here over the vices through the virtues, and in the future over death and misery, may rule through blessed immortality. Whence for kingdom many Greek codices read βασιλεῖς, that is, kings, and so reads Tertullian. Wherefore John, ch. V, v. 10, repeating this sentiment, says: "Thou hast made us a kingdom and priests to our God, and we shall reign upon the earth." He alludes to I Peter II, 9: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of acquisition."

Wherefore Luther vainly contends from this passage to prove that all Christians are properly so called priests, not mystical [priests]. For so likewise all should be properly called kings. Therefore all the worshippers of God are here called priests, but mystical ones. St. Gregory excellently, XXVI Moralia, XXI, explaining that of Job XXXVI, 7, He does not turn His eyes from the just His own, and places kings on the throne in perpetuity: "Well," he says, "are holy men in the testimony of divine Scripture called kings, because being placed over all the motions of the flesh, now they bridle the appetite of luxury, now they temper the heat of avarice, now they bend down the glory of pride, now they overwhelm the suggestion of envy, now they extinguish the fire of fury. Therefore they are kings, because they have learned not to succumb by consenting to the motions of their temptations, but to be set over them by ruling."

And priests to God, — namely offering to God spiritual victims, as St. Peter says, epist. I, ch. II, v. 5, namely prayers, almsgiving, fasts and other pious works. Secondly, Christ, says Cajetan, made us priests, because in the Christian people He instituted the priestly order, and the priests, through whom each of the faithful offers to God the sacred victim and sacrifice of the Eucharist.

To God and His Father. — He speaks of Christ as man, as I said. For Christ, as man, acknowledges God as God and as His creator (for His humanity was created by God). The same He acknowledges as His Father, because by reason of the union of His humanity with the Word, not only as God, but also as man, He is the natural Son of God the Father, as St. Thomas and the Theologians teach.

To Him be glory and dominion. — Supply: be; for this is the word of one wishing. Alcazar, however, understands: is; for he judges this word to be of one affirming, as if to say: From the revelation of the Apocalypse it is plain that glory and dominion have been delivered to Christ; because the glory and eternal dominion of the Christian Church, which he thinks is described in it, pertains to the glory and dominion of Christ; and that Christ's glory and dominion comes about because the Church of Christ has triumphed over its enemies, and in heaven shall triumph forever.

Verse 7: Behold, He Cometh with the Clouds

7. Behold, He comes with the clouds. — As if to say: Christ shall quickly come to judgment, and already in the prophetic spirit I see Him coming from afar: because to me, in spirit elevated to God, all this time which flows under it up to the day of judgment seems brief, and is brief in respect of the blessed and miserable eternity which in judgment He shall bring upon and inflict upon each according to their merits. See II Peter III, 8, why Christ shall come in clouds; and that the clouds are a symbol as well as a veil of God's glory, I explained in Ezekiel I, 4.

And every eye shall see Him, and those who pierced Him, — in the crucifixion, namely those who crucified Him, as also those who mystically now crucify Him in His members, by killing and crucifying His disciples the Christians. For "pierced," Zechariah XII, 10, in Hebrew is דקרו dakeru, which signifies not only to prick, to puncture, but also to dig through and pierce through, as our [Vulgate] there renders. Hence it seems that in Christ as judge coming to the last judgment shall be seen the marks and wounds of the crucifixion, that is, the openings of hands, feet, side, but glorious and shining, as note St. Ignatius, epistle to the Smyrneans; Cyprian, sermon On the Ascension; Chrysostom, homily On the Cross and the Thief; St. Jerome to Heliodorus, and Suárez, part III, Quaest. LIX, art. 6, disp. LVII, sect. 9.

And all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over Him. — Because, namely, they did not obey Christ, and therefore very many of every tribe shall be damned: hence they shall mourn. For that this is not about the mourning of penitence by which the Jews and Gentiles converted to Christ mourned their sins, as Alcazar will have it, but rather about the mourning of the reprobate and the damned, is plain, both because He treats of the day of judgment, and because He alludes to that of Matt. XXIV, 30: "Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven," where it is clear that the mourning treated of is that which shall be on the day of judgment: but that shall be of the impious, not of the elect; and because He alludes to that of Zechariah XII, 10: "They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him with a mourning, as it were for an only-begotten." Which passage although Alcazar explains of the mourning of penitents, yet St. Augustine, bk. XX of the City of God, ch. XXX; Theodoret, St. Jerome, Rupert, Ribera and others explain of the mourning of the impious on the day of judgment.

Even so, Amen, — as if to say: Surely so it shall be, or Amen, Amen. For in Greek it is ναὶ ἀμήν; but ναὶ, which Our [Vulgate] renders "even so," is to the Greeks the same as amen to the Hebrews. You will ask: Why does John here express the same thing by the Greek ναὶ and by the Hebrew amen, since he writes in Greek to the Greeks? I answer, that he may signify that both Greeks and Jews shall be subject to this judgment, and on the day of judgment shall confirm what He here says, when in fact they shall see it happen as is here foretold, namely that all shall see Christ as judge, and shall mourn. For by Jews and Greeks he understands all nations. For the Jews, as worshippers of God, used to call all other nations Greeks the idolaters; for of old the Greeks were the masters of all things, as later the Romans. Hence Paul says Rom. ch. I: "To the Jew first and to the Greek," as if to say: The faith of Christ is to be announced by us first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. See what is said there.

Verse 8: I Am Alpha and Omega

8. I am Alpha and Omega. — You will first ask who speaks here. Alcazar judges that Christ speaks, because St. Nazianzen, oration 35; St. Athanasius, treatise on that of Matt. XI, 27: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father;" Rufinus in his Exposition of the Symbol; Idacius Clarus, bk. III Against Varimundus; Phaebadius, or Sebadius, Bishop of Agen in Gaul, bk. III Against the Arians, take these words of Christ. Secondly, because "says" designates the one who sent the Apocalypse to John: this however was Christ, as is plain from v. 1. But I say that God speaks, inasmuch as He is common to the three Persons, namely Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is plain to one comparing this verse with v. 4, where the discourse is about God in general: for He here repeats the same epithet of God, and adds that the same is α and ω.

To the Fathers I reply, that they attribute this passage to the Son, not to Him alone, but because the Son is God, just as the Father and the Holy Spirit are. Add that the Fathers refer to Apoc. XXII, 2, where the same is expressly said of Christ. For He says: "Behold, I come quickly, I am α and ω, the beginning and the end;" and shortly after He adds: "I Jesus, I the root of David." Again to ch. II, v. 8, where Christ says: "I am the first and the last." Wherefore the Christians of old, when Arianism flourished, in order to profess themselves orthodox and not Arians, used to have α and ω engraved on their tombs, as if to say: I believe of Christ what He Himself says of Himself through John, namely that He is α and ω, that is, that He is truly God, as the Father is. This was noted by examiners of antiquity, such as Ambrosius Morales, bk. XI of his History, ch. XLI.

Note: If Christ spoke to St. John in Hebrew, or in Syriac (as some will have it), being a Hebrew speaking to a Hebrew, He said: "I am Aleph and Tau." For Aleph is the first, and Tau the last letter of the Hebrews. Whence the Syriac renders: I am Olaph, even Tau. St. John, however, because he wrote in Greek to the Greeks, substituted for the Hebrew letters the Greek α and ω, and for this reason perhaps Christ likewise spoke to John in Greek, and said: "I am α and ω," which in Italian is better said: Io sono lo Alpha et lo Omega.

You will ask secondly: What is the sense of "I am α and ω?" First, St. Jerome, bk. I Against Jovinian, thinks the same is here said as that which the Apostle says, Ephesians I, 10: "To restore all things in Christ." To this Tertullian agrees, in his book On Monogamy, who thinks that this is here sanctioned: "That John's discourse may end in Christ, and that through Christ all things may be called back to the beginning, and that man may return to paradise, where he was before."

Secondly, Peter Damian thinks that by α and ω is signified the supreme wisdom of Christ, by which He knows the first and the last things.

Thirdly, Arias Montanus in ch. IV of Zechariah explains, as if to say: Christ in the Church is α and ω, that is, the consummation, the ornament, and the perfection of all things.

Fourthly, Prado on Ezekiel, in the Introduction, sect. 2: I am α and ω, that is, I am the beginning and end of the words and oracles of God; as if to say: I am He upon whom all the Prophets, all the Apostles, all the sacred Scripture, look; I am the scope and the sum of the law and the Prophets, as also of the Gospel and the Apostles; in Me are fulfilled and consummated all the histories of the Patriarchs, all the rites, sacrifices, lustrations, miracles and oracles of the Hebrews; all the virtues, contests and triumphs of Virgins, Martyrs and Anchorites.

Fifthly, more genuinely Aretas and others thus expound, "I am α and ω," that is, as follows, "I am the beginning and the end." For, ch. XXII, v. 13, these three, as if they were the same, are joined: "I am α and ω, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." So Martial, bk. II, calls Codrus "the alpha of the cloaked," that is, among plebeians and the poor the first and as it were chief. Now the sense is: "I am the beginning and the end." First, as if to say: I am without beginning and end, that is, I am eternal, says Aretas: for by this phrase the eternity of God is signified. Therefore I am α and ω, that is, I am He before whom there is nothing, indeed through whom whatever has been made is made, and who, when all things shall perish, remain a survivor of them all; as therefore He calls Himself alpha, because He is more ancient than the beginning of all things: so omega, because He is later than every end, that on both sides His eternity may truly be established. So by the Greeks Jupiter was called τερμιεύς, that is the terminal one, παρὰ τὸ πάντων ἀρχὴ καὶ τέρμα εἶναι, because He Himself was the beginning and end of all things. Just therefore as the Apostle, I Timothy VI, 16, says of God: "Who alone has immortality," so St. John describes the same divinity, eternity and dominion by this periphrasis: "I am α and ω, the beginning and the end," as if to say: I am He who comprehend all the numbers of the ages; I am He who encompass, embrace and pass beyond all times by My eternity. Indeed His kingdom is "a kingdom of all ages, and His dominion in generation and generation," Psalm CXLIV, 13.

Again, and rather actively, I am α and ω, that is the beginning and the end, that is, I am the efficient and final cause of all things: for all things have been created by God for God's glory. So Plato: "God," he says, "is He who embraces the beginning, middle and end of all things;" and Virgil: "From Jove the beginning;" and: "From Thee the beginning, in Thee it shall end."

Alcazar rightly notes that abstracts are here put for concretes, and that John says the same as what Paul says to the Hebrews XII, 2, where he calls Christ the author and finisher; for ἀρχή, that is the beginning, in John is the same as ἀρχηγός, that is the author, in Paul; and τέλος, that is the end, in John is the same as τελειωτής, that is the finisher and consummator, in Paul; as if to say: God is the author and consummator of all things, God is He who began and who shall complete. He alludes to Zechariah IV, 9: "The hands of Zerubbabel have founded this house, and his hands shall complete it." Finally that in this sense and end Psalms IV, V, VI, and many others, are inscribed "unto the end," that is to God and Christ, who is alike the end as well as the beginning of the Church and of all things, Alcazar teaches at length, Note 8. From what has been said it is plain that some Theologians less rightly prove from this passage that the Son with the Father is the principle breathing the Holy Spirit. For here the discussion is about the principle of creatures, not of the Holy Spirit.

You will ask thirdly: To what end does John say these things? I reply: first, that He may teach that God, as it were the beginning and end, gives a beginning and end to the world, the Church, and all things that are done in it. Again, that God, just as He made the Church of Christ to arise and gave it a beginning, so likewise will advance and promote it, and will give it an end, that is, ultimate perfection. And accordingly the faithful ought not to fear the Domitians and the Deciuses, because God will define and describe both the beginning and the end for them and for their persecution; and He will so moderate it that He will not allow His own to be tempted beyond their strength, but will provide an outcome with the temptation. For this is what is said in verse 17: "Fear not, I am the first and the last." And in chapter II, verse 8: "These things saith the first and the last: Fear none of these things."

Mystically, Pererius: By α, he says, which is the beginning of the alphabet, is signified Christ's divinity; by ω, Christ's humanity. First, because ω is the great O: for round o signifies the world, and man is a small world; but Christ is ω, that is, the great world, on account of the union of humanity and deity. And perhaps the Christians had this in mind also, when they inscribed α and ω on their tombs, namely so as to profess Christ's incarnation and humanity, equally with His deity, against the heresies then rampant. To this purpose belongs that saying of St. Ambrose, in his book On the Institution of a Virgin, chapter XI: "Behold," he says, "the clemency of Christ: He Himself is the first and the last. He who was first made Himself the last for our sake. First, because through Him are all things; last, because through Him is the resurrection. For He descended and cast Himself down so as to fall, making Himself beneath all, that He might lift up all who lay prostrate." The same: Christ, he says, is "α and ω," the first and the last: the first by eternity, the last by humility.

Secondly, α signifies one, ω eight hundred; because Christ, having become man, adopted to Himself at the end of the ages eight hundred, that is, innumerable, saints and elect, and rewarded them with the eight beatitudes, distributing them through diverse mansions in heaven, and in rewarding them distributed them, says Rupert.

There exists a memorable pentalpha, that is, a fivefold alpha, springing forth from the five angles of a pentagon, found in Lucian and Pierius, Hieroglyphics 47, page 599, the figure of which is as follows. For they relate that Antiochus surnamed Soter, from whom the rest of the kings of Syria were called Antiochi, when about to fight against the Galatians, seemed by night in a vision to see Alexander standing by him, who instructed him to give the soldiers as a watchword "hygieia," the hieroglyph of which saying had long since been devised: a triple triangle interwoven among themselves out of five equal lines mutually touching one another at points, in such a way that five of their angles form five alphas. This having been done by him without delay, and a pentagram of this kind being placed both upon the standards and also added and stitched onto each soldier's military garments, he soon obtained a marvellous victory from the Galatians. There is extant a silver coin of Antiochus, on which this pentalpha within a pentagon is inscribed with the letters "hygieia," that is, health or salvation. And in the army of the emperors, who especially flourished at Byzantium, the order of those who served under the illustrious man the master of the foot, and were called Defenders (Propugnatores), bore a sky-blue shield, whose border was purple, but whose green boss contained within it a pentalpha of this kind. And rightly was the name of Defenders given to those, by whose work hygieia, that is salvation, was procured for the army. This pentalpha is God, who is α and ω, and Christ the Saviour; whence Pierius, in Hieroglyphics 47, page 599, fittingly adapts this pentalpha to the five wounds of Christ, in the very places and members thereof, in the figure of a man representing Christ, which he there exhibits.

Verse 9: I John Your Brother and Partaker in Tribulation

9. I John your brother, and partaker in tribulation and in the kingdom (as if to say: I John hope to be made a partaker with you, just as of tribulation, so also of the heavenly kingdom), and (repeat: partaker in) patience in Christ Jesus, — as if to say: And partaker of the patience of Christ Jesus, or of Christian patience, which suffers all things, is not indignant at those who afflict it, nor murmurs against God, but whatever is sent by Him through anyone bears with an even mind. Secondly, "in Christ," that is, on account of Christ, and the faith of Christ which I preach. So Ribera. Some explain it thus: "in tribulation and in the kingdom," because tribulation and the cross are the kingdom of Christ and of Christians. For God reigned from the wood: likewise He reigns by suffering in tribulation. This is mystical, but true and apposite, and equally pious. Thus Sophronius, or rather John Moschus, in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter CXII, relates that Abbot Leo said and foretold: "I am about to reign." His own laughed at him. It happened afterward that certain monks were captured by robbers and barbarians; in order that Leo might redeem them, he handed himself over as captive in their stead. Going on then with them, at last when his strength failed and he could go no further, he was slain by them. His own then recognized that this kingdom of his, of which he had said, "I am about to reign," had been martyrdom. John says this, because, as Aretas says, we are wont more readily to give credence to those who share with us the same labors undertaken for the same cause, when they recall things pertaining to the endurance of those same labors and to the hoped-for reward.

I was in the island which is called Patmos. — Which is situated in the Asiatic and Icarian sea, and is one of the Sporades, not far distant from Candia, or Crete. There, says Ansbert, John, banished by Domitian and condemned to the mines, although bound on earth, freely penetrated the heavens and heavenly things. Baronius, drawing from Metaphrastes, hands down that all the islanders of Patmos were converted by St. John to Christ. Thus the charity and zeal of the Apostles was never idle.

Note here the providence and counsel of God, who sweetly and efficaciously so disposed all things, that John was banished from the city of Rome (in which he was far from his Churches in Asia) to Patmos, which was bordering on Asia, and was near to the very seven cities to which he here writes, so that thence more easily he might deal with his Churches by letters, and instruct and direct them. Thus to those who love God all things work together for good. Again learn here, how God is present to His own in exile and in tribulation, and gives light and consolation: behold, John receives his Apocalypse from God nowhere else than in Patmos. So Jacob, when Esau persecuted him, saw God in Bethel, Genesis XXVIII and XXXII. Moses, fleeing Pharaoh, beheld God in the burning bush, Exodus III. Ezekiel, captive in Babylon, saw the same in the cherubic chariot, chapter I. Stephen at his stoning saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the power of God, as it were his protector (hyperaspistes), Acts VII.

Verse 10: I Was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day

10. I was in the spirit, — I was rapt in mind, I was in a spiritual vision, or in ecstasy; it signifies that holy enthusiasm, by which the Prophets, seized, were as it were carried out of the world, and journeyed with the Lord.

On the Lord's day. — Therefore from the time of John and the Apostles the worship of the sabbath was transferred to the Lord's day, on account of the honor of the resurrection of Christ, which took place on the Lord's day.

And I heard behind me a great voice. — You will ask: Why was this voice presented to John from behind? Alcazar first answers, that John might understand himself to be called to consider a war which had already passed. For he himself thinks that in the earlier part of the Apocalypse there is described the war, victory, and destruction of the Jews by Titus, which had already passed 25 years before. For things which are past are behind and at the back. Whence the Apostle says, Phil. III, 13: "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." But this foundation of his I have overthrown above, on the ground that the Apocalypse is a prophecy of things to come, not a history of things past.

Secondly, then, and better do Ambrose, Thomas the Englishman and Ribera answer, that John here heard a voice from behind, because he was about to hear those things which were unknown to the Church. For what is behind us, since it cannot be seen, is reckoned unknown to us.

Thirdly, Anselm, Richard and Rupert hold that by this position of the voice John, who was devoted to the contemplation of divine things, was being recalled to human matters, namely, to the correction and instruction of others.

Fourthly, the Gloss and Albert think that by this voice from behind it is symbolically signified that these mysteries which here are revealed to John are contained in the Law and the Prophets as in type and figure.

Fifthly and best, this voice was heard from behind, that it might be signified, first, that this revelation is of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is not seen by men, and therefore while He shows Himself to them as teacher and monitor, He seems to act "that the ears may hear the words of one admonishing behind the back," as Isaiah says, chapter XXX, verse 21. Secondly, that God here speaking to John cannot be seen clearly face to face in this life. Whence He said to Moses, Exodus XXXIII: "Thou shalt see My back parts, but My face thou canst not see." Thirdly, that the persecutions here heard and prophesied by John were soon to follow upon St. John under Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, etc. Moreover this voice seems to have been formed by God through angels in the customary manner.

Mystically, here is signified the singular protection of God, who guards and directs John and His faithful amid so many persecutions and perils. For rightly is the providence of Christ described as being behind us, because while we do not perceive it, it nevertheless perceives us, and always has us before its eyes, watches over and protects us. So Origen and St. Jerome on Ezekiel III, 12.

Tropologically, the faithful are here admonished to turn away from earthly things, and to be converted to God and heavenly things. For we are fugitive servants, and that He may call us back, Christ cries out from behind. So Ambrose and Lyranus.

As of a trumpet. — Therefore this voice was not only great and intense, but also trumpet-like, that is, recalling and expressing the sound of a trumpet: for the word "as" here notes not so much a comparison as the truth of the thing. Whence this voice of God seems to have been distinct from the voice of Christ the man, of which He says in verse 15: "And His voice as the voice of many waters." For roused by the divine and trumpet-like voice, John looked back and saw Christ among the seven candlesticks, sounding with a great voice like that of many waters, and saying: "Fear not, I am the first and the last."

Otherwise Alcazar: for he holds that both voices, namely of the trumpet and of many waters, were of Christ, who first uttered the trumpet-voice, then the voice of many waters: both warlike, that by the former He might signify the war waged against the Church by the Jews; by the latter, the war waged against the same by all the Gentiles. But in both Christ by His patience and power triumphed over both, namely against the warlike trumpets of the Jews He set, not arms, but seven trumpets, as of old against Jericho, of which chapter VI. For the plagues of the Jews are signified by these trumpets. But against the many waters, that is, the tumult of the Gentiles conspiring against the Church, He set the seven vials, chapter XV, verse 7. As if to repel the assault of the Gentiles it were enough that heaven pour forth seven vials of water: as if the fury of the sea were fought against only by drops of water. "For He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh at them," Psalm II, 4. By this trumpet then and warlike voice it is signified that, just as of old by warlike trumpets the year of jubilee or of redemption was promulgated: so out of the trumpets of the Jews and Gentiles rising up against the Church the faithful obtain a jubilee, that is, the excellent fruit of redemption, and that liberty which consists in the contempt of worldly peace, of riches, and of life. These things are said ingeniously and piously; but not sufficiently in a germane and genuine way, as I showed above, and shall show below.

Verse 11: The Seven Churches of Asia

11. Philadelphia. — A city situated in Mysia next to Lydia, so called from Attalus Philadelphus its founder. There is another Philadelphia of Syria, which in Scripture is called Rabbath of the children of Ammon. Of the other cities I shall speak each in its own place.

Verse 12: The Seven Golden Candlesticks

12. And I turned to see the voice, — namely, the author of the voice, or the one Himself calling and speaking; or "to see," that is, to know and discern. So in Exodus XX, 18, it is said: "All the people saw," that is, heard, "the voices": for sight, being the most certain sense, is taken for any sense, sensation and cognition: especially because this voice was intellectual, and therefore was itself a vision. Whence the Prophets call their prophecies now "word," now "vision," because in the mind and spirit to see and to hear are the same thing. So Aretas and Haymo. See Canon I on the Prophets.

And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks. — These candlesticks were like that one which Moses made in the tabernacle; and like those ten which Solomon made in the temple. For he alludes to these: whence also he saw Christ clothed with the podere, as it were a priest: for the garment of the priests of the old law was a podere. So also Zechariah, chapter III, verse 4, saw the priest Jesus clothed with change of raiment, that is, with the podere, as the Seventy translate; and soon, in chapter IV, verse 2, he saw "a golden candlestick, and seven lamps upon it." These candlesticks therefore were after the manner of those ancient heptalychna, that is, having seven lamps: for each candlestick was seven-headed, namely having seven branches or stems, which each on the summit had a lamp, as I have said on Exodus XXV, 31.

Moreover, by the candlestick both John and Moses signify and represent the Church: for so St. John says in verse 20: "The seven candlesticks are the seven Churches." And aptly so. For first, the Church is visible and conspicuous like a candlestick. Secondly, because she sets before the world the light of the world, namely Christ and the doctrine of Christ. Thirdly, because she is raised up to divine and heavenly things. Fourthly, she is golden because of charity, and because like gold she is tried, extended and formed by the fire and hammers of persecution. "The Church then is as a candlestick (says Pererius), bright through the doctrine of the Scriptures, splendid through the brilliance of virtues, weighty through the gravity of morals, ductile through obedience, sonorous through preaching, extended through perseverance, raised up through hope, founded in God through faith, bound fast to God through charity," nay, as it were transformed into Him. More about this candlestick, its figure and significance, I have said on Exodus XXV, 31.

Verse 13: One Like to the Son of Man

13. And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like to the Son of man, — that is, a man, namely Christ. For man is like to man, and Christ was made into the likeness of men, since in habit He was found as a man. For by Hebrew idiom "likeness" signifies the truth of the thing: so Gagneius, and it is plain from what follows. Ribera, however, thinks it was not Christ Himself, but an angel who bore the person of Christ. Add that He is called "like," because in all things there was not the likeness of a man: for He had feet of orichalcum.

You will ask whether John here truly saw Christ the Lord in Himself. I answer: It is probable that he saw Him, but in another habit than He has in heaven. For a glorified body can appear in such form and habit as the blessed wills. Yet it is more probable to the contrary, namely that John did not really see Christ Himself. First, because he was in the spirit; whence all these things were enacted before him symbolically, as is plain from what follows. Then, because likewise in chapter V, he says he saw one sitting on the throne: but it is certain that there he did not see God, but some symbol, or species, which represented God. In like manner therefore here also it happened to him, namely a species of Christ was impressed upon and presented to his fantasy, not Christ Himself; and this was done according to God's custom through an angel, and in this sense the opinion of Ribera is true.

Moreover when he says: "In the midst of the seven candlesticks," understand not standing still, but walking; for so he says in chapter II, verse 1: "Who walketh in the midst of the candlesticks." And He walks in the midst of them, that He may foster them with oil, kindle them and trim them. For He alludes to the office of tending the candlesticks, which the weekly priest performed in Solomon's temple. For this cause the person whom John saw was clothed with the podere, that is the linen tunic, which the priests put on when about to perform these sacred functions. So Alcazar.

Morally: St. Thomas notes that "in the midst" signifies that Christ shows Himself common to each of the Churches, withdrawing further from no one, drawing nearer to no one; but being present and profitable to all equally, that He might teach Bishops in the Church, rectors in the college, fathers in the family, to show themselves impartial to all, equal and even-handed, in order to ward off envy and promote the union and charity of all. It is commonly asked why was Peter, not John who was most dear to Christ, chosen for the Pontificate? St. Jerome, in book I Against Jovinian, settles this question with a twofold response. One: "Lest, as yet a youth," he says, "and almost a boy, he should be preferred to men of advanced age"; the other: "Lest the good Master," he says, "who ought to have removed from His disciples occasion of strife, should seem to provide cause for envy in the youth whom He had loved."

To this the Roman Pontiff alludes and represents this, when he himself alone, solemnly celebrating, has around him on the altar seven candlesticks (which is granted to none of the bishops): for he himself is the Vicar of Christ, who was here seen by John among the seven candlesticks as it were the supreme Pontiff, and moderator of seven, that is, of all, the Bishops and Churches both of Greece and of the whole world. Christ therefore is He who communicates to the Church His splendor, force and power, according to that of Matthew XVIII, 20: "There am I in the midst of them." Wherefore Isaiah, chapter XII, verse 6, rouses the Church to give thanks and to jubilation, saying: "For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."

For this cause Christ appeared in another form and species than He has in heaven, namely clothed with the podere, hoary-headed, girt with a golden cincture, having burning feet; that by these things might be represented the wondrous deeds (of which I shall soon speak), which Christ works in the Church and in His faithful (whose form and as it were person He here puts on), according to that of Psalm LXVII, 36: "God is wonderful in His saints"; this is what Paul says, Galatians II, 20: "I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me": see what is said there. So in Canticles V, from verse 10 to the end of the chapter, the species and figure of Christ is described, not only as He is in Himself, but also as He works famously and illustriously in His own, as Gregory of Nyssa, Paulinus, Ambrose, Gregory, Philo Carpathius and Honorius teach in that same place.

Clothed with the podere. — You will ask why Christ appeared to John clothed in this habit? First, Irenaeus, book IV, chapter XXXVII, holds that this figure pertains to the priestly dignity and to the glorious advent of Christ. So also Stunica on Zechariah chapter IV thinks that here is described the habit of Christ as judge, and that as judge He shall judge the world at the end of the world.

Secondly, Luis of Leon, in his book On the Names of Christ, is of the opinion that this whole enigma should be referred to the burning charity of Christ.

Thirdly, Pannonius asserts that this image befits any just man, because Christ and the Church are one; and Christ here clothes Himself with the habit of His own, that He may show Himself to live, work and speak in them, as I said a little before.

Fourthly, others think that here Christ is depicted insofar as He is the most perfect lawgiver. Whence Ribera holds that this enigma pertains to the consolation of the just and the error of the impious.

Fifthly, Pererius holds that in this scheme of Christ is depicted the providence by which Christ rules, cares for and governs His Church; and that in this very thing is proposed the idea of ecclesiastical government, which Bishops and Pastors ought to imitate. So also many others think that here is singularly expressed Christ's providence toward the seven Churches of Asia, over which He presided, and to which John was writing these things.

Sixthly, Alcazar holds that this first person of the Apocalypse acts as a prologue, and gives a summary of the whole spectacle (namely of the whole Apocalypse). Whence also the garment of the podere corresponds to the white garments with which the elders are clothed, chapter IV, and to the byssine garment with which the bride of the Lamb clothes herself, chapter XIX. So also the byssine podere and the golden cincture have regard to the clothing of the angels, who pour forth the vials, chapter XVI; the hoariness has regard to the hoariness of the elders, chapter IV; the flames of the eyes are the same as those of which it is said in chapter XIX: "His eyes are as a flame of fire." The feet of glowing orichalcum are the same as those given to the angel, chapter X, verse 1: "His feet as a pillar of fire." The fire itself is the same as that which afterwards burns Babylon; the seven stars correspond to the stars with which the woman is clothed, chapter XII. Of death, hell and the keys frequent mention will be made below. So he himself. All which things are aptly and truly said.

Properly, however, these things look to the seven candlesticks: for Christ here takes on that species which represents to us His pontifical office concerning these Churches, and any others whatsoever, which He rebukes, teaches, admonishes, perfects, as will be plain in chapters II and III. For all these things, up to chapter IV, pertain to the first part of the Apocalypse, which is concerning the rebuke and instruction of the seven Churches and Bishops of Asia. Whence in chapter V, where the other part begins, namely the prophetic part of the Apocalypse, another vision and another species of Christ, namely as it were of the slain Lamb, is proposed.

Secondarily, however, these things also pertain to chapter five, and to the whole Apocalypse. For Christ here bears that species in which He represents His care, protection and glorification toward the faithful; but toward the impious, especially toward Antichrist and his followers, terror and vengeance, which is the argument and scope of the whole Apocalypse.

Moreover, that Alcazar, page 94, draws all these things to his own opinion concerning the argument of the Apocalypse, namely that by this scheme of Christ is represented the victory and triumph both over the Jews and Judaism and over the Gentiles and Gentilism, I have shown above to be less probable.

Now as to what concerns the words of the text, note, "clothed with the podere," that is, with a robe or tunic reaching to the ankles. It is called poderis from "podos" (foot) and "airo" (I lift), because it is fitted and reaches down even to the feet; or, as Erasmus has it, from "podos," that is foot, and "eres," which in composition means oar. For it is derived from "eresso," that is, I row; whence are said "trieris," "dieris" (trireme, bireme): as if the poderis were a garment which is rowed and fanned by the feet.

Note: The High Priest had a double tunic, one of linen, which in Hebrew was called בתונות ketonet, in Greek χιτών, which all the priests always used in sacred services; the second of hyacinth, which in Hebrew was called מעיל meil, and was proper to the High Priest, from which depended pomegranates and bells, of which it is said in Wisdom XVIII, 24: "For in the robe of the podere which he wore was the whole world," namely so that it might be signified that the High Priest, clothed with the podere, to be the mediator of heaven and earth, of God and of men, and to make supplication for the whole world.

You will ask which tunic John here understands by the podere. Alcazar, Ribera, and Pererius understand the linen one. For Josephus, in book III of the Antiquities, chapter viii, and St. Jerome, epistle 128, call this the podere. Indeed even the Septuagint at Ezekiel ix, 2, where we read: "A man clothed in linen," translate "clothed in a podere." Add that this person appeared among the lampstands, and as if having care of them, which was not the office of the high pontiff; and so it does not fit aptly enough that the priest, clothed in blue, should have appeared among the lampstands. Furthermore, by this linen tunic they hold to be signified, first, the priesthood of Christ; second, His most pure and most beautiful flesh; third, His inestimable innocence and purity; fourth, patience: for linen is carded, beaten, soaked in various ways, etc., and "it always becomes better by injury," says Pliny.

But it seems more truly that the podere is the hyacinth tunic, first, because the Septuagint thus translate and explain it at Exodus xxviii, 31, where each pontifical tunic is distinctly treated, and each is distinguished by its own name from the other. Secondly, because the hyacinth tunic alone, proper to the pontiff, signifies the priesthood proper to Christ. For Christ here is introduced not as a lesser priest, but as a pontiff, who teaches and corrects the seven angels, that is, the Bishops, of the seven Churches. Whence He is also girded with a golden girdle; for this designates the pontiff, not the priest. For the priest was girded only with a byssine girdle; the pontiff, however, besides the byssine, had a girdle of many colors, that is, hyacinth, and indeed also girded the Ephod with the Rational, to which corresponds this golden girdle which John gives to Christ. Thirdly, because the linen tunic "descended only as far as the thighs," says St. Jerome, epistle 128 to Fabiola, on the vestments of the priests; but the hyacinth tunic as far as the ankles. This therefore is properly the podere, that is, reaching to the ankles, not the other, although by St. Jerome and Josephus that one too is sometimes called podere, because it descended to the feet, that is, to the shins and legs. Fourthly, because by podere is understood the hyacinth tunic in Wisdom xviii, 24, in the words already cited, and in Ecclesiasticus chapter xlv, 10; for where we read "around the feet," in Greek it is poderis, and it manifestly speaks of the hyacinth tunic.

By the podere, then, or the hyacinth tunic, is signified the supreme pontificate of Christ, by which Christ presides over the seven, that is, over all the Churches and Bishops; and consequently the love of Christ for us is commended, so that we may love Him in return, nor depart from His love in persecutions and in death set before us. For thus Christ our Pontiff offered Himself for us as victim and to the death of the cross. Hence this hyacinth tunic is a symbol, first, of true religion, of holiness, and of divine worship, in which Christ excelled. Secondly, of heavenly conversation: for hyacinth is of a violet color, that is, of the air and of heaven. Hence from this tunic of the pontiff there hung golden bells and pomegranates: the former signified ardent preaching, the latter the miracles of Christ. See what is said at Exodus xxviii, 35, and Exodus xxv, 4.

And girded about the paps with a golden girdle. — He alludes first to the girdle of the ancient priests and pontiffs: for they girt themselves so high that Josephus, in book III of the Antiquities, chapter x, asserts that the linen vestment was accustomed to be girded around the chest a little below the armpits. And St. Jerome, epistle 128: "With a belt, he says, the linen tunic was girded between the navel and the chest." Whence Turnebus, in book XV of the Adversaria, last chapter, and Sigonius, in book III On Judgments, chapter xix, note that the custom of girding oneself high was proper to the priests, so that by this it might be signified that they, before all others, were ready and prepared for every service of God. Again, the golden girdle was that of the ancient pontiffs; for the lesser priests girt themselves with a girdle of fine linen of many colors, that is, woven with scarlet, purple, and blue, without gold; but the girdle of the pontiff was of fine linen of many colors interwoven with gold.

You will ask what this golden girdle of Christ signifies. Some answer first that it signifies His clemency, by which He restrains anger. So Andreas and Aretas. Secondly, His royal dignity. So Rupertus and Pererius. Thirdly, His wisdom. So Albertus. Some add justice, according to that of Isaiah xi, verse 5: "Justice shall be the girdle of His loins." Fourthly, His piety and reverence. So Abbot Joachim and Dionysius. Fifthly, His chastity. So St. Chrysostom, Gregory, Haymo, Anselm, and many others. Sixthly, His charity. So Ribera and Thomas Anglicus. Seventhly, His preparation and promptitude for the service of God, to which the love of God urges Him; for gold signifies this; whence He is girded high, that He may be signified more prompt and ready than the rest. So Alcazar. Eighthly, properly the girdle binding the garments and the body, and strengthening and confirming it, signifies the holy discipline which composes the mind, the imagination, the body, and all the motions of Christ and of Christians, restrains them from vices, and binds them to God and to God's law. It is golden, because He does this not through fear, but through love of God. Hence charity is called by the Apostle in Colossians III, verse 14, the bond of perfection. Again, in II Corinthians v, verse 14: "The charity of Christ, he says, presses us." For Christ recalled all His laws to the golden law, or girdle, of charity. I have said more moral matters concerning this girdle of Christ and of the faithful at Ephesians vi, 4; Jeremiah xiii, 4; Exodus xxviii, 39.

Furthermore, many adapt these things to the Church and to the faithful: for here Christ sustains their person and likeness, and therefore was seen by John among the lampstands, which signify the Churches; this girdle of Christ therefore is that with which the Saints are girded. So Alcazar and others. Indeed many would have this girdle of Christ to be the Church itself. So Victorinus, Ticonius, Primasius, Bede; or some part of the Church, for example, the choir of the Patriarchs, as Ambrose. For they hold that by this golden girdle is intimated the immense increase of charity which the Church received in the persecutions, namely in the second seal, chapter vi, and in the censer, chapter viii.

You will ask, why is Christ girded at the paps? S. Chrysostom answers first, that by the girdle at the loins is signified the old law, by the girdle at the paps the Gospel. For, as S. Gregory says in the passage to be cited shortly, by the golden girdle at the paps is restrained not only the lust of works, but also that of the heart, which Christ condemns in Matthew chapter v, verse 28.

Secondly, because Christ, and likewise Christians, are or ought to be more brisk, more ready, and more ardent for the service of God than Moses and the Jews.

Thirdly, because the heart of Christ, which is between the paps, is full of charity.

Fourthly, symbolically Viegas takes the two paps to mean the two universal attributes of God, namely mercy toward the pious and justice toward the impious. From the right is sucked the milk of indulgence, from the left the milk of correction. The one harsher, the other sweeter, both salutary for infants. Whence Rupert too by the golden girdle understands the royal authority of Christ, free from all misery and mortality.

Better Pererius: The two paps, he says, are the mind and the will; the latter is girded with the gold of wisdom, the former with the gold of charity; both yield milk, both of doctrine through preaching and of grace through the administration of the Sacraments. Whence S. Gregory, in book XXXIV of the Morals, chapter viii: "To have a golden girdle about the paps, he says, is to restrain all the motions of changeable thoughts by the bonds of love alone." S. Gregory adds in the same place that gold signifies five things in Scripture: first, the brightness of the divinity; second, the splendor of the heavenly city; third, charity, as here; fourth, the brightness of worldly glory; fifth, the beauty of holiness.

Finally Alcazar here, note 12, page 225, observes that by gold is signified the perfection of charity. For, as Pliny teaches in book XXXIII, chapter 1 and following, in gold there are nine things to be considered: marvelous "generation, splendor, weight, ease of material, constancy, cleanness, medicinal use, miracles, and price": which he himself takes up one by one in order copiously and learnedly, and adapts them to charity.

Verse 14: His Head and His Hairs Were White

14. And His head and hairs were white, like white wool and like snow, — ("And His head": that is, the divinity, which is the head of Christ; and "hairs" signifies, that is, as if to say, the head, that is, the hairs of the head; though Alcazar by "hairs of the head" understands the hairs both of the beard and of the head; but the hairs of the beard are not properly called capilli) — which snow has not only whiteness, but also beauty and splendor. "White," namely with hoariness: by which is signified Christ's eternity, and, as Augustine says, "the antiquity of truth." So of the eternal Father it is said in Daniel vii: "The Ancient of days sat, His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head as pure wool," that is, white, splendid, according to that:

And may the face shine bright with much white hair.

Note: Aretas takes the white hairs as the bright and pure humanity of Christ; and Viegas as the purity of Christ's life. Secondly, Rupert takes them as the Holy Prophets; for these are as it were many hairs of the one head of Christ. In like manner S. Augustine, in his book On the Essence of the Divinity, at the beginning, takes them as any of the Saints. Thirdly, S. Augustine, treatise 57 on John, takes them as Christ's Sacraments, which are many and varied of the one Christ. Fourthly, Abbot Joachim, the most pure and most just judgments of Christ. Fifthly and best, as I have said, hairs whether white or hoary signify Christ's eternity, and consequently His omniscience, omniprudence, omniprovidence: for hoary or aged men, because heat subsides in them, do not have the turbid fervors and impetuosities that disturb reason, but, being entirely calm, possess a free and sincere judgment, and in them prudence and wisdom flourish most. Whence Alcazar notes that by the podere is signified the holiness and religion of Christ and of His faithful; by the golden girdle, charity; by the hoary hairs, wisdom — which marvellously increased in the persecutions of which this book treats: for through them Christ taught His Church the summit of Christian philosophy.

Furthermore, among these three a fitting order is preserved; because the first thing is to be cleansed from sin and sanctified; next to embrace the perfection of the virtues in the fervor of charity; and lastly to teach and instruct others through wisdom. Whence in the Christian Church wisdom was mature and hoary, which in the Synagogue of the Jews was germinating and infant. Hence it is compared to snow, not only shining but also splendid. Snow, then, signifies the splendor and glory of the wisdom of Christ and of Christians.

Some add that the hoary hairs signify the antiquity of the Christian religion, both because it was prior to Judaism in the mind and intention of God (whence God willed it to be signified and represented through Jewish rites and sacrifices); and because the early Patriarchs and Prophets, as regards faith, spirit, morals and life, were rather Christians than Jews and Mosaic, as S. Augustine teaches in book III Against the Two Epistles of the Pelagians, chapter IV, and D. Thomas I II, Question CVII, article 1.

And His eyes were like a flame of fire. — By these eyes is signified the all-knowing mind of Christ, shining for the just, burning the reprobate, says Gagneius.

Secondly and better, Ribera: Christ's flaming eyes, he says, signify Christ's wrath and vengeance against the persecutors of Christians and other impious men. That this is so is plain from chapter xix, verse 12, and chapter ii, verse 13, and chapter xi, verse 19, where horrible beasts are depicted: "Full of wrath, breathing forth fiery vapor, emitting dreadful sparks from their eyes." Why eyes flame in anger, Aristotle, Problems III, section 31, gives this reason: that heat is by nature transmitted to that part as if violated, which is more sensitive and more mobile both in feeling and in motion. For the eyes are deemed to be violated by this very fact, that someone has done something unworthy or injurious in their presence, and has not respected his face and eyes. Add that the imagination, which is in the head above the eyes, when stirred up by anger, calls to itself the vital spirits, and kindles them, so that smoke seems to be breathed from the nostrils and fire from the eyes. So of the angry Achilles, Homer says in Iliad XIX: "His teeth gnashed, his eyes shone like a flame of fire." And Virgil, book VII, of Alecto: "Rolling her flaming eyes." And Cicero in the Verrines: "His eyes burned, cruelty flashed forth from his whole face."

Alcazar adds that the flames of Christ's eyes signify that no one can hide himself from His wrath. For what darkness can hinder the seeing of Him whose eyes hurl forth bright light? according to that of Jeremiah xxxii, verse 19: "His eyes are open, that He may render to the sons of Adam according to the fruit of their devices."

Verse 15: His Feet Like Fine Brass

15. And His feet like fine brass as in a burning furnace. — Hence it is plain that John did not see a true man, but the image of a man, or a spectre: for he had feet of fine brass. Although he says "Like fine brass," yet the word "like" looks rather to the man, or to the spectre of a man, than to the fine brass; that is to say, this spectre of a man was seen to have feet like to a statue made of fine brass, but as to the rest it was like to a man. He alludes to Ezekiel i, 27, where Ezekiel says he saw the appearance of God seated upon the chariot of the Cherubim: "As the appearance of amber, as the look of fire within it round about; from his loins upward, and from his loins downward, as the appearance of fire shining round about." See what is said there. For aurichalcum the Greek is χαλκολίβανον, which Suidas thinks is a kind of amber more precious than gold.

Antonius Nebrissensis in his Quinquagena, chapter IV, translates it as bronze frankincense, that is, strong, male, namely most potent and most fragrant; for the Hebrew לבונה lebona, from which the Greeks took the same name, signifies frankincense, because it is white (for לבן laban means white), and the name is so taken in Orpheus when he says: "Chalcolibanus to Apollo, to Latona," that is, male frankincense, or a sacrifice of male frankincense to Apollo, to Latona. The feet of Christ, then, are like to male frankincense, because, as it were, kindled frankincense, most fragrant, they spread a most pleasant odor.

But our Interpreter, and others generally, render χαλκολίβανον as aurichalcum (fine brass). Whence Pliny, in book XXXIV, chapter II, says that chalcolibanum is a kind of brass, formerly held in great price. Furthermore, brass is called aurichalcum because it has a golden color, says Sextus Pompeius. The same is called aurichalcum from ὄρος, that is, mountain, and χαλκός, that is, brass, because it is dug out of mountains; whence it is also called zahash-Libanon, as it were brass of Lebanon, because it was dug out of Lebanon, says Aretas and the Thesaurus of the Greek Language. Whence the Syriac translates: his feet like to Lebanese brass, which is inflamed as if in a furnace; the Arabic: his feet as brass molten in fire. Furthermore, that aurichalcum was bright, Hesiod teaches, since he calls it 'panis' [shining] on the shield of Hercules. Aurichalcum then, or chalcolibanum, was the most praised brass.

The sense, then, is: Christ's feet were like fine brass, not cold, nor even melted, but hot, glowing and gleaming "in a burning furnace" (our Interpreter reads in the Greek πεπυρωμένῳ, that is "burning"; some now read πεπυρωμένα, that is "burning," namely, the feet) — that is, Christ's feet were most splendid; namely the humanity of Christ (which is signified through the feet, as the divinity through the head) was, through the furnace of the passion and the cross, made most splendid and most strong to trample down Domitian and His enemies, and to consume them. So Nazianzen in Andreas, and Damascene in Ribera, Rupert, Pannonius, and others, who all understand by the feet the human nature in Christ. A little differently, Dionysius the Carthusian by the feet understands the last years of Christ's life, in which He suffered and was crucified. Christ's feet, says Rupert, are said to be like fine brass: "Because as aurichalcum is by many expenditures of fire brought from brass to the color of gold, so also that humanity, through many tribulations of the passion and death, was brought to the glory of majesty."

Wherefore piously S. Bernard, sermon 17 on the Psalm "He that dwelleth": "It is good for me, O Lord, to be afflicted, provided that Thou Thyself art with me, rather than to reign without Thee, to feast without Thee, to glory without Thee: it is good rather to embrace Thee in tribulation, to dwell in the furnace with Thee, than to be without Thee even in heaven. For what have I in heaven, and what have I desired upon earth besides Thee? The furnace tries gold, and the trial of tribulation tries just men. There, there art Thou with them, O Lord; there in Thy name gathered together Thou standest in their midst, as of old Thou didst deign to appear with the three children even to the Heathen, that he might say: Because the form of the fourth is like to the Son of God. Why do we tremble, why do we delay, why do we flee from this and that menace? The fire rages, but the Lord is with us in tribulation: if God is with us, who is against us?"

Mystically, Haymo, Bede, Ambrose, Anselm: The feet of Christ, they say, are the faithful, who shall live at the end of the world in the time of Antichrist, and shall endure in the fire of persecution, as in a furnace, strong and constant.

Secondly, Victorinus, Ticonius, Andreas, Aretas, Pererius, and Alcazar: The feet of Christ, they say, are the Apostles, who carried the name of Christ as it were through the whole world. These are like fine brass, because by their wisdom they shone like gold, and by their constancy they expressed the firmness of brass. Whence of these it is said in Isaiah LII, 7, and Romans x, 15: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who preach good things!" And in Canticles vii, 1: "How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O prince's daughter!" They are seen as burning, because they kindled the world with that fire of which Christ says in Luke xii, 49: "I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled?" Finally, in chalcolibanum, or the brass of Lebanon, there is an allusion to the altar of holocausts, which was made of this brass. For John looks back to the fire of the holocausts, by which he signifies those feet, who are so eager to please God and to strive, that they kindle the fire of true religion and the worship of God throughout the whole world — which they did. For this is that fire, by which Babylon was burnt up, says Alcazar. Whence Irenaeus too, in book IV, chapter 37, refers chalcolibanum to the steadfastness of faith, and to perseverance in so many adversities, hardships and persecutions, which the heralds of God, out of love of God, endured even to death and martyrdom, and so set the world on fire with God's faith and love. Of this fire, see what is said in Leviticus IX, at the end.

Thirdly Ribera: The feet of Christ, he says, are the enemies of Christ to be trampled by Christ, and to be tortured by the fire of Gehenna; or, as Alcazar has it, to be subdued by Christ and converted to Him, according to that of Joshua i, 3: "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I will give it to you;" and Psalm lix, 19: "Into Idumea will I stretch out my shoe."

And His voice as the voice of many waters. — First, some expound this of the waters of baptism. So Victorinus.

Secondly, others, of the concord of the Scriptures, which are as it were many waters and rivers. So Rupert and Pererius.

Thirdly, others, of the course of heavenly power, which in various ways flows into all. So Arias Montanus.

Fourthly, Alcazar thinks that this voice signifies the persecution of the Roman empire, as if many waters were many nations raging and roaring against Christians: but this voice is of Christ, not of the raging nations.

Note: John alludes to Ezekiel XLIII, at the beginning; for as it is said there: "Behold the glory of the God of Israel came in by the way of the East; and his voice was like the voice of many waters, and the earth shone with His majesty;" so here John says: "His voice was as the voice of many waters; His face was as the sun shining in His power." The sense, then, is, as if to say: Christ's voice was very strong, sonorous, penetrating and effective, such as is wont to be the sound of many waters flowing down with force; for to signify this, Scripture often uses this similitude of waters. This voice, says S. Gregory, Ticonius, Haymo, Seraphinus, and Pererius, is the preaching of the Gospel, so sonorous and powerful that its sound went forth into all the earth. What roar of the sea dashed upon rocks, what confluences of the swiftest rivers, what cataracts of the Nile have resounded so far? This voice, then, was "as the voice of many waters," first, because, like water, it quenched the thirst of temporal things, and cooled the heat of concupiscence. Secondly, because it washed away the stains of sins. Thirdly, because it fertilized the soil of human hearts, that they might bring forth the fruits of the virtues. Fourthly, because it converted many — nay, all nations — to Christ, and caused them with their own voice in common to invoke and praise God: for this is the music not of eight but of a hundred thousand voices, in the ears of God as sonorous, so most pleasing. Hence in chapter xvii, verse 15, it is said: "The many waters are peoples, and nations, and tongues." So Primasius, Ambrose, Bede, Anselm, Richard, Rupert, Dionysius and Pannonius. By this voice can also be understood, with Ribera, the condemnation of the impious, namely the voice of Christ condemning the impious on the day of judgment. But because this is signified by the sword which follows, hence it is better to take by this voice the preaching of the Gospel itself. Whence too there follows the narration of the seven Churches converted by this voice.

Verse 16: Seven Stars and the Two-Edged Sword

16. And He had in His right hand seven stars. — First, many think that the seven stars are the same as the seven lampstands, namely the seven angels of verse 20, by whom they think the seven Churches committed to them are signified. So Victorinus, Ticonius, Ambrose, Haymo, Bede.

Secondly, by the seven stars, not seven Bishops but properly seven angels, or heavenly spirits, are taken by Origen, Homily 20 on Numbers; Hilary, on Psalm CXXIV; Nazianzen, oration 32; Jerome on Matthew xviii, Andreas, and others; indeed even Maldonatus on Matthew xviii.

Thirdly, by the seven stars and angels Victorinus, Seraphinus and Arias Montanus take the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, or the sevenfold Holy Spirit; he says these seven stars are the seven spirits standing in the divine essence.

Fourthly, Andreas by the seven stars takes seven grades of things, or all things that are in the world, and the whole government of the world, which is in the hand and right hand of Christ.

Fifthly, Abbot Joachim by the seven stars takes not fixed stars, but seven planets, and to each he assigns some man of outstanding virtue who shone forth in the world in some age, e.g. that the first star is Adam; the second, Noah; the third, Abraham; the fourth, Moses; the fifth, David; the sixth, John the Baptist; the seventh, Elijah, at the end of the world: so he himself, here at verse 20; but all these things are either side-issues or accommodations.

Therefore I say: It is certain that these seven stars are seven angels, as S. John says in the last verse. Furthermore, these angels are the Bishops, as will be plain in that same place. Where note: The angels, that is, the Bishops, in the Church ought to be as it were stars. First, that as stars, not wandering and planets, but fixed, they may have a perpetual and ordered movement, and the due composition of all their morals. Secondly, that by their brightness they may enlighten others; this is what Paul says in Philippians chapter ii, verse 15: "Among a depraved and perverse nation, you shine as lights in the world." Thirdly, that by their warmth they may cherish and vivify others. Fourthly, that by their influences they may preserve and quicken the world. Fifthly, fixed stars seem small and lowly, yet they are greater than the whole earth: such let the Bishop and Pastor be. Sixthly, stars shine by night in the midst of darkness; so let the Bishop also shine, especially by night — that is, in the time of persecutions and heresies, as these seven shone constantly in the time of Domitian's persecution. This is what S. Augustine says, in book I On the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, chapter vi: "He alone can be trampled who is below; but he is not below who, though in body he endure many things upon earth, in heart is yet fixed in heaven." See what is said at Genesis chapter xv, verse 15, and Daniel chapter xii, verses 3 and 4.

By this reasoning the saintly doctors will receive that prize promised by Daniel xii, 3: "They that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity." Lastly, the star bears the figure of vigilance and providence, which is the first endowment of Bishops. Hence on an old coin the image of the Emperor Pertinax is seen, with hands lifted up to heaven toward a great star, with this motto: "Providence of the gods."

Furthermore, Alcazar conceives these seven stars as seven gems set or carved into seven rings, in the likeness of stars. For this seems more fitting and more elegant; for gems would reflect the splendor of stars, and besides have great virtues and energies. So Virgil says, Aeneid IV:

His sword was star-set with tawny jasper.

And Rhodiginus, in book VI, chapter xii: "Damis writes, he says, that the prince of the Indian sages, Jarchas, had so skilfully and learnedly fitted together seven rings, marked with the names of the seven stars, that Apollonius of Tyana, having received them as a gift, wore each one on each day, distinguishing them according to the names of the days." The same is reported by Philostratus, book II, chapter xii.

In like manner, he says, these seven stars were seven rings with as many gems or stars: each gem had some emblem, or carved insignia, e.g. a cross (which is a sign of the living God, as is said in chapter vii, verse 2; or the four living creatures, which are the seal of divine providence). For the ancients used the gems of rings as seals: nor was there any gem which was not marked with some figure or character. For Christ here honors the Bishops most greatly, when He calls them the rings of His right hand, or the gems of rings. Hence concerning King Joachim, Jeremiah says, chapter xxii, verse 24: "Even if Jechonias were a ring on my right hand." And Ecclesiasticus chapter xlix, verse 13: "Zorobabel was as a signet on the right hand: so was also Jesus the son of Josedec." And Haggai ii, 24: "I will set thee as a signet." They are in the right hand of Christ, because they are the instruments of Christ in the government of souls, equally as ornaments, especially if they discharge their office with distinction.

Alcazar adds that Christ has in His hand fixed stars, yet that here there is an allusion to the seven planets, that by them might be signified the difference which existed among the Bishops of Asia themselves. For the Bishop of Smyrna behaved as the Sun, which surpasses all things by its power; the Philadelphian as Jupiter, on account of his prosperous fortune; the Sardian as Mars, on account of audacity; the Laodicean as Saturn, on account of laziness and sloth; the Ephesian as Mercury, because, although he was prudent, he was yet of remiss ardor; the Pergamene as the Moon, on account of the inequality of morals; the Thyatiran as Venus, on account of imprudent fervor. Although Christ's intention is that all should shine forth like the sun.

These are his ingenious comments, more learned than solid and genuine. For they transform stars into gems, indeed into rings, of which here there is no mention. In these matters then, and more in others, I praise his ingenuity, but many require a more solid and plainer judgment from time to time on the letter of sacred Scripture. So we will more simply and more significantly take the seven stars here properly. For the light of stars is more brilliant than that of gems; and it aptly corresponds to the seven lamps of the lampstand, over which these seven stars preside. Again, by stars I properly understand, that is, fixed stars, not planets, as do other Interpreters generally.

Morally, not only the Bishops, says Haymo, but any distinguished heralds of the Gospel are stars, as was S. Dominic, on whose forehead, accordingly, a star was seen. Hence in Apocalypse xii, 1, the woman, that is, the Church, is said to have on her head a crown of twelve stars, namely of the twelve Apostles, who preached the Gospel throughout the whole world. These therefore were as it were stars of the first magnitude, of whom mystically it is said in Psalm xviii, 1: "The heavens declare the glory of God;" and that of the Poet: "And a new sun and new stars are borne."

And out of His mouth went forth a sharp two-edged sword. — First, Ambrose by the sword understands strong and elect believers, who at the end of the world will fight against Antichrist. Secondly, Ticonius, Primasius, Aretas, Haymo, Anselm, Richard, Victorinus and Alcazar by the sword understand the word of God, which Christ speaks through His preachers, and by it strikes and wounds the hearts of His hearers; of which the Apostle says in Ephesians vi, 17: "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." And Hebrews iv, 12: "The word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword, and reaching unto the division of the soul and spirit, of the joints also and marrow." And Psalm cxlix, 6: "Two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements among the people, etc. — this glory is to all His saints." Preachers, therefore, are Christ's swords, through whom Christ fights and slays vices. For they act by virtue and efficacy not their own but Christ's, who gives force to their words, that they may convert souls.

But because John understood this word of God by the voice of many waters already mentioned, hence further by this sword of Christ we shall take the sentence of condemnation, and that very condemnation and eternal punishment, by which Christ on the day of judgment will most effectively and most fiercely strike the impious, and drive them into Gehenna, or into the second death. So Andreas, Aretas, Rupert, Bede, Lyranus, Seraphinus and Ribera: and it is proved from chapter ii, verse 12: "These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword." And verse 16: "I will fight against them (the Nicolaitans) with the sword of my mouth." For He threatens punishment and Gehenna to the impure heretics. And chapter xix, verse 15: "And out of his mouth proceeds a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he may strike the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." For he treats of the slaughter of the unbelieving and hostile nations, which Christ will work at the end of the world; whence he invites the birds to devour their flesh, saying in verse 17: "Come to the great supper of God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, of tribunes, and of mighty men," etc.

Thus Joannes Bohemus, On the Gentile Ritual in Asia, writes that the prince, when he is first inaugurated as king upon receiving the diadem, used to say: "The word of my mouth shall henceforth be my sword." So even now the king of Hungary, when he is inaugurated, sitting on a horse, brandishes a flashing sword, and draws it round through the four quarters of the world, as if to declare that with it he will fight in every direction against any enemies of the kingdom. For "gladius" is so called from "clades" (slaughter), as it were "cladius," because it inflicts slaughter upon enemies, says Varro. Hence the sword is the symbol of the prince, of the judge ("for not without cause does he bear the sword; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who does evil," says S. Paul, Rom. xiii, 4) and of the avenger.

Hence consequently among the ancients the sword was a symbol and omen of death. So it happened to Helvius Pertinax, who, three days before he was killed, seemed to himself to see a man by whom he was being attacked with a sword. With the same meaning, formidable and threatening Galba, when he learned of Nero's death and assumed the title of Caesar, set out on his journey clad in the military cloak, with a dagger hanging in front of his breast from his neck, not resuming the use of the toga until he had crushed all who were plotting revolution. The witness is Suetonius in Galba, chapter xi. And what of those two little books which were found in the secret papers of Gaius Caligula after his death, in which were contained the marks and names of those destined for death? For they had been written down with different titles: one was named "sword" and the other "dagger": by the latter he understood those who were to be put down secretly; by "sword," those whom he had destined to slay openly; for the prince, devoted to butchery, was contriving to slay every choice man of both orders, soon to migrate to Antium, and from there to Alexandria. So Suetonius in Caligula, chapter xlix. Hence among the ancients the greatest oath of all was "to swear by wind and scimitar" (for "acinaces" are the swords of the Medes): by the latter, namely, destruction or salvation (for in it they placed the safeguards of their salvation); by the wind, the soul — that is, life — interpreting that we live as long as we draw breath and the vital air. So Lucian in the Toxaris, and from him Pierius, Hieroglyphics 42.

And His face was as the sun shineth in its power, — when, namely, He exerts all His power, that is, force and efficacy (for this is signified in Hebrew by כוח coach, and in Greek by δύναμις, namely virtue, not moral but natural, that is, force, vigor and energy), as if to say: when the sun is most vigorous and bright. He alludes to Ezekiel xliii, 2: "And the earth shone with His majesty." Now first, Primasius and Ticonius hold that Christ is here likened to the sun, because He was born, and suffered, and rose again, as the sun rises, sets, and rises again.

Secondly, Andreas, Aretas and Lyranus: Christ, they say, is the sun, that is, the spiritual light of the world.

Thirdly, Anselm and Thomas the Englishman hold that Christ here sustains the person of the faithful; for these are compared to the sun, on account of the brightness of grace with which they are endowed by God.

Fourthly, Joachim, as a Prophet, expounds this of the great brightness of the Church, which he says the Church will enjoy in the sixth age. Hence he himself contends that even Moses' face, which appeared horned, was like the moon, but Christ's face is like the sun.

Fifthly, Seraphinus holds that by this brightness of Christ is represented the wonderful splendor of the Apocalypse, which to the human mind seems to be obscure as night and gloom. To this Antoninus adds, who takes this brightness of the brightness of the Gospel and of the mysteries of the faith.

Sixthly, Alcazar holds that this brightness of Christ's face signifies nothing other than the glory of the Roman Church, namely the splendor of her religion, the majesty of her empire, the brightness of her Doctors' wisdom, the institution of her regular Religious orders, and whatever else pertains to the greatness and excellence of the Roman Church: such as so many triumphs and trophies of Martyrs, of Virgins, of Apostles and of Saints, which are seen at Rome, that thereby God may by this glory recompense their torments and reproaches which they endured at Rome from the Gentile Emperors.

Seventhly and genuinely, here is signified the glory of the glorified body of Christ, by which He shines like the sun — such as Christ now is in heaven, and as He, clothed in glory, will appear on the Day of Judgment: whence in the Transfiguration His face shone as the sun. So Ribera. Again, here is signified the glory of the Christian Saints, by which at the Resurrection "the just shall shine as the sun, in the Kingdom of the Father," Matthew xiii, 43. For Christ here in the prologue, as it were, sets forth the plan and argument of the book. For in the Apocalypse, chapters vii and xxi and xxii, and often elsewhere, the glory of the Blessed is described; for God here displays it to those who strive, as a prize. So Ticonius, Ambrose, Haymo, Rupert, Pererius and others. Wherefore John, Apocalypse xviii, 1, speaking of the angel of Christ, after the full victory had been won over the impious through their slaughter at the end of the world, says: "I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was enlightened with his glory, and he cried out in strength saying: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen." Where the angel by his very bearing displays this same glory.

Finally Ambrose notes that by these eight symbols of Christ are signified the eight states of the just: first, by the long robe (poderis) are signified the saints and elect from Adam to the Flood; second, by the girdle the saints after the Flood; third, by the hoary hair the saints of the Old Testament; fourth, the eyes are the Prophets; fifth, the feet are the Apostles; sixth, the voice of waters, he says, is the multitude of Gentiles converted to Christ; seventh, the sword will be the elect at the end of the world; eighth, the sun will be the Saints and the Blessed in heaven. But this is not literal, but mystical, or rather symbolic.

Symbolically, the sun is a hieroglyph of God and of the glorious Christ. First, because there is nothing among those things perceived by sight that is a more splendid, admirable, and illustrious mirror of the divine power, glory, and magnificence than the sun.

Second, God is immense, as the sun is greatest; for in its magnitude it contains the globe of earth and sea one hundred and sixty times: it therefore far surpasses all the stars in size. This magnitude is fitting for it because of the immense light which it shares with the whole earth, water, air, and all the heavens. For it is its property everywhere to drive away darkness and to illuminate all things with its rays; wherefore all the stars joined together do not produce as much light as one sun; nay rather all things are dazzled and hidden by the light of the sun. Such is the nature of God, and the grace of Christ, namely greatest and immense, and therefore obscuring every grace of all the angels and men.

Third, because the sun together with light produces also heat, by which it warms, fructifies, and vivifies all things. Wherefore in Ecclesiasticus, chapter xliii, verse 2, the sun is called "a wondrous instrument of the Most High"; the reason follows: "At noon it parches the earth, and in the sight of its heat who shall be able to abide? Keeping a furnace in works of heat, threefold the sun burns up the mountains," as if to say: There is one who blows the furnace and kindles it, to burn up the works and vessels of the smelter: but the sun three times more warms and burns up the mountains, "breathing out fiery rays," sending forth, casting out, "and flashing back with its rays it dazzles the eyes. Great is the Lord that made it."

Fourth, it is called "sol" (sun) because it is one and alone (solus) in the world, or because when it has risen, with all the other stars obscured, it alone appears, says Cicero, book II On the Nature of the Gods. So is there one God in the world, one Christ in the Church.

Fifth, just as the sun illuminates the moon and the other stars: so also Christ illuminates the Church and all the faithful, especially the Bishops: whence here He is said to have seven stars in His right hand, that is, seven Bishops, whom He teaches and governs.

Sixth, the sun is most beautiful, whether you regard its radiance, or roundness, or mass, or motion, or other things, and it seems to be the eye of the world, which without it would be utterly blind and dark. So also God, says the Poet, is ἥλιος ὃς πάντ' ἐφορᾷ, καὶ πάντ' ἐπακούει, that is, the sun who sees all things, and hears all things.

Seventh, the sun most swiftly, namely in 24 hours, completes and runs around the whole circle of the heaven; and in any hour it traverses so much space, as if a bird should fly around the whole earth seven times. This daily surveys, illumines, warms, and quickens all the regions of the world. Whence by the Poets it is called nourishing, golden, golden-haired, bright, flaming: so also God and Christ are most swift, who most quickly through the Apostles surveyed and converted the whole world. Wherefore the Psalmist sings of Him, Psalm xviii: "In the sun He has set His tabernacle (whence the Manichees adored the sun, thinking it to be the tabernacle, nay rather the body of Christ); and He as a bridegroom (for the sun rising in the morning comes forth rosy and beautiful, as a bridegroom) coming forth from His chamber, has rejoiced as a giant to run His course; from the highest heaven His going forth, and His circuit even unto its highest point: nor is there any that can hide himself from His heat." For Christ as a sun rising from on high most swiftly illuminated the world, and warmed it with the love of God; whence as a giant He descended from heaven and ran, because He was born, grew, taught: soon He suffered, rose, ascended, says St. Augustine in the same place, sent the Holy Spirit, converted the world. His chamber was the womb of the Blessed Virgin, says St. Chrysostom, His tabernacle is the Church.

Eighth, the sun is in the middle of the planets and of the world; whence "the sun, midmost of the works" is called by Statius, book V of the Thebaid: "The sun, midmost of the works, was poising in the highest Olympus his shining steeds, as though he stood still." So also Christ says that He is in the midst of the faithful and of the Church.

Ninth, the sun makes the day, the months, and the years, and marks them out by its motion. Whence Virgil, Aeneid III: "The sun rolls round the great year," Hence the sun, departing, doubles the lengthening shadows, says the same in Eclogue 2.

Hence again, the sun is the symbol and cause of joy and happiness, whence the Poet says: "Sweet and bright suns shone upon me," that is, I was fortunate, and therefore glad. And Martial, book X: "Happy they to whom one alone has granted to behold the gleaming leader by Arctic suns and stars." So Christ by His grace brings forth in the mind day, joy, happiness, and eternal beatitude.

Tenth, the sun, and the rays of the sun, are most pure, concerning which Martial, book VIII: "The window-panes set against the wintry south winds admit pure suns, and a day without dregs." So God is purity itself by essence, and Christ as man is most pure, inasmuch as He was born of the Virgin, and conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Eleventh, among the Ancients the table of the sun was famous. It was a place in Ethiopia, always furnished with prepared feasts; and because (as Pomponius says) it is permitted for those willing to feed as they please, they call it the table of the sun: and they affirm that the things set out everywhere are continually born by divine power. To which place, when the Emperor Severus had come to Alexandria, moved by the fame of the matter, he set out. But this table is either fabulous, or symbolic. Wherefore Rhodiginus, book XXIX, chapter IV, says that by a proverb the table of the sun is called the houses of rich men, abounding in every supply of things, which lie open and are set forth for the necessities and nourishment of the poor. Such a table Christ truly sets before us in the Eucharist, and God in so many benefits, with which He affects, feeds, refreshes, protects us at every moment, and bestows all His gifts. Wherefore St. Dionysius the Areopagite, in the book On Divine Names, chapter ii, makes the sun an evident and express image of the divine goodness, both because the sun not by thought or choice, but by the very fact that it is, illuminates all things which according to their measure admit participation in light: so the Divine Good by its very substance casts the rays of its goodness upon all things that are, according to each one's capacity. And in chapter v, he gives the reason: Because as the sun, although one, by uniformly pouring forth light, renews, nourishes, preserves, perfects, distinguishes, joins, restores, fecundates the substances and qualities of sensible things, with very many other admirable operations which he there commemorates: so God works all things in all. Furthermore, men admiring the magnitude and perfection of the sun adored it with divine honor and worship, such as were the Egyptians and Phoenicians, who had a black hollow stone, narrow above but broad below, as Herodotus says, which they boasted to have received from heaven, and affirmed to be the true image of the sun. The Megarians, however, as Alexander of Naples wrote of them, fixed upon a tall staff a certain round but flat stone, which they adored as an image of the sun. Among the Persians also the sun was held as a great God, whose statue had the head of a lion, to signify that it has greater power in the sign of Leo than in the other signs of the whole Zodiac. For by such things blind men, alien from the truth, adorned that admirable creature with honors. And while God Himself desires that this be guarded against by His people, lest they fall into a like error, He took care to give warning through Moses: "Lest perhaps," He says, "lifting up your eyes to heaven, you see the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heaven, and being deceived by error you adore them and worship them, which the Lord your God has created for the service of all the nations that are under heaven."

Verse 17: I Fell at His Feet as Dead

17. I fell at His feet as dead, — not so much from reverence, as Ambrose, Joachim, and Pannonius would have it, but rather from immense terror, as one lifeless, on account of so august and terrible a vision of Christ brandishing a sword from His mouth and thundering with a horrible voice. The same happened to Daniel, chapter x, verse 9, and to the Apostles in the Transfiguration of Christ, Matthew xvii, 6. Whence Christ, coming up to him and raising him, says: "Fear not": so Andreas, Aretas, Rupert, and others.

Mystically, by this fall of John was signified the bitterness of the persecutions which Christ revealed to John in the Apocalypse, which were so great that the faithful would have failed in strength and spirit in them, unless Christ had strengthened them.

And He put His right hand upon me, — as if to say: He raised me up as I was collapsing from fear and astonishment, He strengthened and confirmed me. So Daniel, chapter viii, verse 18: "I fell down," he says, "and he touched me, and set me upright."

Saying: Fear not, I am the First and the Last, — as if to say: I am God and man; for as man, Christ was the last of men, as Isaiah says, chapter 53. So Aretas, Rupert, and Pannonius. Second, Richard, Thomas, and Ribera explain "the last" thus, as if to say: I am the judge to come on the last day of the world.

But I say these two are an epithet of God, as if to say: I am Alpha and Omega, I am the beginning and the end. That this is so is clear, both from what was said in verse 8, and from Isaiah chapter xliv, verse 6, and chapter xlviii, verse 12, whence John took these words. For God in Isaiah proves and asserts His own deity, and takes it away from idols by saying: "I am the first, and I am the last, and beside Me there is no God."

Wherefore from this passage rightly does St. Athanasius and others writing against the Arians prove the divinity of Christ. Whence Ambrose explains: Therefore He is called the first, because He is the author of all, and therefore the last, because He concludes all. Again, when Christ says: "I am the first and the last," He signifies that He will advance and perfect the work of the Church begun by Him, through whatever tribulations and persecutions, such as those of Domitian were already; that the faithful ought not to fail in spirit in them, but to be magnanimous and constant, as being secure that Christ, who is the first and the last, will define and give them both the end and the beginning; and to the Church, as His temple, just as He gave the beginning, so He will give the summit and the consummation. For in this sense Isaiah uses these words, chapter xlviii, saying: "Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty; for My own sake will I do it, that I may not be blasphemed, and I will not give My glory to another; I Myself am the first, and I am the last." Whence Ambrose explains: "The first, because through Him are all things; the last, because through Him is the resurrection."

Verse 18: I Was Dead, and Behold I Am Living

18. I was dead, and behold I am living, — as if to say: As I rose gloriously from death, so I will cause that the Church, from the tribulations by which she seems to be overwhelmed and buried, should rise gloriously, triumph, grow, and far and wide hold sway. For this I merited by My death, and therefore I exhibited to the world the type and pattern of this thing in My death and resurrection. A beautiful figure of this thing God showed to Moses, when He appeared to him in the bush, which was burning but was not consumed. For thus the Church burns in persecutions, but is not consumed, because God lying hidden within her preserves and protects her. See what is said there.

And I have the keys of death and of hell. — First, some explain it thus, as if to say: I have power of remitting sins, and so of freeing man from death and hell, and of barring them up, and I have communicated this power to the Church. So Ticonius, Primasius, Bede, and Rupert.

Second, others, as if to say: I have power of punishing My enemies and the Church's with death and Gehenna, and of confining them, equally with the devil, in death and hell, as I shall confine them at the end of the world. So Andreas and Richard of St. Victor.

Third, others, as if to say: I have power of awakening from death, and of freeing from hell. So Lyranus and Ribera. Again, I have power of life and death, of giving life and of slaying. So Aretas and Pererius.

Fourth, others, as if to say: I have power of judging and condemning the devil, who is author and ruler of death and hell. So Primasius.

Fifth, others, as if to say: I can confer the life of grace, by inflicting death on sins. Conversely, I can consign men to eternal death and hell. So Viegas.

Sixth, others, as if to say: I can loose or draw in the reins of death, that is of the demon, for tempting men; I can restrain him and his ministers, that the temptation be not greater than that the faithful are able to bear; nay, I can make, and in fact will make, that your very temptation and tribulation should be the means to greater glory and exaltation of the Church and of each one of you. So Haymo, Anselm, and Alcazar.

Seventh and most fittingly, to Christ, not as God, but as man, are given the keys of death and of hell. For the Jews and Gentiles set up these two things, as it were ramparts, against the Christians, to overthrow their faith in Christ, namely they threatened that they would deliver them to death, and through death send them to hell, unless they should deny the faith of Christ. To these things Christ comes forth and succors, saying that He not only can cast them down and free from them, but is the master and lord of both; for He has full empire and dominion over death and hell, and they obey Christ as their lord in all things, nor can they invade anyone except by Christ's nod and command: and conversely they restore those whom they hold captive, and bring them back to life as soon as Christ shall command. For this is what is said in chapter xx, verse 13: "Death and hell gave up their dead." Note secondly here that death and hell in the Apocalypse are introduced by prosopopoeia, as two persons brought into a comedy, who threatened the Church and Christians with destruction and ruin. For death is introduced as it were leading the way, and slaying; while hell follows, and devours those whom death has slain: whence death is introduced as it were brandishing arrows, and hell as opening gaping jaws, and gulping down the slain. For it holds their bodies in sepulchers, and their souls bound in the lowest depths of the earth. Hence the Wise Man says, Proverbs i, 12: "Let us swallow him up, like hell." And Isaiah, chapter v, verse 14: "Hell hath enlarged her soul," as a three-headed Cerberus opening three jaws and three throats. For this is the Gentiles' Pluto, devourer of the dead. The sense therefore is, as if He said: Domitian and the Gentile tyrants, as well as the Jews, threaten you, O Christians, on account of your faith in Me, with slaughter, and that through it they will drive you out of life, and send you to hell: they threaten, nay rather they actually do it; but neither fear them, nor those things: for I have the keys of death and of hell, I am the full Lord of them; and accordingly, as I rose triumphant from death and hell, so also I can give and restore life to whomever I will, or take it away; and especially those slain and killed for Me and My faith, I can raise up, and in fact will raise up to glory and a blessed life. Indeed I will cause that death and hell, which for the moment glance against you, as it were My ministers, will be turned and set against your persecutors, and will bring upon them true and eternal death and Gehenna. For the death of Christians, especially of Martyrs, is rather a passage to life: but the death of the impious is a passage to eternal death, and its beginning and inception. So Pannonius, Alcazar, and others.

Verse 19: Write Therefore the Things Which Thou Hast Seen

19. Write therefore the things which thou hast seen (this chapter i), and the things which are (namely those which are now done in the Church, that is, (verse 20) the mystery, Greek μυστήριον, that is, hidden meaning: a metonymy) of the seven stars. — So Ambrose, Rupert, Anselm, Ribera, and Pererius, as if to say: Write the vision of this chapter and its explanation. For in this, as in the prologue, the whole Apocalypse is summarily contained and represented, namely "the things that are," that is, the present state of the Church, "and the things that must be done hereafter," both immediately under Trajan and other Emperors who would persecute the Church, and most of all toward the end of the world.

Note: Visions enigmatic and symbolic are called mysteries or sacraments for one reason, the Sacraments of the new law for another. For those are called mysteries and Sacraments because they secretly signify supernatural and mystical sacred things: for they are themselves as it were images, whose whole being is to signify and represent the things themselves, just as the image of Caesar is nothing other than a picture or likeness representing Caesar. But these (the Sacraments) are so called, because they both signify sacred things and at the same time exhibit them; for they are not empty, like the old ones, but efficacious, as being of Christ. For when in Baptism the priest says: "I baptize thee," he not only says that by baptizing the body he signifies that he baptizes, that is, washes, the soul; but that, as this signifies, so it also actually effects. So in the Eucharist when in the person of Christ He says: "This is My body," He signifies that under the species of bread and wine the body of Christ is not only represented, but is also truly present and hidden, just as by smoke is signified the fire hidden beneath the smoke.

Verse 20: The Mystery of the Seven Stars

20. The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches. — "Angels," that is Bishops, as is clear from the next chapter, verses 1, 8, 12, 18. For there he writes to the Angel, that is the Bishop, of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, etc., and reproves, warns, and instructs them concerning the neglect of their episcopal office.

Wrongly therefore Origen, in homily 20 on Numbers and homily 35 on Luke, and following him St. Jerome on chapter vi of Micah, near the beginning, take the angels here properly. For angels, they say, are placed in danger, and unless they guard us well, they will not see the face of the Father. But this is the heresy of Origen, whose words St. Jerome is wont to transcribe, even though he himself disapproves of them, as he excuses himself in Apology 1 Against Rufinus. John therefore prefixes to his Apocalypse seven epistles to the seven Bishops and Churches of his Asia, that from them they may learn what fruit to take from the Apocalypse, what to correct in their morals, what to perfect; and conversely he subjoins his Apocalypse to the epistles, that from it he may incite them to correct and perfect their morals. So Alcazar.

Note: from the Apocalypse the Roman Church received many rites and ceremonies. Thus from this place it seems that of old she received seven Cardinal Bishops in the Lateran basilica, whose proper and true Bishop is the Roman Pontiff. Blessed Peter Damian teaches this expressly, whose words I cited on Zechariah iii, verse 9. Each of these seven Bishops, on his own day through the week, continually celebrated Mass at the high altar of the Lateran basilica, as the Roman Annals have it.

Furthermore Bishops are called Angels, first, because they are God's messengers to the people. Whence in Malachi ii, 7, it is said: "The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth; because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts."

Second, because as angels they ought to purge, illumine, and perfect men: for this is their office. St. Dionysius, in chapter iv of the Celestial Hierarchy, teaches that those celestial spirits are called angels, "because divine illumination first resides in them, and through them comes to us." This applies wonderfully to priests and Bishops; for, as St. Jerome says on that passage of Malachi, chapter ii: He is the angel of the Lord of hosts, "Angel, that is, messenger, the priest of God is most truly called, because he is the mediator between God and men, and announces His will to the people." Such was that angel, who said in 2 Corinthians chapter v, 19: "He has placed in us the word of reconciliation: we therefore are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were exhorting through us." Priests therefore are as it were God's signet rings, who hold in themselves the figure expressed in their morals, and they imprint the same as it were on the softest wax upon the people, according to that of Jeremiah xxii, 24: "As a ring on My right hand." Wherefore they ought to be most chaste and most pure, like angels, that they may pour forth the same purity into the faithful. The Gentiles thought the same. Plutarch asks in Roman Problems chapter cxi, why the priests were ordered not only to abstain from the wild she-goat, but not even to touch it: and he gives the reason, that they might indicate horror at lust, whose symbol is the she-goat. More wonderful is what Gellius writes, book X, chapter xv, that it was forbidden for a priest to touch or even to name ivy, because, namely, the ivy by that close embrace shows forth I know not what of lasciviousness. See Tiraquellus, law xv on Conjugality, number 118. Hence Exodus xxviii, 17, on the emerald which was in the Rational of the High Priest, the name and tribe of Levi, which was priestly, was inscribed, to represent its chastity, of which the emerald is a symbol — so Abulensis judges in that place; although it is more truly the case that on the emerald was inscribed the name of Judah, as I said in that place.

Third, because they ought to live chastely, holily, and angelically, and to dwell as angels among men, nay among brute beasts, as St. Chrysostom says. See St. Dionysius, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter xii, and Alcazar, Apocalypse chapter iv, where by the Seraphim, whom Isaiah saw VI, he understands literally the Apostles and Bishops; although it is more truly the case that they are to be understood only tropologically, as I have shown on Isaiah, chapter vi.

Such an angel was St. Willibald, first Bishop of Eichstätt, who "was a neglecter of his own rest, a fugitive from his own will, an aspirant to labor; patient under reproach, impatient of honor; poor in money, rich in conscience; humble in merits, proud against vices." So has his Life written by Philip, Bishop of Eichstätt, which our Gretser published, chapter xxxvi, where also of the same he adds: "No care of all was more pressing for him, than that he should converse with God in reading and sermon, or speak with God in prayer: who, having his body macerated by continual fastings, strove by long martyrdom to triumph over the persecutor and enemy of the human race; so that of him might be said that saying of St. Ambrose: This confessor in the contest by enduring runs more than the martyr does in receiving the blow, pouring out blood by the sword." He died holily in the year of the Lord 781, having ruled the Church of Eichstätt as Bishop for 36 years, which he himself founded.

Note: These angels are in Christ's right hand. First, because they have been established by Him in a worthier rank in Christ's Church. So Anselm and Aretas. Second, because they are protected, preserved, and cherished by God before the rest. See the things said in verse 16; and therefore they have an angel of higher rank, appointed by God for the governance of the Church. Truly and prudently the recent Bishop of Arras in Belgium, to a certain person seeking a dispensation, and alleging that he had consulted Doctors, and that they asserted that a Bishop could dispense with him in this case, replied: "The Doctors have a Doctoral angel, I have an Episcopal angel. He dictates to me that, although I can dispense, yet I ought not, nor is it fitting. Therefore I will not dispense." Truly "divination is in the lips of the king (the Bishop), his mouth shall not err in judgment."

Morally, learn here how great is the dignity and sublimity of the Episcopal state. For the Bishops are here called "Stars, and angels of Christ's right hand." Again, they are called "Princes of God, and princes of the sanctuary." For so are called the 24 priests set over the Aaronic priests, who were types and form of the Bishops, 1 Chronicles xxiv, 5 and 18. Third, to Bishops properly is said that of 1 Peter ii, 9: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." And that of Psalm lxxxi, 6: "I have said: You are gods, and all the sons of the Most High." Fourth, the Council of Trent says, the Episcopate is "a burden formidable to angelic shoulders." Again, as the Supreme Pontiff succeeds St. Peter, so the Bishops succeed the other Apostles. They themselves therefore now in the Church are the Apostles of Christ; let them therefore imitate the Apostolic life, doctrine, and zeal of the Apostles. Fifth, St. Ignatius to the Philadelphians teaches the hierarchy in the Church by this gradation: "Let princes obey Caesar, soldiers princes, Deacons Priests set over sacred things; Priests, Deacons and the rest of the Clergy together with the whole people, soldiers, princes and Caesar, let them obey the Bishop himself, the Bishop Christ, and Christ the Father." The same to the Smyrnaeans: "All of you follow the Bishop, as Christ the Father." And below: "Let laymen be subject to Deacons, Deacons to Priests, Priests to the Bishop, the Bishop to Christ, as He Himself to the Father." And again: "How shall he be able to escape vengeance, who without the Bishop (against the Bishop's will and commands, with the Bishop unwilling) shall do anything? For the priesthood is the sum of all goods which are in men, and if anyone dishonors it, he dishonors God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn of every creature, and the sole prince of nature, and priest of God."

Hence second, let Bishops learn how great is their obligation, both that they shine forth in the Church by sanctity, and that by their vigilance and prudence they correct the morals of the wicked, and promote the good in virtue. Let them hear St. Chrysostom, homily 38 on Matthew: "If the stomach is healthy, the whole body is strong: so if the priesthood be sound, the whole Church flourishes; but if it be corrupt, the whole Church is withered. When therefore you see a people undisciplined and irreligious, without doubt know that its priesthood is not healthy." Hence Chromatius on chapter vi of Matthew: "The Bishop," he says, "is as it were the eye of the Church illuminating the body: if therefore the light which is in thee, O Church, be darkness, how great will the darkness of the body be?" And St. Jerome, Against Lucifer: "As salt," he says, "seasons all food, so the Bishop is the seasoning of the world and of the whole Church; who if he is enfeebled by heresy, lust, etc., by what other can he be seasoned, when he himself is the seasoning of all?" The same in epistle 43: "So great," he says, "ought to be the conversation and learning of the Pontiff, that all his motions, steps, and all his works should be noteworthy; that he conceive truth in mind, and resound and adorn it in his whole bearing and dress, that whatever he does, whatever he speaks, may be doctrine for the people." The same to Bishop Heliodorus, warning him not to mourn too much the death of his nephew Nepotian: "Upon thee," he says, "the eyes of all are directed; thy house and conversation, set as it were upon a watchtower, is the teacher of public discipline; whatever you do, all think they must do for themselves. Beware lest you commit anything, which either those who wish to reprove may seem worthily to have torn to pieces; or those who imitate may be forced to transgress." The same to the same: "It is not easy to stand in the place of Paul, to hold the rank of Peter, now reigning with Christ; lest perhaps an angel come, who shall rend the veil of your temple, who shall move your candlestick from its place."

St. Gregory in the Pastoral Rule: "By unskilled persons," he says, "with how great rashness is the pastoral office undertaken, since the rule of souls is the art of arts! And the action of the Prelate ought to surpass the action of the people, as much as the life of the shepherd is distant from the flock." Again: "The light of the flock is the flame of the shepherd." Let Bishops and Pastors read the lives of Sts. Martin, Nicholas, Ambrose, Augustine, Basil, Chrysostom, Borromeo, and other Prelates of the Church. For nothing so illumines the spirit, delights, moves, and excites it to a holy life, and one perfect in its own degree, as the lives and examples of similar Saints, as I have learned in fact from many things and the experience of many, and daily learn.