St
Victorinus on fresca in church in Nova Cerkev, Municipality of Vojnik in eastern Slovenia.
Saint Victorin
Évêque de Pettau, en
Pannonie (+ v. 304)
Né en Slovénie, à Ptuy ou Pettau. C'est le plus ancien exégète de l'Eglise d'Occident. Fidèle au texte grec, il commenta aussi bien l'Ancien Testament que les Evangiles ou l'Apocalypse. Les premiers Pères de l'Eglise le tenaient en haute estime. Certains hagiographes français voudraient en faire un évêque de Poitiers en transposant le nom latin "Pettaviensis" en " Pictaviensis. " La vérité historique ne permet pas de les suivre dans cette interprétation.
Après avoir composé plusieurs ouvrages pour commenter les Livres saints, il
reçut, vers 304, dans la persécution de Dioclétien, la couronne du martyre.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/36/Saint-Victorin.html
LXXIV.
Victorinus, évêque de Petavion, ne maîtrisait pas aussi bien le latin que le grec. C’est pourquoi ses œuvres, profondes par leur sens, paraissent moins abouties par leur style. On peut citer : des commentaires sur la Genèse, l’Exode, le Lévitique, Isaïe, Ézéchiel, Habacuc, l’Ecclésiaste, le Cantique des cantiques, l’Apocalypse de Jean, un traité contre toutes les hérésies, et bien d’autres. Il connut finalement le martyre.
Caput LXXIV
Victorinus, Petavionensis episcopus, non aeque Latine ut Graece noverat. Unde opera ejus grandia sensibus, viliora videntur compositione verborum. Sunt autem haec: Commentarii in Genesim, in Exodum, in Leviticum, in Isaiam, in Ezechiel, in Abacuc, in Ecclesiasten, in Cantica Canticorum, in Apocalypsim Joannis, adversum omnes haereses, et multa alia. Ad extremum martyrio coronatus est.
SAINT JERÔME. TABLEAU DES ÉCRIVAINS ECCLÉSIASTIQUES, ou LIVRE DES HOMMES ILLUSTRES.
SOURCE : https://remacle.org/bloodwolf/eglise/jerome/illustres.htm
Saint Victorin de Pettau
Fête : le 2 novembre
Évêque et martyr – Né:
Troisième siècle – Décédé: 304 après J.-C.
Le peu connu de sa vie
nous est fourni par le grand saint Jérôme (De viris ill. 74). Né en Grèce au
milieu du IIIe siècle, Victorin parlait mieux le grec que le latin, ce qui
explique pourquoi saint Jérôme exprimait l'opinion que ses œuvres écrites en
latin étaient plus remarquables par leur matière que par leur style. Évêque de
la ville de Pettau, il fut le premier théologien à utiliser le latin pour son
exégèse.
Ses œuvres sont
principalement exégétiques, ce qui signifie qu'il a passé sa vie dans
l'interprétation critique du texte biblique pour en découvrir le sens. Victorin
a composé des commentaires sur divers livres de l'Écriture Sainte, tels que la
Genèse, l'Exode, le Lévitique, Isaïe, Ézéchiel, Habacuc, l'Ecclésiaste, le
Cantique des Cantiques, Saint Matthieu et l'Apocalypse, ainsi que des traités
contre les hérésies de son temps. Seuls subsistent son Commentaire sur
l'Apocalypse et le court traité sur la construction du monde (De fabrica
mundi).
Victorin a été très influencé
par Origène, un érudit chrétien, ascète et théologien qui est né et a passé la
première moitié de sa carrière à Alexandrie. Ses œuvres étaient classées parmi
les apocryphes et autres écrits. Saint Jérôme lui donne une place honorable
dans son catalogue d'écrivains ecclésiastiques.
Le commentaire sur
l'Apocalypse
Le Commentaire de
l'Apocalypse est la plus grande œuvre qui nous soit parvenue. Cet ouvrage
exégétique a été composé peu après la persécution de Valérien, vers 260 après
J.-C. Selon Claudio Moreschini, « l'interprétation est principalement
allégorique, avec un intérêt marqué pour l'arithmologie... Il semble qu'il
n'ait pas commenté tout le texte, mais qu'il se soit contenté d'une paraphrase
de passages choisis ». 1
Saint Victorinus fut
apparemment le premier des Pères de l'Église à comprendre la notion
fondamentale de « répétition », à savoir que l'Apocalypse n'est pas une ligne
de prophétie ininterrompue et évolutive, mais plutôt que diverses subdivisions
se déroulent parallèlement les unes aux autres. Il a constaté que le thème du
sait un fil conducteur continu tout au long de l'Apocalypse. 2
Il a écrit que les sept
églises représentaient sept classes de chrétiens au sein de l'Église. Les sept
sceaux sont expliqués comme constituant un aperçu prophétique de la diffusion
de l'Évangile dans le monde. En relation avec le second avènement et la fin du
monde, il s'attend à des guerres, des famines, des pestes et des persécutions
contre l'Église.
Le cavalier couronné des
quatre cavaliers assis sur le cheval blanc, qui part « en vainqueur et pour
vaincre », est interprété comme une prophétie de l'Eglise du Christ partant
pour sa mission victorieuse, le triomphe du christianisme sur le paganisme. Le
cheval rouge est expliqué comme « les guerres à venir », prédites comme des
événements significatifs précédant la fin. Le cheval noir, selon Victorinus,
signifie les « famines » au temps de l'Antéchrist. Le cheval pâle signifie «
destructions à venir ». 3
L'ange au sceau du
chapitre 7 symbolise Elias le prophète en tant que « précurseur des temps de
l'Antéchrist ». Puis vient le royaume de l'Antéchrist et enfin les anges
moissonneurs frappent le royaume de l'Antéchrist, délivrant les saints. 4
Le premier et le deuxième
ange de Révélation 14 sont les prédictions d'Elias et de Jérémie, témoignant
avant le second avènement et la fin du monde, inaugurant le royaume éternel. La
bête léopard de Révélation 14 représente le royaume de l'époque de
l'Antéchrist. Victorinus considère les 666 du verset 18 comme le calcul des
lettres, dont chacune comprend le nombre équivalent, d'un assortiment de noms
possibles.
Saint Victorinus pensait
qu'après les sept fléaux des derniers jours de Révélation 15, Babylone, dans
Révélation 17, est identifiée à Rome assise sur ses « sept collines », abreuvée
du sang des martyrs. Les sept têtes de la Rome aux sept collines
représenteraient, dans leur application immédiate, sept empereurs, le sixième
étant Domitien, et le huitième, qui est « des sept », Néron. 5 Victorinus
a interprété les « mille ans » de Révélation 20, au cours desquels Satan est
lié, comme se produisant « depuis le premier avènement du Christ jusqu'à la fin
du monde ». 6
Le martyre de saint
Victorin
(Tiré du révérend Alban
Butler (1711-1773), dans ses Vies des Saints, Volume 2)
Saint Victorin et six compagnons étaient citoyens de Corinthe et confessèrent leur foi devant Tertius, le proconsul, dans leur propre pays, en 249, au début du règne de Dèce.
Après leurs tourments,
ils passèrent en Égypte, on ne sait si c'était par contrainte ou par
bannissement volontaire, et c'est là qu'ils achevèrent leur martyre à
Diospolis, capitale de Thébaïs, sous le règne de Numérien, en 284, sous le
gouverneur Sabinus.
Les bourreaux
commençaient par lui frapper les pieds et les jambes, en lui disant à chaque
coup: « Épargnez-vous, misérable. Il dépend de vous d’échapper à cette mort, si
seulement vous voulez renoncer à votre nouveau Dieu. »
Le préfet devint furieux de sa constance, et ordonna enfin de lui briser la tête. La vue de ce mortier, loin de jeter de l'humidité sur ses compagnons, semblait leur inspirer une plus grande ardeur à être traités de la même manière.
Notes de bas de page :
1 “Quasten, Johannes.
Patrology, Vol. 2, Thomas More Pr; (1986), ISBN 978-0870611414, p. 413
2 Froom 1950, p. 338.
3 Froom 1950, p. 339.
4 Froom 1950, p. 340.
5 Froom 1950, p. 343.
6 Froom 1950, p. 344.
Écrit par: Tonia Long, le
27 août 2021
SOURCE : https://cbsv.org/saints/saint-victorin-de-pettau/
SC 423
Sur l'Apocalypse suivi du Fragment chronologique et de La construction du monde
juin 1997
Introduction générale,
texte critique, traduction, commentaire et index par Martine Dulaey.
245 pages
EAN/ISBN : 9782204057387
À la fin du 3e siècle,
un futur martyr signe le premier commentaire de la Révélation selon saint Jean.
Dans la seconde moitié du IIIe siècle,
Victorin, évêque de Poetovio (dans l’actuelle Slovénie) avait rédigé de
nombreux commentaires bibliques. Jérôme, qui est notre source principale à son
sujet, avait en estime cet exégète latin qui connaissait bien les auteurs
grecs, particulièrement Hippolyte et Origène. On donne ici ce qui a survécu de
l’œuvre, un court traité De fabrica mundi, qui est une méditation
typologique sur le récit de la création, un fragment concernant la chronologie
de la vie de Jésus, et surtout l’In Apocalypsin, le premier commentaire de l’Apocalypse de
Jean qui soit parvenu jusqu’à nous. À la fin du IVe siècle, les idées
millénaristes du traité paraissaient archaïques à Jérôme, qui l’appréciait
pourtant assez pour en rédiger une nouvelle édition en donnant une version
modifiée des chapitres de la fin (qu’on trouvera ici). Ainsi rénové, le
commentaire n’a cessé de nourrir la réflexion sur l’Apocalypse jusqu’au
Moyen Âge.
Martine Dulaey est
professeur à l’Université d’Amiens.
Le mot du
directeur de Collection
L'Apocalypse de
S. Jean a été beaucoup moins commentée par les Pères. Cet ouvrage mérite
donc d'autant plus de retenir l'attention qu'il est le plus ancien commentaire
patristique de l'Apocalypse à nous être parvenu.
De Victorin de Poetovio (l'actuelle Ptuj en Slovénie), cet évêque pannonien de
la première moitié du IIIe siècle, qui mourut martyr, sans doute au début
de la persécution de Dioclétien, nous savons peu de choses. Toute notre
information vient de Jérôme, qui avait lu la plupart des commentaires bibliques
de Victorin et en appréciait l'exégèse.
Outre ce Commentaire sur l'Apocalypse, sont parvenus jusqu'à nous un court
traité sur la Construction du monde – une réflexion sur les six
jours de la création –, et un Fragment chronologique relatif aux
dates de la vie de Jésus, qui, selon Victorin, aurait vécu non pas 33 ans,
mais 49. Tous ces textes sont réunis, présentés, traduits et commentés par
Martine Dulaey, professeur à l'Université d'Amiens, qui a consacré une étude
fondamentale à Victorin de Poetovio, publiée dans la Collection des Études
Augustiniennes (Victorin de Poetovio. Premier exégète latin, 2 vol.,
Paris 1993), et prépare pour le Corpus Christianorum de Louvain l'editio
maior de ses écrits.
Dans cet ensemble, le Commentaire sur l'Apocalypse constitue la pièce
la plus importante et peut-être la plus originale. En tout cas, jusque dans le
haut Moyen Âge, ce texte n'a pas cessé d'être lu et recopié. Jérôme a sans
aucun doute beaucoup contribué à sa diffusion, lui qui avait donné une édition
« expurgée » de ce commentaire pour en gommer les développements
millénaristes. Comme le souligne M. Dulaey, l'œuvre de Victorin est un
témoignage unique sur « les premières traces d'une de ces Églises d'Europe
centrale qui seront bien vite balayées par les grandes invasions ». Quant
au sens du commentaire, elle le dégage en ces termes : « L'Apocalypse est
pour Victorin un livre fondamental, parce qu'il y voit une sorte de
récapitulation de l'Écriture, où le Christ ressuscité reprend ce qui avait été
annoncé en figures par la Loi pour en ouvrir le sens, comme il le fit pour les
disciples sur le chemin d'Emmaüs. »
Jean-Noël Guinot
Œuvre(s)
contenue(s) dans ce volume
Commentaire sur
l'Apocalypse
Victorin, évêque de
Poetovio, en Pannonie, vécut au iiie siècle et mourut martyr. De son
œuvre, essentiellement exégétique, il ne reste que des fragments et le Commentaire
sur l’Apocalypse. Victorin s’inscrit dans la tradition exégétique d’Irénée,
Origène et Hippolyte.
Le Commentaire sur
l’Apocalypse est le plus ancien commentaire conservé. Il fut lu et recopié
jusqu’au Moyen Âge, surtout grâce à Jérôme, qui en donna une édition remaniée
(expurgée des considérations millénaristes) ; ce sont les manuscrits les
plus anciens. La découverte au début du xxe siècle d’un manuscrit du
Vatican, tardif et lacunaire, donnant le texte original, allait permettre, en
confrontant les deux sources textuelles, de reconstituer le commentaire
original.
L’Apocalypse est
pour Victorin un livre fondamental, parce qu’il y voit une récapitulation de
l’Écriture, où le Christ ressuscité reprend ce qui avait été annoncé en figures
par la Loi. Ce n’est pas pour lui une prophétie des fins dernières, mais plutôt
une révélation parfaite du sens de l’Écriture.
Il insiste sur l’unité
des Écritures, dont le Christ est la clé. Voilé ou « scellé », le
sens spitituel est révélé par l’Esprit Saint à l’Église moyennant la méditation
de l’Écriture et la vie dans l’Esprit. Le langage humain peinant à rendre la
richesse du message biblique, l’exégète cherchera à élucider les images et les
symboles en confrontant la Bible avec elle-même, en dégageant les figures en
lesquelles convergent les deux Testaments ; par ailleurs, le style
prophétique bouleverse la chronologie, condensant ou au contraire dilatant le
récit des événements.
Jérôme avait en estime
cet exégète latin, bon connaisseur des auteurs grecs (en particulier Hippolyte
et Origène), même s’il ne partageait pas ses idées millénaristes ; aussi fut-il
amené à modifier les derniers chapitres de son commentaire de l’Apocalypse.
Fragment chronologique
Le Fragment
chronologique concerne les dates de la vie du Christ et s’efforce de
prouver que l’Annonciation et la Résurrection ont lieu un même jour de l’année,
le 25 mars ; d’autre part, il y est affirmé que le Christ aurait vécu 49
ans, sa vie ayant comporté 7 phases de chacune 7 ans. Le Fragment prétend
retranscrire une chronologie très ancienne, qui aurait été recueillie par
l’évêque Alexandre de Jérusalem.
La construction du monde
La construction du monde (De
fabrica mundi) se présente comme un petit traité sur le nombre 7. Les nombres
4, 6 et 7 régissent le monde : chacun a une signification triple, dans la
semaine primordiale, dans l’économie de l’Incarnation et dans la vie de
l’Église. Victorin s’est inspiré de l’Ad Quirinum de Tertullien, mais les
questions d’arithmologie proviennent vraisemblablement des premières
communautés judéo-chrétiennes.
(p. 81)
2. « Le cheval
noir » signifie la famine. Car le Seigneur dit : « Il y aura
aussi des famines en divers endroits. » Cette parole s’applique
spécialement au temps de l’Antéchrist, époque où il y aura une grande famine
qui fera du tort aux hommes mêmes. « La balance à la main » est la
balance du jugement qui doit manifester les mérites de chacun. « Une
voix » dit en effet : « Ne fais pas de tort au vin et à l’huile »,
c’est-à-dire, ne frappe pas de fléaux l’homme spirituel. Voilà pour le cheval
noir.
« Un cheval roux, et celui qui le montait avait un glaive » :
par là sont signifiées les guerres à venir, selon ce qu’on lit dans
l’Évangile : « On se dressera nation contre nation et royaume contre
royaume, et il y aura un grand tremblement de terre. » Voilà pour le
cheval roux.
3. « Un cheval
blême, et celui qui le montait avait pour nom ‘Mort’ ». Le Seigneur avait,
entre autres catastrophes, prédit qu’il y aurait aussi des pestes et des
épidémies. Quand Jean ajoute « Et l’Enfer le suit », cela revient à
dire qu’il attend pour engloutir nombre d’âmes impies. Tel est le cheval blême.
Sur l’Apocalypse, VIII, 2 (SC 423,
p. 89)
« Il ne faut pas non
plus s’attacher à l’ordre dans lequel les choses sont dites : l’Esprit
Saint septiforme, après avoir passé en revue les événements jusqu’aux derniers
temps, jusqu’à la fin, revient à nouveau sur les temps dont il avait parlé et
complète ce qu’il avait dit plus brièvement. Il ne faut pas chercher un
déroulement chronologique dans l’Apocalypse, mais chercher ce qu’elle veut
dire ; car il y a risque de verser dans les fausses prophéties. Ainsi, ce
qui est écrit à propos des trompettes est repris dans les coupes et
concerne tantôt les désastreux fléaux envoyés au monde, tantôt les actes
insensés de l’Antéchrist lui-même, tantôt les blasphèmes des peuples, tantôt le
fait que les fléaux ne s’abattent pas indistinctement sur tous les hommes,
tantôt l’espoir du règne des saints, tantôt la ruine des cités, tantôt la ruine
de Babylone, c’est-à-dire de Rome. »
SOURCE : https://sourceschretiennes.org/collection/sc423
Also
known as
Victorinus Petravionensis
Victorinus von Pettau
Victorinus Pictaviensis
Victorinus of Patawii
Victorinus of Petta
Victorinus of Ptuj
Victorin…
12
November on some calendars
Profile
Wrote a
number of well-known and scholarly commentaries on the Old and New Testament;
only scraps of the writings about
Genesis and Revelations have survived. His works were greatly admired by Saint Jerome,
and are believed to be the first writings in
Latin by a Christian on
the Old Testament. Noted preacher. Bishop of
Pettau, Upper Pannonia (in modern Styria Austria).
Fought several of the heresies of
the day. Martyred in
the persecutions of Diocletian.
Like many in his day,
Victorinus was a Millenarian – he believed that Christ would return to the
earth to rule for a thousand years. This thinking was later condemned as heresy,
and many of his writings were
suppressed and subsequently lost.
Born
Additional
Information
Commentary on
the Apocalypse, by Saint Victorinus
On
the Creation of the World, by Saint Victorinus
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Millenarianism
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Saint Victorinus
Lives
of Illustrious Men, by Saint Jerome
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
audio
Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed, by Saint Victorinus
of Pettau
video
webseiten
auf deutsch
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
MLA
Citation
“Saint Victorinus of
Pettau“. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 November 2022. Web. 3 November 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-victorinus-of-pettau/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-victorinus-of-pettau/
St. Victorinus of Pettau
Death: 304
Bishop and martyr.
Originally a Greek, he became bishop of
Pettau, in Pannonia (later Styria, Austria). He was martyred during the
persecutions of Emperor Diocletian (r.
284-305). Victorinus was also the author of several biblical cornrnentaries,
although he may have been an adherent of Millenarianism, a heresy of
that time.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1980
Book of
Saints – Victorinus – 2 November
(Saint) Bishop Martyr (November
2) (3rd
century) Traditionally believed to have been a Bishop of Poitiers in France,
but, according to modern writers,
rather of Pettau in Styria. He is mentioned as a writer of
Commentaries on Scripture by Saint Jerome.
He was put to death as
a Christian before
A.D. 300.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Victorinus”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
2 November 2016. Web. 3 November 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-victorinus-2-november/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-victorinus-2-november/
Lives
of Illustrious Men – Victorinus the bishop
Victorinus, bishop of
Pettau, was not equally familiar with Latin and Greek. On this account his
works though noble in thought, are inferior in style. They are the following:
Commentaries On Genesis, On Exodus, On Leviticus, On Isaiah, On Ezekiel, On
Habakkuk, On Ecclesiastes, On the Song of Songs, On the Apocalypse of John,
Against all heresies and many others. At the last he received the crown of
martyrdom.
MLA
Citation
Saint Jerome.
“Victorinus the bishop”. Lives of Illustrious Men,
translated by Ernest Cushing Richardson. CatholicSaints.Info. 24 November
2014. Web. 3 November 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/lives-of-illustrious-men-victorinus-the-bishop/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/lives-of-illustrious-men-victorinus-the-bishop/
Victorinus of Pettau BM (RM)
Born in Greece; died in Styria, c. 303. Victorinus became bishop of Pettau in
Styria, Upper Pannonia, and was martyred during the persecutions of Diocletian.
One of his beliefs was
that Christ would come a second time to reign on earth for a thousand years.
This was later considered an error and a heresy. The result, sadly, is that
scarcely any of Victorinus's writings have survived, for--although a saintly
man and a martyr--his views were considered tainted. All we possess is a
commentary he wrote on the Book of revelation and another book, a mixture of
speculative science and theology, On the creation of the world.
In fact he was the first
Christian ever to write Latin expositions of the Scriptures. Saint Jerome
admired him, and tells us he wrote commentaries on many Old and New Testament
books. He reports that, although the Latin was vulgar, Victorinus was a bishop
of great learning. Thus a piece of unnecessary censorship has denied us access
to the mind and thinking of one of our early Christian forefathers. Even the
account of his sufferings and death at the hands of the emperor has disappeared
(Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20180301044617/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1102.shtml
St. Victorinus
An ecclesiastical writer
who flourished about 270, and who suffered martyrdom probably
in 303, under Diocletian.
He was bishop of the City
of Pettau (Petabium, Poetovio), on the Drave, in Styria (Austria);
hence his surname of Petravionensis or sometimes Pictaviensis, e.g. in the
Roman Martyrology,
where he is registered under 2 November, which long caused it to be thought
that he belonged to the Diocese of Poitiers (France). Until the
seventeenth century he was likewise confounded with the Latin
rhetorician, Victorinus
Afer. According to St. Jerome, who gives
him an honourable place in his catalogue of ecclesiastical writers,
Victorinus composed commentaries on
various books of Holy Scripture,
such as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Isaias, Ezechiel, Habacuc, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, St. Matthew, and
the Apocalypse,
besides treatises against the heresies of his
time.
All his works have
disappeared save extracts from his commentaries on Genesis and the Apocalypse,
if indeed these texts are really a remnant of his works, concerning which
opinions differ. These latter with a critical annotation are published in Migne's P.L., V
(1844) 301-44. It is certainly incorrect to regard him as the author of two
poems, "De Jesu Christo" and "De Pascha", which are included
in the collection of Fabricius.
Born on the confines of the Eastern and Western Empires, Victorinus spoke Greek
better than Latin, which explains why, in St. Jerome's opinion,
his works written in the latter tongue were more remarkable for their matter
than for their style. Like many of his contemporaries he shared the errors of the
Millenarians, and for this reason his works were ranked with the apocrypha by
Pope Gelasius.
Sources
BARONIUS, Ann. (1589),
303, 126-7; CAVE, Script. eccles. hist. litt., I (1741), 147-51; CEILLIER,
Hist. des aut. sacr., III (1732), 245-48; FABRICIUS, Bib. lat. med. aev., VI
(1746), 822-23; HARNACK, Chron. altchristl. litt., II (Leipzig, 1904), 426-32; HIERONYMUS, De vir. ill., 74; Act.
SS. Boll., Nov. 1 (1887), 432-43; LAUNOY, De Victorino episc. et mart. dissert.
(Paris, 1664); PRILESZKY, Act. et Script. SS. Corn. Firmil., Pont. et Victorini
suo ord. digesta Cassoviae (1765): TILLEMONT, Mem. pour serv. d l'hist.
ecclés., V (1698), 311-2, 707-9.
Clugnet,
Léon. "St. Victorinus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
15. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15414a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael T. Barrett. Dedicated to
the memory of St. Victorinus.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15414a.htm
St.
Victorinus, Bishop and Martyr
ST. JEROM styles
this father one of the pillars of the church, and tells us, that his works were
sublime in sense, though the Latin style was low, the author being by birth a
Grecian. He professed oratory, probably in some city of Greece; but,
considering the vanity of all earthly pursuits, consecrated both his learning
and labours wholly to the advancement of virtue and religion, and was made a
bishop of Pettau, in Upper Pannonia, now in Stiria. This father wrote against
most heresies of that age, and comments on a great part of the holy Scriptures;
but all his works are lost except a little treatise on the creation of the
world, published by Cave, 1 from
a Lambeth manuscript: and a treatise on the Apocalypse, extant in the library
of the fathers, though not entire. St. Victorinus flourished in 290, and died a
martyr, as St. Jerom testifies, probably in 304. See St. Jerom, Cat. Vir. Illustr.
c. 74, et Præf. in Isai. ep. ad Magn. &c. Cassiodor. de div. Lect. c. 5, 7,
9, Tillem. t. 5, Fabricius, Bibl. Eccl. in S. Hier. Cat. c. 74. et Bibl. Lat.
l. 4, c. 2, sect. 23, Le Long, Bibl. Sacr. p. 1003.
Note
1. Hist. Liter, t. 1, p. 148. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler
(1711–73). Volume XI: November. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
VICTORINUS OF PETTAU, ST.
Fourth-century Latin
exegete, bishop, and martyr; d. ca. 303. The little known of his life
is provided by St. jerome (De viris ill. 74). Victorinus, the first
exegete to write in Latin, was bishop of Pettau in Styria (Austria), and was
put to death during the persecution of Diocletian.
Victorinus commented on
selected passages from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk,
Ecclesiastes, the Song
of Songs, Matthew, and Revelation. The commentary on the last is the only
one extant. His exegesis, influenced by millenarianism, was based on that of
Papias of Hieropolis, irenaeus, hippolytus of rome, and especially Origen.
The "Commentary on
the Apocalypse," preserved in a 15th-century manuscript (Vat. Codex
Ottobon. Latin. 3288A) is certainly a work of Victorinus. He is also credited
with a "De fabrica mundi" of which a fragment is preserved in the
ninth-century Lambeth Codex 414 edited by W. cave in 1688.
Jerome tells us that
Victorinus wrote also a treatise "Against all Heresies." It is
possible that this latter is the same as that work appended to Tertullian's
"Prescription of Heretics." A. von Harnack believed in this identity
but there is doubt on the matter. The Decretum Gelasianum condemned
Victorinus's work as open to censure because of its millenarianism. There is no
known cult to him except in Pettau, where it began officially in 1768.
Eventually his relics were taken to Rome.
Feast: Aug. 7 (formerly
Nov. 2).
AD
Bibliography: Opera, ed. J. Haussleiter (Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum 49; Vienna 1916). J. Quasten, Patrology, 3 v. (Westminster, Md. 1950–) 2:411–413. G. Bardy, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. A. Vacant et al.,
(Paris 1903–50; Tables générales 1951–) 15.2:2882–87. B. Altaner, Patrology, tr. H. Graef from 5th German ed. (New
York 1960) 205. F. Cross, The Early Christian Fathers (London
1960) 187. M. Dulaey, Victorin de Poetovio, premier exégète latin (Paris
1993). G. van Hooff, Acta Sanctorum Nov. (Antwerp 1643–) 1:432–443.
[P. W. Lawler]
New Catholic Encyclopedia
Saint Victorinus of
Pettau
Aug 27, 2021 /
Written by: Tonia
Long
Feast November 2
Bishop and Martyr – Born:
Third Century – Died: 304 A.D.
The little known of his
life is provided by the great St. Jerome (De viris ill. 74). Born in
Greece in the mid-third century, Victorinus spoke Greek better than Latin,
which explains why St. Jerome expressed the opinion that his works written in
Latin were more remarkable for their matter than for their style. Bishop of the
City of Pettau, he was the first theologian to use Latin for his exegesis.
His works are mainly
exegetical, meaning that he spent his life in the critical interpretation of
biblical text to discover its intended meaning. Victorinus composed
commentaries on various books of Holy Scripture, such as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle
of Canticles, St. Matthew, and the Apocalypse, besides
treatises against the heresies of his time. All that has survived is his Commentary
on Apocalypse and the short tract On the construction of the world (De
fabrica mundi).
Victorinus was very
influenced by Origen, an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian who
was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. His works were
ranked with the apocrypha and other writings which according to the
Decretum Gelasianum decree list De libris recipiendis et non recipiendis ("On
books to be received and not to be received"), later attributed to Pope
Gelasius I, were to be rejected as not considered free of error. By contrast,
St. Jerome gives him an honorable place in his catalogue of ecclesiastical
writers.
The Commentary on the
Apocalypse
As his greatest surviving
work, let us take a look at The Commentary on the Apocalypse. This exegetical
work was composed not long after the Valerian Persecution, about 260 A.D.
According to Claudio Moreschini, "The interpretation is primarily
allegorical, with a marked interest in arithmology… It seems that he did not
give a running commentary on the entire text but contented himself with a
paraphrase of selected passages. 1
Saint Victorinus was
apparently the first of the Church Fathers to ascertain the basic notion of
“repetition” – that the Apocalypse is not one uninterrupted and developing line
of prophecy, but rather that various subdivisions run parallel with each other.
And he saw that the theme of the soon coming Second Advent was a continuous
thread of thought throughout the Apocalypse. 2
He wrote of the seven
churches as representing seven classes of Christians within the church. The
seven seals are explained as constituting a prophetic preview of the spread of
the gospel throughout the world. In connection with the Second Advent and the
end of the world he looked for wars, famines, pestilences and persecution of
the church.
The crowned rider of the
four horsemen seated upon the white horse, going forth "conquering, and to
conquer," is interpreted as prophetic of Christ's church going forth on
its victorious mission, the triumph of Christianity over paganism. The red
horse is explained as "coming wars," predicted as significant events
preceding the end. The black horse, Victorinus avers, signifies
"famines" in the time of the Antichrist. The pale horse meant
"coming destructions." 3
The angel with the seal
in chapter 7 symbolizes Elias the prophet as the "precursor of the times
of Antichrist." Then comes the kingdom of Antichrist and finally the angel
reapers smite the kingdom of Antichrist, delivering the saints. 4
The first and second
angels of Revelation 14 are the predicted Elias and Jeremiah, witnessing before
the Second Advent and end of the world, ushering in the eternal kingdom. The
leopard beast of Revelation 14 signifies the kingdom of the time of Antichrist.
Victorinus considers the 666 of verse 18 as the computation of letters, each of
which comprise the equivalent number, of an assortment of possible names.
Saint Victorinus believed
that after the seven plagues of the last days in Revelation 15, Babylon, in
Revelation 17, is identified as Rome seated upon her "seven hills,"
drunk with the blood of martyrs. The seven heads of the seven-hilled Rome are
believed, in their immediate application, to represent seven emperors, the
sixth being Domitian, with the eighth who is "of the seven," as
Nero. 5 Victorinus
interpreted the "thousand years" in Revelation 20, in which Satan is
bound, as occurring "in the first advent of Christ, even to the end of the
age." 6
The Martyrdom of Saint
Victorinus
(Taken from Rev. Alban
Butler (1711-1773), in his Lives of the Saints, Volume 2)
Saint Victorinus and six
companions were citizens of Corinth, and confessed their faith before Tertius
the proconsul, in their own country, in 249, in the beginning of the reign of
Decius.
After their torments they
passed into Egypt, whether by compulsion or by voluntary banishment is not
known, and there finished their martyrdom at Diospolis, capital of Thebais, in
the reign of Numerian, in 284, under the governor Sabinus.
After the governor had
tried the constancy of martyrs by racks, scourges, and various inventions of
cruelty, he caused Victorinus to be thrown into a great mortar (the Greek Menology
says, of marble.)
The executioners began by
pounding his feet and legs, saying to him at every stroke: “Spare yourself,
wretch. It depends upon you to escape this death, if you will only renounce
your new God.”
The prefect grew furious
at his constancy, and at length commanded his head to be beaten to pieces. The
sight of this mortar, so far from casting a damp on his companions, seemed to
inspire them with the greater ardor to be treated in the like manner.
Footnotes:
1 "Quasten,
Johannes. Patrology, Vol. 2, Thomas More Pr; (1986), ISBN 978-0870611414,
p. 413
2 Froom
1950, p. 338.
3 Froom
1950, p. 339.
4 Froom
1950, p. 340.
5 Froom
1950, p. 343.
6 Froom
1950, p. 344.
SOURCE : https://americaneedsfatima.org/articles/saint-victorinus-of-pettau
Saint of the Day – 2
November – St Victorinus of Pettau (Died c 304)
Posted on November
2, 2021
Saint of the Day – 2
November – St Victorinus of Pettau (Died c 304) Bishop Martyr, learned
Exegetists on both the Old and the New Testament, ecclesiastical writer,
theologian. Born in the 3rd Century in Greece and died in 303 or 304 (records
vary), he suffered Martyrdom probably in 303, under Diocletian. Also known as
– Victorinus Petravionensis, Victorinus von Pettau, Victorinus
Pictaviensis, Victorinus of Patawii, Victorinus of Petta, Victorinus of Ptuj.
Victorin… Additional Memorial – 12 November on some calendars.
Born probably in
Byzantine Greece or in Poetovio with rather mixed population, due to its
military character, Victorinus spoke Greek better than Latin, which explains
why, in St Jerome’s opinion, his works written in the latter tongue were more
remarkable for their content than for their style. Bishop of the City of
Pettau, he was the first theologian to use Latin for his exegesis.
His works are mainly
exegetical. Victorinus composed commentaries on various books of Sacred
Scripture, such as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk,
Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, St Matthew and the Apocalypse,
besides treatises against the heresies of his time. All that has survived is
his Commentary on Apocalypse and the short tract On the
construction of the world (De fabrica mundi). Some believe he is also the
author of two poems, “De Jesu Christo” and “De Pascha,” although this is
contested.
Like many of his
contemporaries he shared the errors of the Millenarians and for this reason his
works were ranked with the apocrypha by Pope Gelasius. Nevertheless, by
contrast, St Jerome gives him an honourable place in his catalogue of
ecclesiastical writers. St Jerome cites the opinion of Victorinus in some of
his works but considered him to have been affected by the opinions of the
Chiliasts or Millenarians (they believed that Christ would return to the earth
to rule for a thousand years..)
According to Saint
Jerome, Victorinus died a Martyr in 304.
Author: AnaStpaul
Passionate Catholic.
Being a Catholic is a way of life - a love affair "Religion must be like
the air we breathe..."- St John Bosco Prayer is what the world needs
combined with the example of our lives which testify to the Light of Christ.
This site, which is now using the Traditional Calendar, will mainly concentrate
on Daily Prayers, Novenas and the Memorials and Feast Days of our friends in
Heaven, the Saints who went before us and the great blessings the Church
provides in our Catholic Monthly Devotions. This Site is placed under the
Patronage of my many favourite Saints and especially, St Paul. "For the
Saints are sent to us by God as so many sermons. We do not use them, it is they
who move us and lead us, to where we had not expected to go.” Charles Cardinal
Journet (1891-1975) This site adheres to the pre-Vatican II Catholic Church and
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all those who visit here will be abundantly blessed. Pax et bonum! View All Posts
SOURCE : https://anastpaul.com/2021/11/02/saint-of-the-day-2-november-st-victorinus-of-pettau-died-c-304/
Victorinus
Victorinus (4), St.,
of Pettau, bishop and martyr. He was apparently a Greek by birth, and
(according to the repeated statement of Cassiodorus) a rhetorician before he
became bp. of Pettau (Petavio) in Upper Pannonia. He is believed to have
suffered martyrdom in Diocletian's persecution. St. Jerome (our chief authority
concerning him) mentions him several times, and with respect even where his
criticisms are adverse. He enumerates, among his works (Catal. Script.
Eccl. 74) commentaries on Gen., Ex., Lev., Is., Ezek., Hab., Eccles.,
Cant., Matt., and Rev., besides a treatise "adversus omnes haereses."
Jerome occasionally cites the opinion of Victorinus (in Eccles. iv.
13; in Ezech. xxvi. and elsewhere), but considered him to have been
affected by the opinions of the Chiliasts or Millenarians (see Catal.
Script. 18, and in Ezech. l.c.). He also states that he borrowed
extensively from Origen. In consequence, perhaps, of his Millennarian
tendencies, or of his relations to Origen, his works were classed as
"apocrypha" in the Decretum de Libris Recipiendis, which Baronius
(ad ann. 303) erroneously refers to a synod held under Gelasius. Little or
nothing is left—nothing; indeed, which can be said to be his with any
certainty. Poems are attributed to him with no authority better than that of
Bede; while the two lines Bede quotes as his were clearly written by some one
with a tolerable knowledge of Latin.
[H.A.W.]
"Wilson,
H.A., "Victorinus", Dictionary of Christian Biography, (Henry
Wace, ed.), John Murray, London, 1911". Archived
SOURCE : https://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=Victorinus
Commentary on the
Apocalypse
From the First Chapter
1. The Revelation
of Jesus Christ,
which God gave
to Him, and showed unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass,
and signified it. Blessed are they who read and hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the
things which are written. The beginning of the book promises blessing to
him that reads and hears and keeps, that he who takes pains about the reading
may thence learn to do works, and may keep the precepts.
4. Grace unto you,
and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come. He is,
because He endures continually; He was, because with the Father He made
all things, and has at this time taken a beginning from the Virgin; He is
to come, because assuredly He will come to judgment.
And from the seven
spirits which are before His throne. We read of a sevenfold spirit in
Isaiah, — namely, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, of knowledge and
of piety, and
the spirit of the fear of
the Lord.
5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness,
the first-begotten of the dead. In taking upon Him manhood, He gave a
testimony in the world, wherein also having suffered, He freed us by His blood
from sin; and
having vanquished hell,
He was the first who rose from the dead, and death shall have no more
dominion over Him, Romans 6:9 but
by His own reign the kingdom of the world is destroyed.
6. And He made us a
kingdom and priests unto
God and His Father. That is to say, a Church of all believers; as also the
Apostle Peter says: A holy nation, a
royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9
7. Behold, He shall
come with clouds, and every eye shall see Him. For He who at first came
hidden in the manhood that He had undertaken, shall after a little while come
to judgment manifest in majesty and glory. And what says He?
12. And I turned,
and saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks one like the Son of man. He says
that He was like Him after His victory over death, when He had ascended into
the heavens, after the union in His body of the power which He received from
the Father with the spirit of His glory.
13. As it were
the Son of man walking
in the midst of the golden candlesticks. He says, in the midst of
the churches, as
it is said in Solomon, I will walk in the midst of the paths of the
just, Proverbs 8:20 whose
antiquity is immortality,
and the fountain of majesty.
Clothed with a garment
down to the ankles. In the long, that is, the priestly garment,
these words very plainly deliver the flesh which was not corrupted in death,
and has the priesthood through
suffering.
And He was girt about the
paps with a golden girdle. His paps are the two testaments, and the golden
girdle is the choir of saints, as gold tried in
the fire. Otherwise the golden girdle bound around His breast indicates the
enlightened conscience,
and the pure and spiritual apprehension that is given to the churches.
14. And His head and
His hairs were white as it were white wool, and as it were snow. On the
head the whiteness is shown; but the head of Christ is God. 1 Corinthians 11:3 In
the white hairs is the multitude of abbots like to wool, in respect of simple
sheep; to snow, in respect of the innumerable crowd of candidates taught from
heaven.
His eyes were as a flame
of fire. God's precepts are those which minister light to believers, but to
unbelievers burning.
16. And in His face
was brightness as the sun. That which He called brightness was
the appearance of that in which He spoke to men face to face. But the glory of
the sun is less than the glory of the Lord.
Doubtless on account of its rising and setting, and rising again, that He was
born and suffered and rose again, therefore the Scripture gave this
similitude, likening His face to the glory of the sun.
15. His feet were
like yellow brass, as if burned in a furnace. He calls the apostles His feet,
who, being wrought by suffering, preached His word in the whole world; for He
rightly named those by whose means the preaching went forth, feet. Whence also
the prophet anticipated
this, and said: We will worship in the place where His feet have
stood. Because where they first of all stood and confirmed the Church, that is,
in Judea, all
the saints shall
assemble together, and will worship their Lord.
16. And out of His
mouth was issuing a sharp two-edged sword. By the twice-sharpened sword
going forth out of His mouth is shown, that it is He Himself who has both now
declared the word of the Gospel, and previously
by Moses declared
the knowledge of
the law to the whole world. But because from the same word, as well of the New
as of the Old
Testament, He will assert Himself upon the whole human race, therefore He
is spoken of as two-edged. For the sword arms the soldier, the sword slays the
enemy, the sword punishes the deserter. And that He might show to the apostles that He
was announcing judgment, He says: I came not to send peace, but a
sword. Matthew 10:34 And
after He had completed His parables, He says to
them: Have you understood all these things? And they said, We have. And He
added, Therefore is every scribe instructed in the kingdom of God like a man
that is a father of a family,
bringing forth from his treasure things new and old, Matthew 13:51-52 —
the new, the evangelical words of the apostles; the old, the
precepts of the law and the prophets: and He
testified that these proceeded out of His mouth. Moreover, He also says to
Peter: Go to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that shall
first come up; and having opened its mouth, you shall find
a stater (that is, two denarii), and you shall give it for me
and for you. Matthew 17:27 And
similarly David says by the Spirit: God spoke once,
twice I have heard the same. Because God once decreed from the beginning
what shall be even to the end. Finally, as He Himself is the Judge appointed by
the Father, on
account of His assumption of humanity, wishing to show that men shall be judged
by the word that He had declared, He says: Do you think that I will judge
you at the last day? Nay, but the word, says He, which I have spoken
unto you, that shall judge you in the last day. John 12:48 And Paul, speaking of Antichrist to the
Thessalonians, says: Whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His
mouth. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 And
Isaiah says: By the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:4 This,
therefore, is the two-edged sword issuing out of His mouth.
15. And His voice as
it were the voice of many waters. The many waters are understood to be
many peoples, or the gift of baptism that He
sent forth by the apostles,
saying: Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy
Ghost. Matthew 28:19
16. And He had in
His right hand seven stars. He said that in His right hand He had seven
stars, because the Holy
Spirit of sevenfold agency was given into His power by the Father. As
Peter exclaimed to the Jews: Being at the
right hand of God exalted, He has shed forth this Spirit received from
the Father, which
you both see and hear. Acts 2:33 Moreover,
John the Baptist had also anticipated this, by saying to his disciples: For God
gives not the Spirit by measure unto Him . The Father, says
he, loves the Son,
and has given all things into His hands. Those seven stars are the seven
churches, which he names in his addresses by name, and calls them to whom he
wrote epistles. Not that they are themselves the only, or even the principal
churches; but what he says to one, he says to all. For they are in no respect
different, that on that ground any one should prefer them to the larger number
of similar small ones. In the whole world Paul taught that
all the churches are arranged by sevens, that they are called seven, and that
the Catholic Church is one. And
first of all, indeed, that he himself also might maintain the type of seven
churches, he did not exceed that number. But he wrote to the Romans, to the
Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Thessalonians, to the
Philippians, to the Colossians; afterwards he wrote to individual persons, so as not to
exceed the number of seven churches. And abridging in a short space his
announcement, he thus says to Timothy: That you may know how you ought
to behave yourself in the Church of the
living God. 1 Timothy 3:15 We
read also that this typical number is announced by the Holy Spirit by the
mouth of Isaiah: Of seven women which took
hold of one man. Isaiah 4:1 The
one man is Christ, not born of seed; but the seven women are seven
churches, receiving His bread, and clothed with his apparel, who ask that their
reproach should be taken away, only that His name should be called upon them.
The bread is the Holy
Spirit, which nourishes to eternal life,
promised to them, that is, by faith. And His garments
wherewith they desire to be clothed are the glory of immortality, of
which Paul the
apostle says: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:53 Moreover,
they ask that their reproach may be taken away — that is, that they may be
cleansed from their sins:
for the reproach is the original sin which is taken
away in baptism,
and they begin to be called Christian men,
which is, Let your name be called upon us. Therefore in these seven
churches, of one Catholic Church are believers, because it is
one in seven by the quality of faith and election.
Whether writing to them who labour in the world, and live of the frugality of
their labours, and are patient, and when they see certain men in the Church wasters, and
pernicious, they hear them, lest there should become dissension, he yet
admonishes them by love,
that in what respects their faith is deficient
they should repent; or to those who dwell in cruel places among persecutors,
that they should continue faithful; or to those who, under the pretext of
mercy, do unlawful sins in
the Church, and
make them manifest to be done by others; or to those that are at ease in the Church; or to those who
are negligent, and Christians only
in name; or to those who are meekly instructed, that they may bravely persevere
in faith; or to
those who study the Scriptures,
and labour to know the mysteries of their
announcement, and are unwilling to do God's work that is mercy and love: to all he urges
penitence, to all he declares judgment.
From the Second Chapter
2. I know your works,
and your labour, and your patience. In the first epistle He speaks thus:
I know that
you suffer and work, I see that you are patient; think not that I am staying
long from you.
And that you can not bear
them that are evil,
and who say that they are Jews and are not,
and you have found them liars, and you have patience for My name's
sake. All these things tend to praise, and that no small praise; and it
behooves such men, and such a class, and such elected persons, by all means to
be admonished, that they may not be defrauded of such privileges granted to
them of God.
These few things He said that He had against them.
4, 5. And you have
left your first love:
remember whence you have fallen. He who falls, falls from a height:
therefore He said whence: because, even to the very last, works of love must be
practised; and this is the principal commandment. Finally, unless this is done,
He threatened to remove their candlestick out of its place, that is, to
disperse the congregation.
6. This you have
also, that you hate the deeds of the
Nicolaitanes. But because you yourself hate those who hold the doctrines
of the Nicolaitanes, you expect praise. Moreover, to hate the works of
the Nicolaitanes, which He Himself also hated, this tends to
praise. But the works of the Nicolaitanes were in that time false and troublesome
men, who, as ministers under the name of Nicolaus, had made for themselves
a heresy, to the
effect that what had been offered to idols might be
exorcised and eaten, and that whoever should have committed fornication might
receive peace on the eighth day. Therefore He extols those to whom He is
writing; and to these men, being such and so great, He promised the
tree of life, which is in the paradise of His God.
The following epistle
unfolds the mode of life and habit of another order which follows. He proceeds
to say:—
9. I know your
tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich. For He knows that with
such men there are riches hidden with Him, and that they deny the blasphemy of
the Jews, who
say that they are Jews and
are not; but they are the synagogue of Satan, since they are
gathered together by Antichrist;
and to them He says:—
10. Be faithful unto
death. That they should continue to be faithful even unto death.
11. He that shall
overcome, shall not be hurt by the second death. That is, he shall not be
chastised in hell.
The third order of
the saints shows
that they are men who are strong in faith, and who are not
afraid of persecution;
but because even among them there are some who are inclined to unlawful
associations, He says:—
14-16. You have
there some who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught in the case of Balak
that he should put a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat and to
commit fornication. So also have you them who hold the doctrine of the
Nicolaitanes; but I will fight with them with the sword of my mouth. That
is, I will say what I shall command, and I will tell you what you shall do. For
Balaam, with his doctrine, taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the
eyes of the children of Israel, to eat what
was sacrificed to idols, and to commit
fornication — a thing which is known to have
happened of old. For he gave this advice to the king of the Moabites, and they
caused stumbling to the people. Thus, says He, you have among you those who
hold such doctrine; and under the pretext of mercy, you would corrupt others.
17. To him that
overcomes I will give the hidden manna, and I will give
him a white stone. The hidden manna is immortality; the white
gem is adoption to be the son of God; the new name
written on the stone is Christian.
The fourth class
intimates the nobility of the faithful, who labour
daily, and do greater works. But even among them also He shows that there are
men of an easy disposition to grant unlawful peace, and to listen to new forms
of prophesying; and He reproves and warns the others to whom this is not
pleasing, who know the wickedness opposed
to them: for which evils He
purposes to bring upon the head of the faithful both sorrows and dangers; and
therefore He says:—
24. I will not put
upon you any other burden. That is, I have not given you laws, observances, and
duties, which is another burden.
25, 26. But that
which you have, hold fast until I come; and he that overcomes, to him will I
give power over all peoples. That is, him I will appoint as judge among
the rest of the saints.
28. And I will give
him the morning star. To wit, the first resurrection. He promised the
morning star, which drives away the night, and announces the light, that is,
the beginning of day.
From the Third Chapter
The fifth class, company,
or association of saints,
sets forth men who are careless, and who are carrying on in the world other
transactions than those which they ought — Christians only in
name. And therefore He exhorts them that by any means they should be turned
away from negligence, and be saved; and to this effect He says:—
2. Be watchful, and
strengthen the other things which were ready to die; for I have not found your
works perfect before God. For it is not enough for a tree to live and to
have no fruit, even as it is not enough to be called a Christian and to
confess Christ,
but not to have Himself in our work, that is, not to do His precepts.
The sixth class is the
mode of life of the best election. The habit of saints is set
forth; of those, to wit, who are lowly in the world, and unskilled in the Scriptures, and who hold
the faith immoveably,
and are not at all broken down by any chance, or withdrawn from the faith by any fear. Therefore He says
to them:—
8. I have set before
you an open door, because you have kept the word of my patience. In such
little strength.
10. And I will keep
you from the hour of temptation. That
they may know His glory to be of this
kind, that they are not indeed permitted to be given over to temptation.
12. He that
overcomes shall be made a pillar in the temple of God. For even as a
pillar is an ornament of the building, so he who perseveres shall obtain a
nobility in the Church.
Moreover, the seventh
association of the Church declares
that they are rich men placed in positions of dignity, but believing that they
are rich, among whom indeed the Scriptures are
discussed in their bedchamber, while the faithful are outside; and they are
understood by none, although they boast themselves, and say that they know all things —
endowed with the confidence of learning, but ceasing from its labour. And thus
He says:—
15. That they are
neither cold nor hot. That is, neither unbelieving nor believing, for they
are all things to all men.
And because he who is neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, gives nausea, He
says:—
16. I will vomit you
out of My mouth. Although nausea is hateful, still it hurts no one; so
also is it with men of this kind when they have been cast forth. But because
there is time of repentance, He says:—
18. I persuade you
to buy of Me gold tried in the fire. That is, that in whatever manner you
can, you should suffer for the Lord's name tribulations and passions.
And anoint your eyes with
eye-salve. That what you gladly know by the Scripture, you should
strive also to do the work of the same. And because, if in these ways men
return out of great destruction to great repentance, they are not only useful
to themselves, but they are able also to be of advantage to many, He promised
them no small reward — to sit, namely, on the throne of judgment.
From the Fourth Chapter
1. After this, I
beheld, and, lo, a door was opened in heaven. The new testament is
announced as an open door in heaven.
And the first voice which
I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, saying, Come up
hither. Since the door is shown to be opened, it is manifest that
previously it had been closed to men. And it was sufficiently and fully laid
open when Christ ascended with His body to the Father into heaven. Moreover,
the first voice which he had heard when he says that it spoke with him, without
contradiction condemns those who say that one spoke in the prophets, another in
the Gospel;
since it is rather He Himself who comes, that is the same who spoke in
the prophets.
For John was of the circumcision,
and all that people which had heard the announcement of the Old Testament was
edified with his word.
That very same
voice, said he, that I had heard, that said to me, Come up
hither. That is the Spirit, whom a little
before he confesses that he had seen walking as the Son of man in the
midst of the golden candlesticks. And he now gathers from Him what had been
foretold in similitudes by the law, and associates with this scripture all the
former prophets,
and opens up the Scriptures.
And because our Lord invited in His own name all believers into
heaven, He immediately poured out the Holy Spirit, who should
bring them to heaven. He says:—
2. Immediately I was
in the Spirit. And
since the mind of the faithful is opened by the Holy Spirit, and that is
manifested to them which was also foretold to the fathers, he distinctly says:—
And, behold, a throne was
set in heaven. The throne set: what is it but the throne of judgment and
of the King?
3. And He that sat upon
the throne was, to look upon, like a jasper and a sardine stone. Upon the
throne he says that he saw the likeness of a jasper and a sardine stone. The
jasper is of the color of water, the sardine of fire. These two are thence
manifested to be placed as judgments upon God's tribunal until the consummation
of the world, of which judgments one is already completed in the deluge of
water, and the other shall be completed by fire.
And there was a rainbow
about the throne. Moreover, the rainbow round about the throne has the
same colors. The rainbow is called a bow from what the Lord spoke to Noah and to his
sons, that they should not fear any further
deluge in the generation of God, but fire. For thus
He says: I will place my bow in the clouds, that you may now no longer fear water, but
fire.
6. And before the
throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like to crystal. That is the
gift of baptism which
He sheds forth through His Son in time of repentance, before He executes
judgment. It is therefore before the throne, that is, the judgment. And when he
says a sea of glass like to crystal, he shows that it is pure water, smooth,
not agitated by the wind, not flowing down as on a slope, but given to be
immoveable as the house of God.
And round about the
throne were four living creatures. The four living creatures are the
four Gospels.
7-10. The first living
creature was like to a lion, and the second was like to a calf, and the third
had a face like to a man,
and the fourth was like to a flying eagle; and they had six wings, and round
about and within they were full of eyes; and they had no rest, saying,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord Omnipotent.
And the four and twenty elders, falling down before the throne, adored
God. The four and twenty elders are the twenty-four books of the prophets and of the
law, which give testimonies of the judgment. Moreover, also, they are the twenty-four
fathers — twelve apostles and
twelve patriarchs. And in that the living creatures are different in
appearance, this is the reason: the living creature like to a lion designates
Mark, in whom is heard the voice of the lion roaring in the desert. And in the
figure of a man,
Matthew strives to declare to us the genealogy of Mary, from whom Christ
took flesh. Therefore, in enumerating from Abraham to David,
and thence to Joseph, he spoke of Him as if of a man: therefore his
announcement sets forth the image of a man. Luke, in narrating
the priesthood of
Zacharias as he offers a sacrifice for the
people, and the angel that
appears to him with respect of the priesthood, and the
victim in the same description bore the likeness of a calf. John the evangelist, like to an
eagle hastening on uplifted wings to greater heights, argues about the Word of God. Mark,
therefore, as an evangelist thus
beginning, The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is
written in Isaiah the prophet; The
voice of one crying in the wilderness, Isaiah 40:3 —
has the effigy of a lion. And Matthew, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of
David, the son of Abraham: Matthew 1:1 this
is the form of a man.
But Luke said, There was a priest, by name
Zachariah, of the course of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron: Luke 1:5 this
is the likeness of a calf. But John, when he begins, In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God, sets
forth the likeness of a flying eagle. Moreover, not only do the evangelists express
their four similitudes in their respective openings of the Gospels, but also the
Word itself of God the
Father Omnipotent, which is His Son our Lord Jesus Christ,
bears the same likeness in the time of His advent. When He preaches to us, He
is, as it were, a lion and a lion's cub. And when for man's salvation He was
made man to overcome death, and to set all men free, and that
He offered Himself a victim to the Father on our behalf, He was called a calf.
And that He overcame death and ascended into the heavens, extending His wings
and protecting His people, He was named a flying eagle. Therefore these
announcements, although they are four, yet are one, because it proceeded from
one mouth. Even as the river in paradise, although it is one, was divided into
four heads. Moreover, that for the announcement of the New Testament those
living creatures had eyes within and without, shows the spiritual providence which
both looks into the secrets of the heart, and beholds the things which are
coming after that are within and without.
8. Six
wings. These are the testimonies of the books of the Old Testament. Thus,
twenty and four make as many as there are elders sitting upon the thrones. But
as an animal cannot fly unless it have wings, so, too, the announcement of
the New Testament gains
no faith unless
it have the fore-announced testimonies of the Old Testament, by which
it is lifted from the earth, and flies. For in every case, what has been told
before, and is afterwards found to have happened, that begets an
undoubting faith.
Again, also, if wings be not attached to the living creatures, they have
nothing whence they may draw their life. For unless what the prophets foretold
had been consummated in Christ, their preaching
was vain. For the Catholic Church holds those
things which were both before predicted and afterwards accomplished. And it
flies, because the living animal is reasonably lifted up from the earth. But
to heretics who
do not avail themselves of the prophetic testimony, to them also there are
present living creatures; but they do not fly, because they are of the earth.
And to the Jews who
do not receive the announcement of the New Testament there
are present wings; but they do not fly, that is, they bring a vain prophesying
to men, not
adjusting facts to their words. And the books of the Old Testament that
are received are twenty-four, which you will find in the epitomes of Theodore.
But, moreover (as we have said), four and twenty elders, patriarchs and apostles, are to judge
His people. For to the apostles, when they
asked, saying, We have forsaken all that we had, and followed You: what
shall we have? our Lord replied, When the Son of man shall
sit upon the throne of His glory, you also shall
sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matthew 19:27-28 But
of the fathers also who should judge, says the patriarch Jacob, Dan also
himself shall judge his people among his brethren, even as one of the tribes
in Israel. Genesis 49:16
5. And from the
throne proceeded lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and seven torches of
fire burning. And the lightnings, and voices, and thunders proceeding from
the throne of God,
and the seven torches of fire burning, signify announcements, and promises of
adoption, and threatenings. For lightnings signify the Lord's advent, and the
voices the announcements of the New Testament, and the
thunders, that the words are from heaven. The burning torches of
fire signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, that it is
given by the wood of the passion. And when these things were doing, he says
that all the elders fell down and adored the Lord; while the living creatures —
that is, of course, the actions recorded in the Gospels and the
teaching of the Lord — gave Him glory and honour. In that they had
fulfilled the word that had been previously foretold by them, they worthily and
with reason exult, feeling that they have ministered the mysteries and the
word of the Lord. Finally, also, because He had come who should remove death,
and who alone was worthy to take the crown of immortality, all for
the glory of
His most excellent doing had crowns.
10. And they cast
their crowns under His feet. That is, on account of the eminent glory of Christ's victory,
they cast all their victories under His feet. This is what in the Gospel the Holy Spirit consummated
by showing, For when about finally to suffer, our Lord had come to Jerusalem,
and the people had gone forth to meet Him, some strewed the road with palm
branches cut down, others threw down their garments, doubtless these were
setting forth two peoples — the one of the patriarchs, the other of the prophets; that is to
say, of the great men who had any kind of palms of their victories
against sin, and
cast them under the feet of Christ, the victor of
all. And the palm and the crown signify the same things, and these are not
given save to the victor.
From the Fifth Chapter
1. And I saw in the
right hand of Him that sat upon the throne, a book written within and without,
sealed with seven seals. This book signifies the Old Testament, which has
been given into the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who received from the Father judgment.
2, 3. And I saw
an angel full
of strength proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and
to loose the seals thereof? And no one was found worthy, neither in the earth
nor under the earth, to open the book. Now to open the book is to overcome
death for man.
4. There was none
found worthy to do this. Neither among the angels of heaven,
nor among men in
earth, nor among the souls of
the saints in
rest, save Christ the Son
of God alone, whom he says that he saw as a Lamb standing as it were
slain, having seven horns. What had not been then announced, and what the law
had contemplated for Him by its various oblations and sacrifices, it behooved
Himself to fulfil. And because He Himself was the testator, who had overcome
death, it was just that Himself should be appointed the Lord's heir, that He
should possess the substance of the dying man, that is, the human members.
5. Lo, the Lion of
the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, has prevailed. We read in Genesis that this lion of
the tribe of Judah has
conquered, when the patriarch Jacob says, Judah, your brethren shall
praise you; you have lain down and slept, and have risen up again as a lion,
and as a lion's cub. Genesis 49:8-9 For
He is called a lion for the overcoming of death; but for the suffering for men
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. But because He overcame death, and
anticipated the duty of the executioner, He was called as it were slain. He
therefore opens and seals again the testament, which He Himself had sealed. The
legislator Moses intimating
this, that it behooved Him to be sealed and concealed, even to the advent of
His passion,
veiled his face, and so spoke to the people; showing that the words of his
announcement were veiled even to the advent of His time. For he himself, when
he had read to the people, having taken the wool purpled with the blood of the
calf, with water sprinkled the whole people, saying, This is the blood of
His testament who has purified you. Exodus 24:7-8 It
should therefore be observed that the Man is accurately announced, and that all
things combine into one. For it is not sufficient that that law is spoken of,
but it is named as a testament. For no law is called a testament, nor is
anything else called a testament, save what persons make who
are about to die. And whatever is within the testament is sealed, even to the
day of the testator's death. Therefore it is with reason that it is only sealed
by the Lamb slain, who, as it were a lion, has broken death in pieces, and has
fulfilled what had been foretold; and has delivered man, that is, the flesh,
from death, and has received as a possession the substance of the dying person,
that is, of the human members;
that as by one body all men had fallen
under the obligation of its death, also by one body all believers should be
born again unto life, and rise again. Reasonably, therefore, His face is opened
and unveiled to Moses;
and therefore He is called Apocalypse, Revelation. For now His book is unsealed
— now the offered victims are perceived — now the fabrication of the priestly chrism;
moreover the testimonies are openly understood.
8, 9. Twenty-four
elders and four living creatures, having harps and phials, and singing a new
song. The proclamation of the Old Testament associated
with the New, points out the Christian people
singing a new song, that is, bearing their confession publicly. It is a new
thing that the Son
of God should become man. It is a new thing to ascend into the heavens
with a body. It is a new thing to give remission of sins to men. It is
a new thing for men to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. It is a new
thing to receive the priesthood of
sacred observance, and to look for a kingdom of unbounded promise. The harp,
and the chord stretched on its wooden frame, signifies the flesh of Christ
linked with the wood of the passion. The phial
signifies the Confession, and the race of the new Priesthood. But it
is the praise of many angels,
yea, of all, the salvation of
all, and the testimony of the universal creation, bringing to our Lord
thanksgiving for the deliverance of men from the destruction of death. The unsealing
of the seals, as we have said, is the opening of the Old Testament, and the
foretelling of the preachers of things to come in the last times, which,
although the prophetic Scripture speaks by single seals, yet by all the seals
opened at once, prophecy takes
its rank.
From the Sixth Chapter
1, 2. And when the
Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, I saw, and heard one of the four living
creatures saying, Come and see. And, lo, a white horse, and He who sat upon him
had a bow. The first seal being opened, he says that he saw a white horse,
and a crowned horseman having a bow. For this was at first done by Himself. For
after the Lord ascended into heaven and opened all things, He sent the Holy Spirit, whose words
the preachers sent forth as arrows reaching to the human heart, that
they might overcome unbelief. And the crown on the head is promised to the
preachers by the Holy
Spirit. The other three horses very plainly signify the wars, famines, and
pestilences announced by our Lord in the Gospel. And thus he says
that one of the four living creatures said (because all four are
one), Come and see. Come is said to him that is invited to faith; see is
said to him who saw not. Therefore the white horse is the word of preaching
with the Holy Spirit sent
into the world. For the Lord says, This Gospel shall be
preached throughout the whole world for a testimony to all nations, and then
shall come the end.
3, 4. And when He had
opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come and
see. And there went out another horse that was red, and to him that sat upon
him was given a great sword. The red horse, and he that sat upon him,
having a sword, signify the coming wars, as we read in
the Gospel: For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall
be great earthquakes in various places. This is the ruddy horse.
5. And when He had
opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come and see.
And, lo, a black horse; and he who sat upon it had a balance in his
hand. The black horse signifies famine, for the Lord says, There
shall be famines in various places; but the word is specially
extended to the times of Antichrist, when there
shall be a great famine, and when all shall be injured. Moreover, the balance
in the hand is the examining scales, wherein He might show forth the merits of
every individual. He then says:—
6. Hurt not the wine
and the oil. That is, strike not the spiritual man with your inflictions.
This is the black horse.
7, 8. And when He
had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, Come and
see. And, lo, a pale horse; and he who sat upon him was named Death. For
the pale horse and he who sat upon him bore the name of Death. These same
things also the Lord had promised among the rest of the coming destructions —
great pestilences and deaths; since, moreover, he says:—
And hell followed
him. That is, it was waiting for the devouring of many unrighteous souls. This is the pale
horse.
9. And when He had
opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that
were slain. He relates that he saw under the altar of God, that is, under the
earth, the souls of
them that were slain. For both heaven and earth are called God's altar, as says
the law, commanding in the symbolic form of
the truth two
altars to be made — a golden one within, and a brazen one without. But we
perceive that the golden altar is thus called heaven, by the testimony that our
Lord bears to it; for He says, When you bring your gift to the
altar (assuredly our gifts are the prayers which we
offer), and there rememberest that your brother has anything against you,
leave there your gift before the altar. Assuredly prayers ascend to
heaven. Therefore heaven is understood to be the golden altar which was within;
for the priests also
were accustomed to enter once in the year — as they who had the anointing — to
the golden altar, the Holy
Spirit signifying that Christ should do this once for all. As the
golden altar is acknowledged to be heaven, so also by the brazen altar is
understood the earth, under which is the Hades, — a region withdrawn from punishments
and fires, and a place of repose for the saints, wherein indeed
the righteous are seen and heard by the wicked, but they cannot
be carried across to them. He who sees all things would have us to know that
these saints,
therefore — that is, the souls of the slain
— are asking for vengeance for their blood, that is, of their body, from those
that dwell upon the earth; but because in the last time, moreover, the reward
of the saints will
be perpetual, and the condemnation of the wicked shall come,
it was told them to wait. And for a solace to their body, there were given unto
each of them white robes. They received, says he, white robes, that is, the
gift of the Holy
Spirit.
12. And I saw, when
he had opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake. In the sixth
seal, then, was a great earthquake: this is that very last persecution.
And the sun became black
as sackcloth of hair. The sun becomes as sackcloth; that is, the
brightness of doctrine will be obscured by unbelievers.
And the entire moon
became as blood. By the moon of blood is set forth the Church of the saints as pouring
out her blood for Christ.
13. And the stars
fell to the earth. The falling of the stars are the faithful who are
troubled for Christ's sake.
Even as a fig-tree casts
her untimely figs. The fig-tree, when shaken, loses its untimely figs —
when men are separated from the Church by persecution.
14. And the heaven
withdrew as a scroll that is rolled up. For the heaven to be rolled away,
that is, that the Church shall
be taken away.
And every mountain and
the islands were moved from their places. Mountains and islands removed
from their places intimate that in the last persecution all men departed from
their places; that is, that the good will be removed, seeking to avoid
the persecution.
From the Seventh Chapter
2. And I saw
another angel ascending
from the east, having the seal of the living God. He speaks of Elias
the prophet, who
is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the
restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and
intolerable persecution.
We read that these things are predicted in the opening of the Old and New Testament; for He
says by Malachi: Lo, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite, to turn the
hearts of the fathers to the children, according to the time of calling, to
recall the Jews to
the faith of
the people that succeed them. And to that end He shows, as we have said,
that the number of those that shall believe, of the Jews and of
the nations, is
a great multitude which no man was able to number. Moreover, we read in
the Gospel that
the prayers of
the Church are
sent from heaven by an angel, and that they are
received against wrath,
and that the kingdom of Antichrist is cast
out and extinguished by holy angels; for He
says: Pray that you enter not into temptation: for there
shall be a great affliction, such as has not been from the beginning of the
world; and except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be
saved. Mark 13:18-20 Therefore
He shall send these seven great archangels to smite the kingdom of Antichrist; for He
Himself also thus said: Then the Son of man shall
send His messengers; and they shall gather together His elect from the four
corners of the wind, from the one end of heaven even to the other end
thereof. Mark 13:27 For,
moreover, He previously says by the prophet: Then shall
there be peace for our land, when there shall arise in it seven shepherds and
eight attacks of men; and they shall encircle Assur, that is, Antichrist, in the
trench of Nimrod, Micah 5:5-6 that
is, in the nation of the devil, by the spirit of
the Church.
Similarly when the keepers of the house shall be moved. Moreover, the Lord
Himself, in the parable to
the apostles,
when the labourers had come to Him and said, Lord, did not we sow good
seed in Your field? Whence, then, has it tares? Answered them, An enemy has
done this. And they said to Him, Lord, will You, then, that we go and root them
up? And He said, Nay, but let both grow together until the harvest; and in the
time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, that they gather the tares and
make bundles of them, and burn them with fire everlasting, but
that they gather the wheat into my barns. Matthew 13:27-30 The
Apocalypse here shows, therefore, that these reapers, and shepherds, and
labourers, are the angels.
And the trumpet is the word of power. And although the same thing recurs in the
phials, still it is not said as if it occurred twice, but because what is
decreed by the Lord to happen shall be once for all; for this cause it is said
twice. What, therefore, He said too little in the trumpets, is here found in
the phials. We must not regard the order of what is said, because frequently
the Holy Spirit,
when He has traversed even to the end of the last times, returns again to the
same times, and fills up what He had before failed to say. Nor must
we look for order in the Apocalypse; but we must follow the meaning of those
things which are prophesied. Therefore in the trumpets and phials is signified
either the desolation of the plagues that are sent upon the earth, or the madness of Antichrist himself,
or the cutting off of the peoples, or the diversity of the plagues, or the hope
in the kingdom of the saints,
or the ruin of states, or the great overthrow of Babylon, that is, the
Roman state.
9. After this I
beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man was able to number, of every
nation, tribe, and people, and tongue, clothed with white robes. What the
great multitude out of every tribe implies, is to show the number of the elect
out of all believers,
who, being cleansed by baptism in the
blood of the Lamb, have made their robes white, keeping the grace which they have
received.
From the Eighth Chapter
1. And when He had
opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an
hour. Whereby is signified the beginning of everlasting rest; but it is
described as partial, because the silence being interrupted, he repeats it in
order. For if the silence had continued, here would be an end of his narrative.
13. And I saw
an angel flying
through the midst of heaven. By the angel flying
through the midst of heaven is signified the Holy Spirit bearing witness in two of
the prophets that
a great wrath of
plagues was imminent. If by any means, even in the last times, any one should
be willing to be converted, any one might even still be saved.
From the Ninth Chapter
13, 14. And I heard
a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is in the presence
of God, saying
to the sixth angel which
had the trumpet, Loose the four angels. That is,
the four corners of the earth which hold the four winds.
Which are bound in the
great river Euphrates. By the corners of the earth, or the four winds
across the river Euphrates, are meant four nations, because to every
nation is sent an angel;
as said the law, He determined them by the number of the angels of God, until the
number of the saints should
be filled up. They do not overpass their bounds, because at the last they shall
come with Antichrist.
From the Tenth Chapter
1, 2. I saw another
mighty angel coming
down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and
his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in
his hand an open book: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left
foot upon the earth. He signifies that that mighty angel who, he says,
descended from heaven, clothed with a cloud, is our Lord, as we have above
narrated.
His face was as it were
the sun. That is, with respect to the resurrection.
Upon his head was a
rainbow. He points to the judgment which is executed by Him, or shall be.
An open book. A
revelation of works in the future judgment, or the Apocalypse which John
received.
His feet, as we have
said above, are the apostles.
For that both things in sea and land are trodden under foot by Him, signifies
that all things are placed under His feet. Moreover, he calls Him an angel, that is, a
messenger, to wit, of the Father; for He is called the Messenger of great
counsel. He says also that He cried with a loud voice. The great voice is to
tell the words of the Omnipotent God of heaven to men, and to bear witness that after
penitence is closed there will be no hope subsequently.
3. Seven thunders
uttered their voices. The seven thunders uttering their voices signify
the Holy Spirit of
sevenfold power, who through the prophets announced
all things to come, and by His voice John gave his testimony in the world; but
because he says that he was about to write the things which the thunders had
uttered, that is, whatever things had been obscure in the announcements of
the Old Testament;
he is forbidden to write them, but he was charged to leave them sealed, because
he is an apostle,
nor was it fitting that the grace of the
subsequent stage should be given in the first. The time, says
he, is at hand. For the apostles, by powers, by
signs, by portents, and by mighty works, have overcome unbelief. After them
there is now given to the same completed Churches the comfort of having the
prophetic Scriptures subsequently interpreted, for I said that
after the apostles there
would be interpreting prophets.
For the apostle
says: And he placed in the Church indeed,
first, apostles;
secondly, prophets;
thirdly, teachers, 1 Corinthians 12:28 and
the rest. And in another place he says: Let the prophets speak two
or three, and let the others judge. 1 Corinthians 14:29 And
he says: Every woman that prays or prophesies
with her head uncovered, dishonours her head. 1 Corinthians 11:5 And
when he says, Let the prophets speak two
or three, and let the others judge, he is not speaking in respect of
the Catholic prophecy of things
unheard and unknown, but of things both announced and known. But let them
judge whether or not the interpretation is consistent with the testimonies of
the prophetic utterance. It is plain, therefore, that to John, armed as he was
with superior virtue,
this was not necessary, although the body of Christ, which is
the Church,
adorned with His members, ought to respond to its position.
10. I took the book
from the hand of the angel,
and ate it up. To take the book and eat it up, is, when exhibition of a
thing is made to one, to commit it to memory.
And it was in my mouth as
sweet as honey. To be sweet in the mouth is the reward of the preaching of
the speaker, and is most pleasant to the hearers; but it is most bitter both to
those that announce it, and to those that persevere in its commandments through
suffering.
11. And He says unto
me, You must again prophesy to the peoples, and to the tongues, and to
the nations, and
to many kings. He says this, because when John said these things he was in
the island of Patmos,
condemned to the labour of the mines by Cæsar Domitian. There,
therefore, he saw the Apocalypse; and when grown old, he thought that he should
at length receive his quittance by suffering, Domitian being
killed, all his judgments were discharged. And John being dismissed from the
mines, thus subsequently delivered the same Apocalypse which he had received
from God. This,
therefore, is what He says: You must again prophesy to all nations, because you
see the crowds of Antichrist rise
up; and against them other crowds shall stand, and they shall fall by the sword
on the one side and on the other.
From the Eleventh Chapter
1. And there was
shown unto me a reed like a rod: and the angel stood,
saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and
them that worship therein. A reed was shown like to a rod. This itself is
the Apocalypse which he subsequently exhibited to the churches; for the Gospel of the
complete faith he
subsequently wrote for the sake of our salvation. For
when Valentinus,
and Cerinthus,
and Ebion, and others of the school of Satan, were scattered
abroad throughout the world, there assembled together to him from the
neighbouring provinces all the bishops, and compelled
him himself also to draw up his testimony. Moreover, we say that the measure of
God's temple is the command of God to confess the Father Almighty, and that His
Son Christ was begotten by the Father before the beginning of the world, and
was made man in very soul and
flesh, both of them having overcome misery and death; and that, when received
with His body into heaven by the Father, He shed forth
the Holy Spirit,
the gift and pledge of immortality, that He was
announced by the prophets,
He was described by the law, He was God's hand, and the Word of the Father
from God, Lord
over all, and founder of the world: this is the reed and the measure of faith; and no one
worships the holy altar
save he who confesses this faith.
2. The court which
is within the temple leave out. The space which is called the court is the
empty altar within the walls: these being such as were not necessary, he
commanded to be ejected from the Church.
It is given to be trodden
down by the Gentiles. That
is, to the men of this world, that it may be trodden under foot by the nations, or with the
nations. Then he repeats about the destruction and slaughter of the last time,
and says:—
3. They shall tread
the holy city
down for forty and two months; and I will give to my two witnesses, and they
shall predict a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in
sackcloth. That is, three years and six months: these make forty-two
months. Therefore their preaching is three years and six months, and the
kingdom of Antichrist as
much again.
5. If any man will
hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their
enemies. That fire proceeds out of the mouth of those prophets against
the adversaries, bespeaks the power of the world. For all afflictions, however
many there are, shall be sent by their messengers in their word. Many think
that there is Elisha, or Moses, with Elijah; but
both of these died; while the death of Elijah is not heard of, with whom all
our ancients have believed that
it was Jeremiah. For even the very word spoken to him testifies to him,
saying, Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and
before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you
a prophet unto
the nations. But he was not a prophet unto the
nations; and thus the truthful word of God makes it necessary, which it has
promised to set forth, that he should be a prophet to the
nations.
4. These are the two
candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth. These two candlesticks
and two olive trees He has to this end spoken of, and admonished you that if,
when you have read of them elsewhere, you have not understood, you may
understand here. For in Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets, it is thus
written: These are the two olive trees and two candlesticks which stand in
the presence of the Lord of the earth; Zechariah 4:14 that
is, they are in paradise. Also, in another sense, standing in the presence of
the lord of the earth, that is, in the presence of Antichrist. Therefore
they must be slain by Antichrist.
7. And the beast
which ascends from the abyss. After many plagues completed in the world,
in the end he says that a beast ascended from the abyss. But that he shall
ascend from the abyss is proved by many
testimonies; for he says in the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel: Behold,
Assur was a cypress in Mount Lebanon. Assur, deeply rooted, was a lofty
and branching cypress — that is, a numerous people — in Mount Lebanon, in the
kingdom of kingdoms, that is, of the Romans. Moreover, that he says he was
beautiful in offshoots, he says he was strong in armies. The water, he says,
shall nourish him, that is, the many thousands of men which were subjected to
him; and the abyss increased him, that is, belched him forth. For even Isaiah
speaks almost in the same words; moreover, that he was in the kingdom of the
Romans, and that he was among the Cæsars. The Apostle Paul also
bears witness,
for he says to the Thessalonians: Let him who now restrains restrain, until
he be taken out of the way; and then shall appear that Wicked One, even he
whose coming is after the working of Satan, with signs and
lying wonders. And that they might know that he should
come who then was the prince, he added: He already endeavours after the
secret of mischief 2 Thessalonians 2:10 —
that is, the mischief which he is about to do he strives to do secretly; but he
is not raised up by his own power, nor by that of his father, but by command
of God, of which
thing Paul says
in the same passage: For this cause, because they have
not received the love of God, He will send upon
them a spirit of error,
that they all may be persuaded of a lie, who have not been
persuaded of the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 And
Isaiah says: While they waited for the light, darkness arose upon
them. Isaiah 59:9 Therefore
the Apocalypse sets forth that these prophets are killed
by the same, and on the fourth day rise again, that none might be found equal
to God.
8. And their dead
bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which spiritually is
called Sodom and Egypt. But He calls
Jerusalem Sodom and Egypt, since it had
become the heaping up of the persecuting people.
Therefore it behooves us diligently, and with the utmost care, to follow the
prophetic announcement, and to understand what the Spirit from the Father both
announces and anticipates, and how, when He has gone forward to the last times,
He again repeats the former ones. And now, what He will do once for all, He
sometimes sets forth as if it were done; and unless you understand this, as
sometimes done, and sometimes as about to be done, you will fall into a great
confusion. Therefore the interpretation of the following sayings has shown
therein, that not the order of the reading, but the order of the discourse,
must be understood.
19. And the temple
of God was opened which is in heaven. The temple opened is a manifestation
of our Lord. For the temple of God is the Son, as He Himself
says: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. And
when the Jews said, Forty
and six years was this temple in building, the evangelist says, He
spoke of the temple of His body.
And there was seen in His
temple the ark of the Lord's testament. The preaching of the Gospel and the
forgiveness of sins,
and all the gifts whatever that came with Him, he says, appeared therein.
From the Twelfth Chapter
1. And there was
seen a great sign in heaven. A woman clothed with
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
And being with child, she cried out travailing, and bearing torments that she
might bring forth. The woman clothed with
the sun, and having the moon under her feet, and wearing a crown of twelve
stars upon her head, and travailing in her pains, is the ancient Church of
fathers, and prophets,
and saints,
and apostles,
which had the groans and torments of its longing until it saw that Christ, the fruit of its
people according to the flesh long promised to it, had taken flesh out of the
selfsame people. Moreover, being clothed with the sun intimates the hope of
resurrection and the glory of
the promise. And the moon intimates the fall of the bodies of the saints under the
obligation of death, which never can fail. For even as life is diminished, so
also it is increased. Nor is the hope of those that sleep extinguished
absolutely, as some think, but they have in their darkness a light such as the
moon. And the crown of twelve stars signifies the choir of fathers,
according to the fleshly birth, of whom Christ was to take flesh.
3. And there
appeared another sign in heaven; and behold a red dragon, having seven
heads. Now, that he says that this dragon was of a red color — that is, of
a purple color — the result of his work gave him such a color. For from the
beginning (as the Lord says) he was a murderer; and he has oppressed the whole
of the human race,
not so much by the obligation of death, as, moreover, by the various forms of
destruction and fatal mischiefs. His seven heads were the seven kings of the
Romans, of whom also is Antichrist, as we have
said above.
And ten horns. He
says that the ten kings in the latest times are the same as these, as we shall
more fully set forth there.
4. And his tail drew
the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them upon the earth. Now,
that he says that the dragon's tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,
this may be taken in two ways. For many think that he may be able to seduce the
third part of the men who believe. But it should
more truly be
understood, that of the angels that were
subject to him, since he was still a prince when he descended from his estate,
he seduced the third part; therefore what we said above, the Apocalypse says.
And the dragon stood before
the woman who
was beginning to bring forth, that, when she had brought forth, he might devour
her child. The red dragon standing and desiring to devour her child when
she had brought him forth, is the devil — to wit, the
traitor angel,
who thought that the perishing of all men would be alike
by death; but He, who was not born of seed, owed nothing to death: wherefore he
could not devour Him — that is, detain Him in death — for on the third day He
rose again. Finally, also, and before He suffered, he approached to tempt Him
as man; but when he found that He was not what he thought Him to be, he
departed from Him, even till the time. Whence it is here said:—
5. And she brought
forth a son, who begins to rule all nations with a rod of iron. The rod of
iron is the sword of persecution.
I saw that all men withdrew from
his abodes. That is, the good will be removed, flying from persecution.
And her son was caught up
to God, and to
His throne. We read also in the Acts of the Apostles that He was caught up
to God's throne, just as speaking with the disciples He was
caught up to heaven.
6. But the woman fled into the
wilderness, and there were given to her two great eagle's wings. The aid
of the great eagle's wings — to wit, the gift of prophets— was given to
that Catholic Church, whence in the
last times a hundred and forty-four thousands of men should believe in the
preaching of Elias; but, moreover, he here says that the rest of the people should
be found alive on the coming of the Lord. And the Lord says in the Gospel: Then let
them which are in Judea flee
to the mountains; Luke 21:21 that
is, as many as should be gathered together in Judea, let them go to
that place which they have ready, and let them be supported there for three
years and six months from the presence of the devil.
14. Two great
wings are the two prophets— Elias, and
the prophet who
shall be with him.
15. And the serpent
cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a
flood, that he might carry her away with the flood. He signifies by the
water which the serpent cast out of his mouth, the people who at his command
would persecute her.
16. And the earth
helped the woman,
and opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of
his mouth. That the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the waters,
sets forth the vengeance for the present troubles. Although, therefore, it may
signify this woman bringing
forth, it shows her afterwards flying when her offspring is brought forth,
because both things did not happen at one time; for we know that Christ
was born, but that the time should arrive that she should flee from the face of
the serpent: (we do not know) that this has
happened as yet. Then he says:—
7-9. There was a
battle in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with
the dragon; and the dragon warred, and his angels, and they
prevailed not; nor was their place found any more in heaven. And that great
dragon was cast forth, that old serpent: he was cast forth into the
earth. This is the beginning of Antichrist; yet
previously Elias must prophesy, and there must be times of peace. And
afterwards, when the three years and six months are completed in the preaching
of Elias, he also must be cast down from heaven, where up till that time he had
had the power of ascending; and all the apostate angels, as well as Antichrist, must be
roused up from hell. Paul the apostle
says: Except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin shall appear,
the son of perdition; and the adversary who exalted himself above all which is
called God, or
which is worshipped. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
From the Thirteenth
chapter.
1. And I saw a beast
rising up from the sea, like a leopard. This signifies the kingdom of that
time of Antichrist,
and the people mingled with the variety of nations.
2. His feet were as
the feet of a bear. A strong and most unclean beast, the feet are to be
understood as his leaders.
And his mouth as the
mouth of a lion. That is, his mouth armed for blood is his bidding, and a
tongue which will proceed to nothing else than to the shedding of blood.
* * * * * * * *
18. His number is
the name of a man,
and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. As they have it reckoned
from the Greek characters, they thus find it among many to be τειταν,
for τειταν has this number, which the Gentiles call Sol
and Phœbus; and it is reckoned in Greek thus: τ three hundred, ε five, ι ten, τ three
hundred, α one, ν fifty — which taken together become six
hundred and sixty-six. For as far as belongs to the Greek letters, they fill up
this number and name; which name if you wish to turn into Latin, it is
understood by the antiphrase DICLUX, which letters are reckoned in this manner:
since D figures five hundred, I one, C a hundred, L fifty, V five, X ten —
which by the reckoning up of the letters makes similarly six hundred and
sixty-six, that is, what in Greek gives τειταν, to wit, what in Latin is
called DICLUX; by which name, expressed by antiphrases, we understand Antichrist, who,
although he be cut off from the supernal light, and deprived thereof, yet
transforms himself into an angel of light,
daring to call himself light. Moreover, we find in a certain Greek codex αντεμος,
which letters being reckoned up, you will find to give the number as
above: α one, ν fifty, τ three
hundred, ε five, μ forty, ο seventy, ς two
hundred — which together makes six hundred and sixty-six, according to the
Greeks. Moreover, there is another name in Gothic of him, which will be evident
of itself, that is, γενσήρικος, which in the same way you will reckon in
Greek
letters: γ three, ε five, ν fifty, σ two
hundred, η eight, ρ a
hundred, ι ten, κ twenty, ο seventy, ς also
two hundred, which, as has been said above, make six hundred and sixty-six.
11. And I saw
another beast coming up out of the earth. He is speaking of the great
and false prophet who
is to do signs, and portents, and falsehoods before him in the presence of men.
And he had two horns like
a lamb — that is, the appearance within of a man — and he spoke like a
dragon. But the devil speaks
full of malice;
for he shall do these things in the presence of men, so that even the
dead appear to rise again.
13. And he shall
make fire come down from heaven in the sight of men. Yes (as I also have
said), in the sight of men. Magicians do these things, by the aid of the apostate angels, even to this
day. He shall cause also
that a golden image of Antichrist shall be
placed in the temple at Jerusalem, and that the apostate angel should enter,
and thence utter voices and oracles. Moreover, he himself shall contrive that
his servants and children should receive as a mark on their foreheads, or on
their right hands, the number of his name, lest any one should buy or sell
them. Daniel had previously predicted his contempt and provocation of God. And he shall
place, says he, his temple within Samaria, upon the
illustrious and holy mountain
that is at Jerusalem, an image such as Nebuchadnezzar had
made. Daniel 11:45 Thence
here he places, and by and by here he renews, that of which the Lord,
admonishing His churches concerning the last times and their dangers,
says: But when you shall see the contempt which is spoken of by Daniel
the prophet standing
in the holy place,
let him who reads understand. Matthew 24:15; Daniel 9:27 It
is called a contempt when God is provoked, because idols are
worshipped instead of God,
or when the dogma of heretics is
introduced in the churches. But it is a turning away because steadfast men,
seduced by false signs and portents, are turned away from their salvation.
From the Fourteenth
Chapter
6. And I saw
an angel flying
through the midst of heaven. The angel flying
through the midst of heaven, whom he says that he saw, we have already treated
of above, as being the same Elias who anticipates the kingdom of Antichrist in
his prophecy.
8. And another angel following
him. The other angel following,
he speaks of as the same prophet who is the
associate of his prophesying. But that he says —
15. Thrust in your
sharp sickle, and gather in the grapes of the vine, he signifies it of the
nations that should perish on the advent of the Lord. And indeed in many forms
he shows this same thing, as if to the dry harvest, and the seed for the coming
of the Lord, and the consummation of the world, and the kingdom of Christ, and the future
appearance of the kingdom of the blessed.
19, 20. And
the angel thrust
in the sickle, and reaped the vine of the earth, and cast it into the
wine-press of the wrath of God. And the wine-press
of His fury was trodden down without the city. In that he says that it was
cast into the wine-press of the wrath of God, and trodden down
without the city, the treading of the wine-press is the retribution on the
sinner.
And blood went out from
the wine-press, even unto the horse-bridles. The vengeance of shed blood
as was before predicted, In blood you have sinned, and blood shall
follow you.
For a thousand and six
hundred furlongs. That is, through all the four parts of the world: for
there is a quadrate put together by fours, as in four faces and four
appearances, and wheels by fours; for forty times four is one thousand six
hundred. Repeating the same persecution, the
Apocalypse says:—
From the Fifteenth
Chapter
1. And I saw another
great and wonderful sign, seven angels having the
seven last plagues; for in them is completed the indignation of God. For the wrath of God always
strikes the obstinate people with seven plagues, that is, perfectly, as it is
said in Leviticus; and these shall be in the last time, when the Church shall have
gone out of the midst.
2. Standing upon the
sea of glass, having harps. That is, that they stood steadfastly in
the faith upon
their baptism,
and having their confession in their mouth, that they shall exult in the
kingdom before God. But let us return to what is set before us.
From the Seventeenth
Chapter
1-6. There came one
of the seven angels,
which have the seven bowls, and spoke with me, saying, Come, I will show you
the judgment of that great whore who sits upon many waters. And I saw the woman drunk with
the blood of the saints,
and with the blood of the martyrs. The
decrees of that senate are always accomplished against all, contrary to the
preaching of the true faith; and now already
mercy being cast aside, itself here gave the decree among all nations.
3. And I saw
the woman herself
sitting upon the scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy. But to
sit upon the scarlet beast, the author of murders, is the image of the devil. Where
also is treated of his captivity, concerning which we have fully
considered. I remember, indeed, that this is called Babylon also in the
Apocalypse, on account of confusion; and in Isaiah also; and Ezekiel called
it Sodom. In
fine, if you compare what is said against Sodom, and what Isaiah
says against Babylon,
and what the Apocalypse says, you will find that they are all one.
9. The seven heads
are the seven hills, on which the woman sits. That
is, the city of Rome.
10. And there are
seven kings: five have fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and
when he has come, he will be for a short time. The time must be understood
in which the written Apocalypse was published, since then reigned Cæsar Domitian; but before him
had been Titus his brother, and Vespasian, Otho,
Vitellius, and Galba. These are the five who have fallen. One remains, under
whom the Apocalypse was written — Domitian, to
wit. The other has not yet come, speaks of Nerva; and when he
has come, he will be for a short time, for he did not complete the period
of two years.
11. And the beast
which you saw is of the seven. Since before those kings Nero reigned.
And he is the
eighth. He says only when this beast shall come, reckon it the eighth place,
since in that is the completion. He added:—
And shall go into
perdition. For that ten kings received royal power when he shall move from
the east, he says. He shall be sent from the city of Rome with his
armies. And Daniel sets forth the ten horns and the ten diadems. And that these
are eradicated from the former ones — that is, that three of the principal
leaders are killed by Antichrist:
that the other seven give him honour and wisdom
and power, of whom he says:—
16. These
shall hate the
whore, to wit, the city, and shall burn her flesh with fire. Now that one
of the heads was, as it were, slain to death, and that the stroke of his death
was directed, he speaks of Nero. For it is plain
that when the cavalry sent by the senate was pursuing him, he himself cut his
throat. Him therefore, when raised up, God will send as a worthy king, but
worthy in such a way as the Jews merited. And
since he is to have another name, He shall also appoint another name, that so
the Jews may
receive him as if he were the Christ. Says Daniel: He shall not know the lust of women, although before
he was most impure, and he shall know no God of his
fathers: for he will not be able to seduce the people of the circumcision, unless he
is a judge of the law. Daniel 11:37 Finally,
also, he will recall the saints, not to the
worship of idols,
but to undertake circumcision,
and, if he is able, to seduce any; for he shall so conduct himself as to be
called Christ by them. But that he rises again from hell, we have said above
in the word of Isaiah: Water shall nourish him, and hell has increased
him; who, however, must come with name unchanged, and doings unchanged, as
says the Spirit.
From the Nineteenth
Chapter
11. And I saw heaven
opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful
and True. The horse, and He that sits upon him, sets forth our Lord coming
to His kingdom with the heavenly army. Because from the sea of the north, which
is the Arabian Sea,
even to the sea of Phœnice, and even to the ends of the earth, they will
command these greater parts in the coming of the Lord Jesus, and all
the souls of
the nations will be assembled to judgment.
From the Twentieth
Chapter
1-3. And I saw
an angel come
down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a chain in his hand. And he
held the dragon, that old serpent, which is called the Devil and Satan, and bound him for
a thousand years,
and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he
should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should
be finished: after this he must be loosed a little season. Those years
wherein Satan is
bound are in the first advent of Christ, even to the end
of the age; and they are called a thousand, according to
that mode of speaking, wherein a part is signified by the whole, just as is that
passage, the word which He commanded for a thousand
generations, although they are not a thousand. Moreover that he
says, and he cast him into the abyss, he says this, because the devil, excluded from the
hearts of believers,
began to take possession of the wicked, in whose hearts,
blinded day by day, he is shut up as if in a profound abyss. And he shut him
up, says he, and put a seal upon him, that he should not deceive the nations
until the thousand
years should be finished. He shut the door upon him, it is
said, that is, he forbade and restrained his seducing those who belong to Christ. Moreover, he put
a seal upon him, because it is hidden who belong to the side of the devil, and who to that
of Christ. For
we know not
of those who seem to stand whether they shall not fall, and of those who are
down it is uncertain whether they may rise. Moreover, that he says that he is
bound and shut up, that he may not seduce the nations, the nations
signify the Church,
seeing that of them it itself is formed, and which being seduced, he previously
held until, he says, the thousand years should
be completed, that is, what is left of the sixth day, to wit, of the sixth age,
which subsists for a thousand
years; after this he must be loosed for a little season. The little season
signifies three years and six months, in which with all his power the devil will avenge
himself under Antichrist against
the Church.
Finally, he says, after that the devil shall be
loosed, and will seduce the nations in the whole world, and will entice war against
the Church, the
number of whose foes shall be as the sand of the sea.
4, 5. And I saw
thrones, and them that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them;
and I saw the souls of them that
were slain on account of the testimony of Jesus, and for the word
of God, and
which had not worshipped the beast nor his image, nor have received his writing
on their forehead or in their hand; and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years: the rest
of them lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection. There are two resurrections. But
the first resurrection is now of the souls that are by
the faith, which
does not permit men to pass over to the second death. Of this resurrection the apostle
says: If you have risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.
6. Blessed and holy is he who has
part in this resurrection: on them the second death shall have no power, but
they shall be priests of God and Christ, and they shall
reign with Him a thousand
years. I do not think the reign of a thousand years is eternal; or if it is
thus to be thought of, they cease to reign when the thousand years are
finished. But I will put forward what my capacity enables me to judge. The
tenfold number signifies the decalogue, and the hundredfold sets forth the
crown of virginity:
for he who shall have kept the undertaking of virginity completely,
and shall have faithfully fulfilled the precepts of the decalogue, and shall
have destroyed the untrained nature or impure thoughts within the retirement of
the heart, that they may not rule over him, this is the true priest of Christ, and
accomplishing the millenary number thoroughly, is thought to reign with Christ;
and truly in
his case the devil is
bound. But he who is entangled in the vices and the dogmas of heretics, in his case
the devil is
loosed. But that it says that when the thousand years are
finished he is loosed, so the number of the perfect saints being
completed, in whom there is the glory of virginity in body
and mind, by the
approaching advent of the kingdom of the hateful one, many, seduced by
that love of
earthly things, shall be overthrown, and together with him shall enter the lake
of fire.
8-10. And they went
up upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and
the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
And the devil who
seduced them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the beast
and the false
prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. This
belongs to the last judgment. And after a little time the earth was made holy, as being at least
that wherein lately had reposed the bodies of the virgins, when they shall
enter upon an eternal kingdom
with an immortal King,
as they who are not only virgins in body,
but, moreover, with equal inviolability have protected themselves, both in
tongue and thought, from wickedness; and these,
it shows, shall dwell in rejoicing for ever with the Lamb.
From the Twenty-First and
Twenty-Second Chapters
16. And the city is
placed in a square. The city which he says is squared, he says also is
resplendent with gold and precious stones, and has a sacred street, and a river
through the midst of it, and the tree of life on either side, bearing twelve
manner of fruits throughout the twelve months; and that the light of the sun is
not there, because the Lamb is the light of it; and that its gates were of
single pearls; and that there were three gates on each of the four sides, and
that they could not be shut. I say, in respect of the square city, he shows
forth the united multitude of the saints, in whom
the faith could
by no means waver. As Noah is
commanded to make the ark of squared beams, that it might resist the force of
the deluge, by the precious stones he sets forth the holy men who cannot
waver in persecution,
who could not be moved either by the tempest of persecutors, or be dissolved
from the true faith by the force
of the rain, because they are associated of pure gold, of whom the city of the
great King is adorned. Moreover, the streets set forth their hearts purified
from all uncleanness, transparent with glowing light, that the Lord may justly walk up and
down in them. The river of life sets forth that the grace of spiritual
doctrine flowed through the minds of the faithful, and that
manifold flourishing forms of odours germinated therein. The tree of life on
either bank sets forth the Advent of Christ, according to the
flesh, who satisfied the peoples wasted with famine, that received
life from One by the wood of the Cross, with the announcement of God's word.
And in that he says that the sun is not necessary in the
city, he shows, evidently, that the Creator as the immaculate light
shines in the midst of it, whose brightness no mind has been able to conceive,
nor tongue to tell.
In that he says there are
three gates placed on each of the four sides, of single pearls, I think that
these are the four virtues,
to wit, prudence, fortitude, justice, temperance, which are
associated with one another. And, being involved together, they make the number
twelve. But the twelve gates we believe to be the
number of the apostles,
who, shining in the four virtues as precious
stones, manifesting the light of their doctrine among the saints, cause it to enter
the celestial city, that by intercourse with them the choir of angels may be
gladdened. And that the gates cannot be shut, it is evidently shown that the
doctrine of the apostles can
be separated from rectitude by no tempest of contradiction. Even though the
floods of the nations and the vain superstitions of heretics should
revolt against their true faith, they are
overcome, and shall be dissolved as the foam, because Christ is the Rock by
which, and on which, the Church is founded.
And thus it is overcome by no traces of maddened men. Therefore they are not to
be heard who assure themselves that there is to be an earthly reign of a thousand years; who
think, that is to say, with the heretic Cerinthus. For the
kingdom of Christ is now eternal in
the saints,
although the glory of
the saints shall
be manifested after the resurrection.
About this page
Source. Translated
by Robert Ernest Wallis. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.
7. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland
Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing
Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0712.htm>.
Contact
information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is
feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might
change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly
appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors
and inappropriate ads.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0712.htm
On the Creation of the World
To me, as I meditate and
consider in my mind concerning the creation of this world in which we are kept
enclosed, even such is the rapidity of that creation; as is contained in the
book of Moses,
which he wrote about its creation, and which is called Genesis. God produced
that entire mass for the adornment of His majesty in six days; on the seventh
to which He consecrated it
... with a blessing. For this reason, therefore, because in the septenary
number of days both heavenly and earthly things are ordered, in place of the
beginning I will consider of this seventh day after the principle of all
matters pertaining to the number of seven; and as far as I shall be able, I
will endeavour to portray the day of the divine power to that
consummation.
In the beginning God made
the light, and divided it in the exact measure of twelve hours by day and by
night, for this reason, doubtless, that day might bring over the night as an
occasion of rest for men's labours; that, again, day might overcome, and thus
that labour might be refreshed with this alternate change of rest, and that
repose again might be tempered by the exercise of day. On the fourth day
He made two lights in the heaven, the greater and the lesser, that the one
might rule over the day, the other over the night, Genesis 1:16-17 — the
lights of the sun and moon and He placed the rest of the stars in heaven,
that they might shine upon the earth, and by their positions distinguish the
seasons, and years, and months, and days, and hours.
Now is manifested the
reason of the truth why
the fourth day is called the Tetras, why we fast even to the ninth hour, or
even to the evening, or why there should be a passing over even to the next
day. Therefore this world of ours is composed of four elements — fire, water,
heaven, earth. These four elements, therefore, form the quaternion of times or
seasons. The sun, also, and the moon constitute throughout the space of the
year four seasons — of spring, summer, autumn, winter; and these seasons make a
quaternion. And to proceed further still from that principle, lo, there are
four living creatures before God's throne, four Gospels, four rivers
flowing in paradise; Genesis 2:10 four
generations of people from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Moses, from Moses to Christ the
Lord, the Son of God;
and four living creatures, viz., a man, a calf, a lion, an
eagle; and four rivers, the Pison, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates.
The man Christ Jesus, the originator of these things whereof we have above
spoken, was taken prisoner by wicked hands, by a
quaternion of soldiers . Therefore on account of His captivity by a
quaternion, on account of the majesty of His works — that the seasons also,
wholesome to humanity, joyful for the harvests, tranquil for the tempests, may
roll on — therefore we make the fourth day a station or a supernumerary
fast.
On the fifth day the land
and water brought forth their progenies. On the sixth day the things that were
wanting were created; and thus God raised up man from the soil, as lord of all
the things which He created upon the earth and the water. Yet He created angels and
archangels before He created man, placing spiritual beings before earthly ones.
For light was made before sky and the earth. This sixth day is
called parasceve, that is to say, the preparation of the kingdom. For
He perfected Adam, whom He made after His image and likeness. But for
this reason He completed His works before He created angels and
fashioned man, lest perchance they should falsely assert that
they had been His helpers. On this day also, on account of the passion of
the Lord Jesus Christ,
we make either a station to God, or a fast. On the
seventh day He rested from all His works, and blessed it, and sanctified it. On
the former day we are accustomed to fast rigorously, that on the Lord's day we
may go forth to our bread with giving of thanks. And let
the parasceve become a rigorous fast, lest we should appear to
observe any Sabbath with
the Jews, which
Christ Himself, the Lord of the Sabbath, says by
His prophets that His soul hates; Isaiah 1:13-14 which Sabbath He in His
body abolished, although, nevertheless, He had formerly Himself commanded Moses that circumcision should
not pass over the eighth day, which day very frequently happens on the Sabbath, as we read
written in the Gospel. John 7:22 Moses, foreseeing the
hardness of that people, on the Sabbath raised up
his hands, therefore, and thus figuratively fastened himself to a
cross. Exodus 22:9, 12 And
in the battle they were sought for by the foreigners on the Sabbath day, that they
might be taken captive, and, as if by the very strictness of the law, might be
fashioned to the avoidance of its teaching. 1 Maccabbees 2:31-41
And thus in the sixth
Psalm for the eighth day, David asks the Lord that He would not rebuke him in
His anger, nor
judge him in His fury; for this is indeed the eighth day of that future judgment,
which will pass beyond the order of the sevenfold arrangement. Jesus also, the
son of Nave, the successor of Moses, himself broke
the Sabbath day;
for on the Sabbath
day he commanded the children of Israel Joshua 6:4 to
go round the walls of the city of Jericho with
trumpets, and declare war against
the aliens. Matthias also, prince of Judah, broke the Sabbath; for he slew the
prefect of Antiochus the king of Syria on the Sabbath, and subdued the
foreigners by pursuing them. And in Matthew we read, that it is written Isaiah
also and the rest of his colleagues broke the Sabbath Matthew 12:5 —
that that true and
just Sabbath should
be observed in the seventh millenary of years. Wherefore to those seven days
the Lord attributed to each a thousand years; for thus went the
warning: In Your eyes, O Lord, a thousand years are as one
day. Therefore in the eyes of the Lord each thousand of years is ordained,
for I find that the Lord's eyes are seven. Zechariah 4:10 Wherefore,
as I have narrated, that true Sabbath will be in
the seventh millenary of years, when Christ with His elect shall reign.
Moreover, the seven heavens agree with those days; for thus we are
warned: By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the powers
of them by the spirit of His mouth. There are seven spirits. Their names
are the spirits which abode on the Christ of God, as was intimated in
Isaiah the prophet: And
there rests upon Him the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, the spirit of wisdom and of piety, and the spirit of
God's fear has
filled Him. Isaiah 11:2-3 Therefore
the highest heaven is the heaven of wisdom; the second, of understanding; the
third, of counsel; the fourth, of might; the fifth, of knowledge; the sixth,
of piety; the
seventh, of God's fear.
From this, therefore, the thunders bellow, the lightnings are kindled, the
fires are heaped together; fiery darts appear, stars gleam, the anxiety caused
by the dreadful comet is aroused. Sometimes it happens that the sun and moon
approach one another, and cause those more
than frightful appearances, radiating with light in the field of their aspect.
But the author of the whole creation is Jesus. His name is the Word; for thus
His Father says: My heart has emitted a good word. John the evangelist thus
says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were
made by Him, and without Him was nothing made that was made. Therefore,
first, was made the creation; secondly, man, the lord of the human race, as says the
apostle. 1 Corinthians 15:45-47 Therefore
this Word, when it made light, is called Wisdom; when it made the sky,
Understanding; when it made land and sea, Counsel; when it made sun and moon
and other bright things, Power; when it calls forth land and sea, Knowledge;
when it formed man, Piety; when it blesses and sanctifies man, it has the name
of God's fear.
Behold the seven horns of
the Lamb, Revelation 5:6 the
seven eyes of God Zechariah 4:10 —
the seven eyes are the seven spirits of the Lamb; Revelation 4:5 seven
torches burning before the throne of God Revelation 4:5 seven
golden candlesticks, Revelation 1:13 seven
young sheep, Leviticus 23:18 the
seven women in
Isaiah, Isaiah 4:1 the
seven churches in Paul,
seven deacons, Acts 6:3 seven angels, seven trumpets,
seven seals to the book, seven periods of seven days with which Pentecost is
completed, the seven weeks in Daniel, also the forty-three weeks in Daniel;
with Noah, seven
of all clean things in the ark; seven revenges of Cain, Genesis 4:15 seven
years for a debt to be acquitted, Deuteronomy 15:1 the
lamp with seven orifices, Zechariah 4:2 seven
pillars of wisdom in the house of Solomon. Proverbs 11:1
Now, therefore, you may
see that it is being told you of the unerring glory of God in providence; yet, as far
as my small capacity shall be able, I will endeavour to set it forth. That He
might re-create that Adam by
means of the week, and bring aid to His entire creation, was accomplished by
the nativity of His Son Jesus Christ our
Lord. Who, then, that is taught in the law of God, who that is filled
with the Holy Spirit,
does not see in his heart, that on the same day on which the dragon seduced
Eve, the angel Gabriel
brought the glad tidings to the Virgin Mary; that on the same day the Holy Spirit overflowed
the Virgin Mary,
on which He made light; that on that day He was incarnate in flesh, in which He
made the land and water; that on the same day He was put to the breast, on
which He made the stars; that on the same day He was circumcised, on which
the land and water brought forth their offspring; that on the same day He was
incarnated, on which He formed man out of the ground; that on the same day
Christ was born, on which He formed man; that on that day He suffered, on
which Adam fell;
that on the same day He rose again from the dead, on which He created light?
He, moreover, consummates His humanity in the number seven: of His nativity,
His infancy, His boyhood, His youth, His young-manhood, His mature age, His
death. I have also set forth His humanity to the Jews in these
manners: since He is hungry, is thirsty; since He gave food and drink; since He
walks, and retired; since He slept upon a pillow; Mark 4:38 since,
moreover, He walks upon the stormy seas with His feet, He commands the winds,
He cures the sick and restores the lame, He raises the blind by His speech, —
see that He declares Himself to them to be the Lord.
The day, as I have above
related, is divided into two parts by the number twelve — by the twelve hours
of day and night; and by these hours too, months, and years, and seasons, and
ages are computed. Therefore, doubtless, there are appointed also twelve angels of the day
and twelve angels of
the night, in accordance, to wit, with the number of hours. For these are the
twenty-four witnesses of the days and nights which sit before the throne
of God, having
golden crowns on their heads, whom the Apocalypse of John the apostle and evangelist calls
elders, for the reason that they are older both than the other angels and than
men.
About this page
Source. Translated
by Robert Ernest Wallis. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.
7. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland
Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised
and edited for New Advent by Kevin
Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0711.htm>.
Contact
information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is
feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might
change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly
appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors
and inappropriate ads.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0711.htm
San Vittorino Vescovo
e martire
Festa: 2 novembre
† 303
San Vittorino, celebre
esegeta, fu vescovo nell'Alta Pannonia, precisamente presso Poetavium, poi
Pettau, odierna Ptuj in Slovenia. Poche sono le notizie tramandate sul suo
conto. I pochi frammenti si devono a casuali riferimenti nelle opere di san
Girolamo, Optato di Milevis e Cassiodoro. Da questi emerge che Vittorino, dopo
essere stato retore, divenne vescovo di Pettau e scrisse commentari relativi
all'Antico e Nuovo Testamento. Girolamo giudicò l'operato del santo vescovo
assai qualificanto, sebbene gravi l'ipotesi della sua adesione all'eresia del
milleranismo che a qual tempo dilagava in quelle zone. Essa sosteneva che
Cristo sarebbe ritornato sulla terra per regnarvi mille anni. Vittorino pare
essere morto martire della fede durante la violenta persecuzione scoppiata al
termine del regno dell'imperatore Diocleziano, verso l'anno 303. Il suo culto
sopravvisse ai travagli che nel corso dei secoli colpirono la zona dove
esercitò il suo ministero e, per un certo periodo, venne erroneamente indicato
come primo vescovo di Poitiers. (Avvenire)
Martirologio
Romano: Commemorazione di san Vittorino, vescovo di Ptuj in Pannonia,
nell’odierna Slovenia, che pubblicò molti scritti di esegesi della Sacra Bibbia
e fu coronato dal martirio durante la persecuzione dell’imperatore Diocleziano.
San Vittorino, celebre esegeta, fu vescovo nell’Alta Pannonia, precisamente presso Poetavium, poi Pettau, odierna Ptuj in Slovenia. La sua “passio” è andata persa e perciò assai poche notizie sono state tramandate sul suo conto, grazie ad alcuni casuali riferimenti nelle opere di San Girolamo, Optato di Milevis e Cassiodoro. Da questi preziosi documenti emerge che Vittorino, dopo essere stato retore, ascese alla cattedra episcopale di Pettau e redasse commentari relativi all’Antico e Nuovo Testamento.
Proprio da tali opere il grande San Girolamo trasse delle citazioni e dell’autore asserì che fosse un buon studioso, notando, come riportò l’agiografo Alban Butler, che “le sue opere erano sublimi nel significato, sebbene il latino fosse semplice, poiché l’autore era greco di nascita”.
Girolamo giudicò inoltre l’operato del santo vescovo assai qualificanto, sebbene gravi l’ipotesi della sua adesione all’eresia del milleranismo che a qual tempo dilagava in quelle zone. Essa sosteneva che Cristo sarebbe ritornato sulla terra per regnarvi mille anni.
Vittorino pare essere morto martire della fede durante la violenta persecuzione scoppiata al termine del regno dell’imperatore Diocleziano, verso l’anno 303. Il suo culto e la fama di santità sopravvissero ai travagli che nel corso dei secoli afflisserò la zona ove esercitò il suo ministero e, ad un certo punto, si pensò erroneamente che fosse stato il primo vescovo di Poitiers.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/93125
Martine Dulaey
(Université d’Amiens), « Jérôme “éditeur” du Commentaire sur l'Apocalypse de
Victorin de Poetovio », Revue des Études Augustiniennes, 37 (1991),
199-236 : https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/pdf/10.1484/J.REA.5.104641
Victorinus at EarlyChurch.org.uk : https://www.earlychurch.org.uk/victorinus.php#gsc.tab=0