Letters to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira

The Four First Ages of the Church Militant

§ 1. On the First Age of the Church Militant, Which May Be Called the Age of Sowing (seminativus), from Jesus Christ and the Apostles Until Nero. Chapter 2, Verses 1–7

I. VERSE 1. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. The seven churches to which Saint John addresses himself are, as has been said, the type under which the seven ages of the Catholic Church, at different future epochs, are described. For it is deliberately that he adds: And I turned... and I saw seven candlesticks — that is, seven future states of the Church. To these ages correspond the seven days of the Lord when He created the world; likewise the seven ages of the world, and the seven spirits or gifts of the Lord sent upon all flesh on the day of Pentecost. For just as the Lord our God enclosed the course of all generations and of natural things within seven days and seven epochs, so also He will consummate regeneration in the seven ages of the Church, in each of which He will pour out, cause to germinate, and bring to flower new kinds of grace, for the principal purpose of showing the riches of His glory, as we shall see in what follows.

For although the Church of Jesus Christ is one, it is nevertheless divided into seven ages because of the great events which, by divine permission, will succeed one another in her at different times until the consummation of the ages. Each age which follows another commonly begins before the preceding one has fully ended; and while the first imperceptibly diminishes, the second begins gradually to develop. It is by this that we are able to distinguish the different ages.

II. The first age of the Church is the age of sowing, from the Latin seminatio. It is the age in which the right hand of God planted His vineyard upon the Son of man, Jesus Christ. John 15:1: "My Father is the husbandman." This age extends from Jesus Christ and the Apostles until Nero, the first persecutor of the Church, or until Linus, her sovereign Pontiff.

It is in this first age that the devil was conquered in the idols, and that men passed from the darkness of paganism to the light and truth of the faith. For the light of Eternal Wisdom came into the world and enlightened the minds of men through His Son Jesus Christ and through the Apostles whom He chose for this purpose.

It was in this age that the grain of mustard seed was sown — that is, that the word of God was preached to the whole universe and sown upon the earth. Acts 13:49: "And the word of the Lord was published throughout the whole country." For the Apostles went forth to sow the good seed in the field of Jesus Christ, and this seed rose above all the other plants. To this first state or age of the Church apply the two parables of the sower in Matthew 13.

It is also to this first age that the first gift of the Lord corresponds — namely, the gift of heavenly wisdom, which is the true faith in Jesus Christ. By this faith we contemplate the goods of future glory as in a mirror and as through an enigma, and by it also we despise all the perishable things of this world. Hence it is said in Isaiah 11:1–2: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and of understanding," etc.

III. The first day of creation was the figure of this first age of the Church: when the Spirit of the Lord rested upon the waters, when God created the light and separated it from the darkness. For it was in the first age of the Church that Jesus Christ, the true light illuminating the world, was born and came into the world, where there was nothing but darkness; and He separated the light of faith from the shadow and darkness of the synagogue, as well as from the errors of paganism.

The first epoch of the world, from Adam until Noah, was also a type of this first age. For in that first epoch Abel was killed by Cain, and Seth was substituted in the place of the first; and by this the fratricidal generation of Cain was separated from the generation of the children of God. That first epoch of the world was also the time of the generation and propagation of the human race according to the flesh. Now we find the fulfilment of these figures in the first age of the Church: for Christ was put to death by the synagogue, and the synagogue was thus separated from the Son of God; and in its place the holy Church was substituted according to the promise in Jesus Christ. Moreover, this first age was also the time in which the regeneration and propagation of the human race according to the spirit was accomplished through Jesus Christ, the common Father of all, of whom Adam was the figure.

Finally, the type of this age was the Church of Ephesus. For the word Ephesus means "counsel," "my will," and "great fall"; and these three different interpretations suit the first age of the Church. For the Apostles and the first Christians were most holy, having but one heart and one soul, fulfilling the will of the Father and of His Christ. These great saints immediately began to observe the evangelical counsels of poverty, humility, obedience, continence, and contempt of all worldly things; and already in this first age, by this holy observance, they conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil, and thus attained to the kingdom.

But because the synagogue rejected the stumbling block which it found in the preaching of the name of Jesus, as Saint Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:23: "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock," etc., the dissemination of the Gospel was thus the occasion of a great fall and of the ruin of that synagogue, which was cast away from the face of God into exterior darkness. And thus the birth of the Church was the death of the synagogue.

IV. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write. Priests are called angels in Malachi 2:7: "For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts." The angel of Ephesus is its own bishop, Timothy, and his successors. Bishops are called angels because of their episcopal and pastoral office, for which they are sent by God; for the word angel is interpreted as "one sent."

That is why the wicked, and those who are accustomed to harm the Church, are also called angels, just as those who edify her are called angels. For just as the good are sent, so the wicked are permitted by God for the trial and for the greater glory of His elect.

Timothy was a good and holy angel. He greatly edified the Church entrusted to him; he governed it in a most holy manner; and he went so far as to shed his precious blood for it. Thus this angel and his Church of Ephesus are the type of the first age of the Church which Saint John describes here. And because this first age is rightly proposed as the rule and example of the others, Saint John omits nothing in his description of it that pertains to the good government of the Church, as the sequel will show.

V. These things saith he who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. The Eternal Wisdom of the Father, Our Lord Jesus Christ, built Himself a dwelling — that is, a Church — and He hewed out seven pillars upon which this Church is founded, built, and placed. The first pillar is the solidity of faith in Jesus Christ; the second, the fear of the Lord; the third, confidence in God; the fourth, the presence of God; the fifth, the ministry of Christ; the sixth, the assistance of the Holy Spirit; and the seventh, finally, the love of the Bridegroom.

The first is found in these words of the text: These things saith Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. These words indicate the infinite authority upon which we are most firmly founded, and by which the Church, the spouse of Jesus Christ, must believe above all in her Bridegroom. For this phrase carries great emphasis, and the great, as well as those who enjoy some authority and credit among peoples, commonly use it at the head of their edicts. Thus a king, sending an embassy to a queen, uses it by saying: "These things saith the king."

And it is in the same manner that the Bridegroom acts toward His spouse: He who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand — that is, who has all the bishops and prelates of the Church under His power, by which He breaks them like a vessel of clay according to His will, and casts them to the ground if they behave badly; but He also preserves them by His grace, signified by His right hand, to keep them from failing in the way of truth and justice.

From these words one may deduce the second and third pillars: the holy fear of the Lord and perfect confidence in Jesus Christ. Let him who stands take heed lest he fall; and let him who has fallen not despair, placing his confidence in the right hand of Jesus Christ, who raises the poor from his dunghill.

Who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks — that is, in the midst of all the churches, as He promised in Matthew 28:20: "Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." Who walketh in the midst — who sees and considers all the thoughts, words, and works that are and are done in the Church. And just as God walked in the midst of paradise at the hour of the day when a gentle wind rises, so here it is said that Our Lord Jesus Christ walks in the midst of His Church by His assistance, His presence, His omnipotence, His knowledge, and His love: as a consoler in the midst of the afflicted; as a king in the midst of his subjects; as a high priest in the midst of his ministers; as God in the midst of His creatures; as a father in the midst of his children; as a guardian in the midst of his wards; as a rich man in the midst of the poor; as a judge in the midst of the oppressed; as a physician in the midst of his sick; as an admiral in the midst of his ships; and as an advocate in the midst of the guilty.

From these words arise the four other pillars upon which the Church, and all of us who are her members, must be fixed. The fourth pillar is the presence of Almighty God, Jesus Christ; and if we keep our eyes fixed on this pillar, we act rightly in everything and everywhere. Next comes the ministry of the altar and of our state, the fifth pillar, which we must fulfil with the greatest fear, reverence, attention, and religion, offering to the praise and glory of Him who walks in the midst of us a ministry of sweet odour. Moreover, let us rejoice and remain most secure amid the waves of the sea of this age, upon which we travel in the ineffable assistance of the Holy Spirit, who is the sixth pillar, saying: Thou wilt not leave us orphans, O Lord. Finally, let us be rapt in love, the seventh pillar, for our beloved consoler, Jesus Christ, our King and our High Priest, our Judge and our Father, our Guardian and our Protector, our Friend and our Physician, our Head and Governor, our Advocate and our beloved Bridegroom.

VI. Having laid this foundation of His Church, God prescribes for us the form of fraternal correction. Although this correction is necessary in the Church of God, it must nevertheless be discreet. Now this quality requires: 1. Superiority in the person who corrects. 2. That this superior should be a good physician, knowing both the good qualities and the defects of those whom he wishes to correct, and that he should enjoy authority, respect, and love among them.

All this is contained in these words: These things saith he who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works.

3. Just as a prudent physician does not immediately give his patient a pure dose of wormwood or rhubarb, but mixes it with wine, manna, sugar, or some other pleasant seasoning, so also a prelate who desires to obtain a favourable result in fraternal correction must not immediately address to the sinner a bitter reproach, as wormwood; rather, he must soften his reproaches by first speaking advantageously of the good he discovers in him, and then add, at the end of his rebuke, some encouragement that may lighten his conscience. For example, he may speak of the occasion of the sinner's fall, its cause, and so on, and teach him the distinction between good and evil.

This is why we find in the text the following words: VERSES 2 AND 3. I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them that are evil: and thou hast tried them who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and thou hast patience, and hast endured for my name, and hast not fainted. This is the praise.

VERSE 4. But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity. This is the reproach.

VERSE 6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites, which I also hate. This is the consolation in the admonition.

The cause and occasion which made the fervour of mutual charity grow cold at the end of this first age of the Church were the perverse dogmas of Nicolas, Cerinthus, Ebion, Simon Magus, and the other heretics who arose among the Christians. For whenever there is dispute concerning the truth of doctrine, even the minds of pious people conceive a certain zeal against the absurdity and malice of errors. Now zeal stirs up the fire of emulation; emulation gives birth to rancour; and in this way charity is gradually extinguished — that charity of Christians which makes them desire and will good even to enemies.

Therefore Jesus Christ here corrects His Church and shows her the cause and occasion of her fall. He makes her discern good from evil by these words: But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites, which I also hate. It is as though He said: You do well to hate the deeds of the Nicolaites, which I Myself hate; but you do wrong to abandon the charity which you ought to have for their souls, for whose sake I came down from heaven, was made flesh, and suffered death.

Just as a good physician prescribes a suitable diet to his sick patient for the recovery of health, so a prelate prescribes penance and the remedies necessary to remove the stain of sin, so that his inferiors who have had the misfortune to fall may recover their first perfection of life and avoid every relapse in the future. Now this antidote is found in the following words: VERSE 5. Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen, and do penance, and do the first works.

Finally, in order that the patient may observe the prescribed diet, the physician threatens him with death and encourages him with the hope of healing. In the same way, a good prelate, in correcting vices, proposes both punishment and reward. The first is found in these words of the fifth verse: Or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance. And the reward is found in verse 7: To him that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God.

VII. In every well-ordered kingdom there are found nine conditions which render it happy, holy, and just: a. The observance of laws. b. Sustained labour for the common good. c. The endurance of evils for the public good. d. The sword of justice. e. A vigilant police against evildoers. f. The discernment of good and evil. g. Courage amid reverses and adversity. h. Longanimity in things well begun. i. Finally, perseverance in honourable things.

Now all these conditions must be found in the kingdom of God on earth. It is especially because of these conditions that Jesus Christ praises the first age of His Church; and these same conditions He proposes to her as a rule of conduct.

The first is found here: I know thy works. This is the manner of speaking used by the great, who, when they wish to praise or blame their servants, are accustomed to say: Your services are known to us, and we are not ignorant of your fidelity, your good counsels, and so forth. It is in the same way that Jesus Christ praises the first age of the Church for its good works: for having rejected the false justice of the Pharisees, the yoke of the Law of Moses, and the impurity of the Gentiles. He praises it also for its observance of the perfect law of the Gospel, for the honour that thereby returns to its Lawgiver, for its fidelity in honouring Him, and for its gratitude in serving Him.

This, then, is the first condition found in every well-ordered kingdom: the observance of laws. Therefore, when laws are not well observed in a country, it is near to ruin; for nothing results from it but contempt for the lawgiver.

The second condition is found in sustained labour in sowing and propagating the word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what the Church did in her first age, acting with ardour like a courageous soldier, a good husbandman, a true shepherd, and a skilful workman. a. Like a soldier, since the Apostles and their successors fought day and night, by tireless labour, against the flesh, the world, and the devil. b. Like a husbandman; for it is written in Psalm 125:6: "Going they went and wept, casting their seeds. But coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves." c. Like a shepherd; for they led their sheep, who were the Jews and the Gentiles, to the waters of the life of Baptism, and fed them all the day long — that is, until death — with salutary admonitions, their doctrine, and their holy examples. d. Finally, like a workman; because they laboured as workmen in the vineyard of the Lord, building up the Church. Moreover, they worked with their own hands to procure for themselves and for others the necessities of life, according to Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:12. And all this was only for the common salvation of all. 2 Timothy 2:9–10: "Wherein I labour even unto bands, as an evildoer; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with heavenly glory."

The third condition is indicated in these words: and thy patience in adversities. This patience is necessary for all the soldiers of Jesus Christ, for good husbandmen, and for shepherds of souls, just as it is necessary for soldiers, shepherds, and husbandmen in temporal matters, so that they may be able to endure labours, adversities, temptations, and all the various tribulations which commonly assail all those who desire to live piously in the Lord. This is how the first founders of the Catholic Church behaved admirably, giving us example: leading a wandering life, covered with sheepskins and goatskins, amid insults and scourges; cast into chains and prisons; lacking all things, afflicted, abandoned, persecuted, and so forth. They endured all these things in imitation of their Head, Jesus Christ, for the common salvation of Christian society. Patience has always been necessary for the Church, so that the faithful of Jesus Christ may possess themselves.

And how thou canst not bear them that are evil, by communicating with them. These words designate the sword of justice, or the zeal and ardour with which the Apostles and their successors always waged war against false Christians: correcting their vices without dissimulation, and excluding them from the Church of God if they found them obstinate in their false doctrines. This may be seen in Saint Paul, 1 Timothy 1:20: "Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander, whom I have delivered up to Satan." Now this zeal is so necessary in every political and religious government that, without it, the members and the body become corrupted. For as soon as vices are concealed and not punished, sin is committed with impunity, and crimes multiply like a torrent which floods the body and destroys it by gradually corrupting it, until at last one no longer knows where to find a remedy.

The fifth condition: since the sword of anathema and the zeal of justice are blind instruments, it is necessary that they be directed by a sufficient knowledge of evils. Thus, in every well-ordered kingdom, the prince must make use of a vigilant police which watches over all subjects, even those from whom it is thought there is least to fear, in order to track evildoers and examine their deeds and actions. Now this is what is contained in these words: and thou hast tried them who say they are apostles, and are not. That is, thou hast tried and examined those who, because of their life and doctrine, gloried in being the envoys of Jesus Christ and of the Apostles, and in having the Spirit of God to teach the people; yet they were not apostles, but disturbed the faithful, such as Ebion, Cerinthus, Menander, Nicolas, Simon Magus, and other heretics who arose in Asia in those times. Such also were the false apostles who, under Saint Peter and Saint James, said that they had been sent by the Apostles to Jerusalem, and there taught under this false title that the observance of the laws of Moses, joined to that of the Gospel, was necessary for salvation, as may be seen in several passages of Saint Paul's epistles.

The sixth condition: after a prudent and just prince has recognised, by sufficient examination, the malice and falsehood of someone, he must judge and condemn him. This is seen in these words: and hast found them liars — not only in their doctrine, but in their actions; for they outwardly affected the appearance of justice in order more easily to succeed in deceiving the good. This is why the Church rejected these heretics from her bosom, and why it is said here that, finding them liars, she pronounced from the chair of Saint Peter a sentence of anathema, and declared that none of them had received any mission from God, from Jesus Christ, or from the Apostles; that they did not teach true doctrine; and that they did not prove by true facts that legal justice is necessary for salvation.

The seventh condition: it sometimes happens that, in order to resist the sword of justice and truth, the wicked use rebellions, persecutions, and other means of resistance. That is why strength and greatness of soul are necessary for the prince, lest he allow himself to be turned aside from the just punishment of the wicked by abandoning justice and truth. The Church, in her origin, indeed had many adversities and tribulations to suffer in her members from the heretics who arose at that time; and she endured everything with the greatest courage, sustaining and maintaining the things necessary for salvation by sentences of justice and truth. Now it is this strength of the Church which is praised in these words: and thou hast patience.

The eighth condition: since certain adversities are commonly long, either by the permission of God or because of the iniquity of the wicked, the strength of the prince must be supported by his longanimity, so that he may be able at all times to oppose whatever adversity presents itself because of justice and truth. It is also for this that the primitive Church is praised by these words: and hast endured for my name. These words express the cause and consequence of these sufferings: namely, the glory of the Name of Jesus Christ, which the heretics and the Jews blasphemed by denying His divinity and His humanity, His coming and His works, as may be seen in the epistles of Saint Paul.

The ninth condition: finally, because there are certain evils and adversities which cannot be completely extirpated, the prince must persevere in justice and truth. Now it is especially in the Church of God, where the cockle will grow with the good grain until the day of harvest, and where there will continually be heresies, that the prelate must be persevering in all adversities, always working to conquer evil in good as soon as it has entered. Such, then, is the rule praised here and proposed to the universal Church by these words: and hast not fainted.

VIII. After the praise and the enumeration of good qualities follows the rebuke of defects. VERSE 4. But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity.

Every institution on earth, however holy and well ordered it may be, is accustomed to grow lukewarm and to fall through the daily defects and frailty of its members. This is what happened to the first age of the Church, described under the type of the Church of Ephesus. She abandoned her first charity.

The first charity of Christians consisted in a perfect union and in the community of goods. Acts 4:32: "And the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul: neither did any one say that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but all things were common unto them." This first charity of Christians also consisted in works of charity and mercy; for they were accustomed to support their poor with fervour and devotion, and to send alms to the faithful who lived in Jerusalem and elsewhere, who had sold their properties in order to support the believers, or who had been despoiled of them for the faith of Jesus Christ. Acts 4:34–35: "For neither was there any one needy among them. For as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the price of the things they sold, and laid it down before the feet of the apostles. And distribution was made to every one, according as he had need."

Now this first charity grew cold after the death of the Apostles and of Timothy, bishop of Ephesus. For then impious men and false brethren gradually arose, and changed this charity into bitterness, fraudulently taking possession of those goods, dissipating them, deceiving the people, and teaching them perverse things. It is an experience as frequent as it is deplorable to see charity grow cold in the disputes which arise over the dogmas of faith, and in the intrigues which are carried on for appointments to bishoprics, chairs, prelacies, and prebends.

IX. After this rebuke follows a salutary admonition concerning the reform of life, and concerning the manner of carrying out this reform. This manner consists in three things: a. To know one's fault or omission, and to reflect on what occasioned it. b. To perform works of penance. c. Finally, to return to one's first state. This will be seen below.

VERSE 5. Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen. That is to say: recognise thy fault; recall thy first works, and to what degree thou hast withdrawn from perfection and fervour. Search carefully by reflecting on what was the occasion of thy fall, and on what caused thee to abandon charity.

And do penance for the loss of so great a good; and prudently correct thyself, avoiding the occasions which made this charity diminish in thee.

And do the first works — that is, return to thy first state; take up again thy first fervour; begin again thy first works of mercy, thy first love, thy first union; and learn to conquer in good the evils of heretics and false brethren, which were for thee the occasion of abandoning the simplicity of charity.

Or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance. By these words He expresses the threat of punishment, which is also required in the form of fraternal correction. Or else, if thou dost not correct thyself in the manner indicated, I come to thee. The Latin text uses the present tense, I come (venio), in order to make the Church understand that divine vengeance is always ready, indeed present, and comes at the moment when we least think of it.

And will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance. Here He adds the kind of pain and punishment, which He indicates in the future, to make us understand the longanimity of God in waiting for our penance, and to show us the punishments which threaten us from afar and for a long time, until at last our prevarication, carried to its height, causes His wrath to break forth.

And I will move thy candlestick out of its place — that is, I will permit tribulations, wars, heresies, and tyrants, who will take away the Church entrusted to thee from the place she occupies, or will deprive her of her dignity and repose. This is indeed what He later did through the ten tyrants who agitated and moved the Church so terribly that she reached a great perfection and a great charity — as witnessed by those millions of martyrs of both sexes who died for the love of Jesus.

I will move thy candlestick out of its place — thy episcopate, thy riches, thy dignities, and thy Church from the place where it now is, if thou refusest to repent of the sins that are known to thee and to do penance for them. This is how He acted toward the Greek Church; toward England, the Holy Land, and Germany; and this is how He has begun to act, and will continue hereafter to act, toward the Latin Church and the whole West, if we do not do penance.

VERSE 6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites, which I also hate. By these words He softens the first rebuke, so that, according to the custom of the good Samaritan, the soothing oil may be mixed with the wine of mortification. But this good and commendable thing thou hast: that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites — that is, fornications and the common use of women.

Then He adds the just manner and measure of hating, which He recommends to His Church according to His own example, saying: that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites, which I also hate. He means and tacitly insinuates that we must never hate persons, however wicked they may be, but only their evil deeds, for the sake of their salvation and of the honour due to God, after the example of Jesus Christ, who hates sin above all things, and yet so loves the person of the sinner that He came down from heaven to die between two thieves and to wipe away our sins.

Thirdly, He teaches His Church what was the occasion that made her abandon her first charity: because, not properly distinguishing persons from their acts, she lost affection and fervour of charity toward them. Therefore He also excuses her in her fault; and, like a most prudent physician, He softens His rebuke by these words: But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites, which I also hate.

X. VERSE 7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. This is a manner of speaking which signifies the difficulty of doing something, or the elevation of the mysteries which must be accomplished in the Church, while at the same time it makes known to us the frailty of our flesh and the corruption of our understanding. It wishes to make us understand that everything written in this book of the Apocalypse contains wisdom, and that there is great difficulty in understanding it. It is in the same way that Jesus Christ, recommending continence to His Church as an arduous thing, says in Matthew 19:12: "He that can take, let him take it."

To him that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God. By these words He adds the prize and assigns the reward, in order thereby to invite His Church more effectively to penance. He means: to the conqueror — to the conqueror of the temptations of the flesh, of the world, and of the devil — I will give to eat of the tree of life. I will give him to enjoy the goodness of Jesus Christ, who is the true tree of life, and of whom the tree of life in the earthly paradise was the figure.

To eat of the tree of life — that is, to enjoy the blessed and beatific vision with immortality. For the tree of life metaphorically signifies immortality, as in Genesis 3.

Which is in the paradise of my God — that is, in the heavenly homeland prepared for all those who shall have lawfully fought. 2 Timothy 2:5: "For he also that striveth for the mastery is not crowned, except he strive lawfully."

§ 2. On the Second Age of the Church Militant, Called the Age of Irrigation (irrigativus), Comprising the Time of the Ten Persecutions, Until Constantine the Great. Chapter 2, Verses 8–11

I. VERSE 8. And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write: These things saith the First and the Last, who was dead, and is alive.

VERSE 9. I know thy tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art rich; and thou art blasphemed by them that say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

VERSE 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried: and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful until death, and I will give thee the crown of life.

VERSE 11. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: He that shall overcome shall not be hurt by the second death.

II. The second age of the Church is called an age of irrigation (irrigativus). For the Church of the Lord is a vineyard which nourishes as many branches as she produces saints. This vineyard, planted in the first age by Jesus Christ and the Apostles, was watered in the second age by a torrent of the blood of martyrs, which was like a fountain springing from the earth and watering the whole surface of the Church.

This effusion of Christian blood lasted ten days — that is, during the ten reigns of the principal tyrants of the earth whom the devil raised up against Christendom, striving by this means to make the faith of Jesus Christ disappear and be extinguished, since he had not been able to prevent it by the jealousy of the Jews.

God permitted these long and terrible persecutions for the greater glory of His elect soldiers, and in order to strengthen more firmly the truth of the Catholic faith, which remained pure despite those horrible persecutions. It was even elevated and ennobled by the increase which it received every day.

Moreover, God permitted these persecutions in order to excite the Church to perfect charity, which, in the age of the martyrs, was in fact perfect, as may be seen from what has been said above.

To this age of the Church belongs the parable of Saint John 12:24: "Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."

To this age also belongs the passage of Psalm 109:7: "He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head." This means that it pleased the heavenly Father that we should drink, on the road of this present life, from the torrent of the blood of the martyrs; and it was in order to give an example to His soldiers that He exalted upon the Cross His Son Jesus Christ, their Head.

III. To this age applies the second Spirit or gift of the Lord: that is, the spirit of fortitude and invincible patience in difficulties and adversities. Armed with this shield, the saints of God, of both sexes, conquered the world and attained the heavenly kingdom.

This second age is also figured by the second day of creation, when God established the firmament in the midst of the waters. This firmament represents the firmness and strength of the martyrs, whom God placed in the midst of the waters of every tribulation, which could not extinguish their charity.

Moreover, just as on the second day of creation the firmament was placed in heaven, so also in the second age the Church — represented by heaven — was most solidly established upon the testimony of the martyrs, a testimony which is, as it were, her foundation.

To this second age of the Church also corresponds the second epoch of the world, from Noah until Abraham. For just as Noah and his descendants began in that second epoch to offer victims to God, so also in the second age of the Church Christians were immolated without distinction. The shedding of their blood, and their death offered in an odour of sweetness, were most precious and most pleasing to God the Father, who was Himself a victim in His Son Jesus.

Consequently, this age of tribulations and martyrs is described under the state of the Church of Smyrna. For the word Smyrna means "Canticle" and "Myrrh." Now this word, in both of its meanings, suits this age of martyrs.

It suits it as "Canticle," because Christians of both sexes ran, so to speak, to martyrdom, leaping for joy, as is seen in the history of the Church and in Acts 5:41: "And they indeed went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus."

The tribulations and death of the holy martyrs are also a most pleasing canticle, in which God finds His delights, the angels rejoice, and all the saints praise the Son of God.

The word "Myrrh" also suits this age of the Church. For just as myrrh is bitter and preserves from corruption, so tribulations and persecutions are bitter. They preserve the Church and her members from the corruption of vices, pleasures, and sin; and they make her body robust by patience, poverty, humility, contempt of this world, charity toward God, and love of the goods to come.

Moreover, myrrh spreads a sweet fragrance; it is used in sacrifices offered to God. In the same way, the blood of the martyrs and their death have a most sweet fragrance, and they are a sacrifice whose good odour continually rises in the presence of God.

VERSE 8. And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write. Literally, this means: Write to the bishop of the Church of that place; and, under this type, to all the bishops, pontiffs, and prelates, and even to all the Christians who will live in this age of the martyrs of the Church.

These things saith the First and the Last, who was dead and is alive. These words must be understood in the same sense as above. They are placed at the head in order to indicate the example which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our King, gave us by the sufferings which He had to endure in order to enter into His glory. In the same way, His elect must suffer and die, if they wish to live with Him in eternity. This is what stirred millions of martyrs of both sexes to follow courageously the example of their Bridegroom and King, Jesus Christ. So great is the efficacy of the example of a leader!

VERSE 9. I know thy tribulation and thy poverty. These two expressions are placed here as two properties or marks of the state of the martyrs. For the word "tribulation" carries great emphasis and comes from the Latin word tribula, expressing adversities of every kind: persecutions, outrages, torments, distresses, which were for the martyrs so many diverse and horrible kinds of death.

Poverty, on the other hand, signifies the spoliation of temporal goods, exile, expulsion from episcopal sees, from the Church, from one's father's house, and so forth. Now this is what the saints of God endured, full of joy for their Bridegroom Jesus Christ, at the hands of the tyrants who raged against them for more than three hundred years, as is seen in ecclesiastical history.

But thou art rich — rich in spiritual treasures, in thy merits, in thy heroic virtues, in the gold of charity, in the iron of fortitude, in the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom, or in the eternal glory prepared for thee in heaven because thou hast lost the passing possession of the goods of this world.

Thou art rich, because you are the friends of God and your names are written in heaven. On the contrary, the great ones of the world who despoil and persecute you are poor, since after this passing life they will go into eternal punishments, where they will suffer horribly.

And thou art blasphemed by them that say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. By "Jews" are understood here:

First, the remnants of the Jews and of the synagogue of the Old Testament, who were rejected by God, and among whom there is no salvation. This is why He adds: who say they are Jews — that is, elect, because they are of the race of Abraham — but who are not truly elect, since they belong to the synagogue of Satan, that is, to the assembly of the reprobate, God having delivered the Jews to the power of Satan, whose members they are, because of their unbelief and their obstinacy in evil. For this people, which denied Jesus Christ, will not belong to Him. Daniel 9.

Second, the name "Jews" passed to Christians; and for this reason, by allegory, it signifies bad Christians who say that they are elect and confess that they know God, while denying Him by their works. Romans 1.

It is of both that the Apostle says in Romans 2:28–29: "For it is not he is a Jew, who is so outwardly; nor is that circumcision, which is outwardly in the flesh: But he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and the circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter: whose praise is not of men, but of God."

These words of the text of the Apocalypse — who say they are Jews — therefore apply literally to the true Jews of the race of Abraham, according to the promise; but allegorically they must be understood of Christians, according to the promise in Jesus Christ (secundum repromissionem in Christo).

It is by all these that the Church of God is blasphemed in the elect and in the saints who are her members. For the Jews say that if faith in Jesus Christ were true, and if Jesus Christ were truly the Messias and the true Son of Almighty God, He would not permit His elect and His friends to be afflicted and immolated like flocks.

The Jews regarded the death of Jesus Christ as an ignominy, and His Cross as a scandal, according to Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 1:23: "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness."

Bad Christians and heretics of the first centuries also blasphemed the Church of God by their evil actions and by their perverse doctrines; and this made the Church appear still more vile in the eyes of the Jews, the Gentiles, and the tyrants. Thus false Christians exposed the members of the Church to greater ridicule, and those members endured more cruel persecutions.

VERSE 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. By these words Jesus Christ encourages His Church to bear with intrepidity all evils, however long and however cruel they may be. And since blows which one has foreseen are less dangerous, and since we regard as more tolerable the evils of this world which we know in advance, so we must endure the trials which it has pleased the divine will to permit for the advantage of His Church, however great and enduring the tribulation may be, and whoever may be the persons who inflict it.

Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried: and you shall have tribulation ten days.

The devil shall cast some of you into prison. The devil is here represented as the determining cause, because of his habitual jealousy against the faithful. He will push kings and princes to tyranny, excite the Jews, and bribe false and bad Christians to speak evil of you, in order to have some of you thrown into prison — that is, a great number among you, and even, if it were possible, all the Christians who will live in this second age of the Church.

All these wicked ones will be like the lictors of the devil. This is why the Latin text says: The devil shall send some of you into prison by his satellites, who are the princes of this world, and whom he uses to satisfy his insatiable passion for harming the pious members of Jesus Christ. The satellites of the devil are also the works of the impious upon the earth.

Into prison. This word signifies: First, the duration of the tribulations to come; for one who is placed in prison does not come out of it quickly, just as when one says that money is placed in the public treasury, one means that it remains there a long time.

Second, this word "prison" also designates every kind of evil which the saints and elect of God were to undergo. For the prison is like the workshop of all tribulations. Indeed, he who is placed in prison is separated from men like a criminal, and there he may experience hunger, thirst, cold, heat, chains, nakedness, the spoliation of his goods, torture, torments, whips, rods, reproaches, vigils, indigence, and stench.

It is from prison that one comes forth to undergo the sentence of an unjust condemnation: to be placed upon broken earthen vessels; to be broken on the wheel; to be crucified; to be cut to pieces; to be thrown into the water; to be sent into exile; or to be exposed to beasts, bears, lions, tigers, leopards, and the like.

That is why Jesus Christ points to prison, saying: The devil shall cast some of you into prison. And this will happen by the permission of the heavenly Father, that you may be tried, like gold in the furnace.

This trial is not in the intention of the devil, who does not have in view the good of those who are tried. Rather, it is God who wills in this way to draw good out of evil, and who knows how to extract from the cruelty of tyrants the patience of martyrs, which He rewards with a crown of glory.

He still makes His Church undergo these trials in our own days, when her prelates and her members deliver their hearts to sin, pleasures, and temporal riches.

And you shall have tribulation ten days — that is, during ten consecutive reigns of the principal tyrants, who will succeed one another like days, and during which they will rage against Christians.

By these ten days is understood the time which lasted from Nero, the first persecutor of the Church, until Constantine the Great. This makes a span of three hundred years, during which the Church continually swam in the blood of her martyrs of both sexes, as the ark of Noah floated upon the waters of the deluge, until finally, after these ten persecutions, the Church could rest upon the high mountain of Constantine the Great.

The first persecution took place under Nero; the second under Domitian; the third under Trajan; the fourth under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus; the fifth under Severus; the sixth under Maximinus; the seventh under Decius, which was continued by Gallus and Volusian; the eighth under the two Valerians and Gallienus; the ninth under Aurelian; and the tenth, finally, under Diocletian and Maximian his colleague, which was the most terrible of all. See the details in ecclesiastical history.

IV. Be thou faithful until death, and I will give thee the crown of life. By these words Jesus Christ exhorts His Church by showing her the reward promised to perseverance in tribulations; and this exhortation is a consolation offered by divine clemency against the severity and duration of the evils which God was about to permit against His saints and His friends.

Be thou faithful until death — that is, be constant and persevering in tribulation until death.

Be thou faithful, etc., in faith, hope, and charity; and take care not to fail by being scandalised at so many and such long torments as I permit against thee.

And I will give thee the crown of life — that is, the aureole of martyrdom, according to the measure of the tribulations which thou shalt have endured for Me.

The crown of life — the crown of a conqueror in heaven, which shall never be taken from thee. For no one shall be crowned unless he has lawfully fought.

The crown of life — the kingdom, or the liberty of the children of God, so that thou shalt never again be subject to any earthly king.

VERSE 11. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. These words are explained as above. By this He always wishes to stir up our understanding to seek, in relation to His Church, an abstract sense full of heavenly mysteries, which must be explained and clarified by the property of words and things.

He that shall overcome shall not be hurt by the second death. That is, by hell, or by the eternal death of souls. Damnation is called a second death because it follows the bodily death of this perishable life, which is the first death.

Jesus Christ adds these words as a most powerful lever of perseverance amid the anguish of tribulations. For if one considers the horrible punishments of hell and of the eternal damnation of the impious, one will willingly and easily endure all tribulations, and even temporal death, in order to avoid eternal tribulations and eternal death.

It was by keeping these truths continually before their eyes that the servants of God conquered all the torments by which they reached the heavenly kingdom.

§ 3. On the Third Age of the Church, or of the Doctors; from Pope Sylvester and the Emperor Constantine the Great Until Leo III and Charlemagne. Chapter 2, Verses 12–17

I. The third age of the Church was the age of the Doctors. It began with Constantine the Great and Pope Sylvester, and lasted until Charlemagne and Leo III.

In this age, heresies were extirpated and the Christian religion was solidly established almost throughout the whole world. This age is called illuminative (illuminativus), because in it the principal mysteries of the Catholic faith were purified: the Holy Trinity, the divinity of Jesus Christ, His humanity, His filiation, the procession of the Holy Spirit, and so forth.

And because things set opposite one another become more clearly understood, God, in order to enlighten His Church, gave her the most illustrious doctors: Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Leo, Bede, and many other Fathers of the Greek and Latin Church. On the other hand, He permitted the most wicked heretics to rise up against them, such as Arius, Donatus, Macedonius, Pelagius, Eutyches, Nestorius, and others. These heresiarchs were supported, for the greater trial of the elect, by powerful princes, such as the emperors Constantine, Julian the Apostate, Valens, Leo, Zeno, Huneric king of the Vandals, Theodoric king of the Ostrogoths, Anastasius king of the Dacians, Constans, Leo III, Constantine V, Leo IV, Constantine VI, and also by a considerable number of archbishops and bishops, and others.

To this third age belongs the third Spirit of the Lord: the spirit of understanding, which enlightened the Church and enabled her to purify the highest mysteries of the Holy Trinity, of the Incarnation, and many other truths, concerning which the Church pronounced judgment after condemning, expelling, and causing the darkness of heretics to disappear.

The third day of the creation of the world is also rightly considered in this chapter as the true type of this third age. For just as, on the third day of creation, the waters had to be separated from the earth by the will of God and gathered into one place, so also the tribulations — of which waters are often the figure — which the Church had to suffer from the tyrants of paganism, at last had to give way before the power of Constantine the Great, who relegated their authors to the fire of hell.

And again, just as on the third day of creation the earth produced green plants with their seed, and trees bearing fruit, each according to its kind, and an infinite number of other plants bearing their seed, both for the ornament of the earth and for the use and pleasure of man; so also, in the third age of the Church, the water of Baptism caused green plants to spring up — namely, children and adults who became Christians — and trees, namely the Doctors. It also produced fruit-bearing trees: the assured and free revenues of the Church, with which the said emperor enriched her; for he endowed her with several other goods, such as principalities, assigning to her even earthly powers, and helping to build at his own expense, or permitting and ordering to be built, a multitude of sacred buildings over the whole surface of the earth.

Another type of this third age of the Church is found in the third epoch of the world, which lasted from Abraham until Moses and Aaron. For just as in that epoch the Sodomites were submerged in the Dead Sea, and the Egyptians in the Red Sea; and just as Core, Dathan, Abiron, and the other schismatics of the house of Israel were destroyed; and just as a law was given to the people which declared and explained the natural law more clearly; so also, in the third age of the Church, the Christian people passed from martyrdom into the land of peace. The lust of the world and the idolatry of the nations were submerged in the blood of Jesus Christ and of His martyrs. Many schismatics and heretics were cast out from the bosom of the Church. The law of the Gospel and the truth of the Christian faith were declared and proclaimed. Civil laws and the constitutions of princes were established, and the holy canons of the councils were promulgated; and the emperor Justinian decreed that all these things should have the force of law.

Finally, the last type of this third age was the Church of Pergamus. For the word Pergamus is interpreted as "dividing the horns" (dividens cornua). These horns grew upon the Church in this third age, under Constantine the Great; and these horns were the temporal and spiritual power which she enjoyed. This double power is metaphorically signified by the horns, in which the strength of rams and other animals resides.

Pergamus also means "dividing the horns," because, soon afterward, this strength and power of the Church was divided and split by Arius and the other heretics. The horns fought against one another: the left horn, that of the heretics, against the right horn, that of the Catholics. The first is the horn of damnation, and the second is the horn of salvation, which God raised up in the house of David, His Son, Jesus Christ, always rejecting the horn of the heretics into hell.

II. VERSE 12. And to the angel of the church of Pergamus write: These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword. These words must be explained as above.

These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword. The two-edged sword means the sentence of the Lord, by which He will condemn the wicked in their body and in their soul. The other words are explained above, in § 3, chapter 1, verse 16.

This two-edged sword is placed here at the head of the description of this third age: 1. To terrify the wicked by the sword of vengeance, and to console the good by the sword of Christ's protection. 2. Because, in her third age, the Church had to fight with heretics. Therefore many ecumenical and provincial councils were celebrated, and a great number of heretics were struck there by the sword of anathema, rejected by the sentence of excommunication, and cut off from the body of the Church; for the Church, as judge of controversies in matters of faith, bears on earth the same sword which Christ, her Bridegroom, bears in heaven, as we have seen above.

VERSE 13. I know where thou dwellest, where the seat of Satan is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith. Even in those days when Antipas was my faithful witness, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

I know where thou dwellest: in the midst of the perverse nation of heretics, whether of Arius, Macedonius, and the others, who are members of the devil, satellites of Lucifer, lovers of darkness, guides of the blind, autumn trees without fruit, reeds shaken by the wind of pride, already formerly proscribed because of their malice, and relegated to hell, where Lucifer has power, and where the ancient enemy of the eternal truth and justice of God dwells.

The devil possesses these heretics; he governs them, instructs them, inspires them, and dominates them. Therefore they are his kingdom, and he is their king and their head, in order to fight through them — who are the gates of hell — against the Church beloved of God.

This is why the text adds: where the seat of Satan is. For a throne signifies royal power, or rather the residence of a king, a prince, and so forth — a throne which Satan possesses in the heresiarchs.

And thou holdest fast my name — that is, the confession of My name — and hast not denied my faith, in persecutions and torments, but hast persevered in My faith.

It is with reason that Christ praises, by appropriation, in the prelates of His Church, the confession of His name and perseverance in the faith of His name. For in this age the divinity and humanity of Christ, His coming, and His doctrine concerning the mysteries of paternity, filiation, and the procession of the Holy Spirit were strongly attacked by Arius, Macedonius, Nestorius, and the other heresiarchs.

The Catholic faith and its defenders had incredibly much to suffer at that time. Witness Saint Athanasius, admirable and lovable man, who, because of the name of Jesus and His divinity, and also because of the Most Holy Trinity, was forced to hide for years in an old cistern, and for a year and some months in the tomb of his father. This saint also had to undergo great trials, as did many other bishops who endured prison, chains, exile, death, and so forth, as may be seen in ecclesiastical history.

Even in those days when Antipas was my faithful witness, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. As an example of the confession praised above, and of perseverance in the faith of Christ, Saint John here cites the holy martyr Antipas, who was put to death for the confession of the faith of Jesus Christ near Constantinople, where the storm of the heresy of Arius had arisen, both among the people and among the bishops; for ambition, no less than the fire of jealousy, had penetrated even to episcopal sees.

This is why that city and country are called the dwelling place of Satan, because it was especially in the East that the Arians, Macedonians, and impious defenders of other heresies raged. This is also why it is said: when, or, according to the Latin text, in diebus illis, "in those days" — that is, in that storm caused by the heresy of Arius on account of My name — Antipas was My faithful witness unto death and unto blood, by which he sealed his testimony for the truth, and because I am the Son of God, truly equal to My Father from all eternity.

VERSE 14. But I have against thee a few things.

We now come to the customary rebuke, which we find in the following words: VERSE 15. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaites.

The preceding verse says: Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat, and to commit fornication.

We have the history of Balaam in the book of Numbers, where we see that Balac, king of the Moabites, according to the counsel of Balaam, sent women near the camp of the Hebrews, so that this people, given to lust, might be seduced and drawn into idolatry by their beauty, with the aim of causing the whole people to offend God.

This history is reported only by comparison and as an example, as is seen from the words which follow: So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaites.

Rupert the Abbot, commenting on the Apocalypse, says of them: the Nicolaites carry the vessels of the Lord, and yet are incontinent; they reject legitimate marriage as forbidden by the laws of the Church; they do still worse: they break conjugal faith as often as they please, and having no true marriage bed, they run here and there so that they cannot be accused of having broken the marriage bond.

Now those make themselves guilty of the same fornications and consecrate themselves to Belphegor who, after the example of the Nicolaites, boldly give themselves over to incest and adultery.

In saying, therefore, So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaites, He first addresses a reproach to the Church of Pergamus, in which there were certain perverse magistrates who followed the error of the Nicolaites, scandalised the people by their impure conduct, and seduced them.

Under the type of the Church of Pergamus, Christ also rebukes the third age of the Church, in which several taught and put into practice the doctrine of the Nicolaites concerning the illicit mingling of the two sexes.

For when the tribulations of the Gentiles and pagans had ceased, the Church was at rest; and from that time, through the munificence of Constantine the Great and other benefactors, priests enjoyed considerable revenues through benefices. Now, the Church having thus been enriched and enlarged, she abandoned God her Creator and neglected her salvation. Several of her members gave themselves over to the pleasures of women by illicit commerce, inflamed as they were in their concupiscence.

That is why God afflicted the Church with so many heresies. He shook or tormented her in order to prevent her from being corrupted in delights and pleasure. Thus a prudent husband, who knows the evil inclination of the wife dear to him, strives to hold her to her duty by providing her with moderate occupation in domestic cares and labours.

It is with the same wisdom that God, in His paternal goodness, will act toward His Church until the consummation of the ages, imposing upon her malicious and mocking men, troublesome detractors, agitators, calumniators, heretics, and tyrants, in order to prevent her from becoming entirely corrupted in riches, honours, and the pleasures of the flesh.

VERSE 16. In like manner do penance: if not, I will come to thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

In like manner do penance. This passage is explained as above concerning the Church of Ephesus.

If not — that is, if thou dost neglect to correct thyself by true penance — I will come to thee quickly, with the scourge and the punishment due to thee, both in life and at death and at the last judgment. This is why He uses the future tense: because, as was said above, the scourges of God often threaten us from afar and fall upon us at the moment when we think of them least.

And will fight against them with the sword of my mouth — that is, with the sword of vengeance, the sword of death, the sword of the particular judgment and of the last judgment, and finally the sword of eternal damnation; and also with those thunderous words of Matthew 25: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels."

VERSE 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna, and will give him a white counter, and in the counter, a new name written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it.

After the threat of punishment follows the promise of reward and glory.

The first reward is this: I will give him, that is, to the conqueror, the hidden manna. This figuratively signifies heavenly beatitude, which is the perfect state and the union of all goods. For just as in the manna was contained the life of the people of Israel, together with the taste of every food, so in heavenly beatitude there is promised to us the abundance of all goods, with which we shall be fully satisfied and which we shall enjoy eternally.

It is said that this manna is hidden because, according to Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 2:9: "The eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him."

This manna is hidden in God. Colossians 3:3–5: "Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is the service of idols."

The second reward is glory: and will give him a white counter — that is, glory, or the brightness of the body, without stain and without any defect.

And in the counter, a new name written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it. By this new name is understood the special excellence which God will grant to each one according to what he shall have done in his body. For one is the brightness of virgins, and another the brightness of martyrs; another again is the brightness of spouses; the brightness of the Apostles is not the same as that of the Prophets. One virgin differs from another in brightness, one apostle from another, one confessor from another, one martyr from another, one prophet from another; and all differ among themselves in the brightness of their glory, as is seen in the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 15:41: "One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars. For star differeth from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead."

This is why the text adds: which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it — that is, the excellence proper to each one. No one will share in it except the one who has received it, in the same way as the individuality proper to each person cannot be possessed or shared by any other.

The word knoweth must therefore not be taken in a literal sense, but metaphorically; for one saint will certainly know the excellence and glory of another, as is seen in theology.

A name written — that is, established and engraved with the iron stylus of eternity, so that it can never again be removed.

§ 4. On the Fourth Age of the Church Militant, Called the Peaceful Age, from Pope Saint Leo III and the Emperor Charlemagne Until Leo X and Charles V. Chapter 2, Verses 18–29

I. VERSE 18. And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God. The fourth age of the Church began with Charlemagne and the holy Pope Leo III, and lasted until Charles V and Leo X. In this age there flourished several great saints among kings and emperors, and ecclesiastics as learned as they were pious; and it was not stained by any heresy for more than two hundred years. It is therefore with reason called the peaceful and illuminative age (pacificus).

We find its type in the description of the Church of Thyatira; for the word Thyatira is interpreted in the sense of "illuminated" and "living victim," as the fourth age of the Church perfectly was.

To this fourth age belongs the fourth day of creation, when God made the luminous bodies and the stars which He placed in heaven.

To this age also belongs the fourth Spirit of the Lord, namely the spirit of piety, which God then poured out abundantly upon His Church.

In the same way, one may also apply to this fourth age of the Church the fourth epoch of the world, which lasted from Moses until the completion of the temple of Solomon. For just as David then composed psalms and increased divine worship, and just as his son Solomon built a very vast temple and ordered the most precious vessels for the service of the altars and of the temple; as he also established an admirable order in sacred things, and raised the majesty of the sacrifices by the good discipline of the ministers; and finally, as he reigned peacefully, without any enemy — so also, in the fourth age, the most useful councils were celebrated for rebuilding the fallen Church.

The Christian religion flourished everywhere, and the Church lived in peace, free from every enemy and every heresy. Chant, psalms, the breviary, rites, ceremonies, and the ministry of the altar were restored to a better order, and even to a certain perfection.

Therefore these words follow: And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like to a flame of fire, and his feet like to fine brass.

He calls Himself here the Son of God, because the mysteries of His divinity and His humanity had already been clarified and purged of the errors of Arius and of the other heretics. It is therefore with reason that Christ, victorious over His enemies in this fourth age of the Church, says in triumph: These things saith the Son of God.

By the eyes like a flame of fire is understood the perfect knowledge of truth; and by the feet like to fine brass He designates the stability and firmness of the body of Christ, which is the Church. For once the tyrants of paganism had been conquered, and the darkness of heretics had disappeared, the Church enjoyed repose in the perfect knowledge of the truth of the Catholic faith, very solidly established and protected by the power of princes and kings.

That is why He no longer says here: "like to fine brass when it is in a burning furnace," etc., but simply: like to fine brass — that is, already purified by so many persecutions and tried by the frightful cruelty of tyrants and heretics. These two things are placed at the head as so many trophies and spoils of the victory which Christ won over His enemies through the members of the Church, His beloved spouse, and through His faithful soldiers. He adds: like to a flame of fire, because the faith of Christ and the truth shone in the fourth age and spread throughout the whole universe.

VERSE 19. I know thy works, and thy faith, and thy charity, and thy ministry, and thy patience, and thy last works which are more than the former.

There follows the customary commendation, which consists of six points: the works of the Church, the perfection of her faith, her charity, her ministry, her patience, and her perseverance in good.

The first commendation is found in these words: I know thy works of justice, piety, and mercy, which are holy and done with a pure intention.

The second: thy faith. For here He praises the Church for her faith, as for a special prerogative and perfection; because in the fourth age the Catholic faith was unanimous, perfect, and spread, in a manner of speaking, throughout the whole universe. And the Church was free from every heresy for more than two hundred years, until Berengarius, in the time of Emperor Henry III, arose in Gaul in the year 1048 and taught that the body and blood of Christ are not in the holy Eucharist. This heresy having been destroyed, the Church again enjoyed her rest until the year 1117, as may be seen in ecclesiastical history.

The third: thy charity toward God and neighbour.

The fourth: thy ministry of the altar and care for the poor, a ministry which flourished at that time. For not only a considerable number of very great ecclesiastical saints, but even emperors, kings, princes, and other exalted persons founded hospitals and cared for the poor, whom they themselves served. Moreover, they built churches, repaired those which were in ruins, built monasteries, colleges, bishoprics, temples, altars, and put everything into action to favour the worship of God. Even at night the sacred praises resounded in collegiate churches and cloisters. Therefore the ministry of the altar and of the poor was holy, well ordered, and precious before the Lord.

The fifth: thy patience in fasts, hairshirts, vigils, and the other rigours of penance which the saints of that time constantly practised for the love of Jesus Christ. Among them are distinguished Saint Vigilius, Saint Rupert and his twelve companions, Saint Willibald, Saint Wunibald, Saint Walburga, Saint Louis the King, Otto bishop of Bamberg, Lothair the Emperor, Otto the Great, Blessed Nilus, Saint Stephen the first king of Hungary, Saint Wenceslaus prince of Bohemia, and others who, by their tireless labour and patience, converted the remnants of the Gentiles to the Catholic faith.

Finally, the sixth commendation: and thy last works which are more than the former. These words praise the perfection and holiness which, in the fourth age, shone constantly in the saints: such as Henry and Cunegonde, Saint Wolfgang, Saint Bruno, Saint Romuald, Saint Robert, Saint Bernard, Saint Francis, Saint Dominic with their families, Saint Yves the bishop, and others who, in the succession of times, illustrated the Church. This was without doubt an admirable benefit of God and a special prerogative granted to this age.

Therefore He adds: And thy works of justice, faith, piety, charity, ministry, labour, patience, and holiness. Thy last works which are more than the former. This is a manner of speaking by which we are accustomed to praise the abundance of fruits, the multiplication of goods, the perfection, fidelity, and constancy of the virtues and actions of men.

II. VERSE 20. But I have against thee a few things: because thou sufferest the woman Jezabel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat of things sacrificed to idols.

While the Church was at rest amid riches and honours, and while she believed herself secure under the patronage of pious emperors, kings, and princes, she gradually relaxed in ecclesiastical discipline; and there was introduced among Christians a certain effeminate softness, which is here metaphorically designated by the woman.

Then also the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life were increasing among the ministers of the Church. For these men, assured of the indulgence of a corrupt age and believing themselves secure, gave themselves over to pleasure and fell into presumption, as ordinarily happens in such a case.

Now these were the vices of Jezabel, wife of Achab, whom Scripture calls a courtesan. There is the concupiscence of the flesh. Then this woman seized the vineyard of Naboth, whom she had killed: there is the concupiscence of the eyes. Then she painted her face and her eyes: there is the pride of life. Finally, seeing herself established in complete security upon her sins, she became presumptuous and had the prophets killed. She laid snares for Elijah in order to put him to death, refusing to believe his word when he foretold to her all the misfortunes of her house — misfortunes which she herself saw partly fulfilled, as, for example, the famine. For she said in her heart: These evils shall not fall upon us.

Now it is thus that we, miserable sinners, sunk in the things of this world, are accustomed to sleep in the death of sin until at last the wrath of God bursts upon our heads.

Jezabel is therefore cited here as an example and comparison in this sense: You permit little by little, by not carefully closing the five doors of your senses, through which death enters you as through windows. You permit, by paying no attention to ecclesiastical discipline, by not watching over your subordinates, by not visiting them, and by taking little or no care of them. You permit, by not duly chastising vice, but by favouring it through cowardly connivance, disguising it through a false philosophy, and leaving everything unpunished. You permit, by neglecting fraternal correction, occupying yourselves only with your private interests, being indulgent toward yourselves, without attaching yourselves to the public good. You permit, by granting dispensations easily in all things, and by relaxing the holy canons. You permit, by not enlightening others through good example, and by not instructing your inferiors by the sound word of God. You permit, by saying: These things are permitted, while they are not; and in this way you favour the entrance of dissolution and vices.

It was thus that, through the cohabitation of women, lust and concubinage were introduced into the Church. It was also through the superabundance of private riches that avarice, which is idolatry, spread. Moreover, the honours and dignities to which emperors, kings, and princes raised ecclesiastics favoured the pride of life. Finally, liberty in the manner of living and in discipline engendered idleness; and idleness made morals dissolute.

You permit the woman — that is, softness and an effeminate manner of living — to penetrate among you; a defect or vice generally designated by the woman. The text adds Jezabel in order to signify more special vices which were gradually introduced into this age of the Church, such as the concupiscence of the flesh, avarice, pride, and presumption.

He also adds: who calleth herself a prophetess — that is, amid this licentious life, the Church promised herself security and said: I shall no longer see the severity of tyrants and heresiarchs, because I am rich and powerful; and I am at peace; I have pious and powerful emperors, kings, and princes who protect me; therefore I shall no longer see mourning. Thus did that corrupt generation prophesy.

III. Therefore these words follow: Thou sufferest the woman Jezabel, etc., to teach and to seduce my servants by the bad example of lust, avarice, and pride.

To teach and to seduce, by promising the security of peace and happiness; by not announcing to the people the wrath of God and the chastisement which threatens it from afar because of the sins of the flesh, avarice, irreligion, and forgetfulness of God — a chastisement nevertheless imminent, which the Church and all of us, miserable as we are, continue to undergo in this fifth age, and by which our teeth are set on edge.

To commit fornication, and to eat of things sacrificed to idols. Fornication was carried to such an excess in the Greek Church that it went so far as to teach that it is lawful. And this fatal doctrine of the Greeks was put into practice by many members of the Latin Church, who did not blush at the illicit commerce which, unfortunately, is still maintained in our own days with concubines.

And to eat of things sacrificed to idols. This passage is also understood of avarice, which Saint Paul calls idolatry. For shameful gains and profits, exactions by which the poor are oppressed, simony, interested gifts, and services unjustly rewarded are all so many abuses of which employees unworthy of their offices, and men given to avarice, make themselves guilty. Now all these abuses are metaphorically designated by these words: And to eat of things sacrificed to idols.

VERSE 21. And I gave her a time that she might do penance. These words designate the long-suffering of the mercy of God, which awaited the penance of the Greek Church for centuries, until at last this Church, refusing to obey the Lord and unwilling to return to unity, perished under Mahomet II, who killed Constantine Palaeologus and took possession of Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Empire.

It was with the same patience that God also awaited the penance of the Latin Church in the fourth age, from Charlemagne until Berengarius the Sacramentarian, who was the precursor of the future scourge of God. After him, the Church was again tranquil and free from every heresy until the Emperor Henry V, under whom Durandus of Marseille appeared in the year 1117. Then heresies succeeded one another, as forerunners of the future scourge of God. These heresies were, however, destroyed by the goodness of princes and by the providence of God; until finally, under Charles V and Leo X, in the year 1517, Luther, that horrible heresiarch, the scourge of the Latin Church, recalled all the heresies from hell and vomited them from his impure mouth over almost the whole of Europe.

Finally Jesus Christ says: And I gave her a time that she might do penance, and she will not repent of her fornication. These words announced that the Latin Church was to persevere in the vices indicated above, and that she would take no step toward penance, even at the sight of her calamities.

And this is also why her chastisement is foretold to her in the absolute future, whereas in the preceding ages this chastisement was announced only in a threatening manner. For the Apostle continues with these words:

V. VERSE 22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed. That is to say, I will strike her with tribulations upon her bed of pain and mourning; upon her bed of leprosy and spiritual diseases, which are heresies; upon her bed of plague, famine, and wars; upon her bed of darkness, distress, and poverty; upon her bed of tears and desolation; upon her bed of oppression, bitterness, and captivity, from which she will not be able to rise; and finally upon her bed of eternal damnation.

And they that commit adultery with her shall be in very great tribulation — by cooperating in her evil works, by imitating them, counselling them, tolerating them, or not preventing them when they can and ought to do so. All these shall be in the greatest affliction: in temporal affliction, as has just been said, and in eternal affliction, beyond which there is no greater.

But Jesus Christ nevertheless adds: Except they do penance from their works, in which they personally participate. For often, some temporal punishment and ruin assigned to the reigns and ages of the Church in a general and absolute manner — as, for example, the bed spoken of above — may nevertheless be avoided, at least as regards condemnation and the punishment of the fire of hell, if the members of the Church, taken individually, do salutary and worthy penance.

VERSE 23. And I will kill her children with death. By these words Jesus Christ threatens us with wars, seditions, famine, and plague — chastisements which divine justice is accustomed to send in its vengeance, striking the posterity and the children of the children of the impenitent. This is what we, unhappy as we are, experience only too much in this fifth age, while we see over the whole surface of the globe nothing but wars, seditions, and misfortunes, as the sequel will show.

And all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts. The reins — that is, I am He who knows the effects of concupiscence and carnal works. And the hearts — for all evil thoughts are before My eyes.

How many men, in this fourth age of the Church, abused the long-suffering of God, who was waiting for them to do penance out of regard for the merits and prayers of the saints, their contemporaries? And these hardened sinners fell deeply asleep in their sins, forgetting God their Creator and giving themselves without restraint to libertinism, as though there were no God capable of searching out the iniquity of the wicked.

The Lord permitted that in the fifth age of the Church there should also arise carnal men who, not content with bringing to light a multitude of new sects, reproduced and recalled from hell all those which had appeared before. And to these unhappy sects we owe the most terrible tribulations: wars, seditions, massacres, famine, plague, and other incalculable evils which they drew upon the Church. God permitted these misfortunes in order to force the faithful at last to open their eyes and recognise that there are no evils in Israel which the Lord has not inflicted in His vengeance.

That is why it is said: And all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts. That is, I am He who examines and punishes concupiscence and perverse thoughts.

And I will give to every one of you according to your works. He first spoke of temporal punishments, because most of the time it happens that the just suffer with the wicked; and God permits this so that they may acquire greater merits. Sometimes even the just are struck by tribulations more than the impious, as daily experience proves to us.

But Jesus Christ speaks in the second place of the eternal punishment which awaits only the impious and impenitent; and this is a difference which ought to be the greatest consolation for the just, and an immense terror for the wicked. Therefore He adds: And I will give to every one of you according to your works, without any respect of persons. He will inflict eternal punishment on those who serve the world, the flesh, and the devil; and He will give eternal glory to those who live in God by observing His commandments.

VI. VERSE 24. But to you I say, and to the rest who are at Thyatira: Whosoever have not this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will not put upon you any other burden.

Here Christ consoles His friends concerning the evil which He was to permit for the advantage of His Church. And His friends were numerous, as we have said of the saints of God, in this fourth age.

But to you I say, My friends, and to the rest who are at Thyatira — that is, I speak to all those who shall show themselves to be the living victim of My Father, and who shall live the spiritual life in this fourth age of the Church.

Whosoever have not this doctrine — that is, all those who fear the Lord and have not allowed themselves to be seduced by the presumption of sin. This presumption or security is called doctrine because of the false belief of the wicked, who willingly persuade themselves in their sins that no evil will happen to them, looking only at the happiness and duration of prosperous times granted to the impious by the long-suffering and goodness of God.

And who have not known the depths of Satan. The depth of Satan may be considered under three aspects: the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life; for it is by these that the devil dared to tempt Christ, the eternal Wisdom of the Father.

These temptations are called depths because of the elevation and difficulty of the objects with which Satan tempts men — objects which he presents to our weak eyes as the only possible goods, causing us to forget the only true goods to come.

The word known is taken here metaphorically, for adhering, loving, attaching oneself, as it is said of man in Scripture that he "knows his wife" (cognoscere uxorem, etc.). Therefore Jesus Christ says: And who have not known the depths of Satan — that is, who have not committed fornication with those three idols of Satan which Jezabel preaches or teaches.

I will not put upon you any other burden. Jesus Christ speaks here, in passing, of the presumption of heretics and bad Christians, who are accustomed to prophesy and to seduce the people by their falsehoods, saying, for example: The Church will not always last; she will become sterile; she will perish and will be destroyed.

Contrary to this false belief of the wicked — a belief which is accustomed to plunge the good into desolation because of the permission of so many and such long calamities which afflict them — Christ consoles His Church here, saying: I will not put upon you any other burden heavier than that which is written in the book of Psalms 88:31: "And if his children forsake my law," etc.; "I will visit their iniquities with a rod," etc.; "But my mercy I will not take away from him," etc.

VERSE 25. Yet that which you have, hold fast till I come. Jesus Christ here exhorts the good, so that, overcoming the evil mingled with the good and despising the calamities of the times, they may preserve innocence and persevere in being the good grain which the heavenly Father has always reserved for Himself, even in the midst of the cockle.

Innocence of morals is above all necessary for the prelates of the Church; and when temporal misfortunes threaten us, and prevarication is at its height, they must, by prudently overcoming the evil introduced into the good, apply themselves to preserving their own conscience and that of their flocks in the greatest purity.

One may also perfectly relate to this passage the parable of the cockle, which must be allowed to remain until the harvest, Matthew 13. For it is said: Yet that which you have, hold fast till I come — that is, wait until I come for the extermination of the impious, to punish the wicked and cause My wrath to burst forth in the scourges which I have prepared in their time for the renewal and amendment of My Church. Likewise, until I come at the universal judgment to render to each according to his works; until I come to restore the Church by holy and pure morals.

VERSE 26. And he that shall overcome and keep my works unto the end. By these words He exhorts to constancy and longanimity, virtues essentially necessary to the Catholic Church in every age. But these two virtues will be especially necessary to her in the fifth age, because of the duration of the evils which she will endure, and because of the power, malice, and insolence of the heretics and other false Christians who will afflict her.

From this follow these words: And he that shall overcome and keep my works unto the end. It is deliberately that He adds my works, because just as, in each age, certain mysteries were more particularly attacked, so in the fifth age His works concerning human liberty, grace, and predestination will be especially attacked.

My works: the cooperation of the human will, the sacraments of Eucharist and Penance, the precepts of the Decalogue, celibacy, and everything that is honourable, etc.

My works: that is, miracles, the canonisation of saints, etc., all of which are works of Christ — works which He points out to all the good who will live in the fifth age of the Church, in order to warn them beforehand and to urge them to preserve these works.

VERSE 27. And he that shall overcome and keep my works unto the end, I will give him power over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and as the vessel of a potter they shall be broken. VERSE 28. As I also have received of my Father.

There follows in these words, to confirm His servants in patience and in the bearing of the calamities which He foretells to us in advance, a very great spiritual consolation and a rich reward in the conversion of the Gentiles and heretics to the true faith. This conversion will take place in the sixth age of the Church. For the fifth is an age of affliction, punishment, and defection, as we shall see below.

Therefore He says: I will give him power over the nations — spiritual power to prelates in the unity of faith, and temporal power to kings in monarchy and in the unity of peoples.

And they shall be broken as the vessel of a potter. From the hardening of their hearts they shall be converted to the shepherd of their souls. Likewise, the republics which had fallen away shall be dissolved, and power shall fail the rebels. This power shall be broken by My most powerful Anointed One whom I shall send, etc. All this is explained later at length and in detail.

As I also have received of my Father. Jesus Christ adds these words for the consolation of His servants — the greatest consolation there could be. Philippians 2:8: "Jesus Christ humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father."

As I also have received of my Father. For by His patience Jesus Christ conquered all things; He subjected all creatures to Himself; and by the glorious combats of the martyrs He broke all nations like a vile and contemptible vessel of clay, etc.

And I will give him the morning star. Here He promises to the Catholic Church a new light which will appear in the sixth age, and which is designated by the morning star. For the morning star signifies that the night has passed and the day has come.

And I will give him the morning star — that is, the light of the true faith, of the Catholic faith, which shall shine with all its splendour beginning from the sixth age of the Church, after the darkness of all heresies has been relegated to hell.

And I will give him the morning star — that is, after the darkness of this life, I will give to each one in particular the heavenly light in which he shall contemplate eternal truth without end.

VERSE 29. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. This passage is explained as above.