On the Hierarchical Nature of the Church Militant

Book Two: On Chapters Four and Five

On the Nature of the Church, Which Is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ; and on the Book of the Secrets of God, Concerning the Revelations Made to Saint John

VERSE 1. After these things I looked, and behold a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, as it were of a trumpet speaking with me, said: Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must be done hereafter.

§ 1. Preliminary Observations Necessary for Understanding the Following Two Chapters, and Others Also

I. Before continuing this interpretation of the Apocalypse, one must know:

1. That heaven sometimes signifies the Church militant, and at other times the Church triumphant; in certain cases also it signifies both indistinctly. This may be distinguished by the matter of the object being treated.

2. The Church militant on earth is an image or figure of the Church triumphant in heaven. From this it follows that Saint John describes the one by the other; and thus he also depicts the militant kingdom of Christ on earth by His triumphant kingdom in heaven. For example, he says that this militant kingdom was shown to him in heaven by a throne; and the one seated upon this throne was shown to him by four living creatures and twenty-four ancients, who were seated and prostrated themselves in the presence of the throne, adoring Him who lives for ever and ever. Now all these things also exist and are done, each in its own manner, in the militant kingdom of Christ on earth.

3. Just as the universality of the churches, seals, angels, trumpets, plagues, spirits, and so forth, represent the goods and evils which happen at various epochs in the militant kingdom of Jesus Christ, in fulfilment of the divine will, and just as they are counted under the number seven; so also the four living creatures represent the universality of doctors, preachers, and primates; while the twenty-four ancients designate the universality of bishops, archbishops, and other prelates. Finally, the twenty-four seats figure the universality of episcopal and archiepiscopal sees, upon which all pontiffs have been and will be seated and established over the whole surface of the globe until the consummation of the ages, under the authority of one visible head, himself seated upon a throne, which is the chair of Saint Peter.

4. Although several gospels appeared, there are nevertheless only four which have been and are admitted by the Church; and these four gospels are figured by the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1 and Apocalypse 4. Moreover, the evangelists are compared to four smiths in Zacharias 1; likewise to four chariots in Zacharias 6; then to four tables in Ezekiel 40. Finally, these four evangelists were figured by Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abiu in Exodus 24, whom God commanded, together with the seventy elders, to come up the mountain.

The reason for the choice of this number four in the Gospels is taken from the four parts of the world, where they were to be preached. The four evangelists have transmitted to us, in a unanimous sense, the true doctrine of Jesus Christ, to which the whole Church must conform, and to which she has always conformed in faith and preaching. From this one may conclude that these four evangelists, although they are already in the Church triumphant in heaven, nevertheless continue to exist morally and by their authority as doctors of the first order, as archchancellors, and as princes of the ancients in the Church militant.

5. After the model of the heavenly kingdom, Our Lord Jesus Christ constituted His earthly kingdom as a perfect monarchy, with the most admirable and wisest hierarchy possible. He first established one single head; then the four evangelists; then the apostles; then the doctors, and so forth. It was according to this first model that He also constituted the Sovereign Pontiff as the universal head of the Church militant, and that He then established patriarchs and primates, then archbishops, bishops, prelates, deans, parish priests, and so forth, in the order of subordination.

6. The literal sense of Scripture is not always the sense expressed immediately by the words. Often it is the sense designated by the images, and this sense may be distinguished by the property of the objects or words from which it must be extracted. Thus, for example, it is said in Judges 9:8: "The trees went to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree: Reign thou over us." The literal sense must not be understood of trees, but of the men of Sichem, represented by the trees, who chose Abimelech as their king.

7. Although the visions of Saint John and the revelations of the secrets of God were made to him with the distinction of past, present, and future times, they are nevertheless represented as present to the mind and as though they were to last only a single day — that is, the day on which they were revealed by God. This is why the prophet uses expressions which represent them as existing or still enduring. The same observation must also be applied to the persons and things of which the text may speak.

8. Men and spirits, whether good or evil, according as they are sent or permitted by God, are all called indifferently angels in the Apocalypse.

9. One must not always observe the order according to which a thing is done; one must also consider the order of the vision and of the description. For it frequently happens that things which must be fulfilled earlier are revealed or represented later to the prophets; and by that very fact they are written in the same order in which they were revealed, as examples of this are also seen in the Old and New Testament.

10. In this book of the Apocalypse, by the word throne one understands indifferently every kind of seat: for example, secular, spiritual, temporal, or eternal power. Thus, in the course of the descriptions, the throne is sometimes taken for a temporal seat; at other times for the pontifical seat of the Church militant on earth; and at other times, finally, for the seat of the divine Majesty in the Church triumphant in heaven.

11. In a single description of one mystery, several other mysteries to come at different times are sometimes included. From this it follows that one single thing, or the same words, may have several literal senses, some of equal and others of lesser importance. This proceeds from the essentially one and indivisible knowledge of God, which comprehends all things in the most perfect manner.

And it is thus that God revealed and showed to Saint John, in this book of the Apocalypse, how he was to understand, under one and the same figure, various persons or various things which, although they were to exist at different epochs, were nevertheless to operate the same things, or things similar among themselves, either for or against the Church.

And it is also thus that a person or a thing which has its own proper signification in itself or by itself could at the same time be the figure of another person or another thing. We have an example of this in Daniel and in other prophets, who foretold many circumstances of the synagogue, which circumstances had to be understood literally of the Church of Jesus Christ.

§ 2. On the Nature of the Church of Jesus Christ, as It Was Revealed and Manifested to Saint John. Chapter 4, Verses 1–11

I. After Saint John, enlightened by a divine revelation, had described in general the seven ages of the Church from her origin until the consummation of the ages, and after he had given, for each of these ages, a sufficient and even necessary instruction, God introduced him, as it were, into the sanctuary of the house and kingdom of Jesus Christ, which is the Church. And in this fourth chapter He showed him the nature, government, and interior constitution of this Church. Afterward He revealed to him in particular His admirable secrets and His eternal counsels, in the same way that a king, introducing a favourite into his palace, would open to him the secret door of the cabinet where the treasures and particular secrets of his kingdom are carefully preserved.

VERSE 1. After these things I looked, and behold a door was opened in heaven. Here heaven is taken for the kingdom and militant Church of Jesus Christ, whose door is opened to Saint John; that is to say, the secret of the divine will concerning this Church is shown and manifested to him.

And the first voice which I had heard, as it were of a trumpet speaking with me, said. These words show the gravity of the one who invites Saint John to enter and receive the secrets of God. It is the archangel Saint Michael who speaks from the height of heaven, and who is about to reveal important mysteries concerning the Church militant, whose care has been entrusted to him.

He says: Come up hither, in spirit, and I will show thee the things which must be done hereafter. The Archangel tells Saint John to come up — that is, to raise himself to the height of the marvellous things which he promises to manifest to him, and which must be fulfilled on earth before the end of time.

VERSE 2. And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold there was a throne set in heaven. This throne is the apostolic and monarchical seat; it is also ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction. Jesus Christ placed this throne in heaven — that is, in His Church — when He instituted His kingdom upon the earth. Matthew 16:18–19: "And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church," etc. "And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven," etc. "Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven."

And upon the throne, one sitting.

1. He whom Saint John says was seated upon the throne is the visible head who governs the Church of God upon earth. The first who was seated upon this throne was Saint Peter, who had successors without interruption until this day, and who will have them likewise until the end of the world, because the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church.

2. He who is seated upon the throne is also the invisible Head of the Church militant, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who exercises His empire over His mystical body by His continual assistance and by His grace, according to Saint Matthew 28:20: "I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." And according to Saint John 14:18: "I will not leave you orphans." Indeed, Jesus Christ is seated upon the throne of His kingdom, as God and man together, to govern the Church by His power and by His divine authority. Matthew 28:18: "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth."

3. Finally, He who is seated upon the throne is also God, one in three Persons, who is adored and glorified in the Catholic Church as the sovereign Lord of all things, through His Son Jesus Christ, whom He has constituted universal heir.

VERSE 3. And he that sat was to the sight like the jasper and the sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. Jasper is a very hard stone and of a greenish colour; it has the virtue of strengthening sight. Sardine stone is of a tender red, and metaphorically signifies the fire of charity.

It is to these two stones that he whom Saint John saw seated upon the throne is compared. These two stones represent Him by their colours, because of the truth and charity of God which are in Him — truth and charity by which He will strengthen and inflame the Church until the consummation of the ages. Moreover, He will preserve her by the immutable and infallible principles of faith, by His holy precepts, and by His perfect charity toward God and neighbour. This indeed takes place when the visible head of the Church defines and declares, from the chair of Saint Peter, the truths of faith; when he promulgates holy laws; and when he decrees what is founded upon the charity of God and of neighbour. Jesus Christ, on His part, and God one in three Persons, who is the invisible Head of this Church, enlightens the minds of the faithful and inflames them by the grace of piety, in virtue of the covenant existing between God and His Church. Matthew 28:20: "I am with you," etc.

And there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. The rainbow signifies the covenant of Jesus Christ with His Church, just as we see in Genesis 9 that the rainbow placed between heaven and earth was also taken as the sign of the covenant which God made with men. Now this latter covenant was the type and figure of the new spiritual covenant.

It is said that this rainbow was round about the throne because this covenant between Christ and His Church will be manifest to whoever wishes to recognise it. For this, it will be enough to see and hear that this Church has always existed pure and without stain amid so many heresies and adversities, and that she has been immutable in her truth and charity. This, indeed, is a manifest sign that the Roman Church alone is the true spouse of Jesus Christ, with whom He has made an eternal covenant, giving her as pledge the holy ring of truth and charity.

This rainbow is said to be in sight like unto an emerald, because just as the greenish colour of the emerald is superior to all other colours of the same kind, so the truth of the faith and of the covenant of Jesus Christ with His Church is superior to every natural truth and every natural treaty. And just as the colour of the emerald is very pleasing to the eye, although it is of a dark shade, so also the truth of this covenant is very pleasing to the eyes of the wise and intelligent, while at the same time it appears obscure to carnal hearts, because of the adversities and calamities which God permits against His Church.

VERSE 4. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats; and upon the seats, four and twenty ancients sitting, clothed in white garments, and on their heads were crowns of gold.

After the description of the head or chief follows the description of the body of the Church, signified by the twenty-four ancients. The twenty-four thrones are all the archiepiscopal and episcopal sees; and the twenty-four ancients are the archbishops, bishops, and doctors. They are represented as seated upon thrones, which is fulfilled when they are legitimately assembled in general council, united to their head, and bearing crowns of gold — that is, clothed with a special dignity, which is apostolic authority, majesty, and power.

Likewise, by the twenty-four ancients are understood the twelve Prophets of the Old Testament and the twelve Apostles of the New. They are said to be seated upon thrones because of the sovereign authority of their doctrine and the holiness of their life. For the Catholic Church has a very particular regard for these two qualities of the Apostles when she defines articles of faith or morals in general councils. And although these saints have been taken from this world, they nevertheless continue to shine in it by their apostolic and divine authority.

It is true that there are also a great number of doctors in the Church; but this does not prevent their universality from being perfectly represented by the twenty-four ancients. For Holy Scripture often uses a determined number to express an undetermined number.

These twenty-four ancients were clothed in white garments, etc. The white garment designates celibacy and priestly chastity; for this virtue is the special ornament which makes priests and princes of the Church shine, and which distinguishes them from the powers of the age.

The ancients appeared to Saint John with crowns of gold upon their heads. These words designate ecclesiastical, apostolic, and priestly dignity and power; because the Apostles, and the priesthood in general, are the princes of the churches, and they reign upon the earth. That is why Saint John tells us that they had crowns of gold upon their heads, as it is said of Aaron in Ecclesiasticus 45:14: "A crown of gold was upon his mitre, marked with the sign of holiness and the glory of honour." Now it is thus that the representatives of the priesthood of Jesus Christ wear upon their heads crowns of gold, which are the crowns of knowledge, wisdom, age, and maturity; for these are the attributes with which Our Lord Jesus Christ adorned the princes and doctors of His Church.

II. VERSE 5. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, and voices, and thunders.

By the lightnings are understood here the light of miracles which terrify and enlighten; also the proclamation of rewards for works of justice, the threatening of punishments and torments, the anathemas, excommunications, and ecclesiastical sentences fulminated against the wicked. The voices are the definitions of articles of faith and the ecclesiastical precepts established to introduce and maintain holiness of morals. The thunders, finally, are excommunications and ecclesiastical penalties which strike ipso facto heretics and rebels who do not listen to the threats and definitions of the Church, and who despise them. Now all these things proceed from the throne — that is, from the Apostolic See; for the Sovereign Pontiff is the judge of controversies in matters of faith, and the legislator for the rule of good morals.

And there were seven lamps burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. In these words one sees the assistance of the Holy Spirit, who governs and inspires the Catholic Church at all times, in order to prevent her from failing in the interpretation of Sacred Scripture. This assistance of the Holy Spirit must also serve the Church in the counsels which she receives from Him and must put into practice in order to overcome evil, and also so that she may not be able to err in matters of faith.

VERSE 6. And in the sight of the throne was, as it were, a sea of glass like to crystal. This sea of glass is Baptism, in which all souls who receive spiritual life exist, vegetate, live, and move. It is said that this sea was like crystal, both because of the whiteness, purity, and holiness received in it, and because of the immobility of this sea of crystal to which Baptism is compared; because Baptism impresses an indelible character, which does not permit it to be repeated.

And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind. By the four living creatures are designated the four kinds of archchancellors of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, who obtained the first places after the head of the Church. These are the four Evangelists with their four Gospels. They are indeed in the midst of the throne and around the throne — that is, spread everywhere and traversing the whole world by means of preachers. The Psalmist, speaking of the preaching of the Gospel, says in Psalm 18:4: "Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."

The four Evangelists are in the midst of the throne because the Church spread throughout the whole world is based upon the doctrine contained in the four Gospels. These four living creatures are full of eyes before and behind because of the clarity of doctrine and truth contained in the Old and New Testament. The eyes before are supernatural knowledge and understanding, by means of which they penetrated and corrected the errors of the synagogue, while retaining the things necessary for salvation. The eyes behind are this same supernatural knowledge and understanding, whose rays, by their doctrine, will reach until the end of time. It was with the assistance of the Holy Spirit that the Apostles wrote the evangelical law which they received from the mouth of Jesus Christ for the salvation of the nations.

VERSE 7. And the first living creature was like a lion: and the second living creature like a calf: and the third living creature, having the face as of a man: and the fourth living creature was like an eagle flying.

First, the four Evangelists are compared to four living creatures because they describe the Nativity of Our Lord, His preaching, His Passion, and His Ascension. Indeed, Christ is represented in His Nativity as a man, in His preaching as a lion, in His Passion as a calf, and in His Ascension as an eagle.

The first living creature, by whom Saint Mark is described, is said to be like a lion because his Gospel begins by recounting the preaching of Saint John, a preaching which was like the roaring of a lion because of its admirable efficacy. Mark 1:45: "And they came to him from every side," etc. The second living creature represents Saint Luke, who is compared to a calf because his Gospel begins with the priesthood, in which the calf, and every first-born, was sacrificed to the Lord. The third living creature is the type of Saint Matthew, who is represented with a figure almost like that of a man, because his Gospel begins with the generation of Jesus Christ from the race of David. The fourth living creature, finally, who represents Saint John as under a veil, is likened to an eagle because of the sublimity of his Gospel, which rises even to heaven, penetrates the earth and every human and natural generation, and reaches, by its flight, even to the generation from the Father, saying: "In the beginning was the Word," etc.

VERSE 8. And the four living creatures had each of them six wings. The first wing is the natural law; the second, the law of Moses; the third, the oracles of the prophets; the fourth, the institutions and acts of the Apostles; the fifth, their traditions; and the sixth, finally, the general decrees of the councils.

It is said that these four living creatures each have six wings because these wings are the foundation and completion of all evangelical doctrine. Likewise, it is with these six wings that the Church flies into the four parts of the world and reaches the highest regions; and it is from them that preachers receive the foundation of every pure and true doctrine.

And round about and within they are full of eyes. That is, the eyes of these living creatures penetrate into the perfect law constituted by the six wings of which we have spoken. For the words within refer to charity and the contemplation of God; and the words round about indicate charity toward neighbour and the active life in which the Evangelists and preachers must excel.

And they rested not day and night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come. In these words follow the charge and office of these living creatures, which consist in rendering glory, honour, and blessing to the Lord God by prayer and by preaching. And they rested not day and night. For the word of God is free, and the preaching of the Gospel, as well as the glorification of the Name of Jesus, will continue until the consummation of the ages.

That is why one will never cease to hear the roaring of the lion, the lowing of the calf, the voice of the man, and the cry of the eagle. Day and night — that is, in evil times, and in the hour of darkness raised up by heretics and by the persecutors of evangelical truth. They will be heard by day — that is, in the time of true light, when the Church enjoys peace. They will be heard speaking and crying by the mouth of preachers, and in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and also in the divine offices, day and night, saying throughout the whole world: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.

The word holy is repeated three times to signify the Trinity of Persons. And these words, Lord God Almighty, designate the unity of essence. For the three Persons are but one God, the Almighty Lord, who is, who was, and who is to come. These last words express the eternity of God, who was before time, who is in time, and who will be after time — that is, from all eternity and unto ages of ages.

III. VERSE 9. And when those living creatures gave glory and honour and benediction to him that sitteth on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever; VERSE 10. The four and twenty ancients fell down before him that sitteth on the throne, and adored him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne.

By Him who is seated upon the throne is understood God, one in three Persons, and Jesus Christ in His capacity as Monarch of the whole universe and invisible Head of the Church, which He rules and governs; and to Him are submitted, in union with the visible head of the Church, all the doctors, preachers, apostles, prophets, and princes of the churches throughout the whole earth.

And they cast their crowns before the throne, as a sign of respect, humility, and profound submission; and also because the power, honour, glory, dignity, and ecclesiastical and apostolic authority of bishops, doctors, and prelates — signified by the crowns of gold, as we have said above — derive from the throne, which is the chair of Peter.

For it will be remembered that the crowns of gold represent priestly power and dignity. These twenty-four ancients therefore cast their crowns before the throne, as a sign of the intimate union and submission which necessarily exist in the Church, because the kingdom of Jesus Christ upon earth constitutes a monarchy of the most perfect nature. They also cast their crowns before the throne to show that the Church holds from God all light, all power, all wisdom, and all glory upon earth. For Jesus Christ, true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is, in His capacity as invisible Head of the Church, the source of all wisdom, of all truth, and of all power, poured out by the Holy Spirit upon His Church.

That is why we render to Him the worship of adoration due to His divine essence. From this the Apostle continues, saying:

VERSE 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. It is not that God acquires anything more by human works and praises; but men, in recognition of the benefits which they have received from Him, are bound to praise and glorify the excellence, goodness, wisdom, and power of the eternal Majesty, who, by the blood of His Son Jesus, founded this monarchy of the Church, so perfect, so glorious, so admirable, and so powerful, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail.

Moreover, the twenty-four ancients fell down before Him who sits upon the throne, and they adored Him who lives for ever and ever. This takes place when the living creatures spoken of above render glory, honour, power, and blessing to Him who sits upon the throne; for they hold from the Gospels the knowledge of this truth: that one must adore only one true God, with His only Son Jesus Christ.

Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power, because Thou hast created all things, drawing the universe and all that it contains out of nothing; and also because Thou hast established and ordered this kingdom of the Church upon earth by Thy infinite wisdom and in the goodness of Thy eternal will.

For thou hast created all things; and for thy will they were, and have been created. These words indicate that it is according to the good pleasure of the divine will that all creatures, all kingdoms — in a word, the entire universe — tend toward this first and last end, and that it directs toward them all honour, all glory, all power and empire, etc., as an arrow directs itself toward its mark. And for thy will they were — that is, before being created they existed from all eternity in the free disposition of Thy goodness, O Lord, and in the will of Thy wisdom, as a house already exists in the imagination of the architect before its construction. And have been created — that is, produced and effected in time by the divine will of Thy wisdom, by Thy free and pure goodness, and not by a necessity of nature.