The Opening of the Six Seals

Book Three: On Chapters Six and Seven

On the Opening and Explanation of the Seven Seals; and on the Consolations of the Church Triumphant and Militant After Past Tribulations

Section I: On Chapter 6 — On the Opening and Explanation of the Six First Seals

I. Saint John, after having sufficiently described, by the divine revelation made to him, the nature of the Church of Jesus Christ, the universal constitution of His kingdom, and the majesty which results from it, continues to give in detail the particular events which will mark the course of the Church until the consummation of the ages. He enumerates, for example, the horrible persecutions, the heresies, the reigns of tyrants, and also the consolations which the Church will receive, each in its own time. All these things are revealed at the opening of the seven seals.

But before beginning, it is fitting to observe here: 1. That the horses and those who ride them signify, in this description, a spiritual war between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of this world. 2. The Apostle depicts four kinds of these horsemen to signify that this spiritual war will take place in the four parts of the world. 3. He divides this general war into two principal epochs: a. that of the Jews and Gentiles; b. that of the heretics and of Antichrist, until the consummation of the ages. The first epoch is contained and described in the opening of the first six seals; and the second in the seventh and last seal, as the continuation will show. 4. The voices of the four Evangelists are added here as a testimony of the truth which must be preached in the four parts of the world. And it is this testimony which will be the occasion of every war and every persecution on the part of tyrants.

§ 1. On the Opening of the Four First Seals; and on the Four Horsemen Who Were Shown to Saint John at the Opening of These Seals. Chapter 6, Verses 1–8

I. The opening of the first seal is the warlike expedition of Jesus Christ, who, coming into this world in order to make war upon it, decreed, for the most just reasons, to subject it to His power and to bend all His enemies beneath the yoke of the faith. The army which He sent throughout the whole universe for this purpose was composed of the twelve Apostles and the assembly of all the faithful.

VERSE 1. And I saw that the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures, as it were the voice of thunder, saying: Come, and see.

And I saw, in imagination and in spirit, that the Lamb had opened and executed one — the first and principal — of the seven seals, according to the will of His Father, who sent into the world His only Son made man, and constituted Him King of the universe. Now, since neither the Jews nor the Gentiles wished to receive Him, Christ saw Himself obliged to take the offensive, and to make war upon them with His army, in order to be able to enter into His kingdom and into His glory.

And I heard, again in imagination and in spirit, one — the first — of the four living creatures, or of the four Evangelists: that is, Saint Matthew, who says, in the same chapter in which he describes this terrible war that Jesus Christ makes against the world: "Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves." And I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as it were the voice of thunder. Indeed, Saint Matthew, the first witness of evangelical truth, announces with a strong voice the terrible war which will follow the preaching of the Gospel, saying: Come, and see. This is a manner of speaking intended to excite someone's special attention to a thing.

II. VERSE 2. And I saw: and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and there was a crown given him, and he went forth conquering that he might conquer.

This text describes the commander-in-chief of this army, together with his power and his strength. And I saw: and behold a white horse. This horse is the assembly of the Apostles and disciples of Christ. It is said to be white by metaphor, because of the candour, purity, truth, simplicity, and holiness of His army. For just as a white horse receives its name and colour from the whiteness of its hair, so the saints obtain their holiness, or the whiteness of their purity, from sanctifying grace. They are compared to a horse because of the strength and speed with which they travelled throughout the whole universe in a very short time, preaching there the Gospel and the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

And he that sat on him had a bow. These words apply to Christ, who is the great leader of this war, and who is represented as seated upon His own, directing them with the bridle of the fear of the Lord, and spurring them on to the race with the spurs of charity toward God and neighbour, and by the help of His holy grace, with which the Apostles and the other disciples of the primitive Church were abundantly provided. The bow designates the virtue and the weapons with which Christ was to fight His enemies. These weapons are preaching and miracles. For Christ directed the preaching of the Apostles as the bow directs the arrow toward its target. Mark 16:20: "But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed." The efficacy and invincible strength of the Word are also expressed in Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword."

And there was a crown given him. This means royal power; for all power has been given to Christ in heaven and on earth. Jesus Christ is therefore the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and He has received from His Father the crown of the eternal kingdom, the crown of the victory which He won, in His Resurrection and Ascension, over all kings, over the tyrants of this world, and over all the infernal powers.

And he went forth on this white horse, with His Apostles and disciples, to traverse the world as conqueror, and to subdue His adversaries. He went first into Judea, where, in a single day, His Apostle Saint Peter converted three thousand men, Acts 2; and on another day five thousand, Acts 4. And he went forth... that he might conquer the whole earth, bending beneath His dominion and beneath the yoke of faith the chiefs of the nations. For in a short time, through the preaching of the Apostles and the other disciples — "the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed" — the Gospel was preached, and the Catholic faith was spread even to the ends of the earth, during the lifetime of Saint Peter himself, as is seen in history and in the Acts of the Apostles, and as was announced in Psalm 18:4: "Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world."

III. VERSES 3 AND 4. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature, saying: Come, and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and to him that sat thereon, it was given that he should take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and a great sword was given to him.

The Apostle describes by these words the first and one of the most terrible tyrants of the Church: Domitius Nero, who dared, at the instigation of Satan, to make war upon the Apostles and to attack the Christians, who are the army of Jesus Christ. This cruel enemy delivered to the flames a great part of the city of Rome, in the darkness of the night, for the pleasure of representing the burning of Troy. He made use of this occasion to accuse the Christians of Rome, and to stir up against them the first persecution, which raged chiefly in that city.

His hatred went so far that he made sport of the victims who fell. They were clothed with the skins of beasts, in order to excite against them the fury of dogs; they were crucified; they were smeared with pitch in order to serve as torches during the night. The number of Christians burned in this persecution was so considerable that human fat, flowing upon the arena of the amphitheatres, left traces there. This most cruel tyrant put to death Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Seneca his tutor, and did not spare even his own mother, his wife, his brother, and his sisters. It is therefore with justice that the Apostle applies to him the description given above.

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying: Come, and see. This second living creature is Saint Luke, who here bears witness to the truth concerning the holy martyrs whom Nero caused to be slaughtered. For it has been said above that this living creature was like a calf, because his Gospel begins with the priesthood, through which calves were immolated in sacrifice and as a victim pleasing to the Lord God. Now it is thus also that the just and the Christians were immolated by the impious, and that their blood and their death were a sacrifice most pleasing to God the Father, through His Son Jesus, who was immolated for us all.

VERSE 4. And there went out another horse that was red. This horse is the Roman people under Domitius Nero. It is properly called red because of the burning of the city of Rome and the burning of so many Christians; and also because of the shedding of their blood, as has been said above.

And to him that sat thereon, it was given — that is, God permitted the emperor Nero, who sat at Rome in the year 53, to show himself so cruel toward the Christians. It is in the same sense that Jesus Christ says to Pilate, John 19:11: "Thou shouldst not have any power against me, unless it were given thee from above."

And to him that sat thereon, it was given that he should take peace from the earth. First, with regard to the Christians whom he caused to be persecuted and put to flight, especially at Rome and elsewhere also. Second, with regard also to his empire, which was disturbed by his wicked deeds, cruelty, slaughter, and blind tyranny. This is why it is said of him that he took peace from the earth, the peace which Octavius Augustus had given to the whole universe.

And that they should kill one another. This was verified on account of his perfidy. Nero having been assassinated, Sergius Galba the elder usurped the empire, and adopted as his son Piso the Younger, a man of corrupt morals, whom he designated as his successor. Piso was killed in the forum by the soldiers of the factious Otho. Three months later, this same Otho, having been defeated by the army of Vitellius, killed himself. And before the year had passed, Vitellius, defeated in three battles fought against him in Rome itself by the partisans of Vespasian, was dragged naked through the streets of the city, slaughtered, and finally thrown into the Tiber. And a great sword was given to him — that is, the power to kill Christians. For Nero was the first among the Roman emperors to stir up persecution against the Church. He put to death the princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, and a great number of Christians, both in the city and throughout the empire.

IV. VERSE 5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature, saying: Come, and see. And behold a black horse: and he that sat on him had a pair of scales in his hand.

VERSE 6. And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying: Two pounds of wheat for a penny, and thrice two pounds of barley for a penny: and see thou hurt not the wine and the oil.

These words describe the sack of the city of Jerusalem and the extermination of the synagogue of the Jews, which had to take place in order to fulfil the word of Christ in Matthew 23 and Luke 13. By this third living creature is understood the Evangelist Saint Mark, who was compared above to a lion, because his Gospel begins with the preaching of penance by Saint John the Baptist to the Jews, who rejected his word as they also rejected that of Jesus Christ Himself. It is therefore as a just consequence of the hardness of their heart that Christ here reveals to Saint John this punishment and this extermination of the Jewish nation and synagogue.

And behold a black horse. This black horse is the city of Jerusalem with its inhabitants. It is black: 1. Because of the blindness of the Jews and of the synagogue, who put Our Lord Jesus Christ to death, refused to believe in His divinity, and resisted the Holy Spirit even after having witnessed the Resurrection of the Saviour. 2. This horse is black because of the unheard-of famine which caused, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, up to 1,100,000 souls to perish at Jerusalem.

Titus, son of Vespasian, blockaded the city and surrounded it with a wall of forty stadia — about 5,000 paces, or roughly two leagues — and caused to be built outside these walls thirteen forts, each 1,250 paces in circumference, in order more easily to reduce its inhabitants. This immense work was completed in the space of three days, that is, with a speed above human strength, so that the word of Christ might be fulfilled. Luke 19:43–44: "For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side; and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone." This was fulfilled literally when Titus overturned the city of Jerusalem from top to bottom and occupied it.

And he that sat on him was Flavius Vespasian, who mounted the throne of the empire in the year of Jesus Christ 69. And it was his son who besieged the city and reduced it under his power, together with the whole Jewish nation, in the year 79. He had a pair of scales in his hand. This was the balance of divine justice, of which he was the executor. For it was by the order of God that this son of Vespasian caused the Jewish nation to perish miserably by famine, by the sword, and by captivity, in order to chastise it for its unheard-of malice and cruelty, and to avenge the death of Jesus Christ. This vengeance was not, indeed, the goal that Titus and his army proposed to themselves; for they ruined that nation because it had revolted against the Roman Empire, as is seen in the history of Josephus, De Bello Judaico. This is why the text says: He had a pair of scales in his hand, and not in his spirit, intention, or will. For he was only the instrument of divine justice, which used the hand of Titus to execute its decrees.

And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, etc. These words contain the sentence of condemnation fulminated by divine justice against the Jewish people because of its incomparable crime. And I heard a voice — the voice of divine justice — as it were in the midst of the four living creatures, that is, from the throne of God, around which are the four living creatures, both in the militant kingdom and in the triumphant kingdom of Christ. These words show again that Titus, in what he did against the Jews, was only the executor of divine vengeance; for it is from God alone that the punishment of crimes proceeds. Amos 3:6: "Shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord hath not done?"

Two pounds of wheat for a penny, and thrice two pounds of barley for a penny. To understand these words: 1. One must notice what Hugh of Florence says about the end of the war of the Romans against the Jews: the Romans, finally weary of so much slaughter, sought to sell their prisoners as slaves. But because there were far more sellers than buyers, it often happened that as many as thirty Jewish slaves were handed over for one piece of silver. The Jews had bought their Master for thirty pieces of silver; thus, by return and by contrast, up to thirty of them were sold for a single penny. 2. One must also note that the word in the Latin text, bilibris, is composed of bis, two, and libra, pound — that is, two pounds, which make a drachma. 3. Finally, one must know that five Jews designate a pound, because the five books of Moses were admitted by all the Jews and by each of them in particular. 4. Wheat signifies the most powerful, the most skilful, and the noblest among the Jews. Barley, on the contrary, being an inferior kind of grain, indicates the lower class of this people. 5. By the wine and the oil, which the text commands not to hurt, are understood the Christians, who were in fact spared by the army of Titus. For before the siege of Jerusalem, the Christians who were in the city and in Judea were warned by an angel, and crossed the Jordan to take refuge in the city of Pella, which formed part of the kingdom of Agrippa, an ally of the Romans. Moreover, wine metaphorically signifies charity toward God, and oil charity toward neighbour.

From all that has just been said, one may understand this passage: Two pounds of wheat — that is, ten principal men among the Jews — for a penny; and thrice two pounds of barley — that is, thirty persons from the lower people — for a penny. And see thou hurt not the wine and the oil — that is, the Christians were to be preserved.

V. VERSE 7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature, saying: Come, and see. VERSE 8. And behold a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and hell followed him. And power was given to him over the four parts of the earth, to kill with sword, with famine, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

After the Jewish nation — that relentless enemy of Jesus Christ and of all Christians — had been conquered and destroyed, Domitian stirred up against the Christians the second general persecution, and waged cruel war against Christianity. Here it is a question of the person of the Evangelist Saint John himself, considered in particular, inasmuch as he occupies the fourth place of honour and dignity in the militant and triumphant kingdom of Christ, and inasmuch as he confirms evangelical truth by his testimony.

And behold a pale horse. This is the Roman people, pale because of the fear inspired in it by the tyrant Domitian, a cruel and avaricious prince. This emperor pushed his fury so far as to have himself called God. Moreover, he sent into exile or caused to be massacred a great part of the senators and nobles, imputing crimes to them in order to seize their goods. Consequently, all the rest of the people, both in Rome and in the provinces, conceived the greatest fear of being treated in the same manner. Now, since fright produces paleness, it is truly said here that the Roman people of that time resembled a pale horse.

And he that sat upon him — the emperor Domitian, who was raised to the empire in the year of Jesus Christ 81 — his name was Death. 1. Because he caused, as has been said, a great number of innocents to be massacred, and especially Christians, against whom he stirred up the second persecution, which may be considered as a continuation and consequence of that of Nero. 2. Because he fell into snares and was himself killed by the freedman of the consul Clement, whom he had caused to be condemned under the pretext of impiety; and thus he disappeared, and even his memory was effaced.

And hell followed him. That is, having died in his impiety in a sudden and unforeseen manner, this unhappy man was cast into the abysses of hell.

And power was given to him over the four parts of the earth, in which the Roman Empire then extended, to kill with sword, with famine, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. These words show the cruelty of this persecution by the variety of torments and by the diverse kinds of death which accompanied it. This tyrant caused men to die: 1. By the sword. For by his order a great quantity of Christians perished by the sword in all parts of his empire. 2. By famine. For several died in prisons, devoured by hunger. 3. By death. These words designate in general the various tortures inflicted on Christians to put them to death: they were hanged, drowned, burned, and suffocated. 4. And by the beasts of the earth. That is, men took delight in this particular kind of torment, which consisted in exposing Christians, in mockery and for amusement, to be devoured by wild beasts. One has only to read, to be convinced of this, the ecclesiastical histories, the martyrology, and the lives of the saints.

§ 2. On the Opening of the Fifth Seal. Chapter 6, Verses 9–11

VERSE 9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. VERSE 10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? VERSE 11. And white robes were given to every one of them one; and it was said to them that they should rest yet for a little time, till their fellow-servants and their brethren, who are to be slain even as they, should be filled up.

At the opening of the fifth seal, one sees the continuation of the persecutions against the Christians, persecutions which lasted from the Emperor Trajan until Diocletian — that is, for the space of two hundred years.

For in the year 98 after Jesus Christ, Ulpius Trajan, of Spanish origin, stirred up the third persecution against the Church of Christ. This prince imagined that he had received his throne from Jupiter himself, whom he had always worshipped with a distinguished piety; and since he was, moreover, very superstitious in the worship of idols, he was the first to recall the ancient religion to the memory of the senate, making it the senate's duty to preserve it. For at that time, according to Juvenal and Plutarch, the Christians were multiplying over the whole earth; the idols were falling into forgetfulness and contempt; the victims no longer found buyers; and most of the oracles were becoming silent. This is what gave occasion to the third persecution against the Christians. Afterward, however, the Church enjoyed a moment of rest under Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, who issued no edict against her.

But in the year of Christ 161, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus having ascended the throne, stirred up a new storm against Christianity; and this fourth persecution took from the Church Polycarp, Justin, and a considerable number of the faithful.

Under the princes Commodus, Antoninus, Pertinax, and Titus Julianus, the Church again had peace for a time, until the reign of Septimius Severus, in the year 193. Then began the fifth persecution, in which, among others, Saint Irenaeus died. This tyrant was so terrible that a great number of the faithful took him for Antichrist. Antoninus Bassianus Caracalla, Macrinus, Heliogabalus, and Marcus Aurelius Severus exercised no new hostility.

The author of the sixth persecution was Julius Maximinus. It was attributed to the great jealousy of this prince against the Alexandrian family, several members of which professed the faith of Jesus Christ. He ascended the throne in the year 235.

Decius, another bitter enemy of the Christians, began to reign in the year 249 and was the author of the seventh persecution. God permitted it because of the relaxation of ecclesiastical discipline. This is what Saint Cyprian, an eyewitness, clearly demonstrates in his work Liber de Lapsis, when he says: "Torments came — torments without end and without issue, which brought no relief of death; torments which did not easily lead to the crown of glory, but made the victims groan until they weakened, excepting some whom God, in His mercy, deigned to call to eternal glory by a death swifter than the torment."

Gregory of Nyssa, the Wonderworker, also says: "The civil power omitted no means, public or private, to seize the faithful and to punish those who practised the maxims of the faith. Everything was employed: the terror of threats, the infinite variety of torments, the sword, fire, pits, instruments and apparatuses intended to tear the limbs, iron chairs made red-hot in the fire, racks, iron claws, and innumerable other torments which were ceaselessly invented to terrify men before they were even put to the test. The only concern of those who thus exercised power was that no one should be able to surpass their refinement and their wickedness. Some made themselves accusers; others, judges; others, finally, inquisitors of those who fled. These tyrants cast covetous eyes upon the property of the faithful in order to seize it; or else, under a pretext of piety and religion, they pursued those who embraced the faith."

A great number of Christians found themselves forced to abandon their homeland and withdraw into the solitude of mountains and desert regions. Among these is cited Paul, the prince of anchorites. Moreover, many of these unhappy persons denied the faith in this persecution: some by publicly sacrificing to idols; others, without directly denying religion, accepted through weakness certificates — libelli — from the prefects and civil officials, by means of which certain Christians protected themselves from persecutions, so as not to be forced to sacrifice publicly to the gods.

In the year 254, Licinius Valerian became emperor; and, following the counsel of a magician from Egypt, he ordered the eighth persecution, in which Saint Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, died. This persecution raged with such force that Dionysius of Alexandria believed that the most terrible of times had arrived, and that the prophecy concerning Antichrist, contained in the Apocalypse of Saint John, had been fulfilled in Valerian.

The ninth persecution took place under Gallienus, in the year 262. Various calamities, however, forced him to restrain his fury. But this persecution was rekindled in the year 272 by Valerian Aurelian, who continued it. There were many other intermediate emperors who reigned between these tyrants, and under whom several Christians obtained the crown of martyrdom. But they must be distinguished from those whom we have cited, because the latter attacked and persecuted the Church more particularly by the edicts which they published or renewed, while the former did not.

Such was then the face of the Church, which continually swam in the blood of her martyrs for the space of three hundred years — and this by an astonishing permission of God against His friends and His spouse, who is so dear to Him. These persecutions explain to us the great cry and astonishment of the saints of God beneath the altar, of which the text speaks next.

VERSE 9. And when he had opened the fifth seal — that is, these almost continual persecutions — I saw, in imagination and in spirit, under the altar, the souls of them that were slain — that is, the souls of the martyrs, whose bodies rested beneath the altar. This is a manner of speaking which is also found in Exodus 1:5: "All the souls" — that is, all the men — "that came out of Jacob." Under the reign of these tyrants there were no churches or fixed altars. Rather, wooden altars were set up in secret places, and especially in the crypts of the martyrs, where their bodies were placed. This is why the Apostle says that he saw, beneath the altar, the souls of those who had given their life for the word of God. These words apply to the doctors who suffered martyrdom because of the preaching of the word of God and for bearing testimony to Him. They are also said of simple faithful people who were immolated because, far from wishing to deny Jesus Christ, they openly declared that they believed in Him.

VERSE 10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, etc. These words must be interpreted morally, as in Genesis 4:10: "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth." Now the voice of the innocent blood of the martyrs cries all the more loudly to the Lord in proportion as the persecution and the power of the impious were more general, more cruel, and longer. All these martyrs cried with a loud voice, saying: O Lord, holy and true, how long dost thou delay? That is: How long, O Lord, holy and true, Thou who art just, Thou who seest the iniquity of the impious — how long wilt Thou permit the innocent to be so cruelly treated? These words express great astonishment that God allowed His Church, so dear and so holy, to swim for three centuries in the blood of so many martyrs, while the impious triumphed. This state of the saints must teach us to suffer for the Name of Jesus; and this passage shows us that God does not always manifest His love in this world by consolations and prosperity, but often, on the contrary, by tribulations, persecutions, and contempt from men.

O Lord, holy and true, how long dost thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? That is, on the tyrants and their ministers who dominate in the world.

VERSE 11. And white robes were given to every one of them one. These white robes signify the heavenly glory which was given to each martyr and to each saint, according to the measure of their merits. This is why the text says that a white robe was given to each one — that is, eternal glory to each martyr in particular.

And it was said to them that they should rest yet for a little time, till their fellow-servants and their brethren, who are to be slain even as they, should be filled up. By these words, God consoles His Church, of whom the holy martyrs were representatives, as they interpellated and appealed to divine justice; and He promises her rest, which the Church did in fact obtain under Constantine the Great.

It was said to them — that is, these martyrs received a divine answer. First, concerning the Church militant, it was said to them that they must have patience and submit themselves to the divine will, which had pleased, from all eternity, to permit these persecutions for the greater glory of His servants. It was said to them, moreover, to wait still for a little time, until the last persecution — which was the cruelest of all — the persecution raised up by Diocletian and Maximian, as we shall see in what follows. Till their fellow-servants and their brethren should be filled up — that is, until the number of the other martyrs who served God as they did in the ministry of Christ, and of their brethren in the charity of Jesus Christ, who had to suffer death in the time of Diocletian, in the last of the ten principal persecutions, even as they had done — that is, even as those who were immolated in the preceding persecutions — should be completed.

Second, these martyrs received a divine answer concerning the Church triumphant. It was said to them that they should rest — that their bodies should remain in their tombs for still a little time, until the day of the Last Judgment. Yet for a little time — that is, this time is short in relation to eternity. 1 John 2:18: "Little children, it is the last hour." Then these martyrs will rise again with glorious bodies, and they will receive the second robe, which is the glory of the body. It was said to them that they should rest yet for a little time, till their fellow-servants and their brethren, who are to be slain even as they, should be filled up — that is, until the consummation of the ages, so that all those who must be immolated for the Name of Jesus Christ may be immolated as they were.

§ 3. On the Opening of the Sixth Seal. Chapter 6, Verses 12–17

I. VERSE 12. And I saw, when he had opened the sixth seal: and behold there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair; and the whole moon became as blood.

At the opening of this sixth seal, the Apostle describes the tenth and last persecution, raised up by Diocletian and Maximian his colleague, in the year of Jesus Christ 303. Saint John makes it the object of a separate seal because it was the cruellest, the longest of the persecutions, and because it was the last. It lasted twelve years, until the empire of Constantine the Great, the conqueror of Maxentius.

The historian Sulpicius describes it in these terms: "Almost the whole earth was watered with the blood of martyrs in this horrible storm. The faithful then sought that glorious death with more eagerness than men now seek bishoprics by deplorable intrigues. Never did any war exhaust the world more; and never also did we win a more brilliant triumph, which consisted in not being able to be conquered in ten years of massacres."

As to the number of victims who fell in this dreadful disaster, if one may judge the remainder of its duration by the picture of a single month, the number of martyrs would undoubtedly rise to an enormous figure. For it is reported in the book of the Roman Pontiffs that, in thirty days alone, as many as 17,000 Christians perished. Far from this fury diminishing afterward, it only increased from day to day through the new edicts which appeared. It is known that in Egypt alone, in the time of Diocletian, 144,000 persons were put to death and 72,000 sent into exile. In all the other provinces the same fury prevailed, except perhaps in those governed by Constantius Chlorus, father of Constantine the Great, who, although a pagan, treated his provinces with less severity.

No one could sell or buy until he had burned incense before the idols placed in various localities. There were agents in the islands, in the seaports, and in the villages, to prevent flour or water necessary for life from being supplied to all those who refused to sacrifice to the gods.

Of all the persecutions, the greatest was that in which all the books that could be found were burned, while the Christians were forced to hand them over. Those among them who allowed themselves to be terrified by the atrocity of the tortures and who delivered their books were called traitors. Their number was considerable. But infinitely greater was the number of those who preferred the cruellest death to this betrayal. The Catholic Church celebrates a feast in honour of these latter on the second day of January each year, under this title: "Commemoration at Rome of a great number of holy Martyrs who, despising the edict of the emperor Diocletian by which they were commanded to deliver up the holy canons, preferred to hand over their bodies to the executioners rather than cast holy things to the dogs."

In the midst of so many atrocities, several Christians fled among the barbarians, where they were received with kindness, although they became slaves. Their masters at least allowed them to practise their religion freely.

Since the emperors had resolved to make the Christian religion disappear completely, they believed they ought to begin with their own soldiers, for fear that, when their edicts were carried out throughout the empire, armed Christians might be found to resist them. It was on this occasion that the whole Theban Legion, commanded by Saint Maurice, was massacred by the soldiers of the emperor. On one Christmas night, 20,000 Christians were burned in their churches.

Among these holy martyrs are named Saint Marcellinus, Pope; Saint Sebastian; Serena, the wife of Diocletian; and Saints Lucian, Vincent, Christopher, Blaise, Gervasius, Protasius, Cosmas and Damian, Quirinus, Gorgon, Agnes, Lucy, Pantaleon, Boniface, Methodius, Clement, Augranus, Euphemia, George, Barbara, and an infinity of others. Churches were destroyed and reduced to ruins throughout the world. Christians of every rank were massacred, so that in many provinces no trace of the faith of Christ could be found. It was ordered that, on the day of Easter, or of the Resurrection of Our Lord, all Christians should be put to death and their churches devastated.

They even went so far as to have virgins violated, whom they then forced to live in public houses, where they were dragged by force. It was on this occasion that Saint Basil wrote, in his book On Virginity: "In the violence of the persecution, virgins chosen because of their fidelity to the divine Spouse were handed over to impious executioners to serve as their playthings. But these virgins knew how to preserve their virginity, even bodily, assisted as they were by the grace of Him for whom they were so jealous to do so; for He defended them, protected them, and rendered them pure from all stain, repelling all the efforts of their infamous aggressors."

It was also in this persecution that, at Augsburg, Afra, who had been a public sinner, together with her mother Hilaria and three young women, Digna, Eupomia, and Eutropia, as well as all the other persons of both sexes belonging to that household, converted to the faith of Jesus Christ and afterward obtained the crown of martyrdom.

II. VERSE 12. And I saw, when he had opened the sixth seal: and behold there was a great earthquake. By this earthquake is understood a deep disturbance, a very great trouble, a state of agitation and convulsion in the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth. For in all parts of the Roman Empire, judges and prefects were excited, by the edicts and decrees of Diocletian and Maximian, to the massacre and annihilation of the faithful.

And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair. The sun designates Christ, who is the Sun of justice and the light of truth. He was blackened in His own reputation and in His members, the Christians, who were accused of being poisoners and magicians. And it was said that the masters who had instructed and formed them in these vices were Jesus Christ and the Apostles, together with the other disciples. It was in this way that the Gentiles blackened the Name of Jesus as much as they could.

And the whole moon became as blood. Here the moon signifies the Church. For just as the moon receives its light from the sun, so the Church receives the light of truth from Jesus Christ, who is the Sun of justice. Moreover, as the moon increases and decreases according to the times, so also, under the tyranny of Diocletian and Maximian, the Church became entirely red through the blood of the martyrs. For, as we have said above, innumerable Christians were then immolated like animals in all the regions of the earth.

VERSE 13. And the stars from heaven fell upon the earth, as the fig tree casteth its green figs when it is shaken by a great wind. These stars are eminent persons in the kingdom of Christ who, having been shaken by fear of death and of torture, fell into idolatry. Among them was Pope Marcellinus, although he afterward did penance and courageously suffered martyrdom for the faith of Jesus Christ. Several others also fell. The fury of this persecution was such that the See of Rome was vacant for seven and a half years.

As the fig tree casteth its green figs. Here the Christians are compared to green figs because of their weakness, being exposed to so many cruelties. For just as green figs are the first unripe fruits of the fig tree, and as a great wind easily causes them to fall, so also the Christians who had not yet driven deep roots in the charity of Jesus Christ, and those who were not yet ripe in patience, were detached from the tree of the Church and cast to the ground by the wind of this horrible and stormy persecution.

VERSE 14. And the heaven departed as a book folded up. Here heaven signifies the kingdom and Church of Christ, which were scattered by the wind of this furious storm and cast to the four winds of heaven like the leaves of a torn book. For the See of Saint Peter ceased to exist at Rome, and the Christians were dispersed. Some hid in caves; others took refuge in the mountains; some withdrew into deserts; others sought shelter among the barbarous nations. Likewise, as we have said above, the sacred books from which the Christians drew their doctrine were, by order of the emperor, torn, burned, and destroyed.

And every mountain and the islands were moved out of their places. Here the container must be taken for the contained. For, as has been repeated more than once, the fury of this persecution was such that Christians fled into mountains and almost inaccessible islands, and every possible diligence was used to discover them there, which had not been seen in the other persecutions. And when they were finally found, they were dragged to torture and death. For from what precedes, it is seen that these two emperors had conspired with the whole world to exterminate Christianity entirely.

That is why the Apostle says: And every mountain and the islands were moved out of their places — by this cruel war of Diocletian and Maximian, who subdued and subjected to the Roman Empire almost all kingdoms, principalities, islands, and nations, and even the strongest places of the East and West. They and their colleagues extended the limits of the empire in the East as far as the Indies, in the South as far as Ethiopia, in the North as far as the savage and barbarous nations of the Sarmatians, and in the West as far as the kingdom of Genseric and the British Ocean.

III. VERSE 15. And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and tribunes, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of mountains. VERSE 16. And they say to the mountains and the rocks: Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. VERSE 17. For the great day of their wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?

These words express the anguish produced by the tyranny of those times, when all Christians were placed in straits. For, as has been said, they were safe neither in the islands of the nations, nor in the most fortified places, nor in the desert mountains, nor among the barbarians where they had taken refuge; since those tyrants had made themselves masters of all nations, occupied every region, penetrated everywhere in the world, and no country had been able to escape their domination. That is why these miserable faithful were forced to hide themselves in the caves and rocks of the mountains.

The kings of the earth, and the princes, and tribunes, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and every freeman, etc. The Apostle here cites seven classes of men, strong and weak, who were all the object of the tyrant's cruelty. He does this to show the difference between this persecution and the others, in which, for the most part, only prelates, the chiefs of the churches, preachers, or those who exposed themselves voluntarily were persecuted; whereas in this persecution, all men were attacked.

Then, by kings, he designates the sovereign pastor of the Church and the patriarchs. By princes, he indicates the bishops. By tribunes, the other prelates. By the rich, the nobles and the distinguished class among the people. By the strong, the Christian soldiers. By bondmen, the faithful who had fled among the barbarians and had delivered themselves to them in slavery. Finally, by freemen, all the rest of the Christian people, subjects of the Roman Empire.

And they say to the mountains and the rocks: Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne. These words express the desire which the Christians had to die in such anguish. For they were not safe in the caves and rocks of the mountains, where many had taken refuge as in a final asylum. They even had reason to fear being sought there, discovered, betrayed, or denounced, and finally dragged to a horrible death. These miserable persons therefore desired to die and be crushed beneath the rocks rather than see themselves exposed by long and cruel tortures to denying the faith of Jesus Christ, as had unfortunately happened to a great number of their brethren.

And they say to the mountains and the rocks: Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne. That is, deliver us from the horrible persecution of Diocletian and Maximian, then seated upon the throne of the Roman Empire.

And hide us... from the wrath of the Lamb. That is, from the wrath of Jesus Christ, whom the Christians believed to be irritated against His Church because He permitted her to be persecuted so long and so cruelly. It was also believed that Diocletian was the Antichrist; that the last day of judgment had come; and that all was over for the Church and the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth, so deplorable was the position of all Christendom.

This is why the text adds: For the great day of their wrath is come. That is, the time of the last persecution which Jesus Christ describes in Saint Matthew 24. This reign of Diocletian is called a great day because of its tyranny, which surpassed all that had been seen until then. This permission of God is expressed by the wrath of the Lamb because Jesus Christ chastises His elect as though He were angry, and He acts in this way to make them expiate their sins and to increase their glory and their reward in heaven. God, in His goodness, permits these temporal chastisements to prevent His faithful from perishing eternally and from being cast with the impious into the torments of hell.

And who shall be able to stand? This is a cry of human weakness. This cry also expresses the difficulty of resisting the tyrant and obtaining the victory of martyrdom, as one sees in the fall of the holy Pope Marcellinus.