Bonaventure

In his own words on Revelation

• Revelation 1:8

  According to this same mode also, one may find in the illumination of natural philosophy, whose principal intention turns upon formal reasons in matter, in the soul, and in divine wisdom. These may be considered in three ways, namely according to the relation of proportion, according to the effect of causality, and according to the medium of union: and according to these three the three aforesaid are to be found. If we consider them according to the relation of proportion, we shall see in them the eternal Word and the Word incarnate. Intellectual and abstract reasons are, as it were, intermediate between seminal and ideal reasons. But seminal reasons cannot exist in matter without there being in it a generation and production of form; similarly, neither can intellectual reasons exist in the soul without there being a generation of a word in the mind; therefore, neither can ideal reasons exist in God without there being a production of the Word from the Father according to a right proportion; for this pertains to dignity, and if it befits the creature, much more strongly can it be inferred of the Creator. On account of which Augustine said that the Son of God is "the art of the Father." Again, the appetite that is in matter is ordered to intellectual reasons, so that in no way is generation perfect unless the rational soul is united to corporeal matter. By a similar reasoning, therefore, it can be argued that the highest and most noble perfection in the universe cannot exist unless the nature in which seminal reasons reside, and the nature in which intellectual reasons reside, and the nature in which ideal reasons reside, come together simultaneously in the unity of one person, which was accomplished in the incarnation of the Son of God. Therefore all natural philosophy, through the relation of proportion, proclaims the Word of God begotten and incarnate, so that the same is the Alpha and Omega, begotten, namely, in the beginning and before all ages, but incarnate at the end of the ages.

  On the Reduction of the Arts to Theology

• Revelation 1:8

  For sacred Scripture is principally concerned with the works of reparation. Whence it treats chiefly of faith, hope, and charity, through which virtues the soul must be reformed, and most especially of charity. Of which the Apostle says that it is the end of the commandment, insofar as it proceeds from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned. It is the fullness of the Law, as the same Apostle says. And our Savior asserts that the whole Law and the Prophets depend on the two precepts of the same, namely the love of God and of neighbor; which two are intimated in the one Spouse of the Church, Jesus Christ, who is at once neighbor and God, at once brother and lord, at once also king and friend, at once the uncreated and incarnate Word, our maker and remaker, as the Alpha and the Omega; who is also the supreme hierarch, purging and illuminating and perfecting the spouse, namely the whole Church and every holy soul.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 4

• Revelation 1:8

  In this consideration, moreover, lies the perfection of the mind's illumination, when, as on the sixth day, it sees man made in the image of God. For if an image is an expressive likeness, when our mind contemplates in Christ the Son of God, who is the image of the invisible God by nature, our humanity so wonderfully exalted, so ineffably united, seeing at once in one the first and the last, the highest and the lowest, the circumference and the center, the Alpha and the Omega, the caused and the cause, the Creator and the creature, the book, that is, written within and without: it has now arrived at a certain perfect reality, so that with God it may reach the perfection of its illuminations in the sixth stage, as on the sixth day; nor does anything further remain except the day of rest, in which through the ecstasy of the mind the keenness of the human mind may rest from every work which it had accomplished.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 6

• Revelation 1:13

  In the mystery of the disclosing of Scriptures, Christ is pointed to through the symbol of the One presiding, as is clearly shown through the "son of man... in the midst of the seven lamp stands" that have "seven stars," which are the "Seven Churches."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 14

• Revelation 1:13

  These Centers are the "seven golden lamp-stands," and Christ "in the midst of the seven lamp-stands," which are the seven illuminations of wisdom, that is, the metaphysical, the natural, the mathematical, the logical, the ethical, the political, and the theological. These are the "seven eyes" of the Lamb, and the seven days that followed upon the first light.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 1

• Revelation 1:20

  Because the truth to the belief of which we are bound by faith, and which sacred Scripture principally treats, is not just any truth, but divine truth, either as it is in its own nature or as it is in the assumed nature — for in the knowledge of this truth consists both the reward of the fatherland and the merit of the way —: hence it is that the articles of faith, which are the foundations of faith, pertain either to the Divinity or to the humanity. And since the Divinity is to be considered in three persons, namely the Father begetting, the Son begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeding, and in a fourfold operation, namely creation in the being of nature, recreation in the being of grace, resurrection in the restoration of life, and glorification in the bestowal of glory: hence it is that the articles pertaining to the Divinity are seven. Similarly, because Christ's humanity is to be considered as conceived of the Holy Spirit, as born of the Virgin, as suffering on the cross, as descending into hell, as rising from the dead, as ascending into heaven, as coming to the final judgment; hence it is that there are seven articles of the humanity, and thus fourteen in all, after the manner of the seven stars and the seven golden lampstands, in the midst of which the Son of Man walked.

  Breviloquium, Part 5

• Revelation 2:7

  Therefore, however much one may be illuminated by the light of nature and acquired knowledge, one cannot enter into oneself so as within oneself to delight in the Lord, except through the mediation of Christ, who says: I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pastures. But to this door we do not draw near unless we believe in him, hope in him, and love him. It is necessary, therefore, if we wish to re-enter into the enjoyment of Truth as into paradise, that we enter through faith, hope, and charity in the mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, who is as the tree of life in the midst of paradise.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 4

• Revelation 2:10

  We shall have this crown if we wish to imitate the glorious Virgin. Whence it is written: "Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been proved, he shall receive the crown of life"; and in the Apocalypse: "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life."

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6

• Revelation 2:17

  Whoever looks upon this mercy seat with full turning of the countenance, gazing upon him who hangs upon the cross through faith, hope, and charity, devotion, admiration, exultation, appreciation, praise, and jubilation, makes the Passover, that is, the passing over, with him, so as to pass through the Red Sea by the rod of the cross, entering the desert from Egypt, where he may taste the hidden manna, and may rest with Christ in the tomb as though outwardly dead, yet sensing, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring, what was said on the cross to the thief clinging to Christ: Today you shall be with me in paradise.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 7

• Revelation 2:17

  These seals, then, are found in a twofold perfection: a series of twelve, which is a number of abundance, and of a thousand, which derives from a multiplication of ten by itself in a perfect way. Indeed, ten times ten are a hundred, and ten times a hundred are a thousand. No one receives this signification, unless he is the one who has the "pebble, and upon the pebble a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it." This is "the tree of life": there man enjoys life. Hence, "blessed are they who wash their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life." And he said: I have wanted to lead you to this "tree of life." "King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus. The pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going up of purple: the midst he covered with charity." The seat of gold is contemplative wisdom. And this no one has, except one who has the pillars of silver, which are the virtues buttressing the soul. The going up of purple is charity which makes [the soul] go up to the higher things and down to the lower.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Revelation 2:17

  When these senses have been recovered, while the soul sees and hears, smells, tastes, and embraces its spouse, it can sing as a bride the Song of Songs, which was composed for the exercise of contemplation according to this fourth degree, which no one grasps unless he receives it, because it consists more in affective experience than in rational consideration. For in this degree, when the interior senses have been restored to sense the supremely beautiful, to hear the supremely harmonious, to smell the supremely fragrant, to taste the supremely sweet, to apprehend the supremely delightful, the soul is disposed to mental transports, namely through devotion, admiration, and exultation, according to those three exclamations which are made in the Song of Songs. The first of these arises from the abundance of devotion, through which the soul becomes like a column of smoke from the aromatics of myrrh and frankincense; the second from the excellence of admiration, through which the soul becomes like the dawn, the moon, and the sun, according to the progression of illuminations that suspend the soul in admiration of the spouse contemplated; the third from the superabundance of exultation, through which the soul of most sweet pleasure, flowing with delights, leans entirely upon her beloved.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 4

• Revelation 2:17

  This excess is indeed the ultimate and most noble mode of knowing, which Dionysius praises in all his books, and especially in the book On Mystical Theology. Concerning which also, mystically, almost all of divine Scripture speaks, and concerning which Apocalypse 2: I will give him a stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except he who receives it: because this mode of knowing one scarcely or never understands unless one has experienced it, nor does one experience it unless one is rooted and grounded in charity, so that one may comprehend with all the Saints what is the length, the breadth, etc.; in which also experiential and true wisdom consists, which is begun on the way and consummated in the fatherland.

  Quaestiones Disputatae, De Scientia Christi, Question 7

• Revelation 2:17

  In this passing over, however, if it is to be perfect, it is necessary that all intellectual operations be relinquished, and that the summit of affection be wholly transferred and transformed into God. This, however, is mystical and most secret, which no one knows unless he receives it, nor does anyone receive it unless he desires it, nor does anyone desire it unless the fire of the Holy Spirit inflames him to the marrow, which fire Christ sent upon the earth. And therefore the Apostle says that this mystical wisdom has been revealed through the Holy Spirit.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 7

• Revelation 3:7

  All the judgments of Scriptures refer to this one judgment; hence, He is called the Prince of Peace. Wherefore just rewards come forth from Him. He, then, "has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts." And such a key is the mystery of union.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 3

• Revelation 3:7

  And it was said to the Angel of Philadelphia, who was the sixth, "Thus says the holy one, the true one, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts, and who shuts and no one opens: I know thy works. Behold, I have caused a door to be opened before thee." And he said that now for the first time the understanding of Scripture would be given, either as revelation or as the key of David, to a single person or to a great number of people; and I believe rather that it would be given to a great number.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Revelation 3:7

  This is the Key of David which the Inspired Word is teaching, this Word, who is uncreated in the bosom of the Father, incarnate in the Virgin's womb, inspired in your heart by faith. He penetrates angelic and human minds, and coming into them, He makes them understand these visions, because He is pure understanding and spirit; but He does so in different degrees, for there are different depths in the penetration by which the soul is intimately led to Him.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 3

• Revelation 3:8

  And it was said to the Angel of Philadelphia, who was the sixth, "Thus says the holy one, the true one, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts, and who shuts and no one opens: I know thy works. Behold, I have caused a door to be opened before thee." And he said that now for the first time the understanding of Scripture would be given, either as revelation or as the key of David, to a single person or to a great number of people; and I believe rather that it would be given to a great number.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Revelation 3:12

  This passage establishes that it was those who were upon Mount Sion who were sealed; also, that one of the angels who were to pour out the bowls — and, fittingly, it was the sixth — showed him the city the measure of which was a hundred and forty-four cubits. Toward the beginning of the Apocalypse, it is said of the sixth angel, that of Philadelphia: "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city, the new Jerusalem," which is mentioned only in the end. There are six times, of which the sixth has three periods and repose. And as Christ came in the sixth time, so it is fitting that the contemplative Church be born at the end. For the contemplative Church and the soul do not differ, except that the soul has within itself that which the Church has within many. For any contemplative soul has some measure of perfection through which to see the visions of God.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Revelation 4:4

  Furthermore, these twelve virtues, doubled in prosperity and adversity, are represented by the twenty-four hours, twelve in the night of adversity and twelve in the day of prosperity. Likewise, they are doubled in the active and the contemplative life: in that sense they are represented by the twenty-four elders who turned sometimes to action and at other times to contemplation, for they do what is sensible and mature. Once more, the twelve virtues are doubled through practical and speculative contemplation: and in this they are revealed by the twenty-four wings of the four animals, each one of which had six wings. And here ends the First Vision and the work of the First Day.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 7

• Revelation 4:4

  These are the true witnesses of Scriptures: the prophets and the apostles. Nor can it be said that the apostles bribed the prophets so that their prophecies would accord with what eventually came about in Christ. If they had lived at the same time, there could have been some suspicion: but the prophets came before the apostles. And so this truth is infallible. The Old and the New Testament agree, standing as they do in major conformity and harmony; and they are like the twenty-four elders around the throne of Christ, so that there be no doubt.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 9

• Revelation 4:7

  John says in the Apocalypse that the four living creatures stood around God's throne, and that the first had the face of a lion, the second that of an ox, the third that of a man, and the fourth that of an eagle: but he does not say that each one had four faces. While Ezechiel says that the living creatures "moved," John says that they "stood." Ezechiel says that the first living creature had the face of a man; John, that it had the face of a lion. Wherefore John seems to comprise the visions both of Isaiah and of Ezechiel. John intends to describe the four meanings, not in the order of importance, but according to the four faces which represent four meanings, that is, the literal or the allegorical or the tropological or the anagogical within any one of the four. The legal books correspond to the lion, because of its magnificence and authority; the historical to the ox who pulls the plow, because of its simplicity, and because it furrows the earth; the sapiential to man; and the prophetical to the face of an eagle.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 13

• Revelation 4:8

  Furthermore, these twelve virtues, doubled in prosperity and adversity, are represented by the twenty-four hours, twelve in the night of adversity and twelve in the day of prosperity. Likewise, they are doubled in the active and the contemplative life: in that sense they are represented by the twenty-four elders who turned sometimes to action and at other times to contemplation, for they do what is sensible and mature. Once more, the twelve virtues are doubled through practical and speculative contemplation: and in this they are revealed by the twenty-four wings of the four animals, each one of which had six wings. And here ends the First Vision and the work of the First Day.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 7

• Revelation 5:1

  The First Principle made this sensible world to manifest Himself, namely so that through it, as through a mirror and a vestige, man might be led back to God the Maker, to love and praise Him. And accordingly there is a twofold book: one written within, which is the eternal art and wisdom of God; and another written without, namely the sensible world. And because in Christ the eternal Wisdom and its work come together simultaneously in one person, He is therefore called the book written within and without for the restoration of the world.

  Breviloquium, Part 2, Chapter 11

• Revelation 5:5

  It is not without reason that the scroll was sealed with seven seals. "Behold," said one of the Elders, "the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has overcome to open the scroll and its seven seals." These are the seven Centers. By their significance, Christ opened the tomb, and this represents the opening of the scroll, and He removed the shroud, and this represents the manifestation of mysteries. This is our logic, this is our reasoning which must be used against the devil who constantly argues with us.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 1

• Revelation 5:5

  This virtue gives nobility to the soul. But because at times a man may be indignant at another, there is need for gentleness, which is the remedy against irascibility and anger—not that man should never be angry at all, but that he should be so only in the right circumstances of place and time. Hence, he must have both the face of a man and the face of a lion. At times, however, you believe a man to be kind when he remains silent while knowing of another's sin. Such is not kindness. Listen, therefore: it is said of Jesus that He was troubled, and that He made a kind of whip. Hence, in the First Book of the Machabees, it is written: Woe is me! Wherefore was I born to see the ruin of my people and the ruin of the holy city? Jesus is the Lamb and the Lion.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 5

• Revelation 5:6

  This virtue gives nobility to the soul. But because at times a man may be indignant at another, there is need for gentleness, which is the remedy against irascibility and anger—not that man should never be angry at all, but that he should be so only in the right circumstances of place and time. Hence, he must have both the face of a man and the face of a lion. At times, however, you believe a man to be kind when he remains silent while knowing of another's sin. Such is not kindness. Listen, therefore: it is said of Jesus that He was troubled, and that He made a kind of whip. Hence, in the First Book of the Machabees, it is written: Woe is me! Wherefore was I born to see the ruin of my people and the ruin of the holy city? Jesus is the Lamb and the Lion.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 5

• Revelation 5:6

  John in the Apocalypse saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures a Lamb having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. John sets forth a visionary image and expresses the truth. He calls the gifts of the Holy Spirit horns and eyes. And why? You must understand that there is a certain efficacy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit by which all evils are combated; there is another efficacy of the gifts by which a person is equipped for all good things. And because strength resides in horns, therefore the gifts by which evils are combated he calls horns. And because the power of readiness resides in the eyes, therefore the gifts by which a person is equipped for all good things he calls eyes. Through the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, designated by the seven horns, the seven mortal sins are destroyed, and seven virtues are introduced. The gift of fear destroys pride and brings about the good of poverty; the gift of piety destroys envy and introduces meekness or gentleness of spirit; the gift of knowledge destroys wrath and introduces the gift of mourning; the gift of fortitude destroys sloth and introduces hunger for justice; the gift of counsel destroys avarice and introduces mercy; the gift of understanding destroys gluttony and introduces purity of heart; the gift of wisdom destroys lust and introduces peace. Whence through the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit all evils are destroyed, and all goods are introduced.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2

• Revelation 5:12

  Apocalypse 5: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive wisdom; the Gloss: "The knowledge of all things, just as the Word united to Him"; but the united Word comprehends whatever it knows: therefore so does the soul of Christ. To that which is objected, that the soul of Christ has all knowledge just as the Word united to it has: it can be said that those things are said of the assumed man on account of the communication of idioms; or certainly they are said of those things which are, were, and will be, which indeed can be comprehended by the soul of Christ; but it is not true with respect to all things that the divine wisdom understands, since it knows infinite things, as is clear from what has been determined above.

  Quaestiones Disputatae, De Scientia Christi, Question 7

• Revelation 6:12

  The sun signifies spiritual combat. In this regard, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light." When the fight will be between Christ and Antichrist, between the teaching of truth and that of falsity, then "the sun" will become "black as sackcloth of hair," and a certain teacher of truth or superior in truth shall be obscured by errors, while others will stand firm, although they may seem to be darkened in their reputation.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 13

• Revelation 6:12

  In the martyrs, the Church was slightly obscured, for the moon became as blood; but it was cleansed, and returned to a greater growth. Hence, the Church was enlarged through the martyr's blood. Likewise, in the days of the confessors, it was attacked by heretics; but later, heresy was destroyed in the councils, and the faith of the Church was explained better. Once again, in the days of the virgins, when men had been turned to the flesh, the Holy Spirit impelled the minds of a few to love and serve chastity.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22

• Revelation 7:2

  And it is certain that one of them wanted to exterminate the Church. But an "angel ascending from the rising of the sun cried to the four angels: 'Do not harm the earth or the sea till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.'" Wherefore the Church's tribulations are lasting until now.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Revelation 7:2

  How can this be? See what is said toward the end of the Apocalypse. Toward the middle, it is said: "I saw the Lamb standing upon Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads." But at the opening of the sixth seal, it is said in the Apocalypse: "And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, who had it in their power to harm the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed, out of every tribe of the children of Israel; of the tribe of Juda, twelve thousand sealed," etc. The tribe of Dan is not counted, but Manasses is counted instead of Dan, and Joseph instead of Ephraim. In Deuteronomy, Simeon is omitted. This is how the contemplative soul is sealed by God. Hence, in reference to the sixth angel, it is said that an angel appeared, "having the seal of the living God." That was when Jerusalem was shown as standing in heaven. And to this angel appeared an expressive seal, as regards the manner of living in conformity with this seal, which is what was sealed: "Of the tribe of Juda, twelve thousand sealed," etc. And that is, that everyone who possesses this thrice-uplifting light must have a threefold perfection corresponding to love. Hence, to seal in this manner is to bind [oneself] to this through a promise and to impress a seal that would correspond to this seal of love.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Revelation 7:2

  The day of the formation of man, the time of the prophetical voice, and the time of the clear doctrine, in which the prophesized life would come: for it was necessary that in this time there come a single order, that is, a prophetical disposition similar to the order of Jesus Christ, and of which the head would be an "angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God," and conforming to Christ.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Revelation 7:3

  And it is certain that one of them wanted to exterminate the Church. But an "angel ascending from the rising of the sun cried to the four angels: 'Do not harm the earth or the sea till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.'" Wherefore the Church's tribulations are lasting until now.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Revelation 7:3

  How can this be? See what is said toward the end of the Apocalypse. Toward the middle, it is said: "I saw the Lamb standing upon Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads." But at the opening of the sixth seal, it is said in the Apocalypse: "And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, who had it in their power to harm the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed, out of every tribe of the children of Israel; of the tribe of Juda, twelve thousand sealed," etc. The tribe of Dan is not counted, but Manasses is counted instead of Dan, and Joseph instead of Ephraim. In Deuteronomy, Simeon is omitted.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Revelation 7:5

  Now, this perfection consists in the description of the city, that is, that the soul have within itself a divine worship of God, a divine bond with God, a divine zeal for God, and a divine sense of God. The worship is in the east, the bond in the south, the zeal in the north, and the sense in the west. And there are three doors to the east, three to the west, three to the south, and three to the north. Worship has two companions, one that comes before, the other after. For perfect worship, three things are necessary: a veridical profession of eternal truth, a humble veneration of the supreme majesty, and a manly preservation of inner holiness. Wherefore three doors are placed to the east. "Of the tribe of Juda, twelve thousand sealed." For these were ranked, not in relation to carnal generation, for Juda was not the first son, but according to spiritual generation. Juda, indeed, is understood to mean "profession," and this is the foundation, for the spiritual foundation is faith, upon which the Church is built. This, then, is primary: that with you there be an integral profession of perfect belief and assent. Second, there is needed humble veneration of the supreme majesty, and that occurs when a man considers the hugeness of his crimes and the immensity of God's severity. Wherefore there follows: "Of the tribe of Ruben, twelve thousand sealed." Ruben is understood to mean "son of vision." Third, there is needed manly preservation of inner holiness, so that man be so girded in advance, girded against everything, that he be in control of all outpourings. Hence, also, priests were forbidden to drink wine or any inebriating liquid when they entered the temple for service. The same is evident also from the prescription concerning cleanliness. Now, this cleanliness is of the heart. Wherefore there follows: "Of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand sealed." Gad is understood to mean "girded."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Revelation 7:6

  But true worship is insufficient without perfect bond, for charity teaches the worship and the love of God. And this comes about when the soul despises lowly things, tends to supreme values, and expands on the intermediate level, in such a way that it has sublimation in the highest things, separation from the lowest, and expansion on the intermediate level. And this consists in the foremost desire for eternal beatitude, an expanded disposition toward heavenly love, and a perfective contempt for worldly prosperity or possessions. These three are understood through the three next [groups of those who were] sealed. Hence, there must be in the soul a true contempt in order that the longing for beatitude be in the first place. Wherefore there follows: "Of the tribe of Aser, twelve thousand sealed." Aser is understood to mean "happy," that is, rich with food, providing dainties for kings. But happy is the man who is transported by love into supreme beatitude. Then, there follows an expanded disposition toward heavenly love, wherefore there comes next: "Of the tribe of Nephthali, twelve thousand sealed." Nephthali is understood to mean "breadth," and it means that all those who want to have the bond of charity must have their affective powers well disposed toward all. But this they cannot have as long as they are lovers of their own private good. Hence, it is fitting that there be contempt for all things. Wherefore there follows: "Of the tribe of Manasses, twelve thousand sealed." Manasses is understood to mean "oblivion." For some men despise earthly things, but do not give them up. Others give them up, but do not despise them. Others again despise them and give them up, but do not forget them. When the soul gives up and forgets, then there is perfection, and this is indicated in the sixth place. "Forget your people and your father's house." As Augustine writes, "He loves you less if, besides You, he loves something else not on account of You." Manasses, then, is in the sixth place. He was the son of Joseph who [in turn] was the twelfth son of Jacob. And so, it is not without mystery that he is in the sixth place.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Revelation 7:7

  In the third place, there must be in the contemplative soul perfect zeal, so as to love in such a way that it rejects all evil. Now, there are two companions to the zeal of charity, piety that comes before, and patience that follows. For some men are pious zealots, and later they turn to the fury of impatience. Then, there will be three doors to the north, the affective condescension of kindly mercy, the emulating rectitude of severe control, and the victorious bearing of cruel or human tribulations. In this manner the city is defended against the north wind. And hence, there follow three [groups of those who were] sealed. The first: "Of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand sealed." Simeon is understood to mean "listening to sorrow," and signifies mercy toward the neighbor. This Simeon is "just and devout," receiving Christ in his arms. Unless a man be merciful, he is unworthy of receiving the One who came down from heaven for mercy's sake. Then, because mercy without emulating rectitude is worthless, there follows: "Of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand sealed." Levi is understood to mean "added." Levi received the priesthood on account of his zeal, wherefore he killed his idolatrous brother-priests. Phineas likewise obtained the priesthood because of zeal, and Mathathias and his descendants, because of zeal, obtained the priesthood and leadership, and they lasted until Herod. Levi signifies "prelates" who must have the spirit of severity and piety, as did Moses who, in spite of his extreme meekness, broke the tablets. By contrast, Heli, who was remiss, died together with his sons. Hence greater damage comes from a prelate who is merciful and rejects all rigor of discipline than from another who is rigidly merciless. In this sense is the passage of Ecclesiasticus understood: "Better a man's harshness than a woman's indulgence." In the third place, it is fitting that there be a victorious bearing of worldly tribulations. Indeed, the man who assumes them must prepare himself for suffering. Wherefore Christ overturned the tables in His zeal. Later, when they sought Him, He showed Himself. Hence, "the patient man shows much good sense." There is no doubt that those whose tables He overturned were then clamoring: "Crucify Him!" Wherefore there follows: "Of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand sealed." Issachar is understood to mean "sturdy ass," and actually an ass bears a cross on its shoulders. It must always be ready to bear this cross. But the [true] interpretation is not "sturdy ass," but "reward," and it represents a man armed with love of the reward. Hence, in Matthew: "Blessed are you when men reproach you, and persecute you, and, speaking falsely, say all manner of evil against you, for My sake. Rejoice and exult, because your reward is great in heaven." And he said that once he was speaking with Brother Aegidius, who told him that we are not wise compared to Francis, the wise merchant: but we waste our substance, for we should pay a denarius to a man for him to strike us. And we do not even have the wisdom of the ass that bears its burden, and the more blows and insults it receives, the better it carries its load. And so, the obedient man should not let go any [potential] good. On the contrary, he should do better on account of any kind of tribulation, otherwise he is not a contemplative.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Revelation 7:8

  On the western side [of the city], there is a perfect sense of God. And this sense makes us contemplate, and as companions, it has the stability of repose and the excess of joy. For in repose there can be stability together with thinking and contemplating, that is, in the west, where there is repose, conciliation, darkness or entering into darkness. For this sense, there is need of the peaceful stability of the sublime mansion, the clear view of wise judgment, and the ecstatic excess of sweet consolation. It is good to have the sign of Zabulon, which is "a dwelling of fortitude," which implies the first stability. "Because Thou, O Lord, art my hope." Hence, "the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the just man runs to it and is safe." He alone is at peace who fixes himself upon that "with which there is no change, no shadow of alteration." Hence, "in Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded." Second, there must be the clear view of wise judgment, so that, as the dove staying over water can see the bird of prey, man too may see in Scriptures. And this pertains to Joseph, which is understood to mean "growing." "Joseph is a growing son," a most handsome son, the savior of Egypt, the leader of his brothers, meaning that he has that judgment by which a man is guide and instructor to others: and this pertains to wisdom. And he is in the eleventh place, so that he can gather the wheat, not the leaves, but the documents of truth in Holy Scripture, and that he can pour it out again later for the salvation of the people. This is the sixth angel, [the one] of Philadelphia, "saving the inheritance." This one provides wheat against future famine. Finally, there is the ecstatic taste of sweet contemplation. It is written: "Of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand sealed." Benjamin, "the son of the right hand, the son of pain," in giving birth to whom Rachel died, and yet, Benjamin, "the best beloved of the Lord, as in a bride chamber shall he abide all the day." And this signifies the ecstatic excess of contemplation. The son of Jacob is not born to anything beyond this. Here is sleep with excess. No one attains this sealing unless he has gone through all the preceding ones.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Revelation 7:16

  Christ is this Center in eternal beatitude. The theologian deals with the salvation of the soul, how it starts with faith, moves forward through the virtues, and is consummated in the gifts. Hence in the Apocalypse: "They shall neither hunger nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun strike them nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and will guide them to the fountains of the waters of life." And there will be no inner defect, since "they shall neither hunger nor thirst" through lack of sustainment by which life is lost; "neither shall the sun strike them" through any external harm.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 1

• Revelation 7:17

  "For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and will guide them to the fountains of the waters of life." The Lamb in the midst of the waters is the Son of God, the Son who is the central Person, and from whom all happiness comes forth. For the Lamb of God leads us, so that seeing the body and the soul and the divinity, we may find pastures either by going in or by going out. Here the beatifying Center sheds its light on body and soul.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 1

• Revelation 7:17

  Scripture enlightens from above by means of divine promises, for its teaching is concerned with things above. Hence the Apostle writes: For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens. And: "In My Father's house there are many mansions," says the Lord. In the Psalms, it is said: The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They have their fill of the prime gifts of Your house; from Your delightful stream You give them to drink. For with You is the fountain of life, and in Your light we see light. And in the Apocalypse: For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will guide them to the fountains of the waters of life. And in a Psalm: The delights at Your right hand forever. And so Scripture offers us the divine promises.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17

• Revelation 10:6

  But the seventh time, that of rest, starts with the angel swearing "by Him who lives forever, that there shall be delay no longer; but that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, the mystery of God will be accomplished."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Revelation 10:7

  But the seventh time, that of rest, starts with the angel swearing "by Him who lives forever, that there shall be delay no longer; but that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, the mystery of God will be accomplished."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Revelation 11:7

  The fifth time, at the end, is that of the restoration of ruins, for "Elias indeed is to come and to restore all things," and with him Henoch will come too. For "the beast will conquer them." And so, it is necessary that they fail, so that there be first a ruin and then a restoration; and there will be so great a "tribulation as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 15

• Revelation 12:1

  And so the soul is a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars, for it is full of lights and never turns its eyes away from light. And because in this life we cannot remain intent upon any one object, therefore the soul has twelve matters like twelve stars around which it always moves as in a circle, as the sun runs through the twelve constellations, that is, the twelve signs of the zodiac and never goes outside of them. These considerations adorn the soul, wherefore they are like a crown of twelve stars, to wit, the considerations of bodily natures, spiritual substances, intellectual notions, affective virtues, divinely instituted laws, divinely infused graces, irrevocable judgments, incomprehensible mercies, merits worthy of reward, rewarding gifts, periods of time, eternal reasons. In such matters, then, the contemplative soul must at all times be intent upon one of these lights, as the sun is always in one of the zodiac signs.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22

• Revelation 12:1

  Concerning the consideration of the heavenly Monarchy, it has been said that it is understood through the solar light, as being a Sun alive, lighting and heating, so that there come together in the soul nine lights from the viewpoints of divine excellence, divine influence, and divine primacy; and in what manner the divine Hierarchy is shown forth by this Sun, and hierarchized by reason of conformity to the Sun, of the disposition of the full hierarchy, and of its manifold aspects. It remains, then, to speak of the moon. For as the contemplative soul is a good woman, clothed with the sun, so also the moon is under her feet. Hence, as the moon is the daughter of the sun and receives its light from it, likewise the Church Militant receives hers from that Jerusalem which is above. Wherefore the Apostle calls her our mother, for she is the mother of those influences by which we are made to be the sons of God. The heavenly hierarchy is a model of the Church Militant. It is fitting, then, that the Church Militant have orders corresponding to the model hierarchy. They are distinguished in three different ways: the first, according as they proceed in different ways, the second, as regards their manner of ascent, and the third, as regards their manner of exercise.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22

• Revelation 12:1

  In the Apocalypse: "A great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." We shall have this crown if we wish to imitate the glorious Virgin. Whence it is written: "Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been proved, he shall receive the crown of life"; and in the Apocalypse: "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life."

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6

• Revelation 12:1

  A man who does not have contemplation cannot yet enjoy the adornment of sun, moon and stars. For there is need of the apparition of "a woman clothed with the sun, and having the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." Contemplation of the super-heavenly hierarchy is represented by the sun, contemplation of the sub-heavenly hierarchy, by the moon, and contemplation of the heavenly hierarchy, by the stars.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 3

• Revelation 12:7

  Now, Scripture also has trees for food. It enlightens by means of those things that are from the opposite side. For it shows us an endless army arrayed against us, either through the seven princes, through a single war, or through several wars. That war began on the day when Michael and his angels battled with the dragon. A threefold war is threatening us: domestic, civil, and military. The first is with the flesh, which has many troops. This servant-maid is ever-willing to give access, as did Eve. Hence, Against her who lies in your bosom guard the portals of your mouth. Again, civil war is the temptation of the world. Indeed, every creature is a trap. Hence the saying: Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun? Vain and worthless is anything of which nothing remains to man after death: wherefore all things are vanity. The Psalm reads: Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain. Once more, there is military war, a conflict with demons which threaten by night and by day, at times by exaggerating so that we become presumptuous, at times by thoughts of knowledge, at times by thoughts of sanctity. At times they make a man angry, and thus devilish and filled with a spirit of malice; and they make him fall into sadness and despair, and it is the same with other means. Scripture teaches to flee from this. But what kind of knowledge teaches to flee from adverse powers? None!

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17

• Revelation 13:18

  Three errors are to be guarded against in the sciences, which destroy sacred Scripture and the Christian faith and all wisdom: one against the cause of being, another against the reason of understanding, and the third against the order of living. These errors are signified in the Apocalypse in the number of the name of the beast. It is said there that it had a name whose number is six hundred sixty-six, which is a cyclical number. The first group base themselves upon the circle of motion and time; the second, upon the motion of the stars; the third, upon one Intelligence, saying that it enters into and exits from the body. The first error concerns the eternity of the world; the second concerns fatal necessity; the third concerns the unity of the human intellect. All of this is heretical.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 8

• Revelation 14:1

  How can this be? See what is said toward the end of the Apocalypse. Toward the middle, it is said: "I saw the Lamb standing upon Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads." But at the opening of the sixth seal, it is said in the Apocalypse: "And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, who had it in their power to harm the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed, out of every tribe of the children of Israel; of the tribe of Juda, twelve thousand sealed," etc. The tribe of Dan is not counted, but Manasses is counted instead of Dan, and Joseph instead of Ephraim. In Deuteronomy, Simeon is omitted. This passage establishes that it was those who were upon Mount Sion who were sealed; also, that one of the angels who were to pour out the bowls — and, fittingly, it was the sixth — showed him the city the measure of which was a hundred and forty-four cubits.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Revelation 14:2

  Hence, in the Apocalypse: "I heard a voice from heaven like a voice of many waters," because of the great number of possible interpretations; a voice of "harpers" because of the accord of these interpretations, for they agree in such a marvelous way that the resulting harmony is wonderful.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 13

• Revelation 14:3

  On account of the prerogative of dignity, by which to follow Christ wherever he goes and to sing the new song is proper to virgins, there will be a singular glory among virgins, according to what blessed John says in the fourteenth chapter of the Apocalypse. Whence Augustine, in the book On Virginity: "Go forward, holy ones of God, boys and girls, men and women, celibates and unmarried, go forward perseveringly unto the end. Praise the Lord more sweetly, whom you contemplate more richly; hope more happily, whom you serve more urgently; please him more attentively: with loins girded and lamps burning, await the Lord when he comes from the wedding: you bring to the wedding of the Lamb a new song, which you will sing on your harps, not indeed such as all the earth sings, to which it is said: Sing to the Lord, all the earth: but such as no one will be able to say except you, and because you follow the Lamb wherever he goes, as he who was beloved by the Lamb above the rest wrote concerning you. Where do we think he goes, this Lamb, where no one dares or is able to follow him except you? Where do we think he goes, into what glades or meadows? Where, I believe, there are twofold joys, not the vain joys of this world, lying madnesses, nor joys such as in the very kingdom of God belong to the rest who are not virgins; but distinct from the lot of all the rest: joys of the virgins of Christ, concerning Christ, in Christ, with Christ, after Christ, through Christ, on account of Christ. In this you follow the Lamb, because the flesh of the Lamb is indeed virgin: for he retained this in himself which, conceived and born, he did not take away from his Mother."

  Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3

• Revelation 14:4

  On account of the prerogative of dignity, by which to follow Christ wherever he goes and to sing the new song is proper to virgins, there will be a singular glory among virgins, according to what blessed John says in the fourteenth chapter of the Apocalypse. Whence Augustine, in the book On Virginity: "Go forward, holy ones of God, boys and girls, men and women, celibates and unmarried, go forward perseveringly unto the end. Praise the Lord more sweetly, whom you contemplate more richly; hope more happily, whom you serve more urgently; please him more attentively: with loins girded and lamps burning, await the Lord when he comes from the wedding: you bring to the wedding of the Lamb a new song, which you will sing on your harps, not indeed such as all the earth sings, to which it is said: Sing to the Lord, all the earth: but such as no one will be able to say except you, and because you follow the Lamb wherever he goes, as he who was beloved by the Lamb above the rest wrote concerning you. Where do we think he goes, this Lamb, where no one dares or is able to follow him except you? Where do we think he goes, into what glades or meadows? Where, I believe, there are twofold joys, not the vain joys of this world, lying madnesses, nor joys such as in the very kingdom of God belong to the rest who are not virgins; but distinct from the lot of all the rest: joys of the virgins of Christ, concerning Christ, in Christ, with Christ, after Christ, through Christ, on account of Christ. In this you follow the Lamb, because the flesh of the Lamb is indeed virgin: for he retained this in himself which, conceived and born, he did not take away from his Mother."

  Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3

• Revelation 14:4

  That virginal continence is to be preferred to all others is shown by reason, as follows. That which most greatly makes us follow Christ is most greatly to be preferred; but virginity most greatly makes one follow Christ, Apocalypse fourteen: For they are virgins and follow the Lamb wherever He goes: therefore virginal continence is to be preferred.

  Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3

• Revelation 14:10

  Since the punishment for lustful disorder must be afflictive, because delight is punished through contrary sorrow: and the rational spirit in sinning turns itself to its own good and to what is present and partial, loving it lustfully, and from this despises the divine command and dominion: hence it is that, in order that that wicked delight be perfectly punished, in which there is simultaneously delight with contempt, it is necessary that for the punishment of that contempt and delight the sinner, whether man or spirit, be cast down into the lowest place and most distant from the state of glory, that is, into the deepest hell. It is also necessary that the one to be afflicted there be exposed to the lowest nature, and thereby suffer not from a spiritual substance, but from a corporeal and lowest one, that is, from the dregs of worldly bodies, so that he may be fixed in the dregs and burned with fire and brimstone. And since the spirit, which by nature is set over the body and has the power to influence and move it, has perverted the dignity of nature through fault and subjected itself in a certain way to the vileness and nothingness of sin: hence it is that according to the order of justice it must be ordained that both the sinning spirit and man be bound to corporeal fire, not so as to flow life into it, but so as to receive punishment by divine decree. For since he is inseparably bound to a thing which he dreads through divinely sent fear and which he perceives through the power of natural sensation: it is necessary that he be sharply tormented.

  Breviloquium, Part 7

• Revelation 14:11

  The punishment of hell is in a corporeal place below, in which all the reprobate, both men and evil spirits, will be eternally tormented. They will be tormented by the same corporeal fire, which will burn and torment both spirits and bodies—yet it will not consume those bodies, but will always torment them, some more, some less, according to the measure of their merits. Moreover, to this torment of fire will be joined torment according to all the senses; joined to it will be the punishment of the worm and the deprivation of the vision of God, so that in these punishments there will be variety, and with variety severity, and with severity endlessness, so that for the punishment of the reprobate the smoke of their torments shall ascend forever and ever. Since divine justice must punish the impious sinner according to the measure of his fault, and mortal fault, upon which final impenitence follows, has the character of a perpetual disordering, a concupiscent disordering, and a manifold disordering, it is necessary that it be punished with the eternity, severity, and multiformity of punishments. The punishment for perpetual disorder must be perpetual, because the sin which one commits and for which one never repents endures perpetually in the soul and separates from perpetual life, namely God, and proceeds from a will that would wish to delight perpetually in sin. And although that passing delight is momentary, yet because the disorder holds the character of perpetuity, the punishment corresponding to the disorder must have no end; so that, just as man in his own perpetuity set no end by withdrawing from sin, so God in His own perpetuity does not cease from punishing; and just as he sinned against the Infinite, so let him have infinite punishment: and because he cannot have punishment infinite in intensity, let him have it at least in duration: and just as his will after death always clings to evil without the reception of repentance, so let God always afflict without change of sentence. In every actual mortal sin there is a disordered aversion from the highest light and goodness, and an inordinate conversion to a changeable good, and a disorder of the will against the dictate of right reason: hence it is that all who actually sin and will be damned shall be punished with a threefold punishment: on account of their aversion, the deprivation of the vision of God; on account of their conversion, the punishment of material fire; on account of the conflict between will and reason, the punishment of the worm: so that thus afflicted by this multiplicity of punishments they may be tormented both variously and bitterly and eternally, and the smoke of their torments may ascend forever and ever.

  Breviloquium, Part 7

• Revelation 14:11

  Likewise, Scripture enlightens from below by showing forth the torments of hell. In the Psalm: He rains upon the wicked fiery coals and brimstone; a burning blast is their allotted cup. In the Apocalypse: Their portion shall be in the pool that burns with fire and brimstone. And the smoke of their torments goes up forever and ever. Scripture proposes this from the very beginning where it is said that darkness covered the abyss, until the end. And so Scripture offers internal spectacles, external examples, heavenly promises, and the tortures of hell.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17

• Revelation 16:13

  From these three idolatries proceed all falsities and disordered states of sin, by which the wretched soul is subjected to demons; which is well signified in Revelation, where it is said: "I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits in the form of frogs." By the dragon are signified pacts with demons, by the false prophet the superstitious inventions of errors, by the beast the perverse valuations of creatures. And all these things are prohibited in the first commandment. And just as God in the first creation of things in a certain manner produced all things, so also in the first commandment he prohibits all evils, although for greater explanation he sets forth multiple commandments.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3