PREFACE TO QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Your most pious, inextricable, and, so to speak, obstinate request keeps annoyingly assailing the ears of my smallness so that, moved by a feeling of compassion, since putting oneself in a suffering person's place enables one to well understand their state of mind, I should endeavor to write for your suffering heart something such that your afflicted mind could be comforted by. When I was finally overcome by your prayers, I was suddenly caught between fear and the desire to comply with your wish; but as I lifted up my mind's eyes towards the Bestower of gifts, I forgot my hesitation, and immediately felt certain that what the love of a son¹ from a fraternal heart commanded me to do could not be impossible. I indeed despaired of being fit for this task, but, made stronger by this very despair concerning myself, I immediately raised my hope up to him by whom the tongues of the dumb are made free,² who makes the tongues of infants eloquent,³ and arranged the big stupid brays of a donkey into the meaningful notes of human speech.⁴ How would it be surprising, then, if he who tells his truth even through the mouths of beasts of burden when he so wishes, provided a foolish man with understanding? Therefore, girt with the strength that this consideration gave me, I roused my barren and sluggish mind to at least fulfill the wish expressed in your order, and I applied myself to the work, nonetheless considering that a fraternal work concedes to love, and does it for nothing in exchange; and although the life of the one by whom I am compelled to do this surpasses me by far, I did not think it was injurious if a leaden pipe supplied running water for the use of men. As Pope Gregory says, whoever speaks about God must take care to search carefully for all that instructs the manners of their listeners, and consider it the right method of speaking if they usefully turn away from what they had started talking about when an opportunity for edification requires them to. In fact, a commentator of the sacred Scripture should imitate the behavior of a river: while a river flows down its bed, if it touches hollow valleys on its side, it directly turns its current away into them, and when it has filled them sufficiently, it suddenly flows back into its bed: this is how a commentator of the divine Scripture should be: when he is discussing any matter, if he happens to find on its side an occasion for fit edification, he should turn the flow of his tongue to it as though to a nearby valley, and come back to the bed of the speech he had initially intended when he has sufficiently filled the plain of this extra instruction. The fact is that, just as the divine Word trains the clever in its mysteries, so does it generally reinvigorate the simple on its surface; it has in the open what it needs to feed little children, and keeps in a secret place what it needs to suspend in admiration the minds of elevated people. It is indeed like a river, so to speak, shallow and deep, in which a lamb may walk and an elephant may swim. As for this river of my smallness, which was not drawn from myself, but from the source of expert fathers (that is to

(1) This sentence was taken, only slightly modified, from Gregory, but « of a son » was added in such a way as to create a rather strange contradiction with « fraternal heart ».

(2) Is. 35:6.

(3) Wis. 10:21.

(4) Num. 22:28.

say, my nightly work), I have sent it for your clemency to review, not because it was so worthy that I had to, but because I remembered I had promised it on your request. It consists of little symbolical and obscure questions on the Apocalypse. Whatever your alertness may find lukewarm and unpolished in them, let it be the quicker to forgive me that it is not ignorant of the fact that I am saying this while being sick. For when the body is exhausted by illness, the mind is also affected, and one's application to writing grows weaker as well. At every hour and every moment, I am wearied by my stomach's weakness; slow but continuous pains keep me panting. Because of that, whatever I start out of inclination for writing and reading, I long for its end. As someone said, a reader is refreshed from his concentration in the end of a book as a traveler is refreshed from his effort in an inn. It is indeed also clear that something brief usually gets better impressed in memory than a long discussion. You want me, my only son,¹ since I certainly could not easily explain these things with new words, to draw a bowl of water from the source of the teachers to satisfy your thirst; that is, you want me to search their sayings so as to give clearer answers, in a simple language, to the questions that may trouble your mind. The words of the Apocalypse indeed, like the rest of the sacred Scriptures, are open in some places and shut in others; in some places they are mystical and figurative, whereas in others they are to be understood in their simpler, literal meaning. This is in order that intellectually gifted people may get some training in the more obscure passages, and that simple people may find refreshment in the more obvious ones; that in its mystical passages the Word of God may be our food, sent to the internal organs of understanding after being chewed by our spiritual teeth; and that in its obvious passages it may be a drink, sent to refresh the internal organs of the mind upon a simple reading, without any chewing effort, as though by means of a cup. The sacred Scripture is put before our mind's eyes like a mirror so that we may see our inner face in it; for that is where we find out what is ugly or beautiful in us; that is where we feel how successful or how far from success we are. His sons, the story says, went, and made a feast by houses every one in his day.² The sons make a feast by houses when every virtue feeds the mind in its own way. The day of every one of the sons is the illumination of every one of the virtues. To enumerate briefly these gifts of the sevenfold grace: wisdom has a day, understanding has a day, reflection has a day, courage has a day, knowledge has a day, kindness has a day, and fear has a day. To be wise is not the same as to understand, because many people have knowledge of eternal things but are utterly unable to understand them. So, wisdom makes a feast in its day because it refreshes the mind with the hope and certitude of eternal things; understanding prepares a feast in its day because, by the fact that it penetrates the things one has heard, it refreshes the heart and thus illuminates its darkness; reflection provides a feast in its day because, as it prevents you from being rash, it fills your mind with reason; courage makes a feast in its day because, as it does not fear adversity, it serves the panicking mind the food of confidence; knowledge prepares a feast in

(1) In the Latin, the letters of the word « only » have been intentionally mixed up. See the « mystery » of the manuscript mentioned in my foreword.

(2) Job 1:4.

its day because it overcomes the starvation of ignorance in the mind's belly; kindness provides a feast in its day because it fills the inside of the heart with works of mercy; fear makes a feast in its day because, as it oppresses the mind to prevent it from becoming too proud about the present, it strengthens it for the future with the food of hope. Now, what I see in this feast of the sons that requires careful examination is that they feed one another. Indeed any virtue on its own is left quite resourceless if one virtue is not sustained by another. Wisdom is lesser if it lacks understanding, and understanding is quite useless if it is not sustained by wisdom, because when understanding penetrates too elevated things without the weight of wisdom, its lightness lifts it up only for it to fall down the more heavily. Reflection is worthless if it lacks the strength of courage, because without strength it cannot bring to completion any plan it has formed by analyzing things; and courage is left quite resourceless if it is not sustained by reflection, because, without the control of reason, the more strength sees it is capable of, the worse its headlong fall is. Knowledge is nothing if it does not have the utility of kindness, because when it fails to put the good things it knows into practice, it binds itself too tightly to judgment; and kindness is quite useless if it lacks the discernment of knowledge, because when no knowledge enlightens it, it does not know how to be compassionate in the right way. Fear too, without a shadow of a doubt, does not rise to any good action if it does not also have these virtues, because then, as it panics at everything, it remains inactive and does no good. I need to quote the prophet advising, Enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors.¹ In fact, we walk into our chambers when we enter the recesses of our minds, and we shut the doors when we repress forbidden desires. The difficulty of the aforementioned questions is truly obvious when, right in the beginning of the chapter, the title is given, not in Latin, but in Greek.

 (1) Is. 26:20.

CHAPTER 1

(1:1) QUESTION: What does it mean that he says, The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, since the Son is equal to the Father? ANSWER: It needed to be revealed by what development the Church founded by the apostles would be enlarged and how it would be made perfect in the end, so as to strengthen the preachers of the faith against the adversity of the world. John attributes the glory of the Son to the Father in the manner usual to him, and thus declares that Jesus Christ received the revelation of this mystery from God.

QUESTION: What is meant by the things which must shortly come to pass? ANSWER: It means the things that will happen to the Church in the present time.

QUESTION: What is meant by and signified or, as some books have it, “sealed?”¹ ANSWER: He interwove this same Apocalypse with mystical words so that it should not lose its worth if it was obvious to everyone.

(1:3) QUESTION: What is meant by Blessed is he that reads and they that hear the words of this prophecy, etc.? ANSWER: The teacher and his listeners are blessed because, for those who keep the words of God, the short time of hardship is followed by eternal joys. As the Truth replied to the woman who said to him that the womb of the mother of such great son was blessed as well as her paps, even more blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.² For he may doubtless call singularly blessed whoever is quick to understand it correctly and to put it into practice once they understand it, and, finally, as he stipulates in this same book: And he that heareth, let him say: Come,³ that is, let whoever perceives the inner light of faith and glory⁴ in their mind, also call others to it; or, as it is said concerning the same Truth, the things which Jesus began to do and to teach.⁵

(1:4-5) QUESTION: What does it mean that John salutes only seven churches whereas the Master of truth says, Go ye into the whole world, and preach to every creature?⁶ ANSWER: Through these seven churches, he writes to the whole Church. Indeed totality is often represented by the number seven, because all this worldly time flies by in cycles of seven days. THERE FOLLOWS: Grace be unto you and peace from him that is, and that was, and that is to come, and from the seven spirits. ANSWER: He wishes the pious people grace and peace from God the eternal Father, the sevenfold Spirit, and Jesus Christ, who gave testimony to the Father in the human form he assumed. He names the Son in the third place as he is going to say more about him. He also names him last because he is the first and the last, and he has already named him together with the Father when he said that is to come. The first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

(1:6) QUESTION: What is meant by And hath made us a kingdom, and priests to God and his Father? ANSWER: Seeing that the King of kings and heavenly Priest united us to his body by sacrificing himself for us, there is no one among the saints who does not spiritually have the office of a priest, since each of them is a member of the highest and eternal Priest. (1:8) THERE FOLLOWS: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord God. ANSWER: The beginning means the one whom no one precedes; the end, the one whom no one succeeds. — He also repeats the same words again: who is, and who was, and who is to come. ANSWER: He had said the same about the Father, for God the Father both came and is to come in the Son.

(1:13) QUESTION: He affirms that he saw one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet. ANSWER: The garment down to the feet, which is a priestly garment, represents Christ's priesthood, in which he offered himself for us on the altar of the cross as a sacrifice to the Father.

CHAPTER 2

(2:10) QUESTION: What is meant by and you shall have tribulation ten days? ANSWER: It means the whole time during which the commandments of the Decalogue are necessary; for, as long as you follow the light of the divine Word, you are bound to suffer the prison of the opposing enemy.

CHAPTER 3

(3:1) QUESTION: What is meant by what he says to the angel of the church of Sardis, I know thy works, that thou hast the name of being alive: and thou art dead? ANSWER: To yourself you do look alive, but if you are not watchful in the correction of the wicked, you shall soon be counted among the dead, because it is no use for leaders to live a good life themselves if they fail to correct others; which is also why Solomon says, Thou shalt not give sleep to thy eyes, neither slumber to thy eyelids.¹

(3:2) QUESTION: What is meant by for I find not thy works full before my God? ANSWER: A leader's works are not full before God if he does not strive to rouse others as well, however innocent he may seem to people.

(1) Variant of Prov. 6:4.

(3:15) QUESTION: What is meant by what he says to the angel of Laodicea, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold, nor hot? ANSWER: You are neither ardent in faith nor completely unfaithful. If you were still unfaithful, there would be some hope left for you to convert; but now, since you know the Lord's will and do not do it, you are thrown out of the inside of my Church. (3:19) THERE FOLLOWS: Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. ANSWER: Do not shrink from suffering adversity, since it is a specific sign of being loved by the Lord.

(3:20) QUESTION: What is meant by Behold, I stand at the gate, and knock? ANSWER: I am in any case knocking at your heart's door with the hand of exhortation, and if you receive it willingly, you shall be considered worthy to have me as an inhabitant and coheir.

CHAPTER 5

(5:1) QUESTION: What is meant by And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a book written within and without? ANSWER: This vision represents the mysteries of the holy Scripture disclosed to us by the incarnation of the Lord. It is as if the Scripture's concordant unity contained the Old Testament outside and the New inside. THERE FOLLOWS: Sealed with seven seals. ANSWER: It means either covered with all the fullness of its hidden mysteries or written by the disposition of the sevenfold Spirit. Indeed the entire series of the Old and of the New Testament warns us that we should do penance for our sins, seek the kingdom of heaven, and flee the tears of hell.

(5:3) QUESTION: And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, to open the book. ANSWER: No angel nor any of the just, even freed from the bond of the flesh, was able to reveal or discover the mysteries of the divine law. — Nor to look on it. —That is, to contemplate the splendor of the grace of the New Testament, just like the children of Israel were unable to look at the face of the one who brought the Old Testament which contained the New. (5:4) THERE FOLLOWS: And I wept much. ANSWER: It means that he realized the common misery of mankind and felt sad. (5:5) THERE FOLLOWS: And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed. ANSWER: He is forbidden to weep because the mystery that had long lain hidden had then already been fulfilled in Christ's Passion.

CHAPTER 6

(6:1) QUESTION: And I saw that the Lamb had opened one of the seals. ANSWER: Since you first loose the seals before opening a book, he has reversed the normal order for a certain reason. When the Lord suffered and was resurrected, he informed us that he was the end of the law, and when he went up to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit, he strengthened the Church with the gift of a more secret mystery. Therefore he opened the book then, and now he is loosing its seals. So, in the first seal, John sees the honor of the primitive Church; in the following three, the threefold war against the Church; in the fifth, the glory of the winners in this war; in the sixth, the things that are to come in the time of the Antichrist; and, after recapitulating previous events a bit, in the seventh, he sees the beginning of eternal rest.

(6:6) QUESTION: What is meant by 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? ANSWER: He is saying: Be careful not to entice your brother into sin through bad example, your brother for whom Christ died, and who wears the signs of the sacred blood and unction; because Church members, from those who are perfect in merits to those who are the least ones in the Church but are nonetheless imbued with faith in the holy Trinity, have all been redeemed for the perfect price of the Lord's blood. It is also not without reason that perfection in faith or work is represented by two pounds rather than a single one, because both are based on the root of the double love.

(6:9) QUESTION: What is meant by I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God? ANSWER: He who had said that the Church was manifoldly afflicted in the present, also mentions the glory of souls after the suffering of bodies. He says, I saw them under the altar, that is, in the secret place of eternal praise; for the golden altar that is inside and near the coffer of the Lord's body, does not offer the Lord flesh and blood like an exterior altar, but only the incense of praise; and those who now present their bodies as a living sacrifice,¹ will then, when the bonds of their flesh are broken, sacrifice to him the sacrifice of praise.² However, there could also be a hyperbaton, so that he would not have seen them under the altar, but slain under the altar, that is, under the testification of the name of Christ, in the same way as it is said about the Maccabees, They fell under the covenant of God.³ Now, my dearest son,⁴ [...]⁵

CHAPTER 7

(7:4) QUESTION: What is meant by And I heard the number of them that were signed, an hundred forty-four thousand were signed, of every tribe of the children of Israel? ANSWER: By this finite number is signified the innumerable multitude of the whole Church, which was born of the patriarchs through imitation, whether by lineage of the flesh or by lineage

(1) Rom. 12:1.

(2) Cf. Ps. 115:16-17.

(3) 2 Macc. 7:36 acc. to LXX.

(4) The letters of « son » have been intentionally mixed up in the Latin. See my foreword.

(5) There is here a sentence too corrupt to be made any sense of.

of faith — for, he says, If you be Christ's, then are you the seed of Abraham.¹ An increase in perfection is referred to by the fact that the number twelve itself is multiplied by twelve, and completed, to form the entire sum, by the number thousand, which is the cube number of ten,² signifying the stable life of the Church. The reason why the Church is often symbolized by the number twelve is that it is present throughout the world, which is divided into four parts, and it is based on faith in the holy Trinity; for three times four make twelve. Finally, the apostles chosen to preach the same faith to the world were also twelve in number, symbolizing by their number the mystery of their work. So, of the tribe of Juda were twelve thousand signed. It is fitting for him to start with Juda, which is the tribe that our Lord was born of, and to omit Dan, which it is said that the Antichrist will be born of (as it is written: Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels that his rider may fall);³ for it is not the order of earthly generation that he decided to present here, but the virtues of the Church, according to the interpretations of the names — the Church, which, with its present confession and praise, hastens to the right hand which is eternal life: this is indeed what the names Juda, who is put first, and Benjamin, who is put last, mean. So Juda, which translates to “confession” or “laudation,” is put first because no one lays hold of the summit of goods before the beginning of confession, and if we do not renounce bad actions through confession, we cannot be instructed for right actions. Second comes Ruben, which translates to “he who sees the child.” The Psalmist testifies that what is indicated by children is works, as he says in the blessings of the blessed man, Thy children as young plants of olive-trees,⁴ and also, And mayest thou see thy children's children;⁵ for it is not because someone who fears the Lord has not begotten children and had grandchildren that he cannot be blessed, since a greater reward awaits the virgin faithful; but by children, the Psalmist means works, and by one's children's children, the fruits of one's works, that is the eternal reward. Therefore after Juda comes Ruben, that is, after the beginnings of divine confession and praise comes perfection of action. Yet, since through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God,⁶ after Ruben follows Gad, which translates to “temptation” or “girded.” After the beginning of good work, a person must be tested with greater temptations and gird themselves for harder battles, so that the strength of their faith may be tested. As Solomon says, Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear; prepare thy soul for temptation.⁷ Then, since we consider blessed those who have endured suffering, after Gad comes Aser, which means “blessed.” This order is fitting enough, for blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive a crown of life.⁸ Now, since, feeling secure because of the faithful promise of this blessedness, they do not feel afflicted, but, rejoicing in hope and patient in tribulation, they sing together with the Psalmist, I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart,⁹ and say, rejoicing with the mother

(1) Gal. 3:29.

(2) 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000.

(3) Gen. 49:17.

(4) Ps. 127:3.

(5) Ibid. 6.

(6) Acts 14:21.

(7) Sir. 2:1.

(8) James 1:12.

(9) Ps. 118:32.

of blessed Samuel, My mouth is enlarged over my enemies: because I have joyed in thy salvation,¹ for this reason, next comes Nephthali, which means “wideness.” Nephthali himself is followed by Manasses, which translates to “having forgotten” or “necessity.” By the mystery of this name, we are told, taught by the torments of present temptations, to forget the things that are behind and to stretch forth, like the Apostle, to those that are before,² without making provision for the flesh in its concupiscences,³ but only when we are forced to by the necessity of human condition, which the Psalmist was talking about when he prayed, sighing for better things, Deliver me from my necessities.⁴ After this one comes Simeon, which means “He has heard sorrow” or “the name of the dwelling,” so that by the nature of this word too he may inculcate in us the more evidently both what we must get here and what we must expect to good effect; for the joy of the heavenly dwelling will be given to those whose minds are here saddened with a fruitful penitence. It is also said to these people, Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.⁵ Then follows Levi, which means “added,” in whom we understand either those who buy eternal things at the cost of temporal ones (as Solomon says, The ransom of a man's life are his riches)⁶ or those who, because they follow God's counsel, receive a hundredfold in this world with tribulations, and in the world to come life everlasting.⁷ These people are also being referred to in what is written: He that addeth knowledge, addeth labour.⁸ Indeed the reason why tribulations were heaped on saint Job was in order for a bigger reward to be rendered to him once he had been successfully tested. Whence it is not without reason that Issachar, which translates to “reward,” comes directly after this one; because, as the apostle teaches us, The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.⁹ Indeed battle is fought more effectively when a sure reward is expected. God works and completes all this in the dwelling of strength, which is what Zabulon means, when power is made perfect in infirmity¹⁰ so that a body that is thought weak by one's enemies, and through whose matter they try to inflict death on the soul as well, turns out to be invincible when God strengthens it. There follows a happy increase, which is what the name Joseph means, denoting more gifts of graces to be given, whether you understand by this the spiritual interests gained from the twofold return of the talents,¹¹ or whether you take it to mean those rendered to God the Redeemer by the faithful's votive piety. Then, so that you may understand that all these people, whose order and names' interpretations both show that they have been placed here in a way that signifies something, will be on the right hand of Christ the eternal King in the future judgment, in last position, as we said earlier, comes Benjamin, which means “son of the right hand,” as if he were the end of the sequence, when the last enemy, death, has been destroyed,¹² and the elect are given the eternal happiness of their inheritance — whether it is every one of the faithful that is

(1) 1 Sam. 2:1.

(2) Phil. 3:13.

(3) Rom. 13:14.

(4) Ps. 24:17.

(5) John 16:20.

(6) Prov. 13:8. The Latin word translated as « life » here can also mean « soul ».

(7) Mark 10:30.

(8) Eccles. 1:18.

(9) Rom. 8:18.

(10) 2 Cor. 12:9.

(11) Ref. to Matt. 25:14-30.

(12) Cf. 1 Cor. 15:26.

entitled to be called “son of the right hand,” or the whole assembly of the Church, about which we sing, The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety.¹ So, there are twelve thousand signed out of each tribe because whatever virtues every one of the faithful has succeeded in, they must necessarily always be strengthened by the faith of the ancient fathers and instructed by their examples. It is indeed absolutely certain that the number twelve often represents either the teachers or the whole Church, because of the total number of the apostles or of the patriarchs; for whether the individual faithful are praiseworthy in confession, like in Juda; outstanding in offspring of works in Ruben; strong in the trial of temptations in Gad; successful by their victory in battles in Aser; enlarged by bountiful works of compassion in Nephthali; forgetting the things that are behind in Manasses; or as though sad thus far in the valley of tears, but always rejoicing in the name of the dwelling, and sighing for the heavenly Jerusalem in Simeon; whether those in Levi, who rejoice in the promises both of the present life and of the future one, as they receive temporal goods in addition, while having the eternal good as their foundation; those in Issachar, who are strengthened by the contemplation of the future reward; those in Zabulon, who lay down their lives for Christ; those in Joseph, who also strive after an increase in spiritual substance, and offer something more in addition to God's commandments, whether in virginity or from their resources; or those in Benjamin, who seek with tireless wishes after the right hand which is eternal happiness, it is fitting that each of these, in their own calling, be marked by the rule of the preceding fathers as though by the number twelve, and that from the merits of all individuals there be reckoned the most perfect beauty of the Church, as the sum of a hundred forty-four thousand.

(1) Ps. 44:10.

CHAPTER 8

(8:5) QUESTION: What is meant by what is said in the second book after a few words, and there were thunders and voices and lightnings, and a great earthquake? ANSWER: He moved¹ the earth with the thunder of heavenly threats, the voice of exhortation, the lightning of miracles, and the examples of the saints.

(1) The Latin word for « earthquake » means literally « earth motion/motion of earth ».

CHAPTER 10

(10:8) QUESTION: What is meant by what he says in the second book, And the voice which I heard from heaven speaking to me: Go, and take the book that is open, from the hand of the angel? ANSWER: It is when the Lord reveals the mysteries of the future and says, The kingdom of heaven will be at hand.¹ (10:9) — And I went to the angel, saying unto him, that he should give me the book.— Let whoever would like to receive the mysteries of teaching come to the Lord. — And he said to me: Take the book, and eat it up. — That is, put it inside of yourself and transcribe it in the whole breadth of your heart. QUESTION: And, says he, it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey. ANSWER: When you have received it, you shall be delighted by the sweetness of the divine Word, but you shall feel the bitterness when you start preaching and doing what you have understood. Indeed he indicates what the book eaten up and the sweetness mixed with bitterness means, when he says, Thou must preach again to many nations and peoples,² referring to the fact that he would be freed from his exile and would preach the Gospel to the nations — the Gospel is of course sweet with regards to its love, but bitter with regards to the persecutions one has to endure for it.

(1) Cf. Matt. 3:2, 4:17, 10:7. Only one letter differs in Latin between « is at hand » and « will be at hand », so it could be a scribal mistake.

(2) Rev. 10:11.

CHAPTER 14

(14:1) QUESTION: And I beheld, and lo a lamb stood upon mount Sion. ANSWER: It means that, when his Church is sweating under the burden of struggles, the Lord Christ will be there for it with his example of courage and his protection. THERE FOLLOWS: And with him an hundred forty-four thousand. ANSWER: This finite number should be taken as being used for an indefinite one, and, in the meaning of its secret mystery, it is fit for a multitude of virgins which, loving God with all heart, all soul, and all mind,¹ is also consecrated to him through integrity of the body, which consists of four qualities; for three times three are nine and four times four are sixteen, and sixteen times nine make a hundred forty-four, so that, when we see such a perfect multitude made up of those who deserve to be seen on Mount Sion with the Lamb because they have led a stricter life, there may be no doubt concerning the rest of the members of the Church. THERE FOLLOWS: Having his name, and the name of the Father, written on their foreheads. ANSWER: He shows what the mark on the forehead of the beast's body is imitating, when he says that “God” and “Christ” are written on the foreheads of the Church. As for what he calls Sion, he shows that it is nothing else but the Church, which, in order to overcome the pains of afflictions, raised up by the high joy of contemplation, celebrates the battles of its King both by praise and by imitation; for this is truly to sing hymns for the standing Lamb.

(14:2) QUESTION: And the voice which I heard, was as the voice of harpers, harping on their harps. ANSWER: While God's harpers are all the saints, who crucify their flesh with the vices and concupiscences¹ and praise him with psaltery and harp,² how much more those who by the privilege of evangelical chastity make all of themselves a holocaust to the Lord, deny themselves singularly, and, taking up their cross, will follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth!³ (14:3) THERE FOLLOWS: And they sang as it were a new canticle before the throne. ANSWER: The old canticle was, Blessed is he that hath seed in Sion and household in Jerusalem,⁴ but the new one is, Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not,⁵ and also, I will give to the eunuchs in my house, says the Lord, and within my walls, a place, and a name better than sons and daughters.⁶ QUESTION: And no man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty-four thousand, who were purchased from the earth. ANSWER: To have the singular privilege to sing the canticle with the Lamb means to rejoice with him forever more than all the other faithful because even one's flesh is uncorrupted. The rest of the elect can nonetheless hear this canticle, although they cannot say it; out of love, they are naturally happy to see them in that high status, even though they themselves cannot rise to the level of their rewards. (14:4) THERE FOLLOWS: These were purchased from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. ANSWER: Out of the holy and immaculate flock of the Church, they are chosen by the Holy Spirit, for the merits of their will, as yet holier and purer sacrifices. The apostle, having no commandment of the Lord concerning them,⁷ beseeches them to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God.⁸

(14:5) QUESTION: And in their mouth there was found no lie. ANSWER: The merit of chastity alone does not suffice for virgins to be joined to the divine escort, if they have not also led a life clean of all contamination of sin. We should ask the question of how he can say that there was found no lie in their mouths, while the Holy Spirit affirms elsewhere, Every man is a liar,⁹ and the Apostle says the same in Romans, to refute the arrogance of the Jews: Every man is a liar, but God is true; That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged.¹⁰ Augustine¹¹ affirms that not even the life of others should be protected by means of our lie. The same, however, most subtly described in a splendid language seven kinds of lie. Here it is as when the Lord says, If I had not come, and spoken to them, they would not have sin,¹² and we do not understand this to mean every sin, but a specific one. If we sometimes

(1) Gal. 5:24.

(2) Ps. 150:3.

(3) Matt. 16:24, Luke 9:23, Rev. 14:4.

(4) Is. 31:9 acc. to LXX.

(5) Gal. 4:27, Is. 54:1 (the latter acc. to LXX).

(6) Is. 56:4-5.

(7) 1 Cor. 7:25.

(8) Rom. 12:1.

(9) Ps. 115 :11.

(10) Rom. 3:4.

(11) Augustinus Hipponensis, De mendacio, PL 40

(12) John 15:22.

utter something that is not the case, and yet we believe that same thing firmly in our minds, it should not be ascribed to lie, but rather to error. In their mouths, that is, in the mouths of those who preach and give testimony to Christ, there was found no lie. There is a sin of lie that begets death, as in Thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie,¹ and there is a lie that does not lack defect, but lacks the death caused by a serious fault, as the reader's attention may find out on a great many pages of the Scriptures of the New and of the Old Testament.² Tychonius does not interpret this vision as being about virgins specifically, but about the whole Church in general, which the apostle espoused to one husband that he might present it as a chaste virgin to Christ,³ and he concludes thus: He did not say, “In their mouths there hath been no lie” but there was found no lie, just as the apostle says, And such some of you were; but you are washed,⁴ and as in The wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness⁵ — and he shall be able to be a virgin, and to have no guile found in his mouth.⁶ By virgins indeed he means chaste and virtuous people.

(1) Ps. 5:7.

(2) [We should ask… the Old Testament] This part is from Alcuin.

(3) 2 Cor. 11:2.

(4) 1 Cor. 6:11.

(5) Ezek. 33:12.

(6) 1 Pet. 2:22.

CHAPTER 19

(19:10) THERE FOLLOWS: And I fell down at his feet. And he said to me: See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren. ANSWER: He had said earlier, I am the first and the last.¹ Therefore it shows that the angel was sent in the appearance of the Lord of the Church; for in the end he says, “I am Jesus; I have sent my angel to testify these things in the churches.”² — Who have the testimony of Jesus. —After the Lord assumed the role of a man, and thus elevated a man above the skies, the angel was afraid to be adored by a man, since he adored a man God above him. Before the Lord's incarnation, we read that angels were adored by men and that it was absolutely not forbidden by angels. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, for all that the spirit of prophecy has said is the testimony of Jesus, who has got his testimony from the law and the prophets. “Therefore,” says the angel, “do not adore me as God, as I have come to give testimony to his virtues.”  Finally, the angel that is described as having appeared to Moses is called now “angel,” now “Lord:” he is called an angel because he was acting as a servant on the outside as he spoke, and Lord because the Lord was controlling him on

(1) Rev. 1:17.

(2) Rev. 22:16.

the inside and providing him with speaking efficiency; therefore, as he is controlled from inside as he speaks, he is called both an angel for his obedience, and Lord for the inspiration he receives. This is how David says, Attend, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth:¹ for it was not David's law or David's people, but, assuming the role of the one who made him speak, he spoke in the words of the one whose inspiration he was filled with. We can see this happening every day in the Church, if we look carefully: a church officer reading a passage aloud can shout as he stands in the middle of the people, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,² and it is of course not true when says he is God; yet he does not depart from the rule of the truth with what he says, because he is displaying in his voice the lordship of the one for whom he is performing ministry with his reading. That is why, since the writers of the sacred Scripture, filled with the Holy Spirit, are carried above themselves, it is as if they got out of themselves, and they make statements about themselves as if it were about others.

(1) Ps. 77:1.

(2) Ex. 3:6.

CHAPTER 20

(20:1) QUESTION: And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. ANSWER: So, the Lord, equipped with the Father's power, came down in the flesh to wage war against the prince of the world, bind him, and take the latter's containers back. (20:2) THERE FOLLOWS: And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan. ANSWER: Devil translates to “flowing downwards,” and in Greek it means “slanderer;”¹ Satan means “adversary” or “prevaricator.” So, he is called a dragon because of his evilness in doing harm, a serpent because of his craft in deceiving, devil because of his fall from his status, and Satan because of his obstinacy in opposing the Lord. (20:4) THERE FOLLOWS: And the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God. ANSWER: Here is implied what he was going to say afterwards: reigned with Christ a thousand years. So, the Church reigns with Christ over the living and the dead, for, as the apostle says, to this end Christ died, that he might be Lord of the living and of the dead.² Now, he mentioned only the souls of the martyrs because those who reign more than others after death are those who have fought unto death for the truth; because it is not those who merely start, but those who persevere who are promised eternal blessedness.

(1) See note (4) on p.91.

(2) Rom. 14:9.

(20:2/3) QUESTION: After having been bound for a thousand years, he must be loosed a little time. ANSWER: He will be loosed, as Saint Augustine says,¹ when there is only a short time left. We read indeed that it is during three years and a half that he will rage with all his and his people's might, and those against whom he will have to wage war will be such that they cannot be overcome by his force and snares, great though they be. On the other hand, if he were never loosed, his evil power would be less apparent, the most faithful patience of the holy city would be less well proven, and, finally, it would be less well perceived how great the Devil's evil was that God Almighty had made so good use of; because the more powerful the Devil's evilness is, the better and more pleasant will God's power appear.

(20:6) QUESTION: Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. ANSWER: That is, he who keeps what he has gained in his second birth.² THERE FOLLOWS: But they shall be saints of God and of Christ. ANSWER: Another edition has “priests of God and of Christ.” This does not refer only to bishops and church ministers, who are the ones properly called priests in the Church, but, just as we are all called “christs” because of the mystical unction,³ so are we all called priests because we are the limbs of one priest; whence Peter says, a holy nation, a kingly priesthood.⁴ QUESTION: And shall reign with Christ a thousand years. ANSWER: When John was writing this, the Spirit announced that the Church would reign for a thousand years, that is until the end of the world. (20:7) THERE FOLLOWS: And when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. ANSWER: Saying finished, he meant a part by the whole, for Satan shall be loosed when there are still left the three years and six months of the last battle; but apart from this trope, it is right to say that the time will be finished. (What he earlier defined as three years and a half, he here called three years and six months.)

(20:11/12) QUESTION: And I saw a great throne, and one sitting upon it, and before him the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. ANSWER: Another edition has “which is the book of the life of each person.” So, by the books opened he means the Testaments, for the world shall be judged according to both Testaments. By the book of the life of each person he means the memory of our actions, not that the Knower of secrets has a book to remind him of things. THERE FOLLOWS: And the dead were judged by those things which are written in the books, according to their works. ANSWER: That is, they were judged by the Testaments, according to what they had done or not done of what is in them. The books may also be understood to mean the acts of the just, by comparison with which the reprobates are damned, and, when this happens, it is as if they read in books exposed the good they themselves had refused to do.

(1) Augustinus Hipponensis, De civitate Dei, 20, 8, 2. (PL 41, 70)

(2) Reference to baptism.

(3) « Christ », χριστός (Christos) in Greek, means « anointed ». In Latin, the same word, christi, can mean both « of Christ » and « christs »; I do not know whether the commentator may have taken it as the latter in this verse, thus understanding it as « they shall be saints/priests of God and christs ».

(4) 1 Pet. 2:9.

(20:14/15) QUESTION: And death and hell were cast into the pool of fire, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life. ANSWER: That is, whosoever was not judged by God as being alive. Whence it seems to me that the right interpretation for the books opened above is rather that of those who interpret them as being every single person's conscience and works being disclosed, and interpret the book of life as being God's foreknowledge, which cannot be mistaken concerning those who will be given eternal life, since they are written in that book, that is, foreknown.

CHAPTER 21

(21:1) QUESTION: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone. ANSWER: That is, when the wicked have been judged, then the shape of this world will pass due to the burning of heavenly fires, so that, heaven and earth being changed for the better, the quality of the change of both will harmoniously match the incorruptibility and immortality of the bodies of the saints.

(21:6) QUESTION: To him that thirsteth, I will give of the fountain of the water of life, freely. ANSWER: He now bedews believers on the road with drops of this same fountain which he will let those who overcome drink plentifully from when they have reached their fatherland. He does both freely, and the grace¹ of God is life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.²

(21:8) THERE FOLLOWS: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, etc. ANSWER: He always mixes pleasant words with severe ones to instill carefulness into us. As the Psalmist says, The Lord keepeth all them that love him; but all the wicked he will destroy.³ He puts the fearful together with the unbelieving because you are afraid to venture into the battle when you doubt the reward of the winner. THERE FOLLOWS: And all liars, they shall have their portion in the pool burning. ANSWER: He shows that there are many kinds of lies; but the most dangerous and most detestable one is the one with which you sin against religion, this being the kind of lie about which he said earlier, “They say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie, for they are the synagogue of Satan.”⁴

(21:9) THERE FOLLOWS: Come; I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. ANSWER: By the bride and wife he means the Church, which, while remaining unstained, is always engendering spiritual children to God; or he may also call it so because it is now espoused to God, and is then to be led to the immortal nuptials.

(1) Freely in Latin = gratis. See note (5) on 1:4-5 in the first commentary. « By graces » could be another literal interpretation of gratis.

(2) Rom. 6:23.

(3) Ps. 144:20.

(4) Rev. 2:9 and 3:9.

(21:10/11) QUESTION: And he took me up in spirit to a great mountain: and he shewed me the holy city Jerusalem. ANSWER: After the fall of Babylon, the holy city, which is the bride of the Lamb, is seen on the mountain, for the stone cut out of a mountain without hands has broken in pieces the effigy of worldly glory, and has grown into a great mountain, and filled the whole world.¹ THERE FOLLOWS: Coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. ANSWER: It will indeed appear more beautiful when, by the Spirit by which its bridegroom is believed to have been conceived and engendered, it has gained fully to have a heavenly appearance.

(21:12) QUESTION: And it had a wall great and high. ANSWER: That is, the impregnable firmness of faith, love, and hope. The Lord himself, protecting the Church on all sides, may also be taken to be the great wall, about which Isaiah says, A wall and a bulwark shall be set therein,² that is, the protection of the Lord and the intercession of the saints, who make a way for him to the hearts of believers by their teaching. THERE FOLLOWS: Having twelve gates. ANSWER: These gates are the apostles, who were the first, whether by their writings or by their works, to open the entrance to the Church for all nations.

(21:15) QUESTION: And he that spoke with me, had a measure of a reed of gold. ANSWER: Christ, who is the Father's wisdom, measures the holy city, because he distributes the gifts of spiritual graces to every one of the faithful while ordering all things in number, and measure, and weight.³ We may also understand it to mean the teachers of the Church, fragile in body but heavenly in mind, who cleverly examine the merits of everyone.

(21:16) THERE FOLLOWS: And the city lieth in a foursquare. ANSWER: The city is said to lie in a foursquare and to be laid out with an equal measure on every side, because it is not allowed to be marked by any inequality, for to be perfect, to be of one mind, to have peace (as the apostle says),⁴ is really to stand in the solidity of the cube. QUESTION: And he measured the city for twelve thousand furlongs. ANSWER: That is, he saw that the Church was perfect in faith and works, or he granted it to be so. Indeed perfection in the four cardinal virtues, sublimated by faith in the holy Trinity, constitutes the dignity of the Church as though by the number twelve. THERE FOLLOWS: The length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal. ANSWER: This is the solidity of the invincible truth, which does not let the Church, which relies on length of faith, breadth of love, and height of hope, be carried about with every wind of doctrine.⁵ If it lacks one of those qualities, the stability of the Church will not be perfect. He is indeed described as dividing in the constitution of the Church different gifts of virtues to everyone according as he will,⁶ and the Spirit is given to every man unto profit,⁷ because it would be difficult for everyone to flourish with all virtues at the same time.

(1) Dan. 2:34-35.

(2) Is. 26:1.

(3) Wis. 11:21.

(4) 2 Cor. 13:11.

(5) Eph. 4:14.

(6) 1 Cor. 12:11.

(7) Ibid. 7.

My only son,¹ let it be enough for me, complying in the above, step by step to this point, with your most humble request, to have run as much as my reins permitted me. However, since I endeavored above to explain mystically the twelve fathers and the twelve thousand signed as best I could, there now remains for me (as there is no doubt you would like to know about this as well) not to pass over the number or virtues of the precious stones in silence altogether (these stones being also found in numerous passages of the holy Scriptures, and also twelve in number), but to run over them as far as I can, so that the fire of the thirst of your mind and your suppliant request, as well as my effort, may come to an end. For in the aforesaid city, there are as ornaments its gates and measure, but in addition also ornaments of stones.

(21:19/20) QUESTION: The first foundation of the city of God, that is the holy Church, was jasper. ANSWER: There are many kinds of jasper: one is green and looks as though it were tinged with flowers; another is like snow and the foam of sea waves, and glows red as if they were mingled with blood. Therefore by the jasper is represented the unfading greenness of faith, which is imbued with the mystery of the Lord's Passion by the water of baptism and prepared for every flower of graces by its progressing merits, and can say with the bride, My beloved is white and ruddy.² Whence it is right for both the building of the wall here³ and the bulwarks of the same city in Isaiah⁴ to be fortified as well as adorned with this stone. Second, sapphire. Both this stone's color and its mystery were explained by Moses when he said, describing God's appearance, under his feet as it were a work of sapphire stone.⁵ It emits a burning radiance when hit by sunrays, because the minds of the saints, always intent on heavenly things, when renewed daily by the rays of the divine light, somehow the more devoutly and the more ardently search for eternal things and persuade others that they should investigate them. As for the fact that it is said to be found in the Red Sea, it means that it is by the Lord's passion and the bath of the sacred baptism that the minds of mortals are raised on high to enjoy heavenly things in advance. Third, chalcedony. Chalcedony shines palely like the fire of an oil lamp, and is bright in the open, but not indoors. By it are indicated those who, relying on their desire for heaven, hide however from men, and, as it were, do their fasts, alms, and prayers in secret,⁶ but, when ordered to come out to serve teaching or other interests of the saints, soon show what brightness they have been carrying inside. As for the fact that it is said to resist those who want to carve it, and to attract chaff to itself if made hot by sunrays or the rubbing of fingers, it rightly corresponds to such people as do not let their strength be overcome by anyone, but rather themselves bring every weaker person into the power of their light and ardor. It is said about one of these people, He was a burning and a shining light⁷ — burning with love, shining in speech. They always take care that the light of their virtues and inner love should not run out of oil. Chalcedony is produced in the province of Ethiopia, so as to indicate that, as they are under the burning heat of

(1) The letters of « my only son » have been intentionally mixed up in the Latin. See my foreword.

(2) Song 5:10.

(3) Rev. 21:18.

(4) Is. 54:12.

(5) Ex. 24:10.

(6) Matt. 6:2-6/16-18.

(7) John 5:35.

love, but yet of obscure reputation, it is as if their skin were black and they appeared dirty. Fourth, emerald. Emerald is of an extreme greenness, to such a point that it beats green grass and foliage as well as all gems, tinging with green the air reflected around it. It improves when treated with pure and green oil, although it is colored by nature. It signifies the souls always green in faith, for the more they are tried by the adversity of the world, which is symbolized by the cold of Scythia, the more they strive both to picture mentally, in hoping for it, the unfading and eternal inheritance that is kept for them in heaven, and to share it widely with the people around them by preaching. This same stone's land of origin also matches these people in a very beautiful manner, being a rich but uninhabitable land, for, although it abounds in gold and gems, griffins hold everything there. They are very ferocious birds, or rather flying beasts, for they are four-footed, and in their bodies they are most similar to lions, whereas in their heads and wings they are most similar to eagles. They fight against the Arimaspi (who are said to be remarkable for having one eye in the middle of the forehead) in order to acquire these stones, the beasts stealing them and the Arimaspi keeping them both doing so with incredible eagerness.¹ It is this land abounding in treasures of virtues that the Psalmist had gone to when he said, Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness.² You go far off flying away when you lift yourself up, in the high contemplation of God, away from the turmoil of temporal desires, and you abide in the wilderness when you persevere in your mind's retired intention. Against birds of this kind striving to snatch the seed of the divine Word away from us, all the saints (who are admirable for their simple intention proceeding from their desire for heaven, as though this were one eye) are watchful, so as to be able to search out and dig up the gem of faith and of all the other virtues; for the higher a virtue is, the fewer keepers it has, and the harder persecution it endures from unclean spirits, who, like the fearful griffins, are terrestrial with regards to the degraded state of their merits, but flying with regards to the proud loftiness of their minds, and struggle tirelessly to take spiritual riches away, not in order to possess them for their own use, but only for the sake of taking them away from men. Then, because such sublimity of faith became known to the world through the Gospel, it is fitting for the emerald to be put in the fourth place, because of the four books of the Gospel. Fifth, sardonyx. This stone, having the whiteness of onyx and the redness of sardius, was named sardonyx after both of them. There are very numerous kinds of it: one has the likeness of red earth; another is two-colored as if blood were shining through a human nail; another is three-colored: black in the bottom, white in the middle, bright red above. To this one are compared men who are red for their bodies' suffering, white for their spirits' purity, but despise themselves out of the humility of their minds, and testify with the apostle, Though our outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed

(1) According to the poem attributed to Aristeas (of Prokonnesos), above the Issedonians "dwelt the Arimaspi, men with one eye; still further, the gold- guarding Griffins.” [Herod. 4.13]  Archaeologia, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, Volume 48, Part 2; Volume 48, Part 11; pg. 359. The Society, 1885.

(2) Ps. 54:8.

day by day,¹ as well as, I am not conscious to myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified.² Similarly, the Psalmist: Although man hath the image of God (because of the power of the mind), yet he shall be disquieted in vain (because of the weakness of the flesh).³ Since suffering is in the weakness of the body, for they that kill the body are not able to kill the soul;⁴ and since humility comes from the fragility of this same body, when it is said, Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?⁵ it is right for sardonyx to be in the fifth foundation, for it is certain that our bodies work with five senses. Sixth, sardius. Sardius, which is entirely blood-colored, signifies the glory of martyrs, about which it is said, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.⁶ It is well-placed in sixth position, since our Lord was both incarnated in the sixth age of the world and crucified for the whole world's salvation on the sixth day of the week. Seventh, chrysolite. The chrysolite stone shines like gold and has burning sparks. By its image are symbolized those who shine with the understanding of heavenly and true wisdom, and send words of exhortation, or even miraculous signs, like sparks of fire, to the people around them, and whose minds, as Arator says, are pressed by love, and in whose words ardor fiercely burns.⁷ Since this is achieved only through the gift of spiritual grace, it is absolutely beautiful for chrysolite to be in the seventh foundation, for by the number seven is often symbolized the grace of the Holy Spirit, about which it is said above, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne.⁸ Eighth, beryl. Beryl is as if you looked at water hit by the brilliance of the sun reflect a beautiful red color. However, it does not glitter unless it is polished into a hexagonal shape, for it is by the reflection of the corners that its brilliance is enhanced. It signifies people who are intellectually acute, but yet more gleaming with the light of heavenly grace [...]⁹ by similarity of color. Indeed Solomon is witness to the fact that water represents deepness of understanding, as he says, Words from the mouth of a man are deep water.¹⁰ However, human or even divine wisdom is not of a perfect brilliance if completion of works is not added thereto as well. Perfection of action is often represented by the number six, especially since the making of this world was completed in this number of days. As for the fact that beryl is said to scorch the hand of the one who holds it, it is undoubtedly clear that it is because whoever comes into close relation with a holy man is naturally reinvigorated by the fire of his good conduct. Ninth, topaz. The topaz stone is as costly as it is rare. It is said to have two colors, one like the purest gold, and the other shining out with ethereal brightness. It has a rosy richness and a modest purity; close to chrysoprase in size and color, it shines most when hit by the brilliance of the sun, surpassing the most precious brightnesses of all gems, and singularly provoking a most eager pleasure of the eye so that one cannot but look at it. If you seek to polish it, you

(1) 2 Cor. 4:16.

(2) 1 Cor. 4:4.

(3) Apparently a variant of Ps. 38:7.

(4) Matt. 10:28.

(5) Rom. 7:24.

(6) Ps. 115:15.

(7) Arator Subdiaconus, De Actibus Apostolorum, liber primus.

(8) Rev. 1:4.

(9) There is an undecipherable word here in the MS.

(10) Prov. 18:4.

darken it; if you leave it to its own nature, it shines. It is said to inspire even kings with wonder, so that they recognize that they possess nothing like it among their riches. Its absolutely beautiful natural quality is quite worthily compared to the grace of contemplative life, for holy kings, whose hearts are in the hand of God,¹ deservedly prefer contemplative life to all riches of good works and all gems of virtues, directing the sight and acuteness² of their pure minds to it most of all, embracing mentally the sweetness of heavenly life the more ardently, the more often they have been hit by the brilliance of celestial grace. So holy men have a golden color from the flame of inner love, and they have an ethereal color from the contemplation of heavenly sweetness, the latter color often being made to lose its quality by the whirlwind of this world as though by the rubbing of a file; for it is not easy for the mind to be at one and the same time distressed by earthly hardships, troubles, concerns, and pains, and contemplate the joys of heavenly life, delighting in a quiet state of mind. On the contrary, such a mind rather moans, and cries out, My eye is troubled through indignation: I have grown old amongst all my enemies.³ As for its being found on the Theban island called Topazion, which it is named after, it should be understood in two ways, because those regions (that is those of the Egyptians) are particularly abundant in groups of monks, and whoever lives next to the Sun of justice⁴ is naturally colored by rays of ethereal light. It is beautiful, just as perfection of active life was put in eighth position, for the gem of contemplative sweetness to be put in ninth position, whether because nine orders of angels, whose life contemplative life imitates, are found in the holy Scripture, or because contemplative life is only one step (the step of death, so to speak) away from the talent of perfect blessedness, after which the prophet sighed with immense longing and said, Therefore have I loved thy commandments above gold and the topaz,⁵ which means: Above the glory of any esteemed action and above all exaltation of contemplative joy that can exist in this world, I delighted in the sweetest love of your commandments; the first and foremost of which is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength .⁶ It is absolutely certain that this cannot be completely achieved anywhere but in that summit of heaven's kingdom. Tenth, chrysoprase.  Chrysoprase is of a mix of green and gold; there is also one sort of it that has a purple gleam with golden spots at intervals. It is produced in India. It signifies those who, earning the greenness of the eternal fatherland by the brilliance of perfect love, also open it to others by the purple light of their martyrdom. Since they follow the example of the Lord in the flesh in that they despise this life and prefer eternal glory, it is now as if they displayed the brightness of their merits in India, that is, near the rising of the sun. As they wait with longing to shine as the sun in the kingdom of the Father⁷ and to then reign with their King whom they are now suffering with, it is right for them to be put in tenth position, for by the

(1) Prov. 21:1.

(2) The Latin word I rendered by « acuteness » can mean, among other things, both sight or glance/look and intellectual acuteness.

(3) Ps. 6:8.

(4) Mal. 4:2.

(5) Ps. 118:127.

(6) Mark 12:30.

(7) Matt. 13:43.

penny¹ the cultivators of the Lord's vineyard are rewarded with,² is symbolized likeness to the eternal King, which they are to receive. Here, which was impossible in the ninth stage, the Decalogue will be thoroughly fulfilled, when love of God and neighbor is made perfect. Eleventh, jacinth. Jacinth is found in Ethiopia and has a dark bluish color. It is best when it is neither porous nor made dull by excessive density, but shines in the right balance between both, and has a sweetly purified luster. It does not always glow the same way, but changes with the face of the sky. In fine weather it is clear and attractive; in cloudy weather it grows faint and fades before your eyes. It represents the souls always devoted to heavenly intention and approaching somehow, as far as it is possible for mortals, the lifestyle of angels. They are those who are told to keep their hearts with all watchfulness,³ so that an excessive subtlety of understanding should not make them venture to seek things too high for them or inquire into things too powerful for them (for the glory of the Lord is to conceal the word,⁴ which means to exercise caution in philosophizing about God or man Christ), or so that, reversely, they should not become sluggish and thus fall back to the weak beginnings of faith and the mere basics of the start of the words of God; but so that, walking the kingly way, they should rather move forward protected on the right and on the left by the armour of justice,⁵ observe properly the conditions of the moment and change their faces with the sky, and say in their hearts, For whether we be transported in mind, it is for God; or whether we be sober, it is for you.⁶ It is as if a jacinth spoke these words when surrounded by clouds: You are not straitened in us, but in your own bowels you are straitened,⁷ as well as, For I judged not myself to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified;⁸ and said this when seen in clear sunlight: We speak wisdom among the perfect.⁹ Twelfth, amethyst. Amethyst is purple with a mixture of violet and a sheen like that of a rose, and it gently emits some sorts of little flames. However, there is something in its purple that is not quite fiery, but looks like red wine. Its purple ornament represents the condition of heaven's kingdom, while its rosy and violet ornaments represent the humble modesty and precious death of the saints; that is, those whose minds are lifted up in the highest considerations to a particular degree, even when from the outside you see them suffer abject things; who in the middle of adversity always keep in mind the Lord's promise: Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom;¹⁰ who, sending out the flame of love not only one towards another, but even towards their own persecutors, implore down on their knees, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge;¹¹ and who, while drinking the cup of suffering,

(1) The Latin word for « penny » is the same as the one for « the number ten »: denarius, because one denarius was originally worth ten asses.

(2) Matt. 20:1 et seq.

(3) Prov. 4:23.

(4) Prov. 25:2.

(5) 2 Cor. 6:7.

(6) Ibid. 5:13.

(7) Ibid. 6:12.

(8) 1 Cor. 2:2.

(9) Ibid. 6.

(10) Luke 12:32.

(11) Acts 7:59.

rather get drunk with the remembrance of the yoke of that wine which makes man's heart happy, which the Lord promised to drink new with his disciples in the kingdom of his Father.¹ So, by Jasper is symbolized greenness of faith; by sapphire, highness of heavenly hope; and by chalcedony, the flame of inner love. By emerald is represented strong confession of the same faith in the middle of adversity; by sardonyx, the humility of the saints among their virtues; and by sardius, the venerable blood of martyrs. By chrysolite is denoted spiritual preaching among miracles; by beryl, the perfect work of preachers; and by topaz, the ardent contemplation of the same preachers. By chrysoprase is indicated both the work and the reward of blessed martyrs; by jacinth, the heavenly elevation of teachers to high things, and their humble descent to human things for the sake of the weak; and by amethyst, the memory of heaven's kingdom always in the minds of the humble. Each precious stone has been assigned to one foundation because although all the perfect people with whom the city of our God on his holy mountain is adorned and whom its foundations are made of are shining with the light of spiritual grace, yet to one, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge; to another, the grace of healing; to another, diverse kinds of tongues; to another, faith in the same spirit.² The builder and founder of that city, God, who is the foundation of foundations, and for us even deigned to become a high priest, so that he cleansed and inaugurated at the same time the walls of the same city with the sacrifice of his own blood, possesses as his own all things whatsoever the Father has.³ Whence it was commanded that the same stones, also inscribed with the names of the patriarchs, be put on the high priest's breast,⁴ so that it be revealed by this most beautiful mystery that all the spiritual gifts that every one of the saints received individually and partially, had been made complete together and perfectly in the Mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ as a man. I seem to have expounded these things about the precious stones perhaps more copiously than a brief style of interpretation required. The fact is that I needed to describe their natures and lands of origin carefully, and then to investigate their mystery more cleverly, while also following the order and stages. Yet, for what concerns the bottom of the matter, it seems to me that I have said very little, and this briefly and summarily. I humbly beg the reader to give thanks to God if he sees that I have walked the right path, and to pray the Lord with me to forgive my mistake if on the contrary he finds that it has not turned out as he wished. But enough with this; let us now return to what we had begun.

(21:21) THERE FOLLOWS: And the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. ANSWER: He makes the streets of the same materials as those he had previously said the city was adorned with, for there are many people in the Church who, even leading a less strict and inferior life, are endowed with the greatest virtues, and shine with both purity of mind and the radiance of work.

(1) Matt. 26:29, Mark 14:25.

(2) 1 Cor. 12:8-10.

(3) John 16:15.

(4) Ex. 28:15-30.

(1) The Latin could also be interpreted as « of him »; there would be no difference.

(2) Ref. to John 14:6.

(3) Matt. 26:41, Mark 14:38.

(4) Ps. 45:11.

(5) 1 John 2:11.

(6) This is written in the right margin in the MS.

Finally, after having at last finished so great and so perilous a work, I beg with insistence, that if any people should deem this little work of mine worth reading, they should also remember to commend the author of the work to the Lord. I have actually quoted a good number of things from the teaching of the masters or from what I remembered from my readings — for we also have as a commandment that we should give back to our lord the talents we received, with the interests. Concerning the knowledge of numbers [...] also a few things [...] different number [...] Bede says [...]¹ is divided into seven sections; and in the fifth rule mentioned in his preface, he says that the trope works with regular numbers, in the trope called synecdoche, where either the whole is meant by a part or a part by the whole. This figure of speech even gives us the solution to that famous question of Christ's resurrection: for unless the last part of the day on which he suffered his Passion is taken as a whole day, that is, including also the previous night; and unless the night in the last part of which he was resurrected is taken as a whole day, that is, including also the then-dawning Dominical day, there cannot be three days and three nights, the time during which he said he would be in the heart of the earth.² He calls “regular numbers” those the holy Scripture commends more notably, like seven, ten, or twelve. By these is usually represented either totality of time or perfection of a certain thing, as for example, as already said,³ Seven times a day I have given praise to thee⁴ means nothing else but His praise shall be always in my mouth.⁵ What is the number seven taken to mean but the sum of perfection? So the number seven is called perfect because it is made up of the first even number and the first odd number: the first that can be divided and the first that cannot be divided. This is actually why twelve apostles were chosen to be filled with the perfection of the sevenfold grace, for there is a rising from the number seven to the number twelve: when the number seven undergoes a multiplication of its parts by each other, it stretches to the number twelve: for whether four is multiplied by three or three by four, they turn seven into twelve. Therefore, since the holy apostles were being sent to preach the Trinity in the four parts of the world, twelve apostles were chosen, so that they might show by their number also the perfection they preached with their lives and voices. Here you are; you have both, the fulfillment of your request and of your wish.⁶ As far as time and place have allowed me to, with God's favor, I have complied willingly, instructed by the apostle, who tells us to be ready to satisfy everyone that asks.⁷ I know him who says, Open thy mouth, and I will fill it.⁸ Let us hasten to walk while it is light; the night will come, when no one can walk.⁹ Let us imitate him about whom it is written, fearing God, and avoiding evil.¹⁰

(1) Many words in the MS here are unreadable to me.

(2) Matt. 12:40.

(3) This has not in fact been said...

(4) Ps. 118:164.

(5) Ps. 33:2.

(6) Doubtful sentence.

(7) 1 Pet. 3:15.

(8) Ps. 80:11.

(9) Cf. John 9:4.

(10) Job 1:1.