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Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen: and do penance, and do the first works. Or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance.
Tertullian
You have offended, but can still be reconciled. You have One whom you may satisfy, and Him willing. This if you doubt, unravels the meaning of "what the Spirit saith to the churches." He imputes to the Ephesians "forsaken love;" reproaches the Thyatirenes with "fornication," and "eating of things sacrificed to idols;" accuses the Sardians of "works not full; " censures the Pergamenes for teaching perverse things; upbraids the Laodiceans for trusting to their riches; and yet gives them all general monitions to repentance--under comminations, it is true; but He would not utter comminations to one un-repentant if He did not forgive the repentant. [On repentance Chapter 7-8]
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St. Victorinus
He who falls, falls from a height: therefore He said whence: because, even to the very last, works of love must be practised; and this is the principal commandment. Finally, unless this is done, He threatened to remove their candlestick out of its place, that is, to disperse the congregation.
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St. Cyprian
Laying aside all rash haste, they should manifest a religious patience to God, so that when by His mercy we come together, we may debate upon all kinds of things, according to the discipline of the Church, especially since it is written, "Remember from whence thou hast fallen, and repent." Now he repents, who, remembering the divine precept, with meekness and patience, and obeying the priests of God, deserves well of the Lord by his obedience and his righteous works. [Epistle 13]
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St. Jerome
But they to whom He says: "Remember from whence thou art fallen "; and, "Behold the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried "; and, "I know where thou dwellest, even where Satan's throne is "; and, "Remember how thou hast received, and didst hear, and keep it, and repent," and so on, were of course believers, and baptized, who once stood, but fell through sin. [Against Jovinias 2.3]
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St. Caesarea of Arles
Note that He did not say He ‘takes away’ the lampstand but that He ‘moves.’ For the lampstand signifies the one Christian people. Therefore, He says that this lampstand is to be moved, not taken away, so that we might understand that in the very same Church the evil are moved and the good confirmed. Moreover, He means that by the hidden but nonetheless just judgment of God, that which is taken from the evil is given as increase to the good. This fulfills that which is written, “He who has, it will be added to him, but to him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken from him.(Mt. 25:29)”
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Oecumenius
By the removal of the candlestick, that is, the church, he means his abandonment of it, as a result of which sinners become involved in every kind of disturbance and tumult, so that they say, “My eye was troubled in my soul, and my heart was troubled within me. (Ps. 30:10)”
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St. Andrew of Caesarea
The movement of the church means to deprive them of divine grace, by which he brings down upon them swells and waves of evil spirits and evil men ministering to them. Some understood the removal of the lampstand to refer to the archpriest's throne of Ephesus, because it was moved to the seat of the King the imperial capital. Anyone who comes upon the works of the Nicolaitans, which are hated by God, will know their detested heresy.
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Apringius of Beja
For although He wishes that we remember those instances in which we have badly fallen, He exhorts that we might not fall again. And that our faults which we have committed might be cleansed, He shows a way by which one might come to pardon when He says, “Do penance.” That is, wash away your sins with tears, just as, “that sinful woman,” as a type of the Church, “washed the feet of Jesus with he trears and wiped them with her hair.(Lk. 7:44)” And He exhorts and commands what one should do after penance: “Do your first works,” either by an extraordinary goodness or do those works which you had done in the earnestness of your first conversion.
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St. Beatus of Liébana
From which are clearly shown the two parts in one Body: one persevering, another transgressing.
Of which He says, “Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen, and do penance, and do the first works.” Likewise also, the Lord says through the Prophet, “Put me in remembrance, and let us plead together. Tell if thou hast anything to justify thyself.” [Isaiah 43:26] For while He wills to remember the fall from where we fell into evil, He admonishes us not to fall down again. And so the weaknesses that we run ourselves into, are purged; He shows them the road by which they should come when He says, “Do penance” — that is, wash yourself with tears for your failings. So that sinner woman washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and dried it with her tears, as a type of the Church. [Luke 7:44] And after penitence be done, He urges them on, impressing upon them, “And do the first works.” Either from particular goodness, or what you had conceived in the ardor of your first conversion, it was not said to you that if you fell, “Be mindful from whence thou art fallen.” And indeed, it is as if He said publicly, ‘Look at where you fell from, and what sins you entered into today: whether you have too much appetite for works, or words, or gluttony of the stomach or gullet; or are goaded by the spur into fornication of the flesh; or are set aflame by the torch of greed or stinginess; or if an image — that is, an idol — is secretly hidden in your conscience; or the hot temper and furor, stirred up against your brothers, remains as a cloud on your heart; or your mind is puffed up with vainglory; or you have a tumor of pride. Whatever it be that you know you have fallen into, He rebukes you and is always saying, “Remember from whence thou art fallen.” For indeed you fall; you fall from a high place. Therefore He says, “From whence”. The destruction is not better for him who departs from charity. Because as pride is the prince of all evils, so charity holds first place among all good things. For he who does not have charity, though he is seen to do good, has nothing good in him. Therefore He said, “from whence thou art fallen.” Seeing that every kind of work of love will be exercised until death, that is the principal order given us; without that, no one among Catholics ever will see God. Though he wishes it and though any of these about which we spoke above is strongly supported, everything is undermined if charity is diminished. “For charity covereth a multitude of sins.” [1 Peter 4:8] And what does it profit you if you proceed to exhibiting abstinence, to devoting yourself to mercy, to giving thanks to God always, to frequent prayer? It is no profit to you — if you pay attention to the one and close your eyes to the other. And what does it profit a city if it is almost all carefully guarded against the enemy’s treachery, but one hole be left open from which their armies may enter? Therefore, what does it profit you to post the guard all around the walls, when the whole city is opened to enemies through negligence in a single place? Therefore, it is said, “Remember from whence thou art fallen”. Because the whole of the law is fulfilled in one word in the Church, in two ways — that is, in charity toward God and neighbor. He who is still annoyed into evil thoughts is said to fall back from charity toward God; and he who hurts a brother in any way has lost possession of charity toward his neighbors; and either way, he is said to fall from a high place. Therefore it is said, “from whence thou art fallen, and do penance, and do the first works.” As if He said publicly, ‘Begin to repent of the day, on the day, and at the time you declare penance to end, say it is to begin then.’ “Or else I will come to thee and move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance.” What is to ‘move the candlestick out’, if not to avert His face, to remove His care? Since without the regard of the Highest, without the protection of God, our steadfast faith does not prevail. Therefore, also the Prophet says, “Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet are not weakened.” [Ps. 17:37] And before that, “thou hast made my arms like a brazen bow, and thou hast given me the protection of thy salvation.” [Ps. 17:35-36] And again, “Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell.” Therefore, He removes the candlestick of our faith and snuffs out the candle of our confession [of faith], when He averts His face from us. What He says: “except thou do penance”. Rather, does He not urge penance quickly from His dear one? But if he does not accept support from the Creator? From what humor can tears flow forth, out of the dryness of flesh, if the Holy Spirit would not come and rain down on a heart pierced by the Lord’s compassion? And when He says to remove the candlestick, He orders him to do penance. We already said before in the first book that the angel and the candlestick are one. He doesn’t say ‘take away’, but ‘move out of its place’. That is, whatever part He sends away — as he “who hath”, to him “shall be given”, and he may “abound”; and “from him who hath not”, what he seems to have is “taken away”, and the “unprofitable servant” he sends “into the exterior darkness”. [Matt. 24:29-30] For all the Body placed under this [unprofitable] servant — that is, under bad bishops — He says all the members of the Church will be weighed by His gaze. As also in another place, He says about a servant of them whom He sets up over His household that he may give them the food of the Scriptures in season; because He says, “blessed” is he whom He finds “so doing”, him that “He shall place over all His goods”. [Mt. 24:45] For always in the Church, in this admonition, recognize there to be two parts. For while that part is allowed while it be divided, the light of the whole candlestick is already lost, and their salvation; and if it is honored with the grace of spiritual gifts, it is dead in itself; and what survives in them is another’s. Always, this part is what He rebukes. ___________________________________________________________
Luis Alcazar of Seville
And first this is the explication of Victorinus, who thus explains the words; ' I will remove thy candlestick out of his place,' I will disperse thy lay-members (plehem tuam). Andreas, however, has perhaps explained the words still more aptly as follows: 'I will remove thy candlestick, i. e., I will throw the church into billows and storms. The explication of De Lyra looks the same way; I will withdraw from obedience to thee those who are under thy authority; an expectation evidently relating to a disturbance of the peace of the church. This exposition, therefore, by Victorinus, Andreas, and Lyra, I judge to be the truest. If the candlestick be the churchy what else can the moving of the candlestick designate, than the moving and perturbation of its commonwealth? _____________________________________________________________
Haydock Bible
Do penance....practise the first works, return to thy first fervour, or I will remove thy candlestick out of its place. The church of Ephesus is threatened, as in danger to lose its faith, which faith should be transplanted and received in other places. It is what God has divers times permitted, that churches flourishing in the profession of the true Christian faith should be perverted by infidelity and heresy, while the faith hath been planted in other kingdoms of the world. I need not bring instances, where candlesticks have been removed out of their places. (Witham) --- The Nicolaites were an infamous sect, who disturbed the rising Church by the superstitions and all the impurities of paganism. See St. Augustine, de hæresib. ---
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