On Rev 6:7:
Similarly, Elisha also prefigured
Christ, and Naaman represented the people of the nations. There were many
lepers in Israel, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian,
because when Christ came in the flesh, both the Jews and the Gentiles were
surrounded by the leprosy of their sins; but as the Jews remained in their
wickedness, the nations were cleansed from the leprosy of their sins. Therefore
Elisha ordered Naaman, saying: Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your
flesh will receive health, and you will be made clean (2 Kings 5:10). He went
and washed seven times in the Jordan, and his flesh was restored like the flesh
of a little child, and he was cleansed from the leprosy. The water of the Jordan
prefigured baptism, because in it Christ was baptized, Naaman was washed in the
waters of the Jordan and cleansed from leprosy; for the people of the nations
have been purified from the leprosy of their sins by the water of holy baptism.
And his sevenfold washing prefigured the sevenfold Holy Spirit, through whose
working the remission of sins is given in baptism; for just as the body is
visibly washed by the waters of baptism, so the soul is invisibly cleansed from
all sins through the working of the Holy Spirit. (Commentary on Revelation
by Berengaudus of Ferrières [trans. John Litteral; 2026], 141-42)
On Rev 12:1:
In this passage we can understand
“heaven” as this world; the “great sign” as the great salvation
that the coming and preaching of Christ brought to the world; and by the sun,
Christ is indicated, as the prophet says: “But for you who fear the name of the
Lord, the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings” (Mal. 4:2).
The woman, then, was clothed with sin, because the faithful, of whom the
Church is composed, put on Christ in baptism, as the Apostle says: “All of you
who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). (Ibid.,
213)
On Rev 12:2:
Just as a child in the womb is
formed and receives human shape and breath, so likewise the Church bears in her
womb all unbelievers; while she nourishes them by preaching for so long a time,
until they receive human form, that is, until they believe in Christ, and
receive the spiritual soul that is given in baptism, when they become sons of
God. (Ibid., 214)
On Rev 14:4a:
Here again a question arises; for
if in that blessedness there are different ranks, such as apostles, martyrs,
confessors, and virgins, how is it that all the souls of the saints are said to
be virgins, and so virgins that they are said not to have been
defiled with women? And if what the Lord says is true, indeed it is true,
since it cannot happen that God should lie: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust
after he has already committed adultery with her in his heart”; (Matt 5:28) how
could all the souls of the saints, throughout the whole span of this present life,
have been able to be clean from the defilement of women? We must therefore
inquire how this is to be understood; for many were adulterers and fornicators
before baptism, but when they believed in Christ and did penance for their sins
and sought the font of baptism, whatever was filthy in them was wiped away by
the grace of the Holy Spirit through the waters of baptism. (Ibid., 243-44)
On Rev 15:6:
By the pure and white stone,
in which the seven angels were seen clothed, Christ is signified, of
whom the Apostle says: “All you who have been baptized in Christ have put on
Christ” (Gal. 3:27). (Ibid., 263)
On Rev 20:13:
We must inquire that are meant by
death, the sea, and hell. For we know that waters have been consecrated
for the cleansing of our sins, as the Lord says in the Gospel: “Unless someone is
born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”
(Jn. 3:5). The sea, therefore, refers to the resurrection of the elect,
while death and hell pertain to the wicked. Therefore, in this passage,
the sea signifies baptism. The sea will, as it were, give up its dead
when the elect, who received in baptism the purity in which they will also
arise, do so without any stain of sin. The sea will give up its dead because
the washing of holy baptism and the grace of the Holy Spirit will present all
the elect, at the time of the resurrection, pure and clean before their
Creator. By death we can understand the bodies of the wicked, held dead
in the depth of the earth; and by hell, their souls, since they are
confined in hell’s prison. Hell, then, they will give up its dead,
because it will send back the souls it holds, devoured by the first death, to
receive their own bodies. Death, too, will give up its dead, because it will
present the bodies it had reduced to dust, so that by divine power they may be
brought to life through the reception of their souls. (Ibid., 328)
