Rev 12:1:
This woman signifies the Church;
indeed, it was fitting that, after the preaching of Christ, her form should be
described, the form that the preaching of Christ brought forth. 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). (Commentary on Revelation by Berengaudus
of Ferrières [trans. John Litteral; 2026], 213)
On Rev 12:2 and the identity of the “child”:
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.
Therefore she is said to cry out in pains and to suffer torment in order to
give birth; for the Church cries out by preaching, and she also cries out
by beginning God for the salvation of her hearers. She is indeed tormented so
that she may give birth, when she grieves for those for those whom she sees
lying in sins, just as Paul the apostle speaks to his weak disciples, saying: My
little children, for whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you
(Ga. 4:19). And in the Acts of the Apostles he speaks to the Ephesians, saying:
For three years, night and day, I did not cease, with tears, to warn each of
you (Acts 20:19). And the Psalmist speaks of preachers, saying: They went forth
and wept, casting their seed (Ps. 125:6). (Ibid., 214-15)
On Rev 12:4b and Mary being a secondary referent to the “Woman”:
In this place we can understand
the blessed Mary by the woman, because she is the mother of the Church,
since she gave birth to him who is the head of the Church; and she is
the daughter of the Church, because she is the greatest members of the Church.
Therefore the dragon stood before the woman, so that when she had given
birth, he might devour her child; because at the very beginning of Christ’s
birth he wished to kill him through Herod, his servant (Matt. 2:13). He also
stands before the woman, that is, the Church, so that those whom she brings
forth for God through baptism he may destroy by evil persuasion. (Ibid., 216)
On Rev 12:5a:
Insofar as this involves our Lord
Jesus Christ, why was it necessary to say that the woman gave birth to a
male child, since we all know that our Lord Jesus Christ is male But
insofar as it involves the Church, why does it say that she gave birth to a
male, since she bears the sons and daughters to God every day from both genders?
For the female gender is indeed weak: therefore a woman who, having taken on
strength of soul, conquers the Devil and strives to please God through good
works is not incorrectly called a man; because, although she is a woman in
body, yet in the virtue of her soul she is made equal to good men. Therefore
the woman gave birth to a male; because the Church gives birth to. Therefore
there is one single male, whom the Virgin Mary gave birth to and whom the Church
gives birth to every day; because Christ together with all his members is one
Christ. (Ibid., 217)
On Rev 12:6:
He calls Christ “the
wilderness”; for it is called “wilderness” because it is alone, isolated by
dwellers. Likewise Christ was forsaken by his own, as the Evangelist says: “He
came to his own, and his own did not receive him” (Jn. 1:11). And through the
prophet the Lord speaks, saying: “I have trodden the winepress alone, and of
the nations there was no man with me” (Isa. 63:3). Therefore the woman fled
into the wilderness, because the apostles and the other disciples, from
whom the Church then contained, having left the Devil and having left all that
they possessed, followed Christ. By the one thousand two hundred and sixty
days is signifies the time during which Christ preached (Matt. 19:27).
Therefore the woman is nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days,
because the apostles and the other disciples, from whom, as we said above, the
Church then contained, for three and a half years were fed by the Lord with the
feast of the Gospel. (Ibid., 218)
