60. Now, concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon
the Church from the adversary, John also speaks thus: "And I saw a great and
wondrous sign in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under
her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with
child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And the
dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour
her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who is
to rule all the nations: and the child was caught up unto God and to His
throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath the place
prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and
threescore days. And then when the dragon saw it, he persecuted the woman
which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of
the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is
nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the
serpent. And the serpent cast (out of his mouth water as a flood after the
woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the
earth helped the woman, and opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood
which the dragon cast) out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the
woman, and went to make war with the saints of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus."

61. By the woman then clothed with the sun," he meant most manifestly the
Church, endued with the Father's word,143 whose brightness is above the sun.
And by the "moon under her feet" he referred to her being adorned, like the
moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, "upon her head a crown of twelve
stars," refer to the twelve apostles by whom the Church was founded. And
those, "she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be
delivered," mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart the
Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world. "And she brought
forth," he says, "a man-child, who is to rule all the nations; "by which is
meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child
of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the
nations. And the words, "her child was caught up unto God and to His
throne," signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and
not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, "The Lord
said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy
footstool." "And the dragon," he says, "saw and persecuted the woman which
brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of the
great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished
for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent."146
That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of
the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church,
which flees from city to city, and seeks conceal-meat in the wilderness
among the mountains, possessed of no other defence than the two wings of the
great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching
forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the
left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen
her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: "And unto you
that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His
wings."