STVARJENJE ANGELOV in PADEC LUCIFERJA - MISTIČNO BOŽJE MESTO - 3. poglavje

STVARJENJE ANGELOV in PADEC LUCIFERJA

Marija Agredska

MISTIČNO BOŽJE MESTO – tretje poglavje

Vzrok vseh vzrokov, počelo in utemeljitev vsega je Bog, ki je ustvaril vse stvari, da bi bivale in  obstajale. Njegova močna roka je v hipu dala bivanje in obstoj vsem njegovim čudovitim delom – v času in na način, ki ga je On izbral. Začetek in zaporedje dela Stvarjenja je opisano v Prvi Mojzesovi knjigi v začetnem poglavju Stvarjenja. Ker mi je Gospod dal razumevanje tega znanja, bom omenila, kar mislim, da je uporabno, za pojasnitev in obrazložitev izvora, začetka skrivnosti Utelešenja Besede in našega Odrešenja.

Besede prvega poglavja Stvarjenja so naslednje:

1.     »V začetku je Bog ustvaril nebo in zemljo.

2.    In zemlja je bila pusta in prazna, in tema je prekrivala obličje globin; in Duh Božji je vel nad vodami.

     In Bog je rekel: Bodi svetloba. In bila je svetloba.

3.    In imenoval je luč dan, temo pa noč; in bilo je jutro in večer prvega dne,« itd.

Za prvi dan Mojzes pravi: »V začetku je Bog ustvaril nebo in zemljo.« Ustvaril je nebo (nebesa) za angele in za človeka; in zemljo kot kraj in  prostor oz. mesto romanja in popotovanja, življenjske poti za smrtnike. Ta mesta, ti prostori so tako primerni in prilagojeni za njihov konec in tako popolni, da David pravi o njih, da nebesa razglašajo Božje veličastvo in nebesni svod in zemlja oznanjata, da sta delo Njegovih rok. (Psalm 19 (18), 2.

Angeli so bili ustvarjeni v vzvišenih nebesih in v stanju milosti, s katero bi lahko kot prvi zaslužili nagrado slave. Čeprav so bili sredi slave, veličastva in sijaja, jim Božanstvo samo (Bog) ni bilo vidno iz obličja v obličje in nerazkrito, dokler si ne bi morali zaslužiti takšno prednost in naklonjenost s pokoravanjem in poslušnostjo Božji Volji. Sveti angeli, kot tudi padli angeli, so ostali le zelo kratek čas v stanju preizkušnje; za njihovo stvarjenje in preizkušnjo s svojimi rezultati so bili trije različni prizori ali trenutki, ločeni s kratkimi prekinitvami oz. presledki (meddobji).

V prvem trenutku so bili vsi ustvarjeni in obdarjeni z milostmi in darovi, prihajajoč v bivanje kot najčudovitejše in najpopolnejše stvaritve. Nato je sledil kratek premor, presledek, v katerem jim je bila predložena in napovedana, sporočena volja Stvarnika, ter zakon in zapovedi so jim bile dane, da ga priznajo in potrdijo kot njihovega Stvarnika in najvišjega Gospoda, ter da izpolnijo cilj in namen, za katerega so bili ustvarjeni. Tekom tega presledka, meddobja ali trenutka, je Sveti Mihael in njegovi angeli bojeval veliko bitko z zmajem in njegovimi sledilci, kar je opisal apostol sveti Janez v dvanajstem poglavju Apokalipse. Dobri angeli, vztrajni, stanovitni, neomajni v milosti in usmiljenju, so zaslužili večno srečo in neubogljivi, nepokorni ter uporni angeli, so z uporom proti Bogu, zaslužili kazen, ki jo sedaj trpijo.

Sprva so prejeli več določenega in nedvoumnega znanja ter poznavanja Božjega obstoja, Božjega bitja (bistva) in Njegove eksistence, Enega v svoji Biti in Trojnega v Osebi in jim je bilo ukazano, da Ga častijo, ljubijo, spoštujejo in se Mu poklonijo kot njihovemu Stvarniku in najvišjemu Gospodu, neskončnemu v svoji biti in lastnostih. Vsi so sami sebe podvrgli in podredili tej zapovedi in jo ubogali, toda z določeno razliko; dobri angeli so ubogali skozi ljubezen in zaradi pravičnosti tega, da ponudijo svojo ljubezen in dobro voljo svobodno in prostovoljno ter so dopuščali, priznali, upoštevali in verjeli to, kar je bilo nad njihovo inteligenco, znanjem in poznavanjem ter so se pokoravali in ubogali z veseljem. Lucifer, po drugi strani, pa se je uklonil in podvrgel sam sebe, ker mu je kaj drugega, nasprotnega, izgledalo nemogoče in nedosegljivo. Ni se podvrgel in ni izpolnjeval Božje volje s popolnim usmiljenjem in dobrotljivostjo, kajti on je bil (kot se je izkazalo) ločen v svoji volji med samim sabo in med nezmotljivo, zanesljivo resnico Boga. Zato se je zatem posledično zgodilo, da se mu je (Božji) predpis oz. navodilo zdelo  pretežko in nasilno, in njegovo izpolnjevanje zapovedi je bilo brez ljubezni in brez  želje delati pravično. Tako je sam sebe vnaprej izpostavil nevarnosti nestanovitnosti in nevztrajnosti. Čeprav ni izgubil milosti na račun teh slabosti, nemarnosti in počasnosti oziroma počasnega umevanja in zaostajanja v izvrševanju tega prvega dela in dejanj, se je vseeno njegova slaba volja, slabo razpoloženje in nagnjenje, slaba čud začela z njimi. Kajti tam je pri njem ostala določena slabotnost in pomanjkljivost, slabost (značaja) in nepopolnost ter širokovestnost oziroma površnost, popustljivost, ohlapnost in medlost kreposti in duha, in popolnost njegove narave ni še nadalje sijala, kot bi morala. Pokazano mi je bilo, da  je vpliv oz. posledica in učinek teh slabosti in pomanjkljivosti v Luciferju bil  podoben temu, kar povzroči v duši premišljen in nameren odpustljiv (mali) greh. Ne pravim, da je grešil smrtno, niti ne neodpustljivo v tem času, ker je izpolnjeval Božje navodilo in predpis; toda ta izpolnitev je bila medla, slabotna in malomarna ter nepopolna, izhajajoč bolj iz občutka velike prisile, kot iz ljubeče in zveste volje ter  pripravljenosti spoštovati, ubogati in služiti. Tako je postavil sam sebe v nevarnost padca.

Nadalje (na drugem mestu), so bili angeli obveščeni, da bo Bog ustvaril človeško naravo in razumna bitja, nižja kot so oni, da bi tudi oni morali ljubiti, se bati in spoštovati, častiti in se pokloniti Bogu, kot njihovemu Avtorju, Ustvarjalcu in večnemu Dobremu. Bili so obveščeni, da bodo ti dosegali visoko prednost, naklonjenost in podporo in da bo druga Oseba Blažene Trojice postala utelešena in bo prevzela oz. vzela nase njihovo naravo, povišujoč in dvigujoč jih k  hipostatični združitvi  (hipostatično zedinjenje – zedinjenje Kristusove človeške narave z božjo v eno samo) in k božanski Osebnosti, da bi Ga tako lahko priznali in potrdili kot njihovo Glavo, ne samo kot Boga, temveč kot Boga in Človeka, Ga častili in občudovali, ga spoštovali in se mu poklonili, Mu izkazali čast kot Bogo-Človeku. Še več, ti isti angeli naj bi bili Njemu podrejeni po dostojanstvu, po položaju in po milosti in naj bi bili Njegovi služabniki. Bog je angelom dal spoznanje in razumevanje primernosti,  pravičnosti in razumnosti takšnega položaja. Kajti sprejemanje in priznanje zaslug predvidenih od tega Boga-Človeka, jim je bilo prikazano kot vir milosti, ki jo sedaj posedujejo in slave, ki so jo bili dosegli. Razumeli so tudi, da so bili oni sami, in tudi vse ostale stvari naj bi bile ustvarjene za Njegovo slavo in da bi On bil njihova Glava. Vsi tisti, ki bi bili sposobni spoznavati in uživati Boga, bi bili ljudje Sina Božjega, da bi Ga  poznali ter častili kot njihovega Gospodarja, vrhovnega in najvišjega voditelja. Te zapovedi so bile naenkrat in takoj dane angelom.

Tej zapovedi so se vsi poslušni in sveti angeli uklonili in se ji podvrgli in so dali svojo polno privolitev in sprejetje ter priznanje s ponižno in ljubečo podvrženostjo volje. Toda Lucifer, poln zavisti in ošabnosti, se je uprl in vzpodbudil svoje privržence, da se podobno kot on,  tudi oni  uprejo, kar so tudi resnično  storili, dajajoč prednost njemu in upirajoč se Božji zapovedi. Ta zloben in pokvarjen knez jih je prepričal, da bo on njihov poglavar in da bo ustanovil vlado (vodstvo) neodvisno in ločeno od Kristusa. Tako velika je bila slepota, ki jo zavist in napuh lahko povzročita v angelu, in tako pogubna, usodna in  škodljiva je bila ta  zastrupitev in slab vpliv, da se je ta okužba širila med brezštevilnimi drugimi angeli. Tedaj se je zgodila velika bitka v nebesih, ki jo je opisal Sveti Janez (Apokalipsa 12). Kajti poslušnim in svetim angelom, ki so bili napolnjeni z gorečo, vneto željo in hrepenenjem  pospešiti slavo Najvišjega in počastiti utelešeno Besedo, upreti se in nasprotovati zmaju, je bilo podeljeno to dovoljenje.

Toda tudi druga skrivnost je bila skrita v vsem tem: Ko je bilo objavljeno in razodeto angelom, da bodo morali biti ubogljivi in pokorni utelešeni Besedi, jim je bilo dano še eno drugo navodilo  oz.  predpis, namreč, da bodo morali priznati in upoštevati kot vzvišeno predstojnico združeno in sodelujočo z Njim, Ženo, v čigar maternici bo od Očeta Edinorojeni prevzel meso in da bo ta Žena Kraljica in Gospodarica (Vladarica) vseh stvari in bitij. Dobri angeli so se, ubogljivo pokoravajoč se tej zapovedi Gospoda, z naraščajočo in s še večjo ponižno pripravljenostjo in čuječnostjo, svobodno podvrgli, slaveč moč in skrivnosti Najvišjega.  Lucifer in njegovi zavezniki  pa so se dvignili k višji stopnji napuha in  ošabnosti ter k domišljavi in bahavi predrznosti in nesramnosti. V neurejeni,  razuzdani pobesnelosti in razjarjenosti ter v rušilnem besu si je Lucifer prizadeval, da bi bil sam glava vse človeške rase, vsega človeštva in vseh angelskih vrst in če naj bi bila to  hipostatična (podrejena povezanost z bistvom)  povezanost in zedinjenje, je zahteval, da naj bo izpeljana, izpolnjena in dovršena v njem.

Odredbi, ki ga je nameščala nižje od Matere Utelešene Besede, naše Gospodarice, je Lucifer nasprotoval z strašnim preklinjanjem in bogoskrunstvi. Obračajoč se proti Avtorju teh velikih čudes v nebrzdani  razkačenosti in užaljenosti ter ogorčenosti in nato kličoč proti drugim angelom,  jih je vzpodbujal in opogumljal,  rekoč: »Nepravične so te zapovedi in krivica je bila narejena moji veličini; to človeško naravo, na katero Ti, Gospod, gledaš nanjo s tako veliko ljubeznijo in ki si ji najbolj naklonjen, ki jo podpiraš in ji daješ tako visoko prednost, bom jaz preganjal, mučil,  nadlegoval in uničil. V ta cilj bom usmerjal vse svoje moči in vsa prizadevanja. In to Ženo, Mater Besede, bom zalučal in pregnal s položaja, na katerega Jo Ti nameravaš namestiti in v mojih rokah, z mojimi rokami in z mojimi posegi bo načrt, ki ga Ti želiš ustvariti in uvesti, propadel in se izjalovil.«

To domišljavo bahanje in širokoustenje je tako razvnelo in izzvalo užaljenost in prizadetost Gospoda, da je zato, da bi ga ponižal, rekel Luciferju: »Ta Žena, katero ti zavračaš častiti, bo strla tvojo glavo in po Njej boš ti premagan in uničen (Genesis 3, 15).  In če, skozi tvojo ošabnost, smrt vstopi v svet (Knjiga modrosti 2, 24), bosta življenje in rešitev,  odrešenje smrtnikov  vstopila skozi ponižnost te  Žene. Tisti, ki so iz narave in podobnosti Moža in Žene, bodo uživali darove in krone (vence), ki ste jih ti in tvoji privrženci izgubili.«  Na vse to je zmaj, napolnjen z užaljenostjo in ogorčenostjo proti vsemu, karkoli je razumel kot Božjo voljo in odloke, odgovoril samo z ošabnostjo in z grožnjami uničenja cele človeške vrste. Dobri angeli so videli pravično užaljenost in jezo Najvišjega proti Luciferju in njegovimi odpadniki in so se bojevali z njimi z orožjem razumevanja, razsodnosti in resnice.

Vsemogočni je pri tem preokretu naredil drugo čudovito skrivnost. Angelom je dal  primerno in ustrezno močno jasno razumevanje hipostatičnega zedinjenja in jim je pri tem pokazal podobo najbolj svete Device s pomočjo imaginarnega, navideznega videnja (tu govorim v skladu z našim načinom razumevanja takšnih stvari). Pokazana jim je bila popolnost človeške narave v razodetju podobe, ki je predstavljala najbolj popolno Ženo, v kateri je vsemogočna roka Najvišjega delala bolj čudovito, kot v vseh preostalih bitjih in stvareh. Kajti tu notri (v Njo) so bile položene milosti in darovi Njegove desne roke na višji in bolj odličen, na prevzvišen in poseben način. To znamenje ali podoba videnja Kraljice Nebes in Matere utelešene Besede je bila razglašena in poznana vsem angelom, dobrim in slabim. Dobri angeli so ob tem znamenju izbruhnili v občudovanje in v slavospeve in hvalnice ter so začeli od tega časa braniti čast Učlovečenega Boga in Njegove svete Matere, oboroženi z žarečo, vneto, navdušeno, strastno vnemo in z nepremagljivim ščitom te vizije. Zmaj in njegovi zavezniki pa so nasprotno zadobili neizprosno, nespravljivo sovraštvo in pobesnelost proti Kristusu in njegovi najbolj sveti Materi. Tedaj se je zgodilo vse to, kar je opisano v dvanajstem poglavju Apokalipse, ki ga bom razložila, tako kot mi je bil dan.

Dobesedna verzija tega poglavja Apokalipse (12. poglavje) je kot sledi:

1.  »In velik znak se je pojavil na nebu: Žena oblečena s soncem in luna pod njenimi nogami, in na njeni glavi krona iz dvanajstih zvezd.

2.    Pričakovala je otroka, jokala je v porodnih bolečinah in mukah.

3.  Še drugo znamenje se je prikazalo na nebu. Glej, bil je velik ognjeno rdeč zmaj, ki je imel sedem glav in deset rogov in na svojih glavah sedem kron;

4.  in njegov rep je potegnil s seboj tretjino nebesnih zvezd ter jih vrgel na zemljo. In zmaj se je ustopil pred ženo, ki je bila na porodu, da bi požrl njeno dete, ko bi porodila.

5.   In porodila je moško dete, ki naj bi paslo vse narode z železno palico; in vzeto je bilo njeno dete k Bogu in k njegovemu prestolu.

6.   Žena pa je ubežala v puščavo, kjer ima prostor, ki ji ga je Bog pripravil, da jo tam hranijo tisoč dvesto šestdeset dni.

7.   In nastala je vojska v nebesih: Mihael in njegovi angeli so se vojskovali zoper zmaja; tudi zmaj se je vojskoval in njegovi angeli,

8.    a niso zmogli in tudi ni bilo v nebesih več mesta zanje.

9.  In pahnjen je bil veliki zmaj, stara kača, ki se imenuje hudič in satan, ki zapeljuje ves svet; pahnjen je bil na zemljo in njegovi angeli so bili pahnjeni z njim.

10. In slišal sem močan glas v nebesih, ki je govoril: »Zdaj se je uresničilo zveličanje, moč in kraljevanje našega Boga in oblast Njegovega Kristusa, zakaj pahnjen je bil tožnik naših bratov, ki jih je tožil pred našim Bogom noč in dan.

11. Oni so ga premagali z Jagnjetovo krvjo in z besedo svojega pričevanja in niso ljubili svojega življenja do smrti.

12. Zatorej se radujte, nebesa in vi, ki prebivate v njih. Gorje pa zemlji in morju, ker je stopil na vaju hudič z veliko jezo, vedoč, da ima malo časa.

13. In ko je zmaj videl, da je pahnjen na zemljo, je preganjal ženo, ki je dete porodila.

14.  A ženi so dali dve peruti velikega orla, da bi letela v puščavo na svoje mesto, kjer se preživlja čas in dva časa in pol časa, daleč od  zmaja.

15. In zmaj je vrgel za ženo iz svojega žrela vode kakor reko, da bi jo reka odnesla.

16.  A pomagala je ženi zemlja; odprla je zemlja svoja usta in je popila reko, ki jo je vrgel zmaj iz svojega žrela.

17. In razsrdil se je zmaj nad ženo in se je šel vojskoval z drugimi iz njenega rodu, ki spolnjujejo božje zapovedi in imajo pričevanje Jezusovo.

18.  In ustopil se je na pesek ob morju.
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"City of God"

CHAPTER III. CREATION OF THE ANGELS AND THE FALL OF LUCIFER The Cause of all causes is God, who created all things that have being. His powerful arm gave existence to all his wonderful works ad extra when and how He chose. The beginning and succession of the work of Creation is described by Moses in the opening chapter of Genesis. Since the Lord has given me an understanding thereof, I will mention what I think useful for elucidating the mysterious origin of the Incarnation of the Word and of our Redemption. The words of the first chapter of Genesis are as follows: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth. "And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters. "And God said: Be light made. And light was made. "And God saw the light that it was good; and be divided the light from the darkness. "And he called the light day, and the darkness night; and there was evening and morning one day," etc. Of the first day Moses says that "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." He created heaven for angels and men; and the earth as a place of pilgrimage for mortals. These places are so adapted to their end and so perfect, that as David says of them, the heavens publish the glory of the Lord, the firmament and the earth announce the glory of the work of his hands (Ps. 18, 2). The angels were created in the empyrean heavens and in the state of grace by which they might be first to merit the reward of glory. For although they were in the midst of glory, the Divinity itself was not to be made manifest to them face to face and unveiled, until they should have merited such a favor by obeying the divine will. The holy angels, as well as the bad ones, remained only a very short time in the state of probation; for their creation and probation with its result were three distinct instants or moments, separated by short intermissions. In the first instant they were all created and endowed with graces and gifts, coming into existence as most beautiful and perfect creatures. Then followed a short pause, during which the will of the Creator was propounded and intimated, and the law and command was given to them, to acknowledge Him as their Maker and supreme Lord, and to fulfill the end for which they have been created. During this pause, instant or interval, Saint Michael and his angels fought that great battle with the dragon and his followers, which is described by the apostle Saint John in the twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse. The good angels, persevering in grace, merited eternal happiness and the disobedient ones, rebelling against God, merited the punishment, which they now suffer. At first they received a more explicit intelligence of the being of God, one in substance, trine in person, and that they were commanded to adore and reverence Him as their Creator and highest Lord, infinite in his essence and attributes. All subjected themselves to this command and obeyed it, but with a certain difference; the good angels obeyed through love and on account of the justice of it, offering their love and good will, freely and admitting and believing what was above their intelligence, and obeying with joy. Lucifer, on the other hand, submitted himself, because the opposite seemed to him impossible. He did not do it with perfect charity, for he, as it were, was divided in his will between himself and the infallible truth of the Lord. In consequence it happened that the precept appeared to him in a measure difficult and violent, and his fulfilling of it was wanting in love and in the desire to do justice. Thus he exposed himself beforehand to the danger of not persevering. Although grace did not leave him on account of this remissness and slowness in the accomplishment of these first acts, nevertheless his bad disposition began with them; for there remained with him a certain weakness and laxity of virtue and spirit, and the perfection of his nature did not shine forth as it should. It appears to me that the effect of this remissness in Lucifer, is similar to that which is caused in the soul by a deliberate venial sin. I do not say that he sinned mortally, nor even venially at that time, since he fulfilled the precept of God; but this fulfillment was remiss and imperfect, springing more from a sense of overwhelming compulsion, than from a loving willingness to obey. Thus he put himself in danger of falling. In the second place, the angels were informed that God was to create a human nature and reasoning creatures lower than themselves, in order that they too should love, fear and reverence God, as their Author and eternal Good. They were informed that these were to stand in high favor, and that the second Person of the blessed Trinity was to become incarnate and assume their nature, raising it to the hypostatic union and to divine Personality; that therefore they were to acknowledge Him as their Head, not only as God, but as God and man, adoring Him and reverencing Him as God-man. Moreover, these same angels were to be his inferiors in dignity and grace and were to be his servants. God gave them an intelligence of the propriety and equity, of the justice and reasonableness of such a position. For the acceptation of the merits foreseen of this Mangod was exhibited to them as the source of the grace which they now possessed and of the glory which they were to obtain. They understood also that they themselves had been, and all the rest of the creatures should be created for his glory, and that He was to be their Head. All those that were capable of knowing and enjoying God, were to be the people of the Son of God, to know and reverence Him as their Chief. These commands were at once given to the angels. To this command all the obedient and holy angels submitted themselves and they gave their full assent and acknowledgment with an humble and loving subjection of the will. But Lucifer, full of envy and pride, resisted and induced his followers to resist likewise, as they in reality did, preferring to follow him and disobey the divine command. This wicked prince persuaded them, that he would be their chief and that he would set up a government independent and separate from Christ. So great was the blindness which envy and pride could cause in an angel, and so pernicious was the infection that the contagion of sin spread among innumerable other angels. Then happened that great battle in heaven, which St. John describes (Apoc. 12). For the obedient and holy angels, filled with an ardent desire of hastening the glory of the Most High and the honor of the incarnate Word, to resist and contradict the dragon, and the permission was granted. But also another mystery was concealed in all this: When it was revealed to the angels that they would have to obey the incarnate Word, another, a third precept was given them, namely, that they were to admit as a superior conjointly with Him, a Woman, in whose womb the Onlybegotten of the Father was to assume flesh and that this Woman was to be the Queen and Mistress of all the creatures. The good angels by obeying this command of the Lord, with still increasing and more alert humility, freely subjected themselves, praising the power and the mysteries of the Most High. Lucifer, however, and his confederates, rose to a higher pitch of pride and boastful insolence. In disorderly fury he aspired to be himself the head of all the human race and of the angelic orders, and if there was to be a hypostatic union, he demanded that it be consummated in him. The decree constituting him inferior to the Mother of the Incarnate Word, our Mistress, he opposed with horrible blasphemies. Turning against the Author of these great wonders in unbridled indignation and calling upon the other angels, he exhorted them, saying: "Unjust are these commands and injury is done to my greatness; this human nature which Thou, Lord, lookest upon with so much love and which thou favorest so highly, I will persecute and destroy. To this end I will direct all my power and all my aspirations. And this Woman, Mother of the Word, I will hurl from the position in which Thou hast proposed to place Her, and at my hands, the plan, which Thou settest up, shall come to naught." This proud boast so aroused the indignation of the Lord that in order to humble it, He spoke to Lucifer: "This Woman whom thou refusest to honor, shall crush thy head and by Her shalt thou be vanquished and annihilated (Gen. 3, 15). And if, through thy pride, death enters into the world (Wis. 2, 24), life and salvation of mortals shall enter through the humility of this Woman. Those that are of the nature and likeness of that Man and Woman, shall enjoy the gifts and the crowns, which thou and thy followers have lost." To all this the dragon, filled with indignation against whatever he understood of the divine will and decrees, answered only with pride and by threatening destruction to the whole human race. The good angels saw the just indignation of the Most High against Lucifer and his apostates and they combated them with the arms of the understanding, reason and truth. The Almighty at this conjuncture worked another wonderful mystery. Having given to all the angels a sufficiently clear intelligence of the hypostatic Union, He showed them the image of the most holy Virgin by means of an imaginary vision (I speak here according to our way of understanding such things). They were shown the perfection of the human nature in the revelation of an image representing a most perfect Woman, in whom the almighty arm of the Most High would work more wonderfully than in all the rest of the creatures. For therein He was to deposit the graces and gifts of his right hand in a higher and more eminent manner. This sign or vision of the Queen of heaven and of the Mother of the incarnate Word was made known and manifest to all the angels, good and bad. The good ones at the sign of it broke forth in admiration and in canticles of praise and from that time on began to defend the honor of the God incarnate and of his holy Mother, being armed with ardent zeal and with the invincible shield of that vision. The dragon and his allies on the contrary conceived implacable hatred and fury against Christ and his most holy Mother. Then happened all that which is described in the twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse, which I will explain, as far as it has been given me. The literal version of that chapter of the Apocalypse is as follows: "And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in heaven; and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns; and on his head seven diadems. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth and the dragon stood before the woman, who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered, he might devour her son. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod; and her son was taken up to God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, that there they should feed her a thousand two hundred and sixty days. And there was a great battle in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels. And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice saying: Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ; because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of the testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you that dwell therein. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil is come down unto you, having a great wrath and knowing that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth he persecuted the woman, who brought forth the man-child: And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her place, 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 after the woman, water as if it were a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river. And the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was angry against the woman and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And he stood upon the sands of the sea."