Apocalipse 1
Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Apocalipse 1:1
John, the apostle whom Jesus most loved, the son of Zebedee and brother of James... In the fourteenth year then after Nero Domitian having raised a second persecution he was banished to the island of Patmos, and wrote the Apocalypse, on which Justin Martyr and Irenæus afterwards wrote commentaries. But Domitian having been put to death and his acts, on account of his excessive cruelty, having been annulled by the senate, he returned to Ephesus under Pertinax and continuing there until the time of the Emperor Trajan, founded and built churches throughout all Asia, and, worn out by old age, died in the sixty-eighth year after our Lord's passion and was buried near the same city. — De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men), Section 9
Apocalipse 1:1
We read in the Apocalypse of John (a book which, although rejected in these regions, we ought nevertheless to know, because it is accepted and held as canonical throughout the west, and in other Phoenician provinces, and in Egypt, for the ancient churchmen, including Irenaeus, Polycarp, Dionysius, and other Roman expounders of Sacred Scripture, among whom is holy Cyprian, accept and interpret it)... — Homily 1, on Psalm 1
Apocalipse 1:13
In the law, John had a leather girdle because the Jews thought that to sin in act was the only sin.… In the Apocalypse of John, our Lord Jesus, who is seen in the middle of the seven lampstands, also wore a girdle, a golden girdle, not about his loins but about the breasts. The law is girdled about the loins, but Christ, that is, the gospel and the fortitude of the monks, binds not only wanton passion but also mind and heart. In the gospel, one is not even supposed to think anything evil; in the law, the fornicator is accused for judgment.… "It is written," he says, "in the law, 'You shall not commit adultery.' " This is the leather girdle clinging about the loins. "I say to you, anyone who even looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart." This is the golden girdle that is wrapped around the mind and heart. — HOMILIES ON MARK 75 (1)
Apocalipse 1:16
"Let two-edged swords be in their hands." They who sing for joy upon their couches—this means the saints surely, perfect men—what else do they have? "Let two-edged swords be in their hands." "Two-edged swords"—the swords of the saints are two-edged. We read in the Apocalypse of John—which, by the way, is read in the churches and is accepted, for it is not held among the Apocrypha but is included in the canonical writings—as I was saying, it is written there of the Lord Savior: "Out of his mouth came forth a sharp two-edged sword." Mark well that these saints receive from the mouth of God the two-edged swords that they hold in their hands. The Lord, therefore, gives the sword from his mouth to his disciples. It is a two-edged sword, namely, the word of his teachings. It is a two-edged sword, historically and allegorically, the letter and the spirit. It is a two-edged sword that slays adversaries and at the same time defends his faithful. "A two-edged sword"—the sword has two heads. It speaks of the present and future world. Here below, it strikes down adversaries; above, it opens the kingdom of heaven. — HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 59 (PS 149)