St. Hyppolytus on the Great Persecution, Woman Clothed With the Sun & Eagle's Wings of Faith/Hope
From his work, "
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 has 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 angry 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, whose brightness is above the sun. And by the
moon under her feethe 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 to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your 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.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 defense 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.
Eric Gajewski: On concerning the Woman Clothed with the sun: Often times when using mystical language we find the Church and the Blessed Virgin Mary being used synonymously. For example, we know the "Ark" in the Old testament mystically represents the Church but also Mary herself. For the book I am working on I use the word "Fortress" to describe both Our Lady and the Church. Although he did not specifically mention Mary in this context of being the Woman Clothed with the sun other notable Fathers, Saints and theologians have.
On the dragon persecuting the Woman: We are very close to the arrival of the Antichrist and his persecution of the Church. The Church will go underground (wilderness state) and we will have to rely upon our eagle's wings of Faith and Hope to carry us through this "last Passover". You will notice how the Word guarantees us that the Catholic Church will be fed or nourished. We will be fed, that is, given grace, through the breast of our Lady mystically speaking and through the Eucharist (where present). Recall, the Church teaches that in these endtimes Sacraments will be hard to get to. You can still get grace through Jesus, Mary and the Church herself. God is not bound by His Sacraments. This is why our prayer life must be of the utmost importance right now.
On No other defense outside of these two wings: Many are expecting some type of massive CounterRevolutionary movement to depose of the Antichrist and the new world order but this is a farce. Yes, we will have to defend literally at times but our true defense is in our wings which are Faith and Hope. Keep in mind as I pointed out last week the Antichrist will be a false Eagle and even use eagle symbology in his coat of arms. For more details please listen into an older talk of mine which goes into greater detail below, Ave Maria!
TradCatKnight Radio: "Apocalypse 12:14, Eagles & the Desert"