61. By the woman then clothed with the sun,” he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father’s word,143    τὸν Λόγον τὸν Πατρῷον. 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 heart144    γεννῶσα ἐκ καρδίας. 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.”145    Ps. cx. 1.  “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    Rev. xi. 3. 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,147    [Concerning Antichrist, two advents, etc., see vol. iv. p. 219, this series.] which flees from city to city, and seeks concealment 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.”148    Mal. iv. 2.

[61] τὴν μὲν οὖν ”γυναῖκα τὴν περιβεβλημένην τὸν ἥλιον” σαφέστατα τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐδήλωσεν, ἐνδεδυμένην τὸν λόγον τὸν πατρῷον ὑπὲρ ἥλιον λάμποντα: „σελήνην„ δὲ λέγων ”ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῆς” δόξῃ ἐπουρανίῳ ὡς σελήνην κεκοσμημένην: τὸ δὲ λέγειν „ἐπάνω τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς στέφανος ἀστέρων δώδεκα„ δηλοῖ τοὺς δώδεκα ἀποστόλους, δι' ὧν καθίδρυται ἡ ἐκκλησία. ”καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα κράζει, ὠδίνουσα καὶ βασανιζομένη τεκεῖν”, ὅτι ἀεὶ οὐ παύεται ἡ ἐκκλησία γεννῶσα ἐκ καρδίας τὸν λόγον καίτοι ἐν κόσμῳ ὑπὸ ἀπίστων διωκομένη. „καὶ ἔτεκεν„, φησίν, ”υἱὸν ἄρσενα, ὃς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη” τὸν ἄρσενα καὶ τέλειον Χριστόν, παῖδα θεοῦ, θεὸν καὶ ἄνθρωπον, ὃν κατήγγειλαν οἱ προφῆται, ὃν ἀεὶ τίκτουσα ἡ ἐκκλησία διδάσκει πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. τὸ δὲ λέγειν „ἡρπάσθη τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ πρὸς τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ„, ὅτι ἐπουράνιός ἐστι βασιλεὺς καὶ οὐκ ἐπίγειος ὁ δι' αὐτῆς ἀεὶ γεννώμενος, καθὼς καὶ Δαβὶδ προανεφώνει λέγων: ”εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου: κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου.” „καὶ εἶδεν„, φησίν, ”ὁ δράκων καὶ ἐδίωξε τὴν γυναῖκα ἥτις ἔτεκε τὸν ἄρσενα. καὶ ἐδόθησαν τῇ γυναικὶ αἱ δύο πτέρυγες τοῦ ἀετοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου, ἵνα πέτηται εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, ὅπου τρέφεται ἐκεῖ καιρὸν καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ὄφεως.” αὗταί εἰσιν αἱ „χίλιαι διακόσιαι ἑξήκοντα ἡμέραι„, ”τὸ ἥμισυ τῆς ἑβδομάδος”, ἃς κρατήσει ὁ τύραννος διώκων τὴν ἐκκλησίαν φεύγουσαν „ἀπὸ πόλεως εἰς πόλιν„ καὶ ἐν ἐρημίᾳ κρυβομένην καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν, ἔχουσαν μεθ' ἑαυτῆς οὐδὲν ἕτερον εἰ μὴ τὰς ”δύο πτέρυγας τοῦ ἀετοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου”, τουτέστι τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν πίστιν, ὃς ἐκτείνας τὰς ἁγίας χεῖρας ἐπὶ τῷ ξύλῳ ἥπλωσε δύο πτέρυγας, δεξιὰν καὶ εὐώνυμον, προσκαλούμενος πάντας τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύοντας καὶ σκεπάζων „ὡς ὄρνις νεοσσούς„. καὶ γὰρ διὰ Μαλαχίου φησίν: ”καὶ ὑμῖν τοῖς φοβουμένοις τὸ ὄνομά μου ἀνατελεῖ ἥλιος δικαιοσύνης, καὶ ἴασις ἐν ταῖς πτέρυξιν αὐτοῦ.”