This angel possesses great power. For it is speaking of the destruction of the world’s wisdom, which is also signified by the destruction of Jericho, and of the ruin of the earthly kingdom. By indicating that a stronger one has come against the strong one in order to expel the false appearance of truth and by covering over the faintness of the world’s wisdom, it gives witness that now the true light of wisdom has come. Moreover, to the wise of this world and to the kings of the earth who rely upon their own strength it further demonstrates that [this light] is unconquered in both power and wisdom. . . . I think that this signifies the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who in Isaiah is called the angel of great counsel.^[1] In his first advent, he said, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,^[2] and brought to naught the work of worldly power. And the earth was made bright by his splendor, for he is himself the true Light that enlightens everyone coming into this world.^[3]

This passage reveals the brilliance and brightness of the holy powers, which greatly surpasses the light of the stars and the heavenly bodies.

This angel who is strong and brightens the earth may be regarded as both the Lord incarnate himself as well as the teachers of the church who, granted heavenly light, preach the fall of the world, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.^[1]

Fallen is Babylon, it says. He openly announces the sentence of condemnation that God has rendered against it. He has decreed, it says, that it should suffer these things. It has become a dwelling place of demons. For as those who hate humankind and are desirous of blood, these wicked demons search out places in which the blood of people killed in warfare or in some other manner has been shed, and as though rejoicing at what has happened, they make their abode in such places. Therefore, since most will be killed in the city, as we have said, it finally becomes the dwelling place of demons and a haunt of every foul spirit, since the place safeguards the hedonistic lifestyle of the demons in it. And a haunt of every foul bird and every unclean beast, it says. For such animals flee the abode of people and take possession of abandoned places, keeping them free from those who intend them harm and hunt wild animals. The prophet Isaiah also said something like this concerning Babylon: And sirens will rest there, and demons will dance there, and satyrs will dwell there, and hedgehogs will make their nests in their houses.^[1]

If [the city] has fallen, how can it be said to be a habitation and refuge for demons and for unclean spirits and birds? Because by collapsing from the great heinousness of its transgressions, it showed itself to be worthy as a habitation for demons.^[1] . . . In addition, that city that in the sea of this world repeatedly rose up against the faith of Christ through the forceful waves of persecutions, now groans in the restraint of more narrow limits and growls as though enclosed in a wineskin. For this reason, we sing in the psalm, He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses.^[2] . . . That iniquitous spirits can be symbolized by birds is indicated in that passage of the book of Genesis, which reports that Abraham drove away birds that were swooping down upon the carcasses [of sacrificial animals].^[3]

Can the ruins of a single city contain every unclean spirit or every foul bird, or at the time when a city falls, is the whole world made devoid of impure spirits and birds so that they inhabit the ruins of a single city? There is no city that contains every unclean soul except the city of the devil, in which every uncleanness dwells in wicked persons throughout the whole earth. Those whom it calls kings because they persecute Jerusalem are evil people who persecute the church of God. . . . Whenever you hear the name Babylon, do not think of it as a city made of stones, for Babylon means confusion. Rather, understand that the name signifies those people who are arrogant, robbers, dissolute and impious, and who persevere in their wickednesses. . . . Whenever you hear the name Jerusalem, which refers to the vision of peace, understand that it refers to persons who are holy before God.

Something similar to this was foretold in Isaiah about the Chaldean capital city of Babylon when it was captured by Cyrus and the Persians, namely, that it would be filled with beasts and impure spirits on account of its utter desolation.^[1] For it is the habit of beasts and of evil demons to stalk in arid places. This is due both to the divine economy, which frees people from their harm, and their own dislike of humankind.

O Jerusalem, it says, do not fear the power of the earthly city, which collapses from that very thing by which it subjugated you through the hatred of its wicked citizens. Isaiah also describes Babylon as inhabited by impure monsters.^[1] For there is no other city than that of the devil, which receives every unclean spirit and in which every impurity remains throughout the world.

For all the nations have drunk from the wrath of her fornication. By fornication he means their insatiable greed and their love of money, for such is the manner of harlots. For those in the city of which we speak have clung close to all nations, since they have placed them in subjection and commanded that they pay tribute. And the kings, it says, namely, those who have become partners with it and companions in its love of money. And the merchants who have traded in it have grown rich from her wantonness. That is, they have become rich from its arrogance and from its unconstrained, prodigal and slothful way of life, since they put out for sale in it every kind of merchandise.

This passage refers to three kinds of sins, and it also mentions the same number of those persons who transgress by them. It refers to avarice, which according to the apostle is also called a servitude of idols^[1]; licentiousness by the word fornication; and gluttony in that which pleases. Against this the Lord forewarned, saying, Do not allow your hearts to be weighed down in dissipation and drunkenness.^[2] It says that the kings of the earth have committed fornication with it. For merchants are enriched, as it says, by avarice, although some [interpreters] prefer to interpret this to mean that they are rich in sins rather than in wealth. By nations it designates that promiscuous multitude of the lewd crowd; by kings it refers to those among them who appear for a time to succeed; and by merchants it refers to those who in their desire for earthly riches trade their souls by an unhappy barter for temporal abundance. Such persons act wholly contrary to the words of the Lord: What shall a man give in return for his life?^[3]

[The kings of the earth fornicated] with each other. For it would be impossible for all kings to commit fornication with a single harlot. Rather, since the evil and profligate, who are members of the harlot, corrupt each other, they are said to commit fornication with the harlot, that is, by a sinful manner of life. Then it says that all the merchants of the earth were made rich by the wealth of her wantonness. Here it speaks of those who were wealthy in their sins. For excess in luxury makes for poverty rather than for wealth.

And how did the present Babylon cause the nations to drink the wine of its fornication? By becoming in every way their leader in every transgression and by sending gifts to obedient cities making their rulers enemies of truth and righteousness. It says that because of the abundance of the riches of its injustice, it gave the merchants of the earth opportunities for profit because it consumed well beyond its needs and was wanton toward those in need.

Of all the ornaments of the church our company of monks and virgins is one of the finest. . . . Let us pass now to the cottage inn that sheltered Christ and Mary. . . . The stall where he cried as a babe can best be honored by silence, for words are inadequate to speak its praise. Where are the spacious porticoes? Where are the gilded ceilings? . . . Behold, in this poor crevice of the earth the Creator of the heavens was born; here he was wrapped in swaddling clothes; here he was seen by the shepherds; here he was pointed out by the star; here he was adored by the wise men. . . . Read the Apocalypse of John, and consider what is sung therein of the woman arrayed in purple and of the blasphemy written upon her brow. . . . Come out of her, my people, so the Lord says, that you be not partakers of her sins and that you receive not of her plagues. . . . It is true that Rome has a holy church, trophies of apostles and martyrs, a true confession of Christ. The faith has been preached there by an apostle, heathenism has been trodden down, the name of Christian is daily exalted higher and higher. But the display, power and size of the city, the seeing and being seen, the paying and the receiving of visits, the alternate flattery and detraction, talking and listening, as well as the necessity of facing so great a throng even when one is least in the mood to do so—all these things are alike foreign to the principles and fatal to the repose of the monastic life. . . . But in the cottage of Christ all is simple and rustic, except for the chanting of psalms everything is completely silent.

When the angels of God took hold of the city of the Sodomites and on that occasion exacted punishment on its inhabitants and the surrounding cities—or rather, as it would seem to the saintly Cyril, when the Son of God and the Holy Spirit visited there, for the Father judges no one, as it is written, but has given all judgment to the Son,^[1] the life-giving Spirit clearly being with him according to nature and essence^[2]—then the angels said to holy Lot, Save your own life. Do not look back nor remain in all the country round about; escape to the mountain, lest you be overtaken together with them.^[3] This is what the Revelation now is also teaching us. For although the servants of Christ are not in one large and populous city, Rome, it says to them, Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in their sins, lest you share in her plagues. For to partake of sins is also to partake of the plagues, since the plagues come on account of sins. For her sins are heaped high as heaven, it says. This is as though he had said, And they polluted the air all around with their sins. And so it says, although God is in every way longsuffering, he has now arisen to give to [the city] its due.

What the heavenly voice said was this, Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,^[1] and, The Lord knows those who are his,^[2] or something similar to this. There follows, Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins. To this point I think that [the narrative] has been of the first coming, when until the end of the world the good [people] allow the wicked to be intermingled with them, so that [the wicked] do not think that the good are to be abandoned on their behalf or that they are to be followed by a noxious imitation. For the prophecy, Go out from her, my people, lest you touch any unclean thing,^[3] is fulfilled in this way—when the righteous no longer commingle with the sinful, not so much by the separation of the body but by the difference of their fully sound will.

We see from this passage that Babylon is divided into two parts. For as long as God allows, the wicked are converted to the good, so that Babylon is divided, and that part that departs from it is the making of Jerusalem. For as long as some are moved from Babylon to Jerusalem and others are seduced from Jerusalem to Babylon, so long are the wicked converted to the good and those who seem through hypocrisy to be good are openly revealed to be wicked. And, therefore, through Isaiah Scripture speaks to the good, Go out from their midst and touch no unclean thing; go out from their midst and be separated from them, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.^[1] The apostle also mentions this separation, saying, The firm foundation of the Lord remains; and the Lord knows those who are his, and let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.^[2] Lest you take part in her sins, it says, and lest you share in her plagues. Although it is written, Whatever righteous man shall be taken by death, he will be at rest,^[3] how can a righteous person, whom the fall of the city affects along with the impious, partake of sin? Except perhaps in this way. When the good leave the city of the devil, that is, abandon a profligate and impious life, should any one of them choose to remain and to enjoy the pleasures of Babylon, such a one would certainly share in its plagues. But whenever it says Come out, do not understand this in a bodily sense but in a spiritual sense. For one comes out of Babylon whenever one abandons an evil manner of life. Babylonians are with Jeru-salemites in each house and in the one church and in each city. Nonetheless, as long as the good do not consent with the wicked and the wicked do not convert to the good, Jerusalem is recognized in the good and Babylon is recognized in the wicked. Although they live together in the body, they are far from each other in the heart, for the life of the wicked is always in the things of the earth, for they love the earth and they place their entire hope and the entire intention of their soul in the earth. But according to the apostle, the mind of the good is always in the heavens, since they are wise in that which is on high.^[4]

Now, brothers, you see the saints armed.^[1] Observe the slaughter, observe their glorious battles. . . . What have these done who had in their hands swords sharpened on both sides? To do vengeance on the nations. See whether vengeance has not been done on the nations. Daily is it done; we do it ourselves by speaking. Observe how the nations of Babylon are slain. She is repaid twofold. . . . How is she repaid double? The saints wage war, they draw their swords twice sharpened. From there come defeats, slaughters, severances. How is she repaid double? When she had the power to persecute the Christians, she slew the flesh indeed, but she crushed not God. Now she is repaid double, for the pagans are extinguished and the idols are broken. . . . And lest you should think that people are really smitten with the sword, blood really shed, wounds made in the flesh, he goes on and explains chastisements on the peoples.^[2] What is chastisements? Reproof. Let the two-edged sword go forth from you. Do not delay. Say to your friend, if you have yet a friend [among the pagans] left to whom to say it, What kind of man are you, who have abandoned him by whom you were made, and worship what he made? Better is the workman than that which he makes. When he begins to blush, when he begins to feel compunction, you have made a wound with your sword, it has reached his heart, he is about to die that he may live.

In Isaiah it is said to her, Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground, for there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, because you shall no longer be called tender and delicate.^[1] And shortly thereafter: Sit, be silent, go into the darkness, for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.^[2] And again: You said, ‘I shall be mistress forever,’ so that you did not lay these things to heart, nor did you remember your name. Now therefore, hear this, you delicate one who dwells in confidence, who says in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children.’ These two things shall come to you suddenly, in one day, sterility and widowhood.^[3] Who would not understand these things together to be one prophecy and that they were said of one, universal event?

Therefore, it says, repay her double for her sins. It is true that through wise Moses God has commanded us, You will not take vengeance twice at the same time.^[1] How, therefore, does God repay double? The word double does not mean twofold or twice. Rather, since God is a lover of humankind and good and punishes to a much lesser degree than is deserved, he deems that he has given back double, and indeed not only double but even sevenfold, whenever he gives back only a part. And knowing this, the prophet said, Repay to your neighbors sevenfold into their bosom the reproach with which they have reproached you, O Lord.^[2] In this petition for the punishment of their enemies according to their deserts, they implore God to give back sevenfold. Similar to these words, it says, give back to her, who was exalted and lived wantonly during this present life, giving no thought to the divine will. For [Babylon] said, I will never lose my rule or see any evil—for by widow it means to be deprived of rule. Therefore, on account of her arrogance utter evil will come on her all of a sudden. For it says, God is mighty, and he will be hindered by no one from bringing upon her judgment and torment. From this [judgment] may we all be free by the grace of him who has called us into his knowledge and into the hope of Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

All of these future events are appropriate for the second advent, when upon the inquiry of the final judgment the society of the impious will be excluded and will suffer its just reward, so that those who sinned in time might be punished in perpetuity. This is what is meant when it says, Repay her double and a double draught is mixed for her, that whoever took pleasure in transient delights might suffer eternal torments. By way of the psalm the Lord foretells that he frees his own from such payments: From usury and injustice he will redeem their souls.^[1] In addition, they are said to burn in a perpetual fire and to be afflicted by a famine, namely, then when those who now hunger and thirst after righteousness shall receive an incorruptible abundance. Moreover, they suffer death, since God has abandoned them. For just as when the soul leaves, the body dies, so when God abandons the soul, it is thought to die. This mourning is that of which Christ speaks in the Gospel, Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.^[2] To show that God desires to keep his followers unharmed by these plagues, it says, Lest you share in her plagues. This is as though it said, since you were turned away from their will and were not like them in their sins, you will not receive an equal punishment. Nor can we by our own strength avoid these plagues, since this can be granted to us only by the goodness of God. But keeping to the proper order, the Holy Spirit declares that those who were not made captive in their heart by an assent to impiety would in no way suffer the torments of the impious, saying, The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.^[3]

These words may refer to those who, although innocent in [Babylon], yet suffered the most terrible things at the hands of those who ruled her and through their endurance of these agonies were the reason for the punishment of their tormentors. Or these words may refer to a change of persons and circumstances, from those who were tormented to certain holy powers that have acquired the power of punishment and through love of God exercise those torments that had been done by her against their fellow servants. He speaks of the cup as double, either because sinners and transgressors are punished both here and in the age to come, or because both the soul and the body are punished for their common deeds, or because of the depth of divine benevolence that is reckoned as double which is lacking of pure justice on account of sin, and punishment is often endured in the conscience. In her heart she says, ‘A queen I sit, I am no widow, and mourning I will never see.’ If there is no fear of God in them, it is the habit of those in prosperity to say, I shall never be moved.^[1] This is what [the city] has spoken to herself. . . . By a single day he means either the suddenness and shortness of the time in which mourning will come to her either from the sword or from famine, and she will be wasted from pestilence and will be consumed by fire. Or it refers to the course of the day itself in which [the city] will experience these things that are prophesied. For after the enemies gain control of the city, only one day will suffice to bring every evil and every form of death upon those who have been defeated. For God is strong both to save those who please him and to punish those who are unrepentant sinners.

[When the angel says, Repay her double for her deeds, he is praying] that [the city] that took delight in temporal enjoyments might be tortured with eternal sufferings. Since she took delight in the luxury of the present time, she took no effort to prevent the coming retribution. Therefore, in a short time she will be punished with both spiritual and bodily disaster. . . . The citizens of the heavenly land, who place Jerusalem before their own happiness, do not want to sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land, that is, to receive in the present time that joy that pertains to the future age.^[1]

With this repentance, the kings are not bewailing the evil of wealth, because they sinned with [the harlot]. Rather, they recognize that they are losing the prosperity of the world through which they became subject to its pleasures. Or, since those things in it were beginning to come to an end that because of their luxury were previously pleasing to them, these profligates fight and consume one another. . . . They are said to stand afar off, not physically but in their souls, since each one will fear for himself when he sees what another suffers through the maliciousness and power of the haughty. They say, ‘Alas, alas, thou great city, Babylon!’ . . . The Spirit speaks the name of the city. Indeed, they lament the world, which is overtaken by punishment in such a short time and all of whose industry has come to an end so violently.

We think that in this passage the kings refer to the rulers, as the psalmist said concerning Jerusalem, Behold, her kings have assembled.^[1] It says that those who committed fornication in her against the divine commandments will weep, since they see or hear of her burning and her desolation, and they are thoroughly terrified at the sudden change that had taken place in such a short time.

This wailing of the kings, of the merchants and of the seamen of Babylon may be interpreted in a twofold sense. On the one hand, it may mean that on the day of judgment when all the glory of the world is passing away, only penitence for their former life will remain for the impious, who will then say, What has pride profited us? Or what has the vaunting of riches brought us? All these things will pass away as a cloud.^[1] On the other hand, it may mean that when in the present age an abundance of things ceases and the downfall of various nations is approaching, the opportunity for carnal pleasures, which was everywhere present for the sating of the desires of the wicked, will have been taken away. They see the smoke of her burning. That is, when they see the evidence of its destruction, for smoke arises from fire. Indeed, what else is the rioting of this world and its crumbling other than the smoke of Gehenna, which is close at hand?

They bemoan the loss of all the spectacles of the world and those things that are pleasant to the senses of the body and that are suitable for external use. For the various kinds of metals pertain to sight, the odors to smell, the unguents to the touch, the wine, wheat and oils to the taste. In the mention of the beasts of burden and of the slaves, they lament the loss of other aids to humanity, and this in a double sense. For either they fail when this world passes away, or the miserable survivors of those who have left the joys of the world through death lament their ruin as though [it were] the ruin of their own city.

They threw dust on their heads. This means that they reproached their leaders by whom they were led astray and so were lost. . . . They wept and mourned. . . . To be sure, we know that many are often stricken by such contrition, and so it is not false to refer to the person these distances from which they are removed. That is, they will stand afar off and cry out when they see the smoke of its burning, since to stand afar off is not to fall with those who are lost but rather to acquire a stability from submitting to conversion. For before one’s own master does one stand or fall.^[1] One ought not understand this standing in a bodily sense but as the conversion of a firm soul in faith, so that when they are said to weep over others who are perishing, they are themselves understood to be making a fruitful penance. For this reason the apostle says, When you were dead through trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of the flesh, following the desires of the flesh and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath like the rest, or things like this.^[2] According to these words of the apostle, I think that this passage can be rightly referred to the persons who convert. For no one can be found to be good who was not formerly evil. Therefore, the psalm says, I have reckoned all the sinners of the earth as transgressors.^[3]

Whenever the Spirit says that they were made rich from her, he is indicating the abundance of their sins. . . . Can a city be dressed in fine linen and purple, rather than people? They lament for themselves, since they are despoiled of those riches mentioned here. . . . Can all those who are merchants and sailors and who work upon the sea be present to see the burning of a single city? Rather, it says that all who loved the world and were the workers of iniquity fear for themselves when they see the ruin of their own hope.

He leads before our eyes the sufferings of this Babylon, and through the laments made over her he depicts the greatness of her misfortune that she, who previously boasted of her royal majesty, will suffer. . . . He speaks figuratively of the present life as a sea, since it is heaving with waves. Those who make commerce upon [the sea] swim in the turbulence of this life as though they were fishes. However, perhaps that city that suffers these things lies beside a physical sea and receives these misfortunes from those who sail upon it and receive from it an opportunity to loot it of its wealth. But it is necessary to add that the merchants of this universal Babylon, that is, Confusion, will suffer the same thing at the conclusion of the visible world and will sob inconsolably, since they are unwillingly deprived of the pleasures of this life and are reproached by their conscience because of their deeds. . . . But against this opinion is that of the ancient teachers of the church, which supposes that these things are prophesied against the Babylon of the Romans. They refer to the vision in which the ten horns are on the fourth beast, that is, upon the Roman rule, and from it another one comes that roots out three of the ten and subdues the others.^[1] And when this king of the Romans comes in the pretense of assisting and helping their rule, he in fact comes to effect their complete ruin. Therefore, as we said, whoever interprets this kingdom as though it were one body that from the beginning until now exercised power and which truly has shed the blood of apostles, prophets and martyrs, such a one would not be mistaken concerning the present passage. For even as it is said that there is one chorus and one army and one city, although those who populate each of these might change, so also there is one kingdom, although it is divided into many times and places.

That is, rejoice, because all of the blood of the martyrs which she poured out unto her damnation has been vindicated, and they see the avenging of the saints whom she persecuted. For, indeed, to show that the blood of the saints is to be requited, and to demonstrate the image of her ruin, there follows [the report of the mighty angel for] . . . the coming time of perdition is likened to a stone which is thrown with force.

While the merchants and the kings of the earth and all with whom the city did commerce while she yet stood and was prosperous will weep bitterly for her, the heavens will rejoice, that is, the angels in heaven and the souls of the righteous. The souls will rejoice because their vindication from God has happened, while the angels will rejoice as those who are glad for the vindicated. Moreover, through the description of the behavior [of the kings and merchants] in the narrative, the suffering of the spiritual Babylon is highlighted.

This refers to those who have converted, for they rejoice and are made glad because God has given judgment for you against her.

Is Babylon the only city in all the world that persecutes or has persecuted the saints of God, so that when she is destroyed all of them are avenged? Babylon is throughout the whole world in evil people, and throughout the world persecutes those who are good.

By heaven he means either the angels or the saints who make their dwelling in heaven. The apostles and the prophets are urged to rejoice with these, and so to avenge those who were maltreated by [the city]. Their rejoicing would also avenge those who often were dishonored through transgressions of the divine laws while they vainly entreated the inhabitants of that city, or those who were forcibly scattered throughout the earth and were slaughtered for the sake of God and because they were servants of his words. In this way, the prophets were killed by the Jews, and the apostles by the Gentiles, to whom they especially preached the word. They rejoice for the coming of these chastisements, not because they rejoice in hardships but because they ardently desire a cessation to sin. And perhaps those who have been slaves to sin might obtain a milder punishment in the age to come because they were tormented to some extent here.

According to the Gospel, when the Lord was foretelling the destruction of the world, he added, Now when you see these things taking place, look up and raise your heads,^[1] that is, make your hearts glad. . . . This is that judgment that the souls of the saints sought for with a loud cry, How long, O Lord, holy and true, before you will judge and avenge our blood?^[2]

Babylon is likened to a great millstone which is thrown down, for the revolving of times, as though it were a millstone, grinds down those who love the world, and it sends them in circles. Of these the Scriptures say, The wicked walk in a circle.^[1] . . . The sound of harpers and musicians and flute players and trumpeters is no longer heard in her. That is, the joy and happiness of the wicked passes away and is no longer to be found. And it adds the reason for this, for your merchants were the great men of the earth, that is, they had received good things in their lives. The blood of the prophets and the saints was found in her and of all who have been slain by [her] upon the earth. Did the same city kill the apostles that also killed the prophets and all of the rest of the martyrs? Rather, this is the city of all the proud and arrogant, which Cain established by the blood of his brother and which he named after the name of his son, Enoch, that is, after his posterity.^[2] For all the wicked in whom Babylon resides succeed one another and persecute the church of God until the end of the world. In the city of Cain all the righteous blood is poured out from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, that is, of the people and of the priests, between the sanctuary and the altar, that is, between the people and the priests.^[3] This was said because not only the people but also the priests conspired in the death of Zechariah. . . . This is the city which killed the prophets and stoned those who were sent to it. This is that city that is built upon blood, as the Scriptures say, Woe to him who builds a city with blood and founds a city on iniquity.^[4]

Just as a millstone sinks with force into the sea, so also the destruction of this Babylon will be sudden, so that afterward no trace of her will be found. The absence of harpers, minstrels and the rest is an indication of this. And he gives the reason for this. [Babylon] deceived all nations with her sorcery and was the recipient of the blood of prophets and the other saints. It is possible that this passage depicts the impious Babylon among the Persians, for at various times until now she has received the blood of many saints and continually rejoices in sorceries and deceptions. And this gives us an occasion for prayer, that she receive the rewards prophesied for arrogance against Christ and his servants.

The city of this age is compared with an unstable millstone because of the weight and error of sins. For the wicked walk in a circle.^[1] [Babylon] is rightly swallowed up by the waves of retribution, for its citizens oppressed Jerusalem with the waves of infidelity when, sitting by the rivers of Babylon, they bemoaned their absence from the heavenly Zion. For the Lord says that those who cause one to fall are to be punished with a similar punishment.^[2] To be sure, the church is also likened to a stone, but one that is stable and firm and withstands the assaults of the tempestuous waves.^[3] The millstone may also be understood to represent the crushing of punishments, for even the blessed Ignatius is reported to have said as he was about to suffer, I am the wheat of God; I am being ground by the teeth of beasts, so that I might be made a pure loaf.^[4] And the sound of harpers and minstrels, of flute players and trumpeters shall be heard in it no more. Of the five senses, the text had until now neglected to mentioned the sense of hearing, which will be taken away along with the other senses.^[5] It is as though it said, What is beautiful to the eye, and melodious to the ear, and smooth to the touch, and sweet to the smell and delicious to the taste, all of that will pass away from the world.