Revelation 1:4

"Grace unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come." He is, because He endures continually; He was, because with the Father He made all things, and has at this time taken a beginning from the Virgin; He is to come, because assuredly He will come to judgment.

"And from the seven spirits which are before His throne." We read of a sevenfold spirit in Isaiah,1 -namely, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, of knowledge and of piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

The number seven signifies the perfection of the universal Church, for which reason the Apostle John writes to the seven churches, showing in that way that he writes to the totality of the one Church. City of God 17.4

Asia means “elevated,” by which the human race is indicated. These seven churches and the lampstands are to be seriously considered because it is the sevenfold grace which is given by God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to us of the human race who have believed. For he himself promised to send to us the Spirit Paraclete from heaven, whom he also sent to the apostles who were seen to be in Asia, that is, in the prideful world, where he also gave the sevenfold grace to the seven churches, that is to us, through his servant John.

This is equivalent to saying, "Grace to you from God, the Father of all of you." For the Father names Himself, revealing Himself to the wisest Moses at the burning bush, saying, "I AM THE ONE WHO IS [ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν]." (Ex. 3:14) And indeed, concerning the Son, the divine evangelist present says, "In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (Jn. 1:1) And again, in the first of the Catholic Epistles: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life." (1 Jn. 1:1)

"who is to come." This is the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit did not only come on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in the Acts (chapter 2), but He continually comes to receive souls worthy of Him.

The seven spirits are seven angels; not as equals or coeternal, associated with the Holy Trinity, but as genuine ministers and faithful servants. For the prophet says to God, "For all things are your servants." (Ps. 118:91) And among all, the angels are included. And again, he says concerning them: Bless the Lord, all his powers, his ministers doing his will. (Ps. 102:21) In this form, the apostle also corresponded with Timothy by writing the first Epistle; "I seriously charge you," Paul says, "before God and Jesus Christ and the elect angels." (1 Tim. 5:21)

But also in what is said "before His throne," He attested to them a domestic [οἰκετικὴν] and liturgical [λειτουργικὴν] order; however, not equality in rank.

him that is. He wanted His eternity to be denoted by the present tense. This use of present time “today” is acknowledged to be peculiar to the divine Scriptures in this sense of perpetuity.

Here is that mystery of the number seven which is everywhere indicated. Here the seven spirits are introduced, which are one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, who is one in name, sevenfold in power, invisible and incorporeal, and whose form is impossible to comprehend. The great Isaiah revealed the number of its sevenfold powers when he wrote: “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding”—that through understanding and wisdom he might teach that he is the creator of all things—“the Spirit of counsel and might”—who conceived these things that he might create them—“the Spirit of knowledge and piety”—who governs the creation with piety by the exercise of his knowledge and whose purposes are always according to mercy—“the Spirit of the fear of the Lord”—by whose gift the fear of the Lord is manifested to rational creatures. This is itself the sacred character of the Spirit who is to be worshiped. It includes rather the ineffable praise, and does not indicate any form of nature.

What is the importance of the people of Asia that they alone deserve to receive the apostolic revelation? However, there is a mystery in the number and a sacrament in the name of the province. First, let us discuss the meaning of the number, because both the number six and the number seven are always used in the law with a mystical meaning: “For God made heaven and earth in six days,” and “on the seventh day he rested from his works” and “on it,” it says, “they shall enter again into my rest.” The number seven, therefore, signifies the period of the present life, so that the apostle is not merely writing to seven churches and to that world in which he was then present, but it is understood that he is giving these writings to all future ages, even to the consummation of the world. Therefore, he mentions the number in a most holy manner, and he names “Asia,” which means “elevated” or “walking,” indicating that celestial fatherland which we call the “catholic church.” For exalted by the Lord and always moving toward the things which are above, it is the church which advances by spiritual exercises and is always desirous of the things of heaven.

Although there are many churches in every place, he wrote to seven only. For through the number seven he indicates the mystery of the church which exists everywhere and that which corresponds to the present life in which there is a sevenfold period of days. And therefore he makes mention of seven angels and seven churches to which he says, “Grace to you and peace from the tri-hypostatic deity.” Through the phrase “who is” the Father is indicated, who spoke to Moses: “I am Who I am.” Through the phrase “who was” the Word is indicated, who was in the beginning with God. And through the phrase “who is to come” the Paraclete is indicated, who always visits the children of the church in holy baptism but will come more perfectly and more clearly in the age to come. It is possible to recognize in the seven spirits the seven angels who have received the governance of the churches. These are not numbered with the most divine and royal Trinity but are mentioned together with it as servants, even as the divine apostle says: “I testify to you before God and the elect angels.” These phrases may be understood also in another manner. The phrase “who is and who was and who is to come” may signify the Father, who encompasses in himself the beginning, the middle and the end of all things.

John to the seven, etc. Through these seven churches, he writes to the whole Church. For the universality is often designated by the number seven, as this whole age is revolved in seven days.

Grace to you, etc. He wishes us grace and peace from the eternal God the Father, and from the sevenfold Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who in the assumed man bore witness to the Father. He names the Son third, of whom he was going to speak more. He names him last as well, because he is the first and the last, since he had already named him in the Father by saying, who is to come.

John to the seven churches which are in Asia. By the number seven is represented the universal Church, because of the seven gifts of him who has filled the earth. Hence Elisha made the child upon whom he lay gape seven times, [2 Kings 4:32 et seq.] because the people that died from unfaithfulness is brought back to life by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. So the number seven is perfect, being formed by the number three and the number four; for the number three is considered perfect in the divine Scriptures because of the mystery of the Trinity, because of the three virtues: faith, hope, and love, or because of the three classes of the faithful: preachers, celibates, and married people. As for the number four, it is perfect because of the four parts of the world, because of the four cardinal virtues (namely prudence, temperance, courage, and justice) or because of the four books of the Gospels. Therefore, because knowledge of the Trinity encompasses the four cardinal points of the sky; because hope, faith, and love complete the sum of the four cardinal virtues; or because the three classes of believers submit to the commandments of the four Gospels, it is right for the universal Church to be symbolized by this number seven. One should nonetheless know that it was especially to the seven churches of the Ephesians that he sent these mysteries he wrote in exile. So species is not excluded, but in the species a genus is shown, namely the universal Church. It is appropriate to say that the universal Church is in Asia, for Asia translates to “pride.” The word “pride” is not always used to refer to a vice, but sometimes to the summit of virtue, as in I will make thee to be the pride of worlds, [Is. 60:15] that is “I will make you despise all pleasures and low honors;” and elsewhere, He hath lifted thee up above the height of the earth. [Cf. Is. 58:14] So it is in this height of pride that the Church takes its place. Alternatively, if “pride” is being used to refer to a vice, we should not take it to mean that the Church will remain proud, but that it was raised in the arrogance of pride some time ago, but is predestined to become humble through a heavenly gift, according to this: Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld the treasures of the hail: Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war? [Job 38:22-23] Grace be unto you and peace from him that is, and that was, and that is to come, and from the seven spirits which are in the sight of his throne, and from Jesus Christ. Grace means forgiveness granted freely, and it is with it shining on us when we were servants of sin that we were adopted as children of justice. It is this grace that Peter and Paul first mentioned in their salutations when they were about to write to the faithful, in order to show, before exhorting the peoples of grace, that the whole sum of the salutation was in this grace. It is proper for grace to be put before peace, because no one could have come to God's peace reconciled if the grace of mercy had not preceded them. As for the fact that he says from him that is, and that was, and that is to come, it should be taken as referring specifically to the only-begotten Son of God. He is in essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and has never been affected by mutability, according to this saying of Paul's: There was not in him « it is » and « it is not », but « it is » was in him [Variant of 2 Cor. 1:19], because, before he was born of the Virgin in time, he spent all times with the Father. Whence the same John says, in the beginning was the Word. [John 1:1] It is also the same who is to come to judge the living and the dead in the humanity he assumed, as it is written: He shall so come, as you have seen him going into heaven. [Acts 1:11] So, since it is certain that the Church has received this grace not only from the Son and the Holy Spirit but also from the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit, why is the person of the Father not mentioned in this passage? Because it is habitual in the sacred Scriptures, where one or two of the persons of the Trinity are mentioned, for the whole Trinity to be understood at the same time. As for the words from the seven spirits, he says this because of the sevenfold operation of one spirit; and this spirit is said to be alone in the sight of the throne, that is of the Church, that is in the memory of the saints, because it is to this same spirit in particular that the remission of sins is ascribed, according to this: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them. [John 20:22-23] Or if not, then surely the whole Trinity is understood in the Spirit. In saying from Jesus Christ, he mentions the person of the Son again, because the one referred to existed before the ages, and was made man in the end of the ages. Who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. It is obviously a way of speaking when he calls Christ specifically the faithful witness, while there are three who give testimony: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the three are one God. [Cf. 1 John 5:7] One may also call the Son specifically, in the role of man he assumed, a faithful witness, in that he went as far as the death of the flesh for the sake of the testimony of the truth. For while the whole Church, in the holy preachers, gives testimony concerning Christ, the ones called martyrs, that is “witnesses,” are principally those who suffered physical death for Christ. He is called first begotten because no one before him rose never to die. A different interpretation would be that all the saints are dead to the world, as it is said in for you are dead, [Col. 3:3] but he is so in a special way, because there has been no sin in him. By the kings, he means either all the saints, who know how to govern themselves well, or at any rate the preachers, who become partners with the good but raise themselves above the wicked, like Peter above Ananias, [Acts 5:1 et seq.] and Paul who brandishes his scepter, saying, What will you? shall I come to you with a rod? [1 Cor. 4:21] Because he hath loved us. How he has loved us, the pains he suffered clearly show. He did not however love us as we were, that is wicked ones, but as he made us by love itself. Whence it is added right afterwards, and washed us from our sins in his own blood; but in what way he has washed us in his own blood, the apostle indicated, saying, All we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death. [Rom. 6:3]

QUESTION: What does it mean that John salutes only seven churches whereas the Master of truth says, Go ye into the whole world, and preach to every creature? [Mark 16:15] ANSWER: Through these seven churches, he writes to the whole Church. Indeed totality is often represented by the number seven, because all this worldly time flies by in cycles of seven days. THERE FOLLOWS: Grace be unto you and peace from him that is, and that was, and that is to come, and from the seven spirits. ANSWER: He wishes the pious people grace and peace from God the eternal Father, the sevenfold Spirit, and Jesus Christ, who gave testimony to the Father in the human form he assumed. He names the Son in the third place as he is going to say more about him. He also names him last because he is the first and the last, and he has already named him together with the Father when he said that is to come. The first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

before his throne. Now the seven spirits indicate the activity of the life-giving Spirit which directed Christ, God who was made man for us.

This “7” is understood as the Church established in the world. St. Gregory says in Homily 25, “Because in 7 days all time is comprehended; the number 7 is a proper figure for the whole. Grace unto you In the present life. And peace in the future, for there the humanity will be completely tamed. From Him who is That is, from the eternal God. According to Boethius in the Consolation of Philosophy, “Eternity is endless life possessed all at once in its totality and its perfection. Nevertheless, his simplicity is not apprehended by us except by a comparison to time; for we understand in terms of succession and time. For he assists at every time, even infinitely as it were; therefore, this is expressed to us through the distinctions of present, past, and future time. And from the 7 spirits That is, from all the angels who are ministers of our salvation. Who are before His throne, Prepared to follow His will.