Verse three presents the third category: the perfect Christians, who are singing and always giving thanks to God. These perfect Christians come from both the Old and New Testaments—Moses and the Lamb—for all His works are wise. He is to be feared but glorified, for He alone is merciful (verse four).

Then came forth seven angels. The apostles depart from the temple, which stands for the Old Law. They come out, holding the seven plagues, announcing penance and judgment. Clothed in linen, their souls are brilliant with the fire and freshness of grace. Their breasts are bound with the golden law of charity, Christ’s law of charity.

And one of the four living creatures (animals) gave to the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. These „animals‟ are the four evangelists. „One of them‟ stands for the unanimity of their teachings—in other words, Tradition. The vials of gold represent hearts full of true charity. Therefore, they teach in the wrath of God; it is charity to teach the truth about Heaven and Hell. It is the opposite of charity to preach that Hell doesn’t exist or that nobody goes there.

Yes, he says things like that. That is his style. Even if he doesn’t state it explicitly, the style is similar. It’s terrible. That’s why he has what I call a „goofy‟ expression; he seems to live in a dreamland where nobody goes to Hell. Michael Matt has a good article in the latest Remnant about John Paul II’s recent visit to the United States, specifically St. Louis. Matt says, among other things, that the Pope has the saddest face he has ever seen. The Pope reminds him of a dreamer searching everywhere for a place where his dream has succeeded. That’s essentially it. It’s not a bad article. Michael Matt is writing some good things in The Remnant; he is getting stronger, and The Remnant is moving in the right direction under his guidance. I think the son, Michael Matt, is a better man than his father, Walter Matt, at least as shown at present.

This can be illustrated by a rhombus. In geometry, a rhombus is a parallelogram with four equal sides. (I wish to announce that the English language you are hearing bears only a faint resemblance to the King’s English, but one understands.) To illustrate with the rhombus: here, the Jews were chosen, starting with Abraham, who was called out of Ur of the Chaldees. This was the beginning of their ascent to election. At this point, the Jews were elect, and the Gentiles were often despised by them. God told the Jews to stay away from the Gentiles, not to despise them, but to keep uncontaminated by pagans. This represents the sea of the Gentiles.

But then, Our Lord Jesus Christ comes. At that point, the Gentiles ascend to form the Catholic Church. Simultaneously, many Jews, by their own choice, begin a decline. Very few Jews maintain their election in its true sense; it turns into a curse by their own choice. Their privileges transfer, and much more so, to Catholics, who are far more elect in real supernatural terms than the Jews ever were. In natural terms, the Jews remain gifted—musicians, comics, etc. But, as Saint Paul says, the election of the Jews is to the election of Catholics as shadow to the real thing. This is what makes proud Jews so resentful; they feel pushed aside. Yet they weren’t; they only had to enter the Catholic Church, like Peter, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Joseph of Arimathea, the Mother of God, and the Apostles, who are the glory and foundation of the Church. In what sense are the rest of the Jews still chosen? Not very much in human terms, except they are still close to God’s heart, and He will rescue them.

God does chastise them. They are severely chastised even today as they return to world power due to the criminal apostasy of the Gentiles. This return to power is still a curse for them, as it gives them the power to commit terrible sins against all mankind, by which they will damn their souls for eternity—worse than if they had remained in ghettos. Therefore, all their gifts turn to poison as long as they remain as they are. However, they are specially chastised by God. This is absolutely Scripture; it’s Saint Paul. Our Lord Himself says, „You are not children of Abraham.‟

So, the Temple of Judaism fills with smoke. Almost none enter the Church until the end of the Church’s preaching, which is the end of the world. Similarly, sinners who refuse apostolic teaching cause the Church to fill with smoke, and they exclude themselves from it.

Regarding Chapter 15, chronologically, it might seem intermixed, but the idea is that the apostles spread the doctrine originating from Our Lord. Then there are the four evangelists. The source of doctrine carried by the apostles, and the closest we get to that source today, is the four Gospels. The seven angels „came out‟ of the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony, and the temple is Christ’s humanity. So, this doctrine comes forth from Christ. That is why the seven angels represent the apostles immediately carrying out Christ’s doctrine, as condensed in the four Gospels.

Verse 1: „And I heard a great voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.‟ Chapter 16 shows the preachers of the Church fulfilling their mission of pouring out vials of God’s wrath upon the diverse agents of the Antichrist. There is also a moral sense related to seven sins, which we will return to. First, the quasi-historical sense.

The command „Go‟ signifies the divine mission necessary for preachers, canonically known as jurisdiction. The priesthood involves, one, ordination (consecration), and two, jurisdiction (a diocese or parish). A bishop is consecrated and then given a diocese by the Pope. A priest is ordained and then given a parish by the bishop.

A few weeks ago, Bishop Bernard Harrington was inducted as Bishop of Winona. Something of the old ceremony remains. He was seated, I believe by Archbishop Weakland of Milwaukee. Bishop Harrington, in his sermon, referred to himself as „Bernie the Spirit.‟ He also said, caricaturing slightly, „I’d like to thank my predecessor who set things up so well for me. Give him a hand, folks,‟ clapping himself from the pulpit. It was rather „el cheapo.‟ Bishop Harrington is a performer; he has that Irish blarney and knows how to push people’s buttons. He knows his way around.

But his induction itself is normal. He was consecrated several years ago and was an auxiliary in Detroit, I believe. Now he has been given his own diocese; that is the jurisdiction, and he is the pastor of this flock. This is completely normal. What surprised me watching the ceremony was how much solid tradition remains, rather than just the „wacky‟ elements, though it was wacky. There was a Mass, and his relatives brought up offerings, and he hugged and kissed them. But the core idea of a pastor being officially introduced and put in charge of his flock is absolutely solid, and that element is still there.

The Winona Cathedral was full, and there was a sense of a congregation, a flock. Then, a folk singer would interject at regular intervals, looking a bit „zonky,‟ spreading his arm to encourage communal singing. He was joined by a female singer. The two of them would gesture, „Sing up, folks!‟ And the people would sing. Compared with the old ways, it was „el cheapo,‟ but there is still something there.

Could it be revived? With a strong Pope who could survive in Rome, handpick bishops with power and backing, a great deal could be revived. Even here, something could be picked up, though much is gone and people are far gone. Still, I think something solid remains that could be revived. Perhaps I overestimate it. There were many bishops present, perhaps eight or ten—local, retired, even archbishops like Archbishop Roach. Some may have been unable to attend due to cold weather grounding planes around January 5th or 6th. So, it was an occasion, but the lack of dignity was striking. They spoke more than ever about the dignity of man, yet the ceremonies lacked dignity. I recall the main host was very large, presumably so everyone could see it, which is not the idea. (If anyone wants to watch the videotape, I might show it sometime.)

Alright, „Go‟ signifies the mission, the jurisdiction, which preachers need. One needs a mission and jurisdiction to preach and hear confessions, formerly controlled by canon law. If the Society [SSPX] seems to pay no attention, it is because it rightly assumes its priests are serious enough for jurisdiction to be supplied by the souls who come to them. As a soul comes, it brings down jurisdiction. The Society itself doesn’t have ordinary jurisdiction, nor do the souls, but souls coming to its priests trigger jurisdiction from the Church. This is a completely reasonable doctrine.

The first angel represents the college of apostles going out on Christ’s own orders. This corresponds to the first age of the Church, showing an application of the seven cups to the Church’s ages. Here, „the earth‟ represents the Jews, a garden specially cultivated by God, which, for the most part, grew only brambles. This is a mystery of God’s providence. Yet, never forget that the Jews, despite their state at Our Lord’s time, produced the greatest triumph of Judaism: the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne, and their lineage back through grandparents and great-grandparents, must have been of great quality to produce her. So, amidst the corruption of the scribes and Pharisees, extraordinary roses grew in this special garden. The Jewish race succeeded in being the cradle of the Messiah. The corruption was not total; there was at least one such couple, and likely more, supporting saints like Joachim and Anne. Thus, the Jews did not entirely fail by the time Our Lord came.

They also produced the twelve Apostles. Without Our Lord’s instruction, the Apostles would have been blind and dumb, as seen even right before the Ascension. After three years with Him, the Resurrection, and Holy Week, they still asked when He would „zap the Romans.‟ Our Lord told them to wait ten days for the Holy Ghost, who might help them understand what three and a half years had failed to achieve. Nevertheless, with the Holy Ghost’s help and Our Lord’s teaching, these Apostles became the founders of the Church, the twelve pillars on which it is built. So, again, the Jews as a race did not fail in their ultimate mission, though the great mass of them did. The few necessary to fulfill God’s plan were there. This was the culmination of 2,000 years of God’s labor to prepare for the Catholic Church.

So, the first angel is the college of apostles. The „earth‟ is the Jews. The „wound‟ is the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, deadly to anti-Christians but not to Christians. The apostles’ preaching in Jerusalem, when rejected, led to the obstinacy of the Jews that brought about Jerusalem’s destruction in AD 70. Had they listened and repented of killing Our Lord, Jerusalem would not have been destroyed. Thus, the apostles’ preaching per accidens generated the Jewish obstinacy leading to this punishment. Therefore, the vial was poured „upon the earth, and there was a terrible wound‟ upon those „who had the character of the beast‟—that is, upon the Jews who refused Christ. The literal application refers to followers of the Antichrist. We will return to the moral meaning concerning the seven capital sins later.

So, the second vial is the apostles preaching to the Gentiles. The „blood as of a dead man‟ signifies the persecution of the martyrs. „As of a dead man‟ means this blood is deadly to the persecutors, not like the blood of a wounded man who might recover, but of one who will not live again. Thus, the Roman Empire was destroyed by barbarian invasions. The persecutors of Christianity, for the temporal death they inflicted on martyrs, received eternal death from God. „Every living soul died in the sea‟ means every soul drowning in paganism either converted (got out of the sea) or helped persecute and thus perished. When apostolic preaching reached the perishing Gentile masses, they either converted and were saved, or they refused, joined the persecution, and perished as pagans.

Apply this to the modern world, for instance, the USA under Clinton. It is quite obviously a pagan world. By no stretch of the imagination can one say the great mass of people in the United States today will save their souls, barring an extraordinary phenomenon of conversion. Instead, it is obvious these people are plunging into and wallowing in their paganism; they are going to be damned. „And every living soul died in the sea.‟ Many are perishing in this wash of paganism, pride, filth, and stupidity, as exemplified by events like the Clinton debacle. The media line is often that „the president is not gloating,‟ or „everyone’s a loser,‟ and „now we must all work together.‟ The media can be vile, but it’s not solely their fault; it’s also the fault of those who consume it. The degradation of the media corresponds to the degradation of the people. It’s a terrible state of affairs, a massive corruption, just as the Book of Revelation describes. The Apocalypse repeatedly states that the mass of people are a mass of corruption, and those saved are exceptions who make a special effort. This, I am afraid, is true. God have mercy upon us.

The fountainheads are the heresiarchs, the leaders and originators of heresy. A heresiarch is to heresy as a fountainhead is to its river. The „blood‟ signifies their bloody punishment.

Verses 5-7: „And I heard the angel of the waters saying: Thou art just, O Lord, who art, and who wast, the Holy One, because thou hast judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they have deserved it. And I heard another from the altar saying: Yea, O Lord God Almighty, true and just are thy judgments.‟

The „waters‟ in verse 5, from which the angel speaks, are different from those in verse 4. These are the living waters flowing from the throne of God. Verse 6 implies that heretics, being shedders of blood, must drink blood in Hell as a fit punishment. Professor Vojta, who is Czech, explained how the Hussite heresy led to much bloodshed. Similarly, Protestantism, within a few years of Luther, led to the Peasants’ Revolts, drowned in blood, and later the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), which devastated Germany with bloodshed, killing perhaps a third of its population.