„And it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the springs of water. And the name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.‟ The heresiarchs are „burning like a torch,‟ not like a serene star, but like a smoky torch burning itself out. They have their day of brilliance. For instance, John Courtney Murray, the writer of the Declaration of Religious Liberty, had his day. When he returned to the United States, he expected heroic treatment, but within a few years, he was passé, finished. The revolution had left him far behind.

This relates to the conservatives at each stage of a revolution, who want the revolution to go only so far and no further. Once their point is reached, they desire it to level out, forming a new conservatism for that stage. Vatican II, like all revolutions, was a downward thrust with its own conservatism. Ratzinger is a conservative of the revolution, while Hans Küng wants the revolution to continue. When revolutionaries speak of the „spirit of Vatican II,‟ they mean a constantly changing Mass. They are basically right; that was its spirit. It is useless to hold up the letter of Vatican II against its spirit because the letter was not designed to hold up. The famous proverb states, „The revolution eats its own children.‟ It always generates another stage and rolls on. John Courtney Murray expected heroic treatment, but within two years, he was old hat. He died in 1967, quite soon after the council. Heresiarchs are brilliant for a short while, then crash like a shooting star into the sea.

„And it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the springs of water.‟ The „rivers‟ can be understood in three parts: the first is the Old Testament, the second is the New Testament, and the third part is the Church Fathers. The leaders of heretics „fell upon‟ the Church Fathers. Heretics pretended to accept Scripture but attacked its interpretation by the Church Fathers, thereby perverting Scripture’s sense. The „rivers and waters‟ are what Catholics drink. Heretics fall upon this third part, poisoning the waters of Catholic piety, the wellsprings of Catholic piety, and the interpretation of Scripture. Modernists did exactly this at Vatican II and before, poisoning Scripture and making it unreadable.

The star of these heretics is called „Absinthe‟ (Wormwood), which is very bitter, because heresy is bitter in its consequences. It is sweet on the tongue but poison in the stomach, whereas Catholic truth can be rough on the tongue but is honey in the stomach. Thus, a third part of the waters – the Church Fathers’ interpretations – is turned into absinthe. „And many men died of those waters‟; many Catholics perish from the poisoning of the living waters of tradition. This is what Protestants, liberals, and neo-modernists have done. I have mentioned how Ratzinger, in his formation, was influenced by Catholic priests and professors who were themselves too much influenced by Protestant „Scripture scholars,‟ particularly German ones, who did considerable damage. There are few English Scripture scholars of comparable clout.

Many Catholics perish because the living waters of tradition are poisoned with bitterness. Heresy gives rise to war, Protestantism being a classic case. The Arian heresy also led to fighting. After Constantine died, the Roman Empire was divided, partly along lines of Arians versus Christians. Religion, or rather heresy, is of the devil, who will never leave Christians in peace. If the devil gains many followers, he will use them to attack Catholics, leading to war. Catholics will have to defend themselves, as seen with Protestantism.

The sun, moon, and stars here represent prelates (bishops, nuncios, cardinals), priests, and religious appointed to feed the flock. When the doctors throughout these intervening centuries sound their trumpet of Catholic preaching, a whole portion of these prelates, priests, and religious are „struck.‟ Of these shepherds, one part sanctifies self and others (the saints). A second part sanctifies only others, doing their job for the flock but not their own souls. A third part sanctifies neither. It is this third part that fades out. These prelates, priests, and religious who sanctify neither themselves nor others simply fade under the blast of the doctors’ preaching down the centuries. A third part of the sun, moon, and stars was darkened.

An example could be the end of the Middle Ages, where many such priests faded from the picture as the torch was picked up by a new generation of priests and prelates of the Counter-Reformation. St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, was a crackerjack. He made everyone in his archdiocese shape up or ship out. He shook his archdiocese onto its feet. Dying in his 40s, he had achieved extraordinary things and was the model Tridentine bishop. He played a large part in getting the Council of Trent picked up again after its suspension. He was instrumental in getting the Pope to conclude it. He certainly reformed the Archdiocese of Milan, making no-good priests get on their feet. He was a great administrator, a cardinal at 22, nephew of Pope Pius IV, which made him Cardinal of Milan. This was nepotism working the right way for once. He was one of the first to make the decrees of Trent truly work. He was also instrumental in the Roman Catechism, which originated from a committee he led.

The Church continually needs new impetus because human nature, priests and laity alike, tends to slip back and needs revival. Some shepherds look after themselves and their flocks, some only the flocks, some neither. Those who look after neither fade out when the doctors sound their trumpets. When this third part „did not shine by day nor by night,‟ the flock, with their clergy faded, had light neither for good works by day nor for faith by night. Faith is light in darkness; it believes what it does not see. So, the people with this fading clergy lacked light for good works and for faith. This fourth trumpet offers a brief account of those intervening centuries.

The eagle here symbolizes all who penetrate deep into God’s mysteries (in Latin, „deep‟ is similar to „high,‟ so a high-flying eagle). Flying above earthly concerns, this penetrator of God’s mysteries cries out „Woe.‟ The woe falls upon the „earth dwellers,‟ those held down by earthly concerns – materialists. Someone who sees into God’s mysteries can foresee the woe awaiting those caught in materialism at the end of their world. Regarding whether the eagle refers to St. John the Evangelist (whose symbol is an eagle), it is unlikely, as John says, „I saw and I heard,‟ implying he would be seeing himself. This interpretation of Apocalypse, much of it, could perhaps be deduced with enough time, thought, and inspiration, as the monks of the Middle Ages had. It often makes sense through deduction and cross-referencing.

„The fifth angel sounded the trumpet, and I saw a star fall from heaven upon the earth: and there was given to him the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and the smoke of the pit arose as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke of the pit. And from the smoke of the pit there came out locusts upon the earth. And power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power… they should not hurt the grass… but only the men who have not the sign of God on their foreheads… torment them five months… their torment was as the torment of a scorpion… men seek death, and not find it… The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle. On their heads as it were crowns like gold: their faces were as the faces of men; they had hair as the hair of women; their teeth were as lions’: they had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the noise of their wings was as the noise of chariots and many horses running to battle. They had tails like the scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months: and they had over them a king, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon, and in Latin Exterminans. One woe is past; and, behold, there come yet two woes more hereafter.‟

„And I saw a star fall from Heaven upon Earth, and there was given to it the key of the pit of the abyss.‟ The star is the devil, long since fallen. Our Lord said (Luke 10:18), „I saw Satan like lightning falling from Heaven.‟ He told the 72 disciples not to rejoice that spirits were subject to them (extraordinary graces of ministry, gratiae gratis datae), but that their names were written in Heaven (sanctifying grace, gratia sanctificans), which is what gets one to Heaven. The devil had many talents but still crashed. So, being a „star‟ does not save. Isaiah 14:12 also speaks of Lucifer’s fall: „How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!‟

The fallen star, the devil, was given „the key of the pit of the abyss,‟ meaning God allowed the devil to make heretics open up all heresy. The devil cannot act without God’s permission. He stirs up heresy from hell, taking hold of humans, often Catholic priests (most great heretics were, alas), and filling them with heretical thoughts.