by it. Now the beast had four colours on its head—black, then fiery and bloody, then golden,
and lastly white.
Chap. II.
Now after I had passed by the wild beast, and had moved forward about thirty feet, lo!
a virgin meets me, adorned as if she were proceeding from the bridal chamber, clothed en-
tirely in white, and with white sandals, and veiled up to her forehead, and her head was
covered by a hood.138 And she had white hair. I knew from my former visions that this was
the Church, and I became more joyful. She saluted me, and said, “Hail, O man!” And I re-
turned her salutation, and said, “Lady, hail!” And she answered, and said to me, “Has
nothing crossed your path?” I say, “I was met by a beast of such a size that it could destroy
peoples, but through the power of the Lord139 and His great mercy I escaped from it.” “Well
did you escape from it,” says she, “because you cast your care140 on God,141 and opened
your heart to the Lord, believing that you can be saved by no other than by His great and
glorious name.142 On this account the Lord has sent His angel, who has rule over the beasts,
and whose name is Thegri,143 and has shut up its mouth, so that it cannot tear you. You
have escaped from great tribulation on account of your faith, and because you did not doubt
in the presence of such a beast. Go, therefore, and tell the elect of the Lord144 His mighty
deeds, and say to them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming. If then
ye prepare yourselves, and repent with all your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible
for you to escape it, if your heart be pure and spotless, and ye spend the rest of the days of
your life in serving the Lord blamelessly. Cast your cares upon the Lord, and He will direct
them. Trust the Lord, ye who doubt, for He is all-powerful, and can turn His anger away
from you, and send scourges145 on the doubters. Woe to those who hear these words, and
despise them:146 better were it for them not to have been born.”147
138 [Those who remember the Vatican collection and other antiques, will recall the exquisite figure and
veiling of the Pudicitia.]
139 The Lord. God.—Vat.
140 Care. Loneliness and anxiety.—Vat.
141 God. The Lord.—Vat.
142 [Acts iv. 12.]
143 [Perhaps compounded from θὴρ and ἀγρεύω.] The name of this angel is variously written, Hegrin [Query.
Quasi ἐγρηγορεῖν, or corrupted from (Sept.) εἲρ καὶ ἃγιος; Hir in Daniel’s Chaldee], Tegri. Some have supposed
the word to be for ἄγριον, the wild; some have taken it to mean “the watchful,” as in Dan. iv. 10, 23: and some
take it to be the name of a fabulous lion. [See, also, Dan. vi. 22.]
144 The Lord. God.—Vat.
145 Send scourges. Send you help. But woe to the doubters who.—Vat.
146 [1 Thess. v. 20.]
147 Matt. xxvi. 24.
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Vision Fourth. Concerning the Trial and Tribulation that are to Come Upon…