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The Woman of the Apocalypse (or the woman clothed with the sun, Greek: γυνὴ περιβεβλημένη τὸν ἥλιον; Latin: Mulier amicta sole) is a figure–often considered to be a reference to the Virgin Mary in Catholic theology–described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation (written c. AD 95).

The woman gives birth to a male child who is threatened by a dragon, identified as the Devil and Satan, who intends to devour the child as soon as he is born. When the child is taken to heaven, the woman flees on eagle’s wings into the wilderness at a "place prepared of God" for 1,260 days. This leads to a "War in Heaven" in which the angels cast out the dragon. The dragon attacks the woman, but the woman escapes on her wings for "a time, times and a time and a half". The dragon then attacks her again with a flood of water from his mouth, which is subsequently swallowed by earth.^[1] Frustrated, the dragon initiates war on "the remnant of her seed", identified as the righteous followers of Christ. The Woman of the Apocalypse is widely identified as the Virgin Mary. Some Catholic commentaries, such as Thomas Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary (1859), allow for the interpretation of the woman as either the Church or Mary. The commentary of the New American Bible states that "The woman adorned with the sun, the moon, and the stars (images taken from Genesis 37:9–10) symbolizes God’s people in the Old and the New Testament. The Israel of old gave birth to the Messiah (Rev 12:5) and then became the new Israel, the church, which suffers persecution by the dragon (Rev. 12:6, 13–17); cf. Is. 50:1; 66:7; Jer. 50:12."^[2]

Among Protestants, including particularly among those with more Reformed theology and Evangelicals, the Woman of the Apocalypse tends to be seen as the Church or Israel.

Arsène Heitz, one of the designers who submitted proposals for the flag of Europe and the European Union, suggested that the twelve stars in the current design is derived from the twelve stars above the Woman's head.^[3]

Narrative

Revelation 12 describes "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (12:1).^[4] The woman is pregnant and about to give birth, "travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered" (12:2).

Then there is "a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads" (12:3) who is about to "devour her child as soon as it was born" (12:4). But her child is "caught up unto God" (12:5), and the woman herself is "fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." (12:6)^[4]

Then there is a description of "War in Heaven" of the angels against the dragon, and "the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (12:9)^[4]

The woman is again mentioned in 12:13, as she is persecuted by the dragon, and she escapes on her "two wings of a great eagle" (12:14). The dragon attempts to inundate her place of refuge, by "water as a flood" emerging from his mouth (12:15), but the flood is swallowed up by the earth (12:16), so the dragon went "to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (12:17).

Interpretation as the Virgin Mary

History

Ancient writers subscribing to the Marian interpretation include Epiphanius,^[5] Tychonius^[6] (who heavily influenced Augustine), the unknown author of the History of Joseph the Carpenter,^[7] Quodvultdeus (a disciple of Augustine), Cassiodorus (Complexiones in Apocalypsi, written c. 570 AD), and the Greek Fathers Andreas of Caesarea (late 6th c. / early 7th c.) and Oikoumenios (6th c.).^[a]

In modern times, the Marian interpretation has been affirmed by Pope Pius X,^[8] Pope Pius XII,^[9] Pope Paul VI,^[10] and Pope John Paul II.^[11]

Theologians view the Woman of the apocalyse in Revelation 12:1–3 as a foresight to the Virgin Mary, both the mother of God and the mother of church; taking Revelation 12 as a reference to Mary, Israel, and the Church as a threefold symbolism through the Book of Isaiah and affirms Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ as the prophetic fulfilment described in Revelation 12 (cf. Isaiah 7:14, 26:17, 54:1, 66:7).^[12]

Pope Pius X explicitly identified the "woman" of the Revelation with the Virgin in his encyclical Ad diem illum.^[13] Pope Benedict XVI also made this identification several times, associating the "crown of twelve stars" with Mary's authority among the saints.^[14]^[15]^[16] The same did Pope Francis.^[17]

Theological interpretation

The woman's "male child" is a reference to Jesus (Revelation 12:5), since he is destined to "rule all nations with a rod of iron" (Revelation 12:5). The dragon trying to devour the woman's child at the moment of his birth (Revelation 12:4) is a reference to Herod the Great's attempt to kill the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:16). Through his death and resurrection and Ascension, Jesus "was snatched up to God and to his throne" (Revelation 12:5).^{[citation needed]}

In the interpretation of Pius X (1904), the birth is not that of Jesus but "surely ours", (i.e. the Church Militant) "we who, being yet detained in exile, are still to be brought forth to the perfect love of God and eternal happiness".^[8] Pius XII (1950) makes explicit the reference to the Assumption of Mary.^[9] And John Paul II (1987) to the Protoevangelium interpretation of Genesis 3:15, and by extension the symbolic identification of the Woman with both Mary and Eve.^[11] ^[18]

Veneration

Both Marian veneration and the interpretation of the Woman of the Apocalypse are recorded since at least the 4th century, but the specific veneration of Mary in this form becomes tangible only in the medieval period. Iconographically, Marian figures associated with the Revelation narrative are recognizable by the astronomical attributes, specifically her standing on a crescent moon, and the crown of twelve stars (while the description "clothed with the sun" is sometimes rendered by rays emanating from her figure).

Association of Mary with a single star is recorded from the early medieval period, in the hymn Ave Maris Stella.^{[citation needed]}

Many depictions of Mary from the Gothic period (14th to 16th century) show her standing on a crescent moon inspired by the association of Mary with the woman of the Apocalypse. The motif became so popular in 15th-century Germany that pre-existing Madonna figures were refitted with a crescent (e.g. Madonna of Bad Doberan, c. 1300, refitted in the 15th century). The Virgin of Guadalupe was depicted as the Madonna of the Apocalypse since at least the 16th century.

The Madonna of the Apocalypse became associated with Our Lady of the Rosary, the "crown of twelve stars" being identified with a "rosary of twelve privileges" of Mary.^[19] The Virgin of the Rosary is frequently shown with the crown or halo of twelve stars (but not the crescent moon) in modern depictions (since the 19th century^[b]). A notable example is the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei.

An anecdote (first published in the 1980s) connects the design of the Flag of Europe (1955) to this aspect of Marian iconography.^[c]

Interpretation as the Church

One early writer interpreting the woman as the church is Hippolytus of Rome who states said interpretation in On Christ and Antichrist.^[20]

The Catholic Church recognizes the "woman" as part of the polyvalent symbolism that is found in the book in four referents: Israel, the Church, Eve, and Mary.

Commentators who adhere to Protestant eschatology sometimes identify the woman as the Church, and the man-child she gives birth to are the saints.^[21] According to this interpretation, Revelation 12:17 describes the remnant of the seed of the woman as those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The offspring of the Woman, the Woman's seed, then refers to the saints. The man child "who shall rule the nations with a rod of iron" is a symbol of the faithful members of the Church.

In Revelation 2:18–29, the Church in Thyatira is promised that the faithful shall rule the nations with a rod of iron. In Revelation 19:15 the same thing is stated of Jesus. In Galatians 4:26, Paul the Apostle refers to the "New Jerusalem" as "our mother", and in Revelation 21:2 and Ephesians 5:21–32 the New Jerusalem and the Church is portrayed as the Bride of Christ.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church identifies itself as the end-time "remnant church" described in Revelation 12:17.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also interprets the woman to be the Church, and the man-child to be the political kingdom that will grow out of the Church prior to or during the Second Coming of Christ; this interpretation arises from Joseph Smith's translation of the twelfth chapter of Revelation.^{[citation needed]} Some in the church interpret the woman to be a symbol of the earth.^{[citation needed]} Baptisms of fire and water being poured upon the earth and the sun clothing the earth daily are just a couple examples of this reference.^{[citation needed]}

Other interpretations

The Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith interprets the woman as representing the religion of God as revealed within Islam, with the governments of the Persian Empire (the sun) and Ottoman Empire (the moon) under its influence "for the emblem of Persia is the sun and that of the Ottoman Empire is the crescent moon."^[22] They identify the crown of twelve stars on her head as the Twelve Imams of Islam who promoted the religion and were "the educators of the nation, and who shone as stars in the heaven of guidance."^[22] Bahá'í Faith recognizes the child she bears after a period of 1,260 days to rule all nations with a rod of iron to be the Báb, the forerunner of the Bahá'í Faith, who declared his mission in 1844 – the year 1260 in the Islamic lunar calendar.^[22]

The Nation of Israel

Dispensational premillennialists, and amillennialists who believe in multiple valid interpretations will often identify the woman as the nation of Israel. There are several reasons given to support this interpretation. The woman is said to be clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and twelve stars. These symbols are drawn from Genesis 37:9–11, in which Joseph has a dream of the Sun and Moon symbolizing his father and mother, and stars representing his eleven brothers, which bow down to him. The Old Testament's prophets referred to Israel as a "woman" (Isaiah 54:5–6; Jeremiah 4:31; Micah 4:9–10).^[21]

The woman flees into the wilderness where she is nourished for 1260 days, the equivalent of three and a half years or forty-two months (cf. Rev. 12:6). According to this interpretation, these terms are used prophetically in Scripture either for the first half or the last half of the "Seventieth Week of Daniel", in Daniel 9:24–27, a prophecy specifically addressed to Daniel and his people, Israel (Dan. 9:24).^[21]

In the latter part of the seventieth week, a remnant of Israel will flee into the wilderness to escape the persecution of Antichrist, who is called "the son of destruction", "the lawless one", and "whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan" (2 Thess. 2:1–12; cf. Rev. 12:4,9). Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse, warned the people of this time which would occur just prior to His return to set up His earthly, Millennial kingdom (Matt. 24:15–22). Further, the archangel Michael is called the guardian over the sons of Israel in Dan. 12:1. And he will arise at that time of national Israel's tribulation (Dan. 12:1; cf. Rev. 12:7).^[21]

Amillennialist belief can also interpret this passage as the nation of Israel.

The remnant or sons of Israel is, in this understanding, the followers of Christ. The "Seventieth Week of Daniel", and prophecy of the Olivet Discourse, in this belief, are ascribed as concerning the first coming of Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (during which enforced emperor worship occurred in the temple of Jerusalem, which was later almost totally destroyed, and many Jews were made slaves in distant lands resulting presumably in their remaining families not knowing what happened to them or where they were), and the establishment of Christ's Church, as it currently exists, both on earth and in heaven.

Lutheran scholar Craig Koester, for example, says, "The woman encompasses the story of Israel, from whom the Messiah was born, as well as the story of the church, which was persecuted after Jesus' death and resurrection... John's visionary account of the threat against the woman and the woman's preservation uses imagery that encompasses many moments in the story of God's people. This allows the story to apply to people in many times and places."^[23]

Astrological symbolism

Russian Orthodox theologian Sergei Bulgakov (1871–1944) in his interpretation of Revelation notes of the astronomical attributes of the woman in Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Egyptian mythologies. He takes the crown of twelve stars as representing the Zodiac. In his interpretation, astronomical attributes of a pagan goddess are here "translated into the language of Christian theology and assume the new symbolism.^[24]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

In Joseph Smith's Inspired Translation of the King James Bible (JST), the woman is identified as "the church of God":

"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought against Michael; And the dragon prevailed not against Michael, neither the child, nor the woman which was the church of God, who had been delivered of her pains, and brought forth the kingdom of our God and his Christ. (Revelation 12:1–17 JST)

Christian Science

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (1875) written by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, presents the woman in the Apocalypse as symbolizing "the spiritual idea of God; she illustrates the coincidence of God and man as the divine Principle and divine idea ... the spiritual idea of God's motherhood."^[25] The man child represents "Christ, God's idea, [which] will eventually rule all nations and peoples – imperatively, absolutely, finally – with divine Science [the Law of God]"^[26]

References

Notes

^ Oecumenius in his commentary states that the woman is the Theotokos and that she is present in heaven bodily and describes her as consubstantial with us (i.e. of the same human nature).(Suggit 2006, p. 107)
^ there are examples of Baroque-era predecessors of this iconographic tradition, e.g. Diego Velazquez, Immaculata conceptio (1618), Carlo Dolci, Madonna in Glory (1670).
^ Arsène Heitz (1908–1989), one of the designers who had submitted proposals for the flag's design, in 1987, following the adoption of the flag by the EEC, laid claim such a religious inspiration. Heitz also made a connection to the date of the flag's adoption, 8 December 1955, coinciding with the Catholic Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The French satirical magazine Le Canard enchaîné reacted to Heitz' statement with an article entitled L’Europe violée par la Sainte Vierge ("Europe Raped by the Blessed Virgin") in the 20 December 1989 edition. (Gialdino 2005, pp. 80–85).

Citations

^ Revelation 12:15
^ Revelation 12 NABRE Footnote b
^ "Real politics, at last?". The Economist.
^ ^a ^b ^c Jaskowak O.P., Maximilian Maria. "The Virgin of the Apocalypse", Dominicana, May 16, 2018
^ Epiphanius Salaminis Episcopus. "Homilia in laudes Mariae deiparae" [Homily in praise of the Virgin Mary] (in Latin) – via Documenta Catholica Omnia.
^ Tychonius view is transmitted by Cassiodorus, Complexiones in Apocalypsin; PL, 70, 1411
^ "The History of Joseph the Carpenter". The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementia, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 8 – via Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
^ ^a ^b St. Pius X, Ad diem illum. ash 36. 458–59: "No one of us does not know that that woman signifies the Virgin Mary, who brought forth our Head with her virginity intact. But the Apostle continues: 'And being with child, she cried out, laboring in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. ' Therefore John saw the Most Holy Mother of God already enjoying eternal happiness, and yet laboring from some hidden birth. With what birth? Surely ours, we who, being yet detained in exile, are still to be brought forth to the perfect love of God and eternal happiness."
^ ^a ^b Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus. AAS 42. 762–63: "We frequently find theologians and preachers who, following the footsteps of the Holy Fathers, use words and events from sacred Scripture with some freedom to explain their belief in the Assumption... . And furthermore, the Scholastic doctors have considered the Assumption of the Virgin Mother of God as signified not only in the various figures of the Old Testament, but also in that woman clothed with the sun, whom the Apostle John contemplated on the island of Patmos."
^ Paul VI, Signum Magnum, May 13, 1967 AAS 59: "The great sign which the Apostle John saw in heaven, 'a woman clothed with the sun' is interpreted by the sacred liturgy, not without foundation, as referring to the most Blessed Mary, the Mother of all men by the grace of Christ the Redeemer."
^ ^a ^b John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, March 15, 1987. Vatican Translation. #24: "... she who was the one 'full of grace' was brought into the mystery of Christ in order to be his Mother and thus the Holy Mother of God, through the Church remains in that mystery as 'the woman' spoken of by the Book of Genesis (3:15) at the beginning and by the Apocalypse (12:1) at the end of the history of salvation."
^ Saunder, Rev. William. "Woman Clothed with the Sun", Arlington Catholic Herald, 2004. Catholic Education Resource Center. Retrieved July 6, 2011 Archived July 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum (February 2, 1904) | Pius X". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
^ "Act of Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the occasion of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 2011) | Benedict XVI". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
^ "Angelus, 15 August 2011, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary | Benedict XVI". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
^ "15 August 2011: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mass at the Parish of Saint Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo | BENEDICT XVI". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
^ "Pilgrimage to Fátima: Holy Mass and rite of Canonization of Blesseds Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto (square in front of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, 13 May 2017) | Francis". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
^ see also James Akin, The Woman of Revelation 12 This Rock (Catholic Answers Magazine), Volume 8, Number 5 (May 1997).^{[unreliable source?]} "The Woman in Revelation 12 is part of the fusion imagery/polyvalent symbolism that is found in the book. She has four referents: Israel, the Church, Eve, and Mary. [...] The Woman is Eve because she is part of the three-way conflict also involving her Seed and the Dragon, who is identified with the ancient serpent (the one from Eden) in 20:2. This mirrors the conflict in Genesis 3:15 between Eve, the serpent, and her unborn seed—which in turn is a symbol of the conflict between Mary, Satan, and Jesus."
^ Rohrmayer 1844, p. 45.
^ Hippolytus 1886.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Who's That Woman?". biblicist.org. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24.
^ ^a ^b ^c ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá 2014, p. 99.
^ Koester 2001, pp. 123–124.
^ Bulgakov, Sergei (1948). The Apocalypse of St. John. p. 44.
^ Baker Eddy 1910, pp. 561–562.
^ Baker Eddy 1910, p. 565.

Works cited

‘Abdu’l‑Bahá (2014), Some Answered Questions (PDF), Bahá’í International Community
Baker Eddy, Mary (1910). Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Boston, MA: Christian Science Publishing Society. ISBN 978-0-87952-038-0.
Gialdino, C.C. (2005). I simboli dell'Unione europea: bandiera, inno, motto, moneta, giornata. Per conoscere l'Unione europea (in Italian). Istituto poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Libreria dello Stato. ISBN 978-88-240-2503-4.
Hippolytus (1886). Alexander Roberts; James Donaldson; A. Cleveland Coxe. (eds.). On Christ and Antichrist. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 5. Translated by J.H. MacMahon. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co.
Koester, Craig (2001). Revelation and the end of all things. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-4660-2. OCLC 45620640.
Rohrmayer, Michael (1844). Marianisches Wallfahrtsbuch. Manz.
Suggit, J.N. (2006). Commentary on the Apocalypse. Fathers of the church. Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 978-0-8132-0112-2.

External links

Chivalric precursors to St. George and the Dragon, 14 images under Wikimedia:Virgin and Serpent
Immaculata as Radiation of Fatherhood Archived 2017-02-22 at the Wayback Machine 126 images under Wikimedia:Mondsickelmadonna
Scriptural parturition imagery of Revelation chapter 12, 24 images under Wikimedia:Woman of the Apocalypse
Eastern icon of the type Matka Boska Ostrobramska – 28 images Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn at the Eastern Gate, Vilnius, Lithuania

[Oecumenius-8] Oecumenius in his commentary states that the woman is the Theotokos and that she is present in heaven bodily and describes her as consubstantial with us (i.e. of the same human nature).(Suggit 2006, p. 107)

[Baroque-21] there are examples of Baroque-era predecessors of this iconographic tradition, e.g. Diego Velazquez, Immaculata conceptio (1618), Carlo Dolci, Madonna in Glory (1670).

[Heitz-22] Arsène Heitz (1908–1989), one of the designers who had submitted proposals for the flag's design, in 1987, following the adoption of the flag by the EEC, laid claim such a religious inspiration. Heitz also made a connection to the date of the flag's adoption, 8 December 1955, coinciding with the Catholic Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The French satirical magazine Le Canard enchaîné reacted to Heitz' statement with an article entitled L’Europe violée par la Sainte Vierge ("Europe Raped by the Blessed Virgin") in the 20 December 1989 edition. (Gialdino 2005, pp. 80–85).

[1] Revelation 12:15

[2] Revelation 12 NABRE Footnote b

[3] "Real politics, at last?". The Economist.

[Jaskowak-4] Jaskowak O.P., Maximilian Maria. "The Virgin of the Apocalypse", Dominicana, May 16, 2018

[Epiphanius-5] Epiphanius Salaminis Episcopus. "Homilia in laudes Mariae deiparae" [Homily in praise of the Virgin Mary] (in Latin) – via Documenta Catholica Omnia.

[6] Tychonius view is transmitted by Cassiodorus, Complexiones in Apocalypsin; PL, 70, 1411

[Joseph-7] "The History of Joseph the Carpenter". The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementia, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 8 – via Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

[Pius_X-9] St. Pius X, Ad diem illum. ash 36. 458–59: "No one of us does not know that that woman signifies the Virgin Mary, who brought forth our Head with her virginity intact. But the Apostle continues: 'And being with child, she cried out, laboring in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. ' Therefore John saw the Most Holy Mother of God already enjoying eternal happiness, and yet laboring from some hidden birth. With what birth? Surely ours, we who, being yet detained in exile, are still to be brought forth to the perfect love of God and eternal happiness."

[Pius_XII-10] Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus. AAS 42. 762–63: "We frequently find theologians and preachers who, following the footsteps of the Holy Fathers, use words and events from sacred Scripture with some freedom to explain their belief in the Assumption... . And furthermore, the Scholastic doctors have considered the Assumption of the Virgin Mother of God as signified not only in the various figures of the Old Testament, but also in that woman clothed with the sun, whom the Apostle John contemplated on the island of Patmos."

[11] Paul VI, Signum Magnum, May 13, 1967 AAS 59: "The great sign which the Apostle John saw in heaven, 'a woman clothed with the sun' is interpreted by the sacred liturgy, not without foundation, as referring to the most Blessed Mary, the Mother of all men by the grace of Christ the Redeemer."

[John_Paul_II-12] John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, March 15, 1987. Vatican Translation. #24: "... she who was the one 'full of grace' was brought into the mystery of Christ in order to be his Mother and thus the Holy Mother of God, through the Church remains in that mystery as 'the woman' spoken of by the Book of Genesis (3:15) at the beginning and by the Apocalypse (12:1) at the end of the history of salvation."

[Rev12-13] Saunder, Rev. William. "Woman Clothed with the Sun", Arlington Catholic Herald, 2004. Catholic Education Resource Center. Retrieved July 6, 2011 Archived July 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine

[14] "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum (February 2, 1904) | Pius X". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.

[15] "Act of Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the occasion of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 2011) | Benedict XVI". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.

[16] "Angelus, 15 August 2011, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary | Benedict XVI". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.

[17] "15 August 2011: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mass at the Parish of Saint Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo | BENEDICT XVI". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.

[18] "Pilgrimage to Fátima: Holy Mass and rite of Canonization of Blesseds Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto (square in front of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, 13 May 2017) | Francis". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-08-10.

[19] see also James Akin, The Woman of Revelation 12 This Rock (Catholic Answers Magazine), Volume 8, Number 5 (May 1997).^{[unreliable source?]} "The Woman in Revelation 12 is part of the fusion imagery/polyvalent symbolism that is found in the book. She has four referents: Israel, the Church, Eve, and Mary. [...] The Woman is Eve because she is part of the three-way conflict also involving her Seed and the Dragon, who is identified with the ancient serpent (the one from Eden) in 20:2. This mirrors the conflict in Genesis 3:15 between Eve, the serpent, and her unborn seed—which in turn is a symbol of the conflict between Mary, Satan, and Jesus."

[FOOTNOTERohrmayer184445-20] Rohrmayer 1844, p. 45.

[FOOTNOTEHippolytus1886-23] Hippolytus 1886.

[biblicist-24] "Who's That Woman?". biblicist.org. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24.

[FOOTNOTE‘Abdu’l‑Bahá201499-25] ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá 2014, p. 99.

[FOOTNOTEKoester2001123–124-26] Koester 2001, pp. 123–124.

[27] Bulgakov, Sergei (1948). The Apocalypse of St. John. p. 44.

[FOOTNOTEBaker_Eddy1910561–562-28] Baker Eddy 1910, pp. 561–562.

[FOOTNOTEBaker_Eddy1910565-29] Baker Eddy 1910, p. 565.

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{distinguish|Whore of Babylon}}
 {{redirect|Woman clothed with the sun|the novel by F. L. Lucas|The Woman Clothed with the Sun|the Hannibal episode|...And the Woman Clothed with the Sun}}
-[[File:Woman Apocalypse Hungary.jpg|thumb|Woman clothed with the Sun or Woman of the Apocalypse – main metaphore in the [[Book of Revelation]] – painting by Ferenc Szoldatits.]]
+[[File:Woman Apocalypse Hungary.jpg|thumb|Woman clothed with the Sun or Woman of the Apocalypse – from the 12th chapter of the [[Book of Revelation]] – painting by Ferenc Szoldatits]]
 {{Christian Eschatology}}
-The '''Woman of the Apocalypse''' (or '''the woman clothed with the sun''', {{lang-el|γυνὴ περιβεβλημένη τὸν ἥλιον}}; [[Latin]]: {{lang|la|Mulier amicta sole}}) is a figure, traditionally believed to be the [[Virgin Mary]], described in [[Revelation 12|Chapter 12]] of the [[Book of Revelation]] (written c. AD 95).
+The '''Woman of the Apocalypse''' (or '''the woman clothed with the sun''', {{langx|el|γυνὴ περιβεβλημένη τὸν ἥλιον}}; [[Latin]]: {{lang|la|Mulier amicta sole}}) is a figure–often considered to be a reference to the [[Virgin Mary]] in [[Catholic theology]]–described in [[Revelation 12|Chapter 12]] of the [[Book of Revelation]] (written c. AD 95).
-The woman gives birth to a male child who is threatened by a [[dragon]], identified as the [[Devil]] and [[Satan]], who intends to devour the child as soon as he is born.<ref>{{bibleref2|Revelation| 12:4}}</ref> When the child is taken to heaven, the woman flees on eagle’s wings into the wilderness at "palace prepared" for 1,260 days.  This leads to a "[[War in Heaven]]" in which the angels cast out the dragon. The dragon attacks the woman, but the woman escapes on her wings for "a time, times and a time and a half"  i.e. 1,260 days (the duration of each of three periods). The dragon then attacks her again with a flood of water from his mouth, which is subsequently swallowed by earth.<ref>{{bibleref2|Revelation| 12:15}}</ref> Frustrated, the dragon initiates war on "the remnant of her seed", identified as the righteous followers of Christ.
+The woman gives birth to a male child who is threatened by a [[dragon]], identified as the [[Devil]] and [[Satan]], who intends to devour the child as soon as he is born. When the child is taken to heaven, the woman flees on eagle’s wings into the wilderness at a "place prepared of God" for 1,260 days.  This leads to a "[[War in Heaven]]" in which the angels cast out the dragon. The dragon attacks the woman, but the woman escapes on her wings for "a time, times and a time and a half". The dragon then attacks her again with a flood of water from his mouth, which is subsequently swallowed by earth.<ref>{{bibleref2|Revelation| 12:15}}</ref> Frustrated, the dragon initiates war on "the remnant of her seed", identified as the righteous followers of Christ.
-The Woman of the Apocalypse is widely identified as the [[Virgin Mary]]. This interpretation is held by some commentators of the [[ancient Church]] as well as in the medieval and modern [[Catholic Church]]. This view does not negate the alternative interpretation of the Woman representing the [[Christian Church|Church]], as in Catholic teaching, Mary is both the [[Mother of God]] and the [[Mother of the Church]]. Some Catholic commentaries, such as [[Thomas Haydock]]'s Catholic Bible Commentary (1859), allow for the interpretation of the woman as either the Church or Mary. The commentary of the [[New American Bible]] (the official [[Catholic Bible]] for America) states that "The woman adorned with the sun, the moon, and the stars (images taken from Genesis 37:9–10) symbolizes God’s people in the Old and the New Testament. The Israel of old gave birth to the Messiah (Rev 12:5) and then became the new Israel, the church, which suffers persecution by the dragon (Rev. 12:6, 13–17); cf. Is. 50:1; 66:7; Jer. 50:12."<ref>{{bibleref2|Revelation|12|NABRE|Revelation 12 NABRE Footnote b}}</ref>
+The Woman of the Apocalypse is widely identified as the [[Virgin Mary]]. Some Catholic commentaries, such as [[Thomas Haydock]]'s Catholic Bible Commentary (1859), allow for the interpretation of the woman as either the Church or Mary. The commentary of the [[New American Bible]] states that "The woman adorned with the sun, the moon, and the stars (images taken from Genesis 37:9–10) symbolizes God’s people in the Old and the New Testament. The Israel of old gave birth to the Messiah (Rev 12:5) and then became the new Israel, the church, which suffers persecution by the dragon (Rev. 12:6, 13–17); cf. Is. 50:1; 66:7; Jer. 50:12."<ref>{{bibleref2|Revelation|12|NABRE|Revelation 12 NABRE Footnote b}}</ref>
-In [[Protestant]] churches, including [[Reformed Churches]] and the [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical Movement]], the Woman of the Apocalypse tends to be seen as the Church or Israel.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/revelation/revelation-12/ | title=Who Are the Woman, Child and Dragon in Revelation 12? }}</ref>{{reliable source|date=May 2022}}
+Among [[Protestantism|Protestants]], including particularly among those with more Reformed theology and [[Evangelicalism|Evangelicals]], the Woman of the Apocalypse tends to be seen as the Church or Israel.
+Arsène Heitz, one of the designers who submitted proposals for the [[Flag of Europe|flag]] of [[Europe]] and the [[European Union]], suggested that the twelve stars in the current design is derived from the twelve stars above the Woman's head.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2004/10/28/real-politics-at-last | title=Real politics, at last? | newspaper=The Economist }}</ref>
 ==Narrative==
-The text describes "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (12:1).
+Revelation 12 describes "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (12:1).<ref name=Jaskowak>[https://www.dominicanajournal.org/the-virgin-of-the-apocalypse/ Jaskowak O.P., Maximilian Maria. "The Virgin of the Apocalypse", ''Dominicana'', May 16, 2018]</ref> The woman is pregnant and about to give birth, "travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered" (12:2).
-The woman is pregnant and about to give birth, "travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered" (12:2).
-Then there is "a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads" (12:3) who is about to "devour her child as soon as it was born" (12:4). But her child is "caught up unto God" (12:5), and the woman herself is "fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." (12:6)
+Then there is "a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads" (12:3) who is about to "devour her child as soon as it was born" (12:4). But her child is "caught up unto God" (12:5), and the woman herself is "fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." (12:6)<ref name=Jaskowak/>
-Then there is a description of "[[War in Heaven]]" of the angels against the dragon, and "the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (12:9)
+Then there is a description of "[[War in Heaven]]" of the angels against the dragon, and "the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (12:9)<ref name=Jaskowak/>
 The woman is again mentioned in 12:13, as she is persecuted by the dragon, and she escapes on her "two wings of a great eagle" (12:14).
 The dragon attempts to inundate her place of refuge, by "water as a flood" emerging from his mouth (12:15), but the flood is swallowed up by the earth (12:16), so the dragon went "to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (12:17).
-==Gallery==
-<gallery mode="packed" heights="240">
-File:Woman of the Apocalypse (Hortus deliciarum).jpg|An illustration of the woman of the Apocalypse in ''[[Hortus deliciarum]]'' (redrawing of an illustration dated c. 1180), depicting various events from the narrative in Revelation 12 in a single image.
-File:Mantua 059.JPG|thumb|"Madonna with Child" as the woman in Revelation 12:1; Rotonda di San Lorenzo, [[Mantua]], [[Italy]], 14th century.
-File:Meister des Marienlebens 006.jpg|Shining Madonna ([[Master of the Life of Mary]], 1460-1480)
-File:Johannes op Patmos Saint John on Patmos Berlin, Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Gemaldegalerie HR.jpg|John the Evangelist on Patmos ([[Hieronymus Bosch]], c.1490-1495)
-File:Woman of the Apocalypse (William de Pannemaker).jpg|John the Evangelist and the Woman Clothed with the Sun ([[William de Pannemaker]], mid [[XVI century]])
-File:Virgen de guadalupe2.jpg|thumb|The [[Our Lady of Guadalupe|Virgin of Guadalupe]] has been depicted as the Woman of the Apocalypse since the 16th century.
-File:Peter Paul Rubens 215.jpg|A baroque ''Mondsichelmadonna'' (Madonna on the Crescent Moon)  painting by [[Rubens]], main altarpiece of the high altar at [[Freising Cathedral]] (c. 1625).<ref>''Modello'' for the painting of the altarpiece for the high altar of the cathedral at [[Freising]], The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, acc. no. 85.PB.146.</ref> The Virgin is depicted as wearing a red dress and blue mantle while crushing a serpent under her foot.<ref name=bampfa />
-File:Virgen alada del Apocalípsis Miguel de Santiago.jpg|"Winged Virgin of the Apocalypse" by [[Miguel de Santiago]]. [[Quito]], Ecuador, 17th century.
-File:Stiftskirche Schlägl - Kirchenportal 2 Maria vom Siege.jpg|A statue of [[Our Lady of Victory]] (1654), shown with crescent moon and solar rays, portal of [[Schlägl]] monastery church
-File:Ecuador Hausaltar mit Virgen de Quito 02 EthnM.jpg|House altar with the [[Virgin of Quito]] (18th century) by [[Bernardo de Legarda]]. Wood, polychromy. [[Ethnological Museum of Berlin]].
-File:William Blake 003.jpg|[[The Great Red Dragon paintings#The paintings|The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun]] ([[Blake, William|William Blake]], 1805-1810)
-File:Statue of Virgin Mary in the Cathedral of Strasbourg.jpg|A statue of Mary in [[Strasbourg Cathedral]] (1859) with a crown of twelve stars.
-File:Patrona_Hungariae_-_Török_bankház.jpg|Patrona Hungariae, mosaic by Miksa Róth, on the Turkish Bank House, in [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]].
-<!-- Deleted image removed: File:Woman_of_the_Apocalypse_Esztergom.JPG|Patrona Hungariae with the [[Holy Crown of Hungary]] on her head, with baby Jesus in her hand, and with the crescent moon under her feet - statue by György Kiss, in front of the [[Esztergom Basilica]], in [[Hungary]], it was erected in 1905. -->
-File:VirginMaryStainedGlassStJoseph'sBasilica.jpg|The crowned [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Blessed Virgin Mary]] in heaven depicted as the "woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" ([[Revelation 12|Revelations]] 12:1). - stained glass window in [[Basilica of St. Joseph, Alameda|St. Joseph's Basilica]], [[California]], [[United States|USA]], 1921.
-File:A Napbaöltözött asszony a Szegedi Dómban.jpg|Woman clothed with the Sun as an altar painting in the a catholic church in the [[Votive Church, Szeged|Votive Church]], [[Szeged]], [[Hungary]], 1930.
-File:Virgen de Quito Panecillo 03.jpg|[[Virgin of El Panecillo]] or Virgin of [[Quito]]. It is a 41 m monument built in the 1970s after a wooden sculpture of the same name by 18th century painter and sculptor [[Bernardo de Legarda]].
-</gallery>
 ==Interpretation as the Virgin Mary==
 ===History===
-Ancient witnesses to the Marian interpretation include [[Epiphanius of Salamis|St. Epiphanius]],<ref name=Epiphanius /> [[Ticonius|Tychonius]]<ref>Tychonius view is transmitted by Cassiodorus, Complexiones in Apocalypsin; PL, 70, 1411</ref> (who heavily influenced St. Augustine), the unknown author of the ''[[History of Joseph the Carpenter]]'',<ref name=Joseph /> [[Quodvultdeus]] (a disciple of St. Augustine), [[Cassiodorus]] (Complexiones in Apocalypsi, written c. 570 AD), and the Greek Fathers [[Andreas of Caesarea]] (late 6th c. / early 7th c.) and [[Oikoumenios]] (6th c.).{{efn|name=Oecumenius}}
+Ancient writers subscribing to the Marian interpretation include [[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]],<ref name=Epiphanius /> [[Ticonius|Tychonius]]<ref>Tychonius view is transmitted by Cassiodorus, Complexiones in Apocalypsin; PL, 70, 1411</ref> (who heavily influenced Augustine), the unknown author of the ''[[History of Joseph the Carpenter]]'',<ref name=Joseph /> [[Quodvultdeus]] (a disciple of Augustine), [[Cassiodorus]] (Complexiones in Apocalypsi, written c. 570 AD), and the Greek Fathers [[Andreas of Caesarea]] (late 6th c. / early 7th c.) and [[Oikoumenios]] (6th c.).{{efn|name=Oecumenius}}
+[[File:William-Adolphe Bouguereau The Virgin With Angels.jpg|thumb|[[Regina Angelorum (Bouguereau)|Regina Angelorum]] by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, depicting the [[Madonna (art)|Virgin and Child]] surrounded by [[Angel|angels]]. ]]
 In modern times, the Marian interpretation has been affirmed by [[Pope Pius X]],<ref name="Pius_X">St. Pius X, Ad diem illum. ash 36. 458–59: "No one of us does not know that that woman signifies the Virgin Mary, who brought forth our Head with her virginity intact. But the Apostle continues: 'And being with child, she cried out, laboring in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. ' Therefore John saw the Most Holy Mother of God already enjoying eternal happiness, and yet laboring from some hidden birth. With what birth? Surely ours, we who, being yet detained in exile, are still to be brought forth to the perfect love of God and eternal happiness."</ref>
 [[Pope Pius XII]],<ref name="Pius_XII">Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus. AAS 42. 762–63: "We frequently find theologians and preachers who, following the footsteps of the Holy Fathers, use words and events from sacred Scripture with some freedom to explain their belief in the Assumption... . And furthermore, the Scholastic doctors have considered the Assumption of the Virgin Mother of God as signified not only in the various figures of the Old Testament, but also in that woman clothed with the sun, whom the Apostle John contemplated on the island of Patmos."</ref>
 [[Pope Paul VI]],<ref>Paul VI, Signum Magnum, May 13, 1967 AAS 59: "The great sign which the Apostle John saw in heaven, 'a woman clothed with the sun' is interpreted by the sacred liturgy, not without foundation, as referring to the most Blessed Mary, the Mother of all men by the grace of Christ the Redeemer."
 </ref> and [[Pope John Paul II]].<ref name="John_Paul_II">John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, March 15, 1987. Vatican Translation. #24: "... she who was the one 'full of grace' was brought into the mystery of Christ in order to be his Mother and thus the Holy Mother of God, through the Church remains in that mystery as 'the woman' spoken of by the Book of Genesis (3:15) at the beginning and by the Apocalypse (12:1) at the end of the history of salvation."</ref>
+Theologians view the Woman of the apocalyse in [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 12:1–3 as a foresight to the Virgin Mary, both the mother of God and the mother of church; taking Revelation 12 as a reference to Mary, Israel, and the Church as a threefold symbolism through the Book of Isaiah and affirms Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ as the prophetic fulfilment described in Revelation 12 (cf. Isaiah 7:14, 26:17, 54:1, 66:7).<ref name="Rev12">[http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0769.html Saunder, Rev. William. "Woman Clothed with the Sun", ''Arlington Catholic Herald'', 2004. Catholic Education Resource Center. Retrieved July 6, 2011] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713052830/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0769.html |date=July 13, 2013 }}</ref>
+[[Pope Pius X]] explicitly identified the "woman" of the Revelation with the Virgin in his encyclical ''[[Ad diem illum]].''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum (February 2, 1904) {{!}} Pius X |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_02021904_ad-diem-illum-laetissimum.html |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> [[Pope Benedict XVI]] also made this identification several times, associating the "crown of twelve stars" with Mary's authority among the saints.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Act of Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the occasion of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 2011) {{!}} Benedict XVI |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2011/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20111208_immacolata.html |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Angelus, 15 August 2011, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary {{!}} Benedict XVI |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/angelus/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20110815.html |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=15 August 2011: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mass at the Parish of Saint Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo {{!}} BENEDICT XVI |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20110815_assunzione.html |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> The same did [[Pope Francis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pilgrimage to Fátima: Holy Mass and rite of Canonization of Blesseds Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto (square in front of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, 13 May 2017) {{!}} Francis |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2017/documents/papa-francesco_20170513_omelia-pellegrinaggio-fatima.html |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>
 ===Theological interpretation===
@@ Line 58: / Line 42: @@
 In the interpretation of [[Pius X]] (1904), the birth is not that of Jesus but "surely ours", (i.e. the [[Church Militant]]) "we who, being yet detained in exile, are still to be brought forth to the perfect love of God and eternal happiness".<ref name="Pius_X"/> [[Pius XII]] (1950) makes explicit the reference to the [[Assumption of Mary]].<ref name="Pius_XII"/>
-And [[John Paul II]] (1987) to the [[Protoevangelium]] interpretation of Genesis 3:15, and by extension the symbolic identification of the Woman with both Mary and [[Eve]].<ref name="John_Paul_II"/><!--
+And [[John Paul II]] (1987) to the [[Protoevangelium]] interpretation of Genesis 3:15, and by extension the symbolic identification of the Woman with both Mary and [[Eve]].<ref name="John_Paul_II"/>
 <ref>see also James Akin, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050306103919/http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1997/9705chap.asp The Woman of Revelation 12]  ''This Rock (Catholic Answers Magazine)'', Volume 8, Number 5 (May 1997).{{verify credibility|date=July 2015}}
 "The Woman in Revelation 12 is part of the fusion imagery/polyvalent symbolism that is found in the book. She has four referents: Israel, the Church, Eve, and Mary. [...]
 The Woman is Eve because she is part of the three-way conflict also involving her Seed and the Dragon, who is identified with the ancient serpent (the one from Eden) in 20:2. This mirrors the conflict in Genesis 3:15 between Eve, the serpent, and her unborn seed—which in turn is a symbol of the conflict between Mary, Satan, and Jesus."
 </ref>
--->
-For an assessment of the logical and theological reasons for identifying the Woman of Revelation 12 with Mary Mother of God, see {{Interlanguage link multi|Brunero Gherardini|it}}, ''Raised to Heaven because Co-Redemptrix on Earth. Thoughts on the Foundation of the Catholic Dogma'' (2012)<ref name=Gherardini /> and D'Argon J-L, "The Apocalypse" in [[The Jerome Biblical Commentary]] (1968).
-Alternatively,  extreme pain in childbirth is seen as a result of the fall by many and the woman has extreme pain in child birth which may cause some tension with a sinless Mary interpretation of the text is an issue to consider.  Dr. Mark Miravalle teacher of General Mariology in Mary's Virginity During the Birth of Jesus: The Catholic Church's Perennial Tradition.
-Also alternatively, some would make the woman Israel and/or the church since in one dream of Joseph's in Genesis of his father and mother being the sun and moon and his brothers in Gen 37:9.
 ===Veneration===
 Both Marian veneration and the interpretation of the Woman of the Apocalypse are recorded since at least the 4th century, but the specific veneration of Mary in this form becomes tangible only in the medieval period. Iconographically, Marian figures associated with the Revelation narrative are recognizable by the astronomical attributes, specifically her standing on a [[wikt:crescent moon|crescent moon]], and the crown of twelve stars (while the description "clothed with the sun" is sometimes rendered by rays emanating from her figure).
-Association of Mary with a single star is recorded from the early medieval period, in the hymn ''[[Ave Maris Stella]]''.
+Association of Mary with a single star is recorded from the early medieval period, in the hymn ''[[Ave Maris Stella]]''.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
 Many depictions of Mary from the [[Gothic art|Gothic period]] (14th to 16th century) show her standing on a [[wikt:crescent moon|crescent moon]] inspired by the association of Mary with the woman of the Apocalypse. The motif became so popular in 15th-century Germany that pre-existing Madonna figures were refitted with a crescent (e.g. Madonna of [[Bad Doberan]], c. 1300, refitted in the 15th century).
@@ Line 84: / Line 61: @@
 ==Interpretation as the Church==
-One early witness to the interpretation of the woman as the church is [[Hippolytus of Rome]] who states said interpretation in ''On Christ and Antichrist''.{{sfn|Hippolytus|1886}}
+One early writer interpreting the woman as the church is [[Hippolytus of Rome]] who states said interpretation in ''On Christ and Antichrist''.{{sfn|Hippolytus|1886}}
-Commentators who adhere to [[Protestant theology]] in their [[eschatology]] sometimes identify the woman as the Church, and the man-child she gives birth to are the saints.<ref name="biblicist" /> According to this interpretation, Revelation 12:17 describes the remnant of the [[seed of the woman]] as those who keep the commandments of [[God]], and have the testimony of [[Jesus Christ]]. The offspring of the Woman, the Woman's seed, then refers to the [[saint]]s. The man child "who shall rule the nations with a rod of iron" is a symbol of the faithful members of the Church.
+The [[Catholic Church]] recognizes the "woman" as part of the polyvalent symbolism that is found in the book in four referents: [[Israel]], the [[Christian Church|Church]], [[Eve]], and [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]].
+Commentators who adhere to [[Protestant]] [[eschatology]] sometimes identify the woman as the Church, and the man-child she gives birth to are the saints.<ref name="biblicist" /> According to this interpretation, Revelation 12:17 describes the remnant of the [[seed of the woman]] as those who keep the commandments of [[God]], and have the testimony of [[Jesus Christ]]. The offspring of the Woman, the Woman's seed, then refers to the [[saint]]s. The man child "who shall rule the nations with a rod of iron" is a symbol of the faithful members of the Church.
 In Revelation 2:18–29, the [[Seven churches of Asia|Church in Thyatira]] is promised that the faithful shall rule the nations with a rod of iron. In Revelation 19:15 the same thing is stated of Jesus. In Galatians 4:26, [[Paul the Apostle]] refers to the "[[New Jerusalem]]" as "our mother", and in Revelation 21:2 and Ephesians 5:21–32 the New Jerusalem and the Church is portrayed as the [[Bride of Christ]].
 The [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]] identifies itself as the end-time "[[Remnant (Adventist)|remnant church]]" described in Revelation 12:17.
-The [[Catholic Church]] recognizes the "woman" as part of the polyvalent symbolism that is found in the book in four referents: [[Israel]], the [[Christian Church|Church]], [[Eve]], and [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]].
 [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] also interprets the woman to be the Church, and the man-child to be the political kingdom that will grow out of the Church prior to or during the [[Second Coming of Christ]]; this interpretation arises from [[Joseph Smith Translation|Joseph Smith's translation]] of the twelfth chapter of Revelation.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} Some in the church interpret the woman to be a symbol of the earth.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} Baptisms of fire and water being poured upon the earth and the sun clothing the earth daily are just a couple examples of this reference.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}
@@ Line 101: / Line 78: @@
 ===The Nation of Israel===
-Dispensational [[Premillennialism|Premillennialists]], and Amillennialists who believe in multiple valid interpretations will often identify the woman as the nation of [[Israel]]. There are several reasons given to support this interpretation. The woman is said to be clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and twelve stars. These symbols are drawn from Genesis 37:9–11, in which [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]] has a dream of the sun and moon symbolizing his father and mother, and stars representing his eleven brothers, which bow down to him. The Old Testament's prophets referred to Israel as a "woman" (Isaiah 54:5–6; Jeremiah 4:31; Micah 4:9–10).<ref name="biblicist"/>
+Dispensational [[Premillennialism|premillennialists]], and amillennialists who believe in multiple valid interpretations will often identify the woman as the nation of [[Israel]]. There are several reasons given to support this interpretation. The woman is said to be clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and twelve stars. These symbols are drawn from Genesis 37:9–11, in which [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]] has a dream of the Sun and Moon symbolizing his father and mother, and stars representing his eleven brothers, which bow down to him. The Old Testament's prophets referred to Israel as a "woman" (Isaiah 54:5–6; Jeremiah 4:31; Micah 4:9–10).<ref name="biblicist"/>
 The woman flees into the wilderness where she is nourished for 1260 days, the equivalent of three and a half years or forty-two months (cf. Rev. 12:6). According to this interpretation, these terms are used prophetically in Scripture either for the first half or the last half of the "[[Prophecy of Seventy Weeks|Seventieth Week of Daniel]]", in Daniel 9:24–27, a prophecy specifically addressed to [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]] and his people, Israel (Dan. 9:24).<ref name="biblicist"/>
-In the latter part of the seventieth week, a remnant of Israel will flee into the wilderness to escape the persecution of [[Antichrist]], who is called "[[Son of perdition|the son of destruction]]", "the lawless one", and "whose coming is in accord with the activity of [[Satan]]" (2 Thess. 2:1–12; cf. Rev. 12:4,9). [[Jesus]], in the [[Olivet discourse]], warned the people of this time which would occur just prior to His return to set up His earthly, Millennial kingdom (Matt. 24:15–22). Further, [[Michael (archangel)|the archangel Michael]] is called the guardian over the sons of Israel in Dan. 12:1. And he will arise at that time of national Israel's tribulation (Dan. 12:1; cf. Rev. 12:7).<ref name="biblicist"/>
+In the latter part of the seventieth week, a remnant of Israel will flee into the wilderness to escape the persecution of [[Antichrist]], who is called "[[Son of perdition|the son of destruction]]", "the lawless one", and "whose coming is in accord with the activity of [[Satan]]" (2 Thess. 2:1–12; cf. Rev. 12:4,9). [[Jesus]], in the [[Olivet Discourse]], warned the people of this time which would occur just prior to His return to set up His earthly, Millennial kingdom (Matt. 24:15–22). Further, [[Michael (archangel)|the archangel Michael]] is called the guardian over the sons of Israel in Dan. 12:1. And he will arise at that time of national Israel's tribulation (Dan. 12:1; cf. Rev. 12:7).<ref name="biblicist"/>
-Amillennialist belief can also interpret this passage as the nation of Israel, however this belief as expressed by amillennialists refers, not to the modern Israel, but to the Ancient religious state of Israel(Judea) as it existed in the time of Christ. The Child is Christ, born into the then existing state of Israel, and of Israel's lineage.
+Amillennialist belief can also interpret this passage as the nation of Israel.
-The remnant or sons of Israel is, in this understanding, the followers of Christ, the followers of the true religion of Israel as it exists after the coming of the messiah. The "Seventieth Week of Daniel", and prophecy of the [[Olivet discourse]], in this belief, are ascribed as concerning the first coming of Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (during which enforced emperor worship occurred in the temple of Jerusalem, which was later almost totally destroyed, and many Jews were made slaves in distant lands resulting presumably in their remaining families not knowing what happened to them or where they were), and the establishment of Christ's Church, as it currently exists, both on earth and in heaven.
+The remnant or sons of Israel is, in this understanding, the followers of Christ. The "Seventieth Week of Daniel", and prophecy of the [[Olivet Discourse]], in this belief, are ascribed as concerning the first coming of Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (during which enforced emperor worship occurred in the temple of Jerusalem, which was later almost totally destroyed, and many Jews were made slaves in distant lands resulting presumably in their remaining families not knowing what happened to them or where they were), and the establishment of Christ's Church, as it currently exists, both on earth and in heaven.
 Lutheran scholar Craig Koester, for example, says, "The woman encompasses the story of Israel, from whom the Messiah was born, as well as the story of the church, which was persecuted after Jesus' death and resurrection... John's visionary account of the threat against the woman and the woman's preservation uses imagery that encompasses many moments in the story of God's people. This allows the story to apply to people in many times and places."{{sfn | Koester | 2001 | pp=123–124}}
@@ Line 118: / Line 95: @@
 ===The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints===
-In Joseph Smith's [[Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible|Inspired Translation]] of the King James Bible the woman is identified as "the church of God".
+In Joseph Smith's [[Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible|Inspired Translation]] of the King James Bible (JST), the woman is identified as "the church of God":
+:"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought against Michael; And the dragon prevailed not against Michael, neither the child, nor the woman which was the church of God, who had been delivered of her pains, and brought forth the kingdom of our God and his Christ. (Revelation 12:1–17 JST)
-"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought against Michael; And the dragon prevailed not against Michael, neither the child, nor the woman which was the church of God, who had been delivered of her pains, and brought forth the kingdom of our God and his Christ. (Revelation 12:1–17 JST)
 ===Christian Science===
@@ Line 126: / Line 102: @@
 ==See also==
-* [[The World (Tarot card)]]
 * {{annotated link|Our Lady of Guadalupe}}
 * {{annotated link|Whore of Babylon}}
-* [[Consecration of Russia]]
 * [[Civic heraldry]]
@@ Line 148: / Line 122: @@
 {{reflist|refs=
+<!--
 <ref name=bampfa>{{cite web|title=Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens|website= bampfa.org |url=https://bampfa.org/press/drawn-brush-oil-sketches-peter-paul-rubens|access-date= 2021-09-06}}</ref>
+-->
 <ref name="biblicist">{{cite web|url=http://www.biblicist.org/bible/woman.shtml|title= Who's That Woman?|website=biblicist.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724191510/http://www.biblicist.org/bible/woman.shtml|archive-date=2008-07-24}}</ref>
@@ Line 156: / Line 132: @@
 <ref name=Joseph>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.vii.vii.html|chapter=The History of Joseph the Carpenter|series=Ante-Nicene Fathers|volume=8|title=The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementia, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents|via= Christian Classics Ethereal Library}}</ref>
+<!--
 <ref name=Gherardini>{{cite web|url=http://www.centreleonardboyle.com/Assunta.html|title=Thoughts On The Foundation Of The Catholic Dogma Of The Assumption|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052755/http://www.centreleonardboyle.com/Assunta.html|archive-date=2016-03-04|website=Centre for Mediaeval Studies Leonard Boyle|first=Brunero |last=Gherardini}}</ref>
+-->
 }}
-===Sources===
+===Works cited===
 {{refbegin}}
 *{{citation|author=‘Abdu’l‑Bahá|date=2014|title=Some Answered Questions|publisher=Bahá’í International Community|url=https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/some-answered-questions/some-answered-questions.pdf?92606f1a}}
 *{{cite book|last=Baker Eddy|first=Mary|title=Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures|year=1910|publisher=Christian Science Publishing Society|location=Boston, MA|isbn=978-0-87952-038-0|pages=|url=https://www.christianscience.com/the-christian-science-pastor/science-and-health/chapter-i-prayer}}
-*{{cite book|last=Brading|first= D.A.|title= Mexican Phoenix. Our Lady of Guadalupe: Image and Tradition Across Five Centuries.|location= Cambridge |publisher=University Press|date= 2001}}
 * {{cite book | last=Gialdino | first=C.C. | title=I simboli dell'Unione europea: bandiera, inno, motto, moneta, giornata | publisher=Istituto poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Libreria dello Stato | series=Per conoscere l'Unione europea | year=2005 | isbn=978-88-240-2503-4 | url=http://www.cvce.eu/obj/carlo_curti_gialdino_the_symbols_of_the_european_union_origin_of_the_design_for_the_european_flag-en-df9f9dde-98a3-461b-a8a8-8f9c13012343.html| language=it}}
 *{{cite book|author=Hippolytus|title= On Christ and Antichrist|translator= J.H. MacMahon|series= Ante-Nicene Fathers|volume= 5|editor1= Alexander Roberts|editor2= James Donaldson|editor3= A. Cleveland Coxe.|location=Buffalo, NY|publisher= Christian Literature Publishing Co.|date= 1886|url= http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0516.htm}}
@@ Line 171: / Line 146: @@
 *{{cite book|first=Michael|last= Rohrmayer|title=Marianisches Wallfahrtsbuch|date= 1844|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mY9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA45|publisher=Manz}}
 * {{cite book | last=Suggit | first=J.N. | title=Commentary on the Apocalypse | publisher=Catholic University of America Press | series=Fathers of the church | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-8132-0112-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GGpSK6yLzvUC&pg=PA107 }}
+{{refend}}
+==Further reading==
+{{refbegin}}
+*{{cite book|last=Brading|first= D.A.|title= Mexican Phoenix. Our Lady of Guadalupe: Image and Tradition Across Five Centuries.|location= Cambridge |publisher=University Press|date= 2001}}
 {{refend}}
@@ Line 178: / Line 158: @@
 {{wikisourcelang|el|Αποκάλυψις_Ιωάννου#12|Αποκάλυψις Ιωάννου ιβʹ}}
 * Chivalric precursors to St. George and the Dragon, 14 images under [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Woman_and_dragon Wikimedia:Virgin and Serpent]
-* Immaculata as ''[http://www.catholicculture.com/Radiation_of_Fatherhood.pdf Radiation of Fatherhood]'' 126 images under [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Madonna_on_the_crescent Wikimedia:Mondsickelmadonna]
+* Immaculata as ''[http://www.catholicculture.com/Radiation_of_Fatherhood.pdf Radiation of Fatherhood] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222130132/http://www.catholicculture.com/Radiation_of_Fatherhood.pdf |date=2017-02-22 }}'' 126 images under [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Madonna_on_the_crescent Wikimedia:Mondsickelmadonna]
 * Scriptural parturition imagery of Revelation chapter 12, 24 images under [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Woman_of_the_Apocalypse Wikimedia:Woman of the Apocalypse]
 * Eastern icon of the type ''Matka Boska Ostrobramska'' – 28 images [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Our_Lady_of_the_Gate_of_Dawn Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn] at the Eastern Gate, Vilnius, Lithuania
@@ Line 191: / Line 171: @@
 [[Category:Michael (archangel)]]
 [[Category:Our Lady of Guadalupe]]
-[[Category:Titles of Mary]]
+[[Category:Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus]]
 [[Category:Virgin Mary in art]]
 [[Category:Women in the New Testament]]

v t e Book of Revelation
Bible chapters (New Testament)	Revelation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Places	Armageddon Asia Babylon Egypt Ephesus Euphrates Jerusalem Laodicea Patmos Pergamum Philadelphia Sardis Smyrna Sodom Thyatira
Persons	Asher Balak Balaam Benjamin David Gad Issachar Jesus Christ Jezebel John Joseph Judah Levi Manasseh Michael Naphtali Reuben Simeon Zebulun
Events/ Terms/ Phrases	Abaddon/Apollyon Alpha and Omega Beast Book of Life Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Four Living Creatures Lake of Fire Last Judgment Millennialism New Jerusalem Number of the Beast Seven bowls Seven churches of Asia Seven seals Seven trumpets Son of Man Three Angels' Messages Whore of Babylon Woman of the Apocalypse Wormwood
Interpretation	Futurist Historicist Idealist Preterist by John Foxe
Related	Authorship John of Patmos Textual variants
Manuscripts	Papyrus 18 24 43 47 85 98 115 Crawford Aramaic New Testament manuscript
Sources	Greek Text Latin Vulgate Wycliffe Version King James Version American Standard Version World English Version