ACC ~ Revelation 21 v19d

JOHN’S PREACHING. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: The emerald is green in color, and when rubbed with oil [it] receives a brilliant shine and beauty. We believe that this stone indicates the proclamation of the Evangelist John, which by divine oil makes bright the sorrow that has come to us through sins and by the most precious gift of theology grants to faith that which is everlasting. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 21.19.

THE EMERALD IS TESTED BY ADVERSITY. BEDE: The emerald has the quality of very deep green to the point that it surpasses all green plants, branches and buds. It is colored all around with the green of reflective copper. It also fittingly produces a green oil, to the extent that its nature allows. There are many different types of this stone, but the more noble are the Scythian, the second is Bactrian and the third Egyptian. This stone further signifies those souls who are always growing in faith and when tested more and more by the adversities of this world (indicated by the coldness of the Scythian climate) the more fully do they hold on to that unfading inheritance kept in heaven. These souls advance to a contempt of this world through the chalice of the Lord’s passion and by the fullness of the inner charity given to them by the Holy Spirit. Also, the very beautiful ancestral homeland of these stones is fitting. It is a rich but uninhabitable land. The ground there abounds with gold and gems, but griffins hold all of them. These griffins are very ferocious birds or, rather, flying beasts, for they are four-legged and have the body of a lion while their heads are similar to birds. When these griffins fight the Arimaspi, who carry the mark of one eye in the midst of their forehead, the griffins take these stones and with amazing ferocity and fierce snatching, take the Arimapsi captive. The psalmist refers to this land filled with an abundance of virtues when he says, “Behold, I have fled afar off, and I remain in solitude.” That is, I have withdrawn my soul from the enticements of the world. He then strikes out at the hostile beasts when he prays, “Let the lying lips be dumb that speak iniquity against the righteous in pride and contempt.” He shows himself to have found desirable riches when he says with remarkable affection, “How abundant is your goodness, O Lord, which you have laid up for those who fear you,”and on to the end of the psalm. Against the desire of such birds to snatch away the seed of the divine word, some of the saints with a heavenly desire keep watch with undivided attention, as though wondering with one eye, in order that they might discover and unearth the precious jewel of faith and other virtues. Where the [need for] strength is greater, there are fewer laborers and fewer of those who bear the terrible persecution by unclean spirits. As the dreadful earthly griffins fight for riches by violence, these few struggle tirelessly for spiritual riches, not to possess the riches for themselves but to offer them to others. And since such an exalted faith is made known throughout the whole world through the gospel, it is fitting that as there are four books of the gospel, the emerald is placed in the fourth place. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 21.19.

Rev