Alcuin of York, on Rev 2:1

“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he, who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks:”

“And unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he, who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience. In this place, blessed John, either in his own person or in that of preceding preachers, writes the Lord's words at the latter's bidding to the universal Church, which is represented by the angel. In this angel, sometimes the whole body of the elect, which consists of holy preachers and good listeners, is extolled by the proclamation of its merits, sometimes a part in particular is censured as wicked. So, what does it mean that the Redeemer Lord holds stars in his right hand, if not that he has predestined his elect to the blessedness of success? What does it mean that the same walks in the midst of the candlesticks, if not that he is present everywhere by bestowing the grace of gifts on every one of the saints through his inward discernment? If by the stars and candlesticks we understand the whole body of the Church, which consists of the elect and of the reprobates, by the right hand of Christ we should understand the power of his divinity, which no one can escape, for in his hand are all the ends of the earth; [Ps. 94:4] and he walks among the candlesticks, visiting the just and forsaking the unjust. The Lord says he knows the works, labor, and patience of the saints, which means that he approves them by the grace of choosing. But then the speech turns back to a specific weak part of the body when it is said after that, and how thou canst not bear them that are evil: for it is not a sign of merit, but of great weakness, that the angel cannot bear them that are evil. It is also to be noted that he says below to the same angel, Thou hast endured for my name: [Rev. 2:3] which is not incompatible with this passage, because in the one is indicated the weakness of some limbs, and in the other the strength of others. And thou hast tried them, who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars. It is to be believed that false apostles had then spread in the Church of Ephesus, whom the same John calls Antichrists in his epistle, [1 John 2:18] and in whose persons is denoted the perfidy of all heretics. As for trying, it is sometimes done with a view to approbation, as in The Lord your God trieth you. [Deut. 13:3] So the Church tries the false ones when, through the preachers, it interrogates the heretics about faith, to see whether they are disciples of the truth or of falsehood.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.

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