Matthew 24:31 Douay-Rheims

And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.

Origen

c. A.D. 184–253 Patristic

Some of little discernment think, that only those who shall then be found in the body shall be gathered together, but it is better to say that the Angels of Christ shall then gather together not only all who from the coming of Christ to the end of the world have been called and chosen, but all from the foundation of the world, who like Abraham have seen the day of Christ and rejoiced therein. (John 8:56.) And that He here means not only those that shall be found in the body, but those also who have quitted the body, the following words shew, from one end of heaven to the other, which cannot be meant of any one upon earth. Or, the heavens are the divine Scriptures and their authors1 in which God dwells. One end of heaven is the beginning of the Scriptures, the other end is their conclusion. The saints there are gathered together from one end of heaven, that is, from those that live in the beginning of the Scriptures to those who live in the ends of them. They shall be gathered together with a trump and a loud voice, that they who hear and attend may prepare themselves for that way of perfection which leads to the Son of God.

Source details
A.D. 253 · as excerpted in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 24:31

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

Read Matt 24:31 in context →