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The preceding observations show us, then, who are the two witnesses spoken of by St. John, and what will be at least, in part, the object of their mission. If a further confirmation be demanded, we have for vouchers all antiquity. We may begin with St. Justin, who says: our Saviour himself teaches that Elias will come; and we know that will happen towards the time that our Lord Jesus Christ is to come from heaven in his glory." Dial. cum Tryph. Tertullian speaks in the following manner: "Henoch and Elias have been taken away, nor do we find any account of their dying, because their death has been delayed: but they must however one day die, that by their blood Antichrist may be extinguished." De anima, c. 50. St. Hyppolitus martyr, says: "St. John Baptist was the precursor of the first coming of Jesus Christ, and Elias and Henoch will be the precursors of the second." Orat. de Antichristo. St. Ephrem comforts us by saying: God in his mercy will send Henoch and Elias, who will exhort mankind not to believe in Antichrist." Serm. de Antichr. Lactantius seems to indicate Elias in the following words: When the end of time will be approaching, God will send a great prophet, to recall mankind to the knowledge of their God, and who will have power of doing great wonders." Instit. lib. 7. c. 17. St. Hilary, explaining the words of our Saviour, says: "Christ told his disciples that Elias would come and re-establish all things, that is, that Elias would come to bring back all the Israelites that remain, to the knowledge of their God." Cap. 17. in Matt. St. Jerom tells that, "according to the prophecy of Malachy, Elias will appear before the second coming of our Saviour, and will announce the approach of judgment." In Matth. xi. And in another place: "When the fulness of the Gentiles will be come in, all Israel shall be saved; because then the prophet Elias will come, and will reconcile and turn the heart of the fathers to their children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, and the new people will be re-united to the ancient." In cap. 4 Zach. And in his letter to St. Marcella, he tells her that," according to the Apocalypse, Henoch and Elias are to come again and then to die." We read in St. Ambrose that," the beast which is Antichrist, will rise up from the abyss to fight against Elias and Henoch, who will have been sent again upon earth to give testimony to Jesus Christ, as we learn from the Apocalypse of St. John." In Psalm 45. St. Augustin informs us of the opinion of his times: "Nothing is more common," says he, " in the discourse of the faithful,

than that the Jews will be converted to the faith of Christ by the great prophet Elias: for it is with reason believed, that he is yet living, and is expected to appear before the coming of our Saviour to judgment." De civ. Dei, lib. 20. c. 19. And again : "It is believed that Henoch and Elias will return to pay the common debt of nature, that, though their death has been deferred, they will nevertheless die." Ad. cap. 6 Gen. St. John Chrysostom tells us: "The prophets announce two comings of Christ, and say that Elias will be the forerunner of the second." In Matth. hom. 58. St. Prosper writes as follows: "As God sent against Pharaoh two witnesses, Moses and Aaron; and against Nero two witnesses, St. Peter and St. Paul, so likewise he will send against Antichrist two witnesses, Henoch and Elias." Dimid. Temp. c. 13. In fine, St. Gregory the Great speaks thus on the same subject: Those two eminent preachers, Henoch and Elias have been taken away, and their death delayed, that they may return to preach in the last days It is of them that St. John says in the Apocalypse: These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks that stand before the Lord of the earth of whom Christ has promised one in the gospel, saying: Elias will come and will restore all things: They are two stars that are covered, and do not appear at present, but will appear hereafter for the advantage of the world, and great numbers of Jewish people will be converted to the Faith." In Job. lib. 9. c. 3. Thus do the ancient fathers agree in asserting the return of Henoch and Elias, and in explaining the functions of their ministry. The same has been the general language of ecclesiastical writers, in all succeeding ages.

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Hence, then, appears the absurd presumption of those, who, from their enmity to the Catholic communion, have asserted the two witnesses to be, not two single persons, but the whole succession of heretics, who in different ages have revolted from the Mother-Church, and abused her doctrine.

These two messengers of God, these two candlesticks that stand before the Lord of the earth, will therefore be two great lights that will shine in the Church of Christ in the last age. Vested with the divine commission, they will enter upon their ministry with extraordinary vigour and zeal. Henoch will proceed forth to preach penance to different nations; while Elias will chiefly employ his labours at Jerusalem and in Judæa for the conversion of the Jews, which he will successfully effect by the energy of his preaching, by the power of his miracles, and the abundance of divine graces which will

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then flow in upon that people. They, recovering themselves as from a profound sleep, and opening their eyes to the bright light which Elias will expose to them, they will see their past blindness, will be confounded at their past errors, and will be deeply touched at their long ingratitude to their God. They will then recollect, in bitterness of heart, what the Almighty had formerly urged to them, pre-admonishing them of their late unhappy state. Behold, the hand of the Lord is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he should not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity." Isai. lix. 1, 2, 3. They will acknowledge the justice of this reproach, making the following humble reply: "Therefore has judgment been far from us. We looked for light, and behold darkness: brightness, and we have walked in the dark. We have groped for the wall, and like the blind, we have groped as if we had no eyes we have stumbled at noon-day, as in darkness." Ibid. v. 9, 10. From the full and clear instructions of Elias, they will evidently see that all the different characters, ascribed by the prophets to the Messiah, are found in Jesus Christ; they will acknowledge his miracles; and in deep anguish will bewail the obstinacy of their forefathers, who shut their eyes to such evidence, and with unparalleled impiety put to death the author of life, and in consequence entailed upon their posterity such long and severe judgments. In viewing that horrible crime, committed against the sacred person of Christ. they will break out into sorrowful lamentations and tears of compunction. "I will pour out upon the house of David, (says God,) and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of prayers: and they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for an only son and they shall grieve over him, as the manner is to grieve for the death of the first-born. that day there shall be a great lamentation in Jerusalem." Zach. xii. 10, 14. In fine, the Jews, now totally convinced of the whole truth of Christianity, will unite in offering up their adoration to Jesus Christ, and with a full heart confess him to be the eternal Son of God, the seed of Abraham, the race of David, the king of Israel, the desired of all nations, the promised Messiah and Saviour of the world.

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Thus that new-modelled people, after passing through the successive steps of surprise, confusion, and repentance, will at

last rise up to a state of gladness and exultation, at the view of their present happiness. In a tide of joy they will send up their praises to heaven, and will sing a canticle of thanksgiving, which the Almighty himself has composed for them, purposely as it would seem for this occasion, and has delivered by the pen of his prophet Isaiah.

Chap. 12. v. 1. "I will give thanks to thee, O Lord: for thou wast angry with me: thy wrath is turned away, and thou hast comforted me.

V. 2.

Behold God is my Saviour, I will deal confidently, and will not fear; because the Lord is my strength, and my praise, and he is become my salvation.

V.4." Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make his intentions known among the people-remember that his name is high.

V. 5. "Sing ye to the Lord, for he has done great thingsshow this forth in all the earth.

V. 6. " Rejoice and praise, O thou habitation of Sion: for great is He that is in the midst of thee, the holy One of Israel."

To which thanksgiving they will probably join this other: Lord, thou hast blessed thy land: thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob.

Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people: thou hast covered all their sins.

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thou hast turned Psalm 84.

Thou hast mitigated all thy anger: away from the wrath of thy indignation." The great prophet and apostle, Elias, having thus completed that remarkable work so long before foretold, of breaking down the wall of separation that stood between the Christian and Jewish people, and uniting them in one society; of converting the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, of restoring the tribes of Jacob" to the favour of their God, and so saving all Israel; the happy event will be carried upon the wings of the wind over all Christendom, and the voice of exultation and praises of the Almighty will resound in every quarter of the Church. And now Elias, having fulfilled this part of his ministry, will be at leisure to convert his attention and labours to other nations. Nor can we sufficiently admire the divine mercy, in sending such powerful preachers as Henoch and Elias, to reform mankind at a time that they will have become so universally corrupt, and that even idolatry will have made its appearance again upon the earth. They will admonish

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mankind of the approaching end of the world, will reprove them for their profligate morals and infidelity. The axe is now laid to the root," will they say: "every tree, therefore, that doth not yield good fruit, will be cut down and cast into the fire." Matth. iii. 10. They will explain the prophecies, showing what part of them has been accomplished, and what remains to be fulfilled; and they themselves will prophesy. Apoc. xi. 3. They will give notice of the then near approach of Antichrist, of his satanic efforts to make the world apostatize from God, and of the dreadful persecution he will exercise against the whole body of Christians. They will exhort the people, with all the energy of eloquence, and with a full exertion of their miraculous powers, to return from their iniquities, to do penance, to embrace the mercy of God, which soon will be no more in their power, and to guard against the terrible disasters that are ready to fall. In order to give more extent to their labours, they will stir up the zeal of the pastors and priests, and will send them forth with the commission to renew the face of the earth. The Church will therefore, at this time, exert itself on all sides with extraordinary fervour. Its ministers, endued with the apostolic spirit, will, in imitation of the apostles, spread themselves every where, even to the remotest countries, and will make the gospel again resound in all parts of the earth. "This gospel of the kingdom (says Christ) shall be preached in the whole. world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come." Matth. xxii. 14.

This general preaching of the Christian doctrine in the sixth or last age of the world, we also find sublimely set forth, with other particulars, by our apostle and prophet, in the tenth chapter of the Apocalypse.

V. 1. "I saw," says he, "another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow on his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." The appearance of this mighty angel is very remarkable. The different parts of his attire are formed to bear a relation to the events he comes to announce. He is clothed with a cloud to indicate that a cloud of persecution is soon to overspread the Church. He is crowned with a rainbow, as a symbol of the alliance Christ has made with his Church: first, to extend her kingdom over the whole earth; "this Gospel of the kingdom," said he, "shall be preached in the whole world." Matt. xxiv. 14: secondly, to guide her in all difficulties, "behold I am with you to the end of the world." Matt. xxviii.