Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Revelation 22:1

Eastern Fathers

Oecumenius

And he showed me, he says, a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb in the midst of the city's square. The river of life would be the abundant and rich gifts of Christ, which are continually poured out to the saints, as it were borne and flowing to them like a river.

Commentary on Revelation ↗

Dionysius bar Salibi

And he showed me the river of the water of life. A river as of crystal, flowing from the seat of God and the lamb in the middle of the street—That river of life is baptism. In the middle of the city—in the midst of the church.

Commentary On The Apocalypse 22:1 ↗

Western Saints

Jerome

'And whose leaves never fade.' [Psalm 1:3] The leaves of this tree are by no means useless. Even if one understands Holy Writ only as history, he has something useful for his soul. We read in the Apocalypse of John (a book which, although rejected in these regions, we ought nevertheless to know, because it is accepted and held as canonical throughout the west, and in other Phoenician provinces, and in Egypt, for the ancient churchmen, including Irenaeus, Polycarp, Dionysius, and other Roman expounders of Sacred Scripture, among whom …

Homily 1, on Psalm 1 ↗

Bede

And he showed me a river of the water of life, etc. In the river of life flowing in the middle of the city, baptism is no longer celebrated, but the fruit of that sacrament is already revealed. For now, the Church sows in the Spirit, so that then it may reap eternal life from the Spirit (Gal. VI).

Commentary on Revelation ↗

Bonaventure

Concerning grace, therefore, insofar as it is a gift divinely given, the following must be held: that it is a gift which is immediately given and infused by God. For indeed, with it and in it the Holy Spirit is given, who is the uncreated gift, the best and perfect gift, which descends from the Father of lights through the incarnate Word, according to what John in Revelation saw a river, shining like crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. …

Breviloquium, Part 5 ↗