the head of the Church is Christ, His crown is the Catholic faith which the twelve Apostles have preached. " The woman was in pain to be delivered." So the Holy Church, which ever rejoices in new offspring, suffers pain from day to day, to the end that she may gain souls for God, which the devil attempts to snatch away and to drag with himself down to hell. " And behold ! a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns." Now this dragon signifies the devil, who is properly said to have seven heads. For all the heads of the devil are replete with iniquity, and he uses the figure 7 as something finite for what is infinite ; for the heads of the devil are infinite in number ; that is to say, those who are perse cutors of the Church, and the wicked. Of these, although they are infinite in number, the said Joachim, in his explana tion, made mention of seven principal persons who were per secutors of the Church, whose names were as follow : Herod, Nero, Constantius, Mahomet, Melsermut, Saladin, and Anti christ. " Saint John also says in the Book of Revelation, ' There are seven kings ; five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come : ' which the said Joachim thus explained. The seven kings are Herod, Nero, Constantius, Mahomet, Melsermut, Saladin, and Antichrist. Of these, five have perished ; namely, Herod, Nero, Constantius, Mahomet, and Melsermnt; one is, namely, Saladin, who is now oppressing the Church of God ; and, together with it, the Sepulchre of our Lord, and the Holy City of Jerusalem and the land on which stood the feet of our Lord are kept in his possession ; but he shall shortly lose the same. On this, the king of England asked the question, "\Vhen shall this take place?" To which Joachim made answer, " When seven years shall have elapsed from the day of the capture of Jerusalem." Upon which, the king of England remarked, "Why, then, have we come so much too soon?" .When Joachim made answer, " Your arrival is very necessary, inasmuch as the Lord will give you the victory over His enemies, and will exalt your name beyond all the princes of the earth." X"The words then follow, " One of them is not yet come," which is Antichrist. Now as to this Antichrist, Joachim eaid, " He is already born in the city of Borne, and will be elevated to the Apostolic See ; and it is respecting this Antichrist that the Apostle sap, ' He is exalted, and strives against every