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 "23. And the light of the lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for all nations have been deceived by thy enchantments.

24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."

1, 2. The mighty angel is probably a great saint or prophet raised up to enlighten the Church by his teaching and to foretell the destruction of Rome as Jonas foretold the fall of Ninive, and Daniel that of ancient Babylon. But if "angel" be taken literally it is prob ably St. Michael, the guardian of the Church or St. Gabriel, the mighty one of God.

The angel speaks of the fall of Borne as something already accomplished to show that it must surely come to pass. It shall be left so desolate that wild beasts will find it a fitting abode and unclean birds will hover about its ruins. Thus also did Isaias prophesy concerning ancient Babylon: "Wild beasts shall rest there and their houses shall be filled with serpents . . . and owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure. "

Some interpreters take the words of the angel to mean that the ruins of Rome shall become the lurking