The Fifth Seal

Et cum aperuisset quintum sigillum Quia Ecclesiam dixerat in praesenti multipliciter afflictam, dicit et gloriam animarum post corporum poenam. Vidi, inquit, eas sub altare, id est, in secretario laudis aeternae. Ara enim aurea et interius posita, et prope dominici corporis arcam, non ut exterior carnem et sanguinem, sed sola offert Domino thymiamata laudis. Et qui nunc exhibent corpora sua hostiam viventem, tunc, diruptis carnis vinculis, illi sacrificant hostiam laudis. Potest autem et per hyperbaton esse, ut non sub ara viderit, sed sub ara occisos, id est, sub testificatione nominis Christi, sicut de Machabaeis dictum est. Sub testamento Dei ceciderunt. Sanctus Beda, Explanatio Apocalyspsis, Caput VI Source: Migne 93.147d-148a

'And when He opened the fifth seal...' 1 Because he has spoken of the much afflicted Church in the present, he even tells of the glory of souls after the suffering of the body. 'I saw,' he says, 'those beneath the altar,' that is, those in the sanctuary of eternal praise. And the altar is gold and placed within and near the ark of the body of the Lord, so that it is not the exterior flesh and blood that is offered to the Lord but the sacrifice of praise alone. And they who now exhibit the body as a living sacrifice, then, with carnal chains broken, they sacrifice the sacrifice of praise. 2 And it is possible that this is hyberbaton, that he did not see them beneath the altar, but slain beneath, that is, bearing witness under it in the name of Christ, as it is said of the Maccabees. 'Beneath the witness of God they fell.' 3 St Bede, from Commentary On The Apocalypse, Chapter 7 1 Apoc 6.9 2 Ps 115.8 3 2 Mac 7