“And I saw that the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures, as it were the voice of thunder, saying: ‘Come, and see.’ And I saw: and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and there was a crown given him, and he went forth conquering that he might conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature, saying: ‘Come, and see.’ And there went out another horse that was red: and to him that sat thereon, it was given that he should take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another, and a great sword was given to him. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying: ‘Come, and see.’ And behold a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying: ‘Two pounds of wheat for a penny, and thrice two pounds of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the wine and the oil.’ And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature, saying: ‘Come, and see.’ And behold a pale horse, and he that sat upon him, his name was Death, and hell followed him. And power was given to him over the four parts of the earth, to kill with sword, with famine, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”
The Lamb then goes to open the scroll, with what it contains only being able to be truly seen after opening the seals, unraveling the scroll, and taking in what lies within, so too in mental prayer does it take the aid of Jesus to open the meaning of the text: “’Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest?’ Who said: ‘And how can I, unless some man shew me?’” (Acts 8:30-31), take it into oneself: “[Wisdom] will meet him as an honourable mother, and will receive him as a wife married of a virgin” (Ecclesiasticus 15:2), and thereby enjoy it: “And I took the book from the hand of the angel, and ate it up: and it was in my mouth, sweet as honey” (Apocalypse 10:10), for love is hidden in every passage, if you have the mind and heart to encounter it: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return no more thither, but soak the earth, and water it, and make it to spring, and give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be, which shall go forth from my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it” (Isaias 55:10-11). At the breaking of the seals, riders come forward that represent different scourges on earthly comfort, showing that all tribulation is in the hand of God, but He hands crosses to His people with a sorrowful heart, knowing that though receiving the bitter medicine is beneficial to them, no one that loves enjoys seeing their beloved struggling: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. Who comforteth us in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). The first seal is then opened, and there are seen two interpretations for the rider on the white horse: The first is that the white horse indicates conquest, adorned with regality, authority, and might, the second is that this is representative of Christ’s preachers, who go before great trials of war, famine, and pestilence with arrows of love to be shot from the bow of the Scriptures, that the Holy Spirit may pierce the hearts of their hearers: “For thy arrows are fastened in me” (Psalm 37:3), crowned with the dignity of their holy anointing: “And he poured [oil] upon Aaron’s head, and he anointed and consecrated him” (Leviticus 8:12). Thus, in this context, the hearing of the exposition of the Scriptures is an invitation to come and see the merciful love of God by being pierced by the love that fills His words: “And Jesus turning, and seeing them following him, saith to them: ‘What seek you?’ Who said to him, ‘Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?’ He saith to them: ‘Come and see’” (John 1:38-39). Those that hear are then conquered by love, becoming love’s sweet captive, enthralled with their Beloved: “As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God” (Psalm 41:2-3). With this, when trials fall, some flail and curse, which are those that do not know God and expect comfort in the earth, whereas those that receive the words of Christ in docility and in love unite their sufferings to Him: “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church” (Colossians 1:24). In either regard, the second seal is opened, calling forth bloodshed, a horse of war that sheds the blood of martyrs and nations in anything from wars between nations to civil strife, but, from Tertullian’s perspective, this can also represent the war on the passions that ensues after being pierced with the fires of love: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, to refrain yourselves from carnal desires which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11), that the Word may find His repose in your heart, rather than living in a space cramped with many other desires: “Create a clean heart in me, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels” (Psalm 50:12). While war may carry a great sword, you carry a greater sword, which is the truth and prayer: “For they got not the possession of the land by their own sword: neither did their own arm save them. But thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance: because thou wast pleased with them” (Psalm 43:4). The third horseman represents famine, with the declaration that food costs a day’s wages, with the poor being able to afford nothing but food, and the scale in the hand of the horseman is the weight of one’s merits during times of deprivation, for the true Christian can say: “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content therewith. I know both how to be brought low, and I know how to abound: (every where, and in all things I am instructed) both to be full, and to be hungry; both to abound, and to suffer need” (Philippians 4:11-12), whereas human nature, at the very least, murmurs at being without: “Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:4-5), though some resort to greater evils than this: “This woman said to me: ‘Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and will eat my son to morrow.’ So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day: ‘Give thy son that we may eat him.’ And she hath hid her son” (4 Kings 6:28-29). To love is to give away even what is necessary in times of straits, “If a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him” (Matthew 5:40), knowing that your Abba will take care of you: “Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26). “Not hurting the oil and the wine” is to make sure that one’s spiritual needs are still seen to even when times of physical deprivation or crisis are taking place; that even here, the wine of truth and the oil of love continue to flow through your soul: “But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him; and seeing him, was moved with compassion. And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine” (Luke 10:33-34). Finally, the fourth seal is broken and a pale horse with Death upon it comes forward, and this can represent pestilence or death itself in one regard, satanic forces that still, in the grand scheme of things, kneel to Christ in another, but in a third sense it can be Christians that are outside of the Catholic Church or Catholics that have hard hearts or are not sacramentally healthy, these bear the appearance of the white horse, but are pale and emaciated from the lack of grace and love they receive from a deep relationship with Jesus, bringing death rather than love: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). Now, if the four horsemen are taken in the most literal sense: conquest, war, famine, and death with an emphasis on pestilence, it is to be noted that most of these result from human action rather than being a divinely appointed calamity, with many evils coming from a misuse of free will: “But my people heard not my voice: and Israel hearkened not to me. So I let them go according to the desires of their heart: they shall walk in their own inventions” (Psalm 80:12-13), for the will was made to love, not the pursuit of pleasure, self-excellence, or vanity: “Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7). These are permitted that the people on earth may realize that the world is a transport to heaven, not a permanent home, for man was not made to live in a mire of a lack of love: “Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters” (Psalm 68:15), but where there is no inhibition to love, which is heaven.