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1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. 5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. 7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. 10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. 13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
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[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 8:1
"And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour." Whereby is signified the beginning of everlasting rest; but it is described as partial, because the silence being interrupted, he repeats it in order. For if the silence had continued, here would be an end of his narrative.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:1
“In heaven” means in the church. The silence for half an hour shows the beginning of the eternal rest.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:1
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 8:1
Often the number of seven is taken by this saint to correspond to this age and the sabbath rest of the saints. Therefore, also here at the loosing of the seventh seal, the dissolution of the earthly city is signified, the seven angels administering the torments against those people who are deserving of chastisement or punishment. The “silence” reveals the good order of the piety of the angels as well as the fact that the second coming of Christ is unknown even to angels. The “half hour” shows the shortness of time, for when the plagues come and the events of the consummation upon the earth are occurring, the kingdom of Christ will appear.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:1-2
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:1
And when he had opened the seventh seal, etc. After the destruction of the Antichrist, a brief rest is believed to come in the Church, about which Daniel predicted thus: "Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days" (Daniel XII). Which blessed Jerome explains thus: "Blessed," he says, "is he who, after the Antichrist is killed, awaits beyond the one thousand two hundred and ninety days, that is, three and a half years, forty-five days, during which the Lord and Savior is to come in his majesty." But why there is a silence of forty-five days after the killing of the Antichrist is known to divine knowledge. Unless we might say: the delay of the kingdom of the saints is a test of patience. Note that in the sixth seal he sees the greatest pressures on the Church, in the seventh he sees rest, because the Lord, crucified on the sixth day, rested on the Sabbath, waiting for the time of resurrection. Thus far about the opening of the sealed book and the six seals. Now he recapitulates from the beginning, intending to speak the same things differently.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 8:1-2
Perhaps someone who has been exceedingly attentive would consider what has been said and would say to me as follows: “You there, what are you doing? Have you forgotten what was said in the introduction to the present Revelation? For it was there said, And the first voice which I had heard was like a trumpet speaking to me, saying, Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this. But you have been explaining to us not future events but things which have already taken place, in your account of the Lord’s birth, his temptation, his teachings, his miracles, his beatings and bonds and the blows he suffered before Pilate, his cross and death, and his resurrection and ascension or return to heaven.”

To such a one I would reply: “You have certainly heard, my friend, some of the future events, too, when we were describing the righteous from among the nations who were with Israel around the divine throne, and present with the Lord. But now you will hear more at the breaking of the seventh seal. For when the divine oracle said to the evangelist, Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this, this did not invalidate his vision of past events, but with them he indicated future events, too.”

Therefore, listen. The breaking of the seventh seal accomplished for us the final glory; for no longer as before was it the forgiveness of sins and our turning to God and God’s turning to us, but the inexpressible benefits—being called sons of God, “heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ,” brothers and friends and children of Christ, reigning with him and being glorified together with him, and benefits “which no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived.”

What is the breaking of the seventh seal? The second coming of the Lord and the consequent gift of his benefits. For even if some of those who have sinned are handed over for punishment, the aim of Christ and the plan of the incarnation is that all should become heirs of his kingdom.

So when the seventh seal was broken, he says, there was silence for about half an hour, in anticipation of the coming of the king of creation, when every angelic and supermundane power had been filled with the exceeding glory of his presence; this is why they fell silent.

Then he says, seven trumpets were given to the seven angels so that they might sound their trumpets as at the institution of a king. By the same trumpets they were going to wake the dead from sleep. For the wise apostle, too, writing to the Thessalonians about God’s works, says in his first epistle, that “the Lord himself will come down, with a shout of command, an archangel’s voice, and a trumpet of God,” and again, “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable.”

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:2
In the seven angels we shall recognize again the church according to that rule that indicates that universality is often to be acknowledged in the number seven. [The church] is said to have received a most powerful trumpet of proclamation by which she is strong and by which, we believe, every age comes to faith. For we read, “Life up your voice like a trumpet.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:2
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:2
And I saw seven angels standing before God, etc. The Church, often commended by the number seven, is devoted to the duty of preaching, the first trumpet signifying the common destruction of the impious by fire and hail; the second, the devil expelled from the Church, more fervently inflaming the sea of the world; the third, heretics falling away from the Church, corrupting the rivers of the Holy Scripture; the fourth, the downfall of false brethren in the obscuration of the stars; the fifth, the greater infestation of heretics preceding the time of the Antichrist; the sixth, the open war of the Antichrist and his followers against the Church, and, by recapitulation from the coming of the Lord, the insertion of the destruction of the same adversary; the seventh, the day of judgment, when the Lord will render the reward to His own and will destroy those who have corrupted the earth.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 160] Shepherd of Hermas on Revelation 8:3
See that no one escape you". he added; "and if any escape you, I will try them at the altar."
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 8:3
To this is further added the charge of irreverence,-intelligible even to the nations themselves, if they had any sense. If, on the one hand, it is irreverent to sit under the eye, and over against the eye, of him whom you most of all revere and venerate; how much more, on the other hand, is that deed most irreligious under the eye of the living God, while the angel Of prayer is still standing by unless we are upbraiding God that prayer has wearied us!

Source: On Prayer
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:3-4
The seven angels received trumpets, and another [angel], it says, came. One might think that this one came after the seven angels, although he saw all of this at one time. As the angel was coming, those seven received their trumpets, that is, when Christ the Lord was coming, his church received the power to preach. And we understand that he himself came over the altar, that is, over the church, which is wholly assumed as the body of the same priesthood and to whom Peter said, “[You are] a holy nation, a chosen race, a royal priesthood.” He had a golden censer, which is his immaculate body that was conceived by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit and that he offered as an oblation and sweet-smelling sacrifice to God for the redemption of the world and through which he cleansed the conscience of all from dead works. He is also said to have received the prayers of the saints and to have offered them, for through him the prayers of all are able to come to God in an agreeable manner.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:3
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 8:3-4
Although what is revealed to the saints is depicted in material form and with colors, whether it be the altar or the censer or something else, in reality these things are invisible and intellectual. And it is at such an altar that the angel stands and swings the censer (that is, that bowl that receives incense) bearing to God the prayers of the saints as though they were incense.… The “altar” is Christ upon which every ministering and holy power is established and upon which the sacrifices of the martyrs are offered. This altar was prefigured in the altar that was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai together with the tabernacle. The “incense” is the prayers of the saints.… He says that the altar, namely, Christ, is “before the throne,” that is, before the most eminent and holy of powers who are there because of the abundance of the divine love and of the pure wisdom and knowledge in them.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:3
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:3
And another angel came. He did not say, "Then he came," but proposing that the angels had received the trumpets, he goes back to explain how they had received them. For although the Church preached before the coming of the Lord, it was not everywhere, until it was confirmed by His Spirit.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:3
And he stood before the altar, having a golden censer. Clearly, he appeared in the sight of the Church, having become the censer, from which God received the odor of sweetness, and was propitiated towards the world. Another Edition has "Upon the altar," which means that He offered His golden censer, that is, His immaculate body conceived by the Holy Spirit, upon the altar of the cross to the Father for us.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:3
And there was given unto him much incense, etc. From the prayers of the saints he offered the incense. For to them the Church entrusted its prayers, saying: "Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight" (Psalm 140). It is said that he received from the prayers of the saints and offered it, because through him the prayers of all can sweetly reach God.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 8:3-6
He calls the altar a censer as being receptive of incense. When Christ appears, the prayers of the saints, like some firstfruit and honored primal offering, are brought to him by our guardian angels, prayers which are naturally sweet-smelling, but which become sweeter-smelling with the cooperation of the holy angels. That is why it is said, He was given much incense. It was clearly God’s gift to the angels to protect human beings and to make their prayers acceptable. Those who received the incense give the sweet odor for the prayers of the saints.

He says, And the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel. You see that it is by the angel that the prayers of the saints became sweeter-smelling and worthy to be carried up before God.

Then he says that the divine angel took the censer and filled it with divine fire and threw it on the earth; and there were loud noises, peals of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. Perhaps one of the angels threw some of this divine fire onto Mount Sinai, “and there were thunders and loud noises and trumpets and lightnings, and the mountain was wrapped in smoke” when God visited it. Just as the thunders and the terrors went forth then, so now these things preceded the glorious coming of the Lord.

Then the angels, too, blew their trumpets, signifying the coming of God. For at that time, too, the trumpets sounded loudly.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:4
And the smoke of the incense ascended from the prayers of the saints, etc. Christ the Lord offering Himself as a sacrifice of sweetness made the compunction of the hearts of the saints acceptable, which, being born from the inner fire, usually stirs up tears like smoke.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:5
The Lord received his body, that is, the church, and filled her with fire from the altar to accomplish the Father’s will. This is to say that he filled [the church] with the power of loosing and of binding, which consists in sacrifices and the propitiation of God. Therefore, it is also said, “Who makes the winds his messengers and burning fire his ministers.” For in them the church received all power in heaven and on earth, while she perfected the sacrifice of God, first of all the Lord offering up himself and the saints presenting their own bodies as a living and holy sacrifice. And he cast it upon the earth, for through the preaching of the church knowledge of the future judgment comes to the world, as Zechariah says, “I will place the officers of Judah as a flaming fire.” … “And there were thunders and voices and lightning and earthquakes.” All of these things are spiritual and have to do with the church. The voices are of those who reproach and who threaten, the “broods of vipers” and following. Or, [the voices say], “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The thunder is the proclamation of the Christian faith; the lightning represents the virtues of those have have been made whole; the earthquakes are persecutions that are foretold to come and that are suffered at various times.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:5
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Revelation 8:5
Jesus received his body, that is, the church, and he filled her with the fire of the Holy Spirit in order that the will of the Father might be fulfilled. “And there were voices and thunder and lightning and earthquakes.” All of these things are the spiritual proclamations and virtues of the church.

Source: EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:5, HOMILY 6
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 8:5
The prayers of the saints offered through an administering angel cause the censer filled with the avenging fire to be poured out upon the earth. This is just as it was revealed long ago to Ezekiel by one of the cherubim, that he should receive from such a fire and give it to the angels that they might send the fire for the punishment of the wicked inhabitants of Jerusalem. And every high priest is representative of such an angel, for as a mediator between God and people, he carries up their petitions and brings down God’s redemption, and he turns some sinners to repentance either by word or by harsher chastisements.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:4-5
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:5
And the angel took the censer, etc. Rightly he introduces the censer filled with fire. For God does not give the Spirit by measure (John 3). This we properly know was fulfilled in the humanity of Christ, in whom all the fullness of the Divinity dwells bodily (Colossians 2).

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:5
And he cast it into the earth. Thus also the Lord in the Gospel: "I came to cast fire upon the earth" (Luke 12).

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:5
And there were thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake. With the thunder of divine threat, and the voice of exhortation, and the lightning of miracles, He moved the earth, some following, others preceding, these saying: "He is good," but others: "No, but he deceives the people" (John 7).

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:6
The church, often indicated by the number seven, prepared herself for faithful preaching.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:6
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:6
And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound the trumpets. The Church, inflamed with the sevenfold spirit, prepared itself confidently to preach, intending to cast down the glory of the world with heavenly trumpets, as if to topple the walls of Jericho. For that seven-day circuit also indicates the entire time of the Church.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:7
By the fire and blood he signifies the wrath of God, which devours the multitude of the impious.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:7
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:7
A third of the earth and the trees and all the grass is said to be burned up. The “earth” represents everything terrestrial, while persons who wave about through unfaithfulness are depicted as “trees.” For those blown about by “every wind of doctrine” are mentioned by the apostle Jude, “fruitless trees in late autumn, uprooted, twice dead.” The green grass represents flesh fattened with luxury, for “all flesh is grass.” Although in an earlier passage three fourths were set against one, that is, the church, this passage confines those opposed to the church to two thirds. One third consists of the false brothers who are mixed in among the good within the church, and another third that is separated by the error of the Gentiles or by heretical depravity or by open schism. And so the church (namely, the one third) must struggle against a double evil, as though it were simplicity resisting duplicity. It is as we read in the Gospel that a king with ten thousand went out to war against twenty thousand. And God did make a promise concerning this through Zechariah, saying, “In the whole land, says the Lord, two thirds shall be dispersed and perish, and one third shall remain in it; and I shall lead the third part through fire, and I shall refine them as one refines silver, and I shall test them as gold is tested. It shall call my name, and I will answer them and say, ‘You are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:7
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:7
The “trees” and the “earth” represent people who are the internal enemies of the church and whom [God] shall punish by a future judgment to everlasting punishment. The “grass” represents the flesh, which is fattened through the vices of sins and whose strength and beauty have dried through the heat of the sun. To be sure, the third part which it said was destroyed by being burned up refers to the heretics. For anyone who is found outside of the true church shall be condemned to perpetual torments, along with the devil, who is the author of such division. And so through Zechariah the Lord promised to strike the false shepherds and to free his sheep from their difficulties and to separate the third part, which he says is like the nations and “Sodom,” from the midst of his sheep, that is, from the midst of the pious. “Awake, O sword,” it says, “against the shepherds and those who are next to me, says the Lord Almighty. Strike the shepherds and scatter the sheep,” that is, my people. “And I shall test it as gold is tested. It will call me and I will answer it and say, ‘You are my people,’ and it will say ‘You are my God.’ ” Before this separation occurs, all are regarded as the people of God. However, after the separation has happened, then it will become apparent who are the people of God and who are of the devil.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:7
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 8:7
Some have interpreted these things to depict the punishment of sinners in Gehenna, which is symbolically described as various kinds of physical torment. However, we think it more likely that the third portion is not of those from the totality of people who will be punished in the coming age, but rather—“for the way which leads to destruction is broad”—this passage shows the plagues that will occur before the consummation. The hail indicates the scourgings that will come from heaven for righteous judgment, and the fire mixed with blood indicates the destruction by fire and slaughter at the hands of the barbarians that will occur daily.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:7
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 8:7
By these torments not less than one third of all the creatures on the earth will be physically killed, for wars destroy not only human beings but also everything that is produced upon the earth. And the blessed Joel confirms our understanding of what will come when he says, “Blood and fire and vapor of smoke will come before the great day.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:7
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:7
And the first angel sounded the trumpet. Rightly, the preaching of the plagues of the trumpet, which is a sign of war, is compared. “Lift up your voice like a trumpet and declare to my people their transgressions” (Isaiah 58). And elsewhere, “Set the trumpet to your lips, like an eagle over the house of the Lord” (Hosea 8), that is, preach loudly that Nebuchadnezzar will come to destroy the temple.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:7
And there was hail and fire, mixed with blood, etc. It is proclaimed by the voice of preachers that the punishment of hell is due for bloodstained deeds, saying: “From excessive heat they will pass by the waters of snow” (Job 24). The name blood can also mean the death of the spiritual soul itself. Tyconius interprets this verse thus: “the wrath of God was made, which had in it the death of many.”

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:7
And a third part of the earth was burned up, etc. The life of the good consists in teachers and listeners. “Blessed is the one who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy” (Revelation 1). The third part of the wicked lacks both of these. For good earth, bringing forth fruit with patience (Luke 8), receives blessing from the Lord (Psalm 23). But the bad produces thorns and thistles, whose end is in burning. Thus, the farmer Father cultivates the fruitful tree, but cuts down the barren one, providing it as fuel for the fire (Matthew 7).

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:7
And all green grass was burned up. All flesh is grass (Isaiah 40), which now, fattened with the softness of luxury, loses the flower of beauty under the burning sun of judgment, and, as the Lord says, today it is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven (Matthew 6). Tyconius says about the third part in this place. He calls the third part the internal enemies. However, anything outside the Church is called the third part, and the Church is the third part, which fights against the double evil.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 8:7
The righteous had been considered worthy of their share in blessedness, as I said at the end of the breaking of the sixth seal, being caught up before the coming of the Lord “in the clouds into the air,” so that they might meet the Lord as he came, according to the testimony of the apostle which was there presented to me. The vision then goes on to indicate the end of the rest of humankind, and the punishment of sinners.

When utter destruction is about to take place, it follows that there will also be different kinds of death and of requital of the impious. Most of them will be conducted through fire, “for that day will be revealed in fire,” said the divine apostle writing his first letter to the Corinthians. For if there are “many resting places,” as the Lord says, there are also different places of punishment. The same trumpets which bring about death for those on earth will also raise the dead after this.

Why, therefore, does he say that when the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire burned up a third of those on the earth? If one takes this quite literally, he will not find the true meaning of the saying. But if he reckons it as said metaphorically, he will have said nothing strange, the word fire meaning the distress and deep pain of the sinners when they see the saints “caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord,” while they themselves have stayed on earth, dishonored and considered of no account.

When the text says trees and grass were burnt up, it refers allegorically to sinners because of their folly and the insensibility of their soul, their woodenness all ready for burning.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:8
He speaks of the devil as a burning mountain, for he consumed those near to him as though he were a fire. He is called “great” because he is one angel among others and is himself a creature.… He calls the world a “sea,” in which he saw the devil who had been cast down from heaven as a burning fire.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:8-9
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 8:8
The burning mountain cast into the sea is the devil, who was sent against the peoples. A third part of the sea became blood. By “blood” he means the wisdom of the flesh, which is hostile to God. For this reason it is said that through such wisdom the human soul is destroyed. And so the apostle said, “To be wise according to the flesh is death, for flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:8-9
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 8:8
We are aware that according to the opinion of some this shows the sea with those in it burning by a purifying fire after the resurrection. However, the mention of a third seems to us ill-suited for this interpretation. For, as it is said, those who are being punished are more than those being saved. But according to the anagogical sense10 there is nothing wrong with thinking that the present life is figuratively called a “sea.” … As some of our teachers think, we think that the “great mountain” is the devil, who burns with the fire of wrath against us but who will be bound in Gehenna. But during the time allowed to him he will destroy a third of the islands and ships in the sea and that which swims in it, even as long ago he did to Job. For he is an enemy and an accuser against the righteous judgment of God. For “to that which one is submitted, to that one is a slave.” And it would not be foreign and contrary to the intention of the passage to say that the death of the soul comes upon those who in the sea of life blaspheme the Trinity through works and words.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:8-9
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:8
And as it were a great mountain burning with fire, was cast into the sea, etc. With the growth of the Christian religion, the devil, swollen with pride and burning with the fire of his fury, was cast into the sea of the world, with the Lord saying: “If you say to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done” (Mark 11). Not that he was not there before, but that, having been cast out from the Church, he began to rage more greatly against his own, inflicting spiritual death on them with the pride of carnal wisdom. For to think according to the flesh is death (Romans 8). But the apostles were not taught by flesh and blood, but by the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 16). For in that sea, they steered the ship of faith which offered itself to be trodden by the feet of the Lord.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 8:8-9
The divine apostle, writing to the Romans, says, “the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.” When will it “be set free”? When there will be “new heavens and a new earth according to his promises,” as Peter preaches to us in his second epistle?

When the earth is changed so that it might be freed from destruction and become new, it follows that the sea, too, should also change, for the sea is on the earth. But how could it itself be cleansed, except by means of cleansing fire? Therefore, fire falling on it changed it into blood, and it killed a third of the [creatures] in it.

This is taking a literal, physical view, but you could also understand the sea allegorically and according to the rules of metaphor as referring to the present life because of its turbulence and constant motion; fish and ships are then human beings wriggling in their salty and bitter sins, who will melt away in their grief because of their fruitless concerns in their lifetime.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 1171] Jacob Bar-Salibi on Revelation 8:8
'On this, Caius the heretic objected to this revelation, and said that it is not possible that these things should be, inasmuch as as a thief that cometh in the night, so is the coming of the Lord [1 Thess. v. 2].

Hippolytus of Rome answered him, and said that, in like manner as God wrought signs such as these in Egypt, so is He to work when Christ appears. And those that [were wrought] in Egypt were partial, inasmuch as a part of the people was subjected there ; but these are to be general,3 before the judgment, on all the world. Accordingly, by the revelation John declared that there are to be plagues before the judgment, as though for the avenging of the righteous and retribution on the unbelieving, that when involved in these they may not trouble the faithful.

So also the Lord said, There shall be in that day tribulation such as has been none like it [St. Matth. xxiv. 21] ; and Joel, I will show signs in heaven and on earth, blood and fire and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord come [Joel ii. 30, 31] ; and Amos, To what end is the day of the Lord for you, for it is dark and not light? in like manner as if thou fleddest from a lion and a bear met thee, or one leaned his hands on a wall and a serpent bit him [Amos v. 18, 19].

The text, that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief, signifies as regards the unbelieving that they are darkness, inasmuch as the faithful are children of light, who walk not in the night [St. John xi. 10; xii. 35, 36 ; Eph. v. 8]. Accordingly, in Egypt this type was completed; for the Egyptians had darkness, but the Hebrews had light [Exod. x. 22, 23].'
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:9
Another edition has the reading “[a third of] those who have souls” and shows thereby that they have died a spiritual death, similar to that which the apostle said about the widow, “She who is self-indulgent is dead.” And so the passage suggests that one third has killed another third by a poisonous tradition and by imitation of a useless teaching.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:8-9
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:9
When he speaks customarily of the part that has a soul, he refers to persons who are spiritually dead and separated from the kingdom of God. “And a third of the birds fell to the ground.” Therefore, that third that died in the sea destroyed by its own death another third. He is describing the devil and those who are of one mind with the devil, who after the manner of birds fly around and deceive or wish to deceive all by their trickery.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:9
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:9
And a third of them died, those that had souls in the sea. He said, "those that have souls," to show that the spiritually living were dead. Just as the Apostle says of the voluptuous widow: "Living," he says, "she is dead" (I Tim. V).

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:9
And a third of the ships perished. Another Edition, by saying "And they corrupted a third of the ships," signifies that the third that died killed another third, that is, the succeeding one, with harmful tradition and useless imitation of doctrine.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:10
The “great star” is the devil, of whom the Lord spoke in the Gospel, “I saw Satan fall from heaven as fire or lightning.” It is possible that this passage also refers to ecclesiastical people, who living the spiritual life in the church, have become forgetful of themselves and like animals bend down to the things of the earth and fall from their positions of authority. We read what has been written of such persons: “Although he is in honor, he does not understand; he is compared to the senseless cattle and has become like them.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:10
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 8:10
It speaks of men who have fallen from heaven as though from the church, that is, of those who have the public reputation of shining brightly with good merits. For that reason they are compared to stars and torches, as did the apostle Jude, who called them “stars of seduction,” since they lead astray by a superficial splendor. And the Lord also compared such people with walls and “whitewashed tombs.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8.2.10-11
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 8:10
Some say that the bitterness revealed through the wormwood is symbolic of the torment that comes to those sinners being punished in Gehenna, who, on account of their number, are reasonably called “waters.” But we think that these depictions signify the sufferings at the time, which has been shown. The star indicates either that these things come upon people from heaven, or it refers to the devil, of whom Isaiah says, “How has the Day Star, which rose in the morning, fallen from heaven.” For, through pleasure he gives people a foul and bitter destruction to drink and through this allows punishing torments to come upon them, although not to everyone, but by the longsuffering of God to a third part.… It is necessary, therefore, that we examine ourselves lest we be judged. As the holy apostle says, “For if we judged ourselves, we should not be judged, but when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened,” and we receive the sufferings that come upon us with thanksgiving. For those who are concerned about sicknesses in the body bear patiently the cuts and cauteries of the physician, for they desire to be healed. Therefore, [we should examine ourselves] so that being spiritually healthy and bringing no wood to fuel the fire of Gehenna, we might not be condemned with the world but eternally rule with Christ, to whom be glory, honor and worship, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:10-11
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:10
And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, etc. Heretics, whom Jude the apostle calls stars of seduction, falling from the height of the Church, try to infect the springs of divine Scriptures with the flame of their wickedness. They are not afraid to falsify not only the meaning but also the words frequently. They are worthy of the name "wormwood," whose slight mixing tends to embitter great sweetness.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 8:10-11
Naomi long ago was given the name “bitter” because of her great distress over her children and other calamities. Bitterness then is a sign of extraordinary plagues. We sinners may some time suffer such bitterness, if we become embittered at the glory of the saints, seeing that when such good things had been prepared for human beings, we ourselves exchanged the pleasures of the present for those in the future. I think this is what the falling of the star means—a display of God’s wrath which made the waters bitter.

Figuratively he calls human beings waters, according to the prophet’s saying, “from the sounds of many waters, amazing are the surgings of the sea,” and again, “The rivers have lifted up, Lord, the rivers have lifted up their voices, the rivers will lift up what has been worn away.”

These, then, are figurative expressions. But we must not reject the possibility that these and other such things were actually taking place then.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:11
The rivers and fountains of waters signify the teachers of the divine Scriptures who instruct others but turn themselves away from the way of truth. Indeed, the name Wormwood indicates either the bitterness or the sweetness of sins, which give a present sweetness to those who desire them but afterwards change themselves into bitterness.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:11
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Revelation 8:11
A third part of humankind was made like the star that fell upon it.… Many die from the waters. This can manifestly be interpreted to refer to those who are rebaptized.

Source: EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:11, HOMILY 6
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 8:11
Since the ruin of those who are great often confuses many, it says that the star fell upon part of the rivers and fountains, and that its name was Wormwood because of its great bitterness. We know that many are weakened by the fall of such persons and are corrupted by an evil imitation of their teaching. [The star] is rightly compared with wormwood, since a small amount of bitterness, when mixed with that which is sweet, will make the whole bitter. Elsewhere the Scriptures make the same point: “I planted you as a chosen vine; how did you turn into the bitterness of the vine of another?”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:10-11
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:11
And many men died from the waters. For many (as the Apostle says) follow their luxuries, through whom the way of truth is blasphemed (II Pet. II), yet for the people of God, as Moses teaches, every wave of the waters is drinkable.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:12
The sun, moon and stars represent the church, a third part of which is struck. This third is a designation, not a quantity. For there are two peoples within the church, that part of God, which is compared with the light, and that part of the devil, which is surrounded by the darkness of shadows, as the Scripture says, “I have compared your mother to the night.” And this part was struck so that it might become apparent who is of God and who of the devil. It has been given over to its own sins and desires, so that their faults that have remained hidden and unknown to all might be revealed.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:12
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:12
And a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, etc. The beauty of the Church, like a shining star, is often obscured by false brethren, who make it shine less by their defection, whether in the prosperity or adversity of the world.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:12
And a third part of the day did not shine, and likewise a third part of the night. Another Edition has it thus: And a third part of the day appeared, and likewise of the night. That is, it was struck so that a third part of the day and a third of the night might appear, which belong to Christ and which to the devil. I say, it was struck for this purpose, that, being handed over to their own wills, with sins overflowing and becoming insolent, it might be revealed in its time.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 8:12-13
We have been taught by Joel the prophet that “the sun” shall be turned “to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes,” meaning that on that day all these things will take place. Peter, too, said in his second epistle, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire.” The Lord himself, too, in the hundredand-ninth section of Matthew says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” We are now being taught through the Revelation that these things will come about at the consummation of the present age.

What is the meaning that not everything on the earth, in the sea, and in the rivers, as well as also the elements in the heavens, will experience the afore-mentioned sufferings, but only a third of them? This is also a sure proof of God’s love of humankind. He was calling to repentance those of an earlier time by means of a partial and not a total onslaught against the elements. Those who do not turn to him he leads to total destruction in the future.

The prophet also says something similar: “He made a path for his anger; he did not spare their souls from death.” For to go partly forward as on a road and to send forth part of God’s wrath is the mark of one who opens a door to repentance by calling human beings to a change of purpose through fear of what is taking place [around them]. But if those among them do not go forward and make progress, “he did not spare their souls from death.”

The eagle in midheaven, looking sadly at the misfortunes of those on earth, you will understand is a kind of divine angel sympathizing with the plight of human beings.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 1171] Jacob Bar-Salibi on Revelation 8:12
'On this Caius said that, just as in the Flood the heavenly bodies were not taken away and suddenly submerged, thus also is it to be in the end, as it is written [St. Matth. xxiv. 37] ; and Paul says, When they shall say, Peace and safety, destruction shall come upon them [1 Thess. v. 3].

But Hippolytus says, in reply to this objection of the heretic: Before the Flood there was none of these signs, inasmuch as the Flood was partial; and the heavenly bodies were not removed, inasmuch as the general end had not arrived : but when heaven and earth are about to pass away [St. Matth. xxiv. 35], it must needs be that by little and little their splendour shall perish.

And to this Joel testifies : Before him verily the earth shall be confounded and the heavens shaken, and the sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars their light shall set [Joel ii. 10]. And our Lord said, in the Book of Luke, And there shall be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations, and the powers which are in |401 heaven shall be shaken [St. Luke xxi. 25, 26]. And as to this, that He sent a manifest token, it is with regard to the non-perception of the unbelieving that He signifies.

And as to the text, When they shall say Peace, destruction shall come upon them, it is with regard to the Jews that He signifies, that they expect to possess their land and to be able to live in peace, and forthwith Christ appears and they are put to shame.'
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 8:13
"And I saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven." By the angel flying through the midst of heaven is signified the Holy Spirit beating witness in two of the prophets that a great wrath of plagues was imminent. If by any means, even in the last times, any one should be willing to be converted, any one might even still be saved.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 8:13
The eagle that he saw flying in mid-heaven is the Word of God, which has free course in the middle of the church and announces openly and publicly the plagues of the last time.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:13
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 8:13
He speaks of an eagle that moves through the heavens in swift flight out of contempt for the earth. He speaks of the church flying in mid-heaven, for she is going to possess the whole world, and she says, “Our abode is in the heavens.” And he rightly says that she was “in the middle,” for “all who are around him offer gifts,” and God works his way in the midst and “works salvation in the midst of the earth,” and “the Lord is round about his people.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:13
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 8:13
This passage shows the sympathy and goodness of the holy angels, who, like God, are merciful toward the transgressors who are being chastised, and especially toward those who do not recognize that their suffering is for the purpose of their conversion. For these especially the “woe” is fitting, since they live upon the earth, think earthly thoughts and exhale dust rather than the perfume that has been poured out for us. For those whose citizenship is in heaven, the sufferings become the cause of unfading crowns and rewards.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:13
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:13
And I saw and heard the voice of one eagle flying through the midst of heaven, etc. The voice of this eagle flies daily through the mouths of the eminent doctors in the Church, when they gravely announce to the lovers of the earth the wickedness of the heretics, the savagery of the Antichrist, and the day of judgment to come, saying: In the last days, perilous times will come, and men will be lovers of themselves (II Tim. III); and further: Men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith (Ibid.), and elsewhere: Then shall that Wicked be revealed, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped (II Thess. II). And again: The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come upon them (I Thess. V).

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 8:13
Concerning the other voices of the three angels. Not that the trumpets of the angels bring plagues to the world, but that each one announces the coming or future events in their own time.

Source: Commentary on Revelation