About

About The Woman & the Dragon

A Catholic priest's reading of Revelation 12 and 13, set out openly, tested honestly, and offered as help to stand firm in a time of trial.

Home › About

✓ Reviewed by Fr. John How this site is made

Fr. John

Fr. John is a Catholic diocesan priest. He founded and directs The Ephesus Challenge, a family of websites on the Book of Revelation and Christian hope, and he writes this site himself, with research and drafting by Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic. He is not an academic scholar of Scripture, and he does not write here as one. He writes as a pastor who has watched the events of our time in the light of Revelation and wants to help others watch with faith instead of fear.

The reading of Revelation 13 set out on this site is his own. He grades it possible, not settled, and asks that it be tested. The Church has not taught it, and nothing here speaks for the Church. On apocalypse13.org his proposal is weighed beside other readings by the same standards.

Dedication and patrons

Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Woman clothed with the sun, standing on the moon in a blaze of light while angels bring her crown; with a staff topped by a cross she pierces the seven-headed dragon beneath her feet. — Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Woman clothed with the sun, overcoming the seven-headed dragon (Revelation 12). Devotional image, artist unknown.

This site, and the whole of The Ephesus Challenge, was dedicated on August 22, 2023, the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and placed under the protection of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven and Earth, the Woman clothed with the sun (Revelation 12:1).

Principal patron: St. Carlo Acutis (feast October 12), who used the internet to lead people to Christ in the Eucharist.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux (August 20), Doctor of the Church and lover of Mary.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Edith Stein (August 9). On Passion Sunday 1939 she asked her prioress for leave to offer herself to the Heart of Jesus for true peace, “that the dominion of Antichrist may collapse, if possible, without a new world war” (Letter 296, March 26, 1939, in Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916–1942, ICS Publications, 1993). Her name in religion, Teresia Benedicta a Cruce, can also be read “blessed by the Cross.”
St. Rose of Lima (August 23), who wrote that the Cross “is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven” (read in the Office of Readings on her feast).
Pope St. John Paul II (October 22), who read Revelation 12 with Mary and the Church (Redemptoris Mater) and told the world, “Be not afraid.”

The Ephesus Challenge

The project takes its name from Christ's letter to the church at Ephesus: “you have lost the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:4), and his challenge, “Repent, and do the works you did at first” (Revelation 2:5). Its other sites study Revelation chapter by chapter (The Lamb's Victory) and prophecy across the whole Bible (A Great Sign). Those sites follow the Church's common reading and do not take up Fr. John's proposal; this site is where he makes it.

See How this site is made for who does what and the rules every page follows.

Independence

This is an independent project. Fr. John is a Catholic diocesan priest, but this site is his own and is not affiliated with or endorsed by his diocese, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Anthropic, or any other organization.