Here is a quote from my catena on Rev 3:12
3:12 He that shall overcome, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; and he shall go out no more; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and my new name.
**Nicolas points out that the temple is the Church: **in the temple of my God That is, in the Church. and he shall go out no more Neither through apostasy nor through excommunication. and I will write upon him the name of my God Because in the Scriptures such are called gods, “I say, you are gods.(Ps. 82:6)” Which the Savior explains, when He says in Jn. 10:35, “Those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’.” He represents in the Church the person of God. and the name of the city That is, of the Church, which is clear from what follows: which cometh down out of heaven For the Church is ruled and ordered by the Holy Spirit. It must be noted that Christ, inasmuch as He was human, speaks naming His God. and my new name Because it is called Christian from Christ, which name He did not have from the beginning, granted He may have been called Jesus at the circumcision(Lk. 2), but after the baptism He was called Christ. Similarly, His faithful from the beginning were not called Christians, but only disciples. Thereafter, when the faith spread to Antioch and the faithful multiplied there, they were first called Christians, as it says in Acts 11:26. [Nicolas of Lyra Commentary on Revelation] 1270-1349AD
St. Bede points out that the pillar is holy men who strengthen the Church and also adorn it: temple. He who has overcome adverse things for My sake shall be glorious in the temple of the Church, and shall no more fear any loss which adversity can bring. The pillars, that is, holy men, at one time strengthen the Church by their support, at another adorn it by their elevation, like the two pillars at the door of Solomon’s temple. Name. That is, because we are called “the sons of God” by adoption. city. He shall be joined to the unity of the Church, which, by heavenly grace, is born again to a new life. new name. This is the Christian name, not that it is new to the Son of God, Who had this glory before the world was made, but new to the Son of Man, Who died and rose again, and sits on the right hand of God.** [The Venerable Bede Commentary on Revelation] 672-735AD**
**St, Clement points out that the Church is from above, that comes down out of Heaven: **“The Church is not of the present age, but is from above. For She is spiritual, like our Jesus, and was revealed in the last times in order to save us. And the Church, though spiritual, was revealed in the Flesh of Christ… If we do the will of our Father, God, we shall belong to the first Church, the spiritual one, which was created before the sun and moon. But if we do not the will of the Lord, we shall fall under the scripture which says: My house is become a den of thieves (Jeremiah 7.11; Matthew 21.23).” [St. Clement of Rome 2nd Letter 14:1] 92AD
St. Victorinus points out that those who endure will receive nobility in the Church: “He that overcometh shall be made a pillar in the temple of God.” For even as a pillar is an ornament of the building, so he who perseveres shall obtain a nobility in the Church. Moreover, the seventh association of the Church declares that they are rich men placed in positions of dignity, but believing that they are rich, among whom indeed the Scriptures are discussed in their bedchamber, while the faithful are outside; and they are understood by none, although they boast themselves, and say that they know all things — endowed with the confidence of learning, but ceasing from its labor. [St. Victorinus Apocalypse of John Commentary] 304AD
**Oecumenius points out that the new name was never known before: **He is describing their enjoyment of God forever and their dwelling in good quarters and the bliss, which, he says, they have in the age to come. The new name, he says, is that which men until now has nowhere been heard, which the saints who reign together with Christ will receive, who are named friends, brothers, and servants. But the new name exceeds even these. For these have not only been mentioned in Holy Scripture but have also come into the hearing of men. But the new name is nowhere named. [Oecumenius Commentary on Revelation] 6th Century
Tyconius points out that the new name is that of the Son of man: “And he shall never go out of it.” The nations went out from God, and they gave to idols that worship which they owed to God alone. But “all the families of the nations will remember and turn to the Lord and shall worship before Him.(Ps. 22:27)” This refers to those whom He foretold would come ‘from the synagogue of Satan.’ For having broken the bond of charity, the schisms have gone out of the house of God. They are those who have separated themselves from the body of the whole Church which is throughout the world and who vainly glory in themselves and firmly believe that they are the whole Church, even though they themselves are not everywhere. For when He says that ‘He shall never go out of it,’ He shows that at the end of time there will be a struggle. For it will happen that after unity there will be a final struggle in which there will be another separation. And wherever anyone will have been freed, He shall certainly not go out, and He shall remain in the house, not as a slave but as a son. And therefore God allowed those who were saved from the flood in the ark to go out, because until that time there was still time for retuning from one’s sins. However, at the end of time it will not at that time will go out, will have not occasion for repentance. “And I will write on him the name of my God.” That is, we are signed with the name of Christian. “And the name of the city of the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of Heaven.” The name of the Church that daily comes down from God out of Heaven, that is, from the Church that is reborn by the Lord. He speaks of it as new because of the newness of the Son of man who is the new Jerusalem….”Indeed, the name which is above every name.(Phil. 2:9)” However, this name is not new because it refers to the Son of God, who existed before the world and possessed this glory with the Father. Rather, this name is new in regard to the Son of man who died and on the 3rd day rose again and, ascending to the Heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father. For it is the Son of man who said ‘my new name,’ whom John saw ‘in the midst of the 7 lamp stands.’ This Son of man is God “at whose name every knee bows, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth.(Phil. 2:10)” [Tyconius Commentary on Revelation] 330-390AD
**Apringius points out that the Name of the Lord is always new and fresh: **And I will write on him the name of my God so that he might be signed with the divine name and be adored with the glory of immortality and might receive the name of the divine city Jerusalem, which is the vision of peace, and so fully enjoy the security of perpetual quiet and security. This is that city which descends out of Heaven from God, so that the saints might dwell and repose within it. “And my new name.” In God nothing is old, because he does grow with age. But the name of the Lord is always new, always fresh. And if any is named by this name, having been changed by the eternal power, he will obtain eternal life. [Apringius of Beja Commentary on Revelation] 6th Century
