page_title: Woman of the Apocalypse
section_title: Interpretation as the Virgin Mary
hierarchical_section_title: Woman of the Apocalypse / Interpretation as the Virgin Mary
context_page_description: The Woman of the Apocalypse is a figure described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation.
  The woman gives birth to a male child who is threatened by a dragon, identified as the Devil and Satan, who intends to devour the child as soon as he is born. When the child is taken to heaven, the woman flees into the wilderness leading to a "War in Heaven" in which the angels cast out the dragon. The dragon attacks the woman, who is given wings to escape and then attacks her again with a flood of water from his mouth, which is subsequently swallowed by the earth. Frustrated, the dragon initiates war on "the remnant of her seed", identified as the righteous followers of Christ.
  The Woman of the Apocalypse is widely identified as the Virgin Mary. This interpretation is held by some commentators of the ancient Church as well as in the medieval and modern Catholic Church. This view does not negate the alternative interpretation of the Woman representing the Church, as in modern Catholic dogma, Mary is herself considered both the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church.
caption: The Virgin of Guadalupe has been depicted as the Woman of the Apocalypse since the 16th century.[4]
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