The Eagle is known for his far-seeing eye. Far up in his eyrie he sees the fishes in the sea, dives down, and captures them in his claws. When an eagle grows old his eye becomes dim, and his feathers wither. He ten goes to a cool fountain in the forest and soars aloft straight into the sun. His feathers are singed and his eyes burned. Then he dives into the fountain, and his eyes and feathers made new and his youth regained. The chief characteristic of the eagle is its ability to look directly at the sun without being dazed by its brightness.
The crowing of the cock makes him a timekeeper. The cock represents the preachers, whose mission it is to proclaim the coming light in the darkness of the present life by sining. Real preaching for Saint Gregory is a "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" (Saint Gregory the Great) ..... The preachers must lead the listeners on to what lies hidden beyond the appearances.
A lioness is trapped, not hunted. The lioness is in search of food for her cubs ... takes the initiative in the search of prey and then the close-knit group in which lions and lionesses join themselves is called a pride. This lioness is apparently alone. She travels in a straight line, because she is following a scent. The scent is part of a trap. A pit has been dug in which a heifer is tied. The pit is both deep and narrow in order that the stalking lioness might easily fall into it but be unable to spring out. Yet apparently she willingly springs into it, inhianter, with desire, because she is hungry.
A second pit is dug adjacent to the first and that the two pits are joined by a small opening, just wide enough to admit the lioness. The second pit holds a cage into which the lioness willingly enters, because she is beset by fear of what is happening outside the pit(s). (Gregory) has to hav the lioness enter the cage through dread. Her dread is apparently assuged by the bars of teh cage that surround her.
Gregory compares the lioness with the human mind captured. She was created with free will, but like a lioness going in search of food for her cubs, she wanted to feed the desires of the flesh. ... the problem of the fall of the human race from intimacy with God. Like the lioness roaming free in the wilderness, the human was created free by God. He considers the hman in the aspect of mens, which can be freely translated "inner man" or "true self". Unsatisfied with being himself, a human must go outside himself to seek food. Like the lioness deceived by the scent of flesh, the human is deceived by the ancient enemy and by his own desire. Stetching out his hand for the forbidden fruit, he falls into the pit, the pit of death and decay.
As soon as the lioness enters the cage, the bait of the heifer is forgotten. So too with the human. She is not deprived of her free will. As the lioness is led back to the free air in the cage, so by the intervention of grace is the human led back to company with God. The human is still unable to do many things, because his nature is wounded. Like the bars of a cage, human nature confines us to a relatively limited number of options. Although the human has escaped the trap of condemnation and the penalty of death by the helping hand of redemption and forgiveness, he is confined by heavenly teaching.
The lioness wanted the heifer, so she entered the pit .... In the same way the human feel into sin through freedom of the will, and through redemption he restrains his emotions, captured by the Creator's grace. .... The human was captured for his pride, like a lioness, because he boldly transgressed the commandment ....
(Now) we realize how pride daily trips us up. Under the guise of virtuous action we fall into the pit. Our sinful desires cause us to grasp the bait. We cannot get out by our own power. God's mercy intervenes in the form of a cage. The cage is realization of our weakness and humilty. We become exiles and prisoners, but thereby we become free again and in God's company.
Note to Self: The therapy room - the place where the client is held, like a caste,
until healing comes.
The lioness is a symbol of the fall of the human under the aspect of mens. A symbol is something that stands for or is put aside something else, normally an abstract or spiritual reality.
Brian Kerns, OCSO, Gregory the Great and The Beastiary, CSR, Volume 46, 2011
A second pit is dug adjacent to the first and that the two pits are joined by a small opening, just wide enough to admit the lioness. The second pit holds a cage into which the lioness willingly enters, because she is beset by fear of what is happening outside the pit(s). (Gregory) has to hav the lioness enter the cage through dread. Her dread is apparently assuged by the bars of teh cage that surround her.
Gregory compares the lioness with the human mind captured. She was created with free will, but like a lioness going in search of food for her cubs, she wanted to feed the desires of the flesh. ... the problem of the fall of the human race from intimacy with God. Like the lioness roaming free in the wilderness, the human was created free by God. He considers the hman in the aspect of mens, which can be freely translated "inner man" or "true self". Unsatisfied with being himself, a human must go outside himself to seek food. Like the lioness deceived by the scent of flesh, the human is deceived by the ancient enemy and by his own desire. Stetching out his hand for the forbidden fruit, he falls into the pit, the pit of death and decay.
As soon as the lioness enters the cage, the bait of the heifer is forgotten. So too with the human. She is not deprived of her free will. As the lioness is led back to the free air in the cage, so by the intervention of grace is the human led back to company with God. The human is still unable to do many things, because his nature is wounded. Like the bars of a cage, human nature confines us to a relatively limited number of options. Although the human has escaped the trap of condemnation and the penalty of death by the helping hand of redemption and forgiveness, he is confined by heavenly teaching.
The lioness wanted the heifer, so she entered the pit .... In the same way the human feel into sin through freedom of the will, and through redemption he restrains his emotions, captured by the Creator's grace. .... The human was captured for his pride, like a lioness, because he boldly transgressed the commandment ....
(Now) we realize how pride daily trips us up. Under the guise of virtuous action we fall into the pit. Our sinful desires cause us to grasp the bait. We cannot get out by our own power. God's mercy intervenes in the form of a cage. The cage is realization of our weakness and humilty. We become exiles and prisoners, but thereby we become free again and in God's company.
Note to Self: The therapy room - the place where the client is held, like a caste,
until healing comes.
The lioness is a symbol of the fall of the human under the aspect of mens. A symbol is something that stands for or is put aside something else, normally an abstract or spiritual reality.
Brian Kerns, OCSO, Gregory the Great and The Beastiary, CSR, Volume 46, 2011
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