Formulae of Spiritual Understanding preface–3

Preface. Eucherius to Veranius, his son in Christ, greeting. Out of the care of a father's concern for you, I thought it right to compose and send you formulas of spiritual understanding, so that, once you have grasped them, your mind may follow and readily apply itself to understanding all the divine writings. For since “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,” one must, with the life-giving Spirit, penetrate into the inner meaning of those spiritual words. That the whole of Scripture, of the Old Testament as well as the New, is to be taken in an allegorical sense, we are reminded both by what we read in the Old Testament, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter riddles of old,” and by what is written in the New Testament, “All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables, and without parables he did not speak to them.” Nor is it surprising that the divine word, uttered by the mouth of prophets and apostles, has departed far from the usual human manner of writing, having easy things on the surface and holding great things within. For it was truly fitting that God's sacred sayings should be distinguished from other writings in their form as well as in their merit, so that the dignity of the heavenly secrets should not lie open everywhere and indiscriminately to all, and set forth what is holy to dogs and pearls to swine; so that, after the manner of that silvered dove whose hinder parts gleam with the look of shining gold, the first things of divine Scripture should glitter with silver and the more hidden glow with gold. Rightly, then, was it arranged that the chastity of the sacred words should be covered from the promiscuous eyes of all by its own hiddenness, as by a veil of modesty; and by the divine dispensation it was best provided that the writings themselves should be covered, overshadowed by heavenly mysteries, just as the Godhead itself was hidden in its own secrecy. Since, therefore, in the holy books the eyes of the Lord, the womb of the Lord, the feet and even the weapons of the Lord are found written, and since it is far from the catholic faith of the churches that God, who is invisible, incomprehensible, unchangeable and infinite, should be bounded by a body, we must inquire how these things are unlocked by the Holy Spirit through figurative exposition. For here are found those inner parts of the Lord's temple, here that holy of holies. The body of sacred Scripture, then, as tradition has it, lies in the letter; its soul in the moral sense, which is called tropical; its spirit in the higher understanding, which is called anagoge. This threefold rule of the Scriptures fittingly matches the confession of the Trinity, which sanctifies us through all things, so that our whole spirit and soul and body may be kept blameless for the coming and judgment of our Lord God Jesus Christ. The wisdom of this world divided its philosophy into three parts, physics, ethics and logic, that is, natural, moral and rational: the natural concerned with the causes of nature, which contains all things; the moral, which looks to conduct; the rational, which, disputing about higher things, affirms that God is the Father of all. From this threefold division of teaching that distinction of ours in discussion is not very far, by which all the learned think that this heavenly philosophy of the Scriptures is to be expounded according to history, according to tropology, and according to anagoge. So history impresses on us the truth of the deeds and the trustworthiness of the narrative; tropology refers the mystical meanings to the amendment of life; anagoge leads on to the holier secrets of heavenly figures. There are also some who think that allegory should be added as a fourth in this kind of knowledge, which they affirm has shown, by the narration of deeds done, the shadow of things to come. That these things may be made plainer by examples set out below: heaven according to history is this which we behold; according to tropology, the heavenly life. Waters according to allegory are baptism; according to anagoge, the angels, whence that saying, “and let the waters that are above the heavens praise the name of the Lord.” The whole discipline of our religion has flowed from that twofold spring of knowledge, the first of which they have called practice and the second theory, that is, active and contemplative: the one, which perfects the active life by the amendment of conduct; the other, which is occupied with the contemplation of heavenly things and the discussion of the divine Scriptures. So active knowledge is spread out into various pursuits; contemplative knowledge is divided into two parts, that is, it consists in historical discussion and in the interpretation of spiritual understanding. But setting these aside now, let us set out the formulas of spiritual understanding that we promised, running through the figures of the individual names in which these things are usually taken when they are set in the text of divine reading. Let us pray the Lord, then, to reveal the thickets of his Scriptures, and let us set out how they are to be understood in a more hidden sense:

I. Of the things called members of the Lord, or which signify something about him. The eyes of the Lord are understood as divine watchfulness; in the psalm: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous.” The ears of the Lord, when he deigns to hear; in the psalm: “and his ears towards their prayers.” The mouth of the Lord: his speech to human beings; in the prophet: “The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The word of the Lord: the Son; in the psalm: “My heart has uttered a good word.” The arm of the Lord: the Son, through whom he has wrought all things; in the prophet: “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The right hand of the Lord: the same as above; in the psalm: “The right hand of the Lord has done mightily.” The womb of the Lord: the secret from which he brought forth the Son; in the psalm: “From the womb before the morning star I begot you.” The feet of the Lord: the stability of eternity; in the psalm: “and darkness under his feet.” The footprints of the Lord: the signs of his secret works; in the psalm: “and your footprints will not be known.” The steps of the Lord: the coming or visitation of the Lord; in the psalm: “Your steps have been seen, O God.” The weapons of the Lord: his help towards the saints; in the psalm: “Take hold of arms and shield.” The shield: God's protection; in the psalm: “Lord, you have crowned us as with the shield of your good will.” The spear: divine vengeance; in the psalm: “Draw the spear and shut in the wicked.” The bow: the bending of the divine threat; in the psalm: “He has bent his bow and made it ready.” The arrows: divine precepts, or the apostles; in the psalm: “He sent out his arrows and scattered them.” The sword: vengeance, or the word of the Lord; in the apostle: “For the word of God is living and active and more piercing than any two-edged sword.” The broadsword (romphaea): the same as above. The trumpet of God: the manifest voice of the Lord; in the apostle: “at the command and the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God.” The chariot of God: the seat of God, or the fourfold form of the Gospels; in the psalm: “The chariot of God is ten thousandfold.” The rod of God: the sign of kingship, or the correction of discipline; in the psalm: “The rod of equity is the rod of your kingdom.” The staff of God: the support of God's consolation; in the psalm: “Your rod and your staff, they have comforted me.” Coals: the fire of love, or of examples, or of repentance; in the psalm: “with desolating coals.” Smoke: the beginnings of compunction to come, or of God's threat itself; in the psalm: “Smoke went up in his anger.” Also in the other sense, as smoke is harmful to the eyes, that is, vanity. Fire: the Holy Spirit; in the Acts of the Apostles: “And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”

II. Of the creatures above. The heavens: the apostles or the saints, because the Lord dwells in them; in the psalm: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” The clouds: the prophets or the saints, because they rain the word of the Lord; in Isaiah: “I will command the clouds from above not to rain.” Thunders: the voices of the Gospel, because they thunder from heaven; in the psalm: “The voice of your thunder in the wheel.” Flashes: the splendours of the Gospel; in the psalm: “Your flashes lit up the world.” Lightnings: the mighty works or the words of Jesus Christ; in the psalm: “and he multiplied lightnings and threw them into confusion.” Thrones: the angels, or the saints, or the very power of reigning; in the psalm: “Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever”; also in the other sense, of the devil: “I will set my throne in the north.” Seat: the same as above, angels or saints, because the Lord sits in them; in the psalm: “God sits upon his holy seat.” The sun: the Lord Jesus Christ, because he shines on the earth; in Solomon: “So the sun of righteousness has not shone on us.” The moon: the church, because it shines in this night of the world; in the psalm: “He made the moon for seasons.” The stars: the saints or the learned; in Daniel: “The learned will shine like stars”; sometimes also the angels. Mist: the veil of God's mysteries; in the prophet: “and clouds are the dust of his feet.” Darkness: the covering of divine secrets; in the psalm: “and darkness under his feet.” The abyss: the depth of the Scriptures; in the psalm: “Abyss calls to abyss.” Dew: the word of the Lord, because it moistens the earth of human beings; in the psalm: “like the dew of Hermon, which comes down upon Mount Zion.” Rain: the precepts or commandments of the Lord, because it waters the earth, that is, human beings; in the psalm: “A willing rain you will set apart, O God, for your inheritance.” Snows: above all for the whiteness of righteousness; in the psalm: “You will wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.” Hail: the threats of the Lord, with which he beats the stubborn; in the psalm: “hail and coals of fire.” Also in the other sense: “and he killed their vines with hail.” Hoarfrost: abstinence, because through it the heat of the body grows cold; in the psalm: “I have become like a wineskin in the frost.” Storm: the onset of persecutions or tribulations; in the psalm: “who saved me from faintness of spirit and from the storm.” Ice: the hardness of sins; in Solomon: “and as ice in fair weather, so your sins will melt away.” The winds: the souls of the saints; in the psalm: “He flew upon the wings of the winds.” Also in a bad sense, in Matthew: “and the winds blew.” The north wind: the devil, or unbelieving or wicked men; in the prophet: “From the north evils will blaze out upon the earth.” The right-hand wind: the same as above; in Solomon: “The north wind is a harsh wind, but by name it is called right-hand”; it is called right-hand because the devil presumes to take for himself the name of right-hand, as though he were good, or because it is on the right for those who face the west, that is, sin. The south wind: the warmth of faith; in the psalm: “like a torrent in the south.” The air: the expression of emptiness; in the apostle: “So I fight, not as one beating the air,” that is, not pursuing empty things. The seasons: the timely distribution of the divine will; in the psalm: “He made the moon for seasons.” Spring: the renewal of life, either through baptism or through the resurrection; in the psalm: “Summer and spring, you made them.” Summer: the prefiguring of the joy to come; in the psalm, the same as above. Winter: persecution or tribulation; in the Gospel: “that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath.” Years are sometimes taken for eternity, as there: “Your years will not fail”; sometimes for the shortness of life, as here: “Our years will be reckoned as a spider's web.” Day and night: righteousness and iniquity, faith and unbelief, prosperity and adversity; in the psalm: “By day the Lord commanded his mercy, and by night he declared it.” Light and darkness are taken above all in the same way as day and night; in the epistle of John: “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light; but whoever hates his brother is in the darkness.” Shadow: divine protection; in the psalm: “Protect me under the shadow of your wings.” The hour: five hundred years, as some think, if ever a day is taken for the whole age of this world; in the epistle of John: “Little children, it is the last hour.” The east: above all the Saviour; in Luke: “the dawn from on high has visited us”; and in Zechariah: “Behold a man, the Dawn is his name.” The west: the failing of a better life; in the prophet: “The sun will go down on you at noon.” Morning: the light of good deeds, or baptism, or the resurrection; in the psalm: “In the morning I will stand before you and see you.” Noon: the full brightness of teaching and deeds; in Solomon: “Where do you lie down at noon?”; and in a bad sense in the psalm: “from the noonday demon,” that is, open. Evening: the end of life, or of the age, or punishment; in the psalm: “Weeping will tarry for the evening, and joy in the morning.”

III. Of earthly things. The earth: man himself; in the Gospel: “Other seed fell on good earth.” Also in a bad sense, of the sinner: “Earth you shall eat all the days of your life.” Dry land: the flesh of a fruitless man; in Ecclesiasticus: “to cover the dry land with malice and deceit.” Dust: sinners, or the vanity of the flesh; in the psalm: “like the dust that the wind drives away.” Mud: the glue of sins; in the psalm: “Rescue me from the mud, that I may not sink in”; also in the other sense, in John: “He made mud and anointed my eyes.” Mountains: the Lord, the church, the apostles or the saints, from the loftiness of their virtues; in the psalm: “which comes down upon Mount Zion.” Also in the other sense, in the prophet: “lest your feet stumble on the dark mountains,” that is, the heretics. Hills: saints, but of lesser merit; in the psalm: “mountains and all hills.” Also in a bad sense, in the Gospel: “Every hill and mountain shall be brought low.” Valleys: those humble with contrition of heart; in the psalm: “and the valleys will abound with grain.” And in a bad sense, the prophet: “the valley of the sons of Hinnom.” The rock: Christ, from his firmness; in the apostle: “and the rock was Christ.” Stones: sometimes Christ, or the saints; in the psalm: “The stone which the builders rejected.” Also in the other sense: “God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” The field: this world; in the Gospel: “The field is this world.” Plains: the saints, or the divine Scriptures, because they provide pasture for souls; in the psalm: “and your plains will be filled with plenty.” Also in a bad sense: “in the plain of Tanis.” Pasture: spiritual refreshment; in the psalm: “In a place of pasture, there he has set me.” Cultivation: the saints, who are cultivated for God; the apostle: “You are God's cultivation.” The farmer: God; in the Gospel the Lord: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.” Furrows: the hearts of the saints; in the psalm: “drenching its furrows.” Seed: divine preaching; in the Gospel: “The sower went out to sow his seed.” Harvest: abundance or plenty of the faithful; in the Gospel: “Lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are already white for harvest”; and otherwise: “The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.” Sheaves: the fruits of righteousness; in the psalm: “carrying their sheaves.” Stubble: those dry towards faith, or the empty; in the apostle: “wood, hay, stubble”; and in the prophet: “Woe is me, for I have become like one who gathers stubble at harvest,” that is, I have found no fruits of good work. The threshing floor: the church; in the Gospel: “and he will clear his threshing floor.” The winnowing fork: the testing of God's justice; in the Gospel: “whose winnowing fork is in his hand.” Wheat: the saints or the elect of God; in the Gospel: “and he will gather his wheat into the barn.” Barley: the letter of the law; in the Gospel: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves.” Chaff: sinners; in the Gospel: “but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire”; and Jeremiah: “What has the chaff to do with the wheat? says the Lord.” Tares: stumbling blocks, or those who live wickedly; in the Gospel: “His enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.” The vineyard: the church, or the people of Israel; in the psalm: “You brought a vineyard out of Egypt.” Also in a bad sense: “For their vine is from the vineyard of Sodom.” The vine: Christ; in the Gospel: “I am the true vine.” Also in the other sense, as above, in the song of Deuteronomy: “Their vine is from the vineyard of Sodom.” Branches: the apostles or the saints; in the Gospel: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” And in a bad sense, in the song of Deuteronomy: “and their branch from Gomorrah.” Grapes: the fruits of righteousness; in the song of Isaiah: “I waited for it to yield grapes.” Also in a bad sense, in Deuteronomy: “their grape is a grape of gall.” The cluster: the church, or the body of the Lord; in Numbers: “because the children of Israel had carried the cluster from there.” The vintage: the end of the age, or vengeance on a people; in the psalm: “All who pass by the way gather its grapes”; and Joel: “Put in the sickles and [gather] the vineyard of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” The winepress: the altar, because the offerings are brought there like fruits; in the song of Isaiah: “and I dug a winepress in it.” And otherwise the winepress is the pressure of tribulations, in which the faithful are tested; in the title of the psalm: “To the end, for the winepresses.” Hay: the flesh, or vainglory; in the prophet: “All flesh is hay, and all its glory like the flower of hay.” Grass: a certain joy of the soul that is making progress; in Genesis: “Let the earth bring forth green grass.” Also in a bad sense: “In the morning may it pass away like grass.” Flowers: Christ, or the beauty of righteousness; in the psalm: “The righteous will flourish like the palm.” The lily: Christ, or the angels, from the whiteness of righteousness; in Solomon: “I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys.” Roses: the martyrs, from the redness of blood; in Solomon: “like a rose growing by streams of water.” Violets: the confessors, from the likeness of their bruised bodies; in the Song of Songs: “Flowers have appeared on the earth.” Forests: the nations; in the psalm: “We found it in the fields of the forest.” From these forests came out the two bears, kings of the Romans, at the command of Elisha, who was a figure, and forty-two years after his ascension into heaven they devoured the Jewish children. Thickets: the dark or covered parts of divine Scripture; in the psalm: “and he revealed the thickets.” Wood: sinners destined for the fire; in Ecclesiastes: “He who splits wood will be endangered by it.” Also in a good sense: “and he will be like a tree that is planted.” The root: origin; in the apostle: “If the root is holy, so are the branches.” And in a bad sense, in the psalm: “and your root from the land of the living.” The tree: man, from the fruit of his works; in the Gospel: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good.” And in a bad sense: “or make the tree bad and its fruit bad.” Some think that in this passage the tree is to be taken as the will of man rather than as man himself. The branch: succession; in the apostle: “If the root is holy, so are the branches.” Also in a bad sense, in Daniel: “Cut off its branches.” The leaf: the word of teaching; in the psalm: “and its leaf will not fall.” And otherwise the leaf is clothing and beauty with the protection of divine grace. Fruits: the fruits of the saints in virtues; in the Song of Songs: “and let him eat the fruit of his apples.” The palm: perfection, or victory; in the psalm: “The righteous will flourish like the palm.” Cedars: men of loftier power; in the psalm: “like the cedars of Lebanon they will be multiplied.” And in a bad sense, in the psalm: “and the Lord will break the cedars of Lebanon.” The olive: a holy man abounding in the fruits of mercy; in the psalm: “But I am like a fruitful olive.” The wild olive: a man without fruit, or a pagan; in the apostle: “If you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive.” The fig: sometimes the synagogue; in the Gospel: “and at once the fig tree withered.” And in Habakkuk: “The fig will not bear fruit.” Pomegranates: the church from many nations, or having various graces; in the Song of Songs: “Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with the fruit of apples.” The reed: a sinner, or one weak in faith; in the Gospel: “He will not break a bruised reed.” Also the reed is a weak help; in the prophet: “Why do you trust in this staff of Egyptian reed? If anyone leans on it, it will break and pierce his hand.” The bramble: as some think, a prefiguring of the holy Virgin Mary, because she sent forth the Saviour like a rose from the bramble of a human body, or because she bore the force of divine brightness without being consumed; in Exodus: “And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bramble, and he saw that the bramble was burning and was not consumed.” Thorns: sometimes the harmful cares of riches that choke the mind; in the Gospel: “Other seed fell among thorns.” Thistles: the stings of vices or temptations; in Genesis: “Thorns and thistles it will bring forth for you.” Springs: baptism; in the psalm: “As the deer longs for the springs of water.” Water: peoples, or temptations; in the psalm: “Perhaps the water would have swallowed us up.” Also in a good sense, in Jeremiah: “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water”; and in the prophet: “You who thirst, come to the water,” that is, to teaching. The torrent: the onset of persecution; in the psalm: “He will drink from the torrent by the way.” And in a good sense: “and you will give them drink from the torrent of your pleasure.” Rivers: the peoples of the unbelievers; in the psalm: “By the rivers of Babylon.” Also in a good sense: “Rivers of living water will flow from his belly,” that is, of spiritual grace. The pit: hell; in the psalm: “They have put me in the lower pit,” that is, in that place of hell in which sinners alone are held in penal custody. The sea: the world, or the peoples; in the psalm: “This great and wide sea.” Fish: the saints; in the Gospel: “and they drew the net full of large fish.” Also in a bad sense: “but the bad they threw away.” Waves: temptations; in the psalm: “All your heights and your waves have passed over me.” The billow: the same as above; in the song: “The billows congealed in the midst of the sea.” Islands: either souls or the churches of God, which are beaten by the various waves of temptations; in the psalm: “Let the many islands rejoice.” The shore: the end of the age; in the Gospel: “and sitting down by the shore they gathered the good into vessels.” The sand of the sea: the countless multitudes of the nations; in Genesis: “and I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.”