THE FORMULAE OF ST. EUCHERIUS OF LYONS:


V. On the Various Names and Titles

Translated by Karen Rae Keck, 1996

Man is the total human or the mind; in Genesis: God made man after His own image and likeness. And in a bad part of the psalm: arise, o Lord, let not man prevail, here is flesh or the devil. [Gen. 1:27; Ps. 9:20(19)]

The man is the spirit, that is, the mind; in the apostle: man is the head of woman. Man is the same in a bad part of Genesis: the virgin was fair of face and not known to any man, that is, the devil, who corrupts the mind greatly with imagining. [I Cor. 11:3; Gen. 24:16-18]

The woman is the heart, or the human flesh; in the apostle: the man is the head of the woman. [I Cor. 11:3]

The virgin is the church or the holy souls; in the apostle: for I have pledged to show you to Christ, as a pure virgin to her intended. [I Cor. 11:2]

The king is the Lord; in the apostle: the king of kings and the lord of lords. [I Tim. 6:15]

The queen is the church; in the psalm: the queen stood to your right. And again, the queen is the soul commanding the body. [Ps. 44(45):10(9)]

The father is the lord; in the prophet: and I will be a father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, said the Almighty Lord. [Jer. 31:33]

The mother is the church, or the heavenly Jerusalem; in the apostle: she who is on high is the free Jerusalem, and she is our mother. [Gal. 4:26]

The brother is Christ, or the neighbor; in the psalm: I will tell Your name to my brothers. [Ps. 21(22):23(22)]

The sister is the church, the temple, or the soul in Christ; in the song of songs: my sister, my bride. [Cant. 4:9]

Husband and wife are Christ and the church, knowledge of the spirit and history of the Scriptures; in the apostle: men, love your wives as Christ has loved the church. [Eph. 5:25]

The bridegroom is Christ, the reason being that he was promised by the Father from the beginning; in the psalm: and he himself is like a bridegroom proceeding from the bridal chamber. [Ps. 18(19):6(5)]

The bride is the church, which is promised to the divine bridegroom; in the song of songs: I came from Lebanon, my bride, I came from Lebanon. [Cant. 4:8]

A son is the believing people; in the apostle: already it is not the servant but the son; because he is the son, he is the heir of God. [Gal. 4:7]

A daughter is the soul of the faith or the church; in the psalm: listen, daughter, and see. [Ps. 44(45):11(10)]

The neighbors are those who are close in faith; in Solomon: come, eat, drink, and be merry, neighbors. [Cant. 5:1]

Friends are harmony in God; in the gospel: you are my friends. [John 15:14]

The old man is the fullfillment of righteousness; in Genesis: and Abraham, an old man of many days, died. And in Solomon: I sing that the sense of man and the time of old age are a clean life. And in another part about Solomon: when he was yet an old man, his heart was perverted. [Gen. 25:8; Wisdom 4:8-9; III(I)Kings 11:4]

Youths are cheerful before God; in the letter of John: I write to you, young man, because you are strong and you remain in the word of God and you have conquered evil. And in a bad part of the book of Kings about Raboham: the council place of the elders is abandoned according to the plan of young men. [I John 2:14; III(I) Kings 12-13]

The child is humble and simple of mind; in the gospel: You have hidden this from the wise and prudent and have revealed it to the children. And in another part of the apostle: when I was a child, I spoke like a child. [Matt. 11:25; I Cor. 13:11]

The harlot is the heart of a sinner, who has left her heavenly husband, that is, Christ, and brings forth adulterous fruit of iniquity from the devil; in Jeremiah: you have the face of an adulterous woman. [Jer. 3:3]

Workmen are the apostles, or those who proclaim the gospel; in the gospel: the harvest is great, but the workers are few. [Matt. 9:37]

The shepherd is the Lord; in the gospel: I am the good shepherd. The same shepherd is the apostle; in the gospel, feed my sheep. [John 10:11; John 21:17]

The hired servants are those who serve the Lord not so much from divine love as for temporal rewards; in the gospel: how many hired servants at my father's have abundant bread! [Luke 15:17]

The fishermen are the apostles or the doctors; in the gospel: and I will make you fishers of men. [Matt. 4:19]

The doctor is Christ or a teacher; in Solomon: the doctor is a gentle man with a heart. And again: the healthy do not need a physician, but the unhealthy do. [unknown; Luke 5:31]

The rich man is faithful, abounding in spiritual good; in the apostle: because you have been made rich in all knowledge and in all words. And in a bad part of the gospel: woe to you who are rich! [I Cor. 1:5; Luke 6:24]

The poor man is humble; in the gospel: and Lazarus was a beggar. The same: blessed are the poor in spirit. And in a bad part of the psalm: because we have become very much like beggars. [Luke 16:20; Matt. 5:3; Ps. 78(79):8]

The clothed have baptism or integrity of faith; in the gospel: and he saw there was a man who was not wearing a wedding garment. [Matt. 22:11]

The naked lack a baptismal garment or divine aid; in the apocalypse: you, however, are naked and poor. And in a good part of the gospel: and having tossed aside his garment, he said, the naked man fled from him, that is, naked by an earthly means. [Apoc. 3:17; Mark 14:52]

The living are upright: in the psalm: I will please the Lord in the land of the living. And in another part in Ecclesiastes: and I have praised the dead more than the living. [Ps. 114(116):9 Vulgate; Eccl. 4:2]

The dead are sinners or infidels; in the gospel: let the dead bury their dead. And in a good part: blessed are those who have died in the Lord. And the same: you are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [Mat. 8:22; Apoc. 14:13; Col. 3:3]

Corpses are the bodies of the unfaithful; in the prophet: and let me fill the valley of Josaphat with the corpses of the dead. The same in another part: they have put the corpses of your servants {out for food}. [Joel 3:3; Ps. 78(79):2]

The tomb is the body of a sinner who has a dead soul within while alive; in the gospel; because you are like a whitened selpulchre, which on the outside they make pleasing to men, but inside it is full of the bones of many dead. [Matt. 23:27]



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