S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 8 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 2 2 5 5 Miloš Lichner, Ladislav Proks 6 Hen and its Wings In some of his enarrationes Augustine quotes Matthew 23:37 and the image of hen who wants to gather its young under her wings becomes the symbol of the connection between mercy of the Son and humiliation of the Incarnation of the God’s Son. In Enarratio 58 he writes: “He became weak to death, he put on the weakness of our body to gather the young under his wings in Jerusalem like hen who becomes little with its little ones.” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 38, 736). Augustine emphasizes an interesting fact: hen becomes weak with its weak ones. Hence, his explanation in the commentary to the respective Psalm: “I am talking about the fact that is known to all those who listen to my word because they often witnessed it themselves: look how her voice deteriorates, her body is covered with bristles, she drags her wings on the ground and her feather keeps falling out; she feels a certain weakness for her young and this kind of weakness emerges from her maternal love.” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 38, 736). Augustine calls it maternal weakness: “Lord gathered all the nations like hen gathers its children, through becoming weak for us. He accepted our body, the body of humanity, by surrendering to the fact that he would be crucified, ridiculed, hung on the Cross, pierced with lance. All of this is a result of maternal weakness, and it does not mean the loss of majesty.” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 38, 736). As Augustine reminds in Enarratio in Psalmum 90, fact that hen wants to gather its young under her wings indicates her effort to protect them from enemies. Thus her wings become a hideaway for her children: “If hen protects its young under her wings, how much more you will be protected under the wings of God from devil and his angels, from heavenly powers that keep hovering around you like vultures to carry away weak bird.” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 39, 1258). The image of hen, however, evokes other meaning, too. We find it in homiletic commentaries to Psalms, it is a symbol of protection in the image of God’s wings. In Enarratio to Psalm 16 (nowadays Psalm 17) he interprets the eighth verse “hide me in the shadow of your wings”, writing that “by the wall of your love and your mercy you will protect me from enemies who torture me” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 38, 93). Mercy is thus introduced in two images – as the wall and the wings, meaning protection in both cases. It is interesting that the word “wall” is used to describe mercy only in this passage and only by Augustine. The image of God’s wings is also associated with the theme of rest. Rest relates to words like water, relief, recovery of man. For instance, in Enarratio 35 (nowadays Psalm 36) Augustine quotes verses 8–10: “How precious is your mercy, O God! The children of Adam take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the rich food of your house; from your delightful stream you give them drink, for with you is the fountain of life and in your light, we see light.” In Augustine’s work we find 135 quotations of Psalm 35, mainly verses 8–10.
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