[St. Pachomius Library]

THE FORMULAE OF ST. EUCHERIUS OF LYONS:


VIII. On the Various Meanings of Words and Names

Translated by Karen Rae Keck, 1996

To build is to do good works or to teach well; in the apostle: if anyone builds precious stones on a foundation of silver and gold. [I Cor. 3:12]

To destroy is to commit bad deeds or to teach badly; in Solomon: one building and one destruction. [Eccl. 34:28]

To clean is to erase vices; in the gospel: Jesus touched him, saying, I will you to be clean, and immediately, the leper was cleansed. [Matt. 8:3]

To stand is to persist in the faith; in the apostle: stand in faith. [I Cor. 16:13]

To walk is to reach out to the Lord; in the psalm: and I will walk in freedom. [Ps. 118(119):45]

To sit is to begin again humbly in God; in the gospel: remain {literally, sit yourselves} in the city. [Luke 24:49]

To be ill is to succumb either to vice or to temptation; in the gospel: and he found her lying ill on her bed. [Mark 7:20]

To run is to hasten into good works; in the apostle: run that you may understand. [I Cor. 9:24]

To be vigilant is to guard your heart or to rise again into God; in the psalm: a vigil all the way from morning until night. [Ps. 129(130):6 (unknown variant)]

To sleep is to rest in the passover of Christ; in the psalm: Does he who sleeps not turn that he may rise again? And otherwise, to sleep is to be trapped in the sleep of sin; in the apostle: Ye who sleep, arise! [Ps. 40(41):9 Vulgate; Ephes. 5:14]

To have ascended is perfection in God; in the psalm: his rising is in my heart. [Ps. 83(84):6 (unknown variant)]

To have fallen is defection from God; in the gospel; a certain man descended from Jerusalem to Jericho. [Luke 10:30]

The way is Christ; in the gospel: I am the way and the truth and the life. Likewise, the way is the life of man: in the psalm: I have made my ways known, and You have heard me. [John14:6; Ps. 118(119):26 Vulgate]

Broad places are an expanse of seductive vices; in the gospel: the way that leads to destruction has a wide, roomy door. [Matt. 7:13]

Narrow places are the influence or pressure of tribulation; in the gospel: narrow and strait is the door that leads to life. [Matt. 7:14]

Orderly is the arrangement of the teachings of God; in Isaiah: make right his path. [Is. 40:3]

Crooked is deviance from the teachings of God; in Isaiah: and they were crooked in order and rough in the level ways. [Is. 40:4]

Obedience to the teachings of God is smooth; in Isaiah: the same as above.

Disobedience is, in contrast, harsh and bristly; in Isaiah: the same as above.

The part of righteousness is on the right; in the gospel: he placed the sheep on his right, and the goats on his left. [Matt. 25:33]

The part of unrighteousness is on the left; in the gospel: the same as above.

The pit is sorrow or a fall into death; in the psalm: they dug a pit before my face. [Ps. 56(57):7(6)]

The well is the devil or hell; in the psalm: Do not let the well force its mouth on me. And in a good part of Genesis: it was sworn at the well, that is, the water of faith. [Ps. 68(69):16(15); Gen. 46:1]

Health is wholeness of mind; in the psalm: I have cried out to You, and You have cured me. [Ps. 29(30):3(2)]

Fatigue is an illness of vices; in the psalm: who relieves all my fatigue. [Ps. 102(103):3 (unknown variant)]

Leprosy is the contamination of sins; in the gospel: and immediately the leper was cleansed. [Matt. 8:3]




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The St. Pachomius Orthodox Library,  St. Innocent of Alaska, 1999 
 
Have mercy, O Lord, upon Thy servant, the translator Karen! 
 
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               THE END, AND TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
 
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