The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-10-02

EwVANGHLIS7IC signs.
Meaning Of the Symbols
Associated in Pictures
With Matthew, Mark
Luke and John.
LIVING CREATURES Or EzECHlEL
Explanations Of st. Jerome and
st. Agustine-Among the
Catholic Churches.
ING CREATURES OF EzECHlEL

A -orresponden asks the New York
..Freeman's Journal" what is the mean
ing of the symbols, man, lion, OK, eagle
associated in pictures and church win
dows with the E~yangelists Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John?
The text of Scripture which suggested
these symbols to early Christian piety
and art is found in the first hapter OF
Ezeehiel. The prophet gives a descrip-
tion of a vision which he saw while q
captive in Babylon. Behold a whirlwind
came out of the North "a great cloud and
q fire holding it, and a brightness was
about it. Out of the midst of
these came the likeness of four living
creature. And his was their
experimenting had the likeness of a
man, and every one had four faces, and
every one four wings. And as
for the likenesses of their faces. there was
the face of a man and the face OF a lion
on the right side of all the four, ana the
face of an OK on the left side of all the
four, and the face of an eagle over
all the four. . Their appear
was like that of burning Goals OF fire.
and like the appearance of lamps.
fyerses 4, 5. 6. 10. 49,
st. John, in his Apocalypse w., 6 to 3,
gives a description of a somewhat similar
vision: "And in the sight of the throne
was as it were q sea of glass like to erys-
tai, and in the midst of the throne and
round about the throne wefe four living
creatures. And the first living
creature was like q lion, and the second
living creature like q calf, and the third
living creature having the face, as 1t
were. of a man, and the fourth living
crecture was like an eagle flying.
These -four living creatures of Eze-
chfel were in the first centuries made to
symbolize the four evangelists. though
they were not always associated with the
writers of the four Gospels in the order
assigned to them at present, namely,
Matthew, the man; Mark, the lion; Luke,
the OK; John, the eagle.
Irenaeus. Bishop of Lyons, A. d. III,
regarded the faces of the man. lion, OK
and eagle as images of the life and work
of the son of God, and assigned the man
TO Matthew, the OK to Luke, the eagle
TO Mark and the lion to John.
St. Jerome, who translated the Latin
vulgate from the Hebrew in the early
part Of the fifth century. explained the
text OF Ezechiel thus: First, the face OF
the man signifies Matthew, who begins
human orisin Of our Lord, "sThe book of
the generation Of Jesus Christ, the son OF
David, the son of Abraham Chapter y.
Second, the lion signifies Mark, in the be-
ginning of whose gospel is heard the
voice Of the lion roaring In the desert,
1.-THE voice of one crying in n desert,
prepare ye the way of the Lord. make
straight his paths. Chapter l,s) Third.
the Ok signifies Luke. whose Gospel be-
gins with an account of Zachary, the
priest, offering sacrifice in the temple temple
Fourth. the eagle. signifies John, who
taking a pen from the eagle scars INTO
the heights and begins his Gospel with
the divine nature of our Lord, In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.
st. Augustine and others make different
assignments. but that of st. Jerome pre-
walls at present.
Adam of st. Victor, a poet monk, who
lived in the later part of the twelfth CEN
txry, made these symbols the subject of a
poem, in which he gave the two-fold ex-
PLANTATION, hat of st. Jerome n that OF
lran2eus.