Catholic Word of the Day, 02-27-09, PHYSIOLOGUS

CatholicReference.net ^ | 03-27-09 | Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary

[Salvation]

Featured Term (selected at random):

PHYSIOLOGUS

A collection of Christian allegories in which religious truths are symbolized by animals. An outstanding example is the pelican who feeds its young by shedding its own blood, as Christ saved mankind by shedding his blood. They were very popular in the Middle Ages and greatly influenced ecclesiastical art and medieval literature.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

[Salvation]

For these last two weeks of Lent I have begun posting a Catholic Word of the Day. Would you like to continue?

Is there anyone who would be willing to take on posting that?

[Salvation]

I had never heard of this.

Do you want to continue with a Catholic Word of the Day after Lent?

[GOP_Lady]

SURE!

[Paved Paradise]

No. But thanks for asking.

[Paved Paradise]

I just wrote NO and then I see how interesting the word is so I recant. YES.

[Norman Bates]

Why not? ;-)

[Desdemona]

Actually, I knew about the pelican. There is a relief of one under the altar in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at the Cathedral here. I happened to be there when a tour went through one time.

[Salvation]

So what other animal allegories are there.

I thought about the
whale
camel
gnat
dpgs

[Salvation]

So what other animal allegories are there.

I thought about the
whale
camel
gnat
dogs

[Bigg Red]

I vote “yes”.

[DeLaine]

I have a whole book on these kinds of stories. Do you want contributions of a word of the day or of these animal stories?

[bboop]

Put me on too. thanks.

[Salvation]

You can see that the topics are selected at random as they pop up on the website.

I’ll go from there during these two weeks.

Maybe later, if someone else wants to take it on.

[chase19]

I would enjoy it.

Thanks for all you do here. You’ve helped me a lot over time, as a lurker, and really appreciated it and continue to do so.

[annalex]

A unicorn captured through the guiles of a virgin, whose power causes the animal to fall into a trance.

Or, perhaps, your Italian is better than mine. What does this say:

Nel Physiologus, opera alessandrina del II secolo a carattere zoologico-religioso, che tanta importanza ebbe per la catalogazione dei bestiari medievali, è scritto che l'unicorno poteva venire catturato solo per intercessione di una vergine. L'animale amava a tal punto la castità che alla vista di una fanciulla immacolata non poteva fare a meno di correre a lei per posarle la testa in seno e addormentarsi placidamente: in realtà questo sarebbe stato l'unico sistema per ammansire e addomesticare la bestia.

Source

[annalex]

More.

The Bern Physiologus (Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Codex Bongarsianus 318) is a 9th century illuminated copy of the Latin translation of the Physiologus. It was probably produced at Reims about 825-850. It is believed to be a copy of a 5th century manuscript. Many of its miniatures are set, unframed, into the text block, which was a characteristic of late-antique manuscripts. It is one of the oldest extant illustrated copies of the Physiologus.

Source (also see rather mysterious tables filled with statistics at source)