SYMBOLIC SATURDAY - THE FAB FOUR

“Their faces were like this: each of the four had the face of a man, but on the right side was the face of a lion, and on the left side the face of an ox, and finally each had the face of an eagle.” Ezekiel 1:10.

These creatures that were being described by Ezekiel were the cherubim around God’s throne, but the faces attributed to them are considered a prediction of the four evangelists.

The four writers of the Gospels are often represented by these four fantastic creatures. St. John is often seen with or is represented by the eagle, Saint Luke the bull or ox, Saint Matthew the young man, and Saint Mark the lion. All four creatures should appear winged as reported in Ezekiel making the ox and the lion absolutely distinguishable in art. The young man and the eagle will need other contextual clues to assist you in interpreting them. All four most often appear with halos.

Saint John’s theology/Christology is often said to be “high,” his lofty thoughts soaring as high as the heavens. For this reason he is associated with the eagle that boldly, strongly, and with keen eyesight soars our skies.

Saint Luke’s Gospel tends to focus on the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ life. As the ox was often an animal chosen to be sacrificially offered up to God it became associated with this Gospel writer.

At the beginning of Saint Matthew’s Gospel we have Jesus’ genealogy, which firmly plants the man Jesus among us. As he tends to highlight the humanity of the man/God, this Gospel writer is often represented by the symbol of the winged young man.

Much of our symbolism comes from ancient mythology. Though we know many of the stories to be largely fanciful, they did help the ancients understand the world around them and have to some extent played a valuable role in the symbolic language of the Church.

Once it was thought that lion cubs were born dead and three days later the lion that sired them would come and give them a mighty roar, which would bring them to life. This becomes a ready sign of the Resurrection upon which Saint Mark focuses his Gospel. Hence the winged lion is associated with Saint Mark.

These creatures may either appear on their own or with the evangelist that they symbolize. When they appear together the evangelists usually have a witting utensil and either a book, scroll, or paper upon which they write their Gospel.

Next week we will start on ecclesial heraldry.