Pelican, Night Raven And Sparrow

Similis factus pelicano solitudinis: factus sum sicut nycticorax in domicilio Per haec nomina volucrum, ut arbitror, diversa nobis poenitentium genera declarantur. Pelicanus enim avis Aegyptia est, ciconiis corporis granditate consimilis, quae naturali macie semper affecta est, quoniam, sicut physiologi volunt, tenso intestino per viscera quidquid escarum accipit, sine aliqua decoctione transmittit. Hinc fit ut adipe proprio minime farciatur, quia parvissimo ciborum succo reficitur; quae non gregatim ut caeterae aves volant, sed delectatione se solitaria consolatur. Eorum unum genus dicitur esse quod stagnis inhabitat, aliud, sicut dictum est, quod in desertis locis secretisque versatur. Per hoc igitur avium genus pulcherrime significantur eremitae, qui hominum consortio derelicto, timore Domini remota se afflictione discruciant. Sequitur, factus sum sicut nycticorax in domicilio. Aliud genus introducitur poenitentis. Nycticorax Graeco vocabulo dicitur noctis corvus, quem quidam bubonem, quidam noctuam esse dixerunt: alii magis corvo magnitudine et colore consimilem, quem specialiter in Asiae partibus inveniri posse testantur. Istem sicut diei fulgor abscondit, ita adventus noctis producit: et contra consuetudinis avium, tunc magis vigilare et escas quaerere incipit, quando se in soporem animantia cuncta componunt. Ita et poenitens iste nocturno tempore escas animae sollicita curiositate perquirit: modo psalmodiae operam dando, modo eleemosynas faciendo, modo carceres occulte visitando, solum Deum vult habere testem, cui caligo noctium non tollit aspectum. Et nota quia sicut pelicanus designat eremitam atque solitarium, ita nycticorax illum declarat qui se domicilio suo retinens a publica visione remotus est. Vigilavi et factus sum sicut passer unicus in aedificio. Venit ad tertium genus, quod idem similitudine passeris iudicatur; ut qui mundi crimina lugebat, per omnium satisfactionum modos discurrere videretur. Passer est avis parva, sed nimia sagacitate sollicita, quae nec facile laqueis irretitur, nec per ingluviem ventris escarum ambitione decipitur. Haec propter infirmitatem suam, ne aut ipsa a praedatore capiatur, aut fetus ejus sepentinis devorentur insidiis, inter aves unica cautione munita, ad domerum fastigia celsa concurrit, ut a susceptis casibus reddatur aliena, quae multis periculis probatur obnoxia. Huic merita comparatur, qui diaboli insidiosa formidans, specialiter ad Ecclesiae septa se conferens, in ejus fastigio vigilans tutissime perseverat. Unicum, dixit, propter charitatem quae ex multis unum facit. In aedificio, propter altitudinem fidei et fortitudinem mentis. Considerandum est etiam quemadmodum iste supplicans a majoribus avibus pelicano et nycticorace coepit, et pervenit usque ad passeris minutissimam parvitatem: quoniam gradatim poenitduo descendens, primo loco grandis, secundo mediocris, tertio consuetudine ipsa omnino tolerabilis. Hae autem aves per figuram parabolen hominibus comparantur, genere discrepantes, sed consuetudinum qualitate consimilies. Quod argumentum comparationis dicitur ex majore ad minus; multo enim major est homo quam passer. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CI Source: Migne PG 70.709c-710c

I am made like a pelican in the wilderness, like a night raven in the house 1 By the names of these birds, so I judge, different kinds of penitence are declared to us. The pelican is a bird of Egypt, similar in the size of its body to storks, but it is always naturally slender because, as the physiologists have it, whatever food it swallows passes out through the bowels without any digestion. Thus it does not bloat with its own fat because it is refreshed by the juice of very little food. They do not fly in large numbers like other birds but have consolation in the pleasure of solitude. It is said that one species dwells in marshes, and another, so it is said, lives in isolated desert places. Therefore by this kind of bird hermits are most beautifully indicated, those who forsake association with men and by the fear of the Lord discipline themselves with solitary privation. It follows: 'I am like a night raven in the house.' Another type of penitent is introduced here. The word 'Nycticorax' is Greek for the night raven, which some have said is a horned owl and some a little owl; yet others say that in size and colour it is more like a raven, attesting that it can be found especially in parts of Asia. As the brightness of day drives it into hiding, so the coming of night brings it out. In contrast to the habit of birds it begins to stir and seek food when other animals are settling down to sleep. Thus the penitent with anxious care in the night seeks sustenance for the soul, now taking to psalmody, now to alms giving, now to the visiting of prisons unseen, wishing to have God alone as witness, whose sight is not obscured by the darkness of the night. Note that just as the pelican indicates the hermit and the solitary, so the night raven indicates the one who stays within his house, removed from the public gaze. I watched, and I was made like a sparrow alone on a house. 2 He comes to the third type of penitent, which is given by the likeness of the sparrow, one who grieving for his worldly sins might seem to hurry through the ways of all satisfaction. The sparrow is a small bird but most prudently cautious, by which it is not easily caught in snares, nor led astray by the gluttony of the belly with its desire for food. Because of its weakness, so that it may not be seized by a predator, or have its offspring devoured by the ambush of the snake, it is protected by a wariness unique among birds, flying to the high rooftops of houses that it escape suspected calamities, since it is exposed to many dangers. Rightly compared to this is he who fears the devil's plots, especially one who takes himself to the enclosure of the Church and on its height remains watchful in most complete safety. 'Alone' he describes it on account of the charity which makes the penitent one from many. He is on the house because of the height of his faith and the strength of his soul. One must also consider how this suppliant began as a greater bird, a pelican or night raven, and then advanced to the tiny littleness of the sparrow. For the penitent descends step by step, being large at first, secondly middling , and thirdly habituated to be wholly acceptable. These birds are compared with men by the figure of parabole, differing in species but similar in the types of their habits. This manner of comparison is called 'from greater to lesser' for man is much greater than a sparrow. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 101 1 Ps 101.7 2 Ps 101.8