Peter And Aeneas

Invenit autem ibi hominem quemdam, nomine Aeneam, ab annis octo jacentem in grabato... Aeneas iste genus significat humanum, infirmorum prius delectatione languescens, sed apostolorum opere et ore sanatum. Quia etenim mundus ipse quatuor plagis sublimatur, et cursus saeculi annuis quatuor temporibus variatur, quicunque praesentia labentiaque gaudia complecitur, quasi bis quaternario annorum numero, grabato sternitur enervis. Grabatum quippe est ipse segnities, ubi requiescit animus aeger et infirmus, id est, in voluptate corporis et omni delectatione saeculari. Aenea, sanet te Dominus Jesus Christi. Surge et sterne tibi... Quem de paralyspsi curaverat, mox surgere et sternere sibi praecepit, spiritaliter insinuans ut quisque fidei solidamentum in corde perceperit, non solum torporem, in quo fessus jacuerat, discutiat, sed etiam bona opera, in quibus requiescere valeat, paret. Sanctus Beda, Super acta Apostolorum Expositio, Caput IX Source: Migne PL 92.965a-b

And Peter found there a certain man by the name of Aeneas, who had been laying on a pallet for eight years... 1 This Aeneas signifies a type of person who has been languishing in the pleasures of laxity but who is then cured by the works and words of the Apostles. Because indeed the world is raised up by four corners, and the course of the secular year is varied by the four seasons, so it is with anyone caught up in present joys and delights, he lays stretched out in infirmity, and the number of years are reckoned as two fours. Certainly the pallet signifies sloth, where the sick and weak soul rests, that is, in the pleasures of the body and in worldly delights. Aeneas, the Lord Jesus Christ heals you. Rise up and make your bed... He cures him of paralysis and immediately exhorts him to rise up and make his bed, spiritually intimating that he who takes possession of the firmness of faith in his heart, not only casts off his torpor in which he has been thrown down in weariness, but he even prepares for good works, in which he shall be able to find rest. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Acts of The Apostles, Chapter 9 1 Acts 9.33