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DEFENDING  THE  BRIDE

 

 
 

St. Thomas Aquinas,
in his Catena Aurea (Golden Chain), includes the following citations of the early church fathers for their commentary on Matthew 24:28

Jerome: By an instance from nature, which we daily see, we are instructed in a sacrament of Christ. Eagles and vultures are said to scent dead bodies even beyond sea, and to flock to feed upon them. If then birds, not having the gift of reason, by instinct alone find out where lays a dead body, separated by so great space of country, how much more ought the whole multitude of believers to hasten to Christ, whose lightning goeth forth out of the east, and shines even to the west? We may understand by the carcase here, or corpse, (which in the Latin is more expressively 'cadaver,')   an allusion to the passion of Christ's death.

Hilary: That we might not be ignorant of the place in which He should come, He adds this, "Wheresoever (p. 820) the carcase, &c." He calls the Saints "eagles," from the spiritual flight of their bodies, and shews that their gathering shall be to the place of His passion, the Angels guiding them thither; and rightly should we look for His coming in glory there, where He wrought for us eternal glory by the suffering of His bodily humiliation.

Origen: And observe, He says not vultures or crows, but "eagles," shewing the lordliness and royalty of all who have believed in the Lord's passion.

Jerome: They are called eagles whose youth is renewed as the eagle's, and who take to themselves wings that they may come to Christ's passion. (marg. note: Ps 103,5 Is 40,31)

Greg., Mor. xxxi, 53: We may understand this, "Wheresoever the carcase is," as meaning, I who incarnate sit on the throne of heaven, as soon as I shall have loosed the souls of the elect from the flesh, will exalt them to heavenly places.

Jerome: We are invited to flock to Christ's passion wheresoever in Scripture it (p. 822) read of, that through it we may be able to come to God's word.

See  St. Thomas Aquinas' Catena Aurea  Source 1,  or  Source 2

 

And St. Thomas Aquinas lists the following citations for

Luke 17:37  “And they said to him,  ‘Where, Lord?’  He said to them,  ‘Where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.’ ”

CYRIL;
As if He said, As when a dead body is thrown away, all the birds which feed on human flesh flock to it, so when the Son of man shall come, all the eagles, that is, the saints, shall haste to meet Him.

See St. Thomas Aquinas'  Catena Aurea

 

Cornelius a Lapide :
Christ compares Himself to a carcase, that He may signify His death, by which He merited glory for us. He compares Himself also to a body made alive again, that He may signify His glorious Resurrection, by which He will feed and bless His elect. Wherefore S. Hilary gathers from this passage that the universal judgment of Christ will take place on that spot where He hung a corpse upon the cross, and where He was buried …

 And S. Jerome says, “Eagles are they who take wings to fly to the .Passion of Christ.” It is agreeable to reason that Christ should there judge all men, where He was unjustly judged for all; …

Moreover, the saints are rightly compared to eagles, because the eagle is the king of birds, as the lion is the king of beasts. So likewise are the Saints kings, not of earth, but of Heaven. …

Allegorically: the Body of Christ is the Church, in which are eagles, that is, spiritual persons of heavenly life and doctrine. So, on the contrary, heretics are like black crows and chattering daws; or like moles, wholly conversant with earth and earthly things. …

Symbolically: the eagle, because it has sharp sight, is a symbol of truth. ... Therefore S. Ambrose (lib. 1, de Sacram. c. 2) understands the words of the Eucharist. For at the Eucharist, where the Body of Christ is, the eagles, i.e., the angels, assist. So also do the Saints and Priests. The same also saith (lib. 4, c. 2), “The form of the Body is the altar, the Body of Christ is on the altar. Ye are eagles, renewed by being washed from sin.”
The Great Biblical Commentary Of Cornelius À Lapide

 

 

 
 
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