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We will continue to publish all new editions in print and online, but our new online editions will include TEI/XML markup and other features. Over the next two years, we will be working on updating our legacy volumes to conform to our new standards.
Our current site will be available for use until mid-December 2024. After that point, users will be redirected to the new site. We encourage you to update bookmarks and syllabuses over the next few months. If you have questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us at robbins@ur.rochester.edu.
Ancrene Wisse, Appendix One: Motif and Exempla Index
The following index focuses on similitudes (i.e., comparisons) and exempla, though it also includes some references to saints and Biblical figures. Etymologies appear without further explanation between quotation marks. The references are to part and line numbers: thus 7.183 refers to Part Seven, line 183. Readers interested in finding a particular proper name should consult the Proper Names Index (pp. 573-80).
Abraham (Christ's beloved as) 7.310-11
Absalom (example of his beauty) 7.183
accident (exemplum: two carriers collide in the street, breaking and spilling their goods) 3.527-28
Adam (the rationalizing sinner as) 5.60; (the blushing sinner as naked) 5.270-72
agate (Christ as an) 3.194
Agatha (example of her refusal of medicine) 6.265-67
Ahasuerus ("blessed") 3.312, 3.569; (God as) 3.571
Alexander (example of his fame) 7.186
anchor (the anchoress as an) 3.268-69
anchoress (Christ as an) 6.365
Andrew (example of the saint's sufferings) 3.55-56, 6.177
anointing (acts of suffering as anointers of Christ's body) 6.359-62
Anthony (example of his solitary life) 3.489
antidote (thoughts of Christ's suffering as an) 4.1184-86
ape (the devil as an old) 4.831
Aphec ("new rage") 4.1049-50; see also Philistines
apple (pleasure in sin as the apple in the Garden of Eden) 2.55
army (unity of love like a united) 4.870-73; (temptations and adversity as the devil's) 4.1047, 5.7; (confession puts to flight the devil's) 5.18 ff.; (virtues as God's) 5.28-29
arrows (the eyes as) 2.127-28, 2.132 ff.; (temptations as the devil's) 4.1415
Arsenius (exemplum: Arsenius is told to flee human society) 3.496-99
Asael (example of his speed) 7.184
ash-cleaner see hearth-tender
ass (the devil is an) 4.1433-38
assault (temptations as a military) 4.600-03
baby (the anchoress as a yearning) 4.666
ballplay (earthly pain as mere) 4.70
balm see liquid
banner (idleness and physical pleasure as the devil's) 6.194-96; (hardship as God's) 6.197-98
bargain (attaining joy without much suffering as a cheap) 6.174-75; (love as a cheap) 7.170-77
bark see tree-bark
Bartholomew (exemplum: how the saint burned the devil with his prayers) 4.797-98
bath (baptism as a) 7.142; (penitential tears as a) 7.143.
bath of blood (the crucifixion as a) 7.136 ff.
Bathsheba (negative example of) 2.81 ff.
battlements (the windows of an anchor-hold as) 2.141-42
bear (sloth as a) 4.294-305; (the devil as a bear, with a weak head) 4.1432-38
beast (the heart as a wild) 2.7; (the sinful man as a) 2.107; (for sale, lechery as the devil's) 4.359-71; (the devil as a foraging) 6.378-79
beating (spiritual discipline as a) 4.81-87, 4.92-95; (suffering as a) 6.209 ff., 6.225-29
beggar (the rich and worldly person as a) 3.542-43; (the feast-giving anchoress as a ridiculous) 8.36-37; see also vagabond
beheading (the pain of hell as a) 4.67-68; (confession like hacking off the devil's head) 5.6 ff.
bellows (slanderers as) 4.1306-07; (the devil's temptations as) 4.1445-46
Benedict (example of his solitary life) 3.490
Benjamin ("son of the right side") 5.47-48; (exemplum: how Judah won Benjamin away from Jacob) 5.46 ff.
bereaved man (exemplum: the penitent is like a man who has at a stroke lost all his family and friends through death) 5.123 ff.
bill (anger as a sharp bill of a bird) 3.11
bird (the peeping anchoress as a) 2.617-18; (flying in the shape of a cross, true anchoress as) 3.149-51; (the anchoress as a lean) 3.257-59; see also night-bird
birdcage (the anchorhold as a) 2.618
birds (flying upwards, good deeds as) 2.225; (good deeds as) 3.10, 3.185-86, 3.201; (true anchoresses as) 3.140 ff., 3.161 ff.; (anchoresses compared to birds which light to earth only rarely) 3.167 ff.
blacksmith (God as a) 4.1305 ff.
bladder (the proud heart as an inflated bladder, easy to puncture) 4.1267
blindfold (the anchorhold as a) 2.552
blood (Holy Writ as) 2.782-83; (sin as) 3.15-16, 3.24; (love as a red man's) 7.223 ff.
bloodletting (suffering as) 2.777; (Christ's crucifixion as) 2.779 ff.; 4. 1004 ff.
boar (the devil as a wild boar who cannot bend down) 4.1254-56
boat (the soul as a) 2.717
body (the anchorhold as the) 6.374; see also limbs
boiling pot see pot
bosom (secrecy as the) 3.317-20, 3.334-37
boughs (heavenly thoughts as green)
3.164-65; (good deeds revealed as dead, dried) 3.348-49; (the bitter results of greed as) 8.58-59
bowing (or bending) (capitulating to the devil as) 4.1077 ff.
branches see boughs
bread (simple instruction as broken) 5.481-83
bride (the anchoress as Christ's) 2.507, 2.742-43, 3.37-38, 3.45, 3.543-44, 4.1381, 5.282-83; (the soul as a reluctant) 7.195 ff.
bridle (restraint of the tongue as a) 2.317 ff.
brothers (exemplum: how a man seeks out his brother, a monk, who directs him to the third brother, now dead, to show that monks are dead to the world) 8.144-47
bundles see luggage
burial (the anchorhold as a) 2.707-08
buying (choosing heaven or hell as) 4.137; (lechery as deceptive market goods) 4.360-71; (redemption as) 7.100-02, 7.170 ff., 7.284
cackling (idle talk as) 2.223 ff., 2.485
Caesar (example of his generosity) 7.186
cage see birdcage
calf (the flesh as a fattened) 3.213-19
cancer (evil speech as a) 2.576
carrion (the backbiter's prey as) 2.421 ff.
castle (the anchorhold as a) 2.141-42; (the overly talkative person as a defenseless) 2.308; (the soul as a) 4.805, 6.194; (a good man as a) 4.809-12; (Christ's strength as a) 4.1047; (the body as a) 7.59 ff.
cat (the devil as a) 2.618
cave (the anchorhold as a) 3.130
cement (steadfast love as) 4.594-99, 4.914, 4.937
chaff (idle speech as) 2.274 ff.; (evil as the devil's) 4.1140
chalice (the good anchoress as a carefully worked) 4.1300-03
chamberlain (love as God's) 7.308-09
chess (fighting the devil as a game of) 5.504
chest see bosom
chest wound (serious temptations as a) 4.174
chewing (chattering or silence as) 2.383 ff.
child (the anchoress as a beaten) 4.92-95, 6.225-29; (the anchoress as a stumbling) 4.109-11; (inexperienced believer as a) 5.480; (good works as children) 5.134-36; (exemplum: how a child is turned against his father by a negligent foster father) 5.155 ff.; (anchoresses as shrewd children who tear their clothes) 6.178 ff.; (the soul as a diseased) 7.136
Christ (as lover) see lover
clapper (the tongue as a mill) 2.275
claws (temptations as cat's) 2.621
cloak (the flesh as a torn) 6.179 ff.
clod of earth see dust
cloister (heaven as a) 4.935
clothing see festive clothing and widow's clothing
Core (God's wrath revealed in the fate of) 5.408
cottage (even a trivial thing is like building a) 6.174
counselor (love as God's) 7.308-09
cow (the soul as) 3.246
coward (the devil as a cowardly fighter) 4.1178-80
cradle (the liar's tongue as the devil's) 2.409-10; (Christ's anchorhold as his) 6.368
Croesus (example of his wealth) 7.182
crow (the devil as a) 2.222 ff.
crown (exemplum from Vitas Patrum: the malicious person who weaves a crown of joy for his enemy) 3.63-68
crucifixion (enduring temptation as) 4.725-29; (the suffering of anchoresses as) 6.13-14, 6.59 ff.; (shame as) 6.101 ff.
crumbs (food for the soul as) 5.482
cudgel (the cross as a) 4.1364-75, 4. 1384-85; (pain as the devil's) 6.234
cup see chalice
cur (the devil as a) 4.1353-65, 4.1375 ff.
dam (restrained speech as a) 2.292, 2.298 ff.
darling (the slothful as the devil's) 4.431-36
Dathan (God's wrath revealed in the fate of) 5.408
David (as a type of the true anchoress) 3.102, 3.127 ff.
dead (those in religious orders as the) 6.13, 6.44 ff., 8.144-47; (the anchoress as the) 8.32-33
debt (sin as) 3.85 ff., 5.167 ff., 7.115-18
debtor (the sinner as a bad) 5.167 ff.
devil's court (seven deadly sinners as entertainers in the) 4.400 ff.
dewdrop (in the ocean) (earthly suffering as a mere) 4.70-71
digging (eager intention like) 2.719 ff.
Dinah (negative example of Dinah's curiosity) 2.70 ff.
ditch (sin as a) 4.599; see also moat
dog (the resentful anchoress as a barking) 3.44-45; (the prayers of loosely talking nuns as a dead and rotting) 4.240-41; (the devil as a mad) 4.1353-65
dove (the bride of Christ as a) 4.1390
drink (temptation as the devil's) 4.726 ff.
dross (spiritual imperfections as) 4.1300
dung (sin as) 3.262
dust (the anchoress as) 3.43, 3.52, 3.599; (disunity as dry particles of) 4.892-93; (unity as a cemented clod of dirt) 4.892-94; (sin as) 5.178 ff.
eagle (the anchoress as an) 3.191 ff.
earth (as the anchoress' body) 3.170; (the body as a clod of) 3.246; see also dust
Elijah (as a solitary) 3.406; (suffering as the fiery wheels of) 6.100 ff.; (God as) 7.219
enemies (the devil, the world and the flesh as) 4.186 ff.; (temptations as attacking) 4.524-30
epilepsy ("falling evil") (of sparrows, humbling illness as) 3.627-34
eraser see scraper
Eve (negative example of Eve and sight) 2.47 ff.; (the rationalizing sinner as) 5.60; (the blushing sinner as naked) 5.272-74
Exodus (exemplum: in their escape from Pharaoh, God gave the Israelites all they asked for but once they came to the desert, He tested them with hardship) 4.500-07
falling down (the incarnation as) 4.1249-50; (humility as) 4.1258-59
father (exemplum: a father, after beating his child to correct it, throws the rod into the fire) 4.83-95; (God as a) 5.160 ff.; (God as father who beats his child) 6.225-29
feast (heaven as a) 4.133
feet (of an ostrich, pleasures as) 3.158-59; (desires of the flesh as) 4.1180-82
festive clothing (joy as) 5.41
fig (a good deed as a) 3.358
fig tree (good deeds, disclosed, as a stripped) 3.341-60
file (slanderers and attackers as an anchoress') 4.76-78, 4.1296-99
filth (or muck) (sin as) 2.459, 5.34
finger (as an unsympathetic limb of God's body) 6.167-68
fire (love as a) 3.77-78, 7.201 ff., 8.218-24; (testing sickness as) 4.53-54; (lecherous lust as a burning) 4.349; (temptation as a cleansing) 4.609, 4.1298-303; (shame and pain as a cleansing) 4.1306, 6.102-03; (sin as a) 4.1441 ff., 5.82-83; (the genitals as a) 6.260; see also Greek fire
flaming sword of the cherubim (Genesis 3:24) (shame and suffering as the) 6.104 ff.
flight (the humble anchoress' life compared to a bird's) 3.142-44
flock (unity of love as a protective) 4.875-78, 4.930 ff.
flood (many words as a) 2.327
floodgates (the mouth as a set of) 2.302-03
flowers (willing confession as blooming) 5.451-53
foot see feet
footprint (Christ-like suffering as a) 6.404 ff.
footstool (the world, when despised, as a) 3.533-34
foot wound (fleshly temptations as a) 4.172-73, 4.1180 ff.
foreign land (the world as a) 6.127-30
fox (the false anchoress as a) 3.111 ff.; (the hypocrite as a) 3.117; (covetousness as a) 4.306-21; (disunited anchoresses as Samson's foxes) 4.902-11; (the first inklings of sin as young foxes) 4.1429-33
friend (Christ as a man willing to incur his friend's debts) 7.115-18
fruit (a good deed as a sweet) 3.358
Galilee ("wheel") 5.277
gallows (hell as) 5.143-44
gate (the mouth as a) 2.310
gatekeeper (reason as) 4.1138
glass vessel (the body as a brittle) 3.511-21, 3.524-30
goats (desire of the flesh as stinking) 2.609 ff., 2.642 ff.
gold (the anchoress as fire-tested) 4.51-54
gold-hoard (what one desires as a buried) 2.719-24; (the kingdom of heaven as a) 3.361-62; (a good deed as a) 3.362 ff.
goldsmith (God as a) 4.52; (sickness as a) 4.62-63
grafted branch (the believer as a) 6.149-50
grave (the anchorhold as a) 2.707, 3.565, 6.369
Greek fire (God's love as) 7.223 ff.
green 3.355
greyhounds (the devil's temptations as) 5.386
grindstones (the cheeks as) 2.274-75; (hope and fear as two) 5.378-82
hags (the seven deadly sins as) 4.474
hammer (the anchoress' enemy as a) 4.1307
hand (a good deed as the right) 3.316; (the good deed revealed as Moses' leprous) 3.329-33
head (the beginning of sin as a) 4.1425-26, 4.1441 ff., 5.16; (God as the body's) 6.161 ff.
headache (suffering as a) 6.162-63
hearth-tender (the covetous as the devil's) 4.438-49
heat/cold 7.203-05
hen (the chattering anchoress as a) 2.221 ff.
hermit see holy man
Hester ("hidden") 3.310, 3.568; (enclosed anchoress as) 3.567-68, 3.607-15, 3.624-25; ("raised among the people") 3.609-10
Hezekiah (exemplum: how he foolishly revealed his treasure) 3.372-74
hide (anger as a covering of rough
wolf-) 3.39
hiding places (Christ's wounds as) 4.1386-98
high/low imagery 3.164 ff., 3.249 ff., 3.277-78, 3.395, 3.488, 3.531 ff., 3.609-15, 3.639, 4.1-4, 4.478-80, 4.592-99, 4.1180 ff., 4.1208 ff., 4.1244 ff., 4.1289 ff., 6.97-99
Hilarion (example of his solitary life) 3.489
hill (the holy life as a) 3.487-89, 4.2-5, 4.194; (unspiritual people as low hills) 6.394 ff.
hip-throw (lechery as the devil's) 4.1245-46
hobble (the body as a cow's) 3.246-47
holes (deadly sins as holes in a sinking ship) 5.185 ff.
Holofernes (the devil as) 3.208-09, 5.10 ff.; ("stinking in hell") 3.211-12; (unconfessed sin as the hidden head of) 5.15-16
holy man (or hermit) (exemplum: how the devil delayed tricked a holy man in to sin by causing him to stay in the world to distribute his inheritance to the poor) 4.567-70; (exemplum: how a holy man mourned the fall of his brother by saying, "He today, I tomorrow") 4.578-81, 4.1218-25; (exemplum from Gregory's Dialogues: how a holy man dared the devil to sting) 4.627-30; (exemplum from the Vitas Patrum: how a holy man saw a vast army of devils and was afraid) 4.659-65; (exemplum: how Publius bound the devil with prayer) 4.791-95; (exemplum from the Vitas Patrum: how a holy man called for tears rather than give a sermon) 5.172 ff.; (exemplum: how a holy man confessed everything but one sin from childhood and how this nearly damned him) 5.186-92; (exemplum: how a holy man was nearly damned because he forced someone to take a drink) 5.193-94; (exemplum: how one of three holy men treated himself softly with earthly medicine and was passed over for spiritual medicine) 6.268-78; (exemplum: how a man and woman torture their bodies for the love of God) 6.417-28
homeland (heaven as a) 6.134
hood (purity as a white) 4.1345
horse (the tongue as a runaway) 2.320-21; (the foolish anchoress like a horse on a bridge, afraid of its own shadow) 4.765-66; (the weak anchoress as the devil's) 4.1080 ff.
house fire (sin as a) 4.1441 ff.
hung to death (the anchoresses as those) 6.13-14, 6.61 ff.
hunt (temptation as the devil's) 5.385 ff.
husband (exemplum: Christ as the wise husband who waits to test and correct his wife until they have been married for a while) 4.485-99; (exemplum: Christ as the husband who is pleased that his wife mourns his absence, or displeased that she is enjoying herself) 6.238-46
incense (the sweetness which follows bitterness as) 6.351 ff.
infection (or inflammation) (lust as an) 4.1184 ff.
ink (Christ's blood as) 7.57
insanity (anger/wrath as) 3.32
iron (idleness as rusty) 8.161
Isaac (exemplum: how Issac sought out a solitary place) 3.399-401
Isboseth (exemplum: how Isboseth slept and set a woman to guard his house. The woman fell asleep, and enemies came and killed Isboseth) 4.1132 ff.; ("a confused man") 4.1136; (the confused and sleepy soul as) 4.1147-48
Jacob (exemplum: how Jacob, in a solitary place, saw God) 3.403-05; (exemplum: how Judah won Benjamin away from Jacob) 5.46 ff.
jailor (fear as a) 5.99-106
Jehoshaphat (prayer as) 4.1055, 4.1068 ff.
Jeremiah (exemplum: why he sat alone and wept) 3.410 ff.
Jerusalem ("sight of peace") 3.594; (the anchorhold as) 3.594, 3.615
John the Baptist (exemplum: as great as he was, he dwelt alone) 3.439-69
John the Evangelist (exemplum: how his virginity was restored) 3.521-24
Joshua ("salvation") 5.25
Judah (confession symbolized by) 5.23 ff., 5.114 ff.; (exemplum: how Judah won Benjamin away from Jacob) 5.46 ff.
Judas Maccabeus (confession symbolized by) 5.21 ff.; ("confession") 5.25
Judea ("confession") 5.276
judge (reason as an enthroned) 5.95 ff.
Judith (the enclosed anchoress as) 3.104, 3.135; (confession as) 3.205 ff., 5.9 ff., 5.35 ff., 5.113 ff., 5.276; (exemplum: how Judith struck off Holofernes' head) 5.9 ff.; (exemplum: how she put off her widow's weeds and dressed in festive clothes) 5.35 ff.
jugglers (the envious as the devil's) 4.411-23
kids (the five senses as) 2.614
king (exemplum: a king entrusted his son to a negligent foster father who let the child be kidnapped by foreigners and who then turns against his own father) 5.154 ff.; (exemplum: a king woos a lady, illustrating Christ's love) 7.53 ff.
kiss (spiritual ecstasy as a divine) 2.636
knife-throwers (the wrathful as the devil's) 4.424-30
labor see work
ladder (shame and suffering as the uprights of a) 6.98-99; (virtues as rungs on a) 6.88
lady (the inner rule as a) Pref.27-28, Pref.36, 8.183-84; (the soul as a) 3.633; (exemplum: how a lady was almost damned for loaning a dress) 5.194-95; (exemplum: the soul imagined as a lady besieged in a castle and Christ as a knight coming to her rescue) 7.59 ff.
lamb (God, before the Judgment Day, as a) 5.77-79
land (the sinful self as the devil's) 5.26 ff.
latrine (the anchorhold of a bad anchoress as a) 3.124 ff.; (the nostrils as latrine holes) 4.1203
latrine servants (backbiters and flatterers as the devil's) 2.433 ff.
Lawrence (example of the saint's sufferings) 3.57, 6.177
leaping (falling into sin as) 2.7, 2.46 ff., 3.244, 4.556
leaves (concealment of sins as) 5.270 ff.
left/right imagery 4.414-16
leprosy (good deeds revealed as) 3.330-33
letter(s) (the Old Testament as sealed) 7.55; (the New Testament as open love) 7.56
limbs (believers as limbs in God's body) 6.161 ff.
lime see cement
lion (an angry man as a) 3.29; (the devil as a roaming) 3.504-10; (pride as a) 4.207 ff.; (God at the Judgment Day as a) 5.77-78
liquid (virginity as a precious) 3.511-21
liquor see liquid
lodging (the soul as God's) 5.456-57
love letter see letters
lover (Christ as) 2.580 ff., 2.634, 7.51 ff., 7.108-11; (Christ as a jealous and angry) 2.497 ff., 7.161 ff., 7.188 ff.; (Christ as a reluctant) 5.284; (Christ as a forgiving) 7.129 ff.; (exemplum: Christ as a solitary) 3.477 ff.; (Christ, crucified, as a lover bending down, with arms spread, to kiss his beloved) 7.217-18
luggage (earthly wealth as bundles which rich ladies do not carry) 3.541-45
madness see insanity
manciple (the glutton as the devil's) 4.450-61
market (lechery as a bad bargain at the) 4.367-71
marks (idleness and physical pleasure as the devil's) 6.194 ff.
Mary (the Virgin) (exemplum: the solitary and lonely life of the Virgin) 3.470-76
Mary and Martha (contemplative and active lives as) 8.38 ff.
Mary Jacobi (mother of James) ("bitterness" and "wrestler") 6.312-17
Mary Magdalene ("bitterness" and "tower's height") 6.304-12
Mary Salome ("bitterness" and "peace") 6.326-32
meat (the flesh as rotting) 3.229-30
medicine (spiritual sight as) 2.534; (heaven as) 2.800; (help against temptation as) 4.12-13, 4.45-46, 4.177-79; (sickness or suffering as the soul's) 4.59-61, 6.263 ff., 6.281 ff.; (temptation as the devil's) 4.586-91; (envy as detrimental) 4.1275-76
Merari (Judith's father) ("bitterness") 5.115-16, 6.305
merchant (the silent anchoress like a rich) 2.226-27; (the secretive anchoress as a rich) 3.372; (the devil as a deceptive) 4.367-71
messenger (suffering as God's) 4.145-58; (discord as the devil's) 4.940; (the Old Testament patriarchs as Christ's love-) 7.54-55
mill (the mouth as a) 2.274 ff.
millpond (the mouth as a) 2.292 ff.
minion (the slothful as the devil's favorite) 4.431-37
mirror (the faithful anchoress as a) 2.503; (a spiritual vision as a) 2.528
moat (humility as a tear-filled) 4.811-12
moon (the foolish anchoress as the) 2.712; (the unstable world as the) 3.536-40
Mordecai ("bitterly trampling the shameless") 3.575-76
Moses (as a solitary) 3.406; (his vigor) 7.186
mother (God as a playful, hiding) 4.634-40; (God as) 4.666; (Jesus as a self-sacrificing) 6.227-31, 7.136 ff.
mountains (spiritual people as) 6.393 ff.
muck (the flesh as) 3.238
murder (sin as) 5.142-44
murderer (a sinner as a) 5.142 ff.
myrrh (bitterness as) 6.351 ff.
needle prick (earthly pain as a mere) 4.67-68
nest (the anchoress as a) 3.175 ff.; (the anchorhold as a) 3.186-90, 3.203; (the heart as God's) 3.199-200
Nichodemus (example of Nicodemus, who brought bitter spices to anoint Christ's body) 6.292 ff.
night (secrecy as) 3.379
night-bird (in the eaves, the recluse as a) 3.265; (gathering its food by night, the vigilant anchoress as a) 3.276-79, 3.307-08, 3.387-90
noble men and women (exemplum: how noble people do not carry their own luggage) 3.541-45; (exemplum: how noble people give generous donations) 3.546- 55
noise (worldliness as) 2.509 ff.
nurse or foster mother (a liar as the devil's) 2.409-10; (swearers as a) 4.224-26
offspring or brood (the branches of the seven deadly sins as) 4.172; (of the serpent of envy) 4.259-82; (of the scorpion of lechery) 4.327-54
oil (reconciliation as) 8.253-55
ostrich (the carnal anchoress as an) 3.155 ff.
packs see luggage
paddle see rod
paint (Christ's blood as) 7.104-05
painting (earthly pain and joy like a mere) 4.767-69
patch (a little misunderstanding as a disfiguring) 4.949-51
path (moderation as a) 6.296-98
Paul (the hermit) (example of his solitary life) 3.489
peddler (the noisy anchoress like a) 2.226; (the devil as a mere) 4.831-34; see also soap-seller
pelican (the penitent anchoress as a) 3.10 ff.; (the good anchoress as a lean) 3.101 ff.; (the solitary anchoress as a) 3.626
pennies see ransom
Peter (example of his martyrdom) 6.176
Phares (son of Judah and Thamar) ("division") 5.119-21
Philistines ("monsters") 4.1050; (exemplum: how the Philistines raged in Aphec when the children of Israel camped near the stone of help - an analogy for the rage of the devil when anchoresses lodge near Christ's presence in the church) 4.1044-52
physician (inspecting blood, the penitent examining her sins as a) 3.17-18; (the devil as a well-supplied) 4.586-91
pig (the bad anchoress as a penned-up) 3.108; (exemplum: how demons asked to be allowed to flee into a herd of pigs) 4.619-26
piglets (branches of gluttony as) 4.322-26
pilgrims (good Christians as) 6.13, 6.17 ff.
pillar (the anchoress as a supporting) 3.267, 3.273
pit (the anchoress' fair face as an uncovered) 2.99 ff.
plague (the original sin as the) 6.164 ff.
pot (confession like scraping out a) 5.515-16; (the belly as a boiling) 6.259-60
prior (Jesus as high) 4.931
prison (the anchorhold as God's) 2.692; (the world as a) 3.84; (the body as a) 3.253-55
prisoner see ransom
privy see latrine
prosecutor (memory as a) 5.95-97
Publius see holy man
puff of wind (an insulting word as a mere) 3.50 ff.; (the devil's temptation as a) 3.271, 4.4, 4.595-99, 4.1445, 8.218-26; (earthly praise as a mere) 3.327-28; (boasting as a) 3.337-38
purse (overconfidence in God's grace as a) 5.443-44; see also luggage
queen (exemplum: the queen who burned down her apartments with a straw said "much comes of little") 4.1441-42
rain (penitential tears as) 4.812-16
ransom (exemplum: how a bag of pennies hits the prisoner in the chest) 3.80-98
raven (backbiter as a) 2.420 ff.
Rebecca ("God's grace") 3.401-02
Rechab's sons (children of hell as) 4.1146
recoiling blow (earthly suffering as a) 6.230-35
redness (shame as) 6.103 ff., 7.224-26
rider (the devil as a rider of sinners) 4.1079 ff.
robbers see thief
rod (slanderers and attackers as God's) 4.83-95
root (greed as the tree-) 8.58-59
rowing against the stream (the virtuous life as) 2.714
rubbing with spices see anointing
Ruffin the demon (exemplum from the Life of St. Margaret: how he was overcome by prayer) 4.795-96
rust (sin as) 4.77
saints (example of their solitary lives) 3.489-92
salt (wisdom as preserving) 3.225-30
Samson (example of his strength) 7.185
Samson's foxes see fox
sanctuary (the anchorhold as criminal's) 3.615-23
sand (idleness as) 7.232 ff.
saplings (anchoresses as God's) 6.378-83
Sarah (example of her solitary life) 3.490; (exemplum: how the saint withstood thirteen years of physical temptation) 4.681-90
Sarephta (the example of the poor woman of) 7.211 ff.
Saul (relieving himself, the bad anchoress as) 3.122 ff., 3.133 (as the devil) 3.129
scalding water (prayers as) 4.804 ff.
scorpion (lechery as a) 4.327-71; (the pleasant beginning of sin as the head of the) 4.362-63; (the bitter penitence as the tail of the) 4.363-67
scraper (confession as a scraper to erase sins listed in the devil's roll) 5.499 ff.
scribe (the devil as a recording) 5.498 ff.
seed (discord as the devil's) 4.277
selling see bargain and buying
sepulcher see grave
servant (the outer rule as a) Pref.27-28, 8.182-84
shadow (earthly pain and joy compared to that of hell and heaven - a mere) 4.762 ff.; (the flesh of Jesus as a) 6.209 ff.; (the likeness of Christ as a) 6.401 ff.
sheep (the anchoress as a wandering) 4.930-32
shield (the crucifix as a) 4.1404-08; (Christ's body as a battle) 7.86 ff.; (allegory of the shield) 7.103-05
Shimei (exemplum: how Shimei foolishly broke house arrest) 3.583-606; (the outward looking anchoress as) 3.590; ("hearing") 3.591
ship (the church as an anchored) 3.268-71; (sinful man as a ship with many holes) 5.185-87
shoes (a trivial thing as laced) 6.174-75
sick man (the unwary or terrified anchoress as a) 4.7-22; (the parable of the two sick men) 6.200-05
slaves (the five senses as) 3.600-06
slippery (the tongue as) 2.323
slipping and sliding (temptation as) 4.881
smacking see beating
smithy (the world as God's) 4.1305 ff.
snake (the backbiter as a stinging) 2.418; (the vindictive anchoress as a stinging) 3.45; (the devil as) 3.201; (poisonous envy as a) 4.259-82
snare (the window of the anchorhold as a) 2.194-97; (the devil's temptation as a) 3.173-74, 4.1231 ff., 5.385 ff.
soap-seller (the noisy anchoress like a) 2.226; (whoever reveals a good deed as a) 3.371
Solomon (the Lord as) 3.596
sorceress (anger as a transforming) 3.26-29, 3.36 ff.
sow (gluttony as a) 4.322-26
spark (the first inkling of sin as a) 4.1442 ff.
sparrow (David as a waking) 3.280-81; (solitary and chattering, the solitary and prayerful anchoress as a) 3.384-89, 3.623-24; (illness like the "falling evil" common to the) 3.627-34, 3.639
spear (malicious or hurtful speech as a) 2.130; see also wound
spice (hope as a sweet) 2.374; (sweetness of a devout heart as a) 6.334-36; see also anointing
spot (or stain) (lust as a) 4.1340-46
spouse see bride
stairs (patience as three steps) 4.1289 ff.; (the three stages of lechery as) 4.1337
standard bearer (confession as) 5.28
standing upright (resisting the devil as) 4.1257; (pride as) 4.1258-60
stench (sin as) 2.459 ff., 2.610 ff., 3.230, 4.235, 4.241; (lechery as) 4.465 ff.; (exemplum from the Vitas Patrum: the proud lecher who stank more than a corpse) 4.467-71
Stephen (example of the saint's sufferings) 3.57-59
sticks (unity as a bundle of) 4.894-97
sting (sorrow as a) 2.755 ff.
stone (Christ's help as) 4.1046
storms (the temptations of the devil as) 3.268-71
stream (the world as a) 2.715
stripping the body of clothes (confession as) 5.35-41
stud-mare (the sinning anchoress as a) 5.206-07
sun (Christ as the rising) 7.199-200
sunbeam (the swiftness of the anchoress' sight like a) 3.565; (Christ's love as a) 7.200
surrender (giving in to lust as a) 4.1350-53
sweating (suffering as physical) 6.163 ff.
sweeping (confession as sweeping out a room) 5.176 ff., 5.197-98
sword (human touch as a) 2.135 ff.; (death as a threatening) 7.190-92
Syncletica (example of her solitary life) 3.490
taste (spiritual joy as a sweet) 6.339-41
teacher (beating the pupil, sickness as a) 4.61-62; (exemplum from the Vitas Patrum: how the teacher fell asleep but the pupil stayed awake) 4.704-17
Thamar ("bitterness") 5.115-20
thief (the anchoress as God's) 3.616-23; (the wrathful as a) 4.1316-19; (overtrust and distrust as thieves) 5.397-400; (the mistrustful as a) 6.426-27
thorns (suffering as protective) 6.378 ff.; (anchoresses like) 6.384 ff.
thralls see slaves
three wise men (or kings) (exemplum about how they kept their gifts hidden) 3.374-77
throng (the distracting world as a) 3.512, 3.526, 3.625
toilet attendants (backbiters and flatterers as the devil's) 2.433 ff.
tool (an evil person as a) 3.68; (suffering as a) 7.13-16
tournament (the crucifixion as a) 7.83 ff.
tower (the good anchoress as a high) 4.592-95; (Christ's help as a) 4.1045-47
trampling (despising evil as) 3.576-80, 4.1425; (the devil's temptations as) 4.1080; (the mark of Christ's sufferings as) 6.404 ff.
trap see snare
tree see root
tree-bark (hiding a good deed as) 3.340-60
trimmings (circumstances of sin as) 5.206 ff.
trumpeters (the proud as the devil's) 4.402-10
unicorn (angry man as a) 3.29; (wrath or anger as a) 4.283-93
urine (the love of the body as) 7.232 ff., 7.267 ff.
vagabond (the mendicant anchoress as a) 6.117
venom (hurtful speech as) 2.418, 2.466; (evil as) 3.194 ff.
vessel (the body as a pungent) 4.1198-204; (exemplum: how the smell of any fluid but water stays in the vessel even after the fluid is poured out - confession should be like water) 5.251-53
vials (temptations as a plethora of medicine-filled) 4.586-90
vinegar (a sour heart as) 7.236 ff.
Virgin see Mary (the Virgin)
vomiting (confession as) 2.461, 4.348, 4.737, 5.516
warfare (spiritual struggle as) 4.827 ff., 4.1046 ff., 4.1404 ff.
warrior (the devil as) 2.141, 2.309 ff., 4.601 ff., 4.805-10, 4.812-13, 4.1405 ff.
washing (confession as) 5.34 ff.; (exemplum: in the same way that fabric or cloth, washed only once, may not be white, a soul must be washed several times by confession) 5.280-84
watchmen or guards (the five senses as) 2.4, 2.648, 2.822-23
water (the insensitive heart as) 6.338 ff.; (tribulation as extinguishing) 7.229; (idleness as stagnant) 8.161
wedding gifts (swiftness and light as) 2.542 ff.
wheat (holy speech as) 2.273
wheels see Elijah
whelps (cubs or pups) (of pride) 4.207-258; (of wrath) 4.283-93; (of sloth) 4.294-305; (of covetousness) 4.306-21
whore (the lecherous anchoress as the devil's) 4.1381; (the sinful anchoress as a) 5.207; (the sinful soul as a) 7.130-31, 7.191
widow (exemplum: how the poor widow swept out her room - a symbol of confession) 5.175 ff.
widow's clothing (sorrow as) 5.36
wife see bride
wild animals (the anchoresses as) 4.195-99; (the seven deadly sins as) 4.200-05
wilderness (the anchorhold as a) 4.194-95
wind see puff of wind
windows (the eyes as) 2.145
wine (the heart which feels God's love as) 6.338-41; (biting words as) 8.253-55
wings (good habits as) 3.147
winnowing (judging good and evil as) 4.1138-41
witness (conscience as an accusing) 5.96
wolf (angry woman as a she-) 3.29 ff.; (angry man as a) 3.29
woman (exemplum: how the devil came in the likeness of a woman and begged a hermit for shelter, with disastrous consequences) 4.563 ff.; (weak reason as a) 4.1143
womb (Christ's anchorhold as Mary's) 6.363 ff.
work (remedy for sloth - thinking of Christ's labor on the cross) 4.971 ff.
wound (the pains of hell as a severe spear-) 4.67; (sin as a) 4.1180 ff., 4.1276; (lust as a) 4.1344-47; (Christ's wounds as hiding places) 4.1387-99; see also foot wound
wrestler (the devil as a clever) 4.541-43, 4.1242-52; (Christ as a clever) 4.1242-52
wrestling (struggle against temptation as) 4.718
Zara ("rising") 5.119-20
Go To Appendix 2, Proper Names Index
Abraham (Christ's beloved as) 7.310-11
Absalom (example of his beauty) 7.183
accident (exemplum: two carriers collide in the street, breaking and spilling their goods) 3.527-28
Adam (the rationalizing sinner as) 5.60; (the blushing sinner as naked) 5.270-72
agate (Christ as an) 3.194
Agatha (example of her refusal of medicine) 6.265-67
Ahasuerus ("blessed") 3.312, 3.569; (God as) 3.571
Alexander (example of his fame) 7.186
anchor (the anchoress as an) 3.268-69
anchoress (Christ as an) 6.365
Andrew (example of the saint's sufferings) 3.55-56, 6.177
anointing (acts of suffering as anointers of Christ's body) 6.359-62
Anthony (example of his solitary life) 3.489
antidote (thoughts of Christ's suffering as an) 4.1184-86
ape (the devil as an old) 4.831
Aphec ("new rage") 4.1049-50; see also Philistines
apple (pleasure in sin as the apple in the Garden of Eden) 2.55
army (unity of love like a united) 4.870-73; (temptations and adversity as the devil's) 4.1047, 5.7; (confession puts to flight the devil's) 5.18 ff.; (virtues as God's) 5.28-29
arrows (the eyes as) 2.127-28, 2.132 ff.; (temptations as the devil's) 4.1415
Arsenius (exemplum: Arsenius is told to flee human society) 3.496-99
Asael (example of his speed) 7.184
ash-cleaner see hearth-tender
ass (the devil is an) 4.1433-38
assault (temptations as a military) 4.600-03
baby (the anchoress as a yearning) 4.666
ballplay (earthly pain as mere) 4.70
balm see liquid
banner (idleness and physical pleasure as the devil's) 6.194-96; (hardship as God's) 6.197-98
bargain (attaining joy without much suffering as a cheap) 6.174-75; (love as a cheap) 7.170-77
bark see tree-bark
Bartholomew (exemplum: how the saint burned the devil with his prayers) 4.797-98
bath (baptism as a) 7.142; (penitential tears as a) 7.143.
bath of blood (the crucifixion as a) 7.136 ff.
Bathsheba (negative example of) 2.81 ff.
battlements (the windows of an anchor-hold as) 2.141-42
bear (sloth as a) 4.294-305; (the devil as a bear, with a weak head) 4.1432-38
beast (the heart as a wild) 2.7; (the sinful man as a) 2.107; (for sale, lechery as the devil's) 4.359-71; (the devil as a foraging) 6.378-79
beating (spiritual discipline as a) 4.81-87, 4.92-95; (suffering as a) 6.209 ff., 6.225-29
beggar (the rich and worldly person as a) 3.542-43; (the feast-giving anchoress as a ridiculous) 8.36-37; see also vagabond
beheading (the pain of hell as a) 4.67-68; (confession like hacking off the devil's head) 5.6 ff.
bellows (slanderers as) 4.1306-07; (the devil's temptations as) 4.1445-46
Benedict (example of his solitary life) 3.490
Benjamin ("son of the right side") 5.47-48; (exemplum: how Judah won Benjamin away from Jacob) 5.46 ff.
bereaved man (exemplum: the penitent is like a man who has at a stroke lost all his family and friends through death) 5.123 ff.
bill (anger as a sharp bill of a bird) 3.11
bird (the peeping anchoress as a) 2.617-18; (flying in the shape of a cross, true anchoress as) 3.149-51; (the anchoress as a lean) 3.257-59; see also night-bird
birdcage (the anchorhold as a) 2.618
birds (flying upwards, good deeds as) 2.225; (good deeds as) 3.10, 3.185-86, 3.201; (true anchoresses as) 3.140 ff., 3.161 ff.; (anchoresses compared to birds which light to earth only rarely) 3.167 ff.
blacksmith (God as a) 4.1305 ff.
bladder (the proud heart as an inflated bladder, easy to puncture) 4.1267
blindfold (the anchorhold as a) 2.552
blood (Holy Writ as) 2.782-83; (sin as) 3.15-16, 3.24; (love as a red man's) 7.223 ff.
bloodletting (suffering as) 2.777; (Christ's crucifixion as) 2.779 ff.; 4. 1004 ff.
boar (the devil as a wild boar who cannot bend down) 4.1254-56
boat (the soul as a) 2.717
body (the anchorhold as the) 6.374; see also limbs
boiling pot see pot
bosom (secrecy as the) 3.317-20, 3.334-37
boughs (heavenly thoughts as green)
3.164-65; (good deeds revealed as dead, dried) 3.348-49; (the bitter results of greed as) 8.58-59
bowing (or bending) (capitulating to the devil as) 4.1077 ff.
branches see boughs
bread (simple instruction as broken) 5.481-83
bride (the anchoress as Christ's) 2.507, 2.742-43, 3.37-38, 3.45, 3.543-44, 4.1381, 5.282-83; (the soul as a reluctant) 7.195 ff.
bridle (restraint of the tongue as a) 2.317 ff.
brothers (exemplum: how a man seeks out his brother, a monk, who directs him to the third brother, now dead, to show that monks are dead to the world) 8.144-47
bundles see luggage
burial (the anchorhold as a) 2.707-08
buying (choosing heaven or hell as) 4.137; (lechery as deceptive market goods) 4.360-71; (redemption as) 7.100-02, 7.170 ff., 7.284
cackling (idle talk as) 2.223 ff., 2.485
Caesar (example of his generosity) 7.186
cage see birdcage
calf (the flesh as a fattened) 3.213-19
cancer (evil speech as a) 2.576
carrion (the backbiter's prey as) 2.421 ff.
castle (the anchorhold as a) 2.141-42; (the overly talkative person as a defenseless) 2.308; (the soul as a) 4.805, 6.194; (a good man as a) 4.809-12; (Christ's strength as a) 4.1047; (the body as a) 7.59 ff.
cat (the devil as a) 2.618
cave (the anchorhold as a) 3.130
cement (steadfast love as) 4.594-99, 4.914, 4.937
chaff (idle speech as) 2.274 ff.; (evil as the devil's) 4.1140
chalice (the good anchoress as a carefully worked) 4.1300-03
chamberlain (love as God's) 7.308-09
chess (fighting the devil as a game of) 5.504
chest see bosom
chest wound (serious temptations as a) 4.174
chewing (chattering or silence as) 2.383 ff.
child (the anchoress as a beaten) 4.92-95, 6.225-29; (the anchoress as a stumbling) 4.109-11; (inexperienced believer as a) 5.480; (good works as children) 5.134-36; (exemplum: how a child is turned against his father by a negligent foster father) 5.155 ff.; (anchoresses as shrewd children who tear their clothes) 6.178 ff.; (the soul as a diseased) 7.136
Christ (as lover) see lover
clapper (the tongue as a mill) 2.275
claws (temptations as cat's) 2.621
cloak (the flesh as a torn) 6.179 ff.
clod of earth see dust
cloister (heaven as a) 4.935
clothing see festive clothing and widow's clothing
Core (God's wrath revealed in the fate of) 5.408
cottage (even a trivial thing is like building a) 6.174
counselor (love as God's) 7.308-09
cow (the soul as) 3.246
coward (the devil as a cowardly fighter) 4.1178-80
cradle (the liar's tongue as the devil's) 2.409-10; (Christ's anchorhold as his) 6.368
Croesus (example of his wealth) 7.182
crow (the devil as a) 2.222 ff.
crown (exemplum from Vitas Patrum: the malicious person who weaves a crown of joy for his enemy) 3.63-68
crucifixion (enduring temptation as) 4.725-29; (the suffering of anchoresses as) 6.13-14, 6.59 ff.; (shame as) 6.101 ff.
crumbs (food for the soul as) 5.482
cudgel (the cross as a) 4.1364-75, 4. 1384-85; (pain as the devil's) 6.234
cup see chalice
cur (the devil as a) 4.1353-65, 4.1375 ff.
dam (restrained speech as a) 2.292, 2.298 ff.
darling (the slothful as the devil's) 4.431-36
Dathan (God's wrath revealed in the fate of) 5.408
David (as a type of the true anchoress) 3.102, 3.127 ff.
dead (those in religious orders as the) 6.13, 6.44 ff., 8.144-47; (the anchoress as the) 8.32-33
debt (sin as) 3.85 ff., 5.167 ff., 7.115-18
debtor (the sinner as a bad) 5.167 ff.
devil's court (seven deadly sinners as entertainers in the) 4.400 ff.
dewdrop (in the ocean) (earthly suffering as a mere) 4.70-71
digging (eager intention like) 2.719 ff.
Dinah (negative example of Dinah's curiosity) 2.70 ff.
ditch (sin as a) 4.599; see also moat
dog (the resentful anchoress as a barking) 3.44-45; (the prayers of loosely talking nuns as a dead and rotting) 4.240-41; (the devil as a mad) 4.1353-65
dove (the bride of Christ as a) 4.1390
drink (temptation as the devil's) 4.726 ff.
dross (spiritual imperfections as) 4.1300
dung (sin as) 3.262
dust (the anchoress as) 3.43, 3.52, 3.599; (disunity as dry particles of) 4.892-93; (unity as a cemented clod of dirt) 4.892-94; (sin as) 5.178 ff.
eagle (the anchoress as an) 3.191 ff.
earth (as the anchoress' body) 3.170; (the body as a clod of) 3.246; see also dust
Elijah (as a solitary) 3.406; (suffering as the fiery wheels of) 6.100 ff.; (God as) 7.219
enemies (the devil, the world and the flesh as) 4.186 ff.; (temptations as attacking) 4.524-30
epilepsy ("falling evil") (of sparrows, humbling illness as) 3.627-34
eraser see scraper
Eve (negative example of Eve and sight) 2.47 ff.; (the rationalizing sinner as) 5.60; (the blushing sinner as naked) 5.272-74
Exodus (exemplum: in their escape from Pharaoh, God gave the Israelites all they asked for but once they came to the desert, He tested them with hardship) 4.500-07
falling down (the incarnation as) 4.1249-50; (humility as) 4.1258-59
father (exemplum: a father, after beating his child to correct it, throws the rod into the fire) 4.83-95; (God as a) 5.160 ff.; (God as father who beats his child) 6.225-29
feast (heaven as a) 4.133
feet (of an ostrich, pleasures as) 3.158-59; (desires of the flesh as) 4.1180-82
festive clothing (joy as) 5.41
fig (a good deed as a) 3.358
fig tree (good deeds, disclosed, as a stripped) 3.341-60
file (slanderers and attackers as an anchoress') 4.76-78, 4.1296-99
filth (or muck) (sin as) 2.459, 5.34
finger (as an unsympathetic limb of God's body) 6.167-68
fire (love as a) 3.77-78, 7.201 ff., 8.218-24; (testing sickness as) 4.53-54; (lecherous lust as a burning) 4.349; (temptation as a cleansing) 4.609, 4.1298-303; (shame and pain as a cleansing) 4.1306, 6.102-03; (sin as a) 4.1441 ff., 5.82-83; (the genitals as a) 6.260; see also Greek fire
flaming sword of the cherubim (Genesis 3:24) (shame and suffering as the) 6.104 ff.
flight (the humble anchoress' life compared to a bird's) 3.142-44
flock (unity of love as a protective) 4.875-78, 4.930 ff.
flood (many words as a) 2.327
floodgates (the mouth as a set of) 2.302-03
flowers (willing confession as blooming) 5.451-53
foot see feet
footprint (Christ-like suffering as a) 6.404 ff.
footstool (the world, when despised, as a) 3.533-34
foot wound (fleshly temptations as a) 4.172-73, 4.1180 ff.
foreign land (the world as a) 6.127-30
fox (the false anchoress as a) 3.111 ff.; (the hypocrite as a) 3.117; (covetousness as a) 4.306-21; (disunited anchoresses as Samson's foxes) 4.902-11; (the first inklings of sin as young foxes) 4.1429-33
friend (Christ as a man willing to incur his friend's debts) 7.115-18
fruit (a good deed as a sweet) 3.358
Galilee ("wheel") 5.277
gallows (hell as) 5.143-44
gate (the mouth as a) 2.310
gatekeeper (reason as) 4.1138
glass vessel (the body as a brittle) 3.511-21, 3.524-30
goats (desire of the flesh as stinking) 2.609 ff., 2.642 ff.
gold (the anchoress as fire-tested) 4.51-54
gold-hoard (what one desires as a buried) 2.719-24; (the kingdom of heaven as a) 3.361-62; (a good deed as a) 3.362 ff.
goldsmith (God as a) 4.52; (sickness as a) 4.62-63
grafted branch (the believer as a) 6.149-50
grave (the anchorhold as a) 2.707, 3.565, 6.369
Greek fire (God's love as) 7.223 ff.
green 3.355
greyhounds (the devil's temptations as) 5.386
grindstones (the cheeks as) 2.274-75; (hope and fear as two) 5.378-82
hags (the seven deadly sins as) 4.474
hammer (the anchoress' enemy as a) 4.1307
hand (a good deed as the right) 3.316; (the good deed revealed as Moses' leprous) 3.329-33
head (the beginning of sin as a) 4.1425-26, 4.1441 ff., 5.16; (God as the body's) 6.161 ff.
headache (suffering as a) 6.162-63
hearth-tender (the covetous as the devil's) 4.438-49
heat/cold 7.203-05
hen (the chattering anchoress as a) 2.221 ff.
hermit see holy man
Hester ("hidden") 3.310, 3.568; (enclosed anchoress as) 3.567-68, 3.607-15, 3.624-25; ("raised among the people") 3.609-10
Hezekiah (exemplum: how he foolishly revealed his treasure) 3.372-74
hide (anger as a covering of rough
wolf-) 3.39
hiding places (Christ's wounds as) 4.1386-98
high/low imagery 3.164 ff., 3.249 ff., 3.277-78, 3.395, 3.488, 3.531 ff., 3.609-15, 3.639, 4.1-4, 4.478-80, 4.592-99, 4.1180 ff., 4.1208 ff., 4.1244 ff., 4.1289 ff., 6.97-99
Hilarion (example of his solitary life) 3.489
hill (the holy life as a) 3.487-89, 4.2-5, 4.194; (unspiritual people as low hills) 6.394 ff.
hip-throw (lechery as the devil's) 4.1245-46
hobble (the body as a cow's) 3.246-47
holes (deadly sins as holes in a sinking ship) 5.185 ff.
Holofernes (the devil as) 3.208-09, 5.10 ff.; ("stinking in hell") 3.211-12; (unconfessed sin as the hidden head of) 5.15-16
holy man (or hermit) (exemplum: how the devil delayed tricked a holy man in to sin by causing him to stay in the world to distribute his inheritance to the poor) 4.567-70; (exemplum: how a holy man mourned the fall of his brother by saying, "He today, I tomorrow") 4.578-81, 4.1218-25; (exemplum from Gregory's Dialogues: how a holy man dared the devil to sting) 4.627-30; (exemplum from the Vitas Patrum: how a holy man saw a vast army of devils and was afraid) 4.659-65; (exemplum: how Publius bound the devil with prayer) 4.791-95; (exemplum from the Vitas Patrum: how a holy man called for tears rather than give a sermon) 5.172 ff.; (exemplum: how a holy man confessed everything but one sin from childhood and how this nearly damned him) 5.186-92; (exemplum: how a holy man was nearly damned because he forced someone to take a drink) 5.193-94; (exemplum: how one of three holy men treated himself softly with earthly medicine and was passed over for spiritual medicine) 6.268-78; (exemplum: how a man and woman torture their bodies for the love of God) 6.417-28
homeland (heaven as a) 6.134
hood (purity as a white) 4.1345
horse (the tongue as a runaway) 2.320-21; (the foolish anchoress like a horse on a bridge, afraid of its own shadow) 4.765-66; (the weak anchoress as the devil's) 4.1080 ff.
house fire (sin as a) 4.1441 ff.
hung to death (the anchoresses as those) 6.13-14, 6.61 ff.
hunt (temptation as the devil's) 5.385 ff.
husband (exemplum: Christ as the wise husband who waits to test and correct his wife until they have been married for a while) 4.485-99; (exemplum: Christ as the husband who is pleased that his wife mourns his absence, or displeased that she is enjoying herself) 6.238-46
incense (the sweetness which follows bitterness as) 6.351 ff.
infection (or inflammation) (lust as an) 4.1184 ff.
ink (Christ's blood as) 7.57
insanity (anger/wrath as) 3.32
iron (idleness as rusty) 8.161
Isaac (exemplum: how Issac sought out a solitary place) 3.399-401
Isboseth (exemplum: how Isboseth slept and set a woman to guard his house. The woman fell asleep, and enemies came and killed Isboseth) 4.1132 ff.; ("a confused man") 4.1136; (the confused and sleepy soul as) 4.1147-48
Jacob (exemplum: how Jacob, in a solitary place, saw God) 3.403-05; (exemplum: how Judah won Benjamin away from Jacob) 5.46 ff.
jailor (fear as a) 5.99-106
Jehoshaphat (prayer as) 4.1055, 4.1068 ff.
Jeremiah (exemplum: why he sat alone and wept) 3.410 ff.
Jerusalem ("sight of peace") 3.594; (the anchorhold as) 3.594, 3.615
John the Baptist (exemplum: as great as he was, he dwelt alone) 3.439-69
John the Evangelist (exemplum: how his virginity was restored) 3.521-24
Joshua ("salvation") 5.25
Judah (confession symbolized by) 5.23 ff., 5.114 ff.; (exemplum: how Judah won Benjamin away from Jacob) 5.46 ff.
Judas Maccabeus (confession symbolized by) 5.21 ff.; ("confession") 5.25
Judea ("confession") 5.276
judge (reason as an enthroned) 5.95 ff.
Judith (the enclosed anchoress as) 3.104, 3.135; (confession as) 3.205 ff., 5.9 ff., 5.35 ff., 5.113 ff., 5.276; (exemplum: how Judith struck off Holofernes' head) 5.9 ff.; (exemplum: how she put off her widow's weeds and dressed in festive clothes) 5.35 ff.
jugglers (the envious as the devil's) 4.411-23
kids (the five senses as) 2.614
king (exemplum: a king entrusted his son to a negligent foster father who let the child be kidnapped by foreigners and who then turns against his own father) 5.154 ff.; (exemplum: a king woos a lady, illustrating Christ's love) 7.53 ff.
kiss (spiritual ecstasy as a divine) 2.636
knife-throwers (the wrathful as the devil's) 4.424-30
labor see work
ladder (shame and suffering as the uprights of a) 6.98-99; (virtues as rungs on a) 6.88
lady (the inner rule as a) Pref.27-28, Pref.36, 8.183-84; (the soul as a) 3.633; (exemplum: how a lady was almost damned for loaning a dress) 5.194-95; (exemplum: the soul imagined as a lady besieged in a castle and Christ as a knight coming to her rescue) 7.59 ff.
lamb (God, before the Judgment Day, as a) 5.77-79
land (the sinful self as the devil's) 5.26 ff.
latrine (the anchorhold of a bad anchoress as a) 3.124 ff.; (the nostrils as latrine holes) 4.1203
latrine servants (backbiters and flatterers as the devil's) 2.433 ff.
Lawrence (example of the saint's sufferings) 3.57, 6.177
leaping (falling into sin as) 2.7, 2.46 ff., 3.244, 4.556
leaves (concealment of sins as) 5.270 ff.
left/right imagery 4.414-16
leprosy (good deeds revealed as) 3.330-33
letter(s) (the Old Testament as sealed) 7.55; (the New Testament as open love) 7.56
limbs (believers as limbs in God's body) 6.161 ff.
lime see cement
lion (an angry man as a) 3.29; (the devil as a roaming) 3.504-10; (pride as a) 4.207 ff.; (God at the Judgment Day as a) 5.77-78
liquid (virginity as a precious) 3.511-21
liquor see liquid
lodging (the soul as God's) 5.456-57
love letter see letters
lover (Christ as) 2.580 ff., 2.634, 7.51 ff., 7.108-11; (Christ as a jealous and angry) 2.497 ff., 7.161 ff., 7.188 ff.; (Christ as a reluctant) 5.284; (Christ as a forgiving) 7.129 ff.; (exemplum: Christ as a solitary) 3.477 ff.; (Christ, crucified, as a lover bending down, with arms spread, to kiss his beloved) 7.217-18
luggage (earthly wealth as bundles which rich ladies do not carry) 3.541-45
madness see insanity
manciple (the glutton as the devil's) 4.450-61
market (lechery as a bad bargain at the) 4.367-71
marks (idleness and physical pleasure as the devil's) 6.194 ff.
Mary (the Virgin) (exemplum: the solitary and lonely life of the Virgin) 3.470-76
Mary and Martha (contemplative and active lives as) 8.38 ff.
Mary Jacobi (mother of James) ("bitterness" and "wrestler") 6.312-17
Mary Magdalene ("bitterness" and "tower's height") 6.304-12
Mary Salome ("bitterness" and "peace") 6.326-32
meat (the flesh as rotting) 3.229-30
medicine (spiritual sight as) 2.534; (heaven as) 2.800; (help against temptation as) 4.12-13, 4.45-46, 4.177-79; (sickness or suffering as the soul's) 4.59-61, 6.263 ff., 6.281 ff.; (temptation as the devil's) 4.586-91; (envy as detrimental) 4.1275-76
Merari (Judith's father) ("bitterness") 5.115-16, 6.305
merchant (the silent anchoress like a rich) 2.226-27; (the secretive anchoress as a rich) 3.372; (the devil as a deceptive) 4.367-71
messenger (suffering as God's) 4.145-58; (discord as the devil's) 4.940; (the Old Testament patriarchs as Christ's love-) 7.54-55
mill (the mouth as a) 2.274 ff.
millpond (the mouth as a) 2.292 ff.
minion (the slothful as the devil's favorite) 4.431-37
mirror (the faithful anchoress as a) 2.503; (a spiritual vision as a) 2.528
moat (humility as a tear-filled) 4.811-12
moon (the foolish anchoress as the) 2.712; (the unstable world as the) 3.536-40
Mordecai ("bitterly trampling the shameless") 3.575-76
Moses (as a solitary) 3.406; (his vigor) 7.186
mother (God as a playful, hiding) 4.634-40; (God as) 4.666; (Jesus as a self-sacrificing) 6.227-31, 7.136 ff.
mountains (spiritual people as) 6.393 ff.
muck (the flesh as) 3.238
murder (sin as) 5.142-44
murderer (a sinner as a) 5.142 ff.
myrrh (bitterness as) 6.351 ff.
needle prick (earthly pain as a mere) 4.67-68
nest (the anchoress as a) 3.175 ff.; (the anchorhold as a) 3.186-90, 3.203; (the heart as God's) 3.199-200
Nichodemus (example of Nicodemus, who brought bitter spices to anoint Christ's body) 6.292 ff.
night (secrecy as) 3.379
night-bird (in the eaves, the recluse as a) 3.265; (gathering its food by night, the vigilant anchoress as a) 3.276-79, 3.307-08, 3.387-90
noble men and women (exemplum: how noble people do not carry their own luggage) 3.541-45; (exemplum: how noble people give generous donations) 3.546- 55
noise (worldliness as) 2.509 ff.
nurse or foster mother (a liar as the devil's) 2.409-10; (swearers as a) 4.224-26
offspring or brood (the branches of the seven deadly sins as) 4.172; (of the serpent of envy) 4.259-82; (of the scorpion of lechery) 4.327-54
oil (reconciliation as) 8.253-55
ostrich (the carnal anchoress as an) 3.155 ff.
packs see luggage
paddle see rod
paint (Christ's blood as) 7.104-05
painting (earthly pain and joy like a mere) 4.767-69
patch (a little misunderstanding as a disfiguring) 4.949-51
path (moderation as a) 6.296-98
Paul (the hermit) (example of his solitary life) 3.489
peddler (the noisy anchoress like a) 2.226; (the devil as a mere) 4.831-34; see also soap-seller
pelican (the penitent anchoress as a) 3.10 ff.; (the good anchoress as a lean) 3.101 ff.; (the solitary anchoress as a) 3.626
pennies see ransom
Peter (example of his martyrdom) 6.176
Phares (son of Judah and Thamar) ("division") 5.119-21
Philistines ("monsters") 4.1050; (exemplum: how the Philistines raged in Aphec when the children of Israel camped near the stone of help - an analogy for the rage of the devil when anchoresses lodge near Christ's presence in the church) 4.1044-52
physician (inspecting blood, the penitent examining her sins as a) 3.17-18; (the devil as a well-supplied) 4.586-91
pig (the bad anchoress as a penned-up) 3.108; (exemplum: how demons asked to be allowed to flee into a herd of pigs) 4.619-26
piglets (branches of gluttony as) 4.322-26
pilgrims (good Christians as) 6.13, 6.17 ff.
pillar (the anchoress as a supporting) 3.267, 3.273
pit (the anchoress' fair face as an uncovered) 2.99 ff.
plague (the original sin as the) 6.164 ff.
pot (confession like scraping out a) 5.515-16; (the belly as a boiling) 6.259-60
prior (Jesus as high) 4.931
prison (the anchorhold as God's) 2.692; (the world as a) 3.84; (the body as a) 3.253-55
prisoner see ransom
privy see latrine
prosecutor (memory as a) 5.95-97
Publius see holy man
puff of wind (an insulting word as a mere) 3.50 ff.; (the devil's temptation as a) 3.271, 4.4, 4.595-99, 4.1445, 8.218-26; (earthly praise as a mere) 3.327-28; (boasting as a) 3.337-38
purse (overconfidence in God's grace as a) 5.443-44; see also luggage
queen (exemplum: the queen who burned down her apartments with a straw said "much comes of little") 4.1441-42
rain (penitential tears as) 4.812-16
ransom (exemplum: how a bag of pennies hits the prisoner in the chest) 3.80-98
raven (backbiter as a) 2.420 ff.
Rebecca ("God's grace") 3.401-02
Rechab's sons (children of hell as) 4.1146
recoiling blow (earthly suffering as a) 6.230-35
redness (shame as) 6.103 ff., 7.224-26
rider (the devil as a rider of sinners) 4.1079 ff.
robbers see thief
rod (slanderers and attackers as God's) 4.83-95
root (greed as the tree-) 8.58-59
rowing against the stream (the virtuous life as) 2.714
rubbing with spices see anointing
Ruffin the demon (exemplum from the Life of St. Margaret: how he was overcome by prayer) 4.795-96
rust (sin as) 4.77
saints (example of their solitary lives) 3.489-92
salt (wisdom as preserving) 3.225-30
Samson (example of his strength) 7.185
Samson's foxes see fox
sanctuary (the anchorhold as criminal's) 3.615-23
sand (idleness as) 7.232 ff.
saplings (anchoresses as God's) 6.378-83
Sarah (example of her solitary life) 3.490; (exemplum: how the saint withstood thirteen years of physical temptation) 4.681-90
Sarephta (the example of the poor woman of) 7.211 ff.
Saul (relieving himself, the bad anchoress as) 3.122 ff., 3.133 (as the devil) 3.129
scalding water (prayers as) 4.804 ff.
scorpion (lechery as a) 4.327-71; (the pleasant beginning of sin as the head of the) 4.362-63; (the bitter penitence as the tail of the) 4.363-67
scraper (confession as a scraper to erase sins listed in the devil's roll) 5.499 ff.
scribe (the devil as a recording) 5.498 ff.
seed (discord as the devil's) 4.277
selling see bargain and buying
sepulcher see grave
servant (the outer rule as a) Pref.27-28, 8.182-84
shadow (earthly pain and joy compared to that of hell and heaven - a mere) 4.762 ff.; (the flesh of Jesus as a) 6.209 ff.; (the likeness of Christ as a) 6.401 ff.
sheep (the anchoress as a wandering) 4.930-32
shield (the crucifix as a) 4.1404-08; (Christ's body as a battle) 7.86 ff.; (allegory of the shield) 7.103-05
Shimei (exemplum: how Shimei foolishly broke house arrest) 3.583-606; (the outward looking anchoress as) 3.590; ("hearing") 3.591
ship (the church as an anchored) 3.268-71; (sinful man as a ship with many holes) 5.185-87
shoes (a trivial thing as laced) 6.174-75
sick man (the unwary or terrified anchoress as a) 4.7-22; (the parable of the two sick men) 6.200-05
slaves (the five senses as) 3.600-06
slippery (the tongue as) 2.323
slipping and sliding (temptation as) 4.881
smacking see beating
smithy (the world as God's) 4.1305 ff.
snake (the backbiter as a stinging) 2.418; (the vindictive anchoress as a stinging) 3.45; (the devil as) 3.201; (poisonous envy as a) 4.259-82
snare (the window of the anchorhold as a) 2.194-97; (the devil's temptation as a) 3.173-74, 4.1231 ff., 5.385 ff.
soap-seller (the noisy anchoress like a) 2.226; (whoever reveals a good deed as a) 3.371
Solomon (the Lord as) 3.596
sorceress (anger as a transforming) 3.26-29, 3.36 ff.
sow (gluttony as a) 4.322-26
spark (the first inkling of sin as a) 4.1442 ff.
sparrow (David as a waking) 3.280-81; (solitary and chattering, the solitary and prayerful anchoress as a) 3.384-89, 3.623-24; (illness like the "falling evil" common to the) 3.627-34, 3.639
spear (malicious or hurtful speech as a) 2.130; see also wound
spice (hope as a sweet) 2.374; (sweetness of a devout heart as a) 6.334-36; see also anointing
spot (or stain) (lust as a) 4.1340-46
spouse see bride
stairs (patience as three steps) 4.1289 ff.; (the three stages of lechery as) 4.1337
standard bearer (confession as) 5.28
standing upright (resisting the devil as) 4.1257; (pride as) 4.1258-60
stench (sin as) 2.459 ff., 2.610 ff., 3.230, 4.235, 4.241; (lechery as) 4.465 ff.; (exemplum from the Vitas Patrum: the proud lecher who stank more than a corpse) 4.467-71
Stephen (example of the saint's sufferings) 3.57-59
sticks (unity as a bundle of) 4.894-97
sting (sorrow as a) 2.755 ff.
stone (Christ's help as) 4.1046
storms (the temptations of the devil as) 3.268-71
stream (the world as a) 2.715
stripping the body of clothes (confession as) 5.35-41
stud-mare (the sinning anchoress as a) 5.206-07
sun (Christ as the rising) 7.199-200
sunbeam (the swiftness of the anchoress' sight like a) 3.565; (Christ's love as a) 7.200
surrender (giving in to lust as a) 4.1350-53
sweating (suffering as physical) 6.163 ff.
sweeping (confession as sweeping out a room) 5.176 ff., 5.197-98
sword (human touch as a) 2.135 ff.; (death as a threatening) 7.190-92
Syncletica (example of her solitary life) 3.490
taste (spiritual joy as a sweet) 6.339-41
teacher (beating the pupil, sickness as a) 4.61-62; (exemplum from the Vitas Patrum: how the teacher fell asleep but the pupil stayed awake) 4.704-17
Thamar ("bitterness") 5.115-20
thief (the anchoress as God's) 3.616-23; (the wrathful as a) 4.1316-19; (overtrust and distrust as thieves) 5.397-400; (the mistrustful as a) 6.426-27
thorns (suffering as protective) 6.378 ff.; (anchoresses like) 6.384 ff.
thralls see slaves
three wise men (or kings) (exemplum about how they kept their gifts hidden) 3.374-77
throng (the distracting world as a) 3.512, 3.526, 3.625
toilet attendants (backbiters and flatterers as the devil's) 2.433 ff.
tool (an evil person as a) 3.68; (suffering as a) 7.13-16
tournament (the crucifixion as a) 7.83 ff.
tower (the good anchoress as a high) 4.592-95; (Christ's help as a) 4.1045-47
trampling (despising evil as) 3.576-80, 4.1425; (the devil's temptations as) 4.1080; (the mark of Christ's sufferings as) 6.404 ff.
trap see snare
tree see root
tree-bark (hiding a good deed as) 3.340-60
trimmings (circumstances of sin as) 5.206 ff.
trumpeters (the proud as the devil's) 4.402-10
unicorn (angry man as a) 3.29; (wrath or anger as a) 4.283-93
urine (the love of the body as) 7.232 ff., 7.267 ff.
vagabond (the mendicant anchoress as a) 6.117
venom (hurtful speech as) 2.418, 2.466; (evil as) 3.194 ff.
vessel (the body as a pungent) 4.1198-204; (exemplum: how the smell of any fluid but water stays in the vessel even after the fluid is poured out - confession should be like water) 5.251-53
vials (temptations as a plethora of medicine-filled) 4.586-90
vinegar (a sour heart as) 7.236 ff.
Virgin see Mary (the Virgin)
vomiting (confession as) 2.461, 4.348, 4.737, 5.516
warfare (spiritual struggle as) 4.827 ff., 4.1046 ff., 4.1404 ff.
warrior (the devil as) 2.141, 2.309 ff., 4.601 ff., 4.805-10, 4.812-13, 4.1405 ff.
washing (confession as) 5.34 ff.; (exemplum: in the same way that fabric or cloth, washed only once, may not be white, a soul must be washed several times by confession) 5.280-84
watchmen or guards (the five senses as) 2.4, 2.648, 2.822-23
water (the insensitive heart as) 6.338 ff.; (tribulation as extinguishing) 7.229; (idleness as stagnant) 8.161
wedding gifts (swiftness and light as) 2.542 ff.
wheat (holy speech as) 2.273
wheels see Elijah
whelps (cubs or pups) (of pride) 4.207-258; (of wrath) 4.283-93; (of sloth) 4.294-305; (of covetousness) 4.306-21
whore (the lecherous anchoress as the devil's) 4.1381; (the sinful anchoress as a) 5.207; (the sinful soul as a) 7.130-31, 7.191
widow (exemplum: how the poor widow swept out her room - a symbol of confession) 5.175 ff.
widow's clothing (sorrow as) 5.36
wife see bride
wild animals (the anchoresses as) 4.195-99; (the seven deadly sins as) 4.200-05
wilderness (the anchorhold as a) 4.194-95
wind see puff of wind
windows (the eyes as) 2.145
wine (the heart which feels God's love as) 6.338-41; (biting words as) 8.253-55
wings (good habits as) 3.147
winnowing (judging good and evil as) 4.1138-41
witness (conscience as an accusing) 5.96
wolf (angry woman as a she-) 3.29 ff.; (angry man as a) 3.29
woman (exemplum: how the devil came in the likeness of a woman and begged a hermit for shelter, with disastrous consequences) 4.563 ff.; (weak reason as a) 4.1143
womb (Christ's anchorhold as Mary's) 6.363 ff.
work (remedy for sloth - thinking of Christ's labor on the cross) 4.971 ff.
wound (the pains of hell as a severe spear-) 4.67; (sin as a) 4.1180 ff., 4.1276; (lust as a) 4.1344-47; (Christ's wounds as hiding places) 4.1387-99; see also foot wound
wrestler (the devil as a clever) 4.541-43, 4.1242-52; (Christ as a clever) 4.1242-52
wrestling (struggle against temptation as) 4.718
Zara ("rising") 5.119-20
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