Gabriel Carter
Volume 4
All of creation bears the beauty of its Creator in some minute way. As a result, even a seemingly insignificant egg is fit for the application of such typology. The egg is a rich allegorical image. It symbolizes the Incarnation of our Lord. The egg is a spotless, stainless vessel carrying a golden treasure within its body. The Virgin Mary is represented by this vessel and the yolk within is a type of Christ. Christ the golden yolk gives His body as food to nourish the growing embryo in the egg. By the power of the strengthening food, the embryo grows into a chick and is freed from the egg into life outside. Through the food of Christ, we are so nourished as to gain admittance to the next life.
On the moral level, the egg is a symbol of how an academic should approach his education. In the matters of the scholastic world, one should balance their learning so as to remain well-rounded like the egg. It is true however that most eggs are elliptical in their shape. This shows that almost all men will end up having a natural strength in or inclination to a subject, but they should still attempt well-roundedness. Such an imitation of the egg results in a well-balanced thinker. On a theological level, the egg is a symbol of how every Christian should live. Just as the egg, every Christian should maintain humility of appearance while holding his greatest treasure within. We are all vessels of the Lord, we all bear that golden treasure within us. In death, we are called to show our love for God and hold him as the center of our being in our last moments. Likewise, when broken, the egg holds the treasured yolk at its center. The egg is a symbol of Christocentric life and death.
In the anagogical type, the egg is a symbol of the final judgment. When the fresh eggs are broken they are found pure and worthy of the feast. The rotten eggs however are cast out with the scraps and fed to the hogs. The Christians who daily confess their love for God and offer themselves as a pure temple will be joyously welcomed to the eternal feast. But those who contaminate their temple by holding rottenness and sin in the dwelling of Christ will be justly damned.
The egg is a symbol of the tripartite structure of the person. The outermost part is the shell. It symbolizes desire and which can be pure and unfractured, however, if broken, the shards of the shell prove dangerous to the rest of the egg. The protein-rich egg white represents the spirited, honorable part of the person. When it is centered around reason (the yolk), it holds the egg together and protects the intellect, thus serving its purpose. On the other hand if it leaks out through the broken shell (disordered desire), it abandons its purpose and proper alignment, dooming the yolk to be popped on the shards. The intellect characterized by the yolk is the center of the egg and the egg's greatest treasure. The yolk is harder to see than the shell (desire) and is also harder to reach, but once it is reached, it proves to be of far more worth and delicacy than the base shell. When the shell and the white are ordered towards the purpose of preserving the yolk, the egg fulfills its structural purpose. Just so, when desire and the