Symbolism of the Pastoral Staff

An excerpt from the third book of the Rationale Divinorum Officiorum of William Durandus of Mende (c. 1230 – 1296), Englished by T.H. Passmore:

1. The Pastoral Staff signifieth Pastoral Correction, according unto that which is said by the Consecrator unto him that is consecrated, 'Receive the Staff of the Pastoral Office, that in the chastising of vices thou mayest be angry, and sin not.' And hereof also the Apostle, SHALL I COME TO YOU WITH A ROD? By the Pastoral Staff therefore we do understand the priestly power, which Christ did confer upon His Apostles, when sending them out to preach He charged them that they should bear staves. And Moses also was sent into Egypt with a rod.

2. Thus the Staff is derived from both the Law and the Gospel, being called both the Pastoral Staff, and the Crosier, and the Corrk, and the Rod. For Moses had a Rod by the commandment of God, which wrought terrible things in sea and sky, bringing food from heaven, and water from the rock; and drave his flock unto the LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY. Further, the Staff is Doctrinal Authority. For by it the weak are sustained, the restless rallied, and the erring drawn to repentance; whence it is called Pedum, the Crook, which is the name of the curved wooden staff wherewith shepherds draw back their herds by the feet.

3. Now the Staff is for the most part made of ivory and wood, which are joined together by a knop of crystal and gilt; the ivory above is crooked, and the wood below hath and iron point, but not much of the end is hidden therein. The ivory is the severity of the Law, the wood the Gospel's gentleness; and these twain are joined with the knop, as it were by the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Or, if thou wilt, the ivory is the Bishop's severity, and the wood his gentleness, both the which in his judgments he combineth with the BOND OF CHARITY; for either sternness or mildness lacketh exceedingly, if the one be held to without the other; and to this end the iron is blunt, for that justice is tempered with mercy. The Staff is crooked, to signify the recalling of the contrite into penance. Sometimes the curve maketh the shape of an head, because eternal life is promised unto them that turn to God; and sometimes round the curved part is written,

CVM IRATVS FVERIS MISERICORDIAE RECORDABERIS,
which is, being interpreted, In wrath remember mercy; lest by reason of the backslidings of his flock the shepherd's wrath should becloud the eyes of his reason. Sometimes upon the knop is inscribed HOMO, that the Bishop may remember himself to be but man, nor be puffed up with the power committed to him; sometimes also hard by the point is written PARCE, that in his discipline he may spare those subject unto him, and being merciful may for his mercy obtain mercy.

4. The Staff is sharp at the end, straight in the midst, and crooked at the top; this meaneth that the Bishop ought to goad on the idle, to direct the feeble with his own rightepusness, and to gather the wanderers together; hence the verse,

COLLIGE SVSTENTA STIMVLA VAGA MORBIDA LENTA,
which being interpreted is,

Gather, and guide, and goad unto the goal
The stray, the ailing, and the tarrying soul;
wherein if thou refer word to his word, thou wilt find that all the foregoing are contained. Or it may be thus,

ATTRAHE PER PRIMVM MEDIO REGE PVNGE PER IMVM,
which is

The Top, to draw into the road:
The Midst, to rule: the End, to goad.
5. But the Bishop of Rome useth not the Pastoral Staff, partly for an historical, and in part for a mystical reason. The historical reason is as follows. The Blessed Apostle Peter sent Martial his disciple (whom the Lord made to be His follower when He said, EXCEPT YE BECOME AS THIS LITTLE CHILD, YE SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN) with certain others to preach unto the Germans. When they had gone a twenty-days' journey, Martial's colleague, Frontus, died, and Martial returned to tell this to Peter; whereupon Peter said unto him, 'Take this Staff and touch him with it, and say, In the Name of the Lord arise and preach.' This Martial did, touching him on the fortieth day after his death; and he arose, and did preach. And it was thus that Saint Peter put away his Staff from him and gave it unto his flock; nor did he recover it again. But on the other hand, Innocent the Third, Pope, wrote in his Speculum Ecclesiae that Blessed Peter sent his Staff unto Eucherius, first Bishop of Trèves, whom he appointed, together with Valerius and Maternus, to preach the Gospel unto the Teutonic people; and to him Maternus succeeded as Bishop, who had been raised up from death by Peter's Staff. And this Staff is preserved by the Church of Trèves with great veneration even unto this day; wherefore the Pope useth the Staff in that diocese, and none other.

6. But the mystical reason is this, that the drawing-in of wanderers, as symbolised by the crookedness of the top of the Staff, is not needed in the case of the Bishop of Rome; for that none can altogether turn away from him. Moreover the Staff is a type of that constraining power, which the other Bishops receive at the hands of men, and therefore do they receive and hold their Staves from those set over them. But the Pope, because he receiveth his power from God alone, hath not the Staff.

7. Lastly, as touching that which agreeth unto the Head, even Christ, the Bishop's Staff signifieth the power of Christ, whereof the Psalmist saith, THE ROD OF THY KINGDOM IS A RIGHT SCEPTRE, that is, a sceptre of direction, FOR THOU HAST LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND HATED INIQUITY; and elsewhere, THOU SHALT RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON. The hardness of the iron signifieth the might of rightness, with which Christ SHALL BREAK THE UNRIGHTEOUS IN PIECES LIKE A POTTER'S VESSEL.

Yet is the power of Christ not the power of the rod alone, but the power also of the Staff, for it doth not only chasten, but sustaineth; whence the Psalmist, THY ROD AND THY STAFF COMFORT ME.