While reading the Psalter, we come across the verse “My youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 102, verse 5).  How is youth renewed in the eagle bird, and what is the meaning of that verse?

According to Jewish understanding, the eagle is a long-lived bird of prey that can reach the age of 70 under certain conditions. But when the eagle reaches the age of 40, he has to make a very difficult decision, because his nails have become long and no longer so flexible and cannot easily grab the prey. Also the long and sharp beak became very curved so that it could not piece its prey, while the wings became heavy because the feathers became very thick and attached to the breast, so that the eagle was difficult to fly.  

Then the eagle has two options left. Either die or undergo a painful 150 day replacement process. The process requires the eagle to fly to the top of a mountain and stay there for that time. There the eagle hits its beak against the rock until it breaks its beak. Then he waits for his new beak to grow, then pulls his claws with his beak. When his new claws grow out, he pluck his old feathers. After five months, the eagle recovers and can live for another 40 years.

In one sentence comparing spiritual renewal with an eagle, the prophet of God speaks of a painful transformation of the soul. Namely, every Christian is called to defeat that old man who enslaves the deceptive desires that lure and deceive him and to dress in Christ. This painful process of renewal is repentance, it is the breaking and pulling away of the accumulated passions in the soul. But this transformation is not without feats and without restraint until the soul is adorned with the necessary virtues, like an eagle with new feathers and rising to heights. Repentance also requires courage, but it pleases us that God loves brave souls.  

Hieromonk Dostej of Hilandar