spring, a spiritual spring, a spring for souls, a spring for bodies, a visible spring, an invisible spring; may we even from thence partake, having been well changed here, and may we be sent forward to the new life in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be all glory, honor, and power with the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
844 NOTICE ON ORATION XLV
I. This other oration, inscribed "On Holy Easter," puts an end at last to the genuine collection of Gregory’s orations. For as we shall prove with many arguments in the preliminary notice annexed to each, the orations that follow are to be rejected as among the spurious works of the Theologian. It must, however, seem altogether marvelous that, out of so great and so wonderful a series of Gregory’s orations, the first and the last are inscribed "On Holy Easter," and thus, as it were, encompass and embrace all the others. For the holy Easter—which is elegantly repeated three times in this oration (no. 2) by our Theologian, "in honor of the most holy Trinity"—is, as he himself says, "the festival of festivals and the celebration of celebrations." It was therefore fitting that such a great herald of the divine Word should open and close his mouth in praise of sacred Easter. Nor is it a wonder if, like a swan, he utters and modulates sweeter sounds in this oration than in the first. For in the former, as we have seen, he speaks briefly; but in this latter, gathering the whole strength of his soul and piety, he commends the dignity and excellence of Easter in a more expansive discourse. First, he shows its name is derived from a Hebrew word (no. 10), as it signifies "passage," when, of course, the Israelites migrated from Egypt into the region of Canaan. Then, from the written law and the legal sacrifices permitted for a time, he raises the minds of his hearers to higher things, and entices them to the Gospel and to the sacrifices of the new law. Hence, in a wondrous way, he extols the depth of God’s wisdom and the riches of his unsearchable judgments. Moreover, by the aid of allegories, he ingeniously explains what the legal lamb was, and elegantly adapts it to Christ, the true Lamb. Soon, having made a brief enumeration of the mysteries of God, he exclaims affectionately (no. 30): "O Easter, great and sacred Easter, and the atonement of the whole world! ... O Word of God! ... May you have this oration, not as first fruits, but perhaps as our final offering!"
II. Alas, too truly did the holy Doctor, in these words, foretell that the dissolution of his own body was at hand. For the man so outstanding in holiness and eloquence did not long survive this oration, a life we surely would have wished to be prolonged for many years. And indeed, although we are now laying down the greater part of the burden we have taken up from our shoulders, we are nevertheless loath to close such great and wholesome streams of piety and doctrine. Moreover, from what has been said, it is manifest that this oration pertains to the final period of Gregory’s life. However, in exactly what year it was pronounced, we cannot state with certainty. We conjecture, however, that it can be placed in the year 385, about three years before he departed from the living. As for the place, we agree with Nicetas. For he says that Gregory, "after his return from the city of Constantinople, pronounced this oration, which had been elaborately composed, at Arianzus." Billius also thinks so (42), and notes that it is read erroneously in the Queen’s codex, "in Nazianzo." "For," he says, "Gregory would not have called this city his paternal estate." In the codex, however, which he was using, it was written "Aianzo." But no one knows who superposed the letter, whereas this letter should not have been added at all, but rather the letter should have been changed to a rho. For Arianzus was a place not far distant from Nazianzus, in which the Theologian had a villa, as Gregory the Presbyter testifies in his *Life*. Whence we conclude not without reason that this oration was held at Arianzus in the year 385. It remains to be noted that two of the most significant passages of this oration were taken word for word from the thirty-eighth oration, "On the Nativity of Christ." Whether this was done by Gregory himself, or happened through the carelessness of copyists, we remain entirely ignorant. We shall observe these places in the notes.
ORATION XLV. On Holy Pascha.
1. "I will stand upon my watch," says the wondrous Habakkuk. I too, today, with the power and contemplation granted to me by the Holy Spirit, will stand as if on a watchtower and carefully observe, and will consider with myself what is proposed for me to look upon, and what shall be spoken. And I stood and watched; and lo, a man riding upon the clouds, and he was exceedingly high; and his appearance was as the appearance of an angel, and his raiment as the brightness of a flash of lightning; A and he lifted up his hand toward the east, and cried with a loud voice. His voice was as the voice of a trumpet; and around him was as it were a multitude of the heavenly host, and he said: "Today is salvation to the world, as much that which is visible as that which is invisible. Christ is risen from the dead; rise with him. Christ has returned to himself; return. Christ is out of the grave; be released from the bonds of sin. The gates of Hades are opened, and death is destroyed, and the old Adam is laid aside, and the new is brought to completion; if any one be a new creature in Christ, be renewed." These things he said; but they were singing the same as before, when Christ appeared to us through his birth below: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." With whom I too among you proclaim these things; and would that I might receive a voice equal to the angelic, and one resounding through all the ends of the earth.
2. Pascha of the Lord, Pascha, and I will say it again, Pascha, B in honor of the Trinity. This is our festival of festivals, and celebration of celebrations, so far surpassing all others, not only those that are human and come from the earth, but even those that are Christ's own and are celebrated for his sake, as the sun surpasses the stars. Pre-eminent, indeed, for us also was yesterday's bright array of garments and lamps (which we performed privately and publicly, almost every kind of person, and all those distinguished by office and dignity, illuminating the night with abundant light), representing that great Light, which either illuminates the whole world above with the beauty of its stars and imparts itself to us from on high, C or surpasses the heavens, and in the angels D and in the first luminous nature after the First, the one which springs from that source.
A It is heavenly, both in the angels, which are the first shining nature after the primary one (for they derive their splendor from there); and in the Trinity itself, from which all light is produced, divided and honored by that indivisible light. But today is more glorious and more excellent. For yesterday’s light was a herald of that great rising light, and as it were a kind of preliminary joy of the soul. Today, however, we celebrate the resurrection itself—no longer merely hoped for, but now arrived, and gathering the whole world into itself. Indeed, let one person bring one offering for this time, and another bring a festive gift, whether small or great, provided it is spiritual and pleasing to God, as each has the strength. For the worthiness of this is something that even the angels—the first, the intelligent, the pure, and the spectators and witnesses of the glory above—could scarcely attain, if indeed a perfectly complete praise of God is granted even to them. We, however, will offer a discourse, the most beautiful and precious that we have, especially since we are praising the Word, for the sake of the benefit that has come from Him to the nature that partakes of reason. B I will begin from this point. For I cannot bear, when speaking of the great victim and the greatest of days, not to run back to God and take my starting point from there. Do you, therefore, purify your mind, your hearing, and your understanding, all you who take delight in such things (since this discourse is about God and is divine), so that you may depart filled with true, not fleeting, delights. Our discourse will be at once most full and most brief, so that it may neither be tiresome due to deficiency, nor bring weariness due to fullness.
III. God always was, C is, and will be—or rather, He always is. For "was" and "will be" are fragments of our time and of a fleeting nature; but "He who is always," and this is how He names Himself when giving His oracle to Moses on the mountain. For He holds and encloses all being within Himself, having neither beginning nor end, like a certain infinite and boundless sea of essence, surpassing all thought of time and nature; glimpsed only by the mind D and that very dimly and barely, not from the things that belong to Him, but from the things around Him, with one image gathered from another to form some single likeness of the truth, fleeting before it is grasped and escaping before it is understood.
A And it escapes even our intellect, and, before it is grasped, it darts away—just as the brightness of a flash of lightning does, by no means staying, dazzling the most sovereign and pure part of us. In my judgment, it draws us to itself as far as it can be comprehended (for no one hopes for or strives toward that which can in no way be perceived); but as far as it cannot be grasped, it excites wonder, and from that very wonder, it is desired more intensely, and being desired, it purges, and being purged, it makes us Godlike. And when we have achieved this, as if conversing with kindred beings—my reasoning dares to say something bold—God is united with gods and made known, and perhaps to the extent that He already knows those who are known. B The Divine, therefore, is infinite and difficult to contemplate, and this alone is what can be completely comprehended about Him: that He is infinite. Let no one imagine that because He is of a simple nature, this condition applies to Him—that He is either in no way to be comprehended or else fully and perfectly to be grasped. For what this simple nature is, let us inquire. For simplicity is not His nature, since not even for composite things is composition alone what they are.
A IV. Now truly, when immensity is considered in two ways, in respect to beginning and end (for what is above these, and not contained in them, is infinite), when the mind looks up into the abyss above, having nowhere to stand or to find support for its concepts of God, it has called what is there "infinite" and "unapproachable," and "beginningless." But when it looks to the lower B and what follows, it calls it "immortal" and "indestructible"; and when it gathers the whole together, "eternal." For C eternity is neither time, nor any part of time; for it is not measurable. But what time is for us, measured by the motion of the sun, that is eternity for the eternal—what is co-extended with existing things, like a certain temporal movement and interval. Let these things be what I have philosophized about God for now. For it is not the time for more than this, because the task set before us is not theology, but the economy. When I speak of God, I mean the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; the divinity is neither poured out beyond these, so that we might introduce a crowd of gods, nor limited within these, so that we might be condemned for a poverty of divinity, or by Judaism D through the monarchy, or by Hellenism through an excessive plurality. For the evil is similar in both, even if it is found in opposites. Thus, then, the Holy of Holies, which is also veiled by the seraphim and glorified by the thrice-holy, is gathered into one lordship and divinity; which also by another before us...
has been philosophized most beautifully and most highly. B
V. Since it was not enough for goodness to be moved merely by its own contemplation, but it was necessary for the good to be diffused and to travel forth, in order that there might be more that could be benefited (for this was of the highest goodness), He first thought of the angelic and heavenly powers; and the thought was a work, perfected by the Word and brought to completion by the Spirit. And thus secondary splendors came into being—ministers of the first splendor—whether they be intellectual spirits, or fire, or some other nature as close as possible to those mentioned, such are these to be considered. I would like to say that they are immovable toward evil and possess only the movement toward the good, inasmuch as they are around God and are illuminated as first-fruits from God (for those here are of a secondary illumination); but I am persuaded not to call them immovable, but rather difficult to move, by him who, because of his splendor, was Lucifer, but because of his pride became and is called darkness, and by the C apostate powers under him, the architects of wickedness through their flight from the good, and the procurers of it for us.
VI. Thus, then, was the intelligible world brought into being by Him, and for these reasons, as far as I at least am able to philosophize about these matters, weighing great things with a small discourse. But when the first parts appeared to Him well-ordered, He conceived of a second world, material and visible. And this is the system and combination consisting of heaven, and earth, and the things in between; D praiseworthy for the fine nature of each part individually, but more praiseworthy for the harmony and symphony of all together, each part relating beautifully to the other, and all to all, for the completion of one world; in order that He might show that He is capable of producing not only a nature akin to Himself, but also one altogether foreign. For the intellectual natures, which can be perceived by the mind alone, are akin to the Divinity; but those which fall under the senses are altogether foreign; and, to these, those that are completely soulless and motionless are still more remote.
VII. Mind, then, and sense, thus distinguished from one another, were contained within their own boundaries, and the handiwork of the Creator...
A they bore within themselves, as silent praisers of the magnificent work and loud-voiced heralds. But as yet there was no mixture of both, nor any mingling of opposites, which would provide a greater proof of wisdom and of the variety and excellence concerning the creation of natures; nor was the full wealth of goodness known. The Artificer Word, therefore, wishing to demonstrate this, fabricates one animal out of both—I mean from invisible and visible nature—man; and having taken the body from matter that already existed on its own, and having breathed into it from himself a breath B (which the Word knows to be a rational soul and the image of God), he places him upon the earth—a kind of second world, great in the small—another angel, a mixed worshipper, a spectator of the visible creation, a mystagogos of the intelligible, king of those upon earth, but ruled from above, earthly and heavenly, temporary and immortal, visible and intelligible, midway between greatness and lowliness. He is the same as both spirit and flesh: spirit for the sake of grace, flesh for the sake of pride—the former that he might remain and celebrate the Benefactor, the latter that he might suffer, and in suffering C be reminded and corrected, being disciplined by his greatness. An animal here is variously governed, and moves elsewhere; and, what is the extreme of the mystery, by the inclination and propensity of the soul toward God, it becomes deified. For to this end the moderate light of truth here carries me—to both see and suffer the splendor of God, worthy of Him who both bound me together and will dissolve me, and again bind me together D more ideally.
VIII. Him, endowed with the liberty of will, so that the good might be no less of him who chose it than of him who provided the seeds, he places in Paradise—whatever that Paradise was—as a cultivator of immortal plants (which perhaps means divine thoughts, both the simpler and the more perfect), naked in his simplicity and in a life void of artifice, and exempt from every covering and protection. For it was fitting that he who was the first created should be such. And he gives a law to him, as material for his free will. The law, however, was a commandment A prescribing both of which plants he was to partake, and of which he was not to touch. And this was the tree of knowledge, which was neither planted badly from the beginning, nor forbidden out of envy (let not the enemies of God cast their tongues there, nor imitate the serpent); but it was good indeed if partaken of at the proper time (for the plant was theory, as is my theory, upon which it is safe only for those who are more perfect in their state to ascend);
it was by no means good for those who were still simpler and more eager in their appetites; just as solid and perfect food does not benefit those who are still of a tender age and have need of milk. But since, through the envy of the devil and the deceit practiced upon the woman—which she suffered as being softer, and which she introduced as being more persuasive (alas for my weakness! for I account the weakness of my first ancestor as my own)—he forgot the commandment that had been given, and was overcome by that small taste; at once, because of his wickedness, he becomes an exile from the tree of life, from paradise, and from God; and he is clothed with leather garments, perhaps the thicker flesh, which is mortal and antitypical. And this is the first thing he learns: his own shame, and he hides himself from God. Yet he gains something even here: death, and the cutting off of sin, so that evil might not be immortal. And thus punishment becomes philanthropy. For I am convinced that this is how God punishes. A B
IX. Having been chastised before in many ways, on account of the many sins which had sprouted from the root of wickedness, according to different causes and times—by word, by law, by prophets, by benefits, by threats, by plagues, by waters, by conflagrations, by wars, by victories, by defeats, by signs from heaven, by signs from the air, from the earth, from the sea, by the unexpected changes of men, of cities, of nations, by means of all of which the effort was to have the wickedness crushed—at the end, because of more serious illnesses, it had need of a stronger medicine: namely, on account of mutual slaughter, adulteries, perjuries, unnatural lusts, and that which is the last and first of all evils, the worship of idols and the transferring of adoration from the Creator to the creatures. These things, since they required a greater remedy, also received a greater one. And this was the Word of God Himself, who is before the ages, the invisible, the incomprehensible, the incorporeal, the Beginning from the Beginning, the Light from Light, the Fountain of life and immortality, the express image of the Archetype, the immovable Seal, the unchangeable Image, the Definition and Word of the Father. He comes to His own image and carries flesh for the sake of flesh, and is joined to an intellectual soul for the sake of my soul, that He might purify like by like, and He becomes man in all things, save for sin; having been conceived by the Virgin, who had been purified beforehand in soul and body by the Spirit (for it was necessary that both birth be honored and virginity be preferred), and having come forth as God, with the nature He had assumed, being one thing consisting of two opposites, flesh and spirit, of which the one deified and the other was deified. O the new mixture! C O the paradoxical blending! The Being comes into being; and He who D
A is uncreated is created; and He who cannot be contained is contained, through the intervention of the intellectual soul which mediates between the deity and the grossness of the flesh. And He who enriches others becomes poor; for He becomes poor in my flesh, that I may be enriched [(9)] by His deity. And He who is full is emptied; for He is emptied of His own glory for a short time [(10)], that I may partake of His fullness [(11)]. What are these riches of goodness? What is this mystery concerning me? I partook of the image, and did not keep it; He partakes of my flesh, that He may both save the image and make the flesh immortal. He enters a second communion [(12)], far more paradoxical than the first; inasmuch as at that time He imparted the better, but now He partakes of the worse. This is more godlike than the former; this is for those who have understanding, much more sublime [(13)].
X. But why these things, perhaps someone might say, from among those who are led by greater zeal for the feast and are endowed with a more fervent spirit? Spur the colt toward the turn; philosophize to us about the matters of the feast, and about those things for which we are seated here today. This I shall certainly do, and even if I have begun a little further back, it is because reason and longing have compelled me [(14)]. Nor, I think, would it be inappropriate for those who are lovers of learning and beauty to discuss briefly the very name of Pascha [(15)]. For this would not be an episode devoid of value for the ears. This Pascha, this great and venerable one, is called *Phascha* by the Hebrews [(16)] in their own tongue; and the word signifies passage, historically on account of the flight and migration of the Israelites [(17)] from Egypt to the region of Canaan: but if we look at the spiritual sense, on account of our progress and ascent from these lower things to the higher, and to the promised land. And that which we have found to have happened in many places of Scripture, that certain words were changed from a more obscure sense to a clearer one, or from those that were more rugged [(18)] to those that were more elegant, this we have observed here as well. For some, having supposed that this was a name for the saving passion [(19)], and then Hellenizing the word [(20)] by the change of the phi into pi, and of the kappa into chi, have called the day Pascha. Habit, having taken up the word, [made it] stronger
since the multitude evidently confirmed this word with its own vote, as being more pious.
A XI. Enimvero the divine Apostle declared before us that the entire Law was a shadow of things to come and things understood. And God, who had given the oracles to Moses before this, when He was ordaining laws to him concerning these things, says: "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain." He shows that those things which are perceived by sight are a kind of adumbration and delineation of those things which escape the sense of the eyes. And I am persuaded that nothing of these things was ordained in vain, nor thoughtlessly, nor basely, nor in a manner unworthy of the law-giving of God and the ministry of Moses. Even though it is difficult to devise for each shadow its own allegory, descending minutely to particulars—all that has been ordained regarding the Ark itself, and the measures, and the material, and the Levites and ministers B who bear these things, and all that concerns the sacrifices, and the purifications, and the offerings—these are visible only to those who imitate Moses in virtue, or who come very close to his training. For God appears to men on the mountain itself, partly descending somewhat from His own height, and partly lifting us up from our lowly, earthly condition, so that He who is incomprehensible might be grasped—at least lightly and as far as is safe—by a mortal nature. For it is not possible for the thickness of a terrestrial body and a fettered mind to grasp God otherwise, unless it be divinely aided. Since, then, it is evident that not all were held worthy of the same rank and standing, but one man was given one, another another, each according to the measure, I think, of his own purification—while some were even entirely driven away and permitted to hear only the voice from above, as many as were beast-like in their manner and unworthy of divine mysteries.
C XII. We, however, proceeding by a middle path between those whose intellect is altogether too dull and those who are led by an excessive zeal for contemplation and anagogy, so that we may neither remain altogether idle and motionless, nor be more curious than is right, and so fall away from and wander from the subject at hand (for the one is in a way Jewish and abject, the other is inept and worthy of a dreamer of dreams, and both deserve equal censure)—in this manner we shall discuss these things, according to the measure of our strength and not too strangely, nor in a way laughable to the many. For we believe, since we had fallen
from the beginning through sin, and had been stolen away by pleasure even as far as idolatry and lawless blood-shedding, A it was necessary that we should be recalled and brought back to our ancient state, through the bowels of mercy of God our Father, who could not bear that man, so great a work of His own hands, should suffer loss. How then was he to be reshaped, and what was to happen? The harsher medicine was to be rejected, as being neither persuasive nor capable of being applied, due to the swelling of the soul caused by time, but he was to be provided for and raised up by a mild and kindly remedy. For neither can a crooked sapling bear a sudden bending and the violence of a hand trying to straighten it (for it would sooner break than be straightened), nor can a hot-headed horse, already somewhat advanced in age, bear the tyranny of the bridle unless it be soothed by a certain gentle and coaxing hand. B For this reason, the law is given to us as an aid, like a certain partition wall placed between God and idols, leading us away from the latter and recalling us to the former. And He grants a little something at the beginning, so that He may receive what is greater. He grants sacrifices for a time, so that He may establish God; then, when the time is right, He also does away with the sacrifices, wisely changing us through silent subtractions, gradually moving our souls and leading them over to the Gospel, having already exercised and habituated them toward obedience.
XIII. Thus, then, and for these reasons, the written law entered, leading us to Christ; and this, as I believe, is the rationale of the sacrifices. C But in order that you may understand the depth of the wisdom of God and the wealth of His unsearchable judgments, He did not leave even these entirely devoid of mystery and useless, nor did He leave them fixed in mere, simple blood; but that great and—as far as its first nature is concerned—unslayable Victim, if I may so speak, is mingled with the legal sacrifices; and that, I say, not as an expiation for a small part of the world, nor for a short time, but for the whole world, never to die out. For this reason, a lamb is taken because of its innocence, D and for the garment of our ancient nakedness. For such is the victim slaughtered for us, which is, and is truly called, the garment of incorruption.
A Perfection is his, not only because of his divinity, than which nothing is more perfect, but also because of his humanity, which was anointed by the divinity and made the very same thing as that by which it was anointed, and, to speak boldly, he is at once God. He is male, as one offered primarily for Adam, but firmer than him, since Adam was the first to fall into sin; and primarily because he bears nothing female, nothing soft or effeminate. On the contrary, he broke forth with power and might from the virginal and maternal bonds, and was born male from the prophetess, as Isaiah proclaims. He is a yearling, like the sun of righteousness, whether proceeding from heaven or, as regards that part which is perceived by the eyes, limited and defined, and returning to itself; and like a crown of goodness, blessed and on all sides equal to itself and uniform. B And not only that, but he is also like one bringing forth the cycle of the virtues, which are blended and tempered together with one another by the law of friendship and order. He is unblemished and incorrupt, as one who heals blemishes, and the defects and stains that flow from wickedness. For even if he took upon himself our sins and bore our diseases, he himself suffered nothing of those things that require healing. For he was tempted in all things according to our likeness, yet without sin. For the darkness did not overtake the light that shines in darkness.
C XIV. What more? The first month is introduced, or rather the beginning of months, whether this was so among the Hebrews from the beginning, or whether it was subsequently made so from this event, and received from this mystery the status of being the first. And on the tenth day of the month; for this number is the most complete of all, the first perfect unit from units, and the parent of perfection. D It is kept until the fifth day, perhaps because my victim has the power to purge the senses, from which sin arises, and around which the war is waged, since they admit the sting of sin. It is chosen not only from the lambs, but also from the inferior kind, namely from the goats, which are on the left hand, because it is slaughtered not only for the righteous, but also for sinners; and perhaps even more for the latter, inasmuch as we have need of greater mercy. It is not at all surprising if the lamb is sought most of all for each individual house, or if not, then for the houses of families, collected together on account of poverty; since it is best, if possible, for every man to suffice for his own perfection, and to offer himself as a living sacrifice, holy to the God who calls him, being sanctified at all times and through all things; but if not, then...
to use for this purpose the work and assistance of those who are our kin in virtue and similar in character. For this seems to me to be the meaning, that God commands those who are near to be partakers of the sacrifice, if need be. A
XV. Hence comes the holy night, the enemy of this present life, which is flooded [with darkness], in which the primal darkness is dispelled, and all things come forth into light, and order, and form, and the confusion that previously prevailed receives adornment. Hence we flee from Egypt—that is, from our sad and persecuting sin—and from Pharaoh, the invisible tyrant, and his cruel taskmasters, migrating toward the world above. We are liberated from the mud and the labor of brickmaking—that is, from the chaff-like and unstable constitution of this flesh, which is in many ways no stronger than reasonings made of chaff. B Hence the lamb is slaughtered, and action and contemplation—or habit and act—are marked with the precious blood; for these are the doorposts of our gates, I mean of the agitations of our mind and our dogmas, which are rightly opened and closed by contemplation, since they are also a certain measure of apprehensions. Hence comes the last and most grievous plague to the persecutors, a plague truly worthy of the night; and Egypt mourns the firstborn of its own reasonings and actions (which Scripture calls the Chaldean seed plucked up and oppressed, and the Babylonian little ones dashed against the rock and broken), C and all things among the Egyptians resound with clamor and outcry. And then the destroyer of them shall depart from us, out of awe and fear of the anointing. Hence the leaven is put away for the space of seven days (for this number is the most mystical of all, and corresponds to this world), meaning old and sour wickedness (for it is not that which makes bread and is vital); so that we may not prepare for ourselves any provisions from the Egyptian mixture, nor any remnants of Pharisaic and impious doctrine. D
XVI. And let them mourn; but as for us, let us eat the lamb; toward evening, indeed, because the passion of Christ took place at the end of the ages; since at evening, in a sense, dispersing the darkness of sin, he imparts the sacrament to his disciples. And not boiled, but roasted, so that nothing may be left unexamined or washed away.
A For our doctrine, if it should have it, must not be easily dissolved, but must be altogether dense and solid, and tested by the cleansing fire, and free from all material substance, and simple; and let us be aided by those noble charcoals which kindle and cleanse our intellect, from him who came to cast fire upon the earth, consuming wicked habits and hastening the kindling. So then, whatever in the doctrine is like flesh and is food, with the inward parts and the hidden things of the mind, shall be eaten and consumed, and shall be given over for spiritual digestion, even to the head and the feet, that is, to the first contemplations concerning the Godhead, and the last meditations concerning the Incarnation. And we shall bring nothing out, nor shall we leave anything until the morning; because it is not right that the greater part of our mysteries should be carried out to those who are outside, nor is there any cleansing beyond this night, and procrastination brings no praise to those who commune of the Word. B For just as it is noble and pleasing to God that anger should not last throughout the day, but should be resolved before the sun sets (as it is not safe for us while angry for the sun of righteousness to set), so also this kind of food must not remain through the night, nor be put aside for the next day. But whatever is bony and inedible, and difficult for us to contemplate, it shall not be broken, being wrongly divided and understood (for I pass over saying that, even according to the history, the bone of Jesus was not broken, even though the executioners were hastening his death because of the Sabbath), nor shall it be cast away and trampled underfoot, C so that the holy things may not be given to the dogs and to those who evilly tear apart the Word, just as the bright and pearl-like quality of the Word should not be given to swine; but it shall be consumed by fire, by that same fire which searches all things and consumes the holocausts, and by the Spirit, by which all things are refined and preserved, and not lost in water, nor scattered; just as the head of the calf, which was prepared by Moses for Israel, was scattered in reproach of their hardness.
D XVII. We must not pass over the manner of eating, since the law itself did not overlook it, but labored the contemplation in the very letter. For we shall consume the victim with haste, and eating unleavened bread with bitter herbs, and with our loins girt, and wearing our shoes, and like old men, carrying a staff. With haste indeed, so that we may not suffer what that Lot was warned against by the
A divine prohibition; let us not look around, let us not stand in all the surrounding region; let us flee for safety to the mountain, lest we be wrapped at the same time in that Sodomite and strange fire, and lest we be frozen into a pillar of salt, through the turning back to a worse state that is caused by hesitation. And with wild lettuces, because the life lived in accordance with God is bitter B and steep, especially for those who are beginning, and higher than pleasures. For even if the new yoke is pleasant and the burden light, as you hear from Scripture; yet this comes to pass on account of the hope and the reward, which is far more abundant than the hardships and troubles of this present life: for otherwise, who would not say that the Gospel is much more laborious and troublesome than the legal precepts? For whereas the Law prohibits only the ends of sins, we are called to account for the very causes, almost as if they were deeds. You shall not commit adultery, says the Law; but you shall not even covet, kindling the passion from a curious and studious gaze. You shall not murder, it says; but you, do not even strike back, but rather even expose yourself to the one who strikes you. How much wiser are these things than those! You shall not swear falsely, it says; but you, do not swear at all, neither little nor much, since perjury is born from an oath. You shall not join house to house, it says, nor field to field, tyrannizing over the poor; but you, shall eagerly lay down even riches acquired justly and be stripped for the poor, so that you may carry the cross lightly and be enriched with things not seen.
C XVIII. Now as for the loins, let them be slack and loose in the case of mute animals; for they have no reason to govern pleasures; although these too know a limit for natural motion and lust. But for you, let that part which boils with lust and, as it were, neighs—for the divine Scripture uses this word when it attacks the shamefulness of this passion—be restrained by the belt and by temperance D (87), so that you may eat the Passover purely, having mortified the members which are upon the earth, and imitating the belt of that solitary John, the forerunner and great herald of truth. I know also another belt, the military and virile one, I mean, according to which certain ones are called Euzoni of Syria and Monozoni; according to which also God Himself, speaking to Job, says: "Nay, but gird up your loins like a man, and give a manly answer;" with which also the divine David (89) boasts that he was girded with power from God, and that God (90) Himself
is clothed and girded with power, not against the impious—unless, however, one prefers to suggest that the exuberance and, as it were, the restriction of His power are signified by these words: in which sense, too, He is said to be clothed with light as with a garment. For who shall withstand the insurmountable force of His power and light? I ask, what has the loins to do with truth? And what was the mind of Paul when he said, "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth"? Perhaps it is because the contemplative faculty constrains the concupiscible, and does not allow it to be carried elsewhere? For it is not possible that he who burns with love for one thing should have the same capacity for other pleasures.
B XIX. Now, he who is about to touch holy ground, impressed by divine footsteps, let him loosen his sandals, even as that Moses did on the mountain, that he may carry nothing dead, nor anything between God and men. In a similar manner, if any disciple is sent to preach the Gospel, let him strive for frugality and simplicity; for he who is sent, besides the fact that he should have neither copper, nor staff, nor double tunic, ought also to journey with naked feet, so that the feet of those who evangelize peace and every other good thing may appear beautiful. But indeed, he who flees Egypt and the things of Egypt, let him take up sandals, both for the sake of other safety and against the scorpions and serpents, C which Egypt nurtures in great numbers, so that he may not be wounded by those who watch the heel, and which we have been commanded to tread upon.
Regarding the staff and the enigma concerning it, I feel thus: for since the one has the force of support, and the other is proper to the shepherd and teacher to convert the rational sheep and lead them back into the way, the Law prescribes to you the supporting staff, lest you waver in mind when you hear of the Blood of God, and His Passion and death; and lest, while you wish to appear a patron and defender of God, you collapse impiously. But rather, without shame and without doubt, eat the Body, drink the Blood, if you are possessed by a desire for life, neither abrogating faith by arguments about the flesh, nor stumbling at those things which are said concerning the Passion. Stand propped up, firm, D steadfast, in nothing shaken by adversaries, nor dragged away by the plausibility of words. Stand on your height; set your feet in the courts of Jerusalem; be supported on the rock, that your steps according to God may not be moved.
XX. What say you? Is it thus fixed and decreed that you should depart from Egypt—that is, from the iron furnace—and abandon the polytheism that flourishes there, and be led by Moses, and...
and by his laws and military command? I offer you a piece of counsel, by no means my own, and yet highly my own, if you consider the matter spiritually. Ask the Egyptians for golden and silver vessels; set out with these; prepare your provisions from others’ wealth, or rather, from your own. For the wages of your slavery and brick-making are due to you. Wisely devise something for yourself regarding this demand for wages; defraud them beautifully. Granted, you have been vexed here with heavy labors, wrestling with mud—that is, with a wretched and impure body—and building the houses of others, houses that are frail and whose memory perishes with a sound. What then? Will you depart for nothing and without pay? What then? Will you leave to the Egyptians and the opposing powers that which they have ill-gotten and will expend even worse? They have no right to it; they plundered it by sacrilege, they snatched it from Him who said: *Mine is the silver, and mine is the gold*, and I will give it to whom I choose. Yesterday it was theirs; for so it was permitted. Today the Master offers and hands it to you, that you might use it honestly and for salvation. Let us make for ourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, so that when we depart, we may be received in the time of judgment.
XXI. If you are a Rachel or a Leah—that is, a patriarchal and great soul—steal the idols of your father, whatever you find, not that you may keep them, but that you may destroy them. If, however, you are a wise Israelite, carry them over to the land of promise; and B by this name let the persecutor be tormented, and let him realize, having been outwitted, that he was tyrannizing and enslaving his superiors in vain. If you do this and depart from Egypt in such a way, I know well that a pillar of fire and cloud will guide you by night and day; the desert will be made mild for you, the sea will be divided for you, Pharaoh will be drowned, bread will rain down, the rock will gush with water, Amalek will be defeated; not only by weapons, but also by the enemy-fighting hands of the just, which simultaneously trace out prayer and the invincible trophy of the Cross; the course of the river will be hindered, the sun will stand still, the moon will be restrained, walls will fall without engines being brought up, hornets will go before, clearing a path C for Israel and driving back the foreigners. All other things, too, which have been recorded after and along with these—lest I prolong the discourse—will be granted to you by God’s favor. Such is the feast that you are celebrating today; such is the banquet with which you are entertained—both the birthday of Him who was born for you, and the funeral of Him who suffered for you; such to you is the mystery of Pascha. These things the law shadowed forth; these things Christ brought to completion, He who is the abrogator of the letter, the initiator of the Spirit, who, just as He instructs us in how to suffer by what He suffered, so too, by what He was glorified, He brings it about for us D that we might be glorified together.
B XXII. It will not be out of place, therefore, to investigate a matter and a doctrine neglected by many, but which, in my judgment, is worthy of careful inquiry. For to whom was that blood poured out for us, and for what reason—that great and renowned blood of God, of the high priest and victim? We were held by the Evil One, having been sold under sin, and having bartered away our own virtue for the pleasure of wickedness. But if the ransom price is paid to none other than to him who holds the captives, I ask: to whom was this offered, and for what cause? If to the Evil One, what an outrage! If the thief receives as a ransom price not only from God, but God Himself, and such an eminent and excellent reward for his own tyranny—for which reason it would have been just for him to spare us as well—how could that be? But if it was to the Father, first of all, how so? For we were not held by him. And secondly, what reason can be offered for the Father to be pleased by the blood of the Only-begotten, who did not even accept Isaac when he was offered by his father, but exchanged the sacrifice, giving a ram instead of a rational victim? It is plain, therefore, that the Father accepts it, not because he asked for it or had any need of it, but because of the dispensation and because it was necessary that humanity be sanctified by the humanity of God; so that He might deliver us Himself, having overcome the tyrant by force, and bring us back to Himself through the mediation of the Son, who arranged this for the honor of the Father, to whom He is seen to yield in all things. C Let these things, then, be said concerning Christ, and may many other matters be treated with the honor of silence.
Now, the bronze serpent is hung up against the biting serpents, not as a type of Him who suffered for us, but as an antitype; and it brings salvation to those who look upon it, not because it is believed to be alive, but because it is dead, and it puts to death with it the powers that were under it, being destroyed—just as was deserving. And what fitting epitaph shall we sing over it from our side? Where, O Death, is thy sting? Where, O Hades, is thy victory? By the cross thou hast been struck down, by the Life-giver thou hast been put to death. Breathless, dead, motionless, ineffective, and, even if thou maintainest the form of a serpent, thou hangest in ignominy in a high place.
D XXIII. We shall participate in the Passover, now...
typically, even if it be more nakedly than in the old law—for the legal Passover, I dare to say, was a shadow of a shadow—but a little later we shall do so more perfectly and purely, when the Word Himself shall drink it new with us in the kingdom of the Father, revealing and teaching what He has now only partially indicated. For what is revealed now is always something new. And what is that drink and that enjoyment? It is for us to learn, and for Him to teach and to share the Word with His disciples. For teaching is food, even to the one who feeds. B But come, let us also participate in the law evangelically, not literally; perfectly, not imperfectly; eternally, not temporarily. Let our head be not the earthly Jerusalem, but the heavenly metropolis; not that which is now trodden by armies, but that which is praised and glorified by angels. Let us offer, not young calves, nor lambs bearing horns and hoofs, in which there is much that is dead and senseless; but let us offer to God a sacrifice of praise upon the altar above, together with the choirs above. Let us pass through the first veil, let us approach the second, and let us look into the Holy of Holies. Let me say something greater: let us sacrifice ourselves to God; or rather, let us sacrifice C ourselves every day and in every movement. Let us accept all things for the sake of the Word; let us imitate His Passion by our own sufferings; let us honor His blood with our own blood; let us ascend the cross with eagerness. The nails are sweet, even if they are very painful. For to suffer with Christ and for Christ is more desirable than to revel in delights with others.
XXIV. If thou art Simon of Cyrene, take up the cross and follow. If thou art crucified like the thief, as an upright man D acknowledge God; and if He was reckoned among the lawless for thee and thy sin, do thou become law-abiding for His sake. Worship the One who was hanged for thy sake—even while thou art hanging thyself—and derive some profit even from thy own wickedness. Purchase salvation with death; enter the paradise with Jesus, so that thou mayest learn from what thou hast fallen. Behold the beauties there; let the murmurer die outside with his blasphemy. If thou art Joseph of Arimathea, beg the body from Him who crucified Him; let the propitiation for the world become thine. If thou art Nicodemus, that night-worshiper of God, anoint Him with burial spices. If thou art a certain Mary, or the other Mary, or Salome, or Joanna, pour forth tears at the break of day. Be the first to see the stone taken away—and perhaps the angels, and Jesus Himself. Say something; listen to His voice. If thou hearest, follow to the tomb, meet Him at the break of day.
A "Touch me not," stand afar off; reverence the Word, but do not grieve. For He knows by whom he ought first to be seen. Celebrate the dedication of the Resurrection; succor Eve, who first fell, and first greeted Christ, and announced him to the disciples. Become a Peter or a John; hasten to the sepulchre, running together, vying with one another in a noble emulation. And if you be outstripped in speed, be victorious in zeal; do not look in, stooping into the monument, but enter within. And if, like Thomas, you are left behind by the company of the disciples to whom Christ appears, when you see, do not disbelieve; and if you do disbelieve, believe those who tell you. And if you do not believe even them, be assured by the print of the nails. If he descends into Hades, descend with him. Know also the mysteries of Christ there, what is the design of the double descent, what is the reason: whether he saves all without exception by his appearance, or there also only those who believed.
B XXV. If he ascends into the heavens, ascend with him; join yourself to the angels who are escorting or receiving him. Command the gates to be lifted up, to become more sublime, that they may receive one more sublime from his Passion. Answer those who are in doubt because of the body and the signs of the Passion—which he did not bring with him in the descent, but carried up in his ascent—and who therefore ask: "Who is this King of glory?" by saying: "The Lord strong and mighty" in all things that he has always done and does, and in the present war and trophy for human nature; and give a double answer to the double inquiry. And if they marvel, saying, according to that dramatic presentation of speaking C persons in Isaiah: "Who is this that comes from Edom, and from earthly things? Or, How are the garments of him who is without blood and without body red, as of one who treads the winepress, and has trodden the full press?" hold forth the beauty of the robe of the suffering body, adorned by the Passion and brightened by the Godhead, than which nothing is more lovely or beautiful.
XXVI. What do our calumniators say to this, those bitter calculators of the Godhead, those accusers of what is praiseworthy, those who are in darkness regarding the light, those untrained in wisdom, for whom Christ died in vain, those ungrateful creatures, those figments of the wicked one? Is it for this that you blame God for his D benefit? Is he small for this reason, that he is humble for your sake? That the good Shepherd came to the wandering one, He who lays down his soul for the sheep, upon the mountains and the hills on which
you were sacrificing, and found the wanderer, and having found it, lifted it upon his shoulders, upon which also he bore the wood of the cross. And having taken it up, he brought it back to the life above, and having brought it back, numbered it with those that had remained? A Because he lit a lamp, his own flesh, and swept the house, cleansing the world from sin, and sought the drachma, the royal image obscured by the passions, and calls together the powers that are his friends for the finding of the drachma, and makes them partakers in his joy, he who had already made them initiated in the mystery of the Incarnation? Because the most brilliant Light follows the precursor lamp, and the Word follows the voice, and the Bridegroom follows the bridesman, preparing for the Lord an elect people, and pre-purifying them for the Spirit through water? Do you reproach God with these things? Or because of these things B do you consider him inferior, because he girds himself with a towel, and washes the feet of his disciples, and shows the best way of exaltation, which is humility? Because he lowers himself for the sake of the soul inclined to the earth, that he might lift up with himself that which was bent downward by the weight of sin?
But how do you not also reproach him for this: that he eats with publicans, and at the houses of publicans, and makes publicans his disciples, that he might also gain something? What is this? The salvation of sinners. Unless someone might perchance accuse the physician, because he bends down to the sicknesses and endures the stench, that he might grant health to those suffering: and [accuse] him who leans down into the pit because of C his love for mankind, that he might rescue the fallen beast, as is sanctioned by the Law.
XXVII. He was indeed sent, but as man; for he was of a twofold nature. For he also grew weary, and hungered, and thirsted, and suffered anguish, and shed tears, by the law of nature. But if he was also sent as God, what of that? Interpret the "mission" as the good pleasure of the Father, to whom he refers his own works, both to honor the beginning that is devoid of time, and that he might not appear to be an adversary of God. For otherwise, just as it is said that he was delivered up, so it is written that he delivered up himself; and as he is said to have been recalled to life by the Father and taken up, so he is proclaimed to have raised himself from the dead, and to have ascended into heaven again; those things belong to the good pleasure, these to his power and authority. But you, indeed, bring forward those things that diminish and extenuate; but those that exalt, you pass over; and you weigh what he suffered, but that it was voluntary, you do not add. What things the Word suffers even now! By some he is honored and combined as God; by others he is dishonored and separated as flesh. With which of these shall he be more angry? D
Or rather, to which shall he grant forgiveness—to those who combine him wrongly, or to those who divide him? For it was necessary to divide the former and to combine the latter; the former as to number, the latter as to Godhead. Do you stumble at the flesh? The Jews also did this. Or do you call him a Samaritan? (And I shall be silent about what follows); do you disbelieve in his Godhead? Not even the demons do this. [O] O you who are more faithless than the demons, and more ungrateful than the Jews! They considered the title of Son to be a reference to equality; these knew that the one casting them out was God, for they were persuaded by what they suffered. But you, you neither accept his equality nor confess his Godhead. It would have been better for you to have been circumcised and demon-possessed—if I may say something ridiculous—than to be in a state of uncircumcision and health, while thinking wickedly and impiously. But let this war against them either be brought to an end, if they should ever wish to come to their senses, or let it be postponed, since they are unwilling and are as they are. At any rate, we shall fear nothing, B as we contend for the Trinity, with the Trinity.