Writings of Cyril - The Catechetical Lectures h

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The Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem,

with a revised translation, introduction, notes, and indices,

by Edwin Hamilton Gifford, D.D.
formerly archdeacon of london, and canon of S. Paul's.

Under the editorial supervision of Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Church History in the Union Theological Semimary, New York, and Henry Wace, D.D., Principal of King's College, London

Published in 1893 by Philip Schaff, New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co.

Five Catechetical Lectures of the same Author, to the Newly Baptized [2357]

Lecture XIX.

First Lecture on the Mysteries.

With a Lesson from the First General Epistle of Peter, beginning at Be sober, be vigilant, to the end of the Epistle.

1. I have long been wishing, O true-born and dearly beloved children of the Church, to discourse to you concerning these spiritual and heavenly Mysteries; but since I well knew that seeing is far more persuasive than hearing, I waited for the present season; that finding you more open to the influence of my words from your present experience, I might lead you by the hand into the brighter and more fragrant meadow of the Paradise before us; especially as ye have been made fit to receive the more sacred Mysteries, after having been found worthy of divine and life-giving Baptism [2358] . Since therefore it remains to set before you a table of the more perfect instructions, let us now teach you these things exactly, that ye may know the effect [2359] wrought upon you on that evening of your baptism.

2. First ye entered into the vestibule [2360] of the Baptistery, and there facing towards the West ye listened to the command to stretch forth your hand, and as in the presence of Satan ye renounced him. Now ye must know that this figure is found in ancient history. For when Pharaoh, that most bitter and cruel tyrant, was oppressing the free and high-born people of the Hebrews, God sent Moses to bring them out of the evil bondage of the Egyptians. Then the door posts were anointed with the blood of a lamb, that the destroyer might flee from the houses which had the sign of the blood; and the Hebrew people was marvellously delivered. The enemy, however, after their rescue, pursued after them [2361] , and saw the sea wondrously parted for them; nevertheless he went on, following close in their footsteps, and was all at once overwhelmed and engulphed in the Red Sea.


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3. Now turn from the old to the new, from the figure to the reality. There we have Moses sent from God to Egypt; here, Christ, sent forth from His Father into the world: there, that Moses might lead forth an afflicted people out of Egypt; here, that Christ might rescue those who are oppressed in the world under sin: there, the blood of a lamb was the spell against [2362] the destroyer; here, the blood of the Lamb without blemish Jesus Christ is made the charm to scare [2363] evil spirits: there, the tyrant was pursuing that ancient people even to the sea; and here the daring and shameless spirit, the author of evil, was following thee even to the very streams of salvation. The tyrant of old was drowned in the sea; and this present one disappears in the water of salvation.

4. But nevertheless thou art bidden to say, with arm outstretched towards him as though he were present, "I renounce thee, Satan." I wish also to say wherefore ye stand facing to the West; for it is necessary. Since the West is the region of sensible darkness, and he being darkness has his dominion also in darkness, therefore, looking with a symbolical meaning towards the West, ye renounce that dark and gloomy potentate. What then did each of you stand up and say? "I renounce thee, Satan,"--thou wicked and most cruel tyrant! meaning, "I fear thy might no longer; for that Christ hath overthrown, having partaken with me of flesh and blood, that through these He might by death destroy death [2364] , that I might not be made subject to bondage for ever." "I renounce thee,"--thou crafty and most subtle serpent. "I renounce thee,"--plotter as thou art, who under the guise of friendship didst contrive all disobedience, and work apostasy in our first parents. "I renounce thee, Satan,"--the artificer and abettor of all wickedness.

5. Then in a second sentence thou art taught to say, "and all thy works." Now the works of Satan are all sin, which also thou must renounce;--just as one who has escaped a tyrant has surely escaped his weapons also. All sin therefore, of every kind, is included in the works of the devil. Only know this; that all that thou sayest, especially at that most thrilling hour, is written in God's books; when therefore thou doest any thing contrary to these promises, thou shalt be judged as a transgressor [2365] . Thou renouncest therefore the works of Satan; I mean, all deeds and thoughts which are contrary to reason.

6. Then thou sayest, "And all his pomp [2366] ." Now the pomp of the devil is the madness of theatres [2367] , and horse-races, and hunting, and all such vanity: from which that holy man praying to be delivered says unto God, Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity [2368] . Be not interested in the madness of the theatre, where thou wilt behold the wanton gestures of the players [2369] , carried on with mockeries and all unseemliness, and the frantic dancing of effeminate men [2370] ;--nor in the madness of them who in hunts [2371] expose themselves to wild beasts, that they may pamper their miserable appetite; who, to serve their belly with meats, become themselves in reality meat for the belly of untamed beasts; and to speak justly, for the sake of their own god, their belly, they cast away their life headlong in single combats [2372] . Shun also horse-races, that frantic and soul-subverting spectacle [2373] . For all these are the pomp of the devil.

7. Moreover, the things which are hung up at idol festivals [2374] , either meat or bread, or other such things polluted by the invocation of the unclean spirits, are reckoned in the pomp of the devil. For as the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist before the invocation of the Holy and Adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, while after the invocation the Bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the Wine the Blood of Christ [2375] , so in like manner such meats belonging to the pomp of Satan, though in their own nature simple, become profane by the invocation of the evil spirit.

8. After this thou sayest, "and all thy service [2376] ." Now the service of the devil is prayer in idol temples; things done in honour of lifeless idols; the lighting of lamps [2377] , or burning of incense by fountains or rivers [2378] , as some persons cheated by dreams or by evil spirits do [resort to this [2379] ], thinking to find a cure even for their bodily ailments. Go not after such things. The watching of birds, divination, omens, or amulets, or charms written on leaves, sorceries, or other evil arts [2380] , and all such things, are services of the devil; therefore shun them. For if after renouncing Satan and associating thyself with Christ [2381] , thou fall under their influence, thou shalt find [2382] the tyrant more bitter; perchance, because he treated thee of old as his own, and relieved thee from his hard bondage, but has now been greatly exasperated by thee; so thou wilt be bereaved of Christ, and have experience of the other. Hast thou not heard the old history which tells us of Lot and his daughters? Was not he himself saved with his daughters, when he had gained the mountain, while his wife became a pillar of salt, set up as a monument for ever, in remembrance of her depraved will and her turning back. Take heed therefore to thyself, and turn not again to what is behind [2383] , having put thine hand to the plough, and then turning back to the salt savour of this life's doings; but escape to the mountain, to Jesus Christ, that stone hewn without hands [2384] , which has filled the world.

9. When therefore thou renouncest Satan, utterly breaking all thy covenant with him, that ancient league with hell [2385] , there is opened to thee the paradise of God, which He planted towards the East, whence for his transgression our first father was banished; and a symbol of this was thy turning from West to East, the place of light [2386] . Then thou wert told to say, "I believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and in one Baptism of repentance [2387] ." Of which things we spoke to thee at length in the former Lectures, as God's grace allowed us.

10. Guarded therefore by these discourses, be sober. For our adversary the devil, as was just now read, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour [2388] . But though in former times death was mighty and devoured, at the holy Laver of regeneration God has wiped away every tear from off all faces [2389] . For thou shalt no more mourn, now that thou hast put off the old man; but thou shalt keep holy-day [2390] , clothed in the garment of salvation [2391] , even Jesus Christ.

11. And these things were done in the outer chamber. But if God will, when in the succeeding lectures on the Mysteries we have entered into the Holy of Holies [2392] , we shall there know the symbolical meaning of the things which are there performed. Now to God the Father, with the Son and the Holy Ghost, be glory, and power, and majesty, forever and ever. Amen.

Footnotes

[2357] This general title of the five following Lectures is omitted in many mss. "In Cod. Ottob. at the end of the special title of this first Mystagogic Lecture, after the words "to the end of the Epistle," there follows the statement "Of the same author Cyril, and of John the Bishop" (Bened. Ed.). See Index, Authenticity. [2358] This Lecture was delivered on the Monday after Easter in the Holy Sepulchre: see Cat. xviii. 33. [2359] ten emphasin ten....gegenemenen , is found in all the mss. "Nevertheless it would seem that we ought to read ton....gegenemenon, which Grodecq either read or substituted" (Ben. Ed.). With the proposed reading the meaning would be--"the significance of the things done to you," which agrees better with the meaning of emphasis. [2360] thon proaulion, called below in � 11 "the outer chamber." Cf. Procat. � 1, note 3. It appears from Tertullian, De Corona, � 3, that the renunciation was made first in the Church, and afterwards in the Baptistery: "When we are going to enter the water, at that moment as well as just before in the Church under the hand of the President, we solemnly profess that we disown the devil, and his pomp, and his angels." [2361] Ex. xiv. 9, 23. [2362] apotropaion [2363] phugadeuterion, the word commonly used in the Septuagint for "a city of refuge." But the Verb phugadeuo is Transitive in 2 Macc. ix. 4, as well as in Xenophon and Demosthenes. The application of the blood of Christ in Baptism is represented by marking the sign of the Cross on the forehead. Compare the lines of Prudentius quoted by the Benedictine Editor: "Passio quæ nostram defendit sanguine frontem, Corporeamque domum signato collinit ore." [2364] Heb. ii. 14, 15. [2365] Gal. ii. 18. [2366] Herod. II. 58: "The Egyptians were the first to introduce solemn assemblies (paneguris) and processions (pompas)." At Rome the term "pompa" was applied especially to the procession with which the Ludi Circenses were opened and also to any grand ceremony or pageant. [2367] theatromaniai. Cf. Tertull. Apologet. 38; "We renounce all your spectacles....Among us nothing is ever said, or seen, or heard, which has anything in common with the madness of the Circus, the immodesty of the theatre, the atrocities of the arena, the useless exercises of the wrestling-ground." He calls the theatre "that citadel of all impurities," De Spectaculis, c. 10, "immodesty's peculiar abode," c. 17, and gives a vivid description of the rage and fury of the Circus in c. 16. [2368] Ps. cxix. 37. [2369] mimon, the name either of a species of low comedy, "consisting more of gestures and mimicry than of spoken dialogue," or of the persons who acted in them. Cyril's description of the coarse and indecent character of the mimes is more than justified by the impartial testimony of Ovid, Trist. ii. 497: "Quid si scripsissem mimos obscoena jocantes, Qui semper vetiti crimen amoris habent; In quibus assidue cultus procedit adulter, Verbaque dat stulto callida nupta viro. Nubilis hos virgo, matronaque, virque, puerque Spectat, et e magna parte Senatus adest. Nec satis incestis temerari vocibus aures; Assuescunt oculi multa pudenda pati." A theatre is mentioned as one of the buildings erected by Hadrian in his new City Aelia Capitolina built on the site of Jerusalem; and that theatrical performances were continued in the time of Cyril we know from the accusation that in a time of famine he had sold one of the Church vestments, which was afterwards used upon the stage. [2370] Lactantius, Epitome, � 63: "Histrionici etiam impudici gestus, quibus infames foeminas imitantur, libidines, quæ saltando exprimunt, docent." [2371] kunegesiais, the so-called "venationes" of the Circus in which the "bestiarii" fought with wild beasts. [2372] The "bestiarii" were feasted in public on the day before their encounter with the beasts. See Tertull. Apologet. � 42: "I do not recline in public at the feast of Bacchus, after the manner of the beast-fighters at their last banquet." Ib. � 9: "Those also who dine on the flesh of wild beasts from the arena, who have keen appetites for bear and stag." These latter, however, were chiefly the poor, to whom flesh was a rarity: Apuleius Metam. iv. 14, quoted by Oehler. [2373] psuchas ektrachelizon, an allusion to the risk of a broken neck in the chariot-race. Tertull. de Spectaculis, � 9: "Equestrianism was formerly practised in a simple way on horseback, and certainly its ordinary use was innocent: but when it was dragged into the games, it passed from a gift of God into the service of demons." The presiding deity of the chariot-race was Poseidon (Hom. Il. xxiii, 307; Pind. Ol. i. 63; Pyth. vi. 50; Soph. OEdip. Col. 712), and both this and the other shows of the Circus, and of the theatre, were connected with the worship of the gods of Greece and Rome, and therefore forbidden as idolatrous: "What high religious rites, what sacrifices precede, intervene, and follow, how many guilds, how many priesthoods, how many services are set astir" (Tert. de Spect. � 7). [2374] paneguresi. The Panegyris was strictly a religious festival, but was commonly accompanied by a great fair or market, in which were sold not only such things as the worshippers might need for their offerings, e.g. frankincense, but also the flesh of the animals which had been sacrificed. Cf. Dictionary of Greek and Rom. Antiq. "Panegyris." Tertull. Apolog. � 42: "We do not go to your spectacles: yet the articles that are sold there, if I need them, I shall obtain more readily at their proper places. We certainly buy no frankincense." [2375] Compare St. Paul's argument against meats offered to idols, 1 Cor. x. 14-21: and on Cyril's Eucharistic doctrine, see notes on Cat. xxii. [2376] The form of renunciation before Baptism is given in the Apostolic Constitutions, VII. 41: "I renounce Satan, and his works, and his pomps, and his services, and his angels, and his inventions, and all things that are under him." Cf. Tertull. De Spectaculis, � 4: "When on entering the water, we make profession of the Christian faith in the words of its rule, we bear public testimony that we have renounced the devil, his pomp, and his angels." [2377] Herod. ii. 62: "At Sais, when the assembly takes place for the sacrifices (to Minerva, or Neith), there is one night on which the inhabitants all burn a multitude of lights in the open air round their houses....These burn the whole night, and give to the festival the name of the Feast of Lamps (Luchnokaie)." [2378] Fountains and rivers had each its own deity or nymph, to whom sacrifices were offered, and incense burned. [2379] es touto diebesan. These words are omitted in many mss., and regarded by the Benedictine Editor as a spurious addition made to complete the construction. The words e toiauta at the end of the sentence are better omitted, as in several good mss. [2380] Cat. iv. 37; Apost. Const. vi.: "Be not a diviner, for that leads to idolatry....Thou shalt not use enchantments or purgations for thy child. Thou shalt not be a soothsayer nor a diviner by great or little birds. Nor shalt thou learn wicked arts; for all these things has the Law forbidden." Deut. xviii. 10, 11. [2381] Apost. Const. vii. 41: "And after his renunciation let him in his association (suntassomenos) say, I associate myself with Christ." [2382] peirathese (Cod. Mon. 1) is a better reading than peirasthese. Cf. Plat. Laches, 188 E: ton ergon epeirathen. [2383] Phil. iii. 13. On the pillar of salt, see Wisd. x. 7: "Of whose wickedness even to this day the waste land that smoketh is a testimony,...and a standing pillar of salt is a monument of an unbelieving soul." Joseph. Ant. I. xi. 4: "Moreover I have seen it, for it remains even unto this day." Bp. Lightfoot, Clem. Rom. Ep. ad Cor. xi. remarks that the region abounds in pillars of salt, and "Mediæval and even modern travellers have delighted to identify one or other of these with Lot's wife." [2384] Dan. ii. 35, 45. [2385] Is. xxviii. 15. [2386] Cf. S. Ambros. De Mysteriis, c. ii. 7: "Ad orientem converteris; qui enim renunciat diabolo ad Christum convertitur:" "Where he plainly intimates....that turning to the East was a symbol of their aversion from Satan and conversion unto Christ, that is, from darkness to light, from serving idols, to serve Him, who is the Sun of Righteousness and Fountain of Light" (Bingh. Ant. xi. vii. 7). [2387] Cf. Didach�, vii. 1; Justin M. Apolog. I. c. 61 A; Swainson, Creeds, c. iii. on the short Baptismal Professions. "The writings of S. Cyprian distinctly tell us, that in his day the form of interrogation at Baptism was fixed and definite. He speaks of the "usitata et legitima verba interrogationis,"--and we know as distinctly that the interrogation included the words, "Dost thou believe in God the Father, in His Son Christ, in the Holy Spirit? Dost thou believe in remission of sins and eternal life through the Church?" [2388] 1 Pet. v. 9. [2389] Is. xxv. 8; Rev. vii. 17. [2390] paneguriseis [2391] Is. lxi. 10. [2392] These words seem to imply that the Lectures on the Eucharist were to be delivered in the Holy Sepulchre, though the Mysteries themselves may be called metaphorically "the Holy of Holies."

Lecture XX.

(On the Mysteries. II.)

Of Baptism.

Romans vi. 3-14

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death? &c.....for ye are not under the Law, but under grace.

1. These daily introductions into the Mysteries [2393] , and new instructions, which are the announcements of new truths, are profitable to us; and most of all to you, who have been renewed from an old state to a new. Therefore, I shall necessarily lay before you the sequel of yesterday's Lecture, that ye may learn of what those things, which were done by you in the inner chamber [2394] , were symbolical.

2. As soon, then, as ye entered, ye put off your tunic; and this was an image of putting off the old man with his deeds [2395] . Having stripped yourselves, ye were naked; in this also imitating Christ, who was stripped naked on the Cross, and by His nakedness put off from Himself the principalities and powers, and openly triumphed over them on the tree [2396] . For since the adverse powers made their lair in your members, ye may no longer wear that old garment; I do not at all mean this visible one, but the old man, which waxeth corrupt in the lusts of deceit [2397] . May the soul which has once put him off, never again put him on, but say with the Spouse of Christ in the Song of Songs, I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on [2398] ? O wondrous thing! ye were naked in the sight of all, and were not ashamed [2399] ; for truly ye bore the likeness of the first-formed Adam, who was naked in the garden, and was not ashamed.

3. Then, when ye were stripped, ye were anointed with exorcised oil [2400] , from the very hairs of your head to your feet, and were made partakers of the good olive-tree, Jesus Christ. For ye were cut off from the wild olive-tree [2401] , and grafted into the good one, and were made to share the fatness of the true olive-tree. The exorcised oil therefore was a symbol of the participation of the fatness of Christ, being a charm to drive away every trace of hostile influence. For as the breathing of the saints, and the invocation of the Name of God, like fiercest flame, scorch and drive out evil spirits [2402] , so also this exorcised oil receives such virtue by the invocation of God and by prayer, as not only to burn and cleanse away the traces of sins, but also to chase away all the invisible powers of the evil one.

4. After these things, ye were led to the holy pool [2403] of Divine Baptism, as Christ was carried from the Cross to the Sepulchre which is before our eyes. And each of you was asked, whether he believed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and ye made that saving confession, and descended three times into the water, and ascended again; here also hinting by a symbol at the three days burial of Christ [2404] . For as our Saviour passed three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, so you also in your first ascent out of the water, represented the first day of Christ in the earth, and by your descent, the night; for as he who is in the night, no longer sees, but he who is in the day, remains in the light, so in the descent, as in the night, ye saw nothing, but in ascending again ye were as in the day. And at the self-same moment ye were both dying and being born; and that Water of salvation was at once your grave and your mother. And what Solomon spoke of others will suit you also; for he said, in that case, There is a time to bear and a time to die [2405] ; but to you, in the reverse order, there was a time to die and a time to be born; and one and the same time effected both of these, and your birth went hand in hand with your death.

5. O strange and inconceivable thing! we did not really die, we were not really buried, we were not really crucified and raised again; but our imitation was in a figure, and our salvation in reality. Christ was actually crucified, and actually buried, and truly rose again; and all these things He has freely bestowed upon us, that we, sharing His sufferings by imitation, might gain salvation in reality. O surpassing loving-kindness! Christ received nails in His undefiled hands and feet, and suffered anguish; while on me without pain or toil by the fellowship of His suffering He freely bestows salvation. 6. Let no one then suppose that Baptism is merely the grace of remission of sins, or further, that of adoption; as John's was a baptism [2406] conferring only remission of sins: whereas we know full well, that as it purges our sins, and ministers [2407] to us the gift of the Holy Ghost, so also it is the counterpart [2408] of the sufferings of Christ. For this cause Paul just now cried aloud and said, Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into His death [2409] . These words he spoke to some who were disposed to think that Baptism ministers to us the remission of sins, and adoption, but has not further the fellowship also, by representation, of Christ's true sufferings.

7. In order therefore that we might learn, that whatsoever things Christ endured, for us and for our salvation [2410] He suffered them in reality and not in appearance, and that we also are made partakers of His sufferings, Paul cried with all exactness of truth, For if we have been planted together with the likeness of His death, we shall be also with the likeness of His resurrection. Well has he said, planted together [2411] . For since the true Vine was planted in this place, we also by partaking in the Baptism of death have been planted together with Him. And fix thy mind with much attention on the words of the Apostle. He said not, "For if we have been planted together with His death," but, with the likeness of His death. For in Christ's case there was death in reality, for His soul was really separated from His body, and real burial, for His holy body was wrapt in pure linen; and everything happened really to Him; but in your case there was only a likeness of death and sufferings, whereas of salvation there was not a likeness but a reality.

8. Having been sufficiently instructed in these things, keep them, I beseech you, in your remembrance; that I also, unworthy though I be, may say of you, Now I love you [2412] , because ye always remember me, and hold fast the traditions, which I delivered unto you. And God, who has presented you as it were alive from the dead [2413] , is able to grant unto you to walk in newness of life [2414] : because His is the glory and the power, now and for ever. Amen.

Footnotes

[2393] mustagogiai. [2394] The renunciation and the profession of faith were made in the outer chamber or vestibule of the Baptistery. [2395] Col. iii. 9. [2396] Ib. ii. 15. Cyril's use of this passage agrees best with the interpretation that Christ, having been clothed with the likeness of sinful flesh during His life on earth, submitted therein to the assaults of the powers of evil, but on the Cross threw off from Himself both it and them. [2397] Eph. iv. 22. [2398] Cant. v. 3. [2399] See Dict. Christ. Antiq. "Baptism," � 48: The Unclothing of the Catechumens: Bingh. Ant. XI. xi. 1: All "persons were baptized naked, either in imitation of Adam in Paradise, or our Saviour upon the Cross, or to signify their putting off the body of sin, and the old man with his deeds." [2400] Apost. Const. vii. 22: "But thou shalt beforehand anoint the person with holy oil (elaio), and afterward baptize him with water, and in the conclusion shalt seal him with the ointment (muro), that the anointing (chrisma) may be a participation of the Holy Spirit, and the water a symbol of the death, and the ointment the seal of the Covenants. But if there be neither oil nor ointment, water suffices both for anointing, and for a seal, and for a confession of Him who died, or indeed is dying with us." The previous anointing "with oil sanctified by prayer" is mentioned in the Clementine Recognitions, III. c. 67, and in the Pseudo-Justin, Quæstiones ad Orthodoxos, Qu. 137. It was not however universal, and seems to have been unknown in Africa, not being mentioned by Clement of Alexandria (Pæd. II. c. viii. On the use of ointments), nor Tertullian, nor Augustine. [2401] On the significance of the wild olive-tree, see Irenæus, V. 10. [2402] See Index, "Exorcism." [2403] kolumbethran. The pool or piscina was deep enough for total immersion, and large enough for many to be baptized at once. Cf. Bingh. Ant. VIII. vii. 2; XI. xi. 2, 3. For engravings of the very ancient Baptisteries at Aquileia and Ravenna, shewing the form of the font or piscina, see Dict. Christian Ant. "Baptistery." [2404] The same significance is attributed to the trine immersion by many Fathers, but a different explanation is given by Tertullian (Adv. Praxean, c. xxvi.): "Not once only, but three times, we are immersed into the several Persons at the mention of their several names." Gregory of Nyssa (On the Baptism of Christ, p. 520 in this Series) joins both reasons together: "By doing this thrice we represent for ourselves that grace of the Resurrection which was wrought in three days: and this we do, not receiving the Sacrament in silence, but while there are spoken over us the Names of the Three Sacred Persons on whom we believed, &c." Compare p. 529. Cf. Apost. Const VIII. � 47, Can. 50: "If any Bishop or Presbyter does not perform the three immersions of one initiation, but one immersion made into the death of Christ, let him be deprived." Milles in his note on this passage mentions that "this form of Baptism is still used in the Greek Church. See Eucholog. p. 355. Ed. Jac. Goar. and his notes p. 365." [2405] Eccles. iii. 2. [2406] Tertullian (De Baptismo, c. 10) denies that John's Baptism availed for the remission of sins: "If repentance is a thing human, its baptism must necessarily be of the same nature: else if it had been celestial, it would have given both the Holy Spirit and the remission of sins." Cyril's doctrine is more in accordance with the language of the Fathers generally, and of St. Mark i. 4; Luke iii. 3. [2407] proxenon. [2408] antitupon. The "Antitype" is here the sign or memorial of that which is past, and no longer actually present: See note 6 on xxi. 1. Cf. Heb. ix. 24. [2409] Rom. vi. 3. In the following sentence several mss. have a different reading: "These things perhaps he said to some who were disposed to think that Baptism ministers remission of sins only, and not adoption, and that further it has not the fellowship, &c." Against this reading, approve by Milles, the Benedictine Editor argues that in Rom. vi. 3, 4, there is no reference to adoption, but only to the fellowship of Christ's Passion, and that Cyril quotes the passage only to prove the latter, the gift of adoption being generally admitted, and therefore not in question. [2410] This clause is contained in the Nicene Creed, and in that which was offered to the Council by Eusebius as the ancient Creed of Cæsarea. It probably formed part of the Creed of Jerusalem, though it is not found in the titles of the Lectures, nor specially explained. [2411] Ib. vi. 5. Cyril gives the phrase "planted together" a special application to those who had been baptized in the same place where Christ had been buried. [2412] 1 Cor. xi. 2: Now I praise you, &c. [2413] Rom. vi. 13. [2414] Ib. v. 4.

Lecture XXI.

(On the Mysteries. III.)

On Chrism.

1 John ii. 20-28

But ye have an unction from the Holy One, &c.....that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

1. Having been baptized into Christ, and put on Christ [2415] , ye have been made conformable to the Son of God; for God having foreordained us unto adoption as sons [2416] , made us to be conformed to the body of Christ's glory [2417] . Having therefore become partakers of Christ [2418] , ye are properly called Christs, and of you God said, Touch not My Christs [2419] , or anointed. Now ye have been made Christs, by receiving the antitype [2420] of the Holy Ghost; and all things have been wrought in you by imitation [2421] , because ye are images of Christ. He washed in the river Jordan, and having imparted of the fragrance [2422] of His Godhead to the waters, He came up from them; and the Holy Ghost in the fulness of His being [2423] lighted on Him, like resting upon like [2424] . And to you in like manner, after you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams, there was given an Unction [2425] , the anti-type of that wherewith Christ was anointed; and this is the Holy Ghost; of whom also the blessed Esaias, in his prophecy respecting Him, said in the person of the Lord, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me: He hath sent Me to preach glad tidings to the poor [2426] .

2. For Christ was not anointed by men with oil or material ointment, but the Father having before appointed Him to be the Saviour of the whole world, anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, as Peter says, Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Ghost [2427] . David also the Prophet cried, saying, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom; Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God even Thy God hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows [2428] . And as Christ was in reality crucified, and buried, and raised, and you are in Baptism accounted worthy of being crucified, buried, and raised together with Him in a likeness, so is it with the unction also. As He was anointed with an ideal [2429] oil of gladness, that is, with the Holy Ghost, called oil of gladness, because He is the author of spiritual gladness, so ye were anointed with ointment, having been made partakers and fellows of Christ.

3. But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is mere bread no longer [2430] , but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so to say) common, after invocation, but it is Christ's gift of grace, and, by the advent of the Holy Ghost, is made fit to impart His Divine Nature [2431] . Which ointment is symbolically applied to thy forehead and thy other senses [2432] ; and while thy body is anointed with the visible ointment, thy soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit.

4. And ye were first anointed on the forehead, that ye might be delivered from the shame, which the first man who transgressed bore about with him everywhere; and that with unveiled face ye might reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord [2433] . Then on your ears; that ye might receive the ears which are quick to hear the Divine Mysteries, of which Esaias said, The Lord gave me also an ear to hear [2434] ; and the Lord Jesus in the Gospel, He that hath ears to hear let him hear [2435] . Then on the nostrils; that receiving the sacred ointment ye may say, We are to God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved [2436] . Afterwards on your breast; that having put on the breast-plate of righteousness, ye may stand against the wiles of the devil [2437] . For as Christ after His Baptism, and the visitation of the Holy Ghost, went forth and vanquished the adversary, so likewise ye, after Holy Baptism and the Mystical Chrism, having put on the whole armour of the Holy Ghost, are to stand against the power of the adversary, and vanquish it, saying, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me [2438] .

5. Having been counted worthy of this Holy Chrism, ye are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, ye had properly no right to this title, but were advancing on your way towards being Christians.

6. Moreover, you should know that in the old Scripture there lies the symbol of this Chrism. For what time Moses imparted to his brother the command of God, and made him High-priest, after bathing in water, he anointed him; and Aaron was called Christ or Anointed, evidently from the typical Chrism. So also the High-priest, in advancing Solomon to the kingdom, anointed him after he had bathed in Gihon [2439] . To them however these things happened in a figure, but to you not in a figure, but in truth; because ye were truly anointed by the Holy Ghost. Christ is the beginning of your salvation; for He is truly the First-fruit, and ye the mass [2440] ; but if the First-fruit be holy, it is manifest that Its holiness will pass to the mass also.

7. Keep This unspotted: for it shall teach you all things, if it abide in you, as you have just heard declared by the blessed John, discoursing much concerning this Unction [2441] . For this holy thing is a spiritual safeguard of the body, and salvation of the soul. Of this the blessed Esaias prophesying of old time said, And on this mountain,--(now he calls the Church a mountain elsewhere also, as when he says, In the last days the mountain of the Lord's house shall be manifest [2442] ;)--on this mountain shall the Lord make unto all nations a feast; they shall drink wine, they shall drink gladness, they shall anoint themselves with ointment [2443] . And that he may make thee sure, hear what he says of this ointment as being mystical; Deliver all these things to the nations, for the counsel of the Lord is unto all nations [2444] . Having been anointed, therefore, with this holy ointment, keep it unspotted and unblemished in you, pressing forward by good works, and being made well-pleasing to the Captain of your salvation, Christ Jesus, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Footnotes

[2415] Gal. iii. 27. [2416] Eph. i. 5. [2417] Phil. iii. 21. [2418] Heb. iii. 14. [2419] Ps. cv. 15. [2420] antitupon. Cat. xx. 6; xxiii. 20. Twice in this section as in Heb. ix. 24 (antitupa ton alethinon), antitupon is the copy or figure representing the original pattern (tupos, cf. Acts vii. 44). Otherwise (as in Cat. x. 11; xiii. 19; xxii. 3) tupos is the figure to be subsequently realised in the antitype. [2421] eikonikos ....eikones tou Christou. [2422] chroton, literally "tinctures." The Ben. Ed. writes: "For photon we have written chroton with Codd. Coisl. Ottob. Roe, Casaub., &c...But we must write chroton from chrota, not chroton from chrotes. Authors use the word chrota to signify the effluence of an odour. So Gregory of Nyssa takes it in his 3rd Homily on the Song of Songs, p. 512; and S. Maximus in Question 37 on Scripture: `chrota we say is the godliness (eusebeian) whereby S. Paul was to the one a savour of life unto life.'...In the Procatechesis, � 15, Cyril calls the waters of Baptism hudaton christophoron echonton euodian. If however any one prefers the reading photon, he may defend himself by the authority of Epiphanius, who in the Exposition of the Faith, c. 15, says that Christ descending into the water gave rather than received,....illuminating them, and empowering them for a type of what was to be accomplished in Him." According to the Ebionite Gospel of St. Matthew in Epiphanius (Hær. xxx. Ebionitæ. c. 13), when Jesus came up out of the water a great light shone around the place: a tradition to which the Benedictine Editor thinks the reading photon may refer. Justin M. (Dialog. c. lxxxviii.): "When Jesus had stepped into the water, a fire was kindled in the Jordan." Otto quotes the legend, as found in Orac. Sibyll. vii. 81-83:-- ;'Os se Logon gennese Pater Pneum' ornin apheken, 'Oxun apangeltera logon, Logon hudasin hagnois ;;Rainon, son Baptisma di' hou puros exephaanthes . [2423] ousiodes epiphoiesis egeneto. The Benedictine Editor understands this phrase as an allusion to the descent of the Holy Ghost on Jesus in a substantial bodily form. So Gregory Nazianzen (Orat xliv. 17), says that the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles ousiodos kai somatikos. But Anastasius Sinaita interprets ousiodos in this latter passage as meaning "in the essence and reality of His (Divine ) Person:" and this latter sense agreeing with the frequent use of ousiodes by Athanasius is well rendered by Canon Mason (The Relation of Confirmation to Baptism, p. 343, "in the fulness of His being." [2424] Cf. Greg. Naz. Orat. xxxix: "The Sprit also bears witness to His Godhead, for he comes to that which is like Himself." [2425] Cf. Tertullian, De Baptismo, c. 7: "Exinde egressi de lavacro perungimur benedictâ unctione." It is clear that the Unction mentioned in these passages was conferred at the same time and place as Baptism. Whether it formed part of that Sacrament, or was regarded by Cyril as a separate and independent rite, has been made a matter of controversy. See Index, "Chrism." [2426] Is. lxi. 1. [2427] Acts x. 38. [2428] Ps. xlv. 6, 7. [2429] noeto cannot here be translated "spiritual" because of pneumatikes immediately following. Cf. i. 4, note. [2430] Compare xix. 7; xxiii. 7, 19; and the section on "Eucharist" in the Introduction. [2431] Christou charisma kai Pneumatos hagiou parousia tes autou Theotetos energetikon ginomenon. The meaning of this passage seems to have been obscured by divergent views of the order and construction of the words. In the Oxford translation, followed by Dr. Pusey (Real Presence, p. 357), the Chrism is "the gift of Christ, and by the presence of His godhead it causes in us the Holy Ghost." The order of the operations proper to the two Divine Persons seems thus to be inverted. According to the Benedictine Editor, and Canon Mason (Relation of Confirmation to Baptism, p. 344), it is "Christ's gracious gift, and is made effectual to convey the Holy Ghost by the presence of His own Godhead,"--i.e. apparently, the Godhead of the Holy Ghost conveys the Holy Ghost. But according to the context "the presence" must be that of the Divine Person who has been invoked, namely the Holy Ghost: and this is clearly expressed in the order of the words Pneumatos hagiou parousia tes autou theotetos energetikon. The connexion of the words Pn. hag. parousia is put beyond doubt by the Invocation in the Liturgy of S. James quoted in Myst. V. 7, note 8. The true meaning thus seems to be that the Chrism is Christ's gift of grace, and imparts His Divine nature by the presence of the Holy Ghost after the Invocation. This meaning is confirmed by the formula given in Apost. Const. vii. 44, for the consecration of the Chrism: "Grant also now that this ointment may be made effectual in the baptized, that the sweet savour of Thy Christ may remain firm and stable in him, and that, having died with Him, he may rise again and live with Him." The Chrism is thus regarded as "the Seal" which confirms the proper benefits of Baptism. [2432] epi metopou kai ton allon sou aistheterion. The forehead may be regarded as representing the sense of touch; or we may translate, according to the idiomatic use of allos, "thy forehead and thine organs of sense besides." See Winer, Grammar of N.T. Greek, P. III. Sect. lix. 7: Riddell, Digest of Platonic Idioms, � 46. [2433] 2 Cor. iii. 18. [2434] Is. l. 4. [2435] Matt. xi. 15. [2436] 2 Cor. ii. 15. [2437] Eph. vi. 14, and 11. [2438] Phil. iv. 13. [2439] 1 Kings i. 39. [2440] Rom. xi. 16. [2441] 1 John ii. 20: But ye have an unction (chrisma) from the Holy One. [2442] Is. ii. 2. [2443] Ib. xxv. 6. The Septuagint differs much from the Hebrew, both here and in the following verse. R.V. "And in this mountain shall the Lord of host make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." [2444] Ib. v. 7. R.V. "And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that is cast over all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations."

Lecture XXII.

(On the Mysteries. IV.)

On the Body and Blood of Christ.

1 Cor. xi. 23

I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, how that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread, &c.

1. Even of itself [2445] the teaching of the Blessed Paul is sufficient to give you a full assurance concerning those Divine Mysteries, of which having been deemed worthy, ye are become of the same body [2446] and blood with Christ. For you have just heard him say distinctly, That our Lord Jesus Christ in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks He brake it, and gave to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is My Body: and having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, Take, drink, this is My Blood [2447] . Since then He Himself declared and said of the Bread, This is My Body, who shall dare to doubt any longer? And since He has Himself affirmed and said, This is My Blood, who shall ever hesitate, saying, that it is not His blood?

2. He once in Cana of Galilee, turned the water into wine, akin to blood [2448] , and is it incredible that He should have turned wine into blood? When called to a bodily marriage, He miraculously wrought [2449] that wonderful work; and on the children of the bride-chamber [2450] , shall He not much rather be acknowledged to have bestowed the fruition of His Body and Blood [2451] ?

3. Wherefore with full assurance let us partake as of the Body and Blood of Christ: for in the figure [2452] of Bread is given to thee His Body, and in the figure of Wine His Blood; that thou by partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, mayest be made of the same body and the same blood with Him. For thus we come to bear Christ [2453] in us, because His Body and Blood are distributed [2454] through our members; thus it is that, according to the blessed Peter, we become partakers of the divine nature [2455] .

4. Christ on a certain occasion discoursing with the Jews said, Except ye eat My flesh and drink My blood, ye have no life in you [2456] . They not having heard His saying in a spiritual sense were offended, and went back, supposing that He was inviting them to eat flesh.

5. In the Old Testament also there was shew-bread; but this, as it belonged to the Old Testament, has come to an end; but in the New Testament there is Bread of heaven, and a Cup of salvation, sanctifying soul and body; for as the Bread corresponds to our body, so is the Word [2457] appropriate to our soul.

6. Consider therefore the Bread and the Wine not as bare elements, for they are, according to the Lord's declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ; for even though sense suggests this to thee, yet let faith establish thee. Judge not the matter from the taste, but from faith be fully assured without misgiving, that the Body and Blood of Christ have been vouchsafed to thee.

7. Also the blessed David shall advise thee the meaning of this, saying, Thou hast prepared a table before me in the presence of them that afflict me [2458] . What he says, is to this effect: Before Thy coming, the evil spirits prepared a table for men [2459] , polluted and defiled and full of devilish influence [2460] ; but since Thy coming. O Lord, Thou hast prepared a table before me. When the man says to God, Thou hast prepared before me a table, what other does he indicate but that mystical and spiritual Table, which God hath prepared for us over against, that is, contrary and in opposition to the evil spirits? And very truly; for that had communion with devils, but this, with God. Thou hast anointed my head with oil [2461] . With oil He anointed thine head upon thy forehead, for the seal which thou hast of God; that thou mayest be made the engraving of the signet, Holiness unto God [2462] . And thy cup intoxicateth me, as very strong [2463] . Thou seest that cup here spoken of, which Jesus took in His hands, and gave thanks, and said, This is My blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins [2464] .

8. Therefore Solomon also, hinting at this grace, says in Ecclesiastes, Come hither, eat thy bread with joy (that is, the spiritual bread; Come hither, he calls with the call to salvation and blessing), and drink thy wine with a merry heart (that is, the spiritual wine); and let oil be poured out upon thy head (thou seest he alludes even to the mystic Chrism); and let thy garments be always white, for the Lord is well pleased with thy works [2465] ; for before thou camest to Baptism, thy works were vanity of vanities [2466] . But now, having put off thy old garments, and put on those which are spiritually white, thou must be continually robed in white: of course we mean not this, that thou art always to wear white raiment; but thou must be clad in the garments that are truly white and shining and spiritual, that thou mayest say with the blessed Esaias, My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with a garment of salvation, and put a robe of gladness around me [2467] .

9. Having learnt these things, and been fully assured that the seeming bread is not bread, though sensible to taste, but the Body of Christ; and that the seeming wine is not wine, though the taste will have it so, but the Blood of Christ [2468] ; and that of this David sung of old, saying, And bread strengtheneth man's heart, to make his face to shine with oil [2469] , "strengthen thou thine heart," by partaking thereof as spiritual, and "make the face of thy soul to shine." And so having it unveiled with a pure conscience, mayest thou reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord [2470] , and proceed from glory to glory, in Christ Jesus our Lord:--To whom be honour, and might, and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Footnotes

[2445] aute found in all mss. is changed for the worse into haute by the Benedictine Editor. [2446] Introduction, "Eucharist." The word sussomoi has a different sense in Eph. iii. 6, where it is applied to the Gentiles as having been made members of Christ's body the Church. [2447] 1 Cor. xi. 23. The clause "and gave to His disciples" is an addition taken from Matt. xxvi. 26. The part relating to the cup does not correspond exactly either with St. Paul's language or with the Evangelists'. [2448] oikeion haimati. Cod. Scirlet. (Grodecq), Mesm. (Morel), Vindob.; Ben. Ed. oikeio neumati, Codd. Monac. 1, 2, Genovef. Vatt. (Prevot.). Rupp. The whole passage is omitted in Codd. Coisl. R. Casaub. owing to the repetition of haima The reading oikeio neumati, "by His own will," introduces a superfluous thought, and destroys the very point of Cyril's argument, in which the previous change of water into an element so different as wine is regarded as giving an a fortiori probability to the change of that which is already "akin to blood" into blood itself. If Cyril thus seems to teach a physical change of the wine, it must be remembered that we are not bound to accept his view, but only to state it accurately. See however the section of the Introduction on his Eucharistic doctrine. [2449] ethaumatourgese ten paradoxopoiian. Cf. Chrysost. Epist. I. ad Olympiad. de Deo, � 1, c.: tote thaumatourgei kai paradoxopoiei. [2450] Matt. ix. 15. [2451] Ben. Ed.: "That the force of Cyril's argument may be the better understood, we must observe that in Baptism is celebrated the marriage of Christ with the Christian soul; and that the consummation of this marriage is perfected through the union of bodies in the mystery of the Eucharist. Read Chrysostom's Hom. xx. in Ephes." Chrysostom's words are: "In like manner therefore we become one flesh with Christ by participation (metousias)." But the participation expressed by metousia does not necessarily refer to the Eucharist. From the use of the word in Cat. xxiii. 11, and in Athanasius (Contra Arianos, Or. i.; de Synodis. 19, 22, 25) the meaning rather seems to be that we are one flesh with Christ not by nature but by His gift. [2452] See Index, Tupos, and the references there, and Waterland, On the Eucharist, c. vii. [2453] Christophoroi ginometha. Procat. 15. [2454] Ben. Ed.: "'Anadidomenou. The Codices Coisl. Roe, Casaub. Scirlet. Ottob. 2. Genovef. have anadedegmenoi, which does not agree well with the Genitives tou somatos and tou haimatos. It is evident that it was an ill-contrived emendation of anadidomenou, the transcribers being offended at the distribution of Christ's Body among our members. But Cyril uses even the same word in Cat. xxiii. 9: Houtos ho artos....eis pasan sou ten sustasin anadidotai, eis opheleian somatos kai psuches, `This Bread is distributed into thy whole system, to the benefit of body and soul.'" 'Anadidomenou is the reading of Milles and Rupp. For similar language see Justin M. Apol. i. 66; Iren. V. ii. 2. [2455] 2 Pet. i. 4. [2456] John vi. 53. [2457] Ben. Ed.: "Here we are to understand (by ho Logos) the Divine Word, not the bare discourse of God, but the second Person of the Holy Trinity, Christ Himself, the Bread of Heaven, as He testifies of Himself, John vi. 51: Him Cyril contrasts with the earthly shew-bread in the O.T.; otherwise he could not rightly from this sentence infer, by the particle oun, "therefore," that the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. And since he says, in Cat. xxiii. 15, that the Eucharistic food is "appointed for the substance of the soul," for its benefit, that cannot be said of Christ's body or of His soul, but only of the Word which is conjoined with both. Moreover that the Divine Word is the food of Angels and of the soul, is a common mode of speaking with all the Fathers. They often play on the ambiguity of this word (logos), saying sometimes that the Divine Word, sometimes the word and oracles of God, are the food of our souls: both statements are true. For the whole life-giving power of the Eucharist is derived from the Word of God united to the flesh which He assumed: and the whole benefit of Eucharistic eating consists in the union of our soul with the Word, in meditation on His mysteries and sayings, and conformity thereto." [2458] Ps. xxiii. 5. [2459] elisgemenen, a good restoration by Milles, with Codd. Roe, Casaub. Coislin. The earlier printed texts had elugismenen, "overshadowed." Cf. Mal. i. 7: artous elisgemenous ,....Trapeza Kuriou elisgemene estin [2460] Cyril refers to the idolatrous feasts, which St. Paul calls "the table of devils," 1 Cor. x. 21. [2461] Ps. xxiii. 5. [2462] Ex. xxviii. 36; Ecclus. xlv. 12. The plate of pure gold on the forefront of Aaron's mitre was engraved with the motto, Holy unto the Lord. This symbolism Cyril transfers to the sacramental Chrism, in which the forehead is signed with ointment, and the soul with the seal of God. [2463] Ps. xxiii. 5: My cup runneth over. Eusebius (Dem. Evang. I. c. 10, � 28) applies the Psalm, as Cyril does, to the Eucharist. [2464] Matt. xxvi. 28. [2465] Eccles. ix. 7, 8. [2466] For proselthes (Bened.) we must read proselthes, or, with Monac. 1, proselthein. [2467] Is. lxi. 10. [2468] On this passage see the section of the Introduction referred to in the Index, "Eucharist." [2469] Ps. civ. 15. [2470] 2 Cor. iii. 18.

Lecture XXIII.

(On the Mysteries. V.)

On the Sacred Liturgy and Communion [2471] .

1 Pet. ii. 1

Wherefore putting away all filthiness, and all guile, and evil speaking [2472] , &c.

1. By the loving-kindness of God ye have heard sufficiently at our former meetings concerning Baptism, and Chrism, and partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ; and now it is necessary to pass on to what is next in order, meaning to-day to set the crown on the spiritual building of your edification.

2. Ye have seen then the Deacon who gives to the Priest water to wash [2473] , and to the Presbyters who stand round God's altar. He gave it not at all because of bodily defilement; it is not that; for we did not enter the Church at first [2474] with defiled bodies. But the washing of hands is a symbol that ye ought to be pure from all sinful and unlawful deeds; for since the hands are a symbol of action, by washing [2475] them, it is evident, we represent the purity and blamelessness of our conduct. Didst thou not hear the blessed David opening this very mystery, and saying, I will wash my hands in innocency, and so will compass Thine Altar, O Lord [2476] ? The washing therefore of hands is a symbol of immunity [2477] from sin.

3. Then the Deacon cries aloud, "Receive ye one another; and let us kiss one another [2478] ." Think not that this kiss is of the same character with those given in public by common friends. It is not such: but this kiss blends souls one with another, and courts entire forgiveness for them. The kiss therefore is the sign that our souls are mingled together, and banish all remembrance of wrongs. For this cause Christ said, If thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against time, leave there thy gift upon the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift [2479] . The kiss therefore is reconciliation, and for this reason holy: as the blessed Paul somewhere cried, saying, Greet ye one another with a holy kiss [2480] ; and Peter, with a kiss of charity [2481] .

4. After this the Priest cries aloud, "Lift up your hearts [2482] ." For truly ought we in that most awful hour to have our heart on high with God, and not below, thinking of earth and earthly things. In effect therefore the Priest bids all in that hour to dismiss all cares of this life, or household anxieties, and to have their heart in heaven with the merciful God. Then ye answer, "We lift them up unto the Lord:" assenting to it, by your avowal. But let no one come here, who could say with his mouth, "We lift up our hearts unto the Lord," but in his thoughts have his mind concerned with the cares of this life. At all times, rather, God should be in our memory but if this is impossible by reason of human infirmity, in that hour above all this should be our earnest endeavour.

5. Then the Priest says, "Let us give thanks unto the Lord." For verily we are bound to give thanks, that He called us, unworthy as we were, to so great grace; that He reconciled us when we were His foes; that He vouchsafed to us the Spirit of adoption. Then ye say, "It is meet and right:" for in giving thanks we do a meet thing and a right; but He did not right, but more than right, in doing us good, and counting us meet for such great benefits.

6. After this, we make mention of heaven, and earth, and sea [2483] ; of sun and moon; of stars and all the creation, rational and irrational, visible and invisible; of Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Thrones; of the Cherubim with many faces: in effect repeating that call of David's Magnify the Lord with me [2484] . We make mention also of the Seraphim, whom Esaias in the Holy Spirit saw standing around the throne of God, and with two of their wings veiling their face, and with twain their feet, while with twain they did fly, crying Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Sabaoth [2485] . For the reason of our reciting this confession of God [2486] , delivered down to us from the Seraphim, is this, that so we may be partakers with the hosts of the world above in their Hymn of praise.

7. Then having sanctified ourselves by these spiritual Hymns, we beseech the merciful God to send forth His Holy Spirit upon the gifts lying before Him; that He may make the Bread the Body of Christ, and the Wine the Blood of Christ [2487] ; for whatsoever the Holy Ghost has touched, is surely sanctified and changed.

8. Then, after the spiritual sacrifice, the bloodless service, is completed, over that sacrifice of propitiation [2488] we entreat God for the common peace of the Churches, for the welfare of the world [2489] ; for kings; for soldiers and allies; for the sick; for the afflicted; and, in a word, for all who stand in need of succour we all pray and offer this sacrifice.

9. Then we commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, that at their prayers and intercessions God would receive our petition [2490] . Then on behalf also of the Holy Fathers and Bishops who have fallen asleep before us, and in a word of all who in past years have fallen asleep among us, believing that it will be a very great benefit to the souls [2491] , for whom the supplication is put up, while that holy and most awful sacrifice is set forth.

10. And I wish to persuade you by an illustration. For I know that many say, what is a soul profited, which departs from this world either with sins, or without sins, if it be commemorated in the prayer? For if a king were to banish certain who had given him offence, and then those who belong to them [2492] should weave a crown and offer it to him on behalf of those under punishment, would he not grant a remission of their penalties? In the same way we, when we offer to Him our supplications for those who have fallen asleep, though they be sinners, weave no crown, but offer up Christ sacrificed for our sins [2493] , propitiating our merciful God for them as well as for ourselves.

11. Then, after these things, we say that Prayer which the Saviour delivered to His own disciples, with a pure conscience entitling God our Father, and saying, Our Father, which art in heaven. O most surpassing loving-kindness of God! On them who revolted from Him and were in the very extreme of misery has He bestowed such a complete forgiveness of evil deeds, and so great participation of grace, as that they should even call Him Father. Our Father, which art in heaven; and they also are a heaven who bear the image of the heavenly [2494] , in whom is God, dwelling and walking in them [2495] .

12. Hallowed be Thy Name. The Name of God is in its nature holy, whether we say so or not; but since it is sometimes profaned among sinners, according to the words, Through you My Name is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles [2496] , we pray that in us God's Name may be hallowed; not that it comes to be holy from not being holy, but because it becomes holy in us, when we are made holy, and do things worthy of holiness.

13. Thy kingdom come. A pure soul can say with boldness, Thy kingdom come; for he who has heard Paul saying, Let not therefore sin reign in your mortal body [2497] , and has cleansed himself in deed, and thought, and word, will say to God, Thy kingdom come.

14. Thy will be done as in heaven so on earth. God's divine and blessed Angels do the will of God, as David said in the Psalm, Bless the Lord, all ye Angels of His, mighty in strength, that do His pleasure [2498] . So then in effect thou meanest this by thy prayer, "as in the Angels Thy will is done, so likewise be it done on earth in me, O Lord."

15. Give us this day our substantial bread. This common bread is not substantial bread, but this Holy Bread is substantial, that is, appointed for the substance of the soul [2499] . For this Bread goeth not into the belly and is cast out into the draught [2500] , but is distributed into thy whole system for the benefit of body and soul [2501] . But by this day, he means, "each day," as also Paul said, While it is called to-day [2502] .

16. And forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. For we have many sins. For we offend both in word and in thought, and very many things we do worthy of condemnation; and if we say that we have no sin, we lie, as John says [2503] . And we make a covenant with God, entreating Him to forgive us our sins, as we also forgive our neighbours their debts. Considering then what we receive and in return for what, let us not put off nor delay to forgive one another. The offences committed against us are slight and trivial, and easily settled; but those which we have committed against God are great, and need such mercy as His only is. Take heed therefore, lest for the slight and trivial sins against thee thou shut out for thyself forgiveness from God for thy very grievous sins.

17. And lead us not into temptation, O Lord. Is this then what the Lord teaches us to pray, that we may not be tempted at all? How then is it said elsewhere, "a man untempted, is a man unproved [2504] ;" and again, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations [2505] ? But does perchance the entering into temptation mean the being overwhelmed by the temptation? For temptation is, as it were, like a winter torrent difficult to cross. Those therefore who are not overwhelmed in temptations, pass through, shewing themselves excellent swimmers, and not being swept away by them at all; while those who are not such, enter into them and are overwhelmed. As for example, Judas having entered into the temptation of the love of money, swam not through it, but was overwhelmed and was strangled [2506] both in body and spirit. Peter entered into the temptation of the denial; but having entered, he was not overwhelmed by it, but manfully swam through it, and was delivered from the temptation [2507] . Listen again, in another place, to a company of unscathed saints, giving thanks for deliverance from temptation, Thou, O God hast proved us; Thou hast tried us by fire like as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; Thou layedst afflictions upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and water; and thou broughtest us out into a place of rest [2508] . Thou seest them speaking boldly in regard to their having passed through and not been pierced [2509] . But Thou broughtest us out into a place of rest; now their coming into a place of rest is their being delivered from temptation.

18. But deliver us from the evil. If Lead us not into temptation implied the not being tempted at all, He would not have said, But deliver us from the evil. Now evil is our adversary the devil, from whom we pray to be delivered [2510] . Then after completing the prayer thou sayest, Amen [2511] ; by this Amen, which means "So be it," setting thy seal to the petitions of the divinely-taught prayer.

19. After this the Priest says, "Holy things to holy men." Holy are the gifts presented, having received the visitation of the Holy Ghost; holy are ye also, having been deemed worthy of the Holy Ghost; the holy things therefore correspond to the holy persons [2512] . Then ye say, "One is Holy, One is the Lord, Jesus Christ [2513] ." For One is truly holy, by nature holy; we too are holy, but not by nature, only by participation, and discipline, and prayer.

20. After this ye hear the chanter inviting you with a sacred melody to the communion of the Holy Mysteries, and saying, O taste and see that the Lord is good [2514] . Trust not the judgment to thy bodily palate [2515] no, but to faith unfaltering; for they who taste are bidden to taste, not bread and wine, but the anti-typical [2516] Body and Blood of Christ.

21. In approaching [2517] therefore, come not with thy wrists extended, or thy fingers spread; but make thy left hand a throne for the right, as for that which is to receive a King [2518] . And having hollowed thy palm, receive the Body of Christ, saying over it, Amen. So then after having carefully hallowed thine eyes by the touch of the Holy Body, partake of it; giving heed lest thou lose any portion thereof [2519] ; for whatever thou losest, is evidently a loss to thee as it were from one of thine own members. For tell me, if any one gave thee grains of gold, wouldest thou not hold them with all carefulness, being on thy guard against losing any of them, and suffering loss? Wilt thou not then much more carefully keep watch, that not a crumb fall from thee of what is more precious than gold and precious stones?

22. Then after thou hast partaken of the Body of Christ, draw near also to the Cup of His Blood; not stretching forth thine hands, but bending [2520] , and saying with an air of worship and reverence, Amen [2521] , hallow thyself by partaking also of the Blood of Christ. And while the moisture is still upon thy lips, touch it with thine hands, and hallow thine eyes and brow and the other organs of sense [2522] . Then wait for the prayer, and give thanks unto God, who hath accounted thee worthy of so great mysteries [2523] .

23. Hold fast these traditions undefiled and, keep yourselves free from offence. Sever not yourselves from the Communion; deprive not yourselves, through the pollution of sins, of these Holy and Spiritual Mysteries. And the God of peace sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit, and soul, and body be preserved entire without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [2524] :--To whom be glory and honour and might, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and world without end. Amen.

Footnotes

[2471] This title is added by the Benedictine Editor. There is nothing corresponding to it in the Greek. [2472] The text is made up from memory of James i. 21: dio apothemenoi pasan rhuparian, and 1 Pet. ii. 1: apothemenoi oun pasan kakian kai panta dolon kai hupokriseis kai pasas katalalias. [2473] In the Apostolic Constitutions, VIII. xi, this duty is assigned to a sub-deacon: "Let one of the sub-deacons bring water to wash the hands of the priests, which is a symbol of the purity of those souls that are devoted to God." See Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, "Lavabo." The Priest who celebrates the Eucharist is here distinguished by the title hiereus from the other Presbyters who stood round the altar. [2474] Cyril evidently refers to the custom of placing vessels of water outside the entrance of the Church. Bingham, Antiquities, VIII. iii. 6. Chrysost. In Johannem Hom. lxxiii. 3: "Do we then wash our hands when going into Church, and shall we not wash our hearts also?" That the same custom was observed in heathen Temples appears from Herod. I. 51: perirrhanteria duo anetheke (See Bähr's note). Compare also Joseph. Ant. Jud. III. vi. 2. [2475] [to] nipsasthai. Rupp: "To ex conjectura addidi." Possibly the original reading was nipsamenoi, which would easily become altered through the presence of nipsasthai in the preceding line. This washing is not mentioned in the Liturgy of St. James. [2476] Ps. xxvi. 6. In the Liturgy of Constantinople this Psalm was chanted by the Priest and Deacon while washing their hands at the Prothesis or Credence. [2477] anupeuthunos. [2478] These two directions by the Deacon are separated in the Liturgy of St. James: after the dismissal of the Catechumens, the Deacon says, "Take note one of another;" and after the Incense, Cherubic hymn, Oblation, Creed, and a short prayer "that we may be united one to another in the bond of peace and charity," the Deacon says, "Let us salute (agapomen) one another with a holy kiss." In the Apostolic Constitutions, VIII. 11, there is but one such direction, and this comes before the washing of hands and the dismissal of the Catechumens, "Salute (aspasasthe) ye one another with a holy kiss." [2479] Matt. v. 23. From Cyril's reference to this passage "it may be inferred that the kiss of peace had been given before the gifts were brought to the altar, according to ancient custom attested by Justin M. Apolog. i. c. 65: `Having ended the prayers' (for the newly baptized) `we salute one another with a kiss. Then there is brought to the President of the brethren bread, and a cup of wine mixed with water'" (Ben. Ed.). There is the same order in the Apost. Const. VIII. 12, and in the 19th Canon of the Synod of Laodicea; but in the Liturgy of S. James the gifts are offered before the kiss of peace. [2480] 1 Cor. xvi. 20. [2481] 1 Pet. iii. 15. [2482] The words are slightly varied in the Liturgies: thus in the Liturgy of St. James, "Let us lift up our mind and hearts;" in the Apost. Const. viii. 12, "Lift up your mind." [2483] Compare the noble Eucharistic Preface in the Liturgy of St. James: "It is verily meet, right, becoming, and our bounden duty to praise Thee, to sing of Thee, to bless Thee, to worship Thee, to glorify Thee, to give thanks to Thee the Maker of every creature, visible and invisible, the Treasure of eternal blessings; the Fount of life and immortality, the God and Lord of all, whom the heavens of heavens do praise, and all the powers thereof, sun and moon and all the choir of the stars, earth, sea, and all that in them is, Jerusalem the heavenly assembly, Church of the firstborn that are written in the heavens, spirits of righteous men and prophets, souls of martyrs and Apostles. Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Authorities, and Powers dread, also the many-eyed Cherubim, and the six-winged Seraphim, which with twain of their wings cover their faces, and with twain their feet, and with twain do fly, crying one to another with unresting lips, in unceasing praises, singing with loud voice the triumphant hymn of Thy majestic glory, shouting, and glorifying, and crying aloud, and saying,--Holy, Holy, Holy, O Lord of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." [2484] Ps. xxxiv. 3. [2485] Is. vi. 2, 3. [2486] theologian, "the doctrine of the Godhead," either of the Son in particular, or, as here, of the whole Trinity: cf. Athanas. Contra Arianos, Or. i. � 18: nun en triadi he theologia teleia estin. [2487] In the Liturgy of St. James the Triumphal Hymn is followed by the `Recital of the work of Redemption,' and of `the Institution,' by the `Great Olbation,' and then by the `Invocation,' as follows: "Have mercy upon us, O God, after Thy great mercy, and send forth on us, and on these gifts here set before Thee, Thine all-holy Spirit,....that He may come, and by His holy, good, and glorious advent (parousia) may sanctify this Bread and make it the holy Body of Thy Christ (Amen), and this Cup the precious Blood of Thy Christ" (Amen). In Cat. xix. 7, Cyril calls this prayer "the holy Invocation of the Adorable Trinity," and in xxi. 3, "the Invocation of the Holy Ghost." [2488] See Index, "Sacrifice," and the reference there to the Introduction. Compare Athenagoras (Apol. c. xiii.): "What have I to do with burnt-offerings, of which God has no need? Though indeed it behoves us to bring a bloodless sacrifice, and the reasonable service." [2489] Cyril here gives a brief summary of the "Great Intercession," in which, according to the common text of the Liturgy of St. James, there is a suffrage "for the peace and welfare (eustatheia) of the whole world, and of the holy Churches of God." Mr. Hammond thinks that it has been taken from the Deacon's Litany, and repeated by mistake in the Great Intercession. But from Chrysostom's language (In Ep. ad Phil. Hom. iii. p. 218; Guame, T. xi. p. 251), we must infer that the prayer huper eirenes kai eustatheias tou kosmou formed part of the `Great Intercession' in his Liturgy, as it does in the Clementine (Apost. Constit. VIII. � 10). [2490] In the Liturgies of St. James and St. Mark, and in the Clementine, there are similar commemorations of departed saints, especially "patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs," but nothing corresponding to the words, "that at their prayers and intercessions God would receive our petition." See Index, Prayer and Intercession. [2491] So Chrysostom (In 1 Cor. Hom. 41, p. 457 A): "Not in vain was this rule ordained by the Apostles, that in the dread Mysteries remembrance should be made of the departed: for they knew that it is a great gain to them, and a great benefit." [2492] hoi toutois diapherontes. "Hesychius, Diapherei, anekei. Ubi Kusterus ait, anekei, id est. "pertinet," vel "attinet" Routh, Scriptor. Eccles. Opuscula, p. 441). Dr. Routh's note refers to Nicæni Conc. Can. xvi.: hupharpasai ton to hetero diapheronta. Cf. Synodi Nic. ad Alexandrinos Epist.: diapheronta te Aigupto kai te hagiotate 'Alexandreon ekklesia. [2493] According to the Ben. Ed. the meaning is not "We offer Christ, who was sacrificed for our sins," but "We offer for our sins Christ sacrificed," i.e. "Christ lying on the altar as a victim sacrificed," in allusion to Apoc. V. 6, 12. See Index, "Sacrifice." [2494] 1 Cor. xv. 49. [2495] 2 Cor. vi. 16. [2496] Is. lii. 5; Rom. ii. 24. [2497] Rom. vi. 12. [2498] Ps. ciii. 20. [2499] "It is manifest that the author derives the word epiousios from the two words epi and ousia, as do many others: although the explanation which derives it from epiouse hemera is more probable. We render it "substantial" in accordance with Cyril's meaning, with which the word "super-substantial does not agree" (Ben. Ed.). [2500] Matt. xv. 17. [2501] Cat. xxii. � 3, note 1. Ben. Ed. "We are not to think that Cyril supposed the Body of Christ to be distributed and digested into our body; but in the usual way of speaking he attributes to the Holy Body that which belongs only to the species under which It is hidden. Nor does he deny that those species pass into the draught, but only the Body of Christ." Cf. Iren. V. ii. 2, 3, and "Eucharistic Doctrine" in the Introduction. [2502] Heb. iii. 15. [2503] 1 John i. 8. We deceive ourselves. [2504] Tertull. De Bapt. c. 20: "For the word had gone before `that no one untempted should attain to the celestial kingdoms.'" Apost. Const. II. viii.: "The Scripture says, `A man that is a reprobate (adokimos) is not tried (apeirastos) by God.'" Resch, Agrapha, Logion 26, p. 188, quotes allusions to the saying in Jas. i. 12, 13; 2 Cor. xiii. 5, 6, 7, and concludes that it was recorded as a saying of our Lord in one of the un-canonical gospels (Luke i. 1), where it occurred in the context of the incident narrated in Matt. xxvi. 41, Mark xiv. 38. [2505] Jas. i. 2. [2506] apepnige. Matt. xxvii. 5: apenxato. [2507] Compare the description of Peter's repentance in Cat. ii. 19. [2508] Ps. lxvi. 10-12. [2509] For emparenai the Ben. Ed. conjectures empagenai "to have been stuck fast." [2510] Cyril is here a clear witness for the reference of tou ponerou to "the wicked one." [2511] From � 14, euchomenos touto legeis, it seems probable that the whole Prayer was said by the people as well as by the Priest. See Introduction, "Eucharistic Rites." [2512] Compare Waterland on this passage, c. X. p 688. [2513] Apost. Const. VIII. c. xiii: "Let the Bishop speak thus to the people: Holy things for holy persons. And let the people answer: There is One that is holy; there is one Lord, one Jesus Christ, blessed for ever, to the glory of God the Father." The Liturgies of St. James and of Constantinople have nearly the same words: in the Liturgy of St. Mark the answer of the people is: One Father holy, one Son holy, one Spirit holy, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. [2514] Ps. xxxiv. 9. In the Apostolic Constitutions the "Sancta Sanctis" and its response are immediately followed by the "Gloria in excelsis," and the "Hosanna." Then the Clergy partake, and there follows a direction that this Psalm xxxiv. is to be said while all the rest are partaking. In the Liturgy of Constantinople there is the direction: "The Choir sings the communion antiphon (to koinonikon) of the day or the saint." [2515] For me epitrepete, probably an itacism, we should read me epitrepetai, as a question, the propriety of the change being indicated by the answer ouchi. "Is the judgment of this entrusted to the bodily palate? No, but, &c." [2516] antitupou somatos, "the antitypical Body," not "the antitype of the Body," which would require tou somatos. Cf. Cat. xxi. � 1, note 6. [2517] Cat. xviii. 32: "with what reverence and order you must go from Baptism to the Holy Altar of God." [2518] Cyril appears to be the earliest authority for thus placing the hands in the form of a Cross. A similar direction is given in the 101st Canon of the Trullan Council (692), and by Joh. Damasc. (De Fid. Orthod. iv. 14). Dict. Chr. Ant. "Communion." That the communicant was to receive the Bread in his own hands is clear from the language of Cyril and other Fathers. Cf. Clem. Alex. Strom. I. c. i. � 5: "Some after dividing the Eucharist according to custom allow each of the laity himself to take his part." See the passage of Origen quoted in the next note, and Tertull. Cor. Mil. c. iii. "The Sacrament of the Eucharist, which the Lord commanded both (to be taken) at meal-times and by all, we take even in assemblies before dawn, and from the hand of none but the presidents." [2519] Origen. Hom. xiii. in Exod. � 3: "I wish to admonish you by examples from your own religion: ye, who have been accustomed to attend the Sacred Mysteries, know how, when you receive the Body of the Lord, you guard it with all care and reverence, that no little part of it fall down, no portion of the consecrated gift slip away. For you believe yourselves guilty, and rightly so believe, if any part thereof fall through carelessness." [2520] kupton, not kneeling, but standing in a bowing posture. Cf. Bingham, XV. c. 5, � 3. [2521] Apost. Const. VIII. c. 13: "Let the Bishop give the Oblation (prosphoran) saying, The Body of Christ. And let him that receiveth say, Amen. And let the Deacon hold the Cup, and when he delivers it say, The Blood of Christ, the Cup of Life. And let him that drinketh say, Amen." [2522] Cat. xxi. 3, note 8. [2523] In the Liturgy of St. James, after all have communicated, "The Deacons and the People say: Fill our mouths with Thy praise, O Lord, and fill our lips with joy, that we may sing of Thy glory, of Thy greatness, all the day. And again: We render thanks to Thee, Christ our God, that Thou hast accounted us worthy to partake of Thy Body and Blood, &c." [2524] 1 Thess. v. 23.

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