Spring, the second year, and the Church of the Gentiles; the tent that will not be shaken
Cyril: …in truth, when Christ shines on us again with the holy angels in the glory of the Father (Mark 8:38). Then he will take with him those who have chosen to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4) and who have grown rich, through patience, in the surpassing beauty of the Gospel way of life, and he will bring them into the glory and the kingdom long awaited. That those who are in Christ are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and, as it were, a new budding of times and of things, the figure of the first month (Exodus 40:2) would show this very well. In that month tender grass, freshly sprung, appears on the earth, plants flower again, and the varied beauty of the meadow flowers comes into view, while the fragrance of spring smiles. For it was in such a season, as it were, that Christ called the Church from the Gentiles, saying: ‘Arise, come, my companion, my fair one, my dove; for behold, the winter is past, the rain is gone, it has gone its way; the flowers have appeared in the land; the time of pruning has come’ (Song of Songs 2:10–12). For human nature flourished once more, like a plant, after it had withered away in death because of the transgression in Adam and the sin that tyrannized over us all. And I hear Christ saying through one of the holy prophets as well: ‘I who speak am here, like springtime upon the mountains’ (Isaiah 52:6–7). For what spring does on the mountains and in the woods, crowning the plants with new growth, the coming of our Savior has also brought to completion in us. It came at its appointed time, as in the second year (Exodus 40:17), and not in the first period, when the law was in force together with the choir of the prophets, and when death held sway. For death reigned from Adam until Moses (Romans 5:14). So it was as in the second year, that is, in the time that followed the first, the time of the law, that the Church from the Gentiles shone out, with Christ, the end of the prophets and of the law (Romans 10:4), vividly present to her. Does it seem to you that our argument is speeding toward what is right and true?
Palladius: Entirely so.
Cyril: For my part, I think that the truer tent was announced to us beforehand through the voice of Isaiah, who says, as if to each of those called through faith to righteousness: ‘Your eyes will see Jerusalem, rich cities, tents that will not be shaken; the pegs of its tent will not be moved, and its cords will never be broken, for all time’ (Isaiah 33:20). For the Church is the city of God, which the inspired David also spoke of when he said: ‘Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God’ (Psalm 87:3). For she is rich, made splendid with gifts from above and from heaven, and her foundation and her permanence stand firm and cannot be broken. For ‘the gates of Hades will not prevail against her,’ as the Savior said (Matthew 16:18).
Palladius: Your thinking is entirely right and reasonable.
Cyril: Once the tent had been set up, God, the Master of all, teaches that the things in it had to be placed in order, and not heaped together carelessly, when he says:
Greek
ἀληθῶς, ὅταν ἡμῖν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐπιλάμψῃ πάλιν μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Πατρὸς, τοὺς ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατεῖν ἑλομένους, καὶ τὸ ἐκπρεπέστατον κάλλος τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς πολιτείας ἐν ὑπομονῇ πλουτήσαντας, παραληψόμενος μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ εἰς τὴν πάλαι προσδοκωμένην δόξαν καὶ βασιλείαν εἰσκομιῶν. Ὅτι δὲ καινὴ κτίσις καὶ οἱονεὶ καιρῶν καὶ πραγμάτων βλάστη νέα τῶν ἐν Χριστῷ, καταδείξειεν ἂν εὖ μάλα τὸ αἴνιγμα τοῦ πρώτου μηνὸς, καθ' ὃν πόαι μὲν καὶ ἁπαλαὶ καὶ ἀρτιφανεῖς ἐν γῇ, φυτῶν δὲ ἀναθήλησις, καὶ τῶν ἐν λειμῶσιν ἀνθέων τὸ πολυειδὲς ἐμφαίνεται κάλλος, ἐαρινῆς γελώσης εὐωδίας· οἱονεὶ γάρ πως ἐν τοιῷδε καιρῷ κέκληκεν ὁ Χριστὸς τὴν ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐκκλησίαν, οὕτω λέγων, «Ἀνάστα, ἐλθὲ, ἡ πλησίον μου, καλή μου, περιστερά μου, ὅτι ἰδοὺ ὁ χειμὼν ἀπῆλθεν, ὁ ὑετὸς ἀπῆλθεν, ἐπορεύθη ἐν αὐτῷ· τὰ ἄνθη ὤφθη ἐν τῇ γῇ· καιρὸς τῆς τομῆς ἔφθασεν.» Ἀνεθάλη γὰρ ἡ ἀνθρώπου φύσις αὖ, ὥσπερ τι φυτὸν, καταμαρανθεῖσα θανάτῳ, διά τε τὴν ἐν Ἀδὰμ παράβασιν, καὶ τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἡμῶν τυραννήσασαν ἁμαρτίαν. Ἀκούω δὲ λέγοντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ δι' ἑνὸς τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν, «Αὐτὸς ὁ λαλῶν πάρειμι, ὡς ὥρα ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων.» Ὅπερ γὰρ ἐν ὄρεσι καὶ δρυμοῖς τὸ ἔαρ ἐργάζεται, βλάστῃ νέᾳ στεφανοῦν τὰ φυτὰ, τοῦτο καὶ ἐφ' ἡμῶν ἡ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀποπεπλήρωκε παρουσία, γενομένη κατὰ καιροὺς, ὡς ἐν ἔτει δευτέρῳ, καὶ οὐκ ἔν γε τῷ πρώτῳ καιρῷ, καθ' ὃν ἦν ὁ νόμος, καὶ τῶν προφητῶν ὁ χορὸς, καὶ καθ' ὃν ἐκράτει θάνατος. Βεβασίλευκε γὰρ ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ καὶ μέχρι Μωσέως. Οὐκοῦν ὡς ἐν δευτέρῳ ἔτει, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, ὡς ἐν χρόνῳ τῷ μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον, καθ' ὃν ἦν ὁ νόμος, ἡ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀνέλαμψεν Ἐκκλησία, Χριστὸν ἔναυλον ἔχουσα, τὸ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τοῦ νόμου τέλος. Ἆρά σοι δοκεῖ πρὸς τὸ εὐθύ τε καὶ ἀληθὲς διᾴττειν ἡμῶν ὁ λόγος;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Παντάπασι μὲν οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οἶμαι δὲ ἔγωγε τὴν ἀληθεστέραν ἡμῖν προκατηγγέλθαι σκηνὴν διὰ φωνῆς Ἡσαΐου, λέγοντος ὡς πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν ἐν πίστει κεκλημένων εἰς δικαιοσύνην, «Οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου ὄψονται Ἱερουσαλὴμ, πόλεις πλουσίας, σκηναὶ αἳ οὐ μὴ σεισθῶσιν, οὐδὲ μὴ κινηθῶσιν οἱ πάσσαλοι τῆς σκηνῆς αὐτῆς· οὐδὲ τὰ σχοινία αὐτῆς οὐ μὴ διαῤῥαγῶσιν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον.» Θεοῦ γὰρ πόλις ἡ Ἐκκλησία, ἧς καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Δαβὶδ ἐπεμνήσθη λέγων, «Δεδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ, ἡ πόλις τοῦ Θεοῦ.» Πλουσία γὰρ αὕτη, καὶ τοῖς ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ χαρίσμασι κατηγλαϊσμένη, καὶ ἄῤῥηκτον ἔχουσα τὴν ἐν βεβαίῳ στάσιν, ἵδρυσίν τε καὶ διαμονήν. «Πύλαι γὰρ ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς,» κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος φωνήν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ὀρθότατα καὶ εἰκότα διανοῇ.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἐγηγερμένης δὲ τῆς σκηνῆς, ὅτι προσῆκεν ἐν κόσμῳ κεῖσθαι τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ μὴ χύδην καὶ ἀτημελῶς, διδάσκει λέγων ὁ πάντων δεσπότης Θεός·