Bells and pomegranates: teachers in every city; the gold plate
Cyril: …proclamation, which rings out, as it were, around every city, when our great high priest (Hebrews 4:14), the spotless victim, has entered for our sake into the Holy of Holies, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). ‘For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified’ (Hebrews 10:14). The riddle is not hard to see through: the bells made of gold stand for the saving proclamation, and the pomegranates for cities.
Palladius: In what way?
Cyril: A city is enclosed on the outside by a single wall, yet holds countless quarters within itself. In the same way, I think, the pomegranate fruit is girded on the outside by a single rind, while inside the seeds are walled off from one another by thin membranes and are all but gathered into quarters. Or is it not so?
Palladius: I agree.
Cyril: So there is a bell beside each pomegranate, for there is a teacher in each city, who by the ringing and clear sound of the divine doctrines makes our Savior’s entry into the Holy of Holies plain to all. And the fear of death hangs over those appointed to serve as priests, that is, over Aaron, as he goes into the holy tabernacle, unless the strokes of the bells ring out loudly all around. For silence is a dangerous thing for teachers. And this is plainly what Paul said: ‘For woe to me if I do not preach the gospel’ (1 Corinthians 9:16).
Palladius: So it seems; for you judge this very rightly.
Cyril: And besides these: ‘And you shall make,’ he says, ‘a plate of pure gold, and you shall engrave on it, as a seal is engraved, “Consecrated to the Lord.” And you shall set it on twisted blue thread, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. And it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the sins of the holy things, whatever the sons of Israel consecrate, of every gift of their holy things. And it shall be on Aaron’s forehead continually, acceptable for them before the Lord’ (Exodus 28:36–38). The turban, then, is of blue, and the plate is of gold. The engraving and the writing on it are the mystery of Christ and a clear proclamation, made beforehand, of his being sent into this world. For it says, ‘Consecrated to the Lord.’ Or did Emmanuel not say plainly that he had been consecrated by God the Father (John 10:36)?
Palladius: Yes; for I remember him saying to the Jews, ‘If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”?’ (John 10:35–36)
Cyril: When the Son says that he has been consecrated by God the Father, he shows that he has been, as it were, appointed and sent. So ‘Consecrated to the Lord,’ he says; that is, a manifestation to this world and…
Greek
κηρύγματος, οἱονεί πως ἅπασαν περιβομβοῦντος πόλιν, ὅτε δι' ἡμᾶς εἰσβέβηκεν εἰς τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, αἰωνίαν λύτρωσιν εὑράμενος, ὁ μέγας ἡμῶν ἀρχιερεὺς, τὸ ἄμωμον θῦμα. «Μιᾷ γὰρ προσφορᾷ τετελείωκεν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς τοὺς ἁγιαζομένους.» Αἴνιγμα δὲ ὥσπερ οὐκ ἀσυμφανὲς, τοῦ μὲν σωτηρίου κηρύγματος οἱ ἐκ χρυσοῦ γεγονότες κώδωνες, πόλεων δὲ οἱ ῥοΐσκοι.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τίνα τρόπον;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὡς γὰρ πόλις ἑνὶ μὲν ἔξωθεν περιδέδεται πύργῳ, μυρίας δὲ ὅσας ἐν ἑαυτῇ συνέχει τὰς συνοικίας· τὸν αὐτὸν, οἶμαι, τρόπον καὶ τὸ χρῆμα τῆς ῥόας ἑνὶ μὲν ἔξωθεν ἐλύτρῳ διέζωσται, ἔσωθεν δὲ οἱ κόκκοι χιτῶσιν ἰσχνοῖς ἀλλήλων ἀποτειχίζονται, μόνον δὲ οὐχὶ συλλέγονται κατὰ συνοικίας. Ἢ οὐχ ὧδε ἔχει;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Σύμφημι.
{ΚΥΡ.} Κώδων δὴ οὖν παρ' ἑκάστῃ ῥόᾳ· διδάσκαλος γὰρ παρ' ἑκάστῃ πόλει, τῇ τῶν θείων δογμάτων ἀποκτυπήσει καὶ εὐηχίᾳ, φανερὰν ἅπασι καθιστὰς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τὴν εἰς τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων εἰσδρομήν. Ἐπήρτηται δὲ καὶ δεῖμα θανάτου τοῖς ἱερουργεῖν ἐπιτεταγμένοις, ἤτοι τῷ Ἀαρὼν, εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν σκηνὴν, εἰ μὴ περιβομβοῖεν εὖ μάλα τῶν κωδώνων οἱ κτύποι. Χρῆμα γὰρ ἐπισφαλὲς διδασκάλοις ἡ σιωπή. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἐναργῶς, ὅπερ ἔφη Παῦλος, «Οὐαὶ γάρ μοί ἐστιν, ἐὰν μὴ εὐαγγελίζωμαι.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἔοικεν· διατεκμαίρῃ γὰρ δὴ καὶ λίαν ὀρθῶς.
{ΚΥΡ.} Καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτοις· «Καὶ ποιήσεις, φησὶ, πέταλον χρυσοῦν, καθαρὸν, καὶ ἐκτυπώσεις ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτύπωμα σφραγίδος, Ἁγίασμα Κυρίῳ, καὶ ἐπιθήσεις αὐτὸ ἐπὶ ὑακίνθου κεκλωσμένης. Καὶ ἔσται ἐπὶ τῆς μίτρας, κατὰ πρόσωπον τῆς μίτρας ἔσται. Καὶ ἔσται ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου Ἀαρών. Καὶ ἐξαρεῖ Ἀαρὼν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τῶν ἁγίων, ὅσα ἂν ἁγιάσωσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ, παντὸς δόματος τῶν ἁγίων αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἔσται ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου Ἀαρὼν διαπαντὸς, δεκτὸν αὐτοῖς ἔναντι Κυρίου.» Ἐξ ὑακίνθου μὲν οὖν ἡ μίτρα, χρυσοῦν δὲ τὸ πέταλον. Ἐκτύπωμα δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ γραφὴ, τὸ Χριστοῦ μυστήριον, καὶ τῆς εἰς τόνδε τὸν κόσμον ἀποστολῆς προαναφώνησις ἐναργής. Ἁγίασμα γὰρ, φησὶ, Κυρίῳ. Ἢ οὐχὶ ἐνηγιᾶσθαι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἔφη σαφῶς ὁ Ἐμμανουήλ;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ναὶ, μεμνήσομαι γὰρ Ἰουδαίοις λέγοντος, «Εἰ ἐκείνους εἶπε θεοὺς, πρὸς οὓς ὁ λόγος Θεοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ οὐ δύναται λυθῆναι ἡ Γραφὴ, ὃν ὁ Πατὴρ ἡγίασε, καὶ ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι Βλασφημεῖς, ὅτι εἶπον, Υἱὸς Θεοῦ εἰμι;»
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἐνηγιᾶσθαι δὲ ὅταν λέγῃ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἑαυτὸν ὁ Υἱὸς, τὸ οἱονεὶ προκεχειρίσθαι τε καὶ ἀπεστάλθαι δηλοῖ. Ἁγίασμα δὴ οὖν Κυρίου, φησὶ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, εἰς τόνδε τὸν κόσμον ἀνάδειξις καὶ