Ear, hand and foot made holy; the holy food kept from outsiders
Cyril: …then, will the ear be for those who care for precision and right doctrine. Yet this is the gift of Christ, a gift of welcome from heaven, and what the holy blood has accomplished; for in him and through him we possess every excellent thing. For this reason the hand also was sanctified, which points to active work, and the foot as well, a clear symbol of walking straight in one’s paths (Exodus 29:20). For we ought to take pride in holy works and walk well along the path that leads to everything pleasing to God, as is sung in the Psalms, ‘And I turned my feet to your testimonies’ (Psalm 119:59), or as the book of Proverbs says, ‘Make straight paths for your feet, and direct your ways’ (Proverbs 4:26). Let the sacred and chosen race, then, possess a holy hearing, and likewise a holy hand and foot, in the ways we have just described. All are anointed on the right side, and as it were at their farthest part, that is, at the tips; for he speaks of the tip of the ear, and of the foot and the hand as well. For every good action, I think, is noble and belongs to the right; it has nothing of the left, as wickedness has, and it reaches to the tips, that is, all the way through, even to the end. For those consecrated to God ought to stand on the right in holiness, persevering to the very end. ‘For he who began a good work in you,’ it says, ‘may he bring it to completion’ (Philippians 1:6). It is quite out of place, too, to fall back in some way, shrinking from carrying the good through to its end. Since Moses stands as a type of God, Aaron and those with him bring the sacrifice, and Moses himself receives it (Exodus 29:24–25). By this too God was, as it were, signifying that he will receive, almost straight from their hands into his own, the sacrifices offered in Christ by those so sanctified, and will not scorn the gift; for it carries the fragrance of Christ. And this, I think, is the meaning of the inward parts offered up and burned as incense to him. The portion set apart for the priest from the ram of consecration is the breast and the arm (Exodus 29:26–28). The arm would be a symbol of strength, and the breast of the heart and the kidneys. And Christ has been given to the holy and priestly race by God the Father as power and wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30). Or are we not wise in him, and very strong?
Palladius: Of course we are. For it is written that Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), has become these things for us from God (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Cyril: The meat is holy food for those chosen for the sacred service. It is given together with the unleavened loaves, and no one of another race shares in it (Exodus 29:32–33); or, if anyone should do so, he would die. For it befits holy souls to share in holy food, that is, in the body of Christ, and the blessing is closed to those of another race. By ‘of another race’ one may understand the race that is still unbelieving and unbaptized, and besides these, whoever has been twisted into heterodox thinking, is at odds with the convictions of the saints, and has been cut off, as it were, by the wickedness of its doctrines. And whatever is left of the sacrifice is consumed by fire…
Greek
δὴ οὖν ἔσται τὸ οὖς τοῖς τῆς ἀκριβείας καὶ δογματικῆς ὀρθότητος ἐπιμεληταῖς. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτό ἐστι Χριστοῦ τὸ δῶρον καὶ ξένιον οὐρανοῦ, καὶ κατόρθωσις αἵματος τοῦ ἁγίου· ἁπάντων γὰρ ἡμῖν τῶν ἐξαιρέτων ἡ κτῆσις ἐν αὐτῷ τε καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ χεὶρ ἡγιάζετο, πρακτικῆς ἐνεργείας παραδεικτικὴ, καὶ μέντοι καὶ ποῦς, τῆς ἐν τροχιαῖς ὀρθότητος σύμβολον ἐναργές. Ἁγίοις γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἔργοις ἐπισεμνύνεσθαι χρὴ, καὶ διαστείχειν εὖ μάλα τὴν εἰς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν ἀρεσκόντων Θεῷ διᾴττουσαν τρίβον, κατὰ τὸ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς ᾀδόμενον, «Καὶ ἐπέστρεψα τοὺς πόδας μου εἰς τὰ μαρτύριά σου,» ἤγουν τὸ ἐν βίβλῳ Παροιμιῶν, «Ὀρθὰς τροχιὰς ποίει σοῖς ποσὶ, καὶ τὰς ὁδούς σου κατεύθυνε.» Κεκτήσθω δὴ οὖν τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ ἀπόλεκτον γένος ἁγίαν μὲν ἀκοὴν, χεῖρά τε ὁμοίως καὶ πόδα κατά γε τοὺς ἀρτίως ἡμῖν εἰρημένους τρόπους· δεξιά τε πάντα χριόμενα καὶ ὡς ἐν μοίρᾳ τῇ λοίσθῳ, τουτέστιν, ἐν ἄκροις. Τὸ γὰρ ἄκρον φησὶ τοῦ ὠτὸς, καὶ μὴν καὶ ποδὸς καὶ χειρός· ἅπασα γὰρ, οἶμαι, πρᾶξις ἀγαθὴ γενναία τέ ἐστι καὶ δεξιὰ, τὸ ὡς ἐν φαυλότητι σκαιὸν οὐκ ἔχουσα, καὶ μέχρι τῶν ἄκρων, ὅ ἐστι μέχρι παντὸς ἤτοι τέλους. Προσήκει γὰρ εἶναι δεξιοὺς ἐν ἁγιασμῷ τοὺς Θεῷ καθιερωμένους μέχρι παντὸς ἐν ὑπομονῇ. «Ὁ γὰρ ἀρξάμενος, φησὶν, ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐν ὑμῖν, ἐπιτελεσάτω.» Ἔκτοπον δὲ λίαν καὶ τὸ ἀνόπιν ἱέσθαι τρόπον τινὰ διαπεραίνειν ὀκνοῦντας τὸ ἀγαθόν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἰς τύπον Θεοῦ Μωσῆς, προσκομίζουσι μὲν τὴν θυσίαν οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἀαρὼν, ὑποδέχεται δὲ αὐτὸς, οἱονεί πως Θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τοῦδε κατασημαίνοντος, ὅτι τῶν οὕτως ἡγιασμένων τὰς ἐπὶ Χριστῷ θυσίας μονονουχὶ καὶ ἀπὸ χειρὸς εἰς χεῖρα δέξεται, καὶ οὐκ ἀπαξιώσει τὸ χρῆμα· Χριστοῦ γὰρ ἔχει τὴν εὐωδίαν, καὶ τοῦτο, οἶμαι, ἔστιν ἡ τῶν ἐντοσθίων ἀναφορὰ θυμιωμένων αὐτῷ. Ἀφαίρεμα δὲ τῷ ἱερεῖ στηθύνιον, καὶ βραχίων ἀπὸ τοῦ κριοῦ τῆς τελειώσεως. Καὶ βραχίων μὲν ἰσχύος ἂν εἴη σύμβολον, στηθύνιον δὲ καρδίας καὶ νεφρῶν. Δέδοται δὲ τῷ ἁγίῳ τε καὶ ἱερῷ γένει Χριστὸς, δύναμις καὶ σοφία παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρός. Ἢ οὐκ ἐν αὐτῷ σοφοί τέ ἐσμεν καὶ ἄγαν εὐσθενεῖς;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πῶς γὰρ οὔ; γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι Χριστὸς, Θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία, γέγονεν ἡμῖν ταῦτα παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἱερὰ δὲ βρῶσις τοῖς εἰς λειτουργίαν ἐξειλεγμένοις τὰ κρέα. Δέδοται δὲ τοῖς ἀζύμοις ἄρτοις ὁμοῦ, συμμετέχοντος οὐδενὸς τῶν ἀλλογενῶν, ἢ, εἰ τοῦτο δρῴη τις, καὶ τεθνηξομένου. Ψυχαῖς γὰρ ἂν πρέποι ταῖς ἱεραῖς τὸ ἐν μεθέξει γίνεσθαι τροφῆς ἁγίας, τουτέστι, τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἀπρόσιτος τοῖς ἀλλογενέσιν ἡ εὐλογία. Νοοῖτο δ' ἂν ἑτερογενὲς καὶ τὸ ἄπιστον ἔτι καὶ ἀβάπτιστον γένος, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἔτι τὸ ἐξεστραμμένον εἰς ἑτερόφρονα νοῦν, καὶ ταῖς τῶν ἁγίων ἀσύμβατον γνώμαις, καὶ ὡς ἐν φαυλότητι δογμάτων διεσχοινισμένον. Δαπανᾶται δὲ καὶ πυρὶ πᾶν ὅσον ἐστὶ τῆς θυσίας λεί