Nothing kept till morning; the anointing and the seven days
Cyril: …since the law does not allow it to be eaten on into the next day (Exodus 29:34). For there will be for us, I think, another way of sanctification in the age to come, worked spiritually and no longer bodily, in a manner known to God, who reshapes all things and changes them into whatever he wills. A mind not without understanding will follow the argument: once the corruption in us has been undone, after we have come back to life from the dead, the things through which one could escape it are perhaps in some way no longer needed. Another way of sanctification, fitting the condition of that time, will then be devised, when Christ is with us. Having said what came to mind, we will yield to those who understand better. And perhaps the divine Paul hints at something of this kind when he says, ‘But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away’ (1 Corinthians 13:10), meaning that it will have an end and cease.
Palladius: So it seems.
Cyril: These, then, are the things he said must be carried out for the consecration of the priests. With the priests of Israel gathered together and assembled into a congregation, he laid down how they were to be publicly installed, saying, ‘Take Aaron and his sons, and the oil of anointing, and the calf for sin, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread, and assemble the whole congregation at the door of the tent of witness. [And Moses did as the Lord had commanded him, and assembled the congregation at the door of the tent of witness.] And Moses said to the congregation, “This is the word which the Lord commanded to be done”’ (Leviticus 8:2–5). Then he clothes Aaron in his adornment, and the priests as well (Leviticus 8:7–9, 13), and with the oil of anointing he sprinkles the altar seven times, and all its vessels, and the laver, it says, and the tent and all that is in it, ‘and he sanctified them’ (Leviticus 8:10–11). For the tent is holy, and the altar is fully enriched with the sanctification that comes through the Spirit, though it does not share in it as one ranked among rational beings does; for it is not holy in the way that, say, the nature of an angel or a human soul is holy, but as it were through contact with the sacrifice laid upon it. For holy too is any place where Christ may be. Having anointed the altar seven times, that is, abundantly, he sanctifies Aaron; for he poured the oil of anointing over him (Leviticus 8:12). Besides this, he brought the sacrifices for Aaron and for his sons in the ways we have just set out (Leviticus 8:14–29). When these things had been completed, he gave a further command, saying, ‘And you shall not go out from the door of the tent of witness for seven days, until the day is fulfilled, the day of your consecration. For seven days he will consecrate your hands, as he did on this day, as the Lord commanded to be done, so as to make atonement for you; and at the door of the tent of witness you shall sit seven days. Day and night keep the charges of the Lord, so that you do not die; for so the Lord God commanded me’ (Leviticus 8:33–35).
Greek
ψανον, οὐκ ἐφιέντος ἐσθίειν τοῦ νόμου καὶ εἰς τὴν αὔριον· ἁγιασμοῦ γὰρ, οἶμαι, τὶς ἕτερος ἡμῖν ἔσται τρόπος κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν μέλλοντα πνευματικῶς ἐνεργούμενος, οὐκέτι σωματικῶς, καὶ καθ' ὃν οἶδε λόγον ὁ πάντα μετασκευάζων Θεὸς, καὶ οἷπερ ἂν βούλοιτο μετατιθείς. Ἕψεται δέ τις τοῖς λόγοις οὐκ ἀσύνετος νοῦς· λελυμένης γὰρ ἐν ἡμῖν τῆς φθορᾶς μετά γε τὸ ἀναβιῶναι τυχὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν, οὐκ ἀναγκαῖά πως ἐστὶ τὰ δι' ὧν ἂν ἦν δύνασθαι διαδράσκειν αὐτήν. Ἕτερος δὴ οὖν ἁγιασμοῦ τρόπος τῇ τοῦ καιροῦ καταστάσει πρέπων ἐπινοηθήσεται, συνόντος ἡμῖν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τὸ δὲ εἰς νοῦν ἧκον εἰπόντες, τοῖς τὰ ἀμείνω νοοῦσι παραχωρήσομεν. Καὶ τάχα τι τοιοῦτον ὑποσημαίνει λέγων ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος· «Ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται,» ἀντὶ τοῦ, πέρας ἕξει καὶ στήσεται.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἔοικεν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ταυτὶ μὲν οὖν ἔφη διαπεραίνεσθαι δεῖν εἰς τὴν τῶν ἱερῶν τελείωσιν. Συνεγηγερμένων δὲ τῶν ἱερέων Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ συνειλεγμένων εἰς Ἐκκλησίαν, τὴν εἰς ἐμφανὲς ἀνάδειξιν διετύπου λέγων· «Λάβε Ἀαρὼν καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ ἔλαιον τῆς χρίσεως, καὶ τὸν μόσχον τὸν περὶ ἁμαρτίας, καὶ τοὺς δύο κριοὺς, καὶ τὸ κανοῦν τῶν ἀζύμων, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν συναγωγὴν ἐκκλησίασον ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου. Καὶ εἶπε Μωσῆς τῇ συναγωγῇ· [καὶ ἐποίησε ὃν τρόπον συνέταξεν αὐτῷ Κύριος καὶ ἐξεκκλησίασε τὴν συναγωγὴν ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου. Καὶ εἶπε Μωσῆς·] Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἐνετείλατο Κύριος ποιῆσαι. Καὶ ἀμφιέννυσι μὲν ἐν κόσμῳ τὸν Ἀαρὼν, καὶ μέντοι τοὺς ἱερέας. Προσρανεῖ δὲ τῷ ἐλαίῳ τῆς χρίσεως τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἑπτάκις, καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα αὐτοῦ τὰ σκεύη, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν λουτῆρα, φησὶ, καὶ τὴν σκηνὴν, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτά.» Ἁγία γὰρ ἡ σκηνὴ, καταπλουτεῖ δὲ τελείως τὸ θυσιαστήριον τὸν διὰ Πνεύματος ἁγιασμὸν, οὐχ ὡς ἐν τάξει μετίσχον τῶν λογικῶν· οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἅγιον, ὡς, οἷον εἰπεῖν, ἀγγέλου φύσις, ἤγουν ἀνθρώπου ψυχή· ἀλλ' οἱονεί πως ἐξ ἐπαφῆς τῆς ἐπιτιθεμένης θυσίας αὐτῷ. Ἅγιος γὰρ καὶ τόπος ἐν ᾧπερ ἂν γένοιτο Χριστός. Καταχρίσας δὴ οὖν τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἑπτάκις, ὅ ἐστι πλουσίως, ἁγιάζει τὸν Ἀαρών· προσεπήντλησε γὰρ αὐτῷ τὸ τῆς χρίσεως ἔλαιον, καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτῳ προσκεκόμικε τὰς θυσίας τὰς ὑπέρ τε αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατά γε τοὺς ἀρτίως ἡμῖν προαποδοθέντας τρόπους. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἰς πέρας ἦκτο ταυτὶ, προσεπιτάττει λέγων, «Καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς καὶ μαρτυρίου οὐκ ἐξελεύσεσθε ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας, ἕως ἡμέρα πληρωθῇ, ἡμέρα τελειώσεως ὑμῶν. Ἑπτὰ γὰρ ἡμέρας τελειώσει τὰς χεῖρας ὑμῶν, καθάπερ ἐποίησεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ, ᾗ ἐνετείλατο Κύριος τοῦ ποιῆσαι, ὥστε ἐξιλάσασθαι περὶ ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου καθίσεσθε ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας. Ἡμέραν δὲ καὶ νύκτα φυλάξασθε τὰ φυλάγματα Κυρίου, ἵνα μὴ ἀποθάνητε· οὕτως γὰρ ἐνετείλατό μοι Κύριος ὁ Θεός.»