The Synagogue will return to the Father; holy things eaten in ignorance
Cyril: …new charges, those that concern Christ himself. For she utterly refuses the Bridegroom who comes from above, from God the Father, and gives heed to the words of the scribes and Pharisees. So she has become the wife of a man of another race, and for that reason she has remained without a share in the holy things; for she did not eat the bread from heaven, that is, Christ (John 6:32). You see the charges, and the punishment that Christ at once brought on those guilty of such impiety. Now observe also how they have been shown mercy and been brought back to what they were at the beginning. ‘A priest’s daughter,’ he says, ‘if she becomes a widow, cast out, and there is no offspring in her, shall return to her father’s house as in her youth, and shall eat of her father’s bread’ (Leviticus 22:13). For the Synagogue of the Jews was shown to be a widow and cast out because of her impiety toward Christ; she has remained in sins, possessing none of the spiritual goods, and has continued so for a long time. But she will return to her father’s house; for she too will be called to God through faith; with us she will claim as Father the Creator of all things, and so would come to share in the blessing of Christ. The prophet’s words will make this mystery clear to you as well; for he spoke thus: ‘For the sons of Israel will remain many days without king or ruler, without sacrifice or altar, without priesthood or oracles; and afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and their king, and they will be filled with awe at the Lord and at his good things in the last days’ (Hosea 3:4–5).
Palladius: What you say is true.
Cyril: So the sacred things, that is, the holy things, are fit to be eaten and shared by those who, as far as it rests with themselves, are without blemish. But they will no longer be set before those who are not sound, or who have been defiled by their ties with others. For it is written: ‘With the crooked you will deal crookedly’ (Psalm 18:26). He made it plain at once that even for those who are truly consecrated it is not without penalty to treat the holy things as if they were for common use, and to think they differ in no way from other things; for he says: ‘And a man who eats the holy things in ignorance shall add a fifth more to it and give the holy thing to the priest; and he shall not profane the holy things of the sons of Israel which they set apart for the Lord, and they will bring on themselves the iniquity of trespass when they eat their holy things; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them’ (Leviticus 22:14–16).
Palladius: I do not quite understand what you mean.
Cyril: You will learn it very clearly; there is nothing hard about it. The offerings dedicated for a pleasing aroma, a calf, say, or a sheep, were carried up to the altar in part, once the entrails, the feet and head, the fat, and sometimes the kidneys too had been taken out; and with what remained they fed the priests. For ‘those who eat the sacrifices are partners in the altar’ (1 Corinthians 10:18), as the…
Greek
νέα, τὰ ἐπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Προσιεμένη γὰρ οὐδαμῶς τὸν ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς νυμφίον, τοῖς τῶν Γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων προσέχει λόγοις. Γέγονε τοίνυν ἀνθρώπῳ ἀλλογενεῖ, καὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀμέτοχος ταύτῃτοι μεμένηκεν· οὐ γὰρ ἔφαγε τὸν ἄρτον τὸν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, τοῦτ' ἔστι Χριστόν. Ὁρᾷς τὰ ἐγκλήματα, καὶ τὴν τοῖς τὰ τοιάδε δεδυσσεβηκόσιν ἐπενηνεγμένην εὐθὺς παρὰ Χριστοῦ δίκην. Ἄθρει δὴ οὖν καὶ τίνα τρόπον ἠλέηνται, καὶ ἀνεκομίσθησαν εἰς τὸ ἐν ἀρχαῖς· «Θυγάτηρ, φησὶν, ἱερέως, ἐὰν γένηται χήρα ἐκβεβλημένη, σπέρμα δὲ μὴ ᾖ ἐν αὐτῇ, ἐπαναστρέψει ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς, κατὰ τὴν νεότητα αὐτῆς, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄρτων τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς φάγεται.» Χήρα μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἐκβεβλημένη διὰ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν ἀσέβειαν, ἡ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀνεδείχθη Συναγωγὴ, καὶ μεμένηκεν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, καὶ ἐν τῷ κεκτῆσθαι μηδὲν τῶν πνευματικῶν ἀγαθῶν, καὶ μακροὺς ἐν τούτῳ διατετέλεκε χρόνους. Ἀλλ' ἐπαναστρέψει ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τὸν πατρικὸν αὐτῆς· κεκλήσεται γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴ διὰ πίστεως πρὸς Θεόν· ἐπιγράψεται δὲ σὺν ἡμῖν Πατέρα τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸν, καὶ τῆς Χριστοῦ γένοιτ' ἂν εὐλογίας μέτοχος. Τοῦτό σοι σαφὲς τὸ μυστήριον καὶ ὁ τοῦ προφήτου καταστήσει λόγος· ἔφη γὰρ ὧδε· «Διότι ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθίσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ, οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως, οὐδὲ ἄρχοντος· οὐκ οὔσης θυσίας, οὐδὲ ὄντος θυσιαστηρίου, οὐδὲ ἱερατείας, οὐδὲ δήλων· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιστρέψουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐπιζητήσουσι Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν αὐτῶν καὶ βασιλέα αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐκστήσονται ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς αὐτοῦ, ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐκοῦν ἐδώδιμα μὲν καὶ πρὸς μετάληψιν εὐπρεπῆ τοῖς ἀλωβήτως ἔχουσι τό γε ἐπὶ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς, τὰ ἱερὰ, τοῦτ' ἔστι τὰ ἅγια. Προκείσεται δὲ οὐκέτι τοῖς οὐκ ἔχουσιν ὑγιῶς, ἢ σχέσει τῇ πρὸς ἑτέρους ἐκμεμολυσμένοις. Γέγραπται γὰρ, ὅτι «Μετὰ στρεβλοῦ διαστρέψεις.» Ὅτι δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀληθῶς ἱεροῖς οὐκ ἀζήμιον τὸ ὡς ἐν χρήσει κοινῇ ποιεῖσθαι τὰ ἅγια, καὶ μηδὲν οἴεσθαι διενεγκεῖν τῶν ἄλλων αὐτὰ, διετράνου λέγων εὐθύς· «Καὶ ἄνθρωπος ὃς ἐὰν φάγῃ τὰ ἅγια κατ' ἄγνοιαν, καὶ προσθήσει τὸ ἐπίπεμπτον αὐτοῦ ἐπ' αὐτὸ, καὶ δώσει τῷ ἱερεῖ τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσει τὰ ἅγια τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, ἃ αὐτοὶ ἀφαιροῦσι τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ἐπάξουσιν ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς ἀνομίαν πλημμελείας ἐν τῷ ἐσθίειν αὐτοὺς τὰ ἅγια αὐτῶν· ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐτούς.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐ σφόδρα συνίημι ὅ τί ποτ' ἐστὶν ὃ φής.
{ΚΥΡ.} Πεύσῃ τοι καὶ μάλα σαφῶς· ἄναντες γὰρ οὐδέν. Τὰ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ἀνατεθειμένα, μόσχοι τυχὸν, ἢ ὄϊς, ἀνεκομίζοντο μὲν ἐκ μέρους ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ἐξαιρουμένων τῶν ἐντοσθίων, ποδῶν, τε καὶ κεφαλῆς, καὶ πιμελῆς, ἔσθ' ὅτε καὶ νεφρῶν· ἔτρεφον δὲ τοῖς λειψάνοις τοὺς ἱερεῖς. «Οἱ γὰρ ἐσθίοντες τὰς θυσίας, κοινωνοὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου εἰσὶ,» καθὰ καὶ ὁ θε