Bodily defects are not sin but figures of the soul’s faults
Cyril: …a broken hand or a broken foot, or is hunchbacked, or has a white spot on his eye, or has lost his eyelashes, or a man who has a malignant scab, or a scaly rash, or has only one testicle. No one of the seed of Aaron the priest who has a blemish in him shall draw near to offer the sacrifices to the Lord, because there is a blemish in him. He shall not come near to offer the gifts of his God. He shall eat the gifts of his God, the most holy things, and of the holy things; but he shall not come near to the veil, and he shall not draw near to the altar, because he has a blemish; and he shall not profane the sanctuary of his God, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’ (Leviticus 21:19–23)
Palladius: Tell me, then: is bodily infirmity held as a charge against anyone? Does the Creator indict nature even when it has been impaired against its will?
Cyril: Well said, Palladius; you think rightly. Blame and indictment may sometimes fall on those whose minds turn aside to evil of their own free choice, and who have come to prize a leaning toward outrage of any kind. But to censure infirmities of the flesh, which come about by nature and against the will, is, I think, harsh and unfeeling, and not free from the charge of crassness. From this, then, we can understand that the Creator of all would not have indicted human nature for causes beyond the will, nor would he have sent away from the ministry appointed to him, as unholy, a man who is sick in body. Rather, once more, by a type drawn from bodily things he refines our minds toward his subtler purposes: he hints at the many forms of the passions in the soul and gives us to understand that such a thing is hateful to God. Did not the inspired Paul also say that those chosen for the priesthood must be attended by an honorable verdict on every quality that wins admiration? ‘So that the man of God may be complete,’ he says, ‘fully equipped for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:17). He insisted, too, and very clearly, that the bishop must be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2), and he was very exacting in these matters.
Palladius: I agree. Next, believe me, I would very much like to learn the meaning of each of the infirmities we have just listed.
Cyril: Come, then, let us take them one at a time, each in its kind, and say what comes to mind. ‘A man,’ it says, ‘throughout your generations, of your family, who has a blemish in him, shall not come near to offer the gifts of his God’ (Leviticus 21:17). The word is firm, the decree severe. For the law was laid down not only for those born of Aaron at that time; it reaches to the whole family and to every priestly line, and it extends through all time. That, I think, is what ‘of your family throughout your generations’ makes clear. For what is not blameless is always unacceptable to God. And no one could name a time when what has been condemned would become dear to him, above all in the case of spiritual infirmities;
Greek
αὐτῷ σύντριμμα χειρὸς ἢ σύντριμμα ποδὸς, ἢ κυρτὸς, ἢ ἔφηλος, ἢ πτιλὸς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, ἢ ἄνθρωπος ᾧ ἐὰν ᾖ ἐν αὐτῷ ψώρα ἀγρία, ἢ λιχὴν, ἢ μονόρχης· πᾶς ὅστις ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτῷ μῶμος ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος Ἀαρὼν τοῦ ἱερέως, οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ τοῦ προσενεγκεῖν τὰς θυσίας τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι μῶμος ἐν αὐτῷ. Τὰ δῶρα τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ, οὐ προσελεύσεται προσενεγκεῖν· τὰ δῶρα τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ, τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων φάγεται, πλὴν πρὸς τὸ καταπέτασμα οὐ προσελεύσεται, καὶ πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ, ὅτι μῶμον ἔχει· καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσει τὸ ἅγιον τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐτούς.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἆρ' οὖν, εἰπέ μοι, πρὸς ἐγκλήματός ἐστί τισιν ἀῤῥωστία σωματική; Γράφεται δὲ τὴν φύσιν ὁ Δημιουργὸς, καὶ ἀνεθελήτως παρεφθαρμένην;
{ΚΥΡ.} Εὖγε, ὦ Παλλάδιε· φρονεῖς γὰρ ὀρθῶς. Αἰτία μὲν γὰρ καὶ γραφὴ γένοιτ' ἂν ἔσθ' ὅτε τισὶν, ἐθελούσιον ἔχουσι τῆς σφῶν αὐτῶν διανοίας τὴν εἰς τὰ φαῦλα παρατροπὴν, καὶ τὴν εἰς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν ἐκτόπων ἀπόνευσιν ἐκτετιμηκόσιν· ἀῤῥωστήμασι δὲ τοῖς περὶ τὴν σάρκα, φυσικῶς τε καὶ ἀνεθελήτως συμβαίνουσι, τὸ ἐπιτιμᾷν, οἶμαί που σκληρὸν καὶ ἀσυμπαθὲς, καὶ τῶν εἰς σκαιότητα κατηγορημάτων οὐκ ἀμοιροῦν. Πάρεστι δὴ οὖν ἐντεῦθεν ἐκεῖνο περινοεῖν, ὡς οὐκ ἂν ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς ἐπ' ἀνεθελήτοις αἰτίαις τὴν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν ἐγράψατο, οὐδ' ἂν ὡς ἀνίερον τὸν ἠῤῥωστηκότα σωματικῶς τῆς αὐτῷ συντεταγμένης ἐξέπεμψε λειτουργίας· ἀλλ' ὡς ἐκ τύπου πάλιν τῶν σωματικῶν, εἰς ἀστειοτέρας ἡμᾶς καταλεπτύνει βουλὰς, καὶ τῶν ἐν ψυχῇ παθῶν τὸ πολυειδὲς ὑποφαίνει, θεομισὲς δὲ ὅτι τὸ χρῆμα δίδωσι νοεῖν. Ἢ γὰρ οὐχὶ καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος, ἕπεσθαι δεῖν ἔφη τοῖς ἀπολέκτοις εἰς ἱερωσύνην, τὴν ἐφ' ἅπασι τοῖς τεθαυμασμένοις εὐκλεᾶ ψῆφον; «Ἵνα» γὰρ, φησὶν, «ἄρτιος ᾖ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος, εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐξηρτισμένος.» Δεῖν γε μὴν καὶ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνεπίληπτον εἶναι διισχυρίσατο, καὶ μάλα σαφῶς· καὶ πολλὴν ἐν τούτοις ἐποιεῖτο τὴν ἀκρίβειαν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Φημί. Τίς δ' ἂν εἴη λοιπὸν καὶ ὁ ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ λόγος τῶν ἀρτίως ἡμῖν ἀπηριθμημένων ἀῤῥωστημάτων, ἐθέλοιμ' ἂν, ὡς εὖ ἴσθι τοι, μαθεῖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Φέρε δὴ οὖν ἀνὰ μέρος, ὡς ἐν εἴδει ἀναλαμβάνοντες, τὰ εἰς νοῦν ἰόντα λέγωμεν· «Ἄνθρωπος,» φησὶν, «εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν, ἐκ τοῦ γένους σου, ᾧ ἐὰν ᾖ ἐν αὐτῷ μῶμος, οὐ προσελεύσεται προσφέρειν τὰ δῶρα τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ.» Ἀσφαλὴς ὁ λόγος, πικρὸν τὸ χρησμῴδημα. Τέθειται γὰρ ὁ νόμος, οὐχὶ κατὰ μόνων τῶν τηνικάδε γεγονότων ἐξ Ἀαρὼν, ἀλλ' εἰς ἅπαν διήκει τὸ γένος, καὶ κατὰ παντὸς αἵματος ἱερατικοῦ, καὶ εἰς πάντα διέρπει χρόνον. Δηλοῖ γὰρ, οἶμαι, τουτὶ, τὸ, «Ἐκ τοῦ γένους σου εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν.» Ἀπαράδεκτον γὰρ ἀείπως Θεῷ, τὸ μὴ ἀμωμήτως ἔχον. Καιρὸν δὲ εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἂν δύναιτό τις, καθ' ὃν αὐτῷ προσφιλὲς ἂν γένοιτο τὸ κατεγνωσμένον, ὡς ἐπ' ἀῤῥωστίαις δὲ δὴ μᾶλλον ὅτι ταῖς πνευματικαῖς·