Humility at the altar, and the fire that never goes out
Cyril: So the law wisely takes what usually happened among them as a starting point to raise the divine ministers to something better, and leads them, as it were from a bodily type, to spiritual contemplation. For ‘you shall not go up by steps to my altar,’ it says, ‘so that you may not uncover your nakedness on it.’ (Exodus 20:26) That is: Let the divine minister who has been consecrated for my service seek what is lowly and not leap up to the heights. Let him renounce boastfulness, so that he may not be seen as shameful and unlovely. For arrogance is utterly unlovely and shameful, and a most grievous sickness of the mind. ‘The greater you are,’ it says, ‘the more you must humble yourself, and you will find favor before the Lord.’ (Sirach 3:18) And the Savior’s disciple also writes: ‘Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation.’ (James 1:9–10) For the rich man will pass away like the grass and will differ in no way from the flowers of the field (James 1:10–11).
Palladius: I agree.
Cyril: So he said that the minister must be free of pride and disdain. And how he may perform his sacred service in the most lawful and irreproachable way you will learn with full clarity, for it is written in Leviticus: ‘And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Command Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the law of the whole burnt offering. The whole burnt offering shall stay burning on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall burn on it; it shall not be put out. The priest shall put on a linen tunic, and he shall put linen undergarments on his body; and he shall take away from the altar the burnt portion of the whole burnt offering, which the fire has consumed, and set it beside the altar. Then he shall take off his robe and put on another robe, and carry the burnt portion outside the camp to a clean place. And the fire on the altar shall burn on it and shall not be put out; the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, lay the whole burnt offering in order on it, and place on it the fat of the peace offering. And fire shall burn on the altar continually; it shall not be put out.’ (Leviticus 6:8–13) The fire of the altar, then, is continual and wholly unceasing; and it is not foreign or brought from outside, but its own, that is, the fire that is from above and from heaven. And what does this mean? Our holy altar is filled with the glory of God, and the divine and ineffable nature is pictured in the form of fire. But the passage also seems to hint, and very aptly, at something mystical.
Palladius: What do you mean by that?
Cyril: Were we not saying that Emmanuel himself is, as in a type, the divine altar, through whom we draw near to God the Father, offering spiritual worship and all but sacrificing the fragrance of the virtues and the holiness of the gospel way of life? For ‘present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship.’ (Romans 12:1)
Greek
Εὐφυῶς οὖν ὁ νόμος, ἀπὸ τοῦ συμβαίνειν αὐτοῖς εἰωθότος, τοὺς θείους ἱερουργοὺς ἀνορθοῖ πρὸς τὸ ἄμεινον, καὶ ὡς ἐκ τύπου σωματικοῦ, πρὸς θεωρίαν ἄγει πνευματικήν. «Οὐ» γὰρ «ἀναβήσῃ,» φησὶν, «ἐν ἀναβαθμοῖς ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριόν μου, ἵνα μὴ ἀποκαλύψῃς τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην σου ἐπ' αὐτοῦ.» Τοῦτ' ἔστιν, Ὁ θεῖος ἱερουργὸς ὁ πρὸς λειτουργίαν ἡγιασμένος τὴν ἐμὴν, ζητείτω τὰ ταπεινὰ, μὴ ἀναθρωσκέτω πρὸς τὸ ὑψοῦ. Παραιτείσθω τὴν ἀλαζονείαν, ἵνα μὴ ἀσχήμων ὁρῷτο καὶ ἀκαλλής. Ἀκαλλὲς γὰρ καὶ ἄσχημον κομιδῇ καὶ παγχάλεπον ἀῤῥώστημα νοῦ, φρόνημα τὸ ὑπέρογκον. «Ὅσῳ γὰρ μέγας εἶ, φησὶ, τοσούτῳ ταπείνου σεαυτὸν, καὶ ἔναντι Κυρίου εὑρήσεις χάριν.» Γράφει δὲ καὶ ὁ τοῦ Σωτῆρος μαθητής· «Καυχάσθω ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὁ ταπεινὸς ἐν τῷ ὕψει αὐτοῦ· ὁ δὲ πλούσιος, ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει αὐτοῦ.» Παρελεύσεται γὰρ καὶ ἐν ἴσῳ πόαις, καὶ ἀνθέων διοίσει τῶν ἐν ἀγροῖς κατ' οὐδένα τρόπον.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Σύμφημι.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὄγκου δὴ οὖν καὶ ὑπεροψίας ἀπηλλάχθαι δεῖν ἔφη τὸν ἱερουργόν. Τίνα τε οὖν τρόπον ἐννομωτάτην ποιήσαιτο ἂν τὴν ἱερουργίαν καὶ ἀνεπίπληκτον, παντελῶς εἴσῃ τοι σαφῶς· γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν τῷ Λευϊτικῷ· «Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωσῆν, λέγων· Ἔντειλαι Ἀαρὼν καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ, λέγων· Οὗτος ὁ νόμος τῆς ὁλοκαυτώσεως, αὕτη ἡ ὁλοκαύτωσις ἐπὶ τῆς καύσεως αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ὅλην τὴν νύκτα ἕως τοπρωΐ· καὶ τὸ πῦρ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καυθήσεται ἐπ' αὐτοῦ, οὐ σβεσθήσεται· καὶ ἐνδύσεται ὁ ἱερεὺς χιτῶνα λινοῦν, καὶ περισκελὲς λινοῦν ἐνδύσεται περὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀφελεῖ τὴν κατακάρπωσιν, ἣν ἂν καταναλώσῃ τὸ πῦρ, τὴν ὁλοκαύτωσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, καὶ παραθήσει αὐτὸ ἐχόμενον τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, καὶ ἐκδύσεται τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐνδύσεται στολὴν ἄλλην, καὶ ἐξοίσει τὴν κατακάρπωσιν ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς εἰς τόπον καθαρόν· καὶ πῦρ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον καυθήσεται ἐπ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ σβεσθήσεται· καὶ καύσει ἐπ' αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς ξύλα τοπρωῒ πρωῒ, καὶ στοιβάσει ἐπ' αὐτοῦ τὴν ὁλοκαύτωσιν, καὶ ἐπιθήσει ἐπ' αὐτὸ τὸ στέαρ τοῦ σωτηρίου καὶ πῦρ διὰ παντὸς καυθήσεται ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, οὐ σβεσθήσεται.» Ἐνδελεχὲς μὲν οὖν καὶ ἀκατάπαυστον κομιδῇ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τὸ πῦρ, καὶ οὐκ ὀθνεῖον ἢ ἔξωθεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ αὐτοῦ, τοῦτ' ἔστι, τὸ ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, Καὶ τί δὴ τοῦτό ἐστιν; Ἐπίμεστον γὰρ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξης τὸ ἅγιον ἡμῶν θυσιαστήριον. Ἐν εἴδει δὲ τοῦ πυρὸς ἡ θεία τε καὶ ἀπόῤῥητος εἰκάζεται φύσις. Ἔοικε δὲ καὶ μυστικόν τι ὁ λόγος εὖ μάλα παραδηλοῦν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τὸ ποῖόν τι φής;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἦ οὐκ αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ τὸ θεῖον ἐλέγομεν, ὡς ἐν τύπῳ, θυσιαστήριον, δι' οὗ προσίεμεν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, λατρεύοντες λογικῶς, καὶ μονονουχὶ καταθύοντες τὸ εὐῶδες ἐν ἀρεταῖς, καὶ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς πολιτείας τὸν ἁγιασμόν; «Παραστήσατε γὰρ τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν, θυσίαν ζῶσαν, ἁγίαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ, τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν.»