The altar fire that never goes out: the Spirit remaining on Christ
Palladius: We did say so; I will keep it in mind.
Cyril: Consider, then, that the law does not allow the fire that came down from heaven upon the altar to die down, or, as it were, to fade and go away, but has it stay on the altar always and make its home there without ceasing (Leviticus 6:12–13). And John the Baptist bore witness about Christ: ‘I have seen the Spirit descending from heaven in the form of a dove, and it remained on him. And I did not know him,’ he says, ‘but he who sent me to baptize said to me: He on whom you see the Spirit descending from heaven and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’ (John 1:32–33). So the Holy Spirit was being prefigured, still as in shadows, coming down upon Christ in the form of fire and always remaining on him. For the fire of the altar never sleeps and never ceases at all. That the Spirit is likened to the nature of fire, the blessed Baptist also assures you when he says to the crowds of the Jews: ‘I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you do not know, who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie’ (John 1:26–27). And he said: ‘He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’ (Matthew 3:11). For we have been baptized not into fire that the senses perceive, but in the Holy Spirit, who like fire melts away the defilement in souls. That is why it is also written of Christ: ‘Behold, he comes in like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; and he will sit refining and cleansing, as silver and as gold’ (Malachi 3:2–3). The fire of the altar, then, cannot be quenched. For the Holy Spirit has remained in Christ, even though the Spirit is in him by nature, inasmuch as he is God and is understood to be God. The law also called the fire the altar’s own (Leviticus 6:9). For even though the Only-begotten became man, and in the manner fitting for humanity is also said to have come to share in the Spirit, the Spirit is nonetheless both his and in him, and truly his own. But if someone chooses to apply this passage to each of those sanctified through faith in Christ, so that each is in some way already understood to be a divine altar, the reading is a profitable one. For it is fitting that holy men, who have dedicated their own life to Christ, be seen warm and fervent in the Spirit (Romans 12:11), and always so: not sinking into coldness through worldly pleasures, but rather rekindling the mind in holiness toward love of God and desire for virtue. For this is the manner of rational worship (Romans 12:1). This, then, is the meaning of the altar. But he adds a further command that is useful at the literal level as well. He says the ash must be carried out not by someone else, an outsider, that is, someone of another tribe, but rather by the service of those who have been sanctified (Leviticus 6:10–11). Observe how the law allows nothing that belongs to divine service to be thought trivial, or unworthy, as it were, of the priest’s own hands, so that he might hand it over to someone else who is not holy; for the holy things are not open to the unclean. The divine altar itself, too, is not to be touched.
Greek
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἐλέγομεν· μεμνήσομαι γάρ.
{ΚΥΡ.} Θέα δὴ οὖν ὅτι καταφοιτῆσαν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πῦρ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, καταλήγειν οὐκ ἐᾷ, οὐδὲ οἷον ἀπανίστασθαι μαρανθὲν, ἀλλ' εἶναί τε διὰ παντὸς αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀπαύστως ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν. Μεμαρτύρηκε δὲ καὶ ὁ Βαπτιστὴς Ἰωάννης περὶ Χριστοῦ· «Ὅτι τεθέαμαι τὸ Πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς, καὶ ἔμεινεν ἐπ' αὐτόν. Καὶ ἐγὼ,» φησὶν, «οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν· ἀλλ' ὁ πέμψας με βαπτίζειν, αὐτός μοι εἶπεν· Ἐφ' ὃν ἂν [ε]ἴδῃς τὸ Πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ μένον ἐπ' αὐτὸν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν Πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ.» Ἀνετυποῦτο δὴ οὖν ὡς ἐν σκιαῖς ἔτι τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ἐν εἴδει πυρὸς καταβαῖνον ἐπὶ Χριστὸν, καὶ ἀεὶ μένον ἐπ' αὐτόν. Ἀκατεύναστον γὰρ καὶ ἀκατάληκτον παντελῶς τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τὸ πῦρ. Ὅτι δὲ τῇ τοῦ πυρὸς φύσει τὸ Πνεῦμα παρεικάζεται, πληροφορεῖ σε λέγων τοῖς Ἰουδαίων δήμοις καὶ ὁ μακάριος Βαπτιστής· «Ἐγὼ βαπτίζω ἐν ὕδατι, μέσος δὲ ὑμῶν ἕστηκεν, ὂν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε, ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος, οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἄξιος ἵνα λύσω αὐτοῦ τὸν ἱμάντα τοῦ ὑποδήματος.» Ἔφη δὲ, ὅτι «Αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί.» Βεβαπτίσμεθα γὰρ οὐκ εἰς πῦρ αἰσθητὸν, ἀλλ' ἐν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, πυρὸς δίκην ἐκτήκοντι τὸν ἐν ψυχαῖς μολυσμόν, τοιγάρ τοι καὶ γέγραπται περὶ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι «Ἰδοὺ αὐτὸς εἰσπορεύεται ὡς πῦρ χωνευτηρίου, καὶ ὡς πόα πλυνόντων· καὶ καθιεῖται χωνεύων καὶ καθαρίζων, ὡς τὸ ἀργύριον καὶ ὡς τὸ χρυσίον.» Ἄσβεστον οὖν ἄρα τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τὸ πῦρ. Μεμένηκε γὰρ ἐν Χριστῷ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καίτοι κατὰ φύσιν ἐνυπάρχον αὐτῷ, καθὸ νοεῖται καὶ ἔστι Θεός. Ἔφη δὲ καὶ νόμος, ἴδιον τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τὸ πῦρ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος ὁ Μονογενὴς, καὶ κατά γε τὸ πρέπον τῇ ἀνθρωπότητι σχῆμα, καὶ ἐν μεθέξει Πνεύματος γεγενῆσθαι λέγεται· ἀλλ' οὖν αὐτοῦ τε καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἴδιον ἀληθῶς τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστιν. Εἰ δὲ δή τις ἕλοιτο, τὸν ἐπὶ τῷδε λόγον καὶ ἐφ' ἕκαστον ἄγειν τῶν ἡγιασμένων διὰ πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ, ὡς ἤδη πως αὐτὸν καὶ θεῖον νοεῖσθαι θυσιαστήριον· ἐπωφελὴς ὁ λόγος· πρέπει γὰρ, ἄνδρας τοὺς ἱεροὺς, καὶ Χριστῷ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀναθέντας ζωὴν, θερμοὺς καὶ ζέοντας ὁρᾶσθαι τῷ Πνεύματι, καὶ τοῦτο διὰ παντὸς, οὐκ εἰς ἀπόψυξιν καταφερομένους διὰ κοσμικῶν ἡδονῶν, ἀναζωπυροῦντας δὲ μᾶλλον ἐν ἁγιασμῷ τὸν νοῦν εἰς φιλοθεΐαν καὶ ἔφεσιν ἀρετῆς. Λατρείας γὰρ οὗτος τῆς λογικῆς ὁ τρόπος. Οὗτος μὲν οὖν ὁ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου λόγος. Προσεπιτάττει δέ τι καὶ τῇ ἱστορίᾳ χρήσιμον. Τὴν γάρ τοι σποδιὰν ἐκκομίζεσθαι δεῖν, οὐ παρ' ἑτέρου, φησὶ, τῶν ἀλλογενῶν, ἤγουν ἐξ ἑτέρας ὄντος φυλῆς, δι' ὑπουργίας δὲ μᾶλλον τῶν ἡγιασμένων. Ἐπιτήρει δὲ, ὅπως οὐδὲν ἡγεῖσθαι βραχὺ τῶν εἰς θείαν ἡκόντων λειτουργίαν ἀφίησιν ὁ νόμος, οὐδὲ οἷον ἱερατικῆς αὐτουργίας ἀνάξιον, ὡς παραχωρεῖν ἑτέρῳ μὴ ἱερῷ· οὐ γάρ τοι βάσιμα τοῖς ἀνάγνοις τὰ ἅγια. Ἀνέπαφον δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ θεῖόν