The grain offering as a life holy in part
Cyril: An exact figure of this life is the fine flour offered up in the priest’s handful with the oil and the frankincense. For the life consecrated to God, even if perhaps only in part, must surely be fragrant, and enriched with the richest hopes. Or would you not say that every good work of ours is most fragrant?
Palladius: Certainly.
Cyril: What then? Is it not done by us in good hope?
Palladius: Yes, for what comes from God will surely follow.
Cyril: So the frankincense, and the fine flour moistened with oil, point us to a life that is fragrant and very rich.
Palladius: Well said. But what kind of life among us would be holy in part?
Cyril: One that has not reached the goal of a saintly way of life, and does not walk the path set very high, as perhaps John did, he who was the voice, or the holy apostles; and yet one that does not lose its claim to reverence merely because it perhaps falls short of the lofty path set before us. Or is not the life of those in the world who have children, if they choose to live uprightly, in some way divided between God and the world, in the words of blessed Paul (1 Corinthians 7:33–34)?
Palladius: It is divided; how could it not be?
Cyril: So the partial consecration of the fine flour, which has fragrance and cheerfulness, was a type of the life that is not wholly given over to God, but stands in the middle, as it were, and looks both ways. The law says that this will also be for a memorial (Leviticus 6:15) of the one who brought it through the ministry of the priest. And truly we shall gain this: to be held in God’s remembrance through the things by which we bear fruit and give off fragrance. For Christ acts as mediator and brings to God both the one who is wholly holy, as one ranked among the whole burnt offerings, and the one who is not entirely so, because he is divided and given in part to the world, as a kind of partial offering. The grain offering is unleavened. For it is fitting that whatever we do be done with purity, for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Indeed, the Savior commanded us to shun standing in the middle of the marketplaces to make our prayers (Matthew 6:5), a gloomy face when fasting (Matthew 6:16), and sounding a trumpet unbecomingly when we show mercy to our brothers (Matthew 6:2). For this is leaven, which profanes holy things. What is done for the glory of God should be free of any charge of seeking to please men; for in this way the offering would be truly unleavened and holy. The remainder of the grain offering is a portion and food for the priests. Every male eats it in a holy place (Leviticus 6:16–18). That the holy things are consumed by the priests in a holy place preserves the reverence due to our more mystical teachings; that every male eats it aptly suggests that softness is an ugly thing, and truly unholy, in those whom God has chosen. For softness makes a man unholy, cuts him off from spiritual blessing, and leaves him without share in the good things God has allotted to the saints.
Greek
μέρους ἁγίαν καὶ ὑπὸ Θεῷ ζωήν· ἧς ὑποτύπωσις ἀκριβὴς, ἡ σεμίδαλις διὰ δρακὸς ἱερέως ἀναφερομένη σὺν τῷ ἐλαίῳ καὶ τῷ λιβάνῳ. Τὴν γάρ τοι Θεῷ καθιερουμένην ζωὴν, καὶ εἰ γένοιτο τυχὸν ἐκ μέρους, εὐώδη πάντως εἶναι χρὴ, καὶ λιπαρωτάταις ἐλπίσι πιαινομένην. Ἦ οὐκ εὐοσμότατον εἶναι φὴς πᾶν ἔργον ἡμῶν ἀγαθόν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Τί δέ; οὐκ ἐπ' ἀγαθαῖς ἐλπίσι πράττεται πρὸς ἡμῶν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ναί· ἕψεται γὰρ πάντως τὰ παρὰ Θεοῦ.
{ΚΥΡ.} Λίβανος δὴ οὖν, καὶ σεμίδαλις ἐλαιόδευτος, τὴν εὐώδη τε καὶ λιπαρωτάτην ἡμῖν ὑπαινίττεται ζωήν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ ἔφης· ἀλλὰ τίς ἂν γένοιτο πρὸς ἡμῶν ἡ ὡς ἐκ μέρους ἁγία ζωή;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἡ μήτε εἰς λῆξιν πολιτείας ἥκουσα τῆς ἁγιοπρεποῦς, μήτε κατὰ τὴν ἄγαν ἀνῳκισμένην ἰοῦσα τρίβον, ὁποία τις ἦν ἡ Ἰωάννου φωνὴ τυχὸν, ἤγουν τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων· μήτε μὴ ἐκπίπτουσα τοῦ εἶναι σεπτὴ, διά γε τὸ ἡττῆσθαι τυχὸν τῆς ἄγαν ὑποκειμένης που. Ἦ οὐ τῶν ἐν κόσμῳ καὶ παιδοποιῶν ὁ βίος, εἰ διαζῇν ἕλοιντο χρηστῶς, μεμέρισταί πως Θεῷ τε καὶ κόσμῳ, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου φωνήν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Μεμέρισται· πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
{ΚΥΡ.} Τύπος οὖν ἄρα ζωῆς τῆς οὐκ εἰσάπαν ἀνακειμένης Θεῷ, μέσης δὲ ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπ' ἄμφω βλεπούσης, ἡ μερικὴ καθιέρωσις τῆς σεμιδάλεως ἦν, τὸ εὐῶδες ἐχούσης καὶ ἱλαρόν· ἣν καὶ εἰς μνημόσυνον ἔσεσθαί φησιν ὁ νόμος, τοῦ δι' ὑπουργίας ἱερατικῆς προσκεκομικότος. Ἀποκερδανοῦμεν δὲ ἀληθῶς τὸ ἐν μνήμῃ κεῖσθαι τῇ παρὰ Θεῷ, δι' ὧν καρποφοροῦντες εὐωδιάζομεν· μεσιτεύοντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ Θεῷ προσάγοντος, τὸ[ν] μὲν ὁλοκλήρως ἅγιον, ὡς ἐν τάξει τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων· καὶ μέντοι τὸν μὴ τοιοῦτον εἰσάπαν διὰ τὸ μεμερίσθαι τῷ κόσμῳ, θυσίαν ὥσπερ τινὰ μερικήν. Ἄζυμος δὲ ἡ θυσία. Πρέποι γὰρ ἂν πράττεσθαι καθαρῶς, πᾶν ὅπερ ἂν γένοιτο πρὸς ἡμῶν, εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ. Καὶ γοῦν ὁ Σωτὴρ, παραιτεῖσθαι προστέταχε, τὸ ἐν μέσαις ἑστῶτα ταῖς ἀγοραῖς ποιεῖσθαι τὰς προσευχὰς, καὶ τὸ ἀμειδὲς ἐν νηστείαις, καὶ τὸ σαλπίζειν ἀκόσμως, κατοικτείροντας ἀδελφούς. Ζύμη γὰρ αὕτη, βεβηλοῦσα τὰ ἱερά. Τὸ δὲ εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ πραττόμενον, ἐγκλημάτων ἀνθρωπαρεσκείας ἀπηλλάχθαι πρέπει· εἴη γὰρ ἂν οὕτως ἄζυμον ἀληθῶς καὶ ἱερὸν τὸ θύμα. Μερὶς δὲ καὶ βρῶσις τοῖς ἱερεῦσι, τὸ κατάλοιπον τῆς θυσίας. Ἐσθίεται πᾶν ἀρσενικὸν ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ· τοῦ μὲν ἐν ἁγίῳ τόπῳ πρὸς τῶν ἱερέων δαπανᾶσθαι τὰ ἱερὰ, τοῖς μυστικωτέροις ἡμῶν λόγοις τηροῦντος τὸ σέβας· τοῦ δὲ πᾶν ἄρσεν ἐσθίειν, ὑποδηλοῦντος ἀστείως ὡς ἀκαλλές τι χρῆμα καὶ ἀνόσιον ἀληθῶς ὁ μαλακισμὸς τοῖς ἐξειλεγμένοις παρὰ Θεοῦ. Ἀνίερον γὰρ ἀποτελεῖ, καὶ εὐλογίας ἐξίστησι τῆς πνευματικῆς, καὶ ἀμέτοχον ἀποφαίνει τῶν παρὰ Θεοῦ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐκνενεμη