Bleary eyes, the raging itch, and the spreading rash
Cyril: …eyes is the one who is by no means deprived of sight, yet cannot see soundly. Such would be those who have understanding, but in whom no choice to think rightly is seen. For some, he means, see what is good, yet turn the bent of their own wills aside toward what they ought not; others, though they could have a share in right doctrine, all but ruin their own minds themselves: they throw themselves into a most unlovely hunt after notions and accept nothing sound in their belief about God. Such above all are the children of the heretics, and the Jews besides, who believe that the Father is God, yet most foolishly thrust away the One who has come forth from him, the Son by nature. So the word proclaimed by the voice of the prophet is true of them: ‘They have eyes, and they do not see’ (Jeremiah 5:21). For seeing is of no use unless care is taken that one sees soundly, just as we rightly said that lameness and the crushed foot are placed on the same footing. For it will make no difference at all whether one cannot walk at all or perhaps does not walk soundly, meaning, of course, the path of conduct and the road of deeds.
Palladius: Well said.
Cyril: ‘No man shall come near to serve as priest who has a raging itch or a spreading rash on him, or who has only one testicle, or anyone who has any blemish in him’ (Leviticus 21:20–21). We should liken the raging itch to the most monstrous of the passions, which pour down on the mind in sharper, more acrid streams and pass all measure, and which begin in pleasure but end in bitterness. Or would you not say that in each kind of sin the evil is seen in a measured form and also beyond measure?
Palladius: What do you mean?
Cyril: The man overcome by bodily pleasure: could he not suffer this both moderately and beyond measure? Some are only overcome, and are sick in a restrained way; others reach the height of the evil and are sick with a pleasure that rages out of control, so that they slip even beyond the passions that belong to nature.
Palladius: I understand what you mean.
Cyril: So in each of the evils, whatever has strayed monstrously beyond reason, and beyond the measures that are usual and common among most people, may be called the raging itch. The spreading rash, besides, is any passion at all that keeps creeping outward over a wider area and never stops growing worse. But the divine law wants us to check the passions that befall us and to reduce them. You will understand something of this kind when you hear: ‘If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for healing will put an end to great sins’ (Ecclesiastes 10:4). For passions left unrebuked always creep toward a more shameful state; they seize heart and mind and lead to utter ruin. So we must rebuke what is base, while the sobriety within us, by turning back again toward what is better, keeps it
Greek
ὀφθαλμοὺς, τὸν ἥκιστα μὲν τοῦ βλέπειν ἐστερημένον, ὑγιῶς δὲ τοῦτο ποιεῖν οὐκ ἔχοντα. ὁποῖοί τινες εἶεν, οἷς ἔνεστι μὲν ἡ φρόνησις, τό γε μὴν ἑλέσθαι φρονεῖν ὀρθῶς οὐχ ὁρᾶται προσόν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὁρῶντες, φησὶ, τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ἐφ' ἂ μὴ προσῆκε τῶν ἰδίων θελημάτων παρατρέπουσι τὴν ῥοπήν· οἱ δὲ, καὶ δογματικῆς ὀρθότητος οὐκ ἀμοιρεῖν ἰσχύοντες, μονονουχὶ τὸν οἰκεῖον αὐτοὶ κατασίνονται νοῦν, εἰς ἀκαλλεστάτην ἐννοιῶν ἱέντες θήραν, καὶ ὑγιὲς οὐδὲν τῆς ἐπὶ Θεῷ δόξης εἰσδεχόμενοι· ὁποῖοί τινές εἰσιν, αἱρετικῶν μὲν μάλιστα παῖδες, Ἰουδαῖοί τε πρὸς τούτοις, οἱ Θεὸν μὲν πιστεύοντες εἶναι τὸν Πατέρα, τόν γε μὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ πεφηνότα κατὰ φύσιν Υἱὸν ἀνοητότατα διωθούμενοι. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ ἀληθὲς ἐπ' αὐτοῖς τὸ διὰ τοῦ προφήτου φωνῆς ὑμνούμενον, «Ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῖς, καὶ οὐ βλέπουσιν.» Ὀνίνησι γὰρ τὸ βλέπειν οὐδὲν, εἰ μὴ προορῷτό τισι τὸ ὑγιῶς βλέπειν, καθάπερ ἀμέλει καὶ τὴν χωλότητα, καὶ τὸ σύντριμμα τοῦ ποδὸς ἐν ἴσῳ τετάχθαι λόγῳ δικαίως ἐλέγομεν· διοίσει γὰρ ὅλως οὐδὲν, τοῦ μηδ' ὅλως ἰέναι δύνασθαι, τὸ μὴ ὑγιῶς ἰέναι τυχὸν, τὴν ὡς ἐν πράγμασι δὲ δηλονότι τρίβον, καὶ τὴν ὡς ἐν ἔργοις ὁδόν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ λέγεις.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐ προσελεύσεται δὲ ἱερουργήσων ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ ἐὰν ᾖ ἐπ' αὐτῷ ψώρα ἀγρία, ἢ λειχὴν, ἢ μόνορχις, ἢ πᾶς ᾧ ἐστιν ἐν αὐτῷ μῶμος. Ψώρᾳ μὲν οὖν ἀγρίᾳ παρεικαστέον τὰ ἐκτοπώτατα τῶν παθῶν, δριμυτέροις ῥεύμασι καταχεόμενα νοῦ, καὶ πέρα παντὸς ἰόντα μέτρου, καὶ ἐξ ἡδονῆς μὲν ἔχοντα τὴν ἀρχὴν, εἰς πικρόν γε μὴν ἐξήκοντα τέλος. Ἢ οὐχὶ δὴ φὴς ἑκάστῳ τῶν πλημμελημάτων καὶ συμμετρίαν τινὰ καὶ ἀμετρίαν ὁρᾶσθαι τοῦ κακοῦ;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πῶς ἔφης;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὁ σωματικῆς ἡδονῆς ἡττώμενος, οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο πάθοι καὶ μετρίως καὶ ὑπὲρ μέτρον; Οἱ μὲν γὰρ, ἥττηνται μόνον, καὶ νοσοῦσι περιεσταλμένως· οἱ δὲ καὶ εἰς ἄκρον ἥκουσι τοῦ κακοῦ, καὶ ἀσχέτως ἀγριαίνουσαν νοσοῦσι τὴν ἡδονὴν, ὡς καὶ αὐτῶν ἐπέκεινα τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ἐξολισθῆσαι παθῶν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Συνίημι ὃ φής.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐκοῦν ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ τῶν κακῶν τὸ ἐκτόπως ἐκνενευκὸς εἰς τὸ πέρα λόγου, καὶ μέτρων ἐπέκεινα τῶν ἐν ἔθει καὶ παρὰ πολλοῖς, λέγοιτ' ἂν ἡ ἀγρία ψώρα λοιπόν. Λειχὴν δὲ πρὸς τούτοις, πᾶν ὁτιοῦν πάθος, ἀεὶ διέρπον εἰς τὸ εὐρὺ, καὶ ἀκατάληκτον ἔχον τὴν εἰς τὸ χεῖρον ἐπίδοσιν. Συστέλλεσθαι δὲ δεῖν, καὶ εἰς τὸ μεῖον ἄγεσθαι πρὸς ἡμῶν τὰ προσπίπτοντα τῶν παθῶν, ὁ θεῖος βούλεται νόμος. Τοιοῦτόν τι νοήσεις ἀκούων· «Ἐὰν Πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐξουσιάζοντος ἀναβῇ ἐπὶ σὲ, τόπον σου μὴ ἀφῇς, ὅτι ἴαμα καταπαύσει ἁμαρτίας μεγάλας.» Τὰ γὰρ ἀνεπίπληκτα τῶν παθῶν, ἕρπει μὲν ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ αἰσχιόνως ἔχον· καταδράττεται δὲ καρδίας καὶ νοῦ, καὶ εἰς ὄλεθρον ἄγει παντελῆ. Δεῖ δὴ οὖν ἄρα πρὸς ἡμῶν ἐπιτιμᾶσθαι τὸ φαῦλον, ταῖς εἰς τὸ ἄμεινον ἀναδρομαῖς περιστελ