Many cities, one heavenly Jerusalem; sacrifice only at the one tent
Cyril: …in Deuteronomy: ‘If the Levite comes from one of your cities, from among all the sons of Israel where he lives as a sojourner, as his soul desires, to the place which the Lord your God chooses, he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God like all his brothers the Levites who stand there before the Lord; he shall eat an allotted portion, besides what comes from the sale of his family property’ (Deuteronomy 18:6–8). For since God is one, those who have been brought forward to this office and chosen by the vote from above must everywhere have their place among the priests. This is kept even now in the churches, and we honor the law; for each of those chosen for the priesthood has a city and a lot of his own, yet he is welcomed to share in the sacred ministry even if he happens to go from one city or region to another, and he eats with the priests and is honored by the laws of love. But the law, as I think, seems again to hint at something mystical. For there are countless regions and cities throughout the whole world in which holy and God-loving human souls serve God by living lawfully and conducting their lives according to the Gospel, offering to him, as it were, sacrifices for a fragrant aroma (a spiritual one, clearly): faith, hope, love, endurance, meekness and love for the poor. ‘For with such sacrifices God is well pleased’ (Hebrews 13:16), as the Scriptures say. Yet all these run together, as to one common mother, to the heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22), the Church of the firstborn (Hebrews 12:23), the fair city above, the true tent which the Lord pitched and not man (Hebrews 8:2). There we shall serve more purely, when sin has been removed from us entirely and the lion and the dragon, the basilisk and the asp have ceased (Psalm 91:13). ‘For there,’ he says, ‘will be a pure way, and it will be called a holy way; and no lion will be found there, and none of the evil beasts will go up there’ (Isaiah 35:8–9). There we shall eat an allotted portion. For it is written, ‘You shall eat the fruits of your labors’ (Psalm 128:2). Or is not the repayment of good things in proportion to each one’s labors, even if it comes in greater measure because of the Master’s generosity? ‘For good measure,’ he says, ‘pressed down, running over, shaken together, they will put into your lap’ (Luke 6:38).
Palladius: You have spoken rightly. But tell me this: were the Levites not allowed to perform the sacred rites while they were in their own cities and villages?
Cyril: Not at all. For there was one tent, and one altar on which all the sacred rites were performed, and one temple too, in Jerusalem, which Solomon built, giving full form to the pattern of that ancient tent. The law utterly forbids anyone to sacrifice outside the holy tent; for those who wished to do so the penalty was destruction, and the sentence of the utmost punishment hung over them. For it said plainly (Leviticus 17:3–4): ‘If anyone sacrifices a sheep or a calf in the camp, and to…
Greek
τως ἐν τῷ Δευτερονομίῳ· «Ἐὰν παραγένηται ὁ Λευίτης ἐκ μιᾶς τῶν πόλεων ὑμῶν, ἐκ πάντων τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ οὗ αὐτὸς παροικεῖ, καθὸ ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ εἰς τόπον ὃν ἐκλέξηται Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, καὶ λειτουργήσει τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ ὥσπερ πάντες ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ Λευῖται οἱ παρεστηκότες ἐκεῖ ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, μερίδα μεμερισμένην φάγεται, πλὴν τῆς πράσεως αὐτοῦ τῆς κατὰ τὴν πατριάν.» Ἑνὸς γὰρ ὄντος Θεοῦ πανταχῆ τῶν ἱερέων ἅπτεσθαι χρὴ τοὺς εἴς γε τουτὶ παρενηνεγμένους, καὶ ψήφῳ τῇ ἄνωθεν ἀπολελεγμένους. Τοῦτό τοι καὶ νῦν ἐν Ἐκκλησίαις τετήρηται, καὶ τετίμηται πρὸς ἡμῶν ὁ νόμος· πόλις μὲν γὰρ ἑκάστῳ καὶ κλῆρος ἴδιος τῶν ἐξειλεγμένων εἰς ἱερωσύνην, συμπαραλαμβάνεται δὲ πρὸς ἱερουργίαν, κἂν εἰ ἐξ ἑτέρας εἰς ἑτέραν ἴοι τυχὸν, ἢ πόλιν ἢ χώραν, καὶ συνεσθίει μετὰ τῶν ἱερέων, καὶ τοῖς τῆς ἀγάπης τιμᾶται νόμοις· ἔοικε δέ τι καὶ μυστικὸν, καθάπερ ἐγῷμαι, πάλιν ὁ νόμος ὑποδηλοῦν. Μυρίαι μὲν γὰρ ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην χῶραί τε καὶ πόλεις ἐν αἷς ἅγιαί τε καὶ θεοφιλεῖς ἀνθρώπων ψυχαὶ λειτουργοῦσι Θεῷ, διά γε τοῦ ζῇν ἐννόμως, καὶ πολιτεύεσθαι μὲν εὐαγγελικῶς, καταθύειν δὲ ὥσπερ αὐτῷ τὰ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τῆς πνευματικῆς, πίστιν, ἐλπίδα, ἀγάπην, ὑπομονὴν, πραότητα, φιλοπτωχίαν· «Τοιαύταις γὰρ θυσίαις εὐαρεστεῖται Θεὸς,» κατὰ τὰς Γραφάς. Ἀλλ' οἵδε δὴ πάντες καθάπερ εἰς μίαν καὶ κοινὴν μητέρα συνθέουσι τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἱερουσαλὴμ, τὴν τῶν πρωτοτόκων Ἐκκλησίαν, τὴν ἄνω καλλίπολιν, τὴν σκηνὴν τὴν ἀληθινὴν, ἣν ἔπηξεν ὁ Κύριος καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ἐκεῖ καθαρώτερον λειτουργήσομεν, ἐξαιρεθείσης μὲν ἡμῶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας εἰσάπαν, πεπαυμένου δὲ λέοντος καὶ δράκοντος, βασιλίσκου καὶ ἀσπίδος· «Ἔσται» γὰρ, φησὶν, «ἐκεῖ ὁδὸς καθαρὰ, καὶ ὁδὸς ἁγία κληθήσεται, καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῇ ἐκεῖ λέων, οὐδὲ τῶν θηρίων τῶν πονηρῶν οὐδὲν οὐ μὴ ἀναβῇ ἐκεῖ.» Μεμερισμένην ἐκεῖ μερίδα φαγόμεθα. Γέγραπται γάρ· «Τοὺς καρποὺς τῶν πόνων σου φάγεσαι.» Ἢ οὐκ ἀνάλογος τοῖς ἑκάστου πόνοις ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀντέκτισις, εἰ καὶ ἐν μέτρῳ πλείονι διὰ τὴν τοῦ Δεσπότου φιλοτιμίαν; «Μέτρον γὰρ, φησὶν, καλὸν, πεπιέσμενον, ὑπερεκχυνόμενον, σεσαλευμένον δώσουσιν εἰς τὸν κόλπον ὑμῶν.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἔφης μὲν ὀρθῶς. Πλὴν ἐκεῖνο φράσον· οὐ γὰρ ἐξῆν τοῖς Λευίταις ἐν ἰδίαις οὖσι πόλεσί τε καὶ κώμαις, ἱερουργεῖν;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἥκιστά γε· μία γὰρ ἡ σκηνὴ, καὶ ἓν τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐφ' ᾧ πάντα τὰ ἱερὰ, εἷς δὲ καὶ νεὼς ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις, ὃν Σολομὼν ἀνεδείματο, τῆς ἀρχαίας ἐκείνης σκηνῆς ἀποπληρῶν τὸ σχῆμα. Ἀποφάσκει δὲ παντελῶς ὁ νόμος, τὸ ἐξεῖναί τισι, τῆς ἁγίας ἔξωθεν θύειν σκηνῆς· καὶ τοῖς τοῦτο δρᾷν ἐθέλουσιν, ὄλεθρος ἦν ἡ ζημία, καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἐπήρτητο λόγος. Ἔφη γὰρ ὧδε σαφῶς· «Ἐὰν δέ τις θύσῃ πρόβατον ἢ μόσχον ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ, καὶ ἐπὶ