Keep clear of the dead; the burning bush and the sandal
Cyril: …of their carcasses will be unclean, and so will anyone who only touches them. It does not free from blame and accusation the one who has shared in their deadness, nor does it call anyone guiltless even if he only comes close and draws near. For I think we must soberly keep away not only from doing the same deeds as the wicked, but even from merely keeping company with them. ‘For whoever touches pitch will be defiled,’ it says (Sirach 13:1). And the saying is true. That the law took up the lessons of these examples for the forming of character, one may learn from what follows. For it said again: ‘You shall not make your souls loathsome with any of the creeping things that creep on the earth, and you shall not be defiled by them, and you shall not be unclean through them; for I am the Lord your God’ (Leviticus 11:43–44). For what defilement could an animal’s dying, or touching what has died, bring upon the human soul? What harm could food do, which goes into the belly and is sent out into the drain, as the Savior said (Matthew 15:17)?
Palladius: None, I think; you understand it rightly.
Cyril: Then I say that we must, like the most skillful sailors, crowd on every sail and run clear of defilements, and put in to the life most dear to God as to a calm shore where no waves break. For God could become approachable to us in this way alone and in no other, and that this is true is easy to see. For it is written again in Exodus: ‘Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the sheep into the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the bush, and he saw that the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed.” When the Lord saw that he was drawing near to look, the Lord called to him out of the bush, saying, “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “What is it?” And he said, “Do not come near here; take the sandal off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground”’ (Exodus 3:1–5). Do you see, then, that no one could come near the all-pure God without first washing every stain from his own soul, and freeing his foot from all the deadness that lies in deeds? By the foot I mean the spiritual walk by which we go toward what must be done. For is not the sandal the remains of a dead animal?
Palladius: Of course it is.
Cyril: Then the sandal is a type of deadness. If anyone throws off this deadness like a load and breaks the bonds that would be his ruin, he will come near and belong to God, and from then on he will be fit to save others as well. So it was that Moses was appointed to be sent out, and to redeem the sons of Israel. And a sacred saying has told us: ‘Son, if you become wise, you will be wise for yourself and for your neighbor’ (Proverbs 9:12).
Palladius: Well said.
Greek
μαίων αὐτῶν, καὶ εἰ ἐπαφῷτό τις μόνον, ἀκάθαρτον ἔσεσθαί φησιν, οὔτε, τὸν μετασχόντα τῆς ἐκείνων νεκρότητος, μώμου καὶ γραφῆς ἀπαλλάττων, οὔτε μὴν ἀναίτιον εἶναι λέγων, καὶ εἰ ἀγχοῦ τις ἴοι καὶ πλησιαζόμενος. Χρῆναι γὰρ οἶμαι νηφαλέως ἀποφοιτᾷν, οὐχὶ δήπου μόνης τῆς πρὸς φαύλους ταυτοεργίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ συνιέναι μόνον. «Ὁ γὰρ ἁπτόμενος πίσσης, μολυνθήσεται,» φησί. Καὶ ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος· ὅτι δὲ εἰς ἠθῶν ποιότητα τὰ ἐκ τῶν παραδειγμάτων χρήσιμα τῷ νόμῳ παρείληπται, ἀναμάθοι τις ἂν ἐκ τῶν ἐπενηνεγμένων. Ἔφη γὰρ πάλιν· «Καὶ οὐ μὴ βδελύξεσθε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἑρπετοῖς τοῖς ἕρπουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ οὐ μιανθήσεσθε ἐν τούτοις, καὶ οὐκ ἀκάθαρτοι ἔσεσθε ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν.» Ὁποῖον γὰρ ἂν ἐποίησε μολυσμὸν τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ψυχῇ, τὸ ἐκτεθνάναι ζῶον, καὶ τοῦ τεθνεῶτος ἀποθίγειν; Τί γὰρ ἂν ἠδίκησε βρῶσις, ἡ εἰς κοιλίαν χωροῦσα καὶ ἐκπεμπομένη πρὸς ἀφεδρῶνα, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος φωνήν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐδὲν, ὡς ἐγῷμαι· νοεῖς γὰρ ὀρθῶς.
{ΚΥΡ.} Χρῆναι δὴ οὖν ἔγωγέ φημι, κατὰ τοὺς τῶν πλωτήρων εὐτεχνεστάτους, πάντα σείοντας κάλων, ἔξω φέρεσθαι μολυσμῶν, ἠρεμαῖαν δὲ ὥσπερ ἀκτὴν καὶ ἀκύμονα πρὸς τὴν Θεῷ φιλαιτάτην εἰσελαύνειν ζωήν. Προσιτὸς γὰρ ἡμῖν οὐχ ἑτέρως ἢ οὕτως ἂν γένοιτο καὶ μόνως, ἀληθὲς δὲ ὅτι τὸ χρῆμά ἐστιν, ἀταλαίπωρον ἰδεῖν. Γέγραπται γὰρ πάλιν ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ· «Καὶ Μωσῆς ἦν ποιμαίνων τὰ πρόβατα Ἰοθὸρ τοῦ γαμβροῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἱερέως Μαδιὰμ, καὶ ἤγαγε τὰ πρόβατα ὑπὸ τὴν ἔρημον· καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς τὸ ὅρος Χωρήβ. Ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἐν πυρὶ φλογὸς ἐκ τοῦ βάτου, καὶ ὁρᾷ ὅτι ὁ βάτος καίεται πυρὶ, ὁ δὲ βάτος οὐ κατεκαίετο. Εἶπε δὲ Μωσῆς· Παρελθὼν ὄψομαι τὸ ὅραμα τὸ μέγα τοῦτο, ὅτι οὐ κατακαίεται ὁ βάτος. Ὡς δὲ εἶδε Κύριος ὅτι προσάγει ἰδεῖν, ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν ὁ Κύριος ἐκ τοῦ βάτου, λέγων· Μωσῆ, Μωσῆ· ὁ δὲ εἶπε· Τί ἐστιν; Ὁ δὲ εἶπε· Μὴ ἐγγίσῃς ὧδε, λύσαι τὸ ὑπόδημα ἐκ τῶν ποδῶν σου· ὁ γὰρ τόπος, ἐν ᾧ σὺ ἕστηκας, γῆ ἁγία ἐστί.» Συνίης οὖν ὅπως οὐκ ἂν ἀγχοῦ γένοιτό τις τοῦ πανάγνου Θεοῦ, μὴ οὐχὶ πάντα ῥύπον τῆς ἑαυτοῦ προαπονίζων ψυχῆς· νεκρότητος δὲ ἁπάσης τῆς ὡς ἐν πράγμασι νοουμένης, ἀπολύων τὸν πόδα, τοῦτ' ἔστι, τὴν εἰς τὰ πρακτέα βάδισιν νοητήν; Ἢ γὰρ οὐχὶ τὸ ὑπόδημα, νεκροῦ ζώου λείψανον;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
{ΚΥΡ.} Τύπος οὖν ἄρα νεκρότητος τὸ χρῆμά ἐστιν, ἣν εἴπερ τις ἀποφορτίσαιτο, τὰ δι' ὧν ἂν ἐξοίχοιτο διαῤῥήξας δεσμὰ, ἥξει τε ἀγχοῦ καὶ οἰκεῖος ἔσται Θεῷ, καὶ πρός γε τὸ σώζειν ἑτέρους δύνασθαι λοιπὸν, ἐπιτηδείως ἔχων. Προσεχειρίζετο γοῦν ὁ Μωσῆς εἰς ἀποστολὴν, καὶ πρὸς ἐκλύτρωσιν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. Ἱερὸς δὲ ἡμῖν ὑποπεφώνηκε λόγος· «Υἱὲ, ἐὰν σοφὸς γένῃ, σεαυτῷ σοφὸς ἔση καὶ τῷ πλησίον σου.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ λέγεις.