Kidneys and liver: discernment and desire; each bears fruit by his measure
Cyril: So they would become holy, and set apart for God as a fragrant aroma. The kidneys, again, would be a type of the activity of discernment within the mind, by which one rejects what by nature does harm, and counts what is beneficial as worth choosing and taking. And the inspired Paul writes: ‘Test all things; hold fast what is good; keep away from every form of evil’ (1 Thessalonians 5:21–22). So since the kidney is a part of the body that discerns (for it separates out what is surplus very well, lets what is wholesome and useful into the body, and distributes it with art to the parts that should receive it, and in the right amount), we must with good reason take the kidneys to mean the discernment of the mind. Holy, then, and an offering dedicated to God are the kidneys of the saints, that is, the discernment they have in the mind. For those who cleave to God are approved and exact money changers: they always reject what is worthless as counterfeit, but they are accustomed to honor with their excellent verdict whatever leads to benefit. It was in this way, I think, that the inspired Psalmist, who was used to winning approval, cried out to God: ‘For you have taken possession of my kidneys, O Lord’ (Psalm 139:13).
The lobe of the liver, for its part, points us to nothing other than an activity of the soul, that is, a movement of the mind, by which it reaches out toward desires. Some who have studied such matters closely say without hesitation that every living creature has its desires in the liver. So the lobe of the liver too must be dedicated to God, that is, so to speak, the very source of all our desire, as the Psalmist sings: ‘Lord, all my desire is before you’ (Psalm 38:9). And a person takes pride in himself and sings out so solemn and admirable a word if his longings are set on nothing but what pleases God, and he is found thirsting for whatever he himself may wish to do.
Palladius: I agree; you understand it rightly.
Cyril: For the sheep, in turn, and for the goat as well, the Lawgiver lays down the same law, and the sacrifice was carried out in the same way for these too (Leviticus 3:6–16). The difference in size among the animals neatly points to the measure of piety and approval among those who are used to bearing fruit. For one person, we should think, bears fruit richly and above the rest, as in the calf; another moderately, as in the sheep; and another more modestly still, for a goat is smaller than a sheep. And this, I think, is the fruitful earth yielding a hundredfold, sixtyfold and thirtyfold, as in the parable in the Gospels (Matthew 13:8).
Palladius: I am convinced.
Cyril: That the repayment of reward will be in proportion to each one’s good deeds, and that God will allot to those who have chosen to act nobly rewards matched to their labors, the Savior himself will assure us. He says that the talents were not handed out in equal shares (Matthew 25:15), and of those who did well he sets one over ten cities and another over five (Luke 19:17–19). For each one’s life is weighed, as it were, in the balance, and the repayment will surely be equal in weight to our goodness.
Greek
τῶν ἁγίων ἐμπίπλησι φρένα. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ ἱεροὶ καὶ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας γένοιντο ἂν ἐξαίρετοι τῷ Θεῷ. Νεφροὶ δὲ δὴ πάλιν, εἰς τύπον ἂν εἶεν τῆς εἰς νοῦν ἔσω διακριτικῆς ἐνεργείας· καθ' ἣν ἀπόβλητον μὲν, τὸ πεφυκὸς ἀδικεῖν, αἱρετὸν δὲ καὶ ἀξιόληπτον ποιεῖται τὸ ὠφελοῦν. Γράφει δὲ καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος· «Πάντα δοκιμάζοντες, τὸ καλὸν κατέχετε, ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.» Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδήπερ διακριτικὸν ἐν σώματι μόριον ὁ νεφρὸς (ἀποκρίνει γὰρ εὖ μάλα τὰ περιττὰ, τὸ χρηστόν τε καὶ ὠφελοῦν ἐνιεὶς τῇ φύσει, καὶ διανέμων εὐτέχνως, οἷς ἂν καὶ ὅσον διανέμεσθαι πρέποι), μεταληπτέον εἰκότως εἰς νοῦ διάκρισιν τοὺς νεφρούς. Ἱεροὶ τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἀνάθημα Θεῷ, τῶν ἁγίων οἱ νεφροὶ, τουτέστιν, ἥνπερ ἂν ἔχοιεν ἐν νῷ διάκρισιν. Δόκιμοι γὰρ τραπεζῖται καὶ ἀκριβεῖς, οἱ Θεῷ προσκείμενοι, κατακιβδηλεύοντες μὲν τὸ φαῦλον ἀεὶ, ψήφῳ γε μὴν τῇ παγκάλῳ τιμᾷν εἰωθότες τὸ τελοῦν εἰς ὄνησιν. Ὧδε γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ τὸν θεσπέσιον Μελῳδὸν εὐδοκιμεῖν εἰωθότα διακεκραγέναι πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· «Ὅτι σὺ ἐκτήσω τοὺς νεφρούς μου, Κύριε.» Ὁ δέ γε λοβὸς τοῦ ἥπατος, οὐδὲν ἧττον ἡμῖν ὑποφαίνει, ἢ ψυχῆς ἐνέργειαν, ἤτοι φρενὸς κίνησιν, καθ' ἣν ἴεται πρὸς ἐπιθυμίας. Ἐξηκριβωκότες δὲ τὰ τοιάδε τινὲς, οὐδὲν ὀκνοῦντές φασιν, ὡς ἐν ἥπατι τὰς ἐπιθυμίας ἅπαν ἔχει ζῶον. Ἀναθετέον δὴ οὖν καὶ τὸν λοβὸν τοῦ ἥπατος τῷ Θεῷ, τουτέστιν, αὐτὴν οἱονείπως ἁπάσης ἐπιθυμίας ἡμῶν τὴν πηγὴν, κατά γε τὸν ψάλλοντα Μελῳδόν· «Κύριε, ἐναντίον σου πᾶσα ἡ ἐπιθυμία μου.» Σεμνύνεται δέ τις ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ, καὶ τὴν ὧδε σεπτὴν καὶ ἀξιάγαστον ἀναμέλπει φωνὴν, εἰ πρός γε δὴ μόνον τὸ τῷ Θεῷ δοκοῦν τὰς ὀρέξεις ἔχοι, καὶ καταφωρῷτο διψῶν, ἃ ἂν βούλοιτο δρᾷν αὐτός.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Σύμφημι· νοεῖς γὰρ ὀρθῶς.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἐπὶ προβάτῳ δὲ αὖ, καὶ μὴν καὶ αἰγὶ, τὸν αὐτὸν ὁρίζει νόμον, καὶ ἐν ἴσῳ τρόπῳ καὶ ἐπ' αὐτοῖς τὰ τῆς θυσίας ἐπράττετο, τῆς τῶν ζώων ὡς ἐν μεγέθει διαφορᾶς, τῶν καρποφορεῖν εἰωθότων, τὸ ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ τε καὶ εὐδοκιμήσει μέτρον ὑποφαινούσης ἀστείως· ὁ μὲν γὰρ, πλουσίως καὶ ὑπερφερῶς, ὡς ἔν γε τῷ μόσχῳ, περινοεῖν ἄξιον· ὁ δὲ μέσως, ὡς ἐν προβάτῳ, ὁ δὲ καὶ ὑφειμένως ἔτι· μείων γὰρ αἲξ προβάτου· καὶ τοῦτο, οἶμαι, ἐστὶ τὸ τὴν εὔκαρπον ἀναφῦναι γῆν ἑκατὸν, καὶ ἑξήκοντα, καὶ τριάκοντα, κατά γε τὴν ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις παραβολήν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πείθομαι.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἀναλόγως τοῖς ἑκάστου κατορθώμασιν ἡ τῆς ἀμοιβῆς ἀντέκτισις, καὶ ἰσοπαλεῖς τοῖς ἱδρῶσιν αἱ ἀμοιβαὶ τοῖς ἀνδραγαθεῖν ᾑρημένοις ἐκνεμηθήσονται παρὰ Θεοῦ, πληροφορήσει μὲν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ, τὴν τῶν ταλάντων διανομὴν οὐκ ἐν ἴσῳ τρόπῳ γενέσθαι λέγων, καθιστὰς δὲ τῶν εὐδοκιμούντων, τὸν μὲν ἐπὶ δέκα πόλεων, τὸν δ' ἐπὶ πέντε. Ταλαντεύεται γὰρ ὥσπερ ὁ ἑκάστου βίος, καὶ ἰσοστατήσει που πάντως ταῖς ἡμῶν ἐπιεικείαις ἡ ἀντέκτι