The whole burnt offering: each gives his whole life as he is able
Palladius: …sacred Scriptures, sketch out the outlines of this splendid and admirable worship.
Cyril: Well then, God said in Leviticus, and plainly to all those of Israel: ‘If any one of you brings gifts to the Lord, you shall bring your gifts from the livestock, from the cattle and from the sheep. If his gift is a whole burnt offering from the cattle, he shall bring a male without blemish; he shall bring it to the door of the tent of witness, acceptable before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the offering, acceptable for him, to make atonement for him. And he shall slaughter the calf before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall bring the blood and pour the blood on the altar all around, the altar that is at the doors of the tent of witness. And when they have flayed the whole burnt offering, they shall cut it up limb by limb; and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall put fire on the altar and pile wood on the fire; and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall lay the cut pieces, the head and the fat on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar; but the entrails and the feet they shall wash with water, and the priest shall lay all of it on the altar. It is an offering, a sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to the Lord.’ (Leviticus 1:2–9) Is this not a clear type of the life of the saints, and of their complete closeness to God in spirit and sanctification? For we are pictured in the tame animals — the calf, I mean, and the sheep — dying to the world by putting the flesh to death, so that we may live to God through the Gospel way of life, and going up, as it were, as a sacrifice that is truly spiritual and most fragrant, offered through the Son to the Father. And come, let us go through each point again for you, as finely as we can.
For each one dedicates his own life as a kind of gift to God, who rules over all, but as it is given to each, and according to the measure he has. For one has his own gift from God in one way, and another in another, as the most wise Paul says (1 Corinthians 7:7). In the sizes of the animals, that is, in their differences of kind, the inequality and unlikeness among us — in spiritual strength, perhaps, and in strength of mind — is hinted at indirectly. So whether someone happens to be great, as in the calf, and very strong indeed, or has less, as in the sheep, and falls short of perfection, he brings himself to God as a gift, and that as a whole burnt offering, that is, as an entire dedication. He does not keep his life divided toward the things of the world, but keeps it whole and entire, acceptable and holy to God.
Let the manner of the sacrifice be such as this: ‘Let the victim be male and without blemish,’ it says (Leviticus 1:3). For the saints are always in some way conformed to Christ, who is truly male and without blemish: ‘male’ describes his power to lead, and ‘without blemish’ his holiness, which is beyond nature and cannot be surpassed. For we have one Leader, pure beyond all compare: Emmanuel (Matthew 23:10). In another sense too (for this too must be said, and I judge that it must)…
Greek
ἱερῶν Γραμμάτων τῆς ὧδε λαμπρᾶς καὶ ἀξιαγάστου λατρείας ἀνατύπου τὰς γραφάς.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἔφη τοίνυν Θεὸς ἐν τῷ Λευϊτικῷ, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι πρὸς πάντας τοὺς ἐξ Ἰσραήλ· «Ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐὰν προσαγάγῃ δῶρα τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀπὸ τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν βοῶν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν προβάτων προσοίσετε τὰ δῶρα ὑμῶν· ἐὰν ὁλοκαύτωμα τὸ δῶρον αὐτοῦ, ἐκ τῶν βοῶν ἄρσεν ἄμωμον προσάξει, πρὸς τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου προσοίσει αὐτὸ δεκτὸν ἐναντίον Κυρίου, καὶ ἐπιθήσει τὴν χεῖρα ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ καρπώματος δεκτὸν αὐτῷ, ἐξιλάσασθαι περὶ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ σφάξει τὸν μόσχον ἔναντι Κυρίου, καὶ προσοίσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἀαρὼν οἱ ἱερεῖς τὸ αἷμα, καὶ προσχεοῦσι τὸ αἷμα ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κύκλῳ τὸ ἐπὶ τῶν θυρῶν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου· καὶ ἐκδείραντες τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμα, μελιοῦσιν αὐτὸ κατὰ μέλη, καὶ ἐπιθήσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἀαρὼν οἱ ἱερεῖς πῦρ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, καὶ ἐπιστοιβάσουσι ξύλα ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ· καὶ ἐπιστοιβάσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἀαρὼν οἱ ἱερεῖς τὰ διχοτομήματα, καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν, καὶ τὸ στέαρ ἐπὶ τὰ ξύλα τὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ ὄντος ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, τὰ δὲ ἐγκοίλια καὶ τοὺς πόδας πλυνοῦσιν ὕδατι, καὶ ἐπιθήσει ὁ ἱερεὺς τὰ πάντα ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον· κάρπωμά ἐστι, θυσία, ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας τῷ Κυρίῳ.» Ἆρ' οὐκ ἐναργὴς ὁ τύπος τῆς τῶν ἁγίων ζωῆς, καὶ οἰκειότητος ὁλοτελοῦς, τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἁγιασμῷ; Μορφούμεθα γὰρ ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἡμέροις τῶν ζώων, μόσχῳ τε, φημὶ, καὶ προβάτῳ, κόσμῳ μὲν ἀποθνήσκοντες διὰ τοῦ τὴν σάρκα κατανεκροῦν, ἵνα Θεῷ ζήσωμεν διὰ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς πολιτείας, ἀναβαίνοντες δὲ ὥσπερ εἰς θυσίαν τὴν πνευματικὴν ἀληθῶς καὶ εὐοσμοτάτην δι' Υἱοῦ τῷ Πατρί. Καὶ φέρε σοι πάλιν τὰ ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ λέγωμεν, ἰσχνοεποῦντες ὡς ἔνι. Δῶρον μὲν γὰρ ὥσπερ τι τῷ πάντων κρατοῦντι Θεῷ τὴν ἰδίαν ἕκαστος ἀνατίθησι ζωὴν, πλὴν ὡς ἑκάστῳ δίδοται, καὶ ὡς ἂν ἔχοι μέτρον. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ, οὕτως· ὁ δὲ, οὕτως, ἴδιον ἔχων ἐκ Θεοῦ χάρισμα, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σοφωτάτου Παύλου φωνήν. Ἐν γὰρ τοῖς μεγέθεσι τῶν ζώων, ἤτοι ταῖς κατ' εἶδος διαφοραῖς, τὸ ἀνίσως τε καὶ ἀνομοίως ἔχον, κατ' ἰσχὺν τάχα που τὴν πνευματικὴν καὶ κατά γε τὴν τῆς διανοίας, πλαγίως ὑποσημαίνεται. Εἴτ' οὖν ὡς ἐν μόσχῳ μέγας εἴη τυχὸν, καὶ μὴν καὶ ἄγαν εὐσθενὴς, ἤγουν ὡς ἔν γε προβάτῳ τὸ μεῖον ἔχων, καὶ τοῦ τελείου κατόπιν ἰὼν, ἑαυτὸν εἰς δωροφορίαν προσκομίζει Θεῷ, καὶ τοῦτο εἰς ὁλοκαύτωμα, τουτέστιν, εἰς ὁλόκληρον ἀφιέρωσιν, οὐ μεμερισμένην ἔχων πρὸς τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ τὴν ζωὴν, ἀλλ' ὅλην ἐξ ὅλου δεκτήν τε [καὶ] ἱερὰν τῷ Θεῷ. Τοιόσδε τις ἔστω τῆς θυσίας ὁ τρόπος· Ἄρσεν τε καὶ ἄμωμον ἔστω τὸ θῦμα, φησί. Σύμμορφοι γὰρ ἀεί πώς εἰσιν οἱ ἅγιοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν ἄρσην τε καὶ ἄμωμος ἀληθῶς, τοῦ μὲν ἄρσενος, τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν, τοῦ δὲ ἀμώμου, τὴν ὑπερφυᾶ καὶ ἀνυπέρβλητον ἁγιότητα καταγράφοντος. Εἷς γὰρ ἡμῶν καθηγητὴς καὶ πάναγνος ἀσυγκρίτως, ὁ Ἐμμανουήλ. Ἄλλως τε (χρῆναι γὰρ δεῖ[ν] κἀκεῖνο εἰπεῖν, καὶ οἰήσομαι δεῖν)