Head, entrails and feet; the lamb slain toward the north
Cyril: …For ‘the word of God is living,’ he says, ‘and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden before him, but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, to whom we must give account’ (Hebrews 4:12–13). As the priest kindles the fire, the divided pieces are laid on the altar, with the head and the feet, and the entrails too, washed with water (Leviticus 1:7–9). For everything that belongs to the saints is fragrant, and nothing that is believed to be in them is rejected by God. The flesh would be a type of their life in the body, the coarser life, so to speak; for it is honorable and wholly pure. The head is a sign of the mind; the entrails stand for thoughts and desires; and the feet, in turn, are a subtle figure of the active life and of our walk, as it were, in deeds.
Palladius: How subtle the argument is!
Cyril: Even so, it holds the truth, though it flashes past us as if through mist and darkness; for the law is deep. ‘If his gift to the Lord,’ it says, ‘is from the flock, from the lambs or from the kids, for a whole burnt offering, he shall bring a male without blemish, and he shall lay his hand on its head, and they shall slaughter it at the side of the altar toward the north, before the Lord’ (Leviticus 1:10–11). This victim too is cut into pieces, and its entrails are washed, in the same way as the calf; and again he laid down that it must be carried up onto the altar (Leviticus 1:12–13). The meaning of the spiritual reading would be the same in this case as well. Yet there is one difference: the lamb was slaughtered at the side of the altar toward the north.
Palladius: What, then, is the meaning of this?
Cyril: Do you not know that the land of the Jews lies somewhat to the south, while the countless flocks of the nations have divided among themselves the regions toward the northern sea, settled in countries and cities?
Palladius: True.
Cyril: The sacrifice of the lamb in the more northern part, as it were, is therefore a figure showing that the flocks toward the north will also be holy to God. This is what the Savior too foretold about the flock from the nations, when he said: ‘And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and there will be one flock, one shepherd’ (John 10:16).
Palladius: I understand what you mean.
Cyril: The God of all sets those who choose to fulfill what the law prescribes above sloth and beyond all reluctance: he in a way smooths the road of offering, and directs that the sacrifice be completed even with creatures smaller than a sheep, saying: ‘If he brings a gift to the Lord, a burnt offering from the birds, he shall bring his gift from the turtledoves or from the doves; and the priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and the priest shall put it on the altar, and drain its blood at the base of the altar (Leviticus 1:14–15).
Greek
«Ζῶν γὰρ ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, φησὶ, καὶ ἐνεργὴς, καὶ τομώτερος ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον, καὶ διικνούμενος ἄχρι μερισμοῦ ψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος, ἁρμῶν τε καὶ μυελῶν, καὶ κριτικὸς ἐνθυμήσεων καὶ ἐννοιῶν καρδίας. Καὶ οὐκ ἔστι κτίσις ἀφανὴς ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, πάντα δὲ γυμνὰ καὶ τετραχηλισμένα τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ, πρὸς ὃν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος.» Ἀνακαίοντος δὲ τοῦ ἱερέως τὸ πῦρ, ἐπιτίθεται τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ τὰ διχοτομήματα, σὺν τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ τοῖς ποσὶ, καὶ μέντοι καὶ ἐνδοσθίοις, ἐκνενιμμένοις ὕδασιν. Εὐώδη γὰρ ἅπαντα τὰ τῶν ἁγίων, οὐδὲν ἀπόβλητον παρὰ Θεῷ τῶν ἐκείνοις ἐνεῖναι πεπιστευμένων. Εἶεν δ' ἂν εἰς τύπον τὰ μὲν κρέα, τῆς οἱονεὶ παχυτέρας αὐτῶν καὶ ἐνσωμάτου ζωῆς· σεμνὴ γὰρ αὐτὴ καὶ πάναγνος· κεφαλὴ δὲ, νοῦ σημεῖον, λογισμῶν δὲ καὶ ἐπιθυμιῶν, τὰ ἐντόσθια· πόδες δὲ αὖ, πρακτικῆς καὶ τῆς ὡς ἐν ἔργοις πορείας αἴνιγμα λεπτόν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ὡς δριμὺς ὁ λόγος!
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἔχει δ' οὖν ὅμως τὸ ἀληθὲς, καίτοι διάττων ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν ὁμίχλῃ καὶ σκότῳ· βαθὺς γὰρ ὁ νόμος. «Ἐὰν δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν προβάτων, φησὶ, τὸ δῶρον αὐτοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀπό τε τῶν ἀρνῶν καὶ τῶν ἐρίφων εἰς ὁλοκαύτωμα· ἄρσεν ἄμωμον προσάξει αὐτὸ, καὶ ἐπιθήσει τὴν χεῖρα ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ σφάξουσιν αὐτὸ, ἐκ πλαγίων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου πρὸς βοῤῥᾶν, ἔναντι Κυρίου.» Μελίζεται δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ, ἐκνενιμμένων τῶν ἐντοσθίων κατὰ τὸν ἴσον τῷ μόσχῳ τρόπον. Ἀνακομίζεσθαι δὲ δεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐθεσμοθέτει πάλιν· ὁ αὐτὸς δ' ἂν εἴη τῆς θεωρίας καὶ ἐπὶ τῷδε λόγος. Πλὴν ἔχει τι παρηλλαγμένον· ἐσφάζετο γὰρ ὁ ἀμνὸς ἐκ πλαγίων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου πρὸς βοῤῥᾶν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τίς οὖν ἄρα ἐστὶ καὶ ὁ τοῦδε λόγος;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἢ οὐκ οἶσθα, ὅτι νοτιωτέρα πώς ἐστι τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἡ γῇ, τὰ δέ γε πρὸς θάλασσαν τὴν βορειοτέραν αἱ ἀναρίθμητοι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀγέλαι διεμοιρήσαντο, κατὰ χώρας καὶ πόλεις συνῳκισμέναι;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀληθές.
{ΚΥΡ.} Αἴνιγμα δὴ οὖν τοῦ καὶ αὐτὰς τὰς εἰς βοῤῥᾶν ἀγέλας, ἱερὰς ἔσεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ, τὸ ὡς ἐν μέρει τῷ βορειοτέρῳ καταθύεσθαι τὸν ἀμνόν. Τοῦτό τοι καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ περὶ τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀγέλης προανεφώνει λέγων· «Καὶ ἄλλα πρόβατα ἔχω, ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τῆς αὐλῆς ταύτης, κἀκεῖνά με δεῖ ἀγαγεῖν, καὶ γενήσεται μία ποίμνη, εἷς ποιμήν.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Συνῆκα ὃ φής.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ῥᾳθυμίας δὲ ἀμείνους καὶ ὄκνου παντὸς ἐπέκεινα τιθεὶς ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς τοὺς οἵπερ ἂν ἕλοιντο πληροῦν τὰ νενομισμένα, καταλεαίνει τρόπον τινὰ τῆς καρποφορίας τὴν ὁδὸν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔτι προβάτου μείοσι τὰ τῆς θυσίας ἀποπεραίνεσθαι δεῖν ἐπιτάττει, λέγων· «Ἐὰν δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν πετεινῶν κάρπωμα προσφέρῃ δῶρον τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ προσοίσει ἀπὸ τῶν τρυγόνων, ἢ ἀπὸ τῶν περιστερῶν τὸ δῶρον αὐτοῦ, καὶ προσοίσει αὐτὸ ὁ ἱερεὺς πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον, καὶ ἀποκνίσει τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπιθήσει ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, καὶ στραγγιεῖ τὸ αἷμα πρὸς τὴν βάσιν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου. Καὶ