Turtledove and dove: Christ and the saints
Cyril: …and he shall remove the crop with the feathers and throw them beside the altar on the east side, into the place of the ashes; and he shall break it at the wings, but shall not divide it; and the priest shall put it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a sacrificial burnt offering, a fragrant aroma to the Lord’ (Leviticus 1:16–17). See again how finely and skillfully their likeness to Christ has been kept for the saints. For he himself is truly the most vocal turtledove, the one from above, and likewise the gentlest dove. Indeed, in the Song of Songs it is written of him: ‘The voice of the turtledove was heard in the wilderness’ (Song of Songs 2:12). And he set himself before us as a type and pattern of the greatest and highest gentleness, saying: ‘Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart’ (Matthew 11:29). But see: because the saints themselves have come to be in the form of Christ, the beauty and the admirable worth found in goods that are, so to speak, the same have been well kept for them too. For they too may rightly be understood as turtledoves, since they send forth the divine and holy word to those who listen, and are eager to make songs and melodies for the glory of God. That is why they say: ‘My tongue shall tell of your righteousness, and of your praise all day long’ (Psalm 35:28). Moreover, they live out the life that is in Christ and hasten along the gentlest path of the Gospel way of life: to those who want to strike them on the right cheek they turn the left as well, and to those who press them into service for one mile they freely make a gift of going two, if those so choose (Matthew 5:39, 41). So they consecrate themselves to God as a fragrant aroma and as a whole burnt offering, in the form, as it were, of turtledoves and doves. Then the priest wrings off the head and puts it on the altar, having poured out the blood (Leviticus 1:15). For the mind of the holiest saints is truly holy, and holy in the highest degree, and so it would be fitting for it to be dedicated to the wholly pure God. For it is full of good thoughts, and it gives off the fragrant ointment of the true knowledge of God; for, as it is written, ‘the thoughts of the righteous are just judgments’ (Proverbs 12:5). And that the life of those who live in the fear of God is holy too would become clear from the rule that the blood must be poured out at the holy altar; for the blood is a type of life. The crop of the birds, that is, the craw, is removed together with the feathers, and it is thrown away as wholly useless. This too would be a clear sign that the life of the saints has been shown to stand above bodily indulgence, so that in a way it seems no longer to need even the stomach that holds the food. For such, in a way, is the life of those who labor most earnestly: paying no heed to food, and perhaps even to the stomach itself, they waste away the flesh and put pleasures to death, and they have become free and released from everything worldly and superfluous. This, I think, is what the casting away of the feathers means. For birds need their plumage; and we too need the things by which this body from the earth is served in its own needs: I mean clothing, and what serves for food, and besides these…
Greek
ἀφελεῖ τὸν πρόλοβον σὺν τοῖς πτεροῖς, καὶ ἐκβαλεῖ αὐτὰ παρὰ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κατ' ἀνατολὰς εἰς τὸν τόπον τῆς σποδοῦ, καὶ ἐκκλάσει αὐτὸ ἐκ τῶν πτερύγων, καὶ οὐ διελεῖ, καὶ ἐπιθήσει αὐτὸ ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐπὶ τὰ ξύλα τὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ πυρός. Κάρπωμά ἐστι θυσίας, ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας τῷ Κυρίῳ.» Ἄθρει δὴ πάλιν, ὡς ἄριστά τε καὶ εὐτέχνως τὸ ἐν συμμορφίᾳ φαίνεσθαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῖς ἁγίοις τετήρηται. Ἔστι μὲν γὰρ ἀληθῶς ἡ ἄνωθέν τε καὶ λαλιστάτη τρυγὼν αὐτὸς, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἡ πραοτάτη περιστερά. Καὶ γοῦν ἐν μὲν τῷ Ἄσματι τῶν ᾀσμάτων γέγραπται περὶ αὐτοῦ· «Φωνὴ τρυγόνος ἠκούσθη ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ·» πραότητος δὲ τῆς ἄγαν καὶ ἀνωτάτω τύπον ὥσπερ τινὰ καὶ ὑπογραμμὸν ἑαυτὸν ἡμῖν παρετίθει, λέγων· «Μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ὅτι πρᾶός εἰμι, καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ.» Ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ καὶ αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἁγίοις, διά τοι τὸ ἐν μορφῇ γενέσθαι Χριστοῦ, τὸ ἐν ἴσοις ὥσπερ ἀγαθοῖς εὐπρεπές τε καὶ ἀξιάγαστον εὖ μάλα τετήρηται· τρυγόνες γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ νοοῖντ' ἂν εἰκότως, τὸν θεῖόν τε καὶ ἱερὸν τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις ἱεῖσαι λόγον, ᾠδάς τε καὶ μέλη τὰ εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ ποιεῖσθαι σπουδάζουσαι. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ λέγουσιν· «Ἡ γλῶσσά μου μελετήσει τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν τὸν ἔπαινόν σου.» Καὶ μέντοι καὶ τὸν ἐν Χριστῷ διαζῶσι βίον, καὶ τὴν πραοτάτην τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς πολιτείας ἴενται τρίβον, τοῖς παίειν ἐθέλουσιν εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα, παραφέροντες καὶ τὴν ἀριστερὰν, καὶ τοῖς ἀγγαρεύουσι μίλιον, ἓν ἐθελοντὶ δωρούμενοι τὸ, εἴπερ ἕλοιντο, διαστείχειν καὶ δύο. Οὐκοῦν σφᾶς αὐτοὺς, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, καὶ εἰς ὁλοκαύτωμα καθιεροῦσι Θεῷ, καὶ ὡς ἐν εἴδει τρυγόνων καὶ περιστερῶν. Εἶτα τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποκνίσας ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐπιτίθησι τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ, προσχεύσας τὸ αἷμα. Ἅγιος γὰρ ἀληθῶς, καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα τῶν ἱερωτάτων ἁγίων ὁ νοῦς, ἀνακεῖσθαι πρέποι τῷ πανάγνῳ Θεῷ. Ἐννοιῶν γάρ ἐστιν ἐπίμεστος ἀγαθῶν, καὶ τῆς ἀληθοῦς θεογνωσίας εὐωδιάζει τὸ μύρον «Λογισμοὶ γὰρ δικαίων, κρίματα,» κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· ἁγία δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἡ ζωὴ τῶν ἐν φόβῳ Θεοῦ, σαφὲς ἂν γένοιτο, διὰ τὸ δεῖν τῷ ἁγίῳ θυσιαστηρίῳ προσχεῖσθαι τὸ αἷμα. Ζωῆς γὰρ τύπος τὸ αἷμα· καὶ ἀφαιρεῖται μὲν τῶν στρουθίων ὁ πρόλοβος, τουτέστιν, ἡ φύσα, σὺν τοῖς πτεροῖς· ἐκβάλλεται δὲ ὡς ἀχρεῖον παντελῶς. Σημεῖον δ' ἂν γένοιτο καὶ τοῦτο σαφὲς, τοῦ καὶ τρυφῆς ἀνωτέρω τῆς σωματικῆς τὸν τῶν ἁγίων ἀναπεφάνθαι βίον, ὡς δοκεῖν ἤδη πως, μηδὲ τῆς τὰ σιτία χωρούσης ἐπιδεῖσθαι γαστρός. Τοιουτοσὶ γάρ πώς ἐστι τῶν ὅτι μάλιστα φιλοπονωτάτων ὁ βίος· οἳ σιτίων ὁμοῦ καὶ αὐτῆς τάχα που τῆς γαστρὸς ἀλογήσαντες, κατατήκουσι τὴν σάρκα, καὶ κατανεκροῦσιν ἡδονὰς, ἐλεύθεροι δὲ καὶ ἀπηλλαγμένοι παντὸς γεγόνασι κοσμικοῦ τε καὶ περιττοῦ. Τοῦτο γὰρ, οἶμαι, ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν πτερῶν ἀποβολή. Ἀναγκαία μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ὀρνέοις ἡ πτέρωσις· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς, τὰ δι' ὧνπερ ἂν εἰς ἰδίαν χρείαν τουτὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ὑπηρετοῖτο σῶμα· ἄμφια δὲ δὴ λέγω, καὶ τροφῆς ὄργανα, καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτοις