Christ equal yet above Moses; Passover lamb; unleavened with bitter herbs
were somehow in equal as to having come unto the eightieth year, even if into ministry after him? Thus also Christ. Equal somehow to Moses through the human, and second unto economy, but overlying and having stood up above, as in Godhead and glory according to the holy Trinity.
Palladius: How clear and evident the word.
Cyril: What then? is that also not worthy to see besides these?
Palladius: What sort?
Cyril: For those from Israel have not yet run out from the Egyptians’ land. But neither would they thus have been released from the hard-to-bear and hated slavery to them, or rather, neither would they at all have fled the death cast upon the firstborn in Egypt, and the hard-to-escape hand of the destroyer, unless having sacrificed the lamb unto a type of Christ who takes away the sins of the world. They anointed the doorposts with the blood, according to the law defined for them through Moses; and they were making Christ’s mystery as it were a weapon and rampart of their own soul. For Christ’s death is a medicine loosing death, and those partaking of the mystical blessing are better than corruption, according to ‘Amen, amen I say to you; the one eating my flesh, and drinking my blood, has eternal life.’ And having eaten up the lamb, they were eating unleavened breads upon it, the type indicating the elegance of the evangelical teachings as in unleavened and most pure food, yet to be not without sweat, and without bitterness according to the tribulations. Therefore bitter herbs being eaten together with the unleavened breads indicate that the guileless and most pure life in Christ will not be without bitterness. Therefore the bitter herb must necessarily be brought in together with the unleavened foods. For ‘All who wish to live in Christ will be persecuted,’ he says. Yet those who have suffered this are blessed. For suffering together they will also reign together, according to what is written. Does the word go out somewhere toward the unbeautiful?
Palladius: Not at all. ON THE WORSHIP AND SERVICE IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH
Greek
μὲν ἤστην ἐν ἴσῳ κατά γε τὸ ἥκειν εἰς ὀγδοηκοστὸν ἔτος, εἰ καὶ μετ' αὐτὸν εἰς διακονίαν; Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστός. Ἴσος μὲν κατά τι τῷ Μωσῇ, διὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, καὶ δεύτερος εἰς οἰκονομίαν, ὑπερκείμενος δὲ καὶ ὑπερανεστηκὼς, ὡς ἐν Θεότητί τε καὶ δόξῃ τῇ κατὰ τὴν ἁγίαν Τριάδα.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ὡς σαφής τε καὶ ἐναργὴς ὁ λόγος.
{ΚΥΡ.} Τί δέ; οὐχὶ κἀκεῖνο πρὸς τούτοις ἄξιον ἰδεῖν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τὸ ποῖον;
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐ γάρτοι τῆς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐκδεδραμήκασι γῆς οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραήλ. Ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἂν οὕτω τὴν δυσαχθῆ τε καὶ κατεστυγημένην αὐτοῖς ἀπελύσαντο δουλείαν, μᾶλλον δὲ, οὐδ' ἂν ὅλως διέδρασαν τὸν τοῖς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πρωτοτόκοις ἐπιῤῥιφέντα θάνατον, καὶ τὴν δυσδιάφυκτον χεῖρα τοῦ ὀλοθρευτοῦ, εἰ μὴ καταθύσαντες τὸν ἀμνὸν εἰς τύπον Χριστοῦ τοῦ αἴροντος τὰς ἁμαρτίας τοῦ κόσμου. Ἔχρισαν μὲν τῷ αἵματι τὰς φλιὰς, κατὰ τὸν σφίσι διὰ Μωσέως ὁρισθέντα νόμον· τὸ δὲ Χριστοῦ μυστήριον ὅπλον ὥσπερ τι καὶ ἀνατείχισμα τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἐποιοῦντο ψυχῆς. Λυ[κ]τικὸν γὰρ θανάτου φάρμακον ὁ Χριστοῦ θάνατος, καὶ φθορᾶς ἀμείνους οἱ τῆς μυστικῆς εὐλογίας μέτοχοι, κατά γε τὸ, «Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν· ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα, καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα, ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον.» Κατεδηδοκότες δὲ τὸν ἀμνὸν, ἄρτους ἀζύμους ἤσθιον ἐπ' αὐτῷ, τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν παιδευμάτων ὡς ἐν ἀζύμῳ τε καὶ καθαρωτάτῃ τροφῇ παραδηλοῦντος τοῦ τύπου τὴν ἀστειότητα, πλὴν ἐσομένην οὐκ ἀνιδρωτὶ, καὶ πικρίας δίχα τῆς κατὰ τὰς θλίψεις. Τοιγάρτοι πικρίδας συνεσθίεσθαι τοῖς ἄρτοις τοῖς οὐκ ἐζυμωμένοις, τὴν ἄδολον καὶ καθαρωτάτην ἐν Χριστῷ ζωὴν οὐ δίχα πικρίας ἐσομένην ὑποδηλοῖ. Συνεισκομιστέον τοιγαροῦν ἀναγκαίως ταῖς ἀζύμοις τροφαῖς τὴν πικρίδα. «Πάντες γὰρ οἱ θέλοντες ζῇν ἐν Χριστῷ διωχθήσονται,» φησίν. Πλὴν οἵγε τοῦτο παθόντες, μακάριοι. Συμπάσχοντες γὰρ καὶ συμβασιλεύσουσι, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Μὴ ἐξοίχεταί ποι πρὸς τὸ ἀκαλλὲς ὁ λόγος;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐδαμῶς. ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΝ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ ΠΡΟΣΚΥΝΗΣΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΑΤΡΕΙΑΣ
About this text
Cyril continues the dialogue with Palladius on worship in spirit and truth. Book 2 of a seventeen-book dialogue — not the whole work.
English follows Migne PG 68 (Aubert reprint). The PDF and a cleaned text of the same print were checked against each other. This page is Book 2 of seventeen. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 68 De adoratione Book 2 (Aubert reprint) (Greek · Book 2)
- Checked print PDF of PG 68 De adoratione (Greek · Book 2)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.