Cleansed before approaching God; the laver made from mirrors
Cyril: Once we have trained ourselves in this, we are allowed to enter the inner tent, to bring spiritual sacrifices to God (1 Peter 2:5), and, as if in place of incense, to consecrate in a sense the sweet fragrance of the Gospel way of life. And he gives the useful instruction that those who wish to go into the Holy of Holies, and those who have charge of the sacred works, must wash, so that they may not die (Exodus 30:20–21). For it is a perilous and truly harmful thing to draw near to God without being cleansed. That is why the wise Paul charges us, if we wish to share in the mystical blessing, to examine ourselves and only then to come forward (1 Corinthians 11:28). And he reveals that carelessness in these matters is full of danger, when he says, ‘That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a good number have fallen asleep. For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the world’ (1 Corinthians 11:30–32).
Palladius: It is settled, then, that the sacred laver pointed in advance to the grace that comes to us through holy baptism.
Cyril: So it is; do not doubt it at all. And if you look closely at how it was made, you will, I think, be still more amazed. For this is written about Bezalel, who crafted the furnishings of the tent: ‘He made the bronze laver and its bronze base from the mirrors of the women who fasted, who fasted at the doors of the tent of witness on the day he pitched it’ (Exodus 38:8). ‘And he made the laver so that Moses and Aaron and his sons might wash their hands and their feet from it when they went into the tent of witness; whenever they approached the altar to minister, they washed from it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses’ (Exodus 40:31–32).
Palladius: And what is this matter of the mirrors? And who were the women who fasted?
Cyril: Many things that took place are not clearly narrated in divine Scripture; they are indicated somehow in passing, as is indeed the case with the matter before us. For Moses did not say where the women fasted, or who they were, when the holy tent had been set up. But that it happened, no one could doubt, for it is stated, even if not clearly. But let us leave this and go on to that other point, if you agree.
Palladius: Which point?
Cyril: What might the women who fasted be a figure of? And what does it mean that the bronze laver was shaped from the mirrors?
Palladius: Well, it is for you to tell me this too.
Cyril: Listen, then. The Israelites served idols while they endured slavery under the Egyptians, and they spent long years living by the Egyptians’ laws. Now it was a custom among the Egyptians, especially for the women, to go regularly to the temples dressed in linen garments, solemnly adorned with a mirror in the left hand and a sistrum in the right; these were women who,
Greek
τὸ καθαρὸν καὶ ἀκίβδηλον ὑποσημαίνουσιν. Τουτὶ δὲ ἡμῖν ἐξησκηκόσιν, ἐφεῖται μὲν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἐσωτέραν σκηνὴν, προσκομίζειν δὲ τῷ Θεῷ θυσίας πνευματικὰς, καὶ ὡς ἐν τάξει θυμιαμάτων τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς πολιτείας καθιεροῦν οἱονείπως τὴν εὐοσμίαν. Παρεγγυᾷ δὲ χρησίμως ἀπονίζεσθαι δεῖν τοὺς εἰς τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων εἰσελαύνειν ἐθέλοντας, καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ἔργων ἐπιμελητὰς, ἵνα μὴ ἀποθάνωσιν. Χρῆμα γὰρ ἐπισφαλὲς καὶ ἐπιζήμιον ἀληθῶς, τὸ ἐγγίζειν Θεῷ μὴ κεκαθαρμένους. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ σοφὸς ἡμῖν ἐπισκήπτει Παῦλος, εἰ τῆς μυστικῆς εὐλογίας μεταλαχεῖν ἐθέλοιμεν, ἑαυτοὺς δοκιμάζειν, προσιέναι τε οὕτω λοιπόν. Πρᾶγμα δὲ ὅτι καὶ κινδύνου μεστὸν τὸ ἀτημελὲς ἐν τούτοις, ἐκκαλύπτει λέγων· «Διὰ τοῦτο ἐν ὑμῖν πολλοὶ ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ἄῤῥωστοι, καὶ κοιμῶνται ἱκανοί. Εἰ γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκρίνομεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐκρινόμεθα. Κρινόμενοι δὲ ὑπὸ Κυρίου, παιδευόμεθα, ἵνα μὴ σὺν τῷ κόσμῳ κατακριθῶμεν.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἄραρεν οὖν ὅτι τὴν διὰ τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος ὁ ἱερὸς ἡμῖν λουτὴρ προκατεδείκνυε χάριν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὧδε ἔχει· μὴ γὰρ ἐνδοιάσῃς ὅλως. Καὶ τόν γε τῆς τούτου κατασκευῆς περιαθρήσας τρόπον, κατατεθηπὼς ἂν, οἶμαι, καὶ ἔτι μειζόνως ἔσῃ. Γέγραπται γὰρ ὡδὶ περὶ τοῦ Βεσελεὴλ, τοῦ τὰ ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τετεχνουργηκότος· «Οὗτος ἐποίησε τὸν λουτῆρα τὸν χαλκοῦν, καὶ τὴν βάσιν αὐτοῦ χαλκῆν, ἐκ τῶν κατόπτρων τῶν νηστευσασῶν, αἳ ἐνήστευσαν παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, ἐν ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἔπηξεν αὐτήν. Καὶ ἐποίησε τὸν λουτῆρα, ἵνα νίπτωνται ἐξ αὐτοῦ Μωσῆς τε καὶ Ἀαρὼν καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς πόδας, εἰσπορευομένων αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου, οἳ ὅταν προσπορεύωνται εἰς τὸ θυσιαστήριον, λειτουργεῖν, ἐνίπτοντο ἐξ αὐτοῦ, καθάπερ συνέταξεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Μωσῇ.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Καὶ τί τῶν κατόπτρων τὸ χρῆμα; τίνες δὲ ἄρα καὶ αἱ νηστεύσασαι;
{ΚΥΡ.} Πολλὰ τῶν γεγενημένων σαφῆ μὲν οὐκ ἔχει παρὰ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ τὴν ἀφήγησιν. Σημαίνεται δέ πως ἐκ παραδρομῆς, καθάπερ ἀμέλει καὶ τόδε τὸ ἐν χερσί. Ποῦ γὰρ, ἢ τίνες νενηστεύκασι τῆς ἁγίας ἐγηγερμένης σκηνῆς, οὐ λελάληκεν ὁ Μωσῆς. Ὅτι δὲ γέγονεν, οὐκ ἐνδοιάσαι τις ἄν· εἴρηται γὰρ, εἰ καὶ μὴ σαφῶς. Ἀλλὰ τουτὶ δὴ μεθέντες, ἐπ' ἐκεῖνο ἴωμεν, εἰ δοκεῖ.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τὸ ποῖον;
{ΚΥΡ.} Τὰ νενηστευκότα γύναια τίνος ἂν εἶεν εἰς τύπον; τί δὲ τὸ ἐκ τῶν κατόπτρων τὸν λουτῆρα πλάττεσθαι τὸν χαλκοῦν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Καὶ μὴν, σὸν ἤδη πως καὶ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἄκουε δή· Λελατρεύκασιν εἰδώλοις οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ, τὴν ὑπὸ τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις ἀνατλάντες θητείαν, καὶ τοῖς ἐκείνων διαβιοῦντες νόμοις, μακροὺς διατετελέκασι χρόνους. Ἔθος τοίνυν Αἰγυπτίων μάλιστα γυναιξὶν, εἰσφοιτᾷν ἱεροῖς, λινῇ μὲν ἐσθῆτι κατεσταλμέναις, κατόπτρῳ δὲ τὴν ἀριστερὰν, καὶ σείστρῳ τὴν δεξιὰν ἱεροπρεπῶς κατεστεμμέναις, αἳ ὅτι