Small gifts accepted; God seen in the Church; the ark
Cyril: …or for things that many people perhaps find hard to come by, but also goats’ hair and rams’ skins, showing that even what is small and cheap, if the one who has chosen to bring an offering has nothing finer, is not rejected by God; perhaps it even ranks equal with the most precious gifts, or wins greater praise. So too Christ, of course, did not leave without admiration the widow in Jerusalem who brought to the treasury something small and very easy to come by (Mark 12:41–44; Luke 21:1–4), yet perhaps great for those in the deepest poverty, for whom even parting with the cheapest things is likely to be a hardship. When the firstfruits had been received, ‘You shall make me a sanctuary,’ he says, ‘and I will be seen among you’ (Exodus 25:8). For Christ appears in the Church and shines upon those within it, as the Psalms say: ‘God is the Lord, and he has shone forth upon us’ (Psalm 118:27). And observe how, although he had come down on the mountain in the form of fire and had been seen by all the people (Exodus 19:11, 18), as it is written, he says, as though he had not yet appeared, ‘I will be seen among you,’ once the sanctuary has been raised. He all but cries aloud, as one can clearly see, that those visions were shadows of the true sight of God, and that the true revelation is Christ, in whom we have seen the Father himself (John 14:9). Indeed, when the Jews supposed that on Mount Sinai they had truly seen the God of all things, he showed them how utterly foolish their thinking was, saying: ‘You have not heard his voice, nor seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent’ (John 5:37–38). So he says, ‘I will be seen among you,’ when the sanctuary has been raised. And this was a type of the Church, which came into being in the likeness of the Church above. For he says, ‘You shall make it for me according to all that I show you on the mountain; so you shall make it’ (Exodus 25:9). For there was shown to the blessed Moses, as I said, a type of the holy churches, and also he himself who became man for our sake, shaped in many forms as though in shadow. Yet on each of the patterns the discussion would grow long and drawn out, and full of minute detail. But since some things belong to and suit the construction of the objects that were made, while others look toward the purpose of spiritual contemplation, come, let us speak of what is useful for this purpose, and let the rest go.
Palladius: I do not understand what you mean.
Cyril: Then look at what I mean, for you will understand it, I think, quite without effort. He commanded that an ark be made of wood that does not decay, overlaid inside and out with pure gold, and bearing within it what are called the testimonies, that is, the law on tablets. And the instructions about it did not stop there: he commands, further, that poles be made of wood that does not decay, gilded in the same way, and gold rings, and a twisted border all around. He fixed the length, breadth and height of the work (Exodus 25:10–16). But if someone wished to probe such things very closely in the mystical sense, he will perhaps find out what the ark is, and the…
Greek
ἤγουν τὰ πολλοῖς δυσπόριστα τυχὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τρίχας αἰγείας, καὶ κριῶν δέρματα, δεικνὺς ὅτι καὶ τὸ βραχύ τε καὶ εὐτελὲς, εἰ μηδὲν ἔχοι λαμπρότερον ὁ καρποφορεῖν ᾑρημένος, οὐκ ἀπόβλητον τῷ Θεῷ· ἢ τάχα που καὶ ἐν ἴσῳ τοῖς τιμιωτάτοις, ἢ καὶ ἐν ἐπαίνῳ μείζονι, καθάπερ ἀμέλει καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς οὐκ ἀθαύμαστον ἠφίει τὴν ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις χήραν, τῷ γαζοφυλακίῳ προσάγουσαν βραχύ τι καὶ εὐπόριστον κομιδῆ, μέγα δ' ἴσως τοῖς ἐν ἐσχάτῃ πενίᾳ, οὓς δὴ καὶ κατατρύχειν εἰκὸς καὶ τῶν ἄγαν εὐτελεστάτων τὴν ἀπεμπολήν. Ληφθεισῶν δὲ τῶν ἀπαρχῶν, «Ἁγίασμά μοι ποιήσεις,» φησὶ, «καὶ ὀφθήσομαι ἐν ὑμῖν.» Ἐπιφαίνεται γὰρ ἐν Ἐκκλησίᾳ Χριστὸς, καὶ ἐπιλάμπει τοῖς ἐν αὐτῇ, κατά γε τὸ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς, «Θεὸς Κύριος, καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν.» Ἐπιτήρει δὲ ὅπως, καίτοι καταβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος ἐν εἴδει πυρὸς, ὀφθείς τε τῷ λαῷ παντί· γέγραπται γὰρ οὕτως, ὡς οὔπω φανεὶς, τὸ Ὀφθήσομαι, φησὶν, ἐν ὑμῖν, ἐγηγερμένου τοῦ ἁγιάσματος. Μόνον γὰρ οὐχὶ διακεκραγὼς ὁρᾶται σαφῶς, ὅτι σκιαὶ μὲν, αἱ ὀπτασίαι ἐκεῖναι τῆς ἀληθοῦς θεοπτίας. Ἡ δὲ ἀληθὴς ἀνάδειξις, ὁ Χριστὸς, ἐν ᾧ καὶ αὐτὸν τεθεάμεθα τὸν Πατέρα. Καὶ γοῦν Ἰουδαίους οἰομένους ὅτι τεθέανται κατὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σινᾶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν, ἀνούστατα διατιθεμένους διήλεγχε, λέγων· «Οὔτε φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκηκόατε, οὔτε εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἑωράκατε, καὶ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ὑμῖν μένοντα, ὅτι ὃν ἀπέστειλεν ἐκεῖνος, τούτῳ ὑμεῖς οὐ πιστεύετε.» Οὐκοῦν ὀφθήσομαι, φησὶν, ἐν ὑμῖν ἐγηγερμένου τοῦ ἁγιάσματος. Τοῦτο δὲ ἦν Ἐκκλησίας τύπος, καθ' ὁμοιότητα γενομένης τῆς ἄνω. Καὶ γάρ τοι φησὶ, «Ποιήσεις μοι κατὰ πάντα ὅσα δεικνύω σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει, οὕτω ποιήσεις.» Παρεδείχθη γάρ τοι τῷ μακαρίῳ Μωσῇ τύπος, ὡς ἔφην, τῶν ἁγίων Ἐκκλησιῶν, καὶ πολυειδῶς αὐτὸς ὡς ἐν σκιᾷ πλαττόμενος ὁ δι' ἡμᾶς γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος. Ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ γε μὴν τῶν παραδειγμάτων πολὺς ἂν γένοιτο καὶ μακρὸς ὁ λόγος, καὶ ἰσχνομυθίας ἔμπλεως. Ἐπειδὴ δέ ἐστι τὰ μὲν ἴδιά τε καὶ πρέποντα τῇ τῶν γεγονότων κατασκευῇ, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τὴν τῶν θεωρημάτων ἀπονένευκε χρείαν, φέρε, λέγωμεν τὰ εἴς γε τοῦτο λυσιτελῆ, μεθέντες τὰ ἕτερα.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐ συνίημι ὃ φής.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἄθρει δὴ οὖν ὅ φημι· συνήσεις γὰρ, οἶμαι, καὶ λίαν ἀμογητί· κιβωτὸν γενέσθαι προστέταχεν ἐκ ξύλων ἀσήπτων, ἔσωθέν τε καὶ ἔξωθεν χρυσίῳ καθαρῷ διαπεπυκασμένην, καὶ τὰ καλούμενα μαρτύρια, τοῦτ' ἔστι, τὸν νόμον ὡς ἐν πλαξὶν ὠδίνουσαν, καὶ οὐ μέχρι τούτων τὰ ἐπ' αὐτήν· ἀναφορέας γὰρ δὴ γενέσθαι προστάττει πάλιν ἐξ ἀσήπτων ξύλων, ἐν ἴσῳ κεχρυσωμένους, χρυσοῦς τε δακτυλίους καὶ στρεπτὰ κύκλῳ. Μῆκός τε καὶ πλάτος καὶ ὕψος ὡρίσατο τῷ τεχνήματι. Ἀλλ' εἰ βούλοιτό τις πολυπραγμονεῖν εὖ μάλα τὰ τοιάδε μυστικῶς, εὑρήσει μὲν ἴσως, ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστιν ἡ κιβωτὸς, καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ