Eusebius of Caesarea, On the Paschal Celebration

De solemnitate paschali

OF EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA CONCERNING THE FEAST OF PASCHA. 1. Perhaps it would not be inopportune to discuss again the Pascha, handed down from of old to the children of the Hebrews in a figurative manner. For when the Hebrews, performing shadows of things to come, first celebrated the feast of phasek, a creature was taken for them from the flock; and this was a lamb or a sheep; then they themselves sacrificed this with their own hands; and then first with the blood each one anointed the lintels and doorposts of their own houses; in this way somehow bloodying thresholds and halls for the overthrow of the destroyer. And using the flesh of the sheep for food, and having their loins girt with a belt, 24.696 and partaking of the food of unleavened bread, and offering bitter herbs, they passed over from place to place, from the land of the Egyptians to the desert. For it was legislated for them to do these things together with the slaughter and eating of the sheep. Hence the transition from Egypt fulfilled for them the name of the passover. But these things happened to them in a typical manner, but were written for our sake. And Paul indeed interprets, revealing the truth of the ancient symbols through which he says: For Christ our Passover was sacrificed. And the reason he was sacrificed the Baptist presents, saying: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. For the saving body was delivered to death as a victim that averts all evils, which indeed, in the manner of a purification, took away the sin of the whole world; for Isaiah cries out clearly: He bears our sins and suffers for us.

2. Feeding on the rational flesh of this saving victim, which saved the entire human race by its own blood, that is, on the teachings and words that proclaim the kingdom of heaven, we rightly delight in the delight that is according to God. But also by faith in his blood, which indeed he gave as a ransom for our salvation, sealing our bodies, the houses of the soul, we drive away from ourselves every kind of treacherous demon; and celebrating the feast of the passover, we practice passing over to divine things, as having long ago passed from Egypt to the desert. For in this way we too embark on a certain untrodden and desolate journey for the many, making the old leaven of godless error an exile from the soul itself, and offering the true bitter herbs through a bitter and painful way of life. And the time of the feast is opportune, not brought on in the middle of winter; for that is gloomy; nor was it suitable in the middle of summer, during which the sweltering turn of the season takes away the beauty of those at leisure in the fields; and the seasons are at their peak, not wavering in their equal measure; for the sight of the autumn turn is not delightful, with the land being widowed, and deprived of its own fruits as if of children. So spring is left, the bright season, which indeed leads the whole year like a head of a body, with the sun just now coursing through the first section, and the moon in parallel with nearly full light transforming the course of the night into a brilliant day. This puts an end to the terrors of winter storms, it puts an end to long distances, it changes the floods of waters. And with the new fair weather already shining, it establishes calm seas for those who sail, and grants fair air to those who journey on land. And lands in the fields are pregnant with seeds, and

De solemnitate paschali

ΕΥΣΕΒΙΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΕΙΑΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΣΧΑ ΕΟΡΤΗΣ. αʹ. Τάχα οὐκ ἄκαιρον ἂν εἴη καὶ αὖθις περὶ τοῦ Πάσχα διαλαβεῖν, ἄνωθεν Ἑβραίων παισὶν εἰκονικῶς παραδεδομένου. Ὁπηνίκα γοῦν Ἑβραῖοι, σκιὰς μελλόντων ἐπιτελοῦντες, πρῶτοι τὴν τοῦ φασὲκ ἑορτὴν ἐτέλουν, θρέμμα μὲν αὐτοῖς ἐξ ἀγέλης ἐλαμβάνετο· τοῦτο δὲ ἦν ἀμνὸς ἢ πρόβατον· εἶτ' αὐτοὶ τοῦτο δι' ἑαυτῶν ἔθυον· κἄπειτα τῷ μὲν αἵματι πρῶτον ὑπέρθυρα καὶ φλιὰς ἕκαστος τῶν ἰδίων κατέχριον οἴκων· ταύτῃ πη εἰς ἀνατροπὴν ὀλοθρευτοῦ αἱμάσσοντες οὐδοὺς καὶ μέλαθρα. Σαρξὶ δὲ τοῦ προβάτου τροφῇ χρώμενοι, καὶ τὰς ὀσφῦς ζώνῃ περιδεδεμένοι, 24.696 τροφῆς τε ἀζύμων ἄρτων μετίσχοντες, καὶ πόας πικρίδων προσφερόμενοι, τόπον ἐκ τόπου διέβαινον, τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς Αἰγυπτίων γῆς ἐπὶ τὴν ἔρημον. Ταῦτα γοῦν αὐτοῖς ὁμοῦ τῇ τοῦ προβάτου σφαγῇ τε καὶ τροφῇ πράττειν νενομοθέτητο. Ἔνθεν ἡ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετάβασις τὴν τῶν διαβατηρίων αὐτοῖς ἐπωνυμίαν ἐπλήρου. Ἀλλ' ἐκείνοις μὲν τυπικῶς ταῦτα συνέβαινεν, ἐγράφη δὲ δι' ἡμᾶς. Καί γε διερμηνεύει Παῦλος τῶν παλαιῶν συμβόλων διαφαίνων τὴν ἀλήθειαν δι' ὧν φησι· Καὶ γὰρ τὸ Πάσχα ἡμῶν ἐτύθη Χριστός. Τὸ δὲ αἴτιον τοῦ τυθῆναι αὐτὸν ὁ Βαπτιστὴς παρίστησιν εἰπών· Ἴδε ὁ Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου. Καὶ γὰρ σφάγιον κακῶν ἁπάντων ἀποτρόπαιον τὸ σῶμα τὸ σωτήριον τῷ θανάτῳ παρεδίδοτο, ὃ δὴ καθαρσίου δίκην τοῦ παντὸς ἀφεῖλε κόσμου τὴν ἁμαρτίαν· κέκραγε γοῦν τηλαυγῶς Ἡσαΐας· Οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται.

βʹ. Τούτου δὴ τοῦ σωτηρίου θύματος τοῦ τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι τὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων γένος ἀνασωσαμένου ταῖς λογικαῖς σαρξὶ τρεφόμενοι, μαθήμασι δηλαδὴ καὶ λόγοις βασιλείας οὐρανῶν καταγγελτικοῖς, τὴν κατὰ Θεὸν εἰκότως τρυφῶμεν τρυφήν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πίστει τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ, ὃ δὴ λύτρον ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀντιδέδωκε σωτηρίας, τοὺς ψυχῆς οἴκους τὰ σώματα κατασημαινόμενοι, πᾶν γένος δαιμόνων ἐπιβούλων ἐξ ἑαυτῶν ἀπελαύνομεν· καὶ τὴν τῶν διαβατηρίων ἑορτὴν ἐπιτελοῦντες, διαβαίνειν μελετῶμεν ἐπὶ τὰ θεῖα, ὡς πάλαι τῆς Αἰγύπτου μεταβεβηκότες ἐπὶ τὴν ἔρημον. Ταύτῃ γοῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀτριβῆ τινα καὶ ἔρημον τοῖς πολλοῖς στελλόμεθα πορείαν, παλαιὰν ζύμην ἀθέου πλάνης τῆς αὐτῆς ψυχῆς ἐξόριον ποιούμενοι, καὶ τὰς ἀληθεῖς πικρίδας διὰ τῆς πικρᾶς καὶ ἀλγεινῆς διαίτης προσφερόμενοι. Καὶ ὁ καιρὸς δὲ τῆς ἑορτῆς εὔκαιρος, οὐκ ἐν μέσῃ χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ παρηγμένος· στυγνὸς γὰρ οὗτος· ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἐν μέσῳ θέρει κατάλληλος ἦν, καθ' ὃν ἡ τροπὴ φλεγμαίνουσα, τῶν κατ' ἀγροὺς σχολαζόντων περιαιρεῖται τὸ κάλλος· πλεονεκτεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν ὡρῶν, οὐκ ἐπαμφοτερίζοντα τῇ ἰσομοιρίᾳ· μετοπώρου γὰρ τροπῆς οὐκ ἐπιτερπὴς ἡ θέα, χηρευούσης μὲν τῆς χώρας, τῶν δ' οἰκείων καρπῶν ὡς ἂν τέκνων ἀπεστερημένης. Ἔαρ δὴ λείπεται τὸ φαιδρὸν, ὃ δὴ τοῦ παντὸς ἔτους κεφαλή τις οἷα σώματος ἡγεῖται, ἡλίου μὲν δὴ ἄρτι τὸ πρῶτον τμῆμα διιππεύοντος, σελήνης δ' ἐκ παραλλήλου πλησιφαεῖ τῷ φωτὶ τὸν τῆς νυκτὸς δρόμον εἰς λαμπρὰν μεθαρμοζομένης ἡμέραν. Τοῦτο λύει μὲν κτύπων χειμερίων φόβητρα, λύει δὲ μακρὰ διαστήματα, πλημμύρας ὑδάτων μεταβάλλει. Ἤδη δὲ νεαρᾶς ἐπιλαμπούσης αἰθρίας, γαλήνη μὲν τοῖς θαλαττεύουσι καθίστησι τὰ πελάγη, εὔδιον δὲ ἀέρα τοῖς κατὰ γῆν ὁδοιπόροις ἐνδίδωσι. Χῶραι δ' ἐν τούτῳ κατ' ἀγροὺς ἐγκύμονες σπερμάτων, καὶ