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we have received, as being raised together with the Savior, and enjoying His kingdom. Therefore we are no longer permitted to labor during this feast, but are taught to bear the image of the rest hoped for in the heavens; whence we neither bend the knee in prayers, nor are we worn out by fasting; for it is not possible for those who have been deemed worthy of the resurrection according to God to fall to the earth again; nor for those freed from the passions to suffer the same things as those who have been enslaved. Therefore after Pascha we celebrate Pentecost in seven full weeks, having manfully endured the former age of the forty-day co-asceticism before Pascha in six weeks; for the number six is practical and active; wherefore it is said that God made all things in six days. And the second feast in seven weeks fittingly succeeds the labors in that period, with our rest being multiplied, the symbols of which the number seven wishes to signify. But the number of Pentecost does not stop at these; but having surpassed the seven weeks, with the final unit after these it seals the all-festal day of Christ's Ascension. Fittingly, therefore, during the days of holy Pentecost, prefiguring the future rest, we gladden our souls, and give rest to the body, as if already being with the Bridegroom Himself, and not being able to fast.

6. However, that the holy evangelists have recorded the saving passion as having happened during the days of the Jewish Passover of unleavened bread, no one would doubt; for this was the reason for the law from Moses spoken concerning the Passover. For since the Lamb of God was about to be led as a sheep to the slaughter among the Jews themselves, and to suffer this for the common salvation of all men, at no other time than at the designated season, God, foreseeing the future through figurative symbols, at that very season which was to come in the course of time, commanded a sensible lamb to be sacrificed among the Jews; and this was performed by them annually, until the truth, having been fulfilled, rendered the old images obsolete. Whence from that time the true feast of the mysteries has prevailed among the gentiles, but among the Jews not even the memory of the symbols themselves 24.701 is preserved, their place where it was legislated for the rites of the feast to be performed having been taken away. Fittingly, therefore, the divine Scripture of the Gospels says that the Savior suffered at the time of the Jewish unleavened bread; since then also He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, in accordance with the prophetic voices.

7. And those according to Moses sacrificed the Passover lamb once in the whole year on the fourteenth of the first month, toward evening; but we of the New Covenant, celebrating our own Passover on each Lord's day, ARE ALWAYS FILLED WITH THE SAVING BODY, WE ALWAYS PARTAKE OF THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. we always gird the loins of our soul with purity and temperance, we always have our feet shod in preparation of the Gospel, we always have the staves in our hands, and rest upon the rod that came forth from the root of Jesse, we are always delivered from Egypt, we are always pursuing the desert of human life, we are always setting out on the journey toward God, we are always celebrating the passover. For the evangelical word wills that we do all these things not once a year, but always and through every day. Wherefore also every week we celebrate the feast of our Passover on the saving and Lord's day, fulfilling the mysteries of the true lamb, through whom we were redeemed; and we neither circumcise the body with iron, but with the cutting word we remove all evil from the soul; nor do we use bodily unleavened bread, but only the

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παρειλήφαμεν, ὡς ἂν τῷ Σωτῆρι συναγηγερμένοι, καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας ἀπολαύοντες. ∆ιὸ οὐκέτι πονεῖσθαι κατὰ τήνδε τὴν ἑορτὴν συγχωρούμεθα, τῆς δ' ἐλπιζομένης ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἀναπαύσεως τὴν εἰκόνα φέρειν διδασκόμεθα· ὅθεν οὐδ' ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς γόνυ κλίνομεν, οὐδ' ἀσιτίαις καταπονούμεθα· τοὺς γὰρ τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ἀναστάσεως ἠξιωμένους οὐκέτ' αὖθις οἷόν τε ἐπὶ γῆς πίπτειν· οὐδὲ τοὺς τῶν παθῶν ἠλευθερωμένους τὰ ἴσα πάσχειν τοῖς καταδεδουλωμένοις. ∆ιὸ μετὰ τὸ Πάσχα τὴν Πεντηκοστὴν ἐν ἑβδομάσιν ἑπτὰ τελείαις ἑορτάζομεν, τὸν μὲν πρότερον αἰῶνα τῆς πρὸ τοῦ Πάσχα τεσσαρακονθημέρου συνασκήσεως ἐν ἓξ ἑβδομάσιν ἀνδρισάμενοι· πρακτικὴ γὰρ ἡ ἑξὰς καὶ ἐνεργητική· διὸ καὶ ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις ὁ Θεὸς πεποιηκέναι λέγεται τὰ σύμπαντα. Τοὺς δ' ἐν ἐκείνῃ πόνους εἰκότως ἡ δευτέρα ἑορτὴ ἐν ἑβδομάσιν ἑπτὰ διαδέξεται, πολυπλασιαζομένης ἡμῖν τῆς ἀναπαύσεως, ἧς τὰ σύμβολα ἡ ἑβδομὰς σημαίνειν θέλει. Οὐ μὴν ἐπὶ ταύτας ὁ τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς ἀριθμὸς ἵσταται· ὑπερακοντίσας δὲ τὰς ἑπτὰ ἑβδομάδας, μονάδι τῇ μετὰ ταύτας ὑστάτῃ τὴν πανέορτον ἡμέραν τῆς Χριστοῦ ἀναλήψεως ἐπισφραγίζεται. Εἰκότως ἄρα ἐν ταῖς τῆς ἁγίας Πεντηκοστῆς ἡμέραις τὴν μέλλουσαν ἀνάπαυσιν διαγράφοντες, τὰς ψυχὰς γαννύμεθα, καὶ τὸ σῶμα διαναπαύομεν, ὡς ἂν αὐτῷ συνόντες ἤδη τῷ Νυμφίῳ, καὶ νηστεύειν μὴ δυνάμενοι.

ςʹ. Πλὴν ὅτι οἱ ἱεροὶ εὐαγγελισταὶ τὸ σωτήριον πάθος κατὰ τὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ Ἰουδαϊκοῦ Πάσχα τῶν ἀζύμων ἱστόρησαν γεγονέναι, οὐδεὶς ἂν ἀμφιβάλοι· τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν τοῦ νόμου τοῦ παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ περὶ τοῦ Πάσχα λεγομένου αἴτιον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔμελλεν ὁ Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἄγεσθαι παρ' αὐτοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, καὶ τοῦτο πάσχειν ὑπὲρ τῆς κοινῆς πάντων ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίας, οὐκ ἄλλοτε ἢ κατὰ τὸν δηλούμενον καιρὸν, προλαβὼν τὸ μέλλον ὁ Θεὸς διὰ συμβόλων εἰκονικῶς, κατ' αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν μέλλοντά ποτε κατὰ χρόνων περιόδους ἐπιστήσεσθαι καιρὸν, ἀμνὸν παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις αἰσθητὸν ἐκέλευε θύεσθαι· καὶ τοῦτο αὐτοῖς κατ' ἐνιαυτὸν ἐτελεῖτο, ἕως ἡ ἀλήθεια ἀποπληρωθεῖσα, τὰς παλαιὰς εἰκόνας περιέγραψεν. Ὅθεν ἐξ ἐκείνου παρὰ μὲν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἡ ἀληθὴς τῶν μυστηρίων κεκράτηκεν ἑορτὴ, παρὰ δὲ Ἰουδαίοις οὐκέτι οὐδ' αὐτῶν ἡ μνήμη τῶν συμβόλων 24.701 φυλάττεται, περιῃρημένου αὐτῶν τοῦ τόπου ἐν ᾧ τὰ τῆς ἑορτῆς τελεῖσθαι νενομοθέτητο. Εἰκότως ἄρα ἡ θεία τῶν Εὐαγγελίων γραφὴ κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν ἀζύμων πεπονθέναι φησὶ τὸν Σωτῆρα· ἐπειδὴ καὶ τότε ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη ταῖς προφητικαῖς ἀκολούθως φωναῖς.

ζʹ. Καὶ οἱ μὲν κατὰ Μωϋσέα ἅπαξ τοῦ παντὸς ἔτους πρόβατον τοῦ Πάσχα ἔθυον τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ τοῦ πρώτου μηνὸς, τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέραν· ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ τῆς Καινῆς ∆ιαθήκης ἐφ' ἑκάστης Κυριακῆς ἡμέρας τὸ ἑαυτῶν Πάσχα τελοῦντες, ΑΕΙ ΤΟΥ ΣΩΜΑΤΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΩΤΗΡΙΟΥ ΕΜΦΟΡΟΥΜΕΘΑ, ΑΕΙ ΤΟΥ ΑΙΜΑΤΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΡΟΒΑΤΟΥ ΜΕΤΑΛΑΜΒΑΝΟΜΕΝ. ἀεὶ τὰς ὀσφῦς τῆς ἑαυτῶν ψυχῆς ἁγνείᾳ καὶ σωφροσύνῃ περιεζώσμεθα, ἀεὶ τοὺς πόδας παρεσκευάσμεθα ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ἀεὶ τὰς βακτηρίας ἔχομεν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ, καὶ τῇ ῥάβδῳ τῇ ἐκ ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ προελθούσῃ ἐπαναπαυόμεθα, ἀεὶ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἀπαλλαττόμεθα, ἀεὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου βίου μεταδιώκομεν, ἀεὶ τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν πορείαν στελλόμεθα, ἀεὶ τὰ διαβατήρια ἑορτάζομεν. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα οὐχ ἅπαξ τοῦ ἔτους πράττειν ἡμᾶς, ἀεὶ δὲ καὶ διὰ πάσης ἡμέρας ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς λόγος βούλεται. ∆ιὸ καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἑβδομάδα τὴν τοῦ Πάσχα τοῦ ἡμετέρου ἑορτὴν κατὰ τὴν σωτήριον καὶ Κυριακὴν ἡμέραν ἐπιτελοῦμεν τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ προβάτου, δι' οὗ ἐλυτρώθημεν, τὰ μυστήρια ἀποπληροῦντες· καὶ οὔτε τὸ σῶμα σιδήρῳ περιτέμνομεν, τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς τῷ τμητικῷ λόγῳ πᾶσαν περιαιροῦμεν κακίαν· οὔτε σωματικοῖς ἀζύμοις χρώμεθα, μόνοις δὲ τοῖς