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I commanded you concerning sacrifices. And there is no falsehood with God, that having commanded He would say He had not commanded. But the power of the matter is revealed, that the sacrifice was performed prophetically and prefiguratively of Christ. And God, commanding a sheep to be sacrificed, was signifying Christ who was to be sacrificed, and all the things concerning the sheep prefigured Christ; of which things you have already considered some, and consider the rest in order, according to your ability. In every house of the Hebrews one perfect sheep, and no part of the meat is carried out of the house in which it is sacrificed. For in every Church and soul Christ is whole everywhere, and nowhere partial. Therefore, there are many sheep there in each house; but one Christ is the same in every soul. For five days the sheep is kept in the house, from the tenth to the fourteenth; then it is thus sacrificed on the fourteenth towards evening by the synagogue of the Jews. Five intervals of time are signified by these five days from Adam until the consummation; one until Noah, a second from there until Abraham, a third to Moses, a fourth from Moses to the coming of Christ, the fifth the present time of the coming. And it is sacrificed towards evening, because at the end of the age Israel by the whole synagogue agreed against Christ.

The sacrifice of Christ was indeed prefigured from the beginning in the sufferings of the righteous from Abel the just, and Christ was the one suffering in all; but it was accomplished when the divine lamb Himself, being present, suffered through Himself. And indeed on the fourteenth of the same month He suffered, and gave up the spirit towards evening, and according to this type this was the taking of the sheep from the tenth for the sacrifice, 59.735 and the sacrificing on the fourteenth towards evening, because from the beginning was the prefiguration of the passion, but at the end the passion itself. Then consider for me concerning the eating of the sheep a new and strange commandment of God, not to eat the meat of the sheep raw. For who would eat it raw? Let it be said, Nor boiled, so that they might not delay; for the time was pressing. Why not even raw, but, Roasted with fire? For no one forbids what does not happen. But through the types, as I said, the realities are signified. He who has an idle faith offers the holy food raw; boiled, the lover of pleasure, diluting in the indolence of life the solid work of faith, [but roasted, he who] accomplishes it in a warm and fervent spirit. They are commanded to eat the head with the feet and the entrails. Know also Christ from the head, because being God before the ages He is head of the invisible and spiritual Church; from the feet, because He is also man at the end of the ages who walked upon the earth; from the entrails, because He has power and righteousness hidden in the flesh, and is beneficial and saving to those who partake, not only according to what is external and seen, but also according to what is within and what is hidden. And the meat is eaten at night, and is not left over for the day.

For it is a remembrance of Christ's passion in the time of the cosmic night, after which the day will dawn, and the life of Christ will be revealed. According to, But the day is at hand. And no one breaks a bone. For the executioners did not break Christ's legs, though they broke [those] of the ones crucified with him, as the evangelist testified. The bitter herbs eaten with the sheep signified the bitterness of afflictions; the unleavened bread, simplicity and sincerity, as Paul says, that is, what is unmixed with the old evil and new virtue. It remains for you to consider spiritually the posture of those eating the Passover, and to imitate it; for in the spiritual will be the bodily posture. It is not an empty posture, but a saving work to gird your loins, not those of the body with a belt, but those of the soul in readiness. Put sandals on your feet likewise in preparation for the Gospel, according to the Apostle. Have a staff in your hands, not of wood, but of supporting faith. That whole posture being one of a traveler, as of those hastening to the exodus from Egypt, you imitate

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ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν περὶ θυσιῶν. Καὶ οὐκ ἔστι παρὰ Θεῷ ψεῦδος, ἵνα ἐντειλάμενος εἴπῃ μὴ ἐντετάλ θαι. Ἀλλ' ἡ τοῦ πράγματος δηλοῦται δύναμις, ὅτι προ φητικῶς ἡ θυσία ἐπετελεῖτο καὶ προμηνυτικῶς εἰς Χρι στόν. Καὶ πρόβατον θύειν ἐντελλόμενος ὁ Θεὸς, Χριστὸν ἐδήλου τεθυσόμενον, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸ πρόβατον ἅπαντα εἰς Χριστὸν προετύπου· ὧν τὰ μὲν ἤδη τεθεώρηκας, τὰ δὲ ἐφεξῆς θεώρει κατὰ δύναμιν. Ἐπὶ πάσης Ἑβραίων οἰκίας ἓν πρόβατον αὐτοτελὲς, καὶ μέρος ἐκ τῶν κρεῶν οὐκ ἐκκομίζεται τῆς οἰκίας ἐν ᾗ θύεται. Ἐπὶ πάσης γὰρ Ἐκκλησίας καὶ ψυχῆς Χριστὸς ὅλος πανταχῆ, καὶ οὐ δαμῆ μερικός. ∆ιὸ πολλὰ μὲν ἐκεῖ τὰ πρόβατα καθ' ἑκάστην οἰκίαν· εἷς δὲ Χριστὸς κατὰ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ὁ αὐ τό. Πέντε ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας κατέχεται τὸ πρόβατον, ἀπὸ δεκάτης εἰς τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτην· ἔπειτα οὕτω θύε ται τῇ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ πρὸς ἑσπέραν ὑπὸ τῆς Ἰου δαίων συναγωγῆς. Πέντε διαστήματα χρόνου δηλοῦται ταῖς πέντε ταύταις ἡμέραις ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι συντελείας· ἓν μὲν τὸ μέχρι Νῶε, δεύτερον δὲ τὸ ἐκεῖθεν μέχρι Ἀβραὰμ, τρίτον τὸ ἐπὶ Μωϋσέα, τέταρτον τὸ ἐκ Μωϋ σέως ἐπὶ τὴν Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν, πέμπτον ὁ παρὼν τῆς παρουσίας καιρός. Θύεται δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέραν, ὅτι ἐπ' ἐσχάτου τοῦ αἰῶνος ὑπὸ πάσης τῆς συναγωγῆς συνεφώ νησεν ὁ Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ Χριστοῦ.

Ἐμελετᾶτο μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡ Χριστοῦ θυσία ἐν τοῖς ἀεὶ τῶν δικαίων παθήμα σιν ἀπὸ Ἄβελ τοῦ δικαίου, καὶ Χριστὸς ἦν ἐν ἅπασιν ὁ πάσχων· ἐπετελέσθη δὲ, ὅτε αὐτὸς δι' ἑαυτοῦ παρὼν ἔπασχεν ὁ θεῖος ἀμνός. Καὶ δὴ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ αὐτοῦ μη νὸς τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτην ἔπασχε, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα παρεδί δου πρὸς ἑσπέραν, καὶ κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν τύπον τοῦτο ἦν τὸ ἐκ δεκάτης λαμβάνεσθαι τὸ πρόβατον εἰς τὴν θυσίαν, 59.735 καὶ θύεσθαι τῇ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ πρὸς ἑσπέραν, ὅτι ἦν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς μὲν ἡ μελέτη τοῦ πάθους, ἐν τέλει δὲ τὸ πά θος. Εἶτά μοι σκόπει περὶ τὴν τοῦ προβάτου βρῶσιν ἐν τολὴν Θεοῦ καινὴν καὶ παράδοξον, μὴ ἐσθίειν ὠμὰ τὰ τοῦ προβάτου κρέα. Τίς γὰρ ἂν ὠμὸν φάγοι; Ἔστω λέ γειν, Μηδὲ ἑφθὸν, ἵνα μὴ διατρίβωσιν· ἐπειγόμενος γὰρ ὁ καιρός. Τί τὸ μηδὲ ὠμὸν, ἀλλ', Ὀπτὰ πυρί; Οὐδεὶς γὰρ κωλύει τὸ μὴ γενόμενον. Ἀλλὰ σημαίνεται διὰ τῶν τύπων, ὡς ἔφην, τὰ πράγματα. Ὠμὴν προσφέρεται τὴν ἁγίαν τροφὴν ὁ τὴν πίστιν ἔχων ἀργήν· ἑφθὴν ὁ φιλήδο νος, ἐξυδαρῶν ἐν τῇ τοῦ βίου ῥᾳθυμίᾳ τὸ στεῤῥὸν τῆς πίστεως ἔργον, [ὀπτὴν δὲ ὁ] ἐπιτελῶν ἐν πνεύματι θερ μῷ τε καὶ ζέοντι. Κεφαλὴν σὺν ποσὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐντοσθίοις ἐσθίειν κελεύονται. Γίνωσκε καὶ Χριστὸν ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς κεφαλῆς, ὅτι Θεὸς πρὸ αἰώνων ὑπάρχων κεφαλὴ τῆς ἀοράτου καὶ πνευματικῆς Ἐκκλησίας· ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν πο δῶν, ὅτι καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἐπ' ἐσχάτων αἰώνων γῆς ἐπιβάς· ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἐντοσθίων, ὅτι κεκρυμμένην ἔχων ἐν σαρκὶ δύναμιν καὶ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ οὐ κατὰ τὸ ἐκτὸς καὶ θεωρούμενον μόνον ἐπωφελὴς καὶ σωτήριος τοῖς μετέχουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἔνδον καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἀπόκρυφον. Ἐσθίε ται δὲ ἐν νυκτὶ τὰ κρέα, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν οὐχ ὑπολείπεται.

Ἀνάμνησις γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πάθους ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς κοσμικῆς νυκτὸς, μεθ' ἣν ἡμέρα διαλάμψει, καὶ ζωὴ Χριστοῦ φανήσεται. Κατὰ τὸ, Ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικε. Συντρίβει δὲ ὀστέον οὐδείς. Οὐδὲ γὰρ κατέαξαν οἱ δήμιοι τὰ Χριστοῦ σκέλη, [τὰ] τῶν συσταυρωθέντων κατεάξαντες, ὡς ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐμαρτύρησεν. Αἱ πικρίδες αἱ σὺν τῷ προβάτῳ ἐσθιόμεναι τὴν τῶν θλίψεων πικρίαν ἐδήλουν· τὰ ἄζυμα τὴν ἁπλότητα καὶ εἰλικρίνειαν, ὡς ὁ Παῦλός φησι, τουτέστι, τὸ ἀμιγὲς πρὸς τὴν παλαιὰν κακίαν καὶ νέαν ἀρετήν. Ὑπόλοιπόν ἐστί σοι τὸ σχῆμα τῶν ἐσθιόντων τὸ Πάσχα καὶ θεωρῆσαι πνευματικῶς, καὶ μιμήσασθαι· ἔσται γὰρ ἐν τῷ πνευματικῷ τὸ σωματικὸν σχῆμα. Οὐκ ἔστι σχῆμα κενὸν, ἀλλὰ ἔργον σωτήριον ζῶσαι τὴν ὀσφύν σου, μὴ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἐν ἱμάντι, ἀλλὰ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐν ἑτοιμότητι. Ὑπόδησαι τοὺς πόδας ὡσαύτως ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον. Βακτηρίαν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ἔχε, μὴ ξύλον, ἀλλὰ πίστεως ὑποστηριζούσης. Ὅλον τὸ σχῆμα ἐκεῖνο ὀδοιπορητικὸν ὂν, ὡς ἂν πρὸς ἔξοδον ἐπειγομένων τὴν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, μίμησαι σὺ