6

might show a recapitulation, for this reason, being often sought by the Jews to be killed, since the confluence of the times had not yet passed, he escaped; and you have in the gospels that the Jews wished to seize him and 33 the savior withdrew. And the ignorant considered this mystery to be cowardice; but it was not cowardice but the observance of the confluence of the appointed times. When however the son of God brought the times together, when he fitted the week to the ancient creation and the equinox and the nearly full moon and the day of preparation on which it was necessary to suffer and in the suffering the renewal was to be shown came together, at that time he gives himself over to the passion, and lifting his eyes to heaven he said: "Father, the hour has come, glorify your son, that your son may also glorify you," and to the disciples: "The hour has come, that the son of man may be glorified."

34 Thus it was a concern to the only-begotten son of God to gather together all the first times, in which man, having been formed, fell, for his correction and to undergo the apostolic renewal of nature, since the very confluence of the appointed times was necessary for the matter. For this reason at the passion the equinox also, as a summit of time, is observed; for before this equinox, before day came to be, there was darkness, and it was not fitting to celebrate the passover in the place of darkness and for the fall to be corrected, because the first man was not formed in darkness but was formed after the light, after the equinox, and because until the spring equinox the darkness prevails over the light, but after the equinox the day overcomes the night, from then on increasing, while the night decreases. It was necessary therefore that the passion which happened for correction should be shown in such a state, in which the light of piety was about to increase, while the darkness of impiety decreased.

35 But the equinox has been observed at the passion on account of the recapitulation of the first time, and the day of preparation likewise, since the first man was formed on it and it was necessary, on the day on which having been formed he fell, on this day he should also be corrected. But the sabbath scripture has taken for rest, saying thus: "And God rested from all his works on the seventh day and hallowed it." Thus therefore the Lord also, having once worked the recapitulation, having suffered on the day of preparation and having completed the works of correction on behalf of the fallen man, rests on the seventh day and remains in the heart of the earth, from then on granting to those in Hades the freedom from the passion. And that the Lord now rests from all works, since the fall of man through the transgression was seen, there remained again a work for God, which he was about to accomplish to restore him, and having done this at the passion and having rescued the lost man, whom he saved, on the day of the sabbath of the Passover he rested from all works, no work being left to be worked for our salvation.

36 And so, having observed both the equinox and the day of preparation and the sabbath at the passion according to the ancient sequence, "on the first day of the week" he shows the light of the resurrection, and this also in the sequence of time; for this was again the first day of all time, which he set forth both then as the beginning of perceptible light and now consequently as the ancient beginning of the intelligible light of the resurrection.

37 And having observed all these things according to the first creation, he also observed the nearly full moon, as we said, at that time after the equinox, and it also has another wonder, for which it has been observed. For since darkness was about to occur at the passion of the savior, and the Greeks say that eclipses of the sun happen by the moon passing under, so that no one might explain away the divine sign by Greek art, the fourteenth day of the moon has been taken, so that, it being nearly full, as being in opposition at the time of the passion

6

ἀνακεφαλαίωσιν δείξειεν, διὰ τοῦτο πολλάκις ζητού μενος ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀναιρεθῆναι μήπω τῆς συνδρομῆς τῶν χρόνων ἐκπεπτωκυίας ὑπέφυγεν· καὶ ἔχεις ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὅτι ἠθέλησαν αὐτὸν συλλαβεῖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ 33 ὁ σωτὴρ ἀνεχώρησεν. Καὶ τοῦτο οἱ ἀμαθεῖς τὸ μυστήριον δειλίαν ἐνόμισαν· οὐκ ἦν δὲ δειλία ἀλλὰ τῆς συνδρομῆς τῶν προθεσμιῶν ἐπιτήρησις. Ὅτε μέντοι συνήγαγεν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοὺς χρόνους, ὅτε τὴν ἑβδομάδα πρὸς τὴν ἀρχαίαν δημιουργίαν ἥρμοσε καὶ ἰσημερία καὶ ἡ πλησιφαὴς σελήνη καὶ ἡ παρασκευὴ ἐν ᾗ ἔδει παθεῖν καὶ ἐν τῷ παθεῖν τὴν ἀνανέωσιν δειχθῆναι συνέδραμον, τὸ τηνικαῦτα ἐπιδίδωσι μὲν ἑαυτὸν τῷ πάθει, ἐπάρας δὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἶπεν· "Πάτερ, ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα, δόξασόν σου τὸν υἱόν, ἵνα καὶ ὁ υἱός σου δοξάσῃ σε", καὶ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητάς· "Ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα, ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου".

34 Οὕτως ἐπιμελὲς γέγονε τῷ μονογενεῖ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ πάντας τοὺς χρόνους τοὺς πρώτους, καθ' οὓς πλασθεὶς διέπεσεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, συναγαγεῖν ἐπὶ τῇ διορθώσει αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀποστολικὴν ἀνανέωσιν τῆς φύσεως ὑποβῆναι, αὐτῆς τῆς συμβολῆς τῶν προθεσμιῶν ἀναγκαίας οὔσης τῷ πράγματι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει καὶ ἰσημερία οἷα κορυφὴ τοῦ χρόνου τηρεῖται· πρὸ μὲν γὰρ ταύτης τῆς ἰσημερίας, πρὸ τοῦ ἡμέραν γενέσθαι, ἦν σκότος, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἄξιον ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τοῦ σκότους τὸ πάσχα ποιεῖν καὶ διορθοῦσθαι τὸ πτῶμα, ὅτι μηδὲ ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῷ σκότει ἀλλὰ μετὰ τὸ φῶς μετ' ἰσημερίαν ἐπλάσθη, καὶ ὅτι ἕως μὲν ἐαρινῆς ἰσημερίας τὸ σκότος παρὰ τὸ φῶς πλεονάζει, μετ' ἰση μερίαν δὲ ἐπικρατεῖ τῆς νυκτὸς ἡ ἡμέρα λοιπὸν αὔξουσα, μειουμένης τῆς νυκτός. Ἔδει οὖν καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ διορθώσει πάθος γινόμενον ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ καταστάσει δειχθῆναι, ἐν ᾗ τὸ φῶς τῆς εὐσεβείας ἔμελλεν αὔξειν, τοῦ σκότους μειουμένου τῆς ἀσεβείας.

35 Ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν ἰσημερία ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει τετήρηται διὰ τὴν ἀνα κεφαλαίωσιν τοῦ πρώτου χρόνου, ἡ δὲ παρασκευὴ ὡσαύτως, ἐπειδὴ ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἐν ταύτῃ ἐπλάσθη καὶ ἐχρῆν, ἐν ᾗ πλασθεὶς διέπεσεν, ἐν ταύτῃ αὐτὸν καὶ διορθωθῆναι. Τὸ δὲ σάββατον ἡ γραφὴ πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν εἴληφεν οὑτωσὶ λέγουσα· "Καὶ κατέπαυσεν ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτήν". Οὕτως οὖν καὶ ὁ κύριος ἅπαξ τὴν ἀνακεφαλαίωσιν ἐργασάμενος τῇ παρασκευῇ παθὼν καὶ τελέσας τὰ ὑπὲρ τοῦ πεπτωκότος ἀνθρώπου τῆς διορθώσεως ἔργα τῇ ἑβδόμῃ καταπαύει καὶ διαμένει ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς γῆς, τοῖς ἐν ᾅδου λοιπὸν δωρησάμενος τὴν ἐκ τοῦ πάθους ἐλευθερίαν. Καὶ ὅτι κύριος καταπαύει νῦν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων, ἐπειδὴ διάπτωσις τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ τῆς παραβάσεως ὤφθη, ὑπελεί πετο πάλιν ἔργον τῷ θεῷ, ὃ ἤμελλε κατορθῶν ἐπανάγειν, τοῦτο δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει ποιήσας καὶ ἀνασωσάμενος τὸν ἀπο λωλότα ἄνθρωπον, ὃν ἔσωσεν, τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ κατὰ τὸ πάσχα σαββάτου κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων, μηδένος ἐπιλειπομένου ἔτι ἔργου πρὸς ἐργασίαν τοῦ ἡμῖν σωτηρίου.

36 Οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἰσημερίαν καὶ παρασκευὴν καὶ σάββατον κατὰ τὴν ἀρχαίαν τηρήσας ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει ἀκολουθίαν, "τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων" ἐπιδείκνυσι τὸ τῆς ἀναστά σεως φῶς, καὶ τοῦτο τῷ τοῦ χρόνου εἱρμῷ· αὕτη γὰρ ἦν πάλιν πρώτη τοῦ παντὸς χρόνου ἡμέρα, ἣν καὶ τότε τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ φωτὸς ἀρχὴν καὶ νῦν ἀκολούθως τοῦ τῆς ἀναστά σεως νοητοῦ ἀρχαῖον προεστήσατο.

37 Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα τηρήσας κατὰ τὴν πρώτην δημιουργίαν, καὶ τὴν πλησιφαῆ σελήνην, ὡς ἔφαμεν, κατ' ἐκείνην μετ' ἰση μερίαν ἐτήρησεν, ἔχει δέ τι καὶ αὐτὴ ἕτερον θαῦμα, δι' ὃ τετήρηται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἤμελλε σκότος γίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τῷ τοῦ σωτῆρος πάθει, Ἕλληνες δὲ καθ' ὑποδρομὴν σελήνης ἡλίου ἐκλείψεις φασίν, ἵνα μή τις τὴν θεοσήμειαν τέχνῃ ἑλληνικῇ διακρούσηται, ἡ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτη κατὰ σελήνην παρεί ληπται, ὡς ἄν, πλησιφαοῦς αὐτῆς ὡς ἐν πλάτει οὔσης κατὰ τὸ πάθος