Jesus, the altar, the thearchic consecration of the divine minds, in whom, according to the oracle, being consecrated and mystically offered as whole burnt offerings, we have access, let us gaze with supermundane eyes upon that most divine altar, in which the things being initiated are initiated and sanctified, being perfected by the most divine myron itself. For the most holy Jesus sanctifies himself for our sake and fills us with all sanctity, as the things dispensed in him then pass over beneficially to us as God-born. Whence, I think, according to a hierarchic mind, as divinely transmitted, the divine leaders of our hierarchy name this most venerable sacred action, the rite of myron, in reality from that which is perfected, as one might say, the rite of God, hymning its divine liturgy in each sense. For it is his rite both to be sanctified in a human manner for our sake and to divinely perfect and sanctify all things that are initiated. And those who know Hebrew say that the sacred melody of the inspiration of the God-seized prophets signifies praise of God or "Praise the Lord." Since, therefore, every sacred theophany and divine work is sacredly depicted in the varied composition of the hierarchical symbols, it is not unfitting to be mindful of the God-moved hymnody of the prophets. For it teaches both purely and sacredly that the thearchic benefactions are worthy of sacred praises. <V.> <1> This is the most divine liturgy of the myron. And it would be time, after these divine sacred actions, to set forth the priestly orders and allotments, and their powers and energies and perfections, and the triad of subordinate orders under them, so that the arrangement of our hierarchy may be shown, purely separating and allotting away that which is disordered and unadorned and confused, but revealing the orderly and arranged and stable in the analogies of its sacred orders. And the triadic division of every hierarchy we have, I think, well set forth in the hierarchies already celebrated by us, saying, as our sacred tradition holds, that every hierarchical activity is divided into the most holy rites, and their inspired experts and mystagogues, and those sacredly initiated by them. <2> Therefore, the most holy hierarchy of the super-celestial beings has for its rite the most immaterial understanding, according to its capacity, proper to God and divine things, and the complete, and as far as possible, God-imitating state, and for light-bearers and leaders to this sacred perfection, the first beings around God. For these transmit to the subordinate sacred orders, in a goodly and analogous manner, the divine knowledge always bestowed upon them by the self-perfecting and wisdom-making Thearchy of the divine minds. And the arrangements subordinate to the first beings, being sacredly led up through them to the divine illumination of the Thearchy, are and are truly named the orders being initiated. But after that celestial and supermundane hierarchy, the Thearchy, beneficially bringing forth its most sacred gifts to our level, bestowed upon us who were babes, according to the oracle, the hierarchy according to the law, with faint images of the true things, and very distant representations of the archetypes, and hard-to-behold riddles and types which do not have clearly discernible the theory concealed in them, having shone an analogous light harmlessly upon weak eyes. And for this hierarchy according to the law, the rite is the leading up to spiritual worship, and the guides to this are those sacredly initiated by Moses, the first mystagogue and leader of the hierarchs according to the law, into that holy tabernacle; to which holy tabernacle, sacredly describing as an introduction the hierarchy according to the law, he called all the things performed according to the law an image of a type shown to him on Mount Sinai, and those being initiated are those who are led up analogously by the legal symbols to a more perfect initiation.

θυσιαστήριον Ἰησοῦς, ἡ θεαρχικὴ τῶν θείων νοῶν ἀφιέρωσις, ἐν ᾧ, κατὰ τὸ λόγιον, ἀφιερούμενοι καὶ μυστικῶς ὁλοκαυτούμενοι τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἔχομεν, ὑπερκοσμίοις ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐποπτεύσωμεν αὐτὸ τὸ θειότατον θυσιαστήριον, ἐν ᾧ τὰ τελούμενα τελεῖται καὶ ἁγιάζεται, πρὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦ θειοτάτου μύρου τελούμενον. Ἁγιάζει γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἑαυτὸν ὁ παναγιώτατος Ἰησοῦς καὶ πάσης ἡμᾶς ἁγιαστείας ἀποπληροῖ τῶν ἐπ' αὐτῷ τελουμένων οἰκονομικῶς εἰς ἡμᾶς ὡς θεογεννήτους λοιπὸν ἀγαθουργικῶς διαβαινόντων. Ὅθεν ὡς οἶμαι κατὰ νοῦν ἱεραρχικὸν θεοπαραδότως οἱ θεῖοι τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἱεραρχίας καθηγεμόνες τὴν πάνσεμνον ταύτην ἱερουργίαν μύρου τελετὴν ἐκ τοῦ τελουμένου πραγματικῶς ὀνο μάζουσιν, ὡς ἄν τις φαίη θεοῦ τελετήν, ἑκατέρῳ νῷ τὴν θείαν αὐτῆς τελετουργίαν ὑμνοῦντες. Ἔστι γὰρ αὐτοῦ τελετὴ καὶ τὸ δι' ἡμᾶς ἀνθρωποπρεπῶς ἁγιάζεσθαι καὶ τὸ θεουργικῶς ἅπαντα τελεῖν καὶ ἁγιάζειν τὰ τελούμενα. Τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν τῆς τῶν θεολήπτων προφητῶν ἐπιπνοίας μελῴδημά φασιν οἱ τὰ Ἑβραίων εἰδότες τὸ αἶνος θεοῦ δηλοῦν ἢ τὸ «Aἰνεῖτε τὸν κύριον». Ἁπάσης οὖν ἱερᾶς θεοφανείας καὶ θεουργίας ἐν τῇ ποικίλῃ συνθέσει τῶν ἱεραρχικῶν συμβόλων ἱερογραφουμένης οὐκ ἀνάρμοστόν ἐστι μεμνῆσθαι τῆς θεοκινήτου τῶν προφητῶν ὑμνολογίας. ∆ιδάσκει γὰρ εὐαγῶς τε ἅμα καὶ ἱεροπρεπῶς αἴνων ἱερῶν ἀξίας εἶναι τὰς θεαρχικὰς ἀγαθουργίας. <V.> <1> Aὕτη μὲν ἡ θειοτάτη τοῦ μύρου τελετουργία. Καιρὸς δ' ἂν εἴη μετὰ τὰς θείας ἱερουργίας αὐτὰς ἐκθέσθαι τὰς ἱερατικὰς τάξεις τε καὶ ἀποκληρώσεις δυνάμεις τε αὐτῶν καὶ ἐνεργείας καὶ τελειώσεις καὶ τὴν ὑπ' αὐτὰς τριάδα τῶν ὑποβεβηκυιῶν τάξεων, ὅπως ἂν ἀποδειχθείη τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἱεραρχίας ἡ διακόσμησις τὸ μὲν ἄτακτον καὶ ἀκόσμητον καὶ συμπεφορημένον ἀμιγῶς ἀποδιαστέλλουσα καὶ ἀποκληροῦσα, τὸ κόσμιον δὲ καὶ τεταγμένον καὶ εὐσταθὲς ἐν ταῖς κατ' αὐτὴν ἀναφαίνουσα τῶν ἱερῶν τάξεων ἀναλογίαις. Καὶ τὴν μὲν ἁπάσης ἱεραρχίας τριαδικὴν διαίρεσιν ἐν ταῖς ἤδη παρ' ἡμῶν ὑμνημέναις ἱεραρχίαις ὡς οἶμαι καλῶς ἐξεθέμεθα φήσαντες, ὡς ἡ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἱερὰ παράδοσις ἔχει, πᾶσαν ἱεραρχικὴν πραγματείαν εἰς τὰς ὁσιωτάτας τελετὰς διαιρεῖσθαι καὶ τοὺς ἐνθέους αὐτῶν ἐπιστήμονας καὶ μύστας καὶ τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἱερῶς τελουμένους. <2> Oὐκοῦν ἡ μὲν ἁγιωτάτη τῶν ὑπερουρανίων οὐσιῶν ἱεραρχία τελετὴν μὲν ἔχει τὴν κατὰ δύναμιν οἰκείαν θεοῦ καὶ τῶν θείων ἀϋλοτάτην νόησιν καὶ τὴν τοῦ θεοειδοῦς ὁλόκληρον καὶ ὡς ἐφικτὸν θεομίμητον ἕξιν, φωταγωγοὺς δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἱερὰν ταύτην τελείωσιν ἡγεμόνας τὰς περὶ θεὸν πρωτίστας οὐσίας. Aὗται γὰρ εἰς τὰς ὑποβεβηκυίας ἱερὰς τάξεις ἀγαθοειδῶς καὶ ἀναλόγως διαπορθμεύουσι τὰς δωρουμένας αὐταῖς ἀεὶ θεουργικὰς γνώσεις ὑπὸ τῆς αὐτοτελοῦς καὶ σοφοποιοῦ τῶν θείων νοῶν θεαρχίας. Aἱ δὲ τῶν πρώτων οὐσιῶν ὑφειμέναι διακοσμήσεις ὡς δι' ἐκείνων ἱερῶς ἀναγόμεναι πρὸς τὴν θεουργὸν τῆς θεαρχίας ἔλλαμψιν αἱ τελούμεναι τάξεις εἰσί τε καὶ ἀληθῶς ὀνομάζονται. Μετ' ἐκείνην δὲ τὴν οὐρανίαν καὶ ὑπερκόσμιον ἱεραρχίαν εἰς τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀγαθουργικῶς ἡ θεαρχία τὰς ἱερωτάτας αὐτῆς δωρεὰς προφέρουσα νηπίοις μὲν οὖσι κατὰ τὸ λόγιον ἐδωρήσατο τὴν κατὰ νόμον ἱεραρχίαν ἀμυδραῖς τῶν ἀληθῶν εἰκόσι καὶ πορρωτάτοις τῶν ἀρχετύπων ἀπεικονίσμασι καὶ δυσθεωρήτοις αἰνίγμασι καὶ τύποις οὐκ εὐδιάκριτον ἔχουσι τὴν ἐγκεκαλυμμένην αὐτοῖς θεωρίαν ἀνάλογον φῶς ὡς ἀσθενέσιν ὄψεσιν ἀβλαβῶς ἐπιλάμψασα. Ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ κατὰ νόμον ἱεραρχίᾳ τελετὴ μὲν ἡ πρὸς τὴν πνευματικὴν λατρείαν ἀναγωγή, χειραγωγοὶ δὲ πρὸς ταύτην οἱ τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκείνην σκηνὴν ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως ἱερῶς μυηθέντες τοῦ πρώτου τῶν κατὰ νόμον ἱεραρχῶν μύστου καὶ ἡγεμόνος, πρὸς ἣν ἱερὰν σκηνὴν εἰσαγωγικῶς ἱερογραφῶν τὴν κατὰ νόμον ἱεραρχίαν εἰκόνα τύπου δειχθέντος αὐτῷ κατὰ τὸ Σίναιον ὄρος ἐκάλει πάντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἱερουργούμενα, τελούμενοι δὲ οἱ πρὸς τῶν νομικῶν συμβόλων ἀναλόγως ἐπὶ τελεωτέραν μύησιν ἀναγόμενοι.