Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures

1. I have long been wishing, O true-born and dearly beloved children of the Church, to discourse to you concerning these spiritual and heavenly Mysteries; but since I well knew that seeing is far more persuasive than hearing, I waited for the present season; that finding you more open to the influence of my words from your present experience, I might lead you by the hand into the brighter and more fragrant meadow of the Paradise before us; especially as ye have been made fit to receive the more sacred Mysteries, after having been found worthy of divine and life-giving Baptism 1 . Since therefore it remains to set before you a table of the more perfect instructions, let us now teach you these things exactly, that ye may know the effect 2 wrought upon you on that evening of your baptism.

2. First ye entered into the vestibule 3 of the Baptistery, and there facing towards the West ye listened to the command to stretch forth your hand, and as in the presence of Satan ye renounced him. Now ye must know that this figure is found in ancient history. For when Pharaoh, that most bitter and cruel tyrant, was oppressing the free and high-born people of the Hebrews, God sent Moses to bring them out of the evil bondage of the Egyptians. Then the door posts were anointed with the blood of a lamb, that the destroyer might flee from the houses which had the sign of the blood; and the Hebrew people was marvellously delivered. The enemy, however, after their rescue, pursued after them 4 , and saw the sea wondrously parted for them; nevertheless he went on, following close in their footsteps, and was all at once overwhelmed and engulphed in the Red Sea.

3. Now turn from the old to the new, from the figure to the reality. There we have Moses sent from God to Egypt; here, Christ, sent forth from His Father into the world: there, that Moses might lead forth an afflicted people out of Egypt; here, that Christ might rescue those who are oppressed in the world under sin: there, the blood of a lamb was the spell against 5 the destroyer; here, the blood of the Lamb without blemish Jesus Christ is made the charm to scare 6 evil spirits: there, the tyrant was pursuing that ancient people even to the sea; and here the daring and shameless spirit, the author of evil, was following thee even to the very streams of salvation. The tyrant of old was drowned in the sea; and this present one disappears in the water of salvation.

4. But nevertheless thou art bidden to say, with arm outstretched towards him as though he were present, “I renounce thee, Satan.” I wish also to say wherefore ye stand facing to the West; for it is necessary. Since the West is the region of sensible darkness, and he being darkness has his dominion also in darkness, therefore, looking with a symbolical meaning towards the West, ye renounce that dark and gloomy potentate. What then did each of you stand up and say? “I renounce thee, Satan,”—thou wicked and most cruel tyrant! meaning, “I fear thy might no longer; for that Christ hath overthrown, having partaken with me of flesh and blood, that through these He might by death destroy death 7 , that I might not be made subject to bondage for ever.” “I renounce thee,”—thou crafty and most subtle serpent. “I renounce thee,”—plotter as thou art, who under the guise of friendship didst contrive all disobedience, and work apostasy in our first parents. “I renounce thee, Satan,”—the artificer and abettor of all wickedness.

5. Then in a second sentence thou art taught to say, “and all thy works.” Now the works of Satan are all sin, which also thou must renounce;—just as one who has escaped a tyrant has surely escaped his weapons also. All sin therefore, of every kind, is included in the works of the devil. Only know this; that all that thou sayest, especially at that most thrilling hour, is written in God’s books; when therefore thou doest any thing contrary to these promises, thou shalt be judged as a transgressor 8 . Thou renouncest therefore the works of Satan; I mean, all deeds and thoughts which are contrary to reason.

6. Then thou sayest, “And all his pomp 9 .” Now the pomp of the devil is the madness of theatres 10 , and horse-races, and hunting, and all such vanity: from which that holy man praying to be delivered says unto God, Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity 11 . Be not interested in the madness of the theatre, where thou wilt behold the wanton gestures of the players 12 , carried on with mockeries and all unseemliness, and the frantic dancing of effeminate men 13 ;—nor in the madness of them who in hunts 14 expose themselves to wild beasts, that they may pamper their miserable appetite; who, to serve their belly with meats, become themselves in reality meat for the belly of untamed beasts; and to speak justly, for the sake of their own god, their belly, they cast away their life headlong in single combats 15 . Shun also horse-races, that frantic and soul-subverting spectacle 16 . For all these are the pomp of the devil.

7. Moreover, the things which are hung up at idol festivals 17 , either meat or bread, or other such things polluted by the invocation of the unclean spirits, are reckoned in the pomp of the devil. For as the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist before the invocation of the Holy and Adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, while after the invocation the Bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the Wine the Blood of Christ 18 , so in like manner such meats belonging to the pomp of Satan, though in their own nature simple, become profane by the invocation of the evil spirit.

8. After this thou sayest, “and all thy service 19 .” Now the service of the devil is prayer in idol temples; things done in honour of lifeless idols; the lighting of lamps 20 , or burning of incense by fountains or rivers 21 , as some persons cheated by dreams or by evil spirits do [resort to this 22 ], thinking to find a cure even for their bodily ailments. Go not after such things. The watching of birds, divination, omens, or amulets, or charms written on leaves, sorceries, or other evil arts 23 , and all such things, are services of the devil; therefore shun them. For if after renouncing Satan and associating thyself with Christ 24 , thou fall under their influence, thou shalt find 25 the tyrant more bitter; perchance, because he treated thee of old as his own, and relieved thee from his hard bondage, but has now been greatly exasperated by thee; so thou wilt be bereaved of Christ, and have experience of the other. Hast thou not heard the old history which tells us of Lot and his daughters? Was not he himself saved with his daughters, when he had gained the mountain, while his wife became a pillar of salt, set up as a monument for ever, in remembrance of her depraved will and her turning back. Take heed therefore to thyself, and turn not again to what is behind 26 , having put thine hand to the plough, and then turning back to the salt savour of this life’s doings; but escape to the mountain, to Jesus Christ, that stone hewn without hands 27 , which has filled the world.

9. When therefore thou renouncest Satan, utterly breaking all thy covenant with him, that ancient league with hell 28 , there is opened to thee the paradise of God, which He planted towards the East, whence for his transgression our first father was banished; and a symbol of this was thy turning from West to East, the place of light 29 . Then thou wert told to say, “I believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and in one Baptism of repentance 30 .” Of which things we spoke to thee at length in the former Lectures, as God’s grace allowed us.

10. Guarded therefore by these discourses, be sober . For our adversary the devil , as was just now read, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour 31 . But though in former times death was mighty and devoured, at the holy Laver of regeneration God has wiped away every tear from off all faces 32 . For thou shalt no more mourn, now that thou hast put off the old man; but thou shalt keep holy-day 33 , clothed in the garment of salvation 34 , even Jesus Christ.

11. And these things were done in the outer chamber. But if God will, when in the succeeding lectures on the Mysteries we have entered into the Holy of Holies 35 , we shall there know the symbolical meaning of the things which are there performed. Now to God the Father, with the Son and the Holy Ghost, be glory, and power, and majesty, forever and ever. Amen.

2 This Lecture was delivered on the Monday after Easter in the Holy Sepulchre: see Cat. xviii. 33.

3 τὴν ἔμφασιν τὴν.…γεγενημένην , is found in all the mss. “Nevertheless it would seem that we ought to read τῶν.…γεγενημένων, which Grodecq either read or substituted” (Ben. Ed.). With the proposed reading the meaning would be—“the significance of the things done to you,” which agrees better with the meaning of ἔμφασις.

4 τὁν προαύλιον, called below in § 11 “the outer chamber.” Cf. Procat. § 1, note 3. It appears from Tertullian, De Corona, § 3, that the renunciation was made first in the Church, and afterwards in the Baptistery: “When we are going to enter the water, at that moment as well as just before in the Church under the hand of the President, we solemnly profess that we disown the devil, and his pomp, and his angels.”

5 Ex. xiv. 9, 23.

6 ἀποτρόπαιον

7 φυγαδευτήριον, the word commonly used in the Septuagint for “a city of refuge.” But the Verb φυγαδεύω is Transitive in 2 Macc. ix. 4, as well as in Xenophon and Demosthenes. The application of the blood of Christ in Baptism is represented by marking the sign of the Cross on the forehead. Compare the lines of Prudentius quoted by the Benedictine Editor: “Passio quæ nostram defendit sanguine frontem, Corporeamque domum signato collinit ore.”

8 Heb. ii. 14, 15.

9 Gal. ii. 18.

10 Herod. II. 58: “The Egyptians were the first to introduce solemn assemblies (πανηγύρις) and processions (πομπάς).” At Rome the term “pompa” was applied especially to the procession with which the Ludi Circenses were opened and also to any grand ceremony or pageant.

11 θεατρομανίαι. Cf. Tertull. Apologet. 38; “We renounce all your spectacles.…Among us nothing is ever said, or seen, or heard, which has anything in common with the madness of the Circus, the immodesty of the theatre, the atrocities of the arena, the useless exercises of the wrestling-ground.” He calls the theatre “that citadel of all impurities,” De Spectaculis, c. 10, “immodesty’s peculiar abode,” c. 17, and gives a vivid description of the rage and fury of the Circus in c. 16.

12 Ps. cxix. 37.

13 μίμων, the name either of a species of low comedy, “consisting more of gestures and mimicry than of spoken dialogue,” or of the persons who acted in them. Cyril’s description of the coarse and indecent character of the mimes is more than justified by the impartial testimony of Ovid, Trist. ii. 497: “Quid si scripsissem mimos obscœna jocantes, Qui semper vetiti crimen amoris habent; In quibus assidue cultus procedit adulter, Verbaque dat stulto callida nupta viro. Nubilis hos virgo, matronaque, virque, puerque Spectat, et e magna parte Senatus adest. Nec satis incestis temerari vocibus aures; Assuescunt oculi multa pudenda pati.” A theatre is mentioned as one of the buildings erected by Hadrian in his new City Aelia Capitolina built on the site of Jerusalem; and that theatrical performances were continued in the time of Cyril we know from the accusation that in a time of famine he had sold one of the Church vestments, which was afterwards used upon the stage.

14 Lactantius, Epitome, § 63: “Histrionici etiam impudici gestus, quibus infames fœminas imitantur, libidines, quæ saltando exprimunt, docent.”

15 κυνηγεσίαις, the so-called “venationes” of the Circus in which the “bestiarii” fought with wild beasts.

16 The “bestiarii” were feasted in public on the day before their encounter with the beasts. See Tertull. Apologet. § 42: “I do not recline in public at the feast of Bacchus, after the manner of the beast-fighters at their last banquet.” Ib. § 9: “Those also who dine on the flesh of wild beasts from the arena, who have keen appetites for bear and stag.” These latter, however, were chiefly the poor, to whom flesh was a rarity: Apuleius Metam. iv. 14, quoted by Oehler.

17 ψυχὰς ἐκτραχήλιζον, an allusion to the risk of a broken neck in the chariot-race. Tertull. de Spectaculis, § 9: “Equestrianism was formerly practised in a simple way on horseback, and certainly its ordinary use was innocent: but when it was dragged into the games, it passed from a gift of God into the service of demons.” The presiding deity of the chariot-race was Poseidon (Hom. Il. xxiii, 307; Pind. Ol. i. 63; Pyth. vi. 50; Soph. Œdip. Col. 712), and both this and the other shows of the Circus, and of the theatre, were connected with the worship of the gods of Greece and Rome, and therefore forbidden as idolatrous: “What high religious rites, what sacrifices precede, intervene, and follow, how many guilds, how many priesthoods, how many services are set astir” (Tert. de Spect. § 7).

18 πανηγύρεσι. The Panegyris was strictly a religious festival, but was commonly accompanied by a great fair or market, in which were sold not only such things as the worshippers might need for their offerings, e.g. frankincense, but also the flesh of the animals which had been sacrificed. Cf. Dictionary of Greek and Rom. Antiq. “Panegyris.” Tertull. Apolog. § 42: “We do not go to your spectacles: yet the articles that are sold there, if I need them, I shall obtain more readily at their proper places. We certainly buy no frankincense.”

19 Compare St. Paul’s argument against meats offered to idols, 1 Cor. x. 14–21: and on Cyril’s Eucharistic doctrine, see notes on Cat. xxii.

20 The form of renunciation before Baptism is given in the Apostolic Constitutions, VII. 41: “I renounce Satan, and his works, and his pomps, and his services, and his angels, and his inventions, and all things that are under him.” Cf. Tertull. De Spectaculis, § 4: “When on entering the water, we make profession of the Christian faith in the words of its rule, we bear public testimony that we have renounced the devil, his pomp, and his angels.”

21 Herod. ii. 62: “At Sais, when the assembly takes place for the sacrifices (to Minerva, or Neith), there is one night on which the inhabitants all burn a multitude of lights in the open air round their houses.…These burn the whole night, and give to the festival the name of the Feast of Lamps (Λυχνοκαΐη).”

22 Fountains and rivers had each its own deity or nymph, to whom sacrifices were offered, and incense burned.

23 ἐς τοῦτο διέβησαν. These words are omitted in many mss., and regarded by the Benedictine Editor as a spurious addition made to complete the construction. The words ἢ τοιαῦτα at the end of the sentence are better omitted, as in several good mss.

24 Cat. iv. 37; Apost. Const. vi.: “Be not a diviner, for that leads to idolatry.…Thou shalt not use enchantments or purgations for thy child. Thou shalt not be a soothsayer nor a diviner by great or little birds. Nor shalt thou learn wicked arts; for all these things has the Law forbidden.” Deut. xviii. 10, 11.

25 Apost. Const. vii. 41: “And after his renunciation let him in his association (συντασσόμενος) say, I associate myself with Christ.”

26 πειραθήσῃ (Cod. Mon. 1) is a better reading than πειρασθήσῃ. Cf. Plat. Laches, 188 E: τῶν ἔργων ἐπειράθην.

27 Phil. iii. 13. On the pillar of salt, see Wisd. x. 7: “Of whose wickedness even to this day the waste land that smoketh is a testimony,…and a standing pillar of salt is a monument of an unbelieving soul.” Joseph. Ant. I. xi. 4: “Moreover I have seen it, for it remains even unto this day.” Bp. Lightfoot, Clem. Rom. Ep. ad Cor. xi. remarks that the region abounds in pillars of salt, and “Mediæval and even modern travellers have delighted to identify one or other of these with Lot’s wife.”

28 Dan. ii. 35, 45.

29 Is. xxviii. 15.

30 Cf. S. Ambros. De Mysteriis, c. ii. 7: “Ad orientem converteris; qui enim renunciat diabolo ad Christum convertitur:” “Where he plainly intimates.…that turning to the East was a symbol of their aversion from Satan and conversion unto Christ, that is, from darkness to light, from serving idols, to serve Him, who is the Sun of Righteousness and Fountain of Light” (Bingh. Ant. xi. vii. 7).

31 Cf. Didaché, vii. 1; Justin M. Apolog. I. c. 61 A; Swainson, Creeds, c. iii. on the short Baptismal Professions. “The writings of S. Cyprian distinctly tell us, that in his day the form of interrogation at Baptism was fixed and definite. He speaks of the “usitata et legitima verba interrogationis,”—and we know as distinctly that the interrogation included the words, “Dost thou believe in God the Father, in His Son Christ, in the Holy Spirit? Dost thou believe in remission of sins and eternal life through the Church?”

32 1 Pet. v. 9.

33 Is. xxv. 8; Rev. vii. 17.

34 πανηγυρίσεις

35 Is. lxi. 10.

36 These words seem to imply that the Lectures on the Eucharist were to be delivered in the Holy Sepulchre, though the Mysteries themselves may be called metaphorically “the Holy of Holies.”

[1] ΜΥΣΤΑΓΩΓΙΑ ΠΡΩΤΗ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΝΕΟΦΩΤΙΣΤΟΥΣ Καὶ ἀνάγνωσις ἐκ τῆς Πέτρου ἐπιστολῆς αʹ καθολικῆς, ἀπὸ τοῦ: Νήψατε, γρηγορήσατε, ἕως τέλους τῆς ἐπιστολῆς: τοῦ αὐτοῦ Κυρίλλου καὶ Ἰωάννου ἐπισκόπου.

Ἐπόθουν ὑμῖν καὶ πάλαι, ὦ γνήσια καὶ ἐπιπόθητα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τέκνα, περὶ τῶν πνευματικῶν τούτων καὶ ἐπουρανίων διαλεχθῆναι μυστηρίων. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ σαφῶς ἠπιστάμην ὄψιν ἀκοῆς πολλῷ πιστοτέραν εἶναι, ἀνέμενον τὸν παρόντα καιρόν, ὅπως εὐπροσαγωγοτέρους ὑμᾶς περὶ τῶν λεγομένων ἐκ ταύτης λαβὼν τῆς ἑσπέρας εἰς τὸν φωτεινότερον καὶ εὐωδέστερον λειμῶνα τοῦδε τοῦ παραδείσου χειραγωγήσω. Ἄλλως δὲ καὶ χωρητικοὶ τῶν θειοτέρων κατέστητε μυστηρίων, τοῦ θείου καὶ ζωοποιοῦ βαπτίσματος. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν λοιπὸν τῶν ἐντελεστέρων δεῖ μαθημάτων παρατιθέναι τράπεζαν, φέρε ταῦτα ὑμᾶς ἀκριβῶς παιδεύσωμεν, ἵνα εἰδῆτε τὴν ἔμφασιν τὴν πρὸς ὑμῶν κατ' ἐκείνην γενομένην τοῦ βαπτίσματος τὴν ἑσπέραν.

Εἰσῄειτε πρῶτον εἰς τὸν προαύλιον τοῦ βαπτίσματος οἶκον, καὶ πρὸς τὰς δυσμὰς ἑστῶτες ἠκούετε καὶ προσετάττεσθε ἐκτείνειν τὴν χεῖρα, καὶ ὡς παρόντι ἀπετάττεσθε τῷ Σατανᾷ. Χρὴ δὲ τοῦτο ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι, ὅτι ἐν παλαιᾷ ἱστορίᾳ οὗτος κεῖται ὁ τύπος. Ὅτε γὰρ Φαραώ, ὁ πικρότατος καὶ ὠμότατος τύραννος, κατέθλιβε τῶν Ἑβραίων τὸν ἐλεύθερον καὶ εὐγενῆ λαόν, ὁ Θεὸς ἀπέστειλε τὸν Μωϋσῆν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς πονηρᾶς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων δουλείας. Καὶ αἵματι μὲν ἀμνοῦ ἐχρίοντο αἱ φλιαί, ἵνα φύγῃ ὁ ὀλοθρεύων τοὺς τὸ σημεῖον ἔχοντας τοῦ αἵματος οἴκους, παραδόξως δὲ ἠλευθεροῦτο ὁ τῶν Ἑβραίων λαός. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ ἐλευθερωθέντας κατεδίωξε καὶ παραδόξως εἶδε τὴν θάλασσαν αὐτοῖς τεμνομένην, ὅμως ἐχώρει, ἴχνεσιν ἴχνη συμβάλλων, καὶ παραχρῆμα ὑποβρύχιος ἐγίνετο, καταποντούμενος ἐν θαλάσσῃ ἐρυθρᾷ.

Μετάβηθί μοι λοιπὸν ἀπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν ἐπὶ τὰ νέα, ἀπὸ τοῦ τύπου ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ἐκεῖ Μωϋσῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς Αἴγυπτον πεμπόμενος, ἐνταῦθα Χριστὸς ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἀποστελλόμενος: ἐκεῖ, ἵνα ἐξαγάγῃ λαὸν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου θλιβόμενον, ὧδε Χριστός, ἵνα ῥύσηται τοὺς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καταπονουμένους: ἐκεῖ αἷμα ἀμνοῦ ὀλοθρευτοῦ ἦν ἀποτρόπαιον, ἐνταῦθα τοῦ Ἀμνοῦ τοῦ ἀμώμου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ αἷμα δαιμόνων καθέστηκε φυγαδευτήριον. Ἐκεῖνος ὁ τύραννος κατεδίωκεν ἕως θαλάσσης τὸν παλαιὸν ἐκεῖνον λαόν, καὶ σοὶ ὁ ἰταμός, ὁ ἀναίσχυντος καὶ ἀρχέκακος οὗτος δαίμων ἕως αὐτῶν ἠκολούθει τῶν σωτηρίων ναμάτων. Ἐκεῖνος ὑποβρύχιος ἐν θαλάσσῃ γίνεται, καὶ οὗτος ἐν τῷ σωτηρίῳ ὕδατι ἀφανίζεται.

Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἀκούεις τεταμένῃ τῇ χειρὶ ὡς πρὸς παρόντα εἰπεῖν: «Ἀποτάσσομαί σοι, Σατανᾶ.» Βούλομαι καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν ἵστασθε πρὸς δυσμὰς εἰπεῖν: ἀναγκαῖον γάρ. Ἐπειδὴ τοῦ φαινομένου σκότους τόπος αἱ δυσμαί, ἐκεῖνος δὲ σκότος τυγχάνων ἐν σκότῳ ἔχει καὶ τὸ κράτος: τούτου χάριν συμβολικῶς πρὸς δυσμὰς ἀποβλέποντες, ἀποτάσσεσθε τῷ σκοτεινῷ ἐκείνῳ καὶ ζοφερῷ ἄρχοντι. Τί οὖν ὑμῶν ἕκαστος ἑστὼς ἔλεγεν; Ἀποτάσσομαί σοι, Σατανᾶ, σοὶ τῷ πονηρῷ καὶ ὠμοτάτῳ τυράννῳ: οὐκέτι σου δέδοικα, λέγων, τὴν ἰσχύν. Κατέλυσε γὰρ ταύτην ὁ Χριστός, αἵματός μοι καὶ σαρκὸς κοινωνήσας, ἵνα διὰ τούτων τῶν παθημάτων καταργήσῃ θανάτῳ τὸν θάνατον, ὅπως μὴ διὰ παντὸς ἔνοχος γένωμαι δουλείας. Ἀποτάσσομαί σοι τῷ δολερῷ καὶ πανουργοτάτῳ ὄφει. Ἀποτάσσομαί σοι ἐπιβούλῳ ὄντι, καὶ προσποιήσει φιλίας πράξαντι πᾶσαν ἀνομίαν, καὶ ἐμποιήσαντι τοῖς ἡμετέροις προγόνοις ἀποστασίαν. Ἀποτάσσομαί σοι, Σατανᾶ, τῷ πάσης κακίας δημιουργῷ καὶ συνεργῷ.

Εἶτα ἐν δευτέρᾳ λέξει μανθάνεις λέγειν: «Καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις σου.» Ἔργα δὲ τοῦ Σατανᾶ, πᾶσά ἐστιν ἁμαρτία, ᾗ καὶ ἀποτάσσεσθαι ἀναγκαῖον, ὡσεὶ καὶ τύραννόν τις ἀποφυγὼν πάντως που καὶ τὰ τούτου ὅπλα ἀπέφυγε. Πᾶσα οὖν κατ' εἶδος ἁμαρτία ἐγκατείλεκται τοῖς τοῦ διαβόλου ἔργοις. Πλὴν τοῦτο ἴσθι ὅτι ὅσα λέγεις, μάλιστα κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν φρικωδεστάτην ὥραν, ἔγγραφά ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς ἀοράτοις τοῦ Θεοῦ γραφόμενα βιβλίοις. Ἐπειδὰν τοίνυν ἐναντίως τι διαπραττόμενος τούτοις ἁλῷς, ὡς παραβάτης κριθήσῃ. Ἀποτάσσῃ τοίνυν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῦ Σατανᾶ, πάσαις φημὶ πράξεσι καὶ ἐννοίαις παρὰ λόγον γινομέναις.

Εἶτα λέγεις: «Καὶ πάσῃ τῇ πομπῇ αὐτοῦ.» Πομπὴ δὲ διαβόλου ἐστὶ θεατρομανίαι, καὶ ἱπποδρομίαι, καὶ κυνηγεσία, καὶ πᾶσα τοιαύτη ματαιότης, ᾗς εὐχόμενος ἐλευθερωθῆναι ὁ ἅγιος τῷ Θεῷ λέγει: Ἀπόστρεψον τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν ματαιότητα. Μὴ περισπούδαστόν σοι ἔστω ἡ θεατρομανία, ἔνθα αἱ ἀσελγεῖς εἰσι τῶν μίμων ὄψεις, ὕβρεσι πεπραγμέναι καὶ πάσαις ἀσχημοσύναις, καὶ ἐκτεθηλυμένων ἀνδρῶν ἐμμανεῖς ὀρχήσεις: μήτε ἡ τῶν ἐν κυνηγίοις ἑαυτοὺς θηρίοις ἐκδιδόντων, ἵνα τὴν ἀθλίαν κολακεύσωσι γαστέρα: οἵ, ἵνα κοιλίας τροφαῖς θεραπεύσωσιν, αὐτοὶ γαστρὸς ἀτιθάσων ἀληθῶς τροφὴ γίνονται θηρίων: ἵνα δὲ δικαίως εἴπω, ὑπὲρ οἰκείου θεοῦ τῆς κοιλίας τὴν ἑαυτῶν ζωὴν κατὰ κρημνῶν μονομαχούντων. Φεῦγε καὶ τὰς ἱπποδρομίας, τὸ ἐμμανὲς θέαμα καὶ ψυχὰς ἐκτραχηλίζον: ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα πομπή ἐστι διαβόλου.

Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἐν εἰδωλίοις καὶ πανηγύρεσι κρεμνώμενα, ἔσθ' ὅτε κρέα, ἢ ἄρτοι, ἢ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα μιανθέντα τῇ τῶν παμμιάρων ἐπικλήσει δαιμόνων, ἐγκαταλεχθείη ἂν τῇ τοῦ διαβόλου πομπῇ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἄρτος καὶ ὁ οἶνος τῆς εὐχαριστίας, πρὸ τῆς ἁγίας ἐπικλήσεως τῆς προσκυνητῆς Τριάδος, ἄρτος ἦν καὶ οἶνος λιτός, ἐπικλήσεως δὲ γενομένης, ὁ μὲν ἄρτος γίνεται σῶμα Χριστοῦ, ὁ δὲ οἶνος αἷμα Χριστοῦ: τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον, τὰ τοιαῦτα βρώματα τῆς πομπῆς τοῦ Σατανᾶ, τῇ ἰδίᾳ φύσει λιτὰ ὄντα, τῇ ἐπικλήσει τῶν δαιμόνων βέβηλα γίνεται.

Μετὰ ταῦτα λέγεις: «Καὶ τῇ λατρείᾳ σου.» Λατρεία δέ ἐστι διαβόλου, ἡ ἐν εἰδωλίοις εὐχή: τὰ πρὸς τιμὴν γινόμενα τῶν ἀψύχων εἰδώλων: τὸ ἅπτειν λύχνους, ἢ θυμιᾶν παρὰ πηγὰς ἢ ποταμούς, ὥς τινες ἀπ' ὀνειράτων ἢ ἐκ δαιμόνων ἀπατηθέντες, ἐπὶ τοῦτο διέβησαν, οἰόμενοι καὶ σωματικῶν παθῶν τὴν ἴασιν εὑρίσκειν: μὴ τοιαῦτα μετέλθῃς. Οἰωνοσκοπία, μαντεία, κληδονισμοί, ἢ περιάμματα, ἢ ἐν πετάλοις ἐπιγραφαί, μαγείαις, ἢ ἄλλαις τισὶ κακοτεχνίαις, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, λατρεία ἐστὶ διαβόλου. Φεῦγε οὖν ταῦτα: εἰ γὰρ τούτοις ὑποπέσοις μετὰ τὴν ἀπόταξιν τοῦ Σατανᾶ καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν σύνταξιν, πικροτέρου πειραθήσῃ τοῦ τυράννου, ἴσως ὡς οἰκείου περιέποντος πάλαι, καὶ τῆς πικρᾶς ἀνιέντος σε δουλείας, νῦν δὲ σφόδρα παρὰ σοῦ καταπικρανθέντος, καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ στερηθήσῃ, κἀκείνου πειραθήσῃ. Οὐκ ἤκουσας παλαιᾶς ἱστορίας τὰ περὶ τοῦ Λὼτ ἡμῖν καὶ τῶν τούτου θυγατέρων διηγουμένης; Οὐχὶ αὐτὸς μὲν σέσωσται μετὰ τῶν θυγατέρων, ἐπειδὴ τὸ ὄρος κατείληφεν, ἡ δὲ τούτου γυνὴ στήλη γέγονεν ἁλός, ἐστηλιτευμένη δι' αἰῶνος, ἔχουσα τῆς πονηρᾶς προαιρέσεως καὶ ὑποστροφῆς τὴν μνήμην; Πρόσεχε τοίνυν σεαυτῷ, καὶ μὴ στρέφου πάλιν, βαλὼν τὴν χεῖρα ἐπ' ἄροτρον, εἰς τὴν ἁλμυρὰν τοῦ βίου τούτου πρᾶξιν: ἀλλὰ φεῦγε εἰς τὸ ὄρος πρὸς Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν τμηθέντα λίθον ἄνευ χειρῶν, καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην πληρώσαντα.

Ὅτε οὖν τῷ Σατανᾷ ἀποτάττῃ, πᾶσαν τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν πατῶν διαθήκην, λύεις τὰς παλαιὰς πρὸς τὸν ᾅδην συνθήκας, ἀνοίγεταί σοι ὁ παράδεισος τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὃν ἐφύτευσε κατὰ ἀνατολάς, ὅθεν διὰ τὴν παράβασιν ἐξόριστος γέγονεν ὁ ἡμέτερος προπάτωρ. Καὶ τούτου σύμβολον τὸ στραφῆναί σε ἀπὸ δυσμῶν πρὸς ἀνατολάς, τοῦ φωτὸς τὸ χωρίον. Τότε σοι ἐλέγετο εἰπεῖν: «Πιστεύω εἰς τὸν Πατέρα καὶ εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα καὶ εἰς ἓν βάπτισμα μετανοίας.» Περὶ ὧν ἐν ταῖς προτέραις κατηχήσεσιν, ὡς ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάρις ἔδωκεν, ἐν πλάτει σοι εἴρηται.

Τούτοις οὖν ἀσφαλιζόμενος τοῖς λόγοις, νῆφε. Ὁ γὰρ ἀντίδικος ἡμῶν διάβολος, καθὼς ἀρτίως ἀνέγνωσται, ὡς λέων περιπατεῖ, ζητῶν τινὰ καταπιεῖν. Ἀλλ' ἐν μὲν τοῖς πρὸ τούτου χρόνοις κατέπιεν ὁ θάνατος ἰσχύσας: ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου τῆς παλιγγενεσίας λουτροῦ, ἀφεῖλεν ὁ Θεὸς πᾶν δάκρυον ἀπὸ παντὸς προσώπου: οὐκ ἔτι γὰρ πενθεῖς, ἐκδεδυμένος τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον: ἀλλὰ πανηγυρίζεις, ἐνδεδυμένος ἱμάτιον σωτηρίου, Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.

Ταῦτα ἐν τῷ ἐξωτέρῳ ἐγίνετο οἴκῳ. Θεοῦ δὲ θέλοντος, ὅταν ἐν ταῖς ἑξῆς μυσταγωγίαις εἰς τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων εἰσέλθωμεν, ἐκεῖ εἰσόμεθα τῶν αὐτόθι ἐπιτελουμένων τὰ σύμβολα.

Τῷ δὲ Θεῷ δόξα, κράτος, μεγαλωσύνη, σὺν Υἱῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.