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Israel and seeing God, Jesus Christ, according to his 14Ε_128 first coming, being anointed by the conception of humanity, as the teacher says elsewhere, anointing humanity with divinity, and making it what that which anointed it is; but according to his second and glorious epiphany, as God and Lord and king of all creation, both being and being proclaimed.

RN (150). ..».... FORGETTING HIS OWN DECLARATION, THE OF THE DEDICATION

DAY ..». Concerning the present discourse, some are perplexed, saying, Why ever did the teacher, having said that the day of resurrection surpasses all feasts on earth, not only the human and earthly ones, but even those of Christ himself and celebrated for him, as if forgetting his own declaration, places the day of the dedication above it, saying, “Higher than the high, and more wondrous than the wondrous,” so that from this the teacher is thought to contradict himself.

To these things it must be said, as the teacher himself says after a certain point in the same discourse: “The Word does not wish you ever to remain in the same state, but always to be movable, easily moved, entirely newly created.” Just as, then, we know that the one being renewed becomes higher than himself and more godlike, being illumined by advances in virtue, so indeed it is necessary for us to believe that every feast day conceived for our sake becomes, in us and through us, higher than itself, 14Ε_130 as the mystery signified through it brings its own power in us to perfection. Rightly, therefore, did the teacher call the new Sunday higher than the high, as it is always being exalted with us, and surpasses itself; like the resurrection, I mean the first Sunday, which secretly through its mystery bestows a life completely pure of every merely material 1389 fantasy on those who thus spiritually celebrate its mystery, while the new Sunday, in addition to these things, also brings them into participation of the full enjoyment of the divine goods which the one before it initiated.

RNA (151). ANOTHER REFLECTION ON THE SAME

Another reflection on the same. If what is said seems credible to anyone, they say that the first Sunday is a type of the resurrection to virtue according to free will, and the second, of the state of perfection in knowledge according to free will.

RNB (152). ANOTHER REFLECTION ON THE SAME

Another reflection on the same. And again, that the first Sunday is a symbol of the future natural resurrection and incorruptibility, and the second bears the image of the future deification according to grace. If, therefore, the enjoyment of good things is more honorable than the state of being purified from evils, and the state of perfection according to true knowledge is more honorable than a sound free will according to virtue, and the transformation into God by grace according to deification is more honorable than natural incorruptibility, of which things the first Sunday bears the type, and the second 14Ε_132 happens to be the symbol, rightly did the teacher, being led by the spirit, call the new Sunday higher than the high.

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Ἰσραήλ καί ὁρῶντος Θεόν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, κατά μέν τήν 14Ε_128 πρώτην αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν, τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος χριόμενος, ὥσπερ ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν ὁ διδάσκαλος, χρίσας τήν ἀνθρωπότητα τῇ θεότητι, καί ποιήσας ὅπερ τό χρίσαν· κατά δέ τήν δευτέραν αὐτοῦ καί ἔνδοξον ἐπιφάνειαν, ὡς Θεός καί Κύριος καί πάσης κτίσεως βασιλεύς, καί ὑπάρχων καί ἀναγορευόμενος.

ΡΝ (150). ..».... ΕΠΙΛΑΘΟΜΕΝΟΣ ΤΗΣ Ι∆ΙΑΣ ΑΠΟΦΑΣΕΩΣ, ΤΗΝ ΤΩΝ ΕΓΚΑΙΝΙΩΝ

ΗΜΕΡΑΝ ..». Εἰς τόν παρόντα λόγον τινές ἀποροῦσι φάσκοντες, Τί δήποτε φήσας ὁ

διδάσκαλος ὑπερβαίνειν τήν ἀναστάσιμον ἡμέραν πάσας τάς ἐπί γῆς ἑορτάς, οὐ τάς ἀνθρωπικάς μόνον καί χαμαί ἐρχομένας, ἀλλ᾿ ἤδη καί τάς αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καί ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ τελουμένας, ὥσπερ ἐπιλαθόμενος τῆς ἰδίας ἀποφάσεως, τήν τῶν ἐγκαινίων ἡμέραν ταύτης ὑπερτίθησιν εἰπών, «Ὑψηλῶς ὑψηλοτέρα, καί θαυμασίας θαυμασιοτέρα», ὡς ἐκ τούτου νομισθῆναι ἑαυτῷ περιπίπτειν τόν διδάσκαλον.

Πρός ταῦτα λεκτέον, ὡς αὐτός ὁ διδάσκαλος ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ λόγῳ μετά τινά

φησιν· «Οὐ βούλεταί σε ὁ λόγος ποτέ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ μένειν, ἀλλ᾿ ἀεί κινητόν εἶναι, εὐκίνητον, πάντως νεόκτιστον». Ὥσπερ οὖν τόν ἐγκαινιζόμενον ὑψηλότερον ἑαυτοῦ γίνεσθαι καί θεοειδέστερον ταῖς εἰς ἀρετήν προκοπαῖς φαιδρυνόμενον γινώσκομεν, οὕτω δή καί πᾶσαν δι᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐπινοηθεῖσαν ἑορτῆς ἡμέραν ἐν ἡμῖν καί δι᾿ ἡμῶν ἑαυτῆς ὑψηλοτέραν γίνεσθαι 14Ε_130 πιστεύειν ἡμᾶς χρή, τοῦ δι᾿ αὐτῆς σημαινομένου μυστηρίου τήν οἰκείαν δύναμιν ἐν ἡμῖν πρός τελείωσιν ἄγοντος. Εἰκότως οὖν ὑψηλῆς ὑψηλοτέραν τήν καινήν ὁ διδάσκαλος ἔφη Κυριακήν, ὡς ἀεί τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμῖν συνυψουμένης, καί ἑαυτήν ὑπερβαινούσης· οἷα τῆς ἀναστάσεως, λέγω δέ τῆς πρώτης Κυριακῆς, κρυφίως διά τοῦ κατ᾿ αὐτήν μυστηρίου πάσης προσύλου 1389 μόνον φαντασίας παντάπασι καθαρεύουσαν ζωήν δωρουμένης τοῖς οὕτω τό κατ᾿ αὐτήν πνευματικῶς ἐπιτελοῦσι μυστήριον, τῆς δέ νέας Κυριακῆς πρός τούτοις καί πάσης αὐτούς ἐν μετουσίᾳ ποιούσης τῆς ὧν ἡ πρό αὐτῆς ἀπήρξατο θείων ἀγαθῶν ἀπολαύσεως.

ΡΝΑ (151). ΑΛΛΟ ΘΕΩΡΗΜΑ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΑΥΤΟ

Ἄλλο θεώρημα εἰς τό αὐτό. Εἰ δέ τῷ πιστόν εἶναι δοκεῖ τό λεγόμενον, φασί τήν μέν πρώτην Κυριακήν

τύπον εἶναι τῆς κατά τήν προαίρεσιν εἰς ἀρετήν ἀναστάσεως, τήν δέ δευτέραν τῆς κατά προαίρεσιν ἕξεως εἰς γνῶσιν τελειότητος.

ΡΝΒ (152). ΑΛΛΟ ΘΕΩΡΗΜΑ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΑΥΤΟ

Ἄλλο θεώρημα εἰς τό αὐτό. Καί αὖθις τήν μέν πρώτην Κυριακήν τῆς μελλούσης φυσικῆς ἀναστάσεως καί

ἀφθαρσίας εἶναι σύμβολον, τήν δέ δευτέραν τῆς κατά χάριν μελλούσης θεώσεως φέρειν εἰκόνα. Εἰ τοίνυν τῆς μέν καθαρευούσης κακῶν ἕξεως ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀπόλαυσίς ἐστι τιμιωτέρα, τῆς δέ κατ᾿ ἀρετήν ὑγιοῦς προαιρέσεως ἕξις τῆς κατά τήν ἀληθῆ γνῶσιν τελειότητος, καί τῆς φυσικῆς ἀφθαρσίας ἡ ἐν χάριτι πρός τόν Θεόν κατά τήν θέωσιν μεταποίησις, ὧν ἡ μέν πρώτη Κυριακή φέρει τύπον, ἡ δέ δευτέρα 14Ε_132 τυγχάνει σύμβολον, εἰκότως ὑψηλῆς ὑψηλοτέραν ἀγόμενος πνεύματι, τήν καινήν ὁ διδάσκαλος ἔφη Κυριακήν.