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in the same way, leading down to the water once for all, Philip is the baptizer of Candace's eunuch, and all who work the grace are the baptizers for all who partake of the gift. 2.186 And if someone were to suppose that the curtains, which by their joining with one another enclose the tabernacle in a circle, are the loving and peaceful concord of the believers, he would not miss what is fitting, since David interpreted it thus, who says: He made your borders peace. 2.187 But reddened skin and hides of hair, contributing to the adornment of the tabernacle, might fittingly be understood as both the mortification of the sinful flesh, of which the reddened skin is a symbol, and the harsh way of life according to self-control, by which the tabernacle of the Church is especially beautified. For the skins, not having in themselves a vital power by nature, become beautiful in the dye of redness, which teaches that the grace that flowers through the Spirit does not come to be in men, unless some should mortify themselves to sin. But if temperate modesty is also signified by the word in the dye of redness, I leave the judgment to whoever wishes. And the weaving of hairs, making a fabric rough and unpleasant to the touch, suggests this harsh and consuming self-control over the accompanying passions. And the life in virginity shows all such things in itself, which mortifies the flesh of those who live thus. 2.188 But if the inner part, which is called the Holy of Holies, is inaccessible to the many, let us not think that this is inconsistent with the sequence of what has been understood. For truly the truth of beings is a holy thing and a holy of holies, and incomprehensible and inaccessible to the many. Since it is established in the innermost and secret parts of the tabernacle of the mystery, it is necessary to be unmeddlesome concerning the understanding of things beyond comprehension, believing that what is sought exists, but is not set before the eyes of all, but remains unutterable in the innermost parts of the mind. 2.189 And having been instructed in these and such things through the vision concerning the tabernacle, that purified eye of Moses' soul, and having been exalted by such sights, is again led up to the height of other thoughts, being taught the adornment of the priesthood, in which there are both the tunic and the outer garment, and that breastplate, shining all around with the varied splendors of the stones, and the headdress and the plate upon it, the breeches, the pomegranates, the bells, then above all both the oracle and the manifestation and the truth seen in both, and the shoulder-pieces connecting these on either side, having inscribed the names of the patriarchs, 2.190 the multitude of precise contemplation for each of which is cut short by the very names of the vestment. For what name of bodily garments is "manifestation" or "oracle" or "truth"? Indeed, it is clearly shown by these things that not this perceptible vestment is described to us through the account, but some adornment of the soul woven from the practices of virtue. 2.191 Hyacinth is the dye of the long robe. And some of those before us who have contemplated the word say that the air is signified by the dye. But whether any such flower of this color has a kinship with the color of the air, I cannot precisely affirm. However, I do not reject the argument. For the thought contributes to the contemplation of virtue, that it wishes one who is about to serve as a priest to God and to offer his own body in the sacred ministry and to become a victim not put to death, in the living sacrifice and spiritual worship, not to harm the soul with some thick and fleshy covering of life, but to make fine, like a spider's thread, by the purity of life all the practices of life and to be near to what is upward-tending and light and airy, having re-spun this bodily nature so that, when we hear the last trumpet, being found weightless and light at the voice of him who commands, we may be carried up through the air with the Lord, being dragged down to the earth by no weight. For he who, according to the psalmist's

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κατὰ ταὐτὸν καθάπαξ κατάγων ἐπὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, λουτὴρ τοῦ Κανδάκου ὁ Φίλιππος καὶ πάντων πάντες τῶν μετεχόντων τῆς δωρεᾶς οἱ ἐνεργοῦντες τὴν χάριν. 2.186 Τὰς δὲ αὐλαίας, αἳ διὰ τῆς μετ' ἀλλήλων συμβολῆς τὴν σκηνὴν ἐν κύκλῳ διαλαμβάνουσι, τὴν ἀγαπητικήν τε καὶ εἰρηνικὴν τῶν πιστευόντων ὁμόνοιαν εἶναί τις ὑπονοῶν οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τοῦ πρέποντος, οὕτω τοῦ ∆αβὶδ ἑρμηνεύσαντος ὅς φησιν ὅτι· θεὶς τὰ ὅριά σου εἰρήνην. 2.187 ∆έρμα δὲ πεφοινιγμένον καὶ δέρρεις ἀπὸ τριχῶν πρὸς κόσμον τῆς σκηνῆς συντελοῦσαι καταλλήλως ἂν νοηθεῖεν ἥ τε νέκρωσις τῆς ἁμαρτητικῆς σαρκός, ἧς αἴνιγμα τὸ πεφοιγμένον δέρμα ἐστί, καὶ ἡ τραχεῖα διαγωγὴ κατ' ἐγκράτειαν, οἷς ὡραΐζεται μάλιστα ἡ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σκηνή. Τὰ γὰρ δέρματα ζωτικὴν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς οὐκ ἔχοντα δύναμιν τὴν ἐκ φύσεως τῇ βαφῇ τοῦ ἐρυθήματος εὐανθῆ γίνεται, ὅπερ διδάσκει τὴν διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπανθοῦσαν χάριν μὴ ἐν ἀνθρώποις γίνεσθαι, εἰ μή τινες ἑαυτοὺς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ νεκρώσειαν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἡ σώφρων αἰδὼς ἐν τῇ βαφῇ τοῦ ἐρυθήματος ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου σημαίνεται, ἐπὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ ποιοῦμαι τὴν κρίσιν. Ἥ τε ἐκ τῶν τριχῶν συμπλοκὴ τραχύ τε καὶ δυσαφὲς ἀπεργαζομένη ἐξύφασμα τὴν τραχεῖαν ταύτην καὶ δαπανητικὴν τῶν καθομιλούντων παθῶν ἐγκράτειαν ὑπαινίσσεται. Τὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα πάντα δείκνυσιν ἐφ' ἑαυτῆς ἡ ἐν παρθενίᾳ ζωή, ἡ τὴν σάρκα τῶν οὕτω βιούντων ὑπωπιάζουσα. 2.188 Εἰ δὲ τὸ ἔνδον, ὅπερ Ἅγιον ἁγίων λέγεται, τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐστιν ἀνεπίβατον, μηδὲ τοῦτο ἀπᾴδειν τῆς τῶν νοηθέντων ἀκολουθίας νομίσωμεν. Ἀληθῶς γὰρ ἅγιόν τι χρῆμά ἐστι καὶ ἁγίων ἅγιον καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἄληπτόν τε καὶ ἀπρόσιτον ἡ τῶν ὄντων ἀλήθεια. Ἧς ἐν τοῖς ἀδύτοις τε καὶ ἀπορρήτοις τῆς τοῦ μυστηρίου σκηνῆς καθιδρυμένης ἀπολυπραγμόνητον εἶναι χρὴ τῶν ὑπὲρ κατάληψιν ὄντων τὴν κατανόησιν, πιστεύοντας εἶναι μὲν τὸ ζητούμενον, οὐ μὴν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς πάντων προκεῖσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς ἀδύτοις τῆς διανοίας μένειν ἀπόρρητον. 2.189 Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα παιδευθεὶς διὰ τῆς κατὰ τὴν σκηνὴν ὀπτασίας ὁ κεκαθαρμένος ἐκεῖνος ὀφθαλμὸς τῆς Μωϋσέως ψυχῆς καὶ διὰ τῶν τοιούτων ὑψωθεὶς θεαμάτων, πάλιν πρὸς κορυφὴν ἄλλων νοημάτων ἀναβιβάζεται, τὸν στολισμὸν τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἐκπαιδευόμενος, ἐν οἷς ἐστιν ὅ τε ὑποδύτης καὶ ὁ ἐπενδύτης καὶ τὸ προστήθιον ἐκεῖνο, ταῖς ποικίλαις τῶν λίθων αἴγλαις περιλαμπόμενον, καὶ ἡ περὶ τὴν κεφαλὴννία καὶ τὸ ἐπ' αὐτῆς πέταλον, ἡ περισκελίς, οἱ ῥοΐσκοι, οἱ κώδωνες, εἶτα ὑπεράνω πάντων τὸ λόγιόν τε καὶ ἡ δήλωσις καὶ ἡ ἐπ' ἀμφοῖν θεωρουμένη ἀλήθεια, αἵ τε συνδετικαὶ τούτων ἑκατέρωθεν ἐπωμίδες, ἐγκεκολλαμέναι τῶν πατριαρχῶν τὰ ὀνόματα, 2.190 ὧν ὑποτέμνεται τὸ πλῆθος τῆς καθ' ἕκαστον ἀκριβοῦς θεωρίας αὐτὰ τῆς περιβολῆς τὰ ὀνόματα. Ποῖον γὰρ σωματικῶν ἐσθημάτων ὄνομα δήλωσις ἢ λόγιον ἢ ἀλήθεια; Ἦ δηλονότι δείκνυται διὰ τούτων τὸ μὴ ταύτην τὴν αἰσθητὴν περιβολὴν διὰ τῆς ἱστορίας ἡμῖν ὑπογράφεσθαι, ἀλλά τινα κόσμον ψυχῆς διὰ τῶν κατ' ἀρετὴν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἐξυφαινόμενον. 2.191 Ὑάκινθός ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ ποδήρους βαφή. Φασὶ δέ τινες τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν τεθεωρηκότων τὸν λόγον τὸν ἀέρα σημαίνεσθαι τῇ βαφῇ. Ἐγὼ δὲ εἰ μέν τι τὸ τοιοῦτον τοῦ χρώματος ἄνθος πρὸς τὸ ἀέριον χρῶμα συγγενῶς ἔχει, ἀκριβῶς οὐκ ἔχω διϊσχυρίζεσθαι. Τὸν μέντοι λόγον οὐκ ἀποβάλλω. Συντείνει γὰρ πρὸς τὴν κατ' ἀρετὴν θεωρίαν τὸ νόημα, ὅτι βούλεται τὸν μέλλοντα τῷ Θεῷ ἱερᾶσθαι καὶ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ προσάγειν σῶμα τῇ ἱερουργίᾳ καὶ σφάγιον γίνεσθαι μὴ νεκρούμενον, ἐν τῇ ζώσῃ θυσίᾳ καὶ λογικῇ λατρείᾳ, μὴ παχείᾳ τινὶ καὶ πολυσάρκῳ τοῦ βίου περιβολῇ καταβλάπτειν τὴν ψυχήν, ἀλλ' ἀπολεπτύνειν, οἷόν τι ἀράχνιον νῆμα, τῇ καθαρότητι τῆς ζωῆς πάντα τὰ τοῦ βίου ἐπιτηδεύματα καὶ ἐγγὺς εἶναι πρὸς τὸ ἀνωφερές τε καὶ κοῦφον καὶ ἐναέριον, τὴν σωματώδη ταύτην μετακλώσαντα φύσιν ἵνα, ὅταν τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀκούσωμεν σάλπιγγος, ἀβαρεῖς τε καὶ κοῦφοι πρὸς τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ κελεύοντος εὑρεθέντες, μετάρσιοι δι' ἀέρος ἅμα τῷ Κυρίῳ φερώμεθα, ὑπὸ μηδενὸς βάρους ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καθελκόμενοι. Ὁ γάρ, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ψαλμῳδοῦ