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and the liturgies; for the consecrations, it is clear, we shall take as pertaining to the establishments, that is, the ordinations.
And the one: Next he clarifies both what the triadic division is, and what the triad of the transcendent orders is, about which he also set forth in the first chapter of the present discourse. And note that in the ecclesiastical hierarchy there is a triadic division, and of what kind. Our sacred tradition is divided into a mystery; for this is the rite, into an initiator, into those being initiated.
§ 2. The most holy one: What the hierarchy in the heavens is, and that the rite of the celestial hierarchy is the knowledge and possession of God according to one's capacity. And the initiators of this are the first orders around God, and those being consecrated are the orders after them, being initiated and taught by them.
After that one: What the hierarchy according to the two peoples is. The one according to the law: Concerning the hierarchy according to the law. Not easily distinguished: Note that he says that not easily comprehended and not easily distinguished is the
contemplation and allegory of the legal ordinances. And to this one according to the law: What the rite of those under the law is. (14Ε_400> Of the initiator and leader: That is, of Moses. Consecrating the: According to what was said; “See that you make all things according to the pattern
shown to you on the mountain.” The more perfect: He speaks concerning the new hierarchy in the Church, that
it is a succession to the things according to the law. And these things the Apostle says in the epistle to the Hebrews, and the Lord; “I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.”
By the mean: Note, how the ecclesiastical hierarchy is intermediate between the celestial hierarchy and the legal one, and how it partakes of both, of the one in spirit, of the other in letter, that is, in the symbols.
The threefold: How the division of the orders into three, Godlike of the sacred things: That is, into sacred knowledge, and teachers, and
those being taught. Of those among us: Of the angels.
The sacred action of the rites is divided into purification, initiation, perfection. The arrangement of the sacred ministers into purification, into illumination, into perfection of the uninitiated, of the purified, of the illuminated. The power of those being consecrated into those being purified, into those being illuminated, into those being perfected.
§ 3. The sacred power: In these things consider the triadic division of the hierarchy being clearly shown.
And that of the sacred ministers: Concerning those who consecrate. It purifies: What it is to purify, and what to illuminate, and what to perfect,
he has said in the *On the Celestial Hierarchy* in chapter 3 towards the end, and he will say here as he proceeds; and this is the triad.
(14Ε_402> By the consecrations: The first, to purify the uninitiated, the middle, by which they initiate others, and the last, only to be perfected.
The first one: In place of the triad of the subordinate orders. The threefold: What the threefold power of the priests is. Of the assembly: The term, *having been shown*, is understood.
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δέ τάς λειτουργίας· τάς γάρ τελειώσεις, πρόδηλον, ὡς ἐπί τῶν καταστάσεων, ἤγουν χειροτονιῶν ἐκληψόμεθα.
Καί τήν μέν: Ἑξῆς σαφηνίζει, τίς τε ἡ τριαδική διαίρεσις, καί τίς ἡ τριάς τῶν ὑπερβεβηκυιῶν τάξεων, περί ὧν καί προεξέθετο ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ κεφαλαίῳ τοῦ παρόντος λόγου. Καί σημείωσαι ὅτι ἐπί τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱεραρχίας τριαδική διαίρεσίς ἐστι, καί ὁποία. Ἡ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἱερά παράδοσις διαιρεῖται εἰς μυστήριον· τοῦτο γάρ ἡ τελετή, εἰς μὑστην, εἰς μυουμένους.
§ 2. Ἡ μέν ἁγιωτάτη: Τίς ἡ ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἱεραρχία, καί ὅτι τελετή ἐστι τῆς οὐρανίας ἱεραρχίας ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατά δύναμιν γνῶσις καί ἕξις. Μῦσται δέ ταύτης αἱ περί Θεόν πρῶται τάξεις, τελούμενοι δέ αἱ μετ' αὐτάς παρ' αὐτῶν μυούμενοι καί διδασκόμενοι τάξεις.
Μετ' ἐκείνην: Τίς ἡ κατά τούς δύο λαούς ἱεραρχία. Τήν κατά νόμον: Περί τῆς κατά νόμον ἱεραρχίας. Οὐκ εὐδιάκριτον: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι οὐκ εὔληπτον λέγει καί εὐδιάκριτον τήν
τῶν νομικῶν διατάξεων θεωρίαν καί ἀλληγορίαν. Ταύτῃ δέ τῇ κατά νόμον: Τίς ἡ τελετή τῶν ἐν νόμῳ. (14Ε_400> Μύστου καί ἡγεμόνος: Μωσέως δηλαδή. Ἱερογραφῶν τήν: Κατά τό εἰρημένον· «ὅρα, ποιήσεις πάντα κατά τόν τύπον
τόν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει». Τήν τελειοτέραν: Περί τῆς νέας ἱεραρχίας τῆς ἐν Ἐκκλησίᾳ λέγει, ὅτι
κλήρωσίς ἐστι τῶν κατά νόμον. Ταῦτα δέ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἐν τῇ πρός Ἑβραίους φησί, καί ὁ Κύριος· «οὐκ ἦλθον καταλῦσαι τόν νόμον, ἀλλά πληρῶσαι».
Τῇ μεσότητι: Σημείωσαι, πῶς μέση ἐστίν οὐρανίας ἱεραρχίας, καί τῆς νομικῆς ἡ ἐκκλησιαστική ἱεραρχία, καί πῶς ταῖς δύο κοινωνεῖ, τῇ μέν τῷ πνεύματι, τῇ δέ τῷ γράμματι, τουτέστι τοῖς συμβόλοις.
Τό τρισσόν: Πῶς ἡ εἰς τρία διαίρεσις τῶν τάξεων, Θεοειδεῖς τῶν ἱερῶν: Τουτέστιν, εἰς ἱεράν γνῶσιν, καί διδασκάλους, καί
διδασκομένους. Τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς: Τῶν ἀγγέλων.
∆ιαιρεῖται ἡ τῶν τελετῶν ἱερουργία εἰς κάθαρσιν, μύησιν, τελειωσιν. Ἡ τῶν ἱερουργῶν διακόσμησις εἰς κάθαρσιν εἰς φωταγωγίαν εἰς τελείωσιν τῶν ἀτελέστων, τῶν καθαρθέντων, τῶν φωτισθέντων. Ἡ τῶν τελουμένων δύναμις εἰς καθαιρομένους, εἰς φωτιζομένους, εἰς τελειουμένους.
§ 3. ∆ύναμιν τήν ἱεράν: Ἐν τούτοις σκόπησον εὐκρινῶς δεικνυμένην τήν τριαδικήν τῆς ἱεραρχίας διαίρεσιν.
Ἡ δέ τῶν ἱερουργῶν: Περί τῶν τελούντων. Ἀποκαθαίρει: Τί ἐστιν ἀποκαθαίρειν, καί τί τό φωτίζειν, καί τί τό τελειοῦν,
εἶπεν ἐν τῷ Περί τῆς ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἱεραρχίας κεφαλαίῳ γ' περί τό τέλος, καί ὧδε προϊόν ἐρεῖ· αὕτη δέ ἡ τριάς.
(14Ε_402> Τελειώσεσιν: Πρώτην τό καθαίρειν τούς ἀτελέστους, μέσην καθ' ἥν ἄλλους μυοῦσιν, ἐσχάτην δέ τό τελειωθῆναι μόνον.
Ἡ πρώτη μέν: Ἀντί τοῦ ἡ τριάς τῶν ὑποβεβηκυιῶν τάξεων. Ἡ τρισσή: Τίς ἡ τρισσή δύναμις τῶν ἱερέων. Συνάξεως: Ἀπό κοινοῦ τό, ἀποδειχθείσης.