[Upon Which Days Servants are Not to Work.]

XXXIII. I Peter and Paul do make the following constitutions. Let the slaves work five days; but on the Sabbath-day and the Lord’s day let them have leisure to go to church for instruction in piety. We have said that the Sabbath is on account of the creation, and the Lord’s day of the resurrection. Let slaves rest from their work all the great week, and that which follows it—for the one in memory of the passion, and the other of the resurrection; and there is need they should be instructed who it is that suffered and rose again, and who it is permitted Him to suffer, and raised Him again. Let them have rest from their work on the Ascension, because it was the conclusion of the dispensation by Christ. Let them rest at Pentecost, because of the coming of the Holy Spirit, which was given to those that believed in Christ. Let them rest on the festival of His birth, because on it the unexpected favour was granted to men, that Jesus Christ, the Logos of God, should be born of the Virgin Mary,  169  The Coptic adds, “the holy mother of God.” for the salvation of the world.  170  [Compare vol. iii. pp. 164, 352.] Let them rest on the festival of Epiphany, because on it a manifestation took place of the divinity of Christ, for the Father bore testimony to Him at the baptism; and the Paraclete, in the form of a dove, pointed out to the bystanders Him to whom testimony was borne. Let them rest on the days of the apostles: for they were appointed your teachers  to bring you to Christ, and made you worthy of the Spirit. Let them rest on the day of the first  171  One V. ms., Coptic, and Syriac omit “first.” martyr Stephen, and of the other holy martyrs who preferred Christ to their own life.

[33] Ἐγὼ Παῦλος καὶ ἐγὼ Πέτρος διατασσόμεθα. Ἐργαζέσθωσαν οἱ δοῦλοι πέντε ἡμέρας, σάββατον δὲ καὶ κυριακὴν σχολαζέτωσαν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ διὰ τὴν διδασκαλίαν τῆς εὐσεβείας: τὸ μὲν γὰρ σάββατον εἴπομεν δημιουργίας λόγον ἔχειν, τὴν δὲ κυριακὴν ἀναστάσεως. Τὴν μεγάλην ἑβδομάδα πᾶσαν καὶ τὴν μετ' αὐτὴν ἀργείτωσαν οἱ δοῦλοι, ὅτι ἡ μὲν πάθους ἐστίν, ἡ δὲ ἀναστάσεως, καὶ χρεία διδασκαλίας, τίς ὁ ἀποθανὼν καὶ ἀναστὰς ἢ τίς ὁ συγχωρήσας ἢ καὶ ἀναστήσας. Τὴν ἀνάληψιν ἀργείτωσαν διὰ τὸ πέρας τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν οἰκονομίας. Τὴν πεντηκοστὴν ἀργείτωσαν διὰ τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος τὴν δωρηθεῖσαν τοῖς πιστεύσασιν εἰς Χριστόν. Τὴν τῶν γενεθλίων ἑορτὴν ἀργείτωσαν διὰ τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ τὴν ἀπροσδόκητον χάριν δεδόσθαι ἀνθρώποις, γεννηθῆναι τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τοῦ κόσμου. Τὴν τῶν ἐπιφανίων ἑορτὴν ἀργείτωσαν διὰ τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ ἀνάδειξιν γεγενῆσθαι τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ θεότητος, μαρτυρήσαντος αὐτῷ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι καὶ τοῦ παρακλήτου ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς ὑποδείξαντος τοῖς παρεστῶσι τὸν μαρτυρηθέντα. Τὰς ἡμέρας τῶν ἀποστόλων ἀργείτωσαν: διδάσκαλοι γὰρ ὑμῶν εἰς Χριστὸν κατέστησαν καὶ Πνεύματος ὑμᾶς ἠξίωσαν ἁγίου. Τὴν ἡμέραν Στεφάνου τοῦ πρωτομάρτυρος ἀργείτωσαν καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων τῶν προτιμησάντων Χριστὸν τῆς ἑαυτῶν ζωῆς.