457

apostles that “You do not calculate, but you celebrate when your brothers of the circumcision do, celebrate together with them.” And they did not say when your brothers who are in the circumcision, but of the circumcision, so that they might show that those from the circumcision who had come over to the church were leaders after that time and that the others should be persuaded by them, so that one should not celebrate differently and another at another time. For they brought together all this concern for the sake of the one unity, so that there would be neither schisms nor divisions. But these, not understanding the mind of the apostles and of the word contained in the Didascalia, thought that perhaps they ought to celebrate the Pascha with the Jews; and at the same time there were fifteen bishops from the circumcision, and it was necessary at that time, when the bishops from the circumcision were established in Jerusalem, that the whole world should follow them and celebrate with them, so that there might be one harmony and one confession, one feast celebrated; wherefore their diligence, gathering the minds of men into the unity of the church. since it was not able * to be accomplished for so long a time, by the good pleasure of God a correction was made in the time of Constantine for the sake of concord. But the saying in the apostles is set forth for the sake of concord, as they testify, saying that “even if they should err, let it not concern you.” From these very sayings spoken there the contradiction will be seen. For they say to hold the vigil in the middle of the Days of Unleavened Bread. But this cannot always happen in the ecclesiastical calculation. 11. For the connection of the Pascha consists of three things, both from the solar course on account of the Lord's day and the month, and from the lunar course on account of what is according to the law, so that on the fourteenth day of the moon 3.244 the Pascha might be sacrificed, as the law said. Therefore, it cannot be celebrated unless the equinox has passed, a thing which is not observed among the Jews, nor do they wish to carry out such a careful procedure; for everything has fallen into ruin among them and is in error. Yet even if such precision belongs to so great an inquiry, it was not said by the apostles on account of this inquiry and precision, but for the sake of concord, and if the apostles commanded to celebrate with the enemies of Christ, as these men assert, how much more for the sake of concord should we celebrate with the church, so that we may not mar the concord of the church? How then can this be done? For the same apostles say that, “when they are feasting, you, fasting, mourn for them, because on the day of the feast they crucified Christ, and when they are mourning, eating the Unleavened Bread with bitter herbs, you are feasting.” But it happens that they take the Unleavened Bread on the Lord's day. For at the evening dawning into the Lord's day they can sacrifice the Pascha. For after evening, when the sabbath has passed, they cannot perform work. Therefore, when they have sacrificed, if they rise up feasting, how shall we mourn and fast on the Lord's day, hearing them again in the Didascalia that “he who afflicts his own soul on the Lord's day is accursed before God”? And do you see how much precision and contradiction there is, since the matter cannot be performed according to the saying? But the whole truth of the proclamation stands by its meaning, and from the Didascalia of the apostles itself it is clear that the connection of the word has been put together somehow for the sake of concord; for if we always celebrate when they celebrate, sometimes we will celebrate after the equinox as they often celebrate and we do, and again before the equinox is completed, as they celebrate, when they celebrate alone. If therefore we also celebrate, it would happen that in one year we celebrate two Paschas, after the equinox and before the equinox, and in the next year 3.245 we will not celebrate Pascha at all, and the whole thing will be found to be a work of error rather than truth. For before the equinox the year will not be fulfilled, nor is the circle of the course from God fulfilled

457

ἀπόστολοι ὅτι «ὑμεῖς μὴ ψηφίζητε, ἀλλὰ ποιεῖτε ὅταν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ὑμῶν οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς, μετ' αὐτῶν ἅμα ποιεῖτε». καὶ οὐκ εἶπαν ὅταν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ὑμῶν οἱ ἐν περιτομῇ, ἀλλὰ οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς, ἵνα δείξωσι τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς περιτομῆς εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν μετελθόντας ἀρχηγοὺς εἶναι μετ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον καὶ εἰς τὸ συμπείθεσθαι αὐτοῖς τοὺς ἄλλους, εἰς τὸ μὴ ἄλλον ποιεῖν ἄλλως καὶ ἄλλον ἄλλοτε. τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ πᾶν συνήγαγον φρόντισμα διὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν τὴν μίαν, ἵνα μὴ ᾖ σχίσματα μηδὲ διαιρέσεις. οὗτοι δὲ μὴ νοήσαντες τὸν νοῦν τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ τοῦ λόγου τοῦ ἐμφερομένου τοῦ ἐν τῇ ∆ιατάξει, ἐνόμισαν μή που ἄρα μετὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων χρὴ τὸ Πάσχα ἐπιτελεῖν· ἅμα δὲ καὶ πεντεκαίδεκα ἐπίσκοποι γεγόνασιν ἐκ περιτομῆς, καὶ ἐχρῆν τότε τῶν ἐπισκόπων τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς ὄντων ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ κατασταθέντων τὸν πάντα κόσμον τούτοις συνέπεσθαι καὶ μετ' αὐτῶν ἐπιτελεῖν, ἵνα μία τις γένηται συμφωνία καὶ μία ὁμολογία, μία ἑορτὴ ἐπιτελουμένη· διὸ ἐκείνων ἡ ἐπιμέλεια τὸν νοῦν τῶν ἀνθρώπων συνάγουσα εἰς ἕνωσιν τῆς ἐκκλησίας. μὴ δυνηθείσης * τὸν τοσοῦτον χρόνον ἐπιτελεσθῆναι, εὐδοκήσει θεοῦ ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίνου διόρθωσις ἐγένετο ὁμονοίας ἕνεκα. παρὰ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις δὲ τὸ ῥητὸν δι' ὁμόνοιαν ἐμφέρεται, ὡς ἐπιμαρτυροῦσι λέγοντες ὅτι «κἄν τε πλανηθῶσι, μηδὲν ὑμῖν μελέτω». ἐξ αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν ἐκεῖσε εἰρημένων ῥητῶν ἡ ἀντίθεσις ὀφθήσεται. φάσκουσι γὰρ τὴν ἀγρυπνίαν φέρειν μεσαζόντων τῶν Ἀζύμων. οὐ δύναται δὲ τοῦτο πάντοτε γενέσθαι ἐν τῇ ψήφῳ τῇ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ. 11. Ἐκ τριῶν γὰρ συνέστηκεν ὁ τοῦ Πάσχα σύνδεσμος, ἔκ τε τοῦ ἡλιακοῦ δρόμου διὰ τὴν κυριακὴν καὶ τὸν μῆνα ἔκ τε τοῦ σεληνιακοῦ δρόμου διὰ τὸ κατὰ τὸν νόμον, ὅπως ἐν τῇ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ τῆς σελήνης 3.244 τυθῇ τὸ Πάσχα, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ νόμος. οὔτε οὖν δύναται ἀχθῆναι, ἐὰν μὴ ὑπερβῇ ἰσημερία, ὅπερ παρὰ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις οὐ φυλάσσεται, οὐδὲ ἀκριβῆ θέλουσι τοιαύτην ἐπιτελεῖν πραγματείαν· διέπεσε γὰρ παρ' αὐτοῖς καὶ ἠπάτηται τὰ πάντα. πλὴν εἰ καὶ τοσαύτης ζητήσεως ὑπάρχει ἡ τοιαύτη ἀκρίβεια, οὐ διὰ τὴν ζήτησιν ταύτην καὶ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις εἴρηται, ἀλλὰ δι' ὁμόνοιαν, καὶ εἰ μετὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπιτελεῖν οἱ ἀπόστολοι προσέταξαν, ὡς οὗτοι διισχυρίζονται, πόσῳ γε μᾶλλον δι' ὁμόνοιαν μετὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας χρὴ ἐπιτελεῖν, ἵνα μὴ τὴν ὁμόνοιαν χαράξωμεν τῆς ἐκκλησίας; πῶς οὖν δύναται τελεῖσθαι τοῦτο; λέγουσι γὰρ οἱ αὐτοὶ ἀπόστολοι ὅτι, «ὅταν ἐκεῖνοι εὐωχῶνται, ὑμεῖς νηστεύοντες ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν πενθεῖτε, ὅτι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἑορτῆς τὸν Χριστὸν ἐσταύρωσαν, καὶ ὅταν αὐτοὶ πενθῶσι τὰ Ἄζυμα ἐσθίοντες ἐν πικρίσιν, ὑμεῖς εὐωχεῖσθε». συμβαίνει δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐν κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ Ἄζυμα λαμβάνειν. ἐπιφωσκούσης γὰρ τῆς κυριακῆς ἑσπέρας δύνανται θύειν τὸ Πάσχα. μετὰ γὰρ ἑσπέραν παρελθόντος τοῦ σαββάτου, οὐ δύνανται ἔργον ἐπιτελεῖν. ἆρα γοῦν αὐτῶν θυσάντων, εἰ ἐγείρονται εὐωχούμενοι, πῶς ἡμεῖς ἐν κυριακῇ πενθήσωμεν καὶ νηστεύσωμεν, αὖθις αὐτῶν ἀκούοντες ἐν τῇ ∆ιατάξει ὅτι «ὁ κακῶν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν κυριακῇ ἐπικατάρατός ἐστι τῷ θεῷ»; καὶ ὁρᾷς πόση ἐστὶν ἀκρίβεια καὶ ἀντίθεσις, μὴ δυναμένης τῆς πραγματείας κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν ἐπιτελεῖσθαι; νοήματι δὲ ἡ πᾶσα ἕστηκεν ἀλήθεια τοῦ κηρύγματος καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς ∆ιατάξεως τῶν ἀποστόλων δῆλον ὅτι δι' ὁμόνοιάν πως συνῆκται τοῦ λόγου ὁ σύνδεσμος· ἐὰν γὰρ ἀεὶ ἐπιτελέσωμεν, ὅταν ἐκεῖνοι ἐπιτελῶσι, ποτὲ μὲν ἐπιτελέσομεν μετὰ ἰσημερίαν καθὼς κἀκεῖνοι ἄγουσι πολλάκις τε καὶ ἡμεῖς, πάλιν τε πρὸ τοῦ τελεσθῆναι τὴν ἰσημερίαν, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι ἄγουσιν, ὅτε μόνοι ἄγουσιν. ἐὰν οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπιτελέσωμεν, συμβέβηκεν ἡμῖν ἐν ἑνὶ ἐνιαυτῷ δύο Πάσχα ἐπιτελέσαι, μετὰ ἰσημερίαν καὶ πρὸ ἰσημερίας, τῷ δὲ ἄλλῳ ἑξῆς 3.245 ἐνιαυτῷ οὐδὲ ὅλως ἐπιτελέσομεν Πάσχα, καὶ εὑρεθήσεται τὸ πᾶν πλάνης εἶναι ἔργον ἤπερ ἀλήθεια. πρὸ γὰρ ἰσημερίας οὐ πληρωθήσεται τὸ ἔτος οὔτε πληροῦται τοῦ κύκλου τοῦ δρόμου ἐκ θεοῦ