I.  Let us reason a little about the Festival, that we may keep it spiritually.  For different persons have different ways of keeping Festival; but to the worshipper of the Word a discourse seems best; and of discourses, that which is best adapted to the occasion.  And of all beautiful things none gives so much joy to the lover of the beautiful, as that the lover of festivals should keep them spiritually.  Let us look into the matter thus.  The Jew keeps festival as well as we, but only in the letter.  For while following after the bodily Law, he has not attained to the spiritual Law.  The Greek too keeps festival, but only in the body, and in honour of his own gods and demons, some of whom are creators of passion by their own admission, and others were honoured out of passion.  Therefore even their manner of keeping festival is passionate, as though their very sin were an honour to God, in Whom their passion takes refuge as a thing to be proud of.1    They deify bad passions, and then act as if the gratification of them were an honour to the gods in whom they have personified them.  We too keep festival, but we keep it as is pleasing to the Spirit.  And it is pleasing to Him that we should keep it by discharging some duty, either of action or speech.  This then is our manner of keeping festival, to treasure up in our soul some of those things which are permanent and will cleave to it, not of those which will forsake us and be destroyed, and which only tickle our senses for a little while; whereas they are for the most part, in my judgment at least, harmful and ruinous.  For sufficient unto the body is the evil thereof.  What need has that fire of further fuel, or that beast of more plentiful food, to make it more uncontrollable, and too violent for reason?

Αʹ. Περὶ τῆς ἑορτῆς βραχέα φιλοσοφήσωμεν, ἵνα πνευματικῶς ἑορτάσωμεν. Ἄλλη μὲν γὰρ ἄλλῳ πανήγυρις: τῷ δὲ θεραπευτῇ τοῦ Λόγου λόγος, καὶ λόγων ὁ τῷ καιρῷ προσφορώτατος. Καὶ οὐδὲν οὕτως εὐφραίνει καλὸν τῶν φιλοκάλων οὐδένα, ὡς τὸ πανηγυρίζειν πνευματικῶς τὸν φιλέορτον. Σκοπῶμεν δὲ οὕτως: Ἑορτάζει καὶ Ἰουδαῖος, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ γράμμα: τὸν γὰρ σωματικὸν διώκων νόμον, εἰς τὸν πνευματικὸν νόμον οὐκ ἔφθασεν. Ἑορτάζει καὶ Ἕλλην, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ θεούς τε καὶ δαίμονας: ὧν οἱ μὲν εἰσὶ παθῶν δημιουργοὶ κατ' αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους, οἱ δὲ ἐκ παθῶν ἐτιμήθησαν. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐμπαθὲς αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ ἑορτάζειν: ἵν' ᾖ τιμὴ Θεοῦ τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν, πρὸς ὃν καταφεύγει τὸ πάθος, ὡς σεμνολόγημα. Ἑορτάζομεν καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἀλλ' ὡς δοκεῖ τῷ Πνεύματι. Δοκεῖ δὲ, ἢ λέγοντάς τι τῶν δεόντων, ἢ πράττοντας. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ἑορτάζειν ἡμῶν, ψυχῇ τι θησαυρίσαι τῶν ἑστώτων καὶ κρατουμένων, ἀλλὰ μὴ τῶν ὑποχωρούντων καὶ λυομένων, καὶ μικρὰ σαινόντων τὴν αἴσθησιν, τὰ πλείω δὲ, λυμαινομένων τε καὶ βλαπτόντων, κατά γε τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον. Ἀρκετὸν γὰρ τῷ σώματι ἡ κακία αὐτοῦ. Τί δὲ δεῖ τῇ φλογὶ πλείονος ὕλης, ἢ τῷ θηρίῳ δαψιλεστέρας τροφῆς, ἵνα μᾶλλον δυσκάθεκτον γένηται, καὶ τοῦ λογισμοῦ βιαιότερον;