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In sanctum pascha (sermo 2) [Sp.] (fort. auctore Apollinare Laodicense)

1 The reasonableness of the legal types is shown in the truth, for example, that the sheep which the law used for the sacrifice of the Pascha be without blemish, that it be male, that it be a year old, that having been taken on the tenth of the month, it be sacrificed on the fourteenth toward evening, that it be reckoned the beginning of months, when the Pascha was celebrated; for all these things are established in Christ and in the passion of Christ both true and necessary, and in themselves can have no meaning.

2 Nor could those who are ignorant of Christ make an account concerning these things and teach why God commanded these things, nor indeed for what reason at all He decreed a sacrifice for the salvation of the firstborn and commanded the anointing of blood upon the entrances; for what power has the slaughter of victims for the salvation of the firstborn, and what is necessary about the anointing of blood for a sign upon the houses? For God certainly knew the houses of the Hebrews even without signs, so that it is astonishing to say, "I will see the blood and will protect you"; but referring these things also to the truth, one recognizes their reasonableness, just as 3 we have shown in the case of the other things mentioned before. For as the unblemished victim suffers for us, the death from the first-formed man is undone and the firstborn man is saved, being in us all, being made alive by the resurrection of the Lord (for life is justly the dissolution of sin and death) and the unblemished blood becomes a saving sign for its partakers and looking to this, God saves those who are anointed with it through faith, who would not otherwise be able to escape the justly avenging angel, except through the blood 4 poured out for us in love for mankind.

Do you see how much power the type has when contemplated in the truth, so that if some Jew should attempt to say: "Why did the son suffer, that the world might be saved, as if it could not have been saved without this?" let it be said to him: "Why was the Pascha sacrificed for the salvation of the Jewish firstborn, as if they could not have been saved without it?" And he will have nothing to answer, for God does not require sacrifice nor a sign for the recognition of houses; but for us the matter speaks in our favor and bears witness to the holy faith, since our injustice is undone in the justice of Christ, and could not otherwise have been undone (for darkness is destroyed by light), and our death is also abolished through the life of Christ, as darkness by light.

5 Therefore that sacrifice was holy, because it was a type of the true one; but this one is truly holy, as it is true, being delivered up to death and destruction by the ignorance of the impious, but by the will of God being taken for a holy sacrifice and by his own will being brought as an offering to the Father. For it says, "the Father gave up the Son for us," and, Christ "offered himself" to the Father for the church "as an offering and a sacrifice for a fragrant 6 aroma." And for those who expected the destruction of Christ, the counsel is ruinous, but for those who seek salvation through the death of the Lord, faith is saving; punishment and death pass over these, because they are not held by death unto perdition, according to what was said by the Savior: "If anyone keeps my word, he will not 7 see death forever."

For through the blood shed for us we receive the Holy Spirit, since both the blood and the Spirit came into one, so that through the blood that is of the same nature as us we might be able to receive the Holy Spirit which is not of the same nature as us and through this we might shut out death's entrance to us.

8 But there is a certain double entrance for death, and for this reason the seal of the blood is made double, "on the two," he says, "doorposts and on the lintel." For "death enters through sin," as the apostle says, and sin is on the one hand according to the

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In sanctum pascha (sermo 2) [Sp.] (fort. auctore Apollinare Laodicense)

1 Τὸ τῶν νομικῶν τύπων εὔλογον ἐπὶ τῆς ἀληθείας φαίνεται, οἷον τὸ ἄμωμον εἶναι τὸ πρόβατον, ᾧ περὶ τὴν τοῦ πάσχα θυσίαν ὁ νόμος ἐχρήσατο, τὸ ἄρρεν εἶναι, τὸ ἐνιαύσιον εἶναι, τὸ δεκάτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς ληφθὲν τεσσαρεσκαιδε κάτῃ θύεσθαι πρὸς ἑσπέραν, τὸ ἀρχὴν λελογίσθαι μηνῶν, ἡνίκα τὸ πάσχα ἐτελεῖτο· πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα ἐν Χριστῷ καὶ τῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πάθει συνίσταται καὶ ἀληθῆ καὶ ἀναγκαῖα, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὰ λόγον ἔχειν οὐδένα δύναται.

2 Οὐδ' ἂν εὕροιεν οἱ Χριστὸν ἀγνοοῦντες ἀπολογισμὸν ποιήσασθαι περὶ τούτων καὶ διδάξαι διὰ τί ταῦτα προσέταξεν ὁ Θεός, οὐδ' αὐτό γε ὅλως τίνα αἰτίαν ἔχει τὸ θυσίαν ἐπὶ τῇ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν πρωτοτόκων ὁρίσαι καὶ χρῖσιν τοῦ αἵματος ἐπὶ ταῖς εἰσόδοις ποιήσασθαι· τί γὰρ ἰσχυρὸν εἰς τὴν τῶν πρωτοτόκων σωτηρίαν ἡ τῶν θυμάτων σφαγή, τί δὲ ἀναγκαῖον ἡ τοῦ αἵματος χρῖσις εἰς σημεῖον ἐπὶ τῶν οἰκιῶν; Θεός γέ τοι καὶ ἄνευ σημείων τὰς Ἑβραίων ἐγίνωσκεν οἰκίας, ὥστε θαυμαστὸν τὸ λέγειν "Ὄψομαι τὸ αἷμα καὶ σκεπάσω ὑμᾶς"· ἀνάγων δὲ καὶ ταῦτα εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τὸ εὔλογον αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσκει, καθάπερ 3 ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν προειρημένων ἐδείξαμεν. Τοῦ γὰρ ἀμώμου θύματος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάσχοντος, ὁ ἐκ τοῦ πρωτο πλάστου λύεται θάνατος καὶ σώζεται ὁ πρωτόγονος ἄνθρωπος, ἐν ἡμῖν πᾶσιν ὤν, τῇ ἀναστάσει τοῦ κυρίου ζωογονούμενος (δικαίως γὰρ λυτικὸν ἁμαρτίας καὶ θανάτου ζωή) καὶ τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἄμωμον σημεῖον τοῖς μετόχοις αὐτοῦ σωτήριον γίνεται καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο θεὸς ἀφορῶν σώζει τοὺς κεχρισμένους αὐτῷ διὰ πίστεως, οὐκ ἄλλως δυναμένους ἀποφυγεῖν τὸν δικαίως τιμωρὸν ἄγγελον, εἰ μὴ διὰ τοῦ φιλανθρώπως 4 ἐκχυθέντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν αἵματος.

Ὁρᾷς ὅσην ἔχει τὴν δύναμιν ὁ τύπος ἐπὶ τῆς ἀληθείας θεωρηθείς, ὥστε εἴ τις Ἰουδαῖος λέγειν ἐπιχειροίη· Τί δήποτε ὁ υἱὸς ἔπασχεν, ἵνα σωθῇ ὁ κόσμος, ὡς οὐκ ἂν καὶ ἄνευ τούτου σωθείς; λεγέσθω πρὸς αὐτόν· Τί δήποτε τὸ πάσχα ἐθύετο πρὸς σωτηρίαν Ἰουδαίων πρωτοτόκων, ὡς οὐκ ἂν καὶ ἄνευ τούτου σωθέντων; κἀκεῖνος μὲν οὐχ ἕξει τί ἀποκρίνηται, οὐ γὰρ θυσίας προσδεῖται θεὸς οὐδὲ σημείου πρὸς ἐπίγνωσιν οἰκιῶν· ἡμῖν δὲ συνηγορεῖ τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ τῇ ἁγίᾳ πίστει μαρτυρεῖ, τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀδικίας ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λυομένης, ἄλλως δὲ οὐκ ἂν λυθείσης (σκότος γὰρ ὑπὸ φωτὸς ἀφανίζεται), καταργουμένου δὲ καὶ τοῦ ἡμετέρου θανάτου διὰ τῆς Χριστοῦ ζωῆς ὥσπερ σκότους ὑπὸ φωτός.

5 Ἱερὸν μὲν οὖν κἀκεῖνο τὸ θῦμα, διότι τύπος ἦν τοῦ ἀληθοῦς· τοῦτο δὲ ἱερὸν ὄντως, ὡς ἀληθές, ἀγνοίᾳ μὲν τῇ τῶν ἀσεβούντων ἐκδιδόμενον θανάτῳ καὶ ἀναιρέσει, βουλῇ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς θυσίαν ἱερὰν λαμβανόμενον καὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ βουλήσει προσφορὰ τῷ πατρὶ προσαγόμενον. "Παρέ δωκε" γάρ φησι "ὁ πατὴρ τὸν υἱὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν", καὶ "Προσήνεγκεν ἑαυτὸν" τῷ πατρὶ Χριστὸς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐκκλησίας "προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐω 6 δίας". Καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἀναίρεσιν Χριστοῦ προσδοκήσασιν ὀλέθριος ἡ βουλή, τοῖς δὲ σωτηρίαν διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ κυρίου ζητοῦσι σωτήριος ἡ πίστις· τούτους ἡ τιμωρία καὶ ὁ θάνατος ὑπερβαίνει, δίοτι μὴ πρὸς ἀπώλειαν θανάτῳ κατέχονται κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος· "Ἐάν τις τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσῃ, θάνατον οὐ μὴ 7 θεωρήσῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα".

∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ χυθέντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον λαμβάνομεν, ἐπείπερ εἰς ἓν ἦλθε τό τε αἷμα καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ ὁμογενοῦς ἡμῖν αἵματος τὸ μὴ ὁμογενὲς ἡμῖν πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον λαβεῖν δυνηθῶμεν καὶ διὰ τούτου τὴν εἴσοδον ἀποκλείσωμεν τῷ θανάτῳ τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς.

8 ∆ιπλῆ δέ τίς ἐστιν ἡ εἴσοδος τῷ θανάτῳ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο διπλῆ γίνεται τοῦ αἵματος ἡ σφραγὶς, "ἐπὶ τῶν δύο" φησὶ "σταθμῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς φλιᾶς". Εἰσέρχεται μὲν γὰρ "δι' ἁμαρτίας ὁ θάνατος", ὡς ὁ ἀπόστολός φησιν, ἁμαρτία δὲ ἡ μὲν κατὰ τὸ