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In sanctum pascha (sermo 4) [Sp.]

On the same treatise, 4.

59.731 The Jews indeed celebrate Passover, a remembrance of the salvation from Egypt, an escape from the death of the firstborn. It is called Pascha for this reason, because it is a passing over of death; for this is what the word signifies in the Hebrew language. But we celebrate Pascha, not a partial escape from death, as they did, nor a liberation from temporary slavery, but a complete redemption from death, and a complete release from the slavery of the devil. The death of the firstborn passed over them, who had sacrificed the typical lamb, and had smeared the doorposts with its blood; but the death from the first-formed man passes over us, unable to seize those who have received the sacrifice of the divine lamb, and are hedged about by faith in the saving blood.

For them the sheep was from the earth; for us from heaven, come in the type of Abraham, when he had a sheep sent from God to offer for his son; but now the sheep is truly sent from God out of heaven, offered for us, that we might no longer be held by death, on account of Christ who could not be held by death. For, it says, God sent his Son as Savior of the world; and, I have come down, he says, from heaven. And the Baptist testifies concerning him, saying, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. For an irrational sheep did not take away sin; for this reason, neither did it take away the death that came from sin; but the most rational sheep has done away with sin, destroying death along with it. And he leads us out not from the land of Egypt into Judea, but from a perishing world into an eternal possession. He is at once a sheep, and the shepherd who leads the sheep.

For, he says, I will go before them, leading them to eternal life. For the Jews, the beginning of months was the sacrifice of the lamb, and the exodus from Egypt; but for us, the beginning of life is the passion of the Lord, and the departure from the world with Christ. For we live then, when we die to the world; then we are reborn to God, when we reject our birth on earth. The sheep is undivided, eaten in one house, the spiritual Church, and not found elsewhere; just as the carnal Jews were commanded not to carry any of the flesh of the lamb out of the house. Christ is a sheep, because of his gentleness, but according to the steep way, a goat, a likeness of which was then sacrificed. There was unleavened bread for those eating the passover, but for us, communion with Christ with a fresh and new and most simple mind; just as the unleavened bread 59.732 is a new and simple lump. The bitter herbs eaten with the passover then signified our afflictions, through which we share in the sufferings of Christ. For affliction is bitter, even if its fruit is sweet. A bone of the lamb was not broken, and the law commanded this, prefiguring Christ, as the Gospel explains, that no one broke the holy limbs of the Lord; That the Scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. The flesh was eaten during the night, and none was left over for the day, because the death of Christ is remembered in the present age, but in the age to come his life appears.

And the manner of those eating the passover: loins girt, sandals on feet, staves in hands. The whole manner is that of a traveller, of those prepared for a journey, hurrying to depart; and for us the soul's disposition is that of a traveller, setting out for the departure from the world. For this reason souls are well-ordered and girt up on all sides

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In sanctum pascha (sermo 4) [Sp.]

Εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν πραγματείαν δʹ.

59.731 Πάσχα μὲν ἑορτάζουσιν Ἰουδαῖοι, τῆς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου σωτηρίας ἀνάμνησιν, θανάτου πρωτοτόκων ἀποφυγήν. Πάσχα διὰ τοῦτο ὀνομάζεται, ὅτι ἔστιν ὑπέρβασις θανά του· τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ λέξις δηλοῖ κατὰ γλῶτταν Ἑβραίων. Πάσχα δὲ ἡμεῖς ἑορτάζομεν, οὐ μερικὴν ἀποφυγὴν θα νάτου, καθάπερ ἐκεῖνοι, οὐδὲ προσκαίρου δουλείας ἐλευ θέρωσιν, ἀλλὰ τελείαν μὲν ἐκ θανάτου λύτρωσιν, τελείαν δὲ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ διαβόλου δουλείας ἀπόλυσιν. Ὁ τῶν πρω τοτόκων θάνατος ἐκείνους ὑπερέβαινε, τὸ τυπικὸν πρό βατον θύσαντας, καὶ τῷ αἵματι τὰ περὶ τὰς θύρας χρί σαντας· ἡμᾶς δὲ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ πρωτοπλάστου θάνατος ὑπερ βαίνει, κατασχεῖν μὴ δυνάμενος τοὺς τὴν θυσίαν τοῦ θείου προβάτου δεδεγμένους, καὶ τῇ πίστει τοῦ σωτηρίου αἵματος περιπεφραγμένους.

Ἐκείνοις ἀπὸ γῆς τὸ πρό βατον· ἡμῖν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, κατὰ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ τύπον γενό μενον, ὅτε πρόβατον ἔσχε θεόπεμπτον ὑπὲρ τοῦ υἱοῦ προσαγαγεῖν· νῦν δὲ ὡς ἀληθῶς θεόπεμπτον ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τὸ πρόβατον, προσαχθὲν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ἵνα μηκέτι θανάτῳ κατεχώμεθα, διὰ τὸν ἀκράτητον ὑπὸ θανάτου Χριστόν. Ἀπέστειλε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Υἱὸν Σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου· καὶ, Καταβέβηκα, φησὶν, ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. Καὶ μαρτυρεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ Βαπτιστὴς, Ἴδε, ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, λέγων, ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου. Ἁμαρτίαν γὰρ οὐκ ἀφῄρει πρόβατον ἄλογον· διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ τὸν ἐκ τῆς ἁμαρτίας γενόμενον θάνατον· τὸ δὲ λο γικώτατον πρόβατον ἁμαρτίαν ἔλυσε, θάνατον σὺν αὐτῇ καταλύσας. Ἐξάγει δὲ ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἐκ τῆς Αἰγυπτιακῆς εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, ἀλλ' εἰς αἰωνίαν κτῆσιν ἀπὸ κόσμου φθει-ρομένου. Πρόβατόν ἐστιν ἅμα, καὶ ποιμὴν τῶν προβάτων καθηγούμενος.

Ἔμπροσθεν γὰρ, φησὶ, πορεύσομαι, ἐπὶ τὴν αἰωνίαν ἄγων αὐτὰ ζωήν. Ἀρχὴ μηνῶν Ἰουδαίοις ἡ τοῦ προβάτου θυσία, καὶ ἡ ἔξοδος ἡ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου· ἡμῖν δὲ ἀρχὴ ζωῆς τὸ τοῦ Κυρίου πάθος, καὶ ἡ σὺν Χριστῷ μετάστασις ἀπὸ κόσμου. Τότε γὰρ ζῶμεν, ὅτε ἀποθνήσκομεν κόσμῳ· τότε εἰς Θεὸν ἀναγεννώμεθα, ὅτε τὴν ἐπὶ γῆς γένεσιν ἀπογινόμεθα. Τὸ πρόβατον ἀμέριστον, ἐπὶ μιᾶς ἐσθιόμενον οἰκίας, τῆς πνευματικῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ οὐχ εὑρισκόμενον· ὥσπερ καὶ τοῖς σωματικοῖς Ἰουδαίοις προστέτακτο μὴ ἐξενεγκεῖν τῶν τοῦ προβάτου κρεῶν ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκίας. Πρόβατον, διὰ τὴν ἠπιότητα, Χριστὸς, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ὑψοῦσαν ὁδὸν, ἔριφος, ὁμοίωμα αὐτοῦ τότε ἐθύετο. Ἄρτος ἄζυμος ἦν τοῖς πάσχα ἐσθίουσιν, ἡμῖν δὲ πρὸς Χριστὸν κοινωνία μετὰ καινῆς καὶ νέας καὶ ἁπλουστάτης διανοίας· ὥσπερ τὸ ἄζυμον 59.732 καινὸν φύραμα καὶ ἁπλοῦν. Αἱ πικρίδες αἱ μετὰ τὸ πάσχα ἐσθιόμεναι, τότε θλίψεις ἐδήλουν τὰς ἡμετέρας, δι' ὧν κοινωνοῦμεν τοῖς Χριστοῦ παθήμασι. Πικρὸν γὰρ ἡ θλῖψις, εἰ καὶ γλυκὺς ὁ ἐξ αὐτῆς καρπός. Ὀστοῦν οὐ συνετρίβετο τοῦ προβάτου, καὶ τοῦτο ὁ νόμος ἐκέλευεν εἰς Χριστὸν προτυπῶν, ὡς τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ἐξηγεῖται, ὅτι οὐδεὶς κατέαξε τὰ ἅγια τοῦ Κυρίου σκέλη· Ἵνα ἡ Γραφὴ πληρωθῇ, Ὀστοῦν οὐ συντριβήσεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Ἠσθίετο δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς νυκτὸς τὰ κρέατα, καὶ εἰς ἡμέραν οὐχ ὑπελείπετο, ὅτι καὶ ὁ Χριστοῦ θάνατος ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος μνημονεύεται, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἡ ζωὴ φαίνεται.

Σχῆμα δὲ τῶν ἐσθιόντων τὸ πάσχα, ὀσφὺς ἐζωσμένη, ὑποδήματα ἐν ποσὶν, ἐν χερσὶ βακτηρίαι. Ὁδοιπορικὸν ἅπαν τὸ σχῆμα, παρεσκευασμένων εἰς ὁδοι-πορίαν, ἐπειγομένων ἀπᾶραι· ἡμῖν δὲ ψυχῆς ἡ πρόθεσις ὁδοιπορικὴ πρὸς ἀποδημίαν τοῦ κόσμου στελλομένη. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο εὐσταλεῖς καὶ περιεσφιγμέναι πανταχόθεν αἱ ψυχαὶ