Even Years: Eusebius of Caesaria, The solemnity of Easter, 7,9,11-12 (PG 24, 702-706)
| Καὶ οἱ
μὲν κατὰ Μωϋσέα
ἅπαξ τοῦ παντὸς
ἔτους πρόβατον
τοῦ Πάσχα ἔθυον
τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ
τοῦ πρώτου μηνὸς,
τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέραν·
ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ τῆς
Καινῆς Διαθήκης
ἐφ' ἑκάστης
Κυριακῆς ἡμέρας
τὸ ἑαυτῶν Πάσχα
τελοῦντες, ΑΕΙ ΤΟΥ
ΣΩΜΑΤΟΣ ΤΟΥ
ΣΩΤΗΡΙΟΥ
ΕΜΦΟΡΟΥΜΕΘΑ,
ΑΕΙ ΤΟΥ ΑΙΜΑΤΟΣ
ΤΟΥ ΠΡΟΒΑΤΟΥ ΜΕΤΑΛΑΜΒΑΝΟΜΕΝ.
ἀεὶ τὰς ὀσφῦς
τῆς ἑαυτῶν ψυχῆς
ἁγνείᾳ καὶ
σωφροσύνῃ περιεζώσμεθα,
ἀεὶ τοὺς πόδας
παρεσκευάσμεθα
ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ
τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου,
ἀεὶ τὰς βακτηρίας
ἔχομεν ἐν ταῖς
χερσὶ, καὶ τῇ ῥάβδῳ
τῇ ἐκ ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ
προελθούσῃ ἐπαναπαυόμεθα,
ἀεὶ τῆς Αἰγύπτου
ἀπαλλαττόμεθα,
ἀεὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν
τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου
βίου μεταδιώκομεν,
ἀεὶ τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν
πορείαν στελλόμεθα,
ἀεὶ τὰ διαβατήρια
ἑορτάζομεν.
| In the time of Moses the paschal lamb was sacrificed only once a year, on the fourteenth day of the first month toward evening, but we of the new covenant celebrate our Passover every week on the Lord's day. We are continually being filled with the body of the Saviour and sharing in the blood of the Lamb. Daily we gird ourselves with chastity and prepare, staff in hand, to follow the path of the Gospel. Leaning on the rod that came forth from the root of Jesse, we are always departing from Egypt in search of the solitude of the desert. We are constantly setting out on our journey to God and celebrating the Passover.
| | Ταῦτα
γὰρ πάντα οὐχ ἅπαξ
τοῦ ἔτους πράττειν
ἡμᾶς, ἀεὶ δὲ καὶ
διὰ πάσης ἡμέρας
ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς
λόγος βούλεται.
Διὸ καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην
ἑβδομάδα τὴν τοῦ
Πάσχα τοῦ ἡμετέρου
ἑορτὴν κατὰ τὴν
σωτήριον καὶ
Κυριακὴν ἡμέραν
ἐπιτελοῦμεν
τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ
προβάτου, δι' οὗ ἐλυτρώθημεν,
τὰ μυστήρια ἀποπληροῦντες·
καὶ οὔτε τὸ σῶμα
σιδήρῳ περιτέμνομεν,
τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς τῷ
τμητικῷ λόγῳ πᾶσαν
περιαιροῦμεν
κακίαν· οὔτε
σωματικοῖς ἀζύμοις
χρώμεθα, μόνοις
δὲ τοῖς τῆς εἰλικρινείας
καὶ ἀληθείας. Ἡ
χάρις γὰρ, ἡμᾶς
τῆς γεγηρακυίας
ἐλευθερώσασα συνηθείας,
τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον
παρέδωκεν ἡμῖν
τὸν κατὰ Θεὸν
κτισθέντα, καὶ
τὸν καινὸν νόμον,
καινήν τε
περιτομὴν,
καινόν τε Πάσχα,
καὶ τὸν ἐν
κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖον·
οὕτω καὶ τῶν
παλαιῶν καιρῶν
ἐλευθέρους ἡμᾶς
ἀφῆκε.
| The Gospel would have us do these things not only once a year but daily. We hold our eucharistic celebration every week on the day of our Lord and Saviour, for this is our paschal feast, the feast of the true Lamb who redeemed us. We do not circumcise the body with a knife, but with the sharp edge of the word of God we cut away all evil from our souls. We use no unleavened bread, except for that of sincerity and truth. Grace has freed us from outworn Jewish customs and created us anew in the image of God. It has given us a new Law, a new circumcision, a new Passover, and made us Jews inwardly, thus releasing us from our former bondage.
| | Ἀλλὰ
καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ πρὸ
ὅλης ἡμέρας τῇ
πέμπτῃ τοῦ
Σαββάτου τοῖς
μαθηταῖς
συνανέκειτο,
καὶ συνεσθίων
αὐτοῖς ἔλεγεν·
Ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐπεθύμησα
τοῦτο τὸ Πάσχα
φαγεῖν μεθ' ὑμῶν
τὰ μὲν γὰρ
παλαιὰ ἤθη ὄντα
καὶ πεπαλαιωμένα,
ἃ δὴ μετὰ Ἰουδαίων
ἤσθιεν, οὐκ ἦν ἐπιθυμητά·
τὸ δὲ καινὸν
μυστήριον τῆς
Καινῆς αὐτοῦ Διαθήκης,
ὃ δὴ μετεδίδου
τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ
μαθηταῖς, ἐπιθυμητὸν
ἦν αὐτῷ εἰκότως·
ἐπεὶ πολλοὶ πρὸ
αὐτοῦ προφῆται
καὶ δίκαιοι ἐπεθύμησαν
ἰδεῖν τὰ τῆς Νέας
Διαθήκης μυστήρια·
καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ
Λόγος, πάντοτε
διψῶν τὴν κοινὴν
σωτηρίαν, μυστήριον
παρεδίδου, δι' οὗ
πάντες ἄνθρωποι
ἔμελλον ἑορτάζειν,
ἐπιθυμητὸν τοῦτο
αὐτῷ εἶναι ὡμολόγησε.
| On the fifth day of the week, while having supper with his disciples, the Saviour said to them: With all my heart I have longed to eat this Passover with you. It was not the old Jewish Passover that he desired to share with his disciples, but the new Passover of the new covenant that he was giving to them, and that many prophets and upright people before him had longed to see. He proclaimed his desire for the new Passover which he, the Word himself, in his infinite thirst for the salvation of the whole human race, was establishing as a feast to be celebrated by all peoples everywhere.
| | Τὸ μὲν
Μωϋσέως Πάσχα
οὐχ ἥρμοζε πᾶσι
τοῖς τότε ἔθνεσι·
πῶς γάρ; ὁπότε ὑφ'
ἕνα τόπον τὸν ἐν
τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ
τελεῖσθαι
νενομοθέτητο·
διὸ οὐκ ἦν ἐπιθυμητόν·
τὸ δὲ σωτήριον
μυστήριον τῆς
Καινῆς Διαθήκης,
πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις
ἁρμόζον, εἰκότως
αὐτῷ ἐπιθυμητὸν
ἦν
| The Passover of Moses was not for all peoples, indeed it could not be, because the Law allowed it to be celebrated only in Jerusalem. Christ's desire, then, must have been not for that old Passover, but for the saving mystery of the new covenant which was for everyone.
| | Οὐκοῦν
καὶ ἡμῖν τὸ Πάσχα
σὺν Χριστῷ
βρωτέον,
καθαιροῦσι μὲν
τῆς ἑαυτῶν
διανοίας πᾶσαν
ζύμην κακίας
καὶ πονηρίας, ἀζύμων
δ' ἀληθείας καὶ εἰλικρινείας
ἐμπιπλαμένοις,
ἔχουσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς
ἔνδον ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ
τὸν ἐν κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖον
καὶ τὴν ἀληθῆ
περιτομὴν, καὶ
τοῦ τυθέντος ὑπὲρ
ἡμῶν προβάτου
τῷ αἵματι τὰς τῆς
διανοίας ἡμῶν
φλιὰς περιχρίουσιν
εἰς ἀποτροπὴν
τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς ὀλοθρευτοῦ.
Καὶ τοῦτο οὐ πρὸς
μίαν περίοδον
τοῦ παντὸς ἔτους,
ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' ἑβδομάδος
ἁπάσης
| And so we too should eat this Passover with Christ We should cleanse our minds of all the leaven of evil and wickedness and be filled with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, becoming Jews inwardly, in our souls, where the true circumcision takes place. We should anoint the lintel of our mind with the blood of the Lamb who was sacrificed for us, and so ward off our destroyer. We should do this not only once a year, but every week, continually.
| | Ἡμεῖς
δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ μυστήρια
δι' ὅλου τοῦ ἔτους
ἄγομεν, ἐν παντὶ
μὲν προσαββάτῳ
τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους
τὴν ἀνάμνησιν
ποιούμενοι διὰ
νηστείας, ἣν ἐνήστευσαν,
ἀρθέντος ἀπ' αὐτῶν
τοῦ Νυμφίου, τότε
πρῶτον οἱ ἀπόστολοι·
διὰ πάσης δὲ
Κυριακῆς ἡμέρας
τῷ ἡγιασμένῳ σώματι
τοῦ αὐτοῦ σωτηρίου
Πάσχα ζωοποιούμενοι,
καὶ τῷ τιμίῳ αἵματι
αὐτοῦ τὰς ψυχὰς
κατασφραγιζόμενοι.
| On the day before the Sabbath we fast in memory of our Saviour's Passion, as the Apostles were the first to do when the bridegroom was taken from them. On the Lord's day we receive life from the sacred body of our saving Passover and our souls are sealed with his precious blood.
|
Odd Years: The Jerusalem Catechesis, 20:4-6 (PG 33, 1079-1082)
| Μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος ἐχειραγωγεῖσθε κολυμβήθραν, ὡς
ὁ Χριστὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον μνῆμα. Καὶ ἠρωτᾶτο ἕκαστος εἰ πιστεύει εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρός,
καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Καὶ ὡμολογεῖτε τὴν σωτήριον ὁμολογίαν, καὶ κατεδύετε τρίτον εἰς
τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ πάλιν ἀνεδύετε, καὶ ἐνταῦθα διὰ συμβόλου τὴν
τριήμερον
τοῦ Χριστοῦ αἰνιττόμενοι ταφήν. Καθάπερ
γὰρ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν τρεῖς
ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας ἐν
τῇ καρδίᾳ
τῆς γῆς πεποίηκεν, οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ ἀναδύσει τὴν πρώτην ἐμιμεῖσθε
τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ γῇ ἡμέραν καὶ τῇ καταδύσει τὴν
νύκτα· ὥσπερ
γὰρ ὁ ἐν νυκτὶ οὐκέτι βλέπει,
ὁ δὲ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ φωτὶ διάγει, οὕτως ἐν τῇ καταδύσει ὡς ἐν νυκτὶ οὐδὲν ἑωρᾶτε, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀναδύσει πάλιν ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐτυγχάνετε
ὄντες. Καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ἀπεθνῄσκετε καὶ ἐγεννᾶσθε, καὶ τὸ σωτήριον ἐκεῖνο ὕδωρ καὶ τάφος ὑμῖν ἐγίνετο καὶ μήτηρ.
| You were conducted by the hand to the holy pool of sacred Baptism, just as Christ was conveyed from the cross to the sepulchre close at hand.
Each person was asked if he believed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You made the confession that brings salvation, and submerged yourselves three times in the water and emerged: by this symbolic action you were secretly re-enacting the burial of Christ three days in the tomb.
Just as our Saviour spent three days and nights in the womb of the earth, so you upon first emerging were representing Christ's first day in the earth, and by your immersion his first night. For at night one can no longer see but during the day one has light; so you saw nothing when immersed as if it were night, but you emerged as if to the light of day. In one and the same action you died and were born: that water of salvation became both tomb and mother for you.
| | Καὶ ὅπερ Σολομὼν ἐπὶ ἄλλων εἴρηκε, τοῦτο ἁρμόσαι ἂν ὑμῖν· ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἔλεγε· "Καιρὸς τοῦ τεκεῖν, καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν." Ἐφ' ὑμῖν δὲ τὸ ἀνάπαλιν·
καιρὸς τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν, καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ γεννηθῆναι. Καὶ εἷς καιρὸς ἀμφοτέρων τούτων ποιητικός, καὶ σύνδρομος ἐγίνετο τῷ θανάτῳ ἡ γέννησις ἡ ὑμετέρα.
| What Solomon said in another context is apposite to you: There is a time to be born, and a time to die, but the opposite is true in your case - there is a time to die and a time to be born. A single moment achieves both ends, and your begetting was simultaneous with your death.
| | Ὢ ξένου καὶ παραδόξου πράγματος· οὐκ ἀληθῶς ἀπεθάνομεν, οὐδ' ἀληθῶς ἐτάφημεν, οὐδ' ἀληθῶς σταυρωθέντες ἀνέστημεν, ἀλλ' ἐν εἰκόνι ἡ μίμησις,
ἐν ἀληθείᾳ δὲ ἡ σωτηρία. Χριστὸς ὄντως ἐσταυρώθη καὶ ὄντως ἐτάφη καὶ ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη· καὶ πάντα ἡμῖν ταῦτα κεχάρισται, ἵνα μιμήσει τῶν
παθῶν αὐτοῦ κοινωνήσαντες, ἀληθείᾳ
τὴν σωτηρίαν κερδήσωμεν. Ὢ φιλανθρωπίας ὑπερβαλλούσης· Χριστὸς ἐδέξατο ἐπὶ τῶν ἀχράντων χειρῶν ἥλους καὶ ἤλγησε,
κἀμοὶ ἀναλγητὶ καὶ ἀπονητὶ χαρίζεται
διὰ τῆς κοινωνίας τὴν σωτηρίαν.
| What a strange and astonishing situation! We did not really die, we were not really buried, we did not really hang from a cross and rise again. Our imitation was symbolic, but our salvation a reality.
Christ truly hung from a cross, was truly buried, and truly rose again. All this he did gratuitously for us, so that we might share his sufferings by imitating them, and gain salvation in actuality.
What boundless love! The innocent hands and feet of Christ were pierced by the nails: he suffered the pain. I suffer neither pain nor anguish: yet by letting me par-ticipate in his pain he gives me the free gift of salvation.
| | Μηδεὶς οὖν νομιζέτω τὸ βάπτισμα ἀφέσεως ἁμαρτιῶν μόνον, καὶ υἱοθεσίας χάριν τυγχάνειν, ὡς
τὸ Ἰωάννου ἐτύγχανε βάπτισμα μόνης ἀφέσεως ἁμαρτημάτων παρεκτικόν· ἀλλ' ἀκριβῶς
εἰδότων ἡμῶν, ὅτι ὡς ἔστιν ἁμαρτημάτων καθαρτήριον καὶ Πνεύματος
ἁγίου δωρεᾶς πρόξενον,
οὕτω καὶ τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ παθημάτων ἀντίτυπον. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ Παῦλος ἀρτίως βοῶν
ἔλεγεν· "Ἢ ἀγνοεῖτε ὅτι ὅσοι ἐβαπτίσθημεν εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, εἰς τὸν θάνατον
αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθημεν;
Συνετάφημεν
οὖν αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος."
| No one should think, then, that his Baptism is merely for the remission of sins and for adoption as sons in the way that John's Baptism brought only remission of sins. We know well that not merely does it cleanse sins and bestow on us the gift of the Holy Spirit - it is also the counterpart of Christ's suffering. This is why, as we heard just now, Paul cried out: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by Baptism into death.
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