Words for Holy Easter

The Jews celebrate the earthly Passover, having rejected the heavenly one, but we, celebrating the heavenly Passover, have abandoned the earthly one. As it was performed among those, it was a reminder of the salvation of the firstborn of the Jews, when the firstborn of the Jews did not perish along with the Egyptians, being preserved mysteriously by the blood of the Passover sacrifice; The Passover that we celebrate is the reason for the salvation of all people, starting with the primordial (man), who is preserved and remains alive in all (of us). What was accomplished and temporary, being the image and likeness of the eternal, was prepared in order to shade the now shining truth; when the truth appeared, the image became inappropriate - just as, when a king appears among his people, no one wants, leaving the living king himself, to prostrate himself before his image. It is clear from here how much the image pales before the truth: namely, the image is celebrated [regarding the preservation of] the short-term life of the Jewish firstborn, the truth (regarding the granting) of eternal life to all people. After all, getting rid of death for a while means little for someone who will die anyway some time later, but avoiding death completely means a lot. This is what happened to us, for whom the Passover—Christ—was sacrificed. And even the very name of the holiday, interpreted in accordance with the truth, has greater advantage. Passover in translation means passing - when the destroyer, beating the firstborn, passed (past) the house of the Jews. The destroyer really passed by us, since he completely left us forever, raised by Christ to eternal life. Thus, the establishment of the Old Testament Passover should be viewed spiritually and contemplated by faith in accordance with the apostolic interpretations. But it is natural for the faithful, of course, to strive to understand this image in its entirety and, moreover, precisely from the point of view of its correspondence to reality, in order, in this way, to be able, as it were, with bodily eyes to contemplate what is in itself spiritual. He wants everything related to the law to have a close relationship with Christ, so that through the spiritual the physical becomes more clearly visible, and the invisible becomes visible as in a painting. So, when God set out to bring the tenth plague on the Egyptians (and it consisted of the position of the firstborn), He said to Moses: “Let this month be the beginning of months for you” (Ex. 12:2); the first month for you of the months of the year. And he established the Passover sacrifice and the anointing with blood on the doors in a row, and from the anointing with it he promised the salvation of the firstborn. If we turn directly to reality, then what significance should be attached to the fact that the beginning of the year coincides with the time when the saving Easter took place? It is obvious that for us the true Easter sacrifice is the beginning of eternal life. In fact, the year is a symbol of eternity, because, making a circle, it always revolves in itself and does not stop at any end. And the Father of the future age, Christ, the sacrifice made for us, making our entire previous life standing outside of time, gives through the font of rebirth the beginning of another life, in the likeness of his death and resurrection. Therefore, everyone, knowing the Passover sacrificed for him, should consider the beginning of his life to be the time from which Christ became a sacrifice for sin. And He becomes a sacrifice for him when he recognizes grace and understands the life that began through that sacrifice. And having learned this, he must strive to get the beginning of a new life and no longer return to the old one, the end of which he has reached. “We died,” it is said, “to sin: how can we live in it” (Rom. 6:2)? This is the symbolic meaning of the beginning of the year. Further, on the tenth day of the month, the Lord commands to take a lamb to each house and, moreover, so that in each house there are gathered as many people as are needed to eat the lamb completely without a trace; the lamb had to be slaughtered on the fourteenth day in the evening. So, for five days the victim remains with those to whom she must bring salvation, but at the end of the fifth day the sacrificial animal is slaughtered, death passes by, the saved one enjoys the unceasing light of both the moon, which shines all night, and the sun, which replaces the moon; This exactly happens on the fifteenth and, moreover, full moon day. These five intervals indicate that all the time of the world is divided into five periods: from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Moses, from Moses to the coming of Christ, and the fifth is the period of the coming itself. At this time, salvation through the blessed sacrifice was prepared for every person, but had not yet been accomplished. In the fifth period of time, the true sacrifice was made, and the primordial man saved by it achieved unceasing light. And the fact that Easter was celebrated not at the very evening, but towards the evening, showed that not at the very end of the present time, but towards the end, Christ would suffer. This division of time is also confirmed by a parable in which the day is divided into five parts, since it is said that into the vineyard, i.e. to do righteousness, some were called from the first hour, others from the third, others from the sixth, others from the ninth, and others from the eleventh. And just as this recognition was different, so was the justification: one under Adam, another under Noah, another under Abraham, and another under Moses; the last and most perfect thing is at the time of the coming of Christ, when, according to the parable of the Savior, the last receive the reward first. It is we, for whom Christ became the sacrifice, who are the first to receive regeneration in baptism, after Christ has risen and sent the Holy Spirit for our renewal. This is precisely the mysteriously contemplated symbolic meaning of the sacrifice offered on the fourteenth day, and the luminous night and day that follows. The same fact that the sacrificial animal in each house was eaten in full and the meat was not taken out shows that only one house receives salvation in Christ: this house is the church, existing throughout the entire universe, previously alien to God, and now the only one that has entered into kinship with Him, through the reception of those sent by the Lord Jesus, just like the dwelling of Rahab, the former harlot, having received to itself the spies sent by Jesus, one and only survived the destruction of Jericho. And just as many Jewish houses have the meaning of one, so the churches located in cities and countries, being numerous in number, constitute only one church: one in them is Christ everywhere, perfect and indivisible. Because the sacrificial animal in every home had to be perfect and not divided into separate parts. After all, Paul also says that we are all one in Christ because “there is one Lord, one faith” (Eph. 4:5). So, it is necessary to recognize that the law prefigured Christ by the indivisible unity of the sacrificial animal, prefiguring with it at the same time the unity of the Church. In Christ, in His sacrifice, we have salvation, and we recognize everything that happened before His coming as a preparation for this coming, and the work of saving all mankind from the very beginning was set up as if the sacrifice of Christ was being performed before the eyes of everyone all the time, offered for everyone. But this salvation, as we know, belongs only to the Church, and no one outside the Church and faith can either be an accomplice with Christ or be saved. Knowing this, we understand that the salvation of the whole world is accomplished not by the works of the law, but in Christ, and we do not leave any basis for hope to godless heresies, but we place them beyond all hope, since they do not have the slightest communion with Christ, but in vain hide behind the saving name to the harm and deception of those who pay more attention to the name and appearance than to the truth. So, let no one tear away from Christ what was of old, let no one think that any of those who lived before could be saved without Christ; and those who in our time distort and pervert the truth, who create only a vain and false likeness of the Church, alien to Christ and the truth, let no one call them Christians and do not maintain communication with them: and this is impossible, because the sacrifice is not taken out of the sacred house and is not offered for communication to those outside it. Let us now look at the lamb that typified the glory of the Lord. It was required that He be blameless, male, and one year old. First of all, he possessed integrity and perfection, because Christ alone is filled with all perfection and is completely blameless, and from any side, from beginning to end, does not need any justification, as he himself says: “So it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). That is why perfect and blameless animals were always used for all sacrifices, because they served as a prototype of Christ. And God commanded the priests to be completely perfect and undamaged in body, because they were a prototype of the true Priest. Then, the Passover lamb must be male, because this sex by nature has primacy and advantage, just as among people a man has a bodily advantage over a woman. And Christ by nature and in reality is the Head and King, since, being a heavenly man, he was united with us as a brother by bodily nature, but stands above us, as the Lord, by the spiritual side, by His divinity. Therefore, He alone is the groom, if we consider all of humanity as the bride; even John, the greatest of the prophets, was not a groom, as can be seen from his words about Christ and about himself: about Christ he said: “he who has a bride is a groom,” and about himself: “but the friend of the groom, standing and listening to him, rejoices with joy, hearing the voice of the groom. This is my joy being fulfilled” (John 3:29). And all the apostles are not bridegrooms of the Church, although without a doubt they accepted by grace the likeness of Christ, becoming sons of Christ through the Spirit of Christ. But what does Blessed Paul say? “I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you to Christ as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2). So, the Lord is truly the Head, Ruler and King, not only because He was God among people, but also according to the eternal Divinity, because by nature He is the King of every creation, not receiving the kingdom by grace, but having it truly and by birth from the Father. The lamb, mind you, was one year old; this meant that the Lord would be new on earth and completely unrelated to the decay that prevailed in people. Therefore, if someone calls the Lord a simple man and believes that Christ was of our nature, for that He will no longer be a perfect and blameless lamb, because none of the people is blameless, will not be a male lamb, because none of the people has an innate and complete bodily superiority in comparison with people of the same nature. And whoever classifies the Lord among the creatures and claims that He did not have a true deity, but received by grace, and the lamb that was sacrificed for him was not male, did not recognize the King by nature, but turns him into someone else, different both in nature and in essence. In the same way, if someone ascribes to Christ anything characteristic of the old man, for example, dares to assert that He is involved in sin, or is subject to the slavery of the law, or is subject to the necessity of death, for such a one-year-old lamb can no longer serve as a prototype of Christ - for this reason the renewal brought by Christ has passed unnoticed. It remains to understand the symbolic meaning of the lamb and the goat. Namely, the lamb, in accordance with Isaiah, is a symbol of the meekness of Christ: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent” (Is. 53:7); according to the law, a goat is a sacrifice for sin: “a goat,” it is said, “for sin” (Lev. 5:6). So, meek as a lamb, He allowed Himself to be brought and then was sacrificed for sin, like a goat, giving Himself out of humility for the salvation of people - which salvation we too may achieve through faith and love for the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered for us, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. The intended meaning of the types in the law is confirmed by the truth itself. So, for example, a blameless lamb, as predicted by the law on the Passover sacrifice, a male, one year old, taken on the tenth day of the month, is sacrificed on the fourteenth in the evening, and the counting of the months begins at the time when the Passover was celebrated. Namely, all this relates to Christ and His suffering, and in Him it receives justification for its truth and necessity; taken by itself it cannot have any meaning. Those who do not know Christ would not find justification for these requirements of the law and could not explain why God gave such commands about the Old Testament Passover. And in fact, there is no other basis for establishing a sacrifice for the salvation of the firstborn and for performing the anointing with blood at the entrances. What, in fact, is the power of slaughtering sacrificial animals to save the firstborn? What is the need for anointing blood as a sign on houses? Without a doubt, God knew the houses of the Jews even without signs, so that the expression: “I will see blood and pass by you” (Exod. 12:13) one could only wonder. But by elevating these commands to the truth, you will recognize their inherent meaning, as has already been shown above in several examples. When, precisely, the immaculate Sacrifice suffered for us, death, which began from the primordial man, is destroyed, and the primordial man living in all of us is saved, quickened by the resurrection of Christ. And, in fairness, for all those who participate in that sacrifice, life, resolving the bonds of sin and death, becomes a sign of salvation. Looking at her, God saves those anointed by Him with faith, who can only escape the justly punishing angel except for the sake of the blood shed for us out of love for mankind. Do you see what meaning the type has when viewed in accordance with the truth? Thus, if any of the Jews decides to say: why did Christ suffer in order to save the world, as if it could not have been saved without this? - to this he must answer: why was the Passover brought to save the firstborn of the Jews, as if they could not have been saved without this? And he will not be able to answer anything (because God, of course, did not need either a sacrifice or a sign to recognize the houses). This case speaks in our favor and once again confirms the truth of the holy faith, showing how our unrighteousness is destroyed by the righteousness of Christ - there were no other means to resolve it (just as darkness is dispelled only by light) - and how our death is destroyed by the life of Christ, like darkness by light. That is why that sacrifice is sacred, because it was a prototype of the true one. And this true one, - given over by the ignorance of the wicked to death and burial, but by the council of God accepted as a sacred sacrifice and made of one’s own free will as an offering for the Father, is sacred in essence, like a true sacrifice. The Father, he says, gave up the Son for us, and Christ “gave Himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet aroma” (Eph. 5:2). And for some who sought the death of Christ, this advice brought destruction, but for others who sought salvation for the sake of the death of Christ, their faith served to salvation. Revenge and death pass by them, because death loses its destructive power over them, in accordance with the words of the Savior: “Whoever keeps My word will never see death” (John 8:51). Because of the blood shed for us, we receive the Holy Spirit. If both blood and Spirit are united together, then so that we can receive, through the blood that is homogeneous with ours, the Holy Spirit that is not homogeneous with us, and through this block the access of death to us. The access of death is twofold, which is why the sign of blood is also twofold. “On both,” it is said, “the doorposts and the lintel” (Ex. 12:7). Death enters through sin, as the apostle says. Sin in us is either a consequence of passion (and it is twofold: either it consists of a sensual disposition of the soul towards delicacy, or in cruel rudeness), or the fruit of thought, when it takes a wrong and abnormal direction. Reason is like a lintel or an upper crossbar in doors, lies above both pillars of passion, being the main and highest in nature, passion can be likened to pillars, located below reason, just as the pillars stand under the lintel. What passions lead to effeminacy? Binge eating, drunkenness and passion for carnal intercourse. What are the raw passions of the soul? Anger and various types of selfishness, listing which Paul said: “Let us behave decently, not indulging in feasting and drunkenness, nor in lust and debauchery, nor in quarrels and envy; but put on our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:13–14). The ancient anointing is similar to this very endowment, when we, accepting the image of the suffering of Christ, are clothed with the holiness of Christ - without indulging in pleasures, and without being hardened by anger. And if we speak properly and with reasoning, then the anointing is precisely the clothing in which we put on - the wisdom not of the flesh, but of Christ, so that according to the carnal mind we are mortified, we become as if dead, but with a spiritual mind we are adorned. When we are clothed in this way, then neither through unreasonable passions nor through senseless thoughts can sin approach us and death cannot prevail over us. This is undoubtedly the secret meaning of the anointing. Following the anointing comes eating, infusing us with the divine body and leading to unity with it. “They will eat,” they say, “its flesh this very night, baked in the fire” (Exodus 12:8). Night is the real age. “The night is past” (Rom. 13:12), says Paul. Eating the holy body through fire indicates hot and seething jealousy. “Be on fire with the Spirit,” it is said, “(Rom. 12:11), and: “I have come to bring fire upon the earth.” ,” he says, “and how I would like it to burn already” (Luke 12:49). Just as fire, when talking about eating meat, indicates hot haste, so unleavened bread denotes simplicity, and bitter herbs further torment. “Let them eat it with unleavened bread...,” it says, “with bitter herbs” (Ex. 12:8). A person’s disposition becomes simple and gentle, having freed himself, as it were, from leaven, from everything old and evil, and having accepted the new and simple, so that it can leaven. “Our Easter,” they say, “Christ was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, not with the leaven of vice and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of purity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-8). And bitter things are tribulations: “But we also glory in tribulations, knowing that from tribulation comes patience, and from patience comes experience, and from experience does hope, and hope does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:3-5). “Through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Thus we take sorrow as a seasoning in hopes of gaining the kingdom through it. It was forbidden to eat meat raw. With a literal, carnal understanding, it remains completely incomprehensible why God forbids something that never happens, because no one will eat raw; in relation to us, this prohibition has the greatest significance: do not begin to accept the divine body without preparation, because it remains unaccepted by those who carelessly accept it, without preparing for such communication with good deeds. “Faith,” they say, “without works is dead” (James 2:20). And as a result of this, tribulations are sent to the careless for their benefit, so that they may be, as Paul says, participants in his holiness. Love for carnal pleasures gives rise to inactivity regarding spiritual matters. Therefore, denoting this with another symbol, the legislator prohibits eating meat boiled in water, because meat is cooked so that it tastes more pleasant, but when eating divine food one cannot think about pleasure: spiritual strength is not combined with carnal disposition. Therefore, he says, do not cook the sacred meat with various seasonings, but eat it simply baked on the fire, with intense effort, alien to pleasure. The love of pleasure is incompatible with the love of God, as Paul says: and for those “their god is their belly” (Phil. 3:19), God is not God. And the apostle does not approve of those who turn the Eucharist into magnificent feasts, turning the sanctifying communion into an occasion for abundant food and varied drink. To them Paul says: “You gather together in such a way that this does not mean eating the Lord’s supper; for everyone hastens to eat his food before others, so that some are hungry, and others get drunk. Have you no houses to eat and drink? Or do you neglect the church of God and humiliate the poor? What should I tell you? Should I praise you for this? I will not praise you” (1 Cor. 11:20–22). The apostle explains the temptations that befell them with such a careless attitude towards holy food, because they approached the holy thing in uncleanness. “That is why many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying. For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:30-31). We are guilty of wickedness against the Lord when, without sufficient readiness of the body, we begin to unite with His body, which He gave to us so that we, united with it, could unite with the Holy Spirit. For this purpose, the Word of God gave Himself entirely to the body and became flesh, according to the voice of the Gospel, so that we, not being able to have communion with Him as the Word, would commune with Him, who took on flesh, making, if possible, akin to our flesh with spiritual flesh and spirit to the Holy Spirit, in order to become like Christ, becoming a church of the Spirit, as the Apostle says: “you are the church of God,” and also: “not Do you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, whom you have from God” (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19)? And through union with the Spirit we touch the body of Christ, and, remaining in holiness, we become members of Christ. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take away the members of Christ to make them members of a harlot? It won’t happen!” (1 Cor. 6:15). These are the details with which the law furnished the preparation of sacred food, these are the symbols with which it guided the prototypes of that time for our benefit. “The head,” it is said, “with legs and entrails” (Ex. 12:9): the head indicates the beginning of the appearance to people, the first coming, and the legs indicate the end, the second coming, without which the first cannot be believed, since not everything predicted by the prophets was fulfilled. That is why the Jews do not believe (the coming of Christ), thinking that the one who came like this is not Christ, because what relates to glorious coming. Therefore, having united them together, he said: “the head with the feet,” that is, the first coming with the second, so that even in shame you would accept the Lamb brought to the slaughter as Lord, and in him you could see the King appearing with glory. Both were predicted by the prophet Isaiah; and therefore do not demand the deliverance of Jerusalem now, but expect it later: “and the Redeemer of Zion and the sons of Jacob who turned from wickedness will come” (Isa. 59:20), when He Himself will save the remnant of the people who must turn to Him. At His first coming, as you can see, the opposite was fulfilled: He left my house, squandered my inheritance, and also: “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but He was buried with a rich man” (Is. 53:9). So, “with feet and entrails” - this warned the Jews not to separate the inglorious coming of the Lord from the glorious one and not to be separated from fellowship with him through unbelief. But “with the insides,” it is said. What does it mean? So that you are not tempted by what will be visible, but also notice what is hidden; Do not consider Him a man on a par with yourself, because He is a man in body, but know Him spiritually and you will recognize the Father in Him. As long as you do not see what is inside and do not have internal communication with it, you have not yet seen Christ, thinking that He is a man and not God. And He himself says: “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). We also need to consider this expression: “do not leave him until the morning” (Ex. 12:10). And Paul explains it to us, saying that the remembrance of the Lord’s suffering will continue until He comes (1 Cor. 11:26). It lasts for so long and saves those who do it until the present night passes and the morning comes, and the living Christ shines upon us from heaven, saving us with His life, as now He saves us by death: “for if,” it is said, “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10). So, already by the death of Christ we are saved, and then we will be saved by His life. This is the symbolic meaning. prohibition from leaving any of the sacrificial meat until the morning. And we will also then be alive, and our present death will pass away; whereas now we are saved only through death, then we will have lifely salvation. “Set your mind on things above, and not on earthly things. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:2-4). Therefore, if any of the sacrificial meat remains, it is burned with fire, so that we may know that in the present age Christ died for sin once, and death no longer rules over Him, but is destroyed by the power of the Spirit, as if by fire, when life has taken possession of the sign of death. “Do not break her bones” (Exodus 12:46). Blessed John refers to this as the body of Christ, which was preserved because His legs were not broken; but this also has a spiritual meaning - because His hardness remained invincible, and therefore corruption did not touch His body, since it had the most solid and indestructible foundation, being built not in a physical, but in a divine way, having a divine origin, not subject to human corruption. “His flesh saw no corruption” (Acts 2:31). After such a study about the saving use of sacred food, we will now stop the word, stopping the rest until another time, and ask the Lord what David asked: “Open my eyes, and I will see the wonders of Your law” (Ps. 119:18), so that our reading of the law will not be as unreasonable as that of the Jews, who stopped at some images, but so that, thinking divinely about divine symbols, we have reached the most holy truth in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. The holiness of Christ was indicated by the Easter sacrifice with the spotless lamb, the salvation of people in the suffering of Christ was indicated by the salvation of the firstborn, given through the Easter sacrifice, and sanctification was indicated by the eating (of the sacrifice). And we have already said this before. Now, from the rest specified in the law, we should consider how one who will receive sanctification should prepare himself, how to begin communion with the holy, what kind of life to lead after becoming a communicant and accomplice of the saint. And this is how the one who intends to be an accomplice of Christ should prepare himself, the legislator figuratively showed us in circumcision, saying: “here is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat it; and every slave bought with money, when you have circumcised him, may eat it” (Ex. 12:43–44). Circumcision then was only partial, not being useful in itself, because a circumcised person did not seem any better off than an uncircumcised one. On the contrary, the Israelites were even rebuked by God on this matter: “for all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart” (Jer. 9:26). True circumcision is the circumcision of all flesh, making him acceptable and acceptable to God who is circumcised in heart, from whom the veil of flesh is removed, which we have by inheritance from our parents and which must be removed from us; the law, commanding the circumcision of the reproductive members, indicated in advance the symbol of birth and the covering that accompanies us from birth. So, the one who does not leave the carnal way of life will not achieve fellowship with Christ. “Circumcision means we who serve God in the Spirit... and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3). Only a heart free from all carnal things can truly serve God and be united in spirit with Christ. The beginning of this circumcision is the suffering of the Lord for us, who despised His flesh and accepted circumcision for our sake; This sacrament is imprinted on us in baptism, and is fulfilled in life in accordance with Christ. “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ; being buried with Him in baptism” (Colossians 2:11–12). So, until you have left your carnal habits, you, as a foreigner and stranger, will not be a participant and accomplice with the saint who came from heaven, Christ: he himself must be heavenly who wants to approach the heavenly, but no one can become heavenly without leaving the earthly. Thus, having first put to death the old man within you by the grace of baptism, through zeal in spiritual matters you will approach Christ and join Him. Secondly, you need to see what all those who participated in the Passover were according to the law, in order to find out what we must be like to participate with Christ: “Eat it this way: let your loins be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staffs in your hands” (Ex. 12:11). Traveling clothing, worn and well belted, indicates a quick readiness to go towards the promise of God, just as Israel then, ready to set off on the road, set off for the land of promise. Pay attention to the spiritual traveler, what advantage he has over him. He does not rush to this distant land of promise, does not pursue temporary blessings, does not exchange land for land, not Judah instead of Egypt; but what does such a traveler say about his journey? “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the high calling” (Phil. 3:13–14). Behold the loins girded with truth, according to the apostle (Eph. 6:14)! So it is you who will be nimble in the good current if you leave everything present - empty and false, according to David (Ps. 39:7), and begin to seek the future truth and yearn for it. Feet - shod, he says, with the readiness of the gospel of peace, capable of every good run, by which peace with God is strengthened for us, as the apostle says: “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1), and also: “with patience,” he says, “let us run the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1), and again: “we run that we may receive” (1 Cor. 9:24). The staves in their hands are hope or confirmation of the soul in God, so as not to be shaken in sorrow, as Paul said (1 Thess. 3:3), but to be firm. “Eat it with haste: this is the Passover of the Lord” (Ex. 12:11). This food is not for the careless, not for pleasure, not for those who are careless and prone to inactivity, but for those who have a vigorous and tense spirit, which is why it gives us the escape of destructive vengeance when the Lord sends it. Therefore he says: “this is the Passover of the Lord,” which one translator 1) directly interpreted: “passing over to the Lord.” Thirdly, after such reception of divine food, we will look at what the life of the one who accepted this holy food should be like. This is precisely what the unleavened bread and the days of unleavened bread indicate. The Jews take care of unleavened bread and think that the seven days of unleavened bread bring them something special, they do not eat leavened bread and do not keep it for themselves, not being able to indicate any benefit from this matter, because they are fulfilling an image, not the truth. You understand unleavened bread according to the word of the apostle and as we have shown, namely, so that the soul is pure and not stained by any crime, so that there is a new way of life without any previous vices. Obviously, this is how these words need to be understood: even a trace of something like this “there shall be no leaven in your houses, for whoever eats leaven, that soul will be cut off from the congregation of the [sons of] Israel” (Ex. 12:19). A return to former depravity is death for one who has been transferred to a new life. “If you live according to the flesh,” it is said, “you will die” (Rom. 8:13). What is the symbolic meaning of seven days (of unleavened bread)? Seven days, he says, eat unleavened bread. Seven days, as it actually is, signify all time, because after the seventh day, which is rest, the return of the first begins, and this circle of time goes forward, turning into itself after seven days. At all times, of course, you should live in simplicity and purity, and this is truly saving. “If,” it is said, “you put to death the deeds of the flesh in the spirit, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). The character of one who does not seek the carnal is simple, gentle, not evil, alien to everything bad and hateful. Why does he call the first day and the seventh holy, saying: “And on the first day you shall have a holy congregation, and on the seventh day a holy congregation” (Ex. 12:16)? Because just as the first day shows the beginning into which we are sanctified through the acceptance of the Holy Spirit, so the seventh day marks the end, when it is we, freed from the body, who are with Christ and come to the Lord, having left our earthly wanderings and are completely transferred to holiness. “By being at home in the body, we are cut off from the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6). The law requires that these days be free from work. “No work,” he says, “should be done in them” (Ex. 12:16). This shows that the soul should not deviate towards earthly concerns and remain in slavery, inappropriate to serving God, but that only one thing should be done with zeal, only to use effort, which is beneficial for it. The following expression indicates the same thing: “whatever everyone eats, you can do one thing” (Ex. 12:16). Therefore, the Lord, leading to an explanation of rest according to the law, since peace was sought in rest from vain affairs, and not in what relates to the benefit of the soul, suggested to the Pharisees: “Should one do good on the Sabbath, or do evil? save the soul, or destroy it” (Mark 3:4)? If you want to observe the Sabbath and holiday rest correctly and in accordance with Christ, abstain from worldly worries and activities, and take care of that and do what relates to God and the good of the soul. And then you will truly and correctly observe the Sabbath and celebrate the holy holiday, a type of that of Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Easter is celebrated by the Jews in memory of the liberation from Egypt and the deliverance of the firstborn from death. The name itself – “Easter” – means the passage of death; this is the meaning it has in the Hebrew language. We also celebrate Easter, but not as deliverance from temporary death, like those, and not as liberation from temporary slavery, but as complete deliverance from death, as complete liberation from slavery to the devil. The death of the firstborn has passed over those who sacrificed the symbolic lamb and anointed parts of the doors with blood; but for us, the death that began from the primordial (man) will pass, unable to restrain those who have tasted the sacrifice of the divine Lamb and are sealed with faith in the saving blood. Those have an earthly lamb, but we have a lamb from heaven - as in Abraham, when he had a lamb sent by God to offer instead of a son - truly a Lamb sent from God from heaven, brought for us, so that we would no longer remain in the power of death through Christ, who is not possessed by it. It is said that God sent the Son as the Savior of the world (John 3:17), and: “he came down,” he says, “from heaven” (John 6:42). And the Baptist testifies of Him, saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The dumb lamb does not destroy sin, and as a result, the death that comes from sin; the most intelligent Lamb freed from sin, destroying death along with it. He does not lead us out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judea, but into an eternal possession from the corruptible world. He is the Lamb and at the same time the Shepherd, leading the sheep. Ahead, he says, I will go, leading them to eternal life. The beginning of the months for the Jews is the slaughter of a lamb and the exit from Egypt; For us, the beginning of life is the suffering of Christ and the removal with Christ from the world, because then we live when we die for the world, then we are reborn for God when we leave earthly birth. An indivisible lamb, eaten in one house, in the spiritual Church, otherwise not received anywhere, just as the carnal Jews were commanded not to take the lamb’s meat out of the house. Those who ate the Passover had unleavened bread; We have communion with Christ with a new, youthful and simple spirit, like unleavened bread that is new and simple. The bitter herbs with which we ate Easter then pointed to our sorrows, through which we take part in the sufferings of Christ, because torment is bitter, even if the fruit from it is sweet. They did not break the bones of the lamb, and this is what the law commanded, prefiguring Christ, because, as the gospel tells, no one broke the holy legs of the Lord: “That the Scripture might be fulfilled: Let not His bone be broken” (John 19:36). They ate the meat at night and did not leave it for the day, because the death of Christ is remembered in the present age, but life appears in the future. The appearance of those who ate Easter - clothes belted on their hips, boots on their feet, sticks in their hands: the whole atmosphere of travelers preparing for a hasty journey; for us, this indicates the preparation of the soul for the transition from (this) world. Therefore, well-prepared and concentrated souls avoid the worries of this world, being ready for the divine procession to heaven. “Our citizenship,” says the apostle, “is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). We have taken faith and hope in Christ as a staff to lean on. A lamp has also been lit for our souls, just as the material lamp was lit for those. The law of Christ is a lamp for our souls: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105). And the Lord himself speaks about this: “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning. And you be like men waiting for the return of their master” (Luke 12:35–36). It remains to be seen who ate Easter. None of the uncircumcised were allowed to eat the Passover; and if there were foreigners or slaves, they had to be circumcised. Likewise, no one can become a participant in Christ without cutting off human excesses and cleansing ourselves from the carnal defilements that we receive from our fathers by birth. The image of such circumcision was carnal circumcision. Therefore, the prophet Jeremiah said that your hardness of heart must be circumcised (Jer. 4:4). So, let us hasten to blessed communion with Christ, through this we will become clean from worldly evils in order to be sanctified by spiritual virtues; Let no one turn back to the world, but let us hasten to... 2), so as not to remain under the bondage of the ruler of this age, but to pass into the freedom of Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 1. The Jews have images, but we have the truth, because it is said: “the law has a shadow of good things to come” (Heb. 10:1), and: “the law was given through Moses; But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). And what the Jews had was not alien to Christ, but related to Him as a type and shadow; fulfillment and clear contemplation of things was preserved until His personal coming, when they directly saw Him as the King. Just like someone painting a picture first outlines the shadows and then paints the picture; at the same time, the shadow image seems to be different, but in fact it is the same outline that lies under the paints. Consider with me, with the help of shadows, what is true, and pay attention to what the images show, and ascend from the small to the great, and do not be burdened exclusively by the earth, when you remember the liberation of one people from the tormentor, the temporary salvation of youths, and the migration from one land to another. After all, the festivals of the Hellenes were not much different, if we stick to such memories. They also celebrate deliverance from disease, liberation from tyranny, resettlement and founding of cities, military victories and the like, devoting their festivities to the earthly and temporary. At the present time, we must remember the great, the divine gifts, truly the gifts of God - remember for those who celebrate the great eternal holiday, liberation from opposing demons, warring against good, distracting from the kingdom of God, not for a short time, but for eternity, transmigration from earth to heaven in the present life and to an eternal inheritance after the future resurrection. Egypt oppressed the Jews, who were actually free by descent from their ancestors, placing on them the yoke of slavery and forcing them to make bricks and build cities. This is a symbol of the world torment that overcomes the human race, which has fallen away from divine bliss and freedom, working diligently on earthly affairs and preparing perishable dwellings, because people have nothing solid and permanent, all the works of human hands are perishable, being destroyed over time. God wants to free him from this slavery, pitying his creation, exhausted from labor, as once, seeing the misfortune of the children of Israel, he frees them through resettlement. Those who voluntarily fell away from Him must turn to God voluntarily. Slaves who have the law are sent to call through the law to justice, and through justice to show the way to God, and to inflict still minor punishments on the opposing forces, without leading them to complete destruction, but only in parts, and not yet completely destroying the wicked from their midst. This is exactly how it was before the coming of the Lord, who appeared after His servants. They were images and symbols of Him. Moses was sent to the Jews with his brother Aaron, calling them to serve God, scourging the Egyptians in turn with executions for the enslaved and oppressed people. But when this happened, Israel was still in Egypt, the king of the Egyptians could still resist God. There were nine executions, but the end of the matter was not yet over. It was necessary to send the final plague, the death of the firstborn, and Israel goes out with it. Then a lamb is sacrificed, the entrances to Jewish houses are smeared with blood, and the firstborn escape the penalty of death through the blood sign. The Jews eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They leave Egypt; they are pursued by Pharaoh and other Egyptians; approaching the Red Sea. It receives hordes of Jews, separated by a divine miracle from the rod of Moses, but drowns the Egyptian force that entered it. The Lamb for you is Christ at the exodus from the world; He resettles you, raising you to heaven, and revives you for eternal life. By resettling the man descended from David, He also resettles those who follow him obediently and submissively, no longer fearing Pharaoh and no longer remaining in slavery to earthly worldly suffering, through that insignificant and acute pleasure, the image of which Israel had when eating meat with onions and garlic in Egypt. Such is worldly pleasure, consisting of a very cleverly intertwined game of worries and carnal, animal satiety. And when you leave worldly life, then there is the beginning of true life, just as for those Easter formed the beginning of the months. Now is the beginning of life, when you part with this worldly earthly life; now you find some true life, spiritual life. Christ is sacrificed, so that you know that His sacrifice was made for you. Then it will come true for you that “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent” (Isaiah 53:7). And meekness in him preserves the prototype of the lamb, and the desire for heights and reluctance to remain in the valleys makes it possible for the kid to climb to the heights; goats jump and climb to places that are difficult to pass and very elevated. Heaven has been a high and inaccessible place for man since the day when man fell, violating the divine commandment, becoming a slave of the flesh and deprived of the Holy Spirit. There the divine sacrifice made for you is now elevating you, elevating you there. He died with you so that you could live in Him. The Blood of the Lamb is saving for you if you approach it with faith, if you anoint your feelings and thoughts through which death enters after sin with faith, as if with blood, just as Israel anointed the entrances with blood. After all, if passion does not enter you through the eyes, hearing, smell, taste and touch, and then through reason, then death will not take possession of you, but you, bearing in your body the mortification of Jesus, will have life appearing in your body, and death, which originates from the primordial Adam, will pass by you, just as the death of the firstborn passed by the houses of the Jews. Therefore, the name of this holiday, Easter, means passing by. “Your sheep is blameless,” because Jesus is blameless. “He committed no sin, neither was there any lying in His mouth” (Isa. 53:9). “Perfect male.” The fulfillment of righteousness belongs only to the true King. A one-year-old lamb is an image of the eternal Christ, because a year is a symbol of eternity; making the same circle in every century and having in itself all the turns, it is the image of the new man, in which our old human nature is replaced by a new one, because “put on,” it is said, “the new man” (Eph. 4:24). Having clothed yourself with the perfection and integrity of the Lamb, you will be the lamb of God; and having presented your body as a living, holy, pleasing sacrifice to God, you will be guided to eternal life. 2. Do you see that your Passover cannot in any way be compared with the Jewish Passover, which had only some resemblance to it, was only a shadow of it? Israel, of course, grew up in infancy, making such sacrifices and believing that with them he pleased God, and imagining that through them he received salvation, but completely forgetting that this was only an image of the only truly saving sacrifice. Therefore, God tells them through Jeremiah: “and he gave them no commandment that day... concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Jer. 7:22). Of course, “there is no lie with God,” and having given a commandment, He cannot say that He did not give it. But the fact is that the performance of the sacrifice contained a prophetic meaning and foreshadowed Christ. God, having commanded to sacrifice a lamb, pointed to Christ, who was to be sacrificed, and everything that related to the lamb prefigured Christ. You have already seen some of this, and consider others in order, if possible. In every Jewish house (is offered) one of the best lambs, and no part of the meat is taken away from the house where it was slaughtered. In every church and in every soul, the whole of Christ is everywhere, and nowhere is there only a part of Him. Therefore, just as there were many lambs in all the houses one by one, so here there is one and the same Christ in every soul. The lamb is kept in the house for five days, from the tenth to the fourteenth, then it is sacrificed by the Jewish synagogue on the fourteenth day in the evening. Five periods of time are designated by these five days, from Adam to the end: one until Noah, another down to Abraham, a third until Moses, a fourth from Moses until the coming of Christ, and a fifth, the present time after His coming. In the evening a sacrifice is made, because at the end of the century Israel with the entire synagogue agreed against Christ. From the very beginning, the sacrifice of Christ has always been understood in the sufferings of the righteous, beginning with the righteous Abel, and Christ was the sufferer in all; It was accomplished when the divine Lamb who came on his own suffered. And even on the fourteenth day of the same month He suffered, and gave up His spirit towards evening; The separation of the lamb for sacrifice from the tenth day, while its slaughter took place on the fourteenth day in the evening, was an image of the fact that at first there was an exercise in suffering, and in the end there was suffering itself. Then, consider with me the new and strange commandment of God about eating the lamb: do not eat lamb meat raw. Who eats raw meat? Let it be said not to eat boiled food, so as not to waste time, because time was in a hurry. What does it mean - not to eat raw, but “baked on fire”? After all, no one prohibits something that never happens. But, as I said, images signify things. He who has vain faith eats raw sacred food; devoted to pleasures - boiled, relaxing, as if boiled in water, firm faith with a carefree life; but those baked on fire are eaten by those who have a hot and ebullient spirit. Further, it is ordered to eat the head with the legs and entrails. The mention of the head should remind you of Christ - that He, as God, pre-existing, is the head of the invisible and spiritual church; your feet should remind you that in the last times He came to earth as a man; and the use of the entrails of the lamb as applied to Christ had the meaning that He, having power and righteousness hidden in the flesh, brings benefit and salvation to those who taste Him not only through external and visible qualities, but through internal and hidden qualities. The meat of the lamb is eaten at night, and is not left for the day, in remembrance of the suffering of Christ during the darkness of the world, after which the day will shine and the life of Christ will appear, as (it is said): “the day has come” (Rom. 13:12). The bones of the lamb are not broken; and the soldiers did not break the legs of Christ, as they did of those crucified with Him, according to the testimony of the Evangelist (John 19:33). Bitter herbs eaten with the lamb indicated the bitterness of sorrows; unleavened bread - for simplicity and purity, as the apostle says, that is, for a new virtue, pure from former depravity. It remains now to reveal the spiritual meaning of the appearance of those who ate Easter - so that you can imitate it, because the spiritual appearance is in close correspondence with the physical. Not with a simple belt, but with a saving deed, you must gird your thighs; not your physical thighs with a belt, but your spiritual thighs with the preparation of your soul. To put shoes on your feet means, according to the apostle, “readiness to preach the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15). Hold a staff in your hands, not a wooden one, but one that affirms your faith. Try to imitate as much as possible the entire appearance of them as they prepared to set off, as they were in a hurry to leave Egypt, as if they were in a hurry to get away from the world and corruption. Be diligent, but not at all careless, in the spiritual eating of Easter. Zeal in this case is wonderful, because it testifies not to the gluttony of those who hastily eat meat, but to the love of God of those who hasten from the world to God. Eating unleavened bread for seven days is purity throughout life. Whoever has leavened bread left is exposed to destruction, because the wickedness of the old man is destructive and cannot in any way be combined with the righteousness and holiness of the new man. And you see that with such leaven present, the death of a person is quite fair; when understanding leaven in the sense of ordinary bread leaven, it seems that God is unfairly burdening people (by prohibiting leavened bread). Truth is revealed in images, but it shines and is known in truth, just as the anointing with blood itself, which seems unworthy of God, ceases to be so when the image is viewed in accordance with the truth. It seems indecent for God to use a sign of blood to recognize Jewish houses, but it is completely in accordance with Him to recognize us and save us by faith in the blood of Christ. But is it not equally indecent to understand circumcision in the simple sense that God commanded everyone who intended to eat the Passover to be circumcised, if he was not circumcised, and then proceed to eat? If you understand circumcision in a spiritual sense, then its mystery will be explained to you and you will glorify God. Circumcision applied to the reproductive organs. From birth you, a man, had a veil; it is you who must discard it in order to see the truth with an open face, and not consider it from under the earthly bodily cover. And when you become free from the carnal body, then, as a spirit, you will come to Christ, and, clinging to the Lord, you will be one spirit, participating in the holy and saving communion, which was indicated by eating meat. Be circumcised and put off the body with Christ, according to Paul’s words that you are “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of sin of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11). Thus, cutting off all covetousness, ambition, love of pleasure, feed on divine food, which leads to heaven, frees you from evil authorities, delivers you from hard work, giving you a glorious and blessed way to God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 1. The sacred rays of the light of Christ have already shone, and the clear stars of the pure Spirit have risen, and the heavenly royal authorities have opened the treasuries of the Divinity. The long and dark night is swallowed up, gloomy death is hidden, life is open to everyone, everything is full of inexhaustible light, the east of the East dominates over everything, and the immortal, great Christ, born before the morning star, appears before everyone brighter than the sun. Now comes a long, eternal and unfading bright day for us believers - the mysterious Easter, figuratively celebrated during the reign of the law, Easter - an amazing work of divine perfection and power. Truly a holiday and an ever-living monument! From passion, dispassion, from death, immortality, from mortification, life, from defeat, healing, from fall, uprising, from descent, ascension! This is how God produces great things! Thus He creates the unexpected out of the impossible, so that one can learn that for His will alone everything is possible! So, let the law establish these images, let the angel explain, announcing the great coming of the great King, let him foretell the truth by those events in which many Egyptian firstborns died, and Israel was saved by mysterious blood. This is all a shadow of the future; and with us - the fulfillment of similes and the realization of images, instead of a shadow - the truth itself in all its accuracy and firmness. There is a lamb from the flock, here is a Lamb from heaven; there is a sign of blood that temporarily warded off danger, here the Word is a vessel full of divine blood and Spirit; there is a sheep from the flock, here instead of a sheep the Shepherd himself “like a sheep was led... to the slaughter” (Is. 53:7). This is how those events foreshadowed complete salvation! The images alone turned out to be life-saving. Let the heavens of heaven rejoice, as the divine Spirit cries out, proclaiming the glory of God; may the heavenly angels and archangels celebrate; may all the heavenly powers also triumph, seeing the supreme Leader of the high hosts, coming bodily in the form of an intercessor; let the choirs of stars celebrate, showing Him who ascended before the star; let the air also celebrate, stretching immeasurably into depth and breadth; let the sea water celebrate, worthy of sacred footprints and walking; let the earth, washed by divine blood, celebrate; May every human soul reborn by the resurrection celebrate! This is Easter, the common triumph of all as a result of the fulfillment of the fatherly will in the world, the embassy of Christ, the divine east over the earth, the angels and archangels, an eternal holiday, immortal life for the whole world, deadly for death, incorruptible heavenly bliss for people, a sacred triumph, the foreshadowing of ancient and new sacraments, visible on earth and in heaven, contemplated by those who accepted them new and with sacred knowledge. This is what we can say briefly about this subject. This is the national holiday of Easter. In order for us to take some part in the word, as if in a feast (eating not earthly, but heavenly, let us also taste this mental Passover with spiritual desire, just as Jesus desired to eat the Passover with us), we will first briefly say what the law [about Passover] said and how it was implemented, and why the law was given after the abandonment of Egypt; Then we will show what the purpose of establishing Easter is and what kind of sacrament this is - Easter - which is superior to everything and in all respects. First of all, let us cite the words of Holy Scripture themselves, so that later it will be easier and more convenient to consider with possible thoroughness. “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “Let this month be for you the beginning of months, let it be the first for you between the months of the year.” Tell the whole community... Israelites: on the tenth day of this month they are to take for themselves one lamb according to their families, one lamb per family; and if the family is so small that it will not eat the lamb, then let it take from its neighbor closest to its house, according to the number of souls: according to how much each one eats, pay for the lamb. Your lamb must be without blemish, male, and one year old; take it from the sheep, or from the goats, and let it be kept with you until the fourteenth day of this month: then let all the assembly of the congregation of Israel slaughter it in the evening, and let them take some of its blood and put it on both the doorposts and on the lintel of the doors of the houses where they eat it; let them eat his meat this very night, baked on the fire; let them eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; Do not eat it half-baked, or boiled in water, but eat it baked over fire, the head with legs and entrails; do not leave it until the morning... but what is left of it until the morning burn it in the fire. So eat it this way: let your loins be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and eat it with haste: this is the Passover of the Lord. And this very night I will walk through the land of Egypt and will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast, and will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. And the blood will be a sign among you on the houses where you are, and I will see the blood and pass by you, and there will not be a destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt. And let this day be remembered for you, and celebrate this feast of the Lord throughout your generations; Celebrate it as an eternal institution. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread” (Ex. 12:1–15). “And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat it; and every slave bought with money, when you have circumcised him, may eat of it. It must be eaten in one house; do not take the meat out of the house and do not break its bones. The entire community of Israel must perform it... But no one who is uncircumcised shall eat it; Let there be one law both for the natural resident and for the stranger who settles among you” (Ex. 12:43–44, 46–49). Divine Scripture mysteriously transformed our sacred holiday with such features. Let us carefully and as thoroughly as possible examine what we have read now, explaining with the help of your prayers the deep mysteries of Scripture, without distorting the truth of what is written, but penetrating into the real meaning of what is expressed in the images offered here. After all, the divine Spirit commanded Moses to build the tabernacle: “As I show you,” He said, “so build it.” What we perceive through prototypes is mysteriously thought of as a prototype, as the original of what is happening before our eyes. 2. Let's say, firstly, what month this is - the beginning of the months, why this Easter month is made the first between the months of the year, secondly, what kind of lamb is this, separated on the tenth day of the month - a perfect lamb, male, one year old; who is the neighbor and who is the neighbor who is received [into the house to eat Easter]; why the lamb is kept until the fourteenth day and slaughtered in the evening; why does the whole multitude of the congregation of the children of Israel slay him at evening; what does blood mean on two pillars and on the ceiling; why do they eat meat at night and, moreover, baked over a fire, and not raw, and not boiled in water; why do they eat the head with legs and entrails; why don't bones break? what are unleavened bread and bitter herbs; what is it for - “eat it with haste”; what kind of loins should be girded, what kind of boots are these on the feet, and what are the staves in the hands; and in general, what does this Passover of the Lord mean, and why the blood for those houses on which it will be, will have such power that “I will see,” says the Lord, “the blood and will pass by you, and there will be no destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt”; why it is commanded to eat unleavened bread for seven days; why a foreigner should not eat the Passover; what does it mean - “in one house you must eat it”, and do not take meat out of the house, and bones do not break from it; “the whole community of Israel must do it... And no one who is uncircumcised shall eat it.” “Let there be one law for both the natural inhabitant and the stranger who has settled among you”—one and the same law for both. These are the images, symbols and secrets that were visibly present among the Israelis, but which occur spiritually among us. Having talked a little about this, we will thus reach the mysteries of truth: how to understand the coming of Jesus Christ after the law; why did He come and, moreover, with a body; what a Passover that He desired to eat with us; why He, who raised the dead with a word, did not completely disgrace death, remaining alive; why he endured the cross even to death; which means the crown of thorns with which He was adorned, or the vinegar and gall that He drank; which means a pierced rib from which blood and water flowed; why did He pray that the cup, which He had to drink to the end, would pass away; who are these thieves crucified with Him, and which of them is in paradise; why the spirit is given into the hands of the Father, and the body is placed in a new tomb; What do the words mean: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43), as applied to present circumstances; what do the three days He spent underground mean? Why are women the first to see Him, and the one who announces the good news says: “Wives, rejoice” (Matthew 28:9)? Here are our dishes during the sacred holiday! This is a spiritual meal! Here is immortal food and pleasure! Having tasted the bread from heaven, having drunk the cup of joy, boiling and fiery, because the blood was warmed from above by the hot breath, returning to the word, [we will show] first what the law was and what the dispensation of the law is. In this way, from comparison we learn what speech is and what freedom of speech is. The Law given through Moses is a collection of varied and necessary teachings, a generally beneficial collection of all that is good in life, a mysterious imitation of the orders of heavenly life, lamps and candlesticks, fire and light, a reflection of the heavenly light. The law given through Moses is a prototype of piety, a guide to good living, a restraint for the first sin, a hint of future truth. The law given through Moses is the punishment of the Egyptian error, written by the finger of God, because otherwise the high hand would have been preserved. The law given through Moses, a teacher of piety, a guide to justice, enlightenment of the blind, educator of foolish children, fetters for those who do wrong, a bridle for the stiff-necked, an enforced yoke for those who wish evil. The law given through Moses, the training of the wise, training in necessary matters, a school for knowledge of the world, preliminary instruction, a transitory mystery. The law given through Moses is symbolic, consisting of hints, a contraction of future grace, announcing with images the fulfillment of future truth, with sacrifices - the (holy) sacrifice, with blood - the blood, with the lamb - the Lamb, with the dove - the dove from heaven, with the altars - the High Priest, with the church - the house of the Divinity, with sacrificial fire - all the light that illuminates the world from above. Let us reveal here the mysterious meaning of the law. First of all, it was necessary for the law to appear precisely after the exit from Egypt, in order to eradicate evil in the soul, wholly surrendered to the material, in the heart, tuned in the Egyptian way, to cut off, like a plow, the densely overgrown internal thorns of thoughts, to draw furrows in the depths of the soul, to renew the soul for the perception of the divine heavenly word. Therefore, the divine Spirit rightly cries out: “Plow up new fields for yourselves and do not sow among the thorns” (Jer. 4:3). Therefore, Easter mysteriously begins, first of all, from Egypt, Easter is the first blow to dark idolatry, the mysterious cutting off of godless idolatry madness, the just night defeat of the original seeds of error. It is known that Egypt experienced the beating of its firstborn, and an entire generation that was born died, with the goal that the stiff-necked Pharaoh, not coming to his senses with the first plagues, although he came to his senses late, and Israel would be so extraordinarily saved, and God would be glorified in everything. Many Egyptians are executed, and Israel celebrates the Passover, which is therefore called the Passover in the Feast of the Lord and in which many sacred secrets of God’s love for mankind are hidden. And the meaning of all this is as follows. Egypt is a big and dark image of a dark and deep error. It was here that the first beginnings of that deception arose, due to which calves and fish, animals and birds and all similar living creatures were idolized and revered as gods. That is why, when just anger was revealed from heaven and great horror seized the whole earth, then first of all the superstitious and insane idolatry delusion was destroyed, because “I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt,” he says. I am the Lord” (Ex. 12:12). Execution falls on all the firstborn, since, having adopted the most distant antiquity, (the Egyptians) maintained the most ancient service to idols. The execution is carried out in the darkness of the night, because the tumult of dark deeds and demons was gloomy, sad, unpleasant and silent. “And I will show,” he says, “wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and smoking smoke. The sun will turn into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes” (Acts 2:19-20). “What is this day of the Lord for you? It is darkness and not light, the same as if someone ran away from a lion and was caught by him. a bear, or if he came home and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and there is no brightness in it” (Am. 5:18-20). anointed on the houses, as depicted in the law, all their destructive execution will pass. home). This sign protects believers. This is the mysterious meaning of Easter for the whole world. 3. Listen to the significance of the particulars, which we will try to explain to the best of our ability. What exactly is true here is known to God the Word, who arranged the sacred Easter in view of Himself and for His own sake, and let us, as people, be given leniency if we make a mistake in anything. Turning to the previous one, let us first explain this expression: month is the beginning of months. Why is the month of Easter the first between the months of the year? A secret Jewish tradition says that this is precisely the time in which the Lord of times and the Creator God once created everything. And this is the first color of creation, the beauty of the world, when the Creator himself mentally saw the whole beautiful picture, harmoniously moving, decorated with the improvement of the heavens, a favorable combination of times (years), the correct movement of the sun, the rising of the light that has not yet weakened, and already decorated with the birth of fruits, the rapid growth of plants, the flowery shoots of trees, the already emerging generations of herds, when the whole earth has already turned green, and the flowering fruit trees are preparing to bear fruit, when the farmer, having untied the yoke from the plow gives rest to the creaking cart and, throwing divine fruits into the ground, awaits the heavenly rains from above, when the shepherd is already milking white milk, when the bee makes sweet honeycombs, molding it from wax, when the shipbuilder, rejoicing at the shining sea, boldly sets off with selfish plans into the blue waves. This moment of universal harmony and complete improvement, this, so to speak, time of grace, spring in all its charm, is the first beginning of time. For me this is undeniable, I think so, and I am even sure that the beginning, head and first leader of all time should be considered the month of Easter, during which this great sacrament is performed and celebrated, so that just as the Lord from the beginning is the firstborn firstborn of everything conceivable and invisible, so this month, due to the significance of the sacred celebration, becomes the first month of the year and the beginning of all time. This is the same year (summer) about which Holy Scripture says: “preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:19). The sheep is a sacred sacrifice. Himself “like a sheep,” they say, “He was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent” (Acts 8:32). And John: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). A perfect lamb and one-year-old; perfect, as is considered on earth. The year, considered the measure of time on earth, making a circle and turning into itself itself, by this circular movement and turning into itself is likened to immeasurable eternity. The fact that the lamb is taken on the tenth day of the month has great symbolic significance. The interval of time before the gospel was filled by the law; The most important teaching in the law is the ten words; and it is precisely after the ten commandments of the law that the mysterious Lamb comes from heaven. The (lamb) is preserved for several intermediate days, which in Scripture denotes the time of (Christ’s) stay in the flesh before He suffered and was kept in custody in the house of the high priest. The neighbor who is allowed to eat the lamb is me, because you, Israel, did not contain the Lamb within yourself. Then, the lamb is slain in the evening, because the sacred Lamb is also killed at sunset. The whole large assembly of the children of Israel slays the lamb. And indeed, all Israel, in their unbelief, took upon themselves the guilt for that precious blood - all Israel, who killed at that time and still do not believe. Therefore, the Divine Spirit testifies against them and says, saying: “your hands are full of blood” (Is. 1:15). The lintel anointed with blood is the Church, and the two pillars are two nations, because the Savior is not content with what he first sent to you, Israel. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). I, like a little dog, sat at someone else’s table, not yet able to eat bread, but collecting falling crumbs and eating from someone else’s food. But after you did not recognize the manna from heaven, the bread was transferred through faith to me, and I, having become a son instead of a dog, eat meat. The light of the world has dimmed before the great (radiance) of the body of Christ. “Take, eat: this is My Body” (Matthew 26:26). “Meat baked on fire”: Christ’s mental body is fiery. “I have come to bring down fire on the earth, and how could I wish that it would already be kindled” (Luke 12:49)? Not raw meat, so that the word is not difficult, useful and pleasant; and not boiled in water, so that the word is not weak, watery, and dissolved. "Head with legs and entrails". The beginning and middle are like invisible advice; legs like a person. Head with legs and entrails. Beginning, middle and end: everything contains, encloses and connects within Himself with insoluble connections, having truly become a mediator between God and man. "Head with legs and entrails". Height, depth and breadth are the affirmations of the earth. "Head with legs and entrails". Law and word as advice. “How beautiful are the feet of the evangelist on the mountains” (Isa. 52:7). “Do not break her bones” (Ex. 12:46) - to certify the resurrection with the body. “Put,” he says, “your finger into the wounds of the nails” (John 20:27, 25), so that you will know, “for the spirit has not flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). Eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs, because they are bitter for you and signify bitter deeds. “Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your fields are in your sight. strangers eat; everything is desolate, as if it had been destroyed by strangers” (Is. 1:7). “Eat the Passover with haste” (Ex. 12:11). And of course, anyone intending to begin such a body must be kind and sober. "Having girded your loins." Natural fetters - carnal desires and dirty pleasures - must be abandoned. “Having shod your feet” - so that the paths are correct, the supports are not crooked to establish the truth. Your sandals, which Moses loosed and Christ tied, are on your feet. “Take off,” it says, “your sandals from your feet” (Exod. 3:5), so that the temporary meaning of the law can be seen. “I am not worthy to untie the thong of His sandals” (Luke 3:16) - to show the universal significance of the concluded agreement. “And every man took his staff” (Num. 17:9). A sign of divine power, a support for mental strength. The rod (for) Moses, the rod (for) Aaron, the nut rod, the rod that divides the depths of the sea, the rod that sweetens the bitterness of springs, the rod on which rest the seven holy gifts of the Divine Spirit: “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and he will be filled with the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2–3). This is Easter, the Lord's Passover! cried the Spirit, because she is not an image, not a fiction, not a shadow, but the Passover is truly the Lord's. The blood is a sign, a sign of future truth, a type of the true Spirit, an imitation of the great anointing. “And I will see blood and pass by you.” Truly You sheltered us, Jesus, from great destruction, stretched out your fatherly hands, hid us under Your fatherly wings, shed divine blood on earth and accomplished the reconciliation sealed with Your blood according to Your love for mankind, removed formidable anger from us and restored that ancient world for us. So let them eat unleavened bread for seven days, observing the sevenfold time in the world and eating the earthly food determined by the law on earth; our Easter is the sacrifice of Christ, we have a new dough for His sacred mixing, so that, having been completely leavened with better power, we may unite with His Spirit. And I leavened the kingdom of heaven itself with mixed leaven according to three measures of wheat flour. Hence Easter. “No foreigner should eat it.” I do not throw pearls before swine, I do not give sacred things to dogs. Let him who first serves sin circumcise his heart and, freed from bitter slavery, then approach the sacrament with dignity; then, having independence, he will be free to eat the Passover, because “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). 4. “One must eat it in one house, ... do not take the meat out of the house” (Ex. 12:46). One is the congregation and one is the house; this is the Church in which the sacred body of Christ is eaten; therefore, the body is not taken out of the single house of the Church. Anyone who eats in another place, as a wicked person and a thief, will be punished. “Let there be one law for both the natural resident and the alien.” Where Christ is, there is freedom for all, equality, one law: all are purchased with precious blood. Therefore you are no longer a slave, no longer a Jew, but free: we are all free in Christ. Listen, listen, after the types and the Old Testament economy, what is the economy like after the coming of Christ to earth. What is the coming of Christ? Deliverance from slavery, liberation from former need, honor of adoption (to God), source of remission of sins, truly immortal life in all. Seeing us from above, tormented by death, bound by the bonds of corruption, heading along one inevitable and irrevocable path, having come and taking on the original image on the advice of our fathers, the Word did not entrust angels or archangels with service for us, but itself accepted the fight for us, obeying the fatherly commandments. Since the pure divine Spirit was inaccessible to everyone and not everyone could feel His direct influence, He Himself, having voluntarily gathered, came as He desired, without becoming in itself either less or worse and without losing glory, and due to the excess of His fatherly power, not losing what He had, but adding also what He did not have. He came as He could be received. And since some kind of container was needed for the divine Spirit, so that the first ones could become participants in human nature and being, then, having purified and co-numbered, separated and discarded what was dirty and unnecessary, illuminating the pure, clear and bright, illuminating with brilliance, surrounding with radiance, inflaming, making a small church, raising in chastity and, so to speak, elevating to the rank of an angel, He bodily took on the human form, origin having the spiritual (East), but having received a human form. That is why the Holy Scripture described Him in a very mysterious way, saying: “Behold the Man, His name is BRANCH” (Zech. 6:12), the branch is as if by spirit, and the man by body, because “The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Since His origin was extraordinary and divine, naturally the Spirit was surprised, saying: “Who can explain His generation” (Is. 53:8)? There are four distinctive titles of divinity that are most appropriate when speaking of the Spirit: these are dominion, divinity, sonship, and the eternal kingdom; See if He is not worthy to receive these virtues and glory. First look - He is Lord. “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand” (Psalm 109:1). Do you see that He is the Lord from the Lord? Look - He and His Son. “He will call Me: You are my father... And I will make him the firstborn” (Psalm 89:27–28), and: “You are My Son; today I have begotten You; ask of Me, and I will give the nations as an inheritance to You” (Psalm 2:7–8). Do you see that He is the first-born and only-begotten? Look - He and God. “Men of strength will come to you and will follow you; they will come in chains and pray to you, saying: You have only God, and truly you are the hidden God” (Is. 45:14-15). He is the eternal King. “Your throne, O God, endures forever; the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore, O God, your God has anointed you with the oil of joy more than your companions” (Ps. 44:7-8). Did you see that He is a King? Behold, He, being a King, is also the Lord of hosts. “Lift up your heights, O gates, and be lifted up, O eternal doors, and the King of glory will come in! Who is this King of glory? - The Lord is mighty and strong, the Lord is mighty in battle. Who is this King of glory? “The Lord of hosts, He is the king of glory” (Ps. 23:7–8, 10). Do you see that He, being a king, is also the Lord of hosts? And from what follows you will see that He was also the eternal High Priest. “The Lord has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 109:4). Therefore, if He is Lord, and God, and Son, and King, and Lord of hosts, and the eternal High Priest, then when He wants, He is also a man. Who will know Him? Without a doubt, He is human in appearance, but eternally God. And so that He does not seem, in the opinion of people, to be a random and originless ghost or a spirit appearing on earth, listen to the fact that He was also a baby. “Hear now, house of David! Is it not enough for you to make trouble for people that you want to make it difficult for my God? So the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:13–14). “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:5-6). Without a doubt, this great Jesus came to us as God and man: no one should doubt. The Divine is contained in the human body. Likewise, Adam received the first mystical breath of the Father on earth, being dust, because the divine Spirit does not suffer harm, being united into a body by the will of God. And if the first dust contains the sacred Spirit, the animate body contains the immortal life of Christ. Therefore, whenever the Spirit came into one who was enslaved to sin and death, the great manifestation of the body would be unnecessary if neither sin nor death were overcome. But sin also had to be destroyed. That is why He “committed no sin, and no flattery was in His mouth” (1 Pet. 2:22). That is why He first put on this poor and mortal body, as the Spirit says about Him: “In Him there is neither form nor greatness; and we saw Him, and there was no appearance in Him that would attract us to Him. He was despised and humbled before men” (Isa. 53:2–3). “In the likeness of sinful flesh he made an offering for sin and condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3), showing that it is not the sick who need a doctor, but the sick. He healed our weak bodies, and especially healed illnesses with mighty power, so that what was said would be fulfilled: “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and I will hold Your hand and keep You, and I will make You a covenant for the people, a light for the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of prison and those sitting in darkness out of prison. I am the Lord, this is My name” (Isaiah 42:6–8). “Hear, ye deaf, and see, ye blind, that you may see. To those who sit in the land and shadow of death, light has dawned. Then the lame will leap up like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will sing” (Is. 42:18, Matt. 4:16, Is. 35:6). After evil has been destroyed piece by piece, the last enemy is overthrown by death. "Death! where is your sting” (Hos. 13:14)? 5. This was the Passover that Jesus wanted to offer for us. Through suffering He freed us from suffering and through death He conquered death and through visible food He bestowed His immortal life. Behold, the saving desire of Jesus! This is the highest spiritual love: to present images as images, and to give the sacred body to His disciples. “Take, eat: this is My Body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26–28). Therefore, He does not so much desire to eat together as to suffer, in order to free us from suffering through eating, therefore, by erecting the tree of the cross in place of that tree, nailing on it the hand that once served the forefather for sin, He showed that all life truly hangs in Him. You, Israel, could not eat, but we, with firm knowledge, spiritually tasted and, having tasted, we do not die. This tree serves for my eternal salvation; in it is my food and refreshment; I have support in its roots, I spread along with its branches, I live in its spirit like air. I have built a tent under its shade and, sheltering from the intense heat, I have a cool refuge here, blooming with its flowers, fully enjoying its fruits and freely eating the fruits saved for me from the beginning. It is food to satisfy my hunger, a source to quench my thirst, a covering for my naked body; here the leaves are the spirit of life, and not the leaves of the fig tree. When I fear God, it is a protection for me; when I hesitate, it is a support when I am fighting, a reward, when I am victorious, a sign of victory; for me it is a small path, a narrow road; it is Jacob's ladder, along which angels ascend and descend, and the Lord is established at the top. This tree is very tall, stretching from earth to sky, an immortal plant, established in the middle between heaven and earth, a support and affirmation for everything, the support of the entire universe, it is a world connection that contains the essence of diverse and human existence, it is fastened with invisible spiritual connections, so that, having united with the Divine, it will no longer be renounced, it touches the heavens with its tops, and rests its feet on the ground, and embraces with immeasurable arms on all sides everyone who is in the middle. He was completely everywhere and in everything, and solely by His will He came out naked against the aerial authorities. In this struggle, as if under the influence of momentary weakness, He begs that His cup may pass away, thereby showing the reality of His human nature, but then, remembering why He was sent, and desiring to fulfill the economy, He again proclaims: “Not My will, but Thine be done; The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Luke 22:42, Matthew 26:41). In the struggle for the soul, like a winner, He first accepts a crown of thorns on the sacred head, removing from the earth all the previous curse, cleansing the earth with the divine head of the thorns that had multiplied under the influence of sin; He drinks the bitter and sour bile of the dragon, who himself made all the springs pleasant for us. Wanting to resolve the matter of his wife and preserve her, who first appeared from a rib and brought death, He himself gave His sacred rib to be pierced, from which flowed sacred blood and water, perfect and sacred signs of spiritual, mysterious marriage, adoption and rebirth. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16), - with water as with the Spirit, and with blood as with fire. Then two robbers are crucified with Him, signifying two nations. One of them, after repentance, becomes well-meaning, expresses confession after reconciliation and becomes pious towards the Lord; the other, being stiff-necked, worries, remains unreasonable in relation to the Lord and the wicked, and willingly remains with the same errors. So, in the soul, two currents of thoughts struggle: one of them, moving away from previous errors, is directed to the Lord, which is why, after repentance, it is awarded philanthropy and honor, while the other cannot deserve justification, because it does not lend itself to change and remains a robber to the end. When the world struggle was coming to an end, when the Victor was already close to victory, and, not being exalted like God, but not being defeated like man, in front of the whole universe he was already raising His victorious banner and he himself was triumphant over the shame of the enemy, then everything was amazed at the power of patience, then the heavens shook, the powers of heaven, thrones and laws came into confusion, seeing him hanging on the tree of the Supreme Leader of great power: a little was not enough for the stars to fall from the sky, seeing the sunset; for a while even the fire of the sun dimmed, seeing the great Light of the world darkened. Then the stones on the earth split, revealing the foolishness of Israel, who did not recognize the spiritual Stone from which they drank while they were obedient. The church veil was torn, showing compassion (to Christ) and revealing a truly heavenly High Priest. The whole world would hardly have collapsed and been destroyed from fear of suffering if the great Jesus had not given up the divine Spirit, saying: “Father! into Your hands I commend My spirit” (Luke 23:46). When everything was shaken and shaken, when everything became agitated from fear, then, with the ascent of the divine spirit, everything again became animated, animated and solid, as if the divine tension was felt in everything and everywhere and as if the crucifixion touched everything. Oh, one in one and all in all! Let heaven have your spirit, and heaven have your soul: today, he says, I will be with you in heaven; and let the blood remain on the ground. The indivisible is divided into parts so that everything is saved, so that the lowest place does not remain closed to the divine coming. We did not see His face, but we heard His voice. Thus, while still alive, using royal power, He loosed the shackles of death when He said: “Lazarus! get out" (John 11:43), and: "maiden, I say to you, get up" (Mk. 5:41), so that His mighty power may be revealed. and now He gave all of Himself to death in order to kill the insatiable beast, to destroy the chains that could not be filled. For the immortal body, He looked everywhere for food characteristic of it, which would not be associated in any way with pleasure, or with malice, or with disobedience, or in general with ancient sin, the first food of death, because, as they say, the sting of death is sin (1 Cor. 15:56). And since nothing was found in it that could be food for death, it, left on its own and deprived of food, became death to itself, as many of the righteous prophetically announced about the resurrection of the firstborn from the dead. This is why he endured a three-day stay in the earth, so that instead of the law he himself could save the entire human race. Maybe for this reason He became three days old, so that in man he could be restored in all its integrity - soul, spirit and body. After the resurrection, women see Him first; Just as woman introduced the first sin into the world, so she is the first to proclaim life to the world. That is why women hear the sacred voice: “Rejoice” (Matt. 28:9), - so that the first sorrow (will be erased) by the joy of the resurrection 3), and so that His resurrection from the dead along with the body will be certified for unbelievers. And since He completely clothed himself with the outward appearance of the old man and, having clothed himself with it, transformed it into a heavenly one, then this appearance, uniting with Him, ascended with Him to heaven. The powers of heaven, seeing the great mystery - man already ascending in God - having received the command, cried out with joy to the highest hosts: “Lift up your heights, O gates, and be lifted up, O eternal doors, and the King of glory will enter.” These, seeing a new miracle - a man united with God - in turn exclaim: “Who is this King of glory”? And they answered the question: “The Lord of hosts, He is the king of glory. The Lord is mighty and mighty, the Lord is mighty in battle” (Ps. 23:7–10). Oh, mysterious help! Oh, spiritual triumph! Oh, divine Easter, descending from heaven to earth, and ascending back from earth to heaven! Oh, a new festival for the whole world! Oh, the joy of all, and honor, and food, and pleasure, from which gloomy death was destroyed, and life spread to everyone, the gates of heaven were opened, and God appeared as a man, and man ascended as God, crushing the gates of hell and breaking the adamantine bonds! And the people who were below in the earth rose from the dead, announcing this to those who were above; a choir emerged from the ground. Oh, divine Easter, which now unites us spiritually with God, who descends in full from heaven, through whom the great bridal chamber is filled with wedding feasts, and everyone carries wedding clothes, and no one is kicked out as not having it! Oh, Easter, enlightenment with a new light, decoration of a bright wedding procession! Now the lights in souls do not go out; Spiritually and divinely inspired, the fire of grace is kindled in everyone in body and spirit, supported by the oil of Christ. Therefore, we call on You, Master God, spiritually eternal King Christ, stretch out Your great hands on St. Your Church and people are always holy to You, protecting, preserving, observing, defending and warning in advance, overthrowing all enemies, defeating opponents who act by invisible force, just as You have already overthrown our enemies. Now erect a monument of victory in our place and grant us, together with Moses, to sing the song of victory, because Yours is the glory and power forever and ever. Amen. 1. Yesterday, brothers, we said something regarding the predetermined day of Holy Easter, and since it seemed that there was some difficulty, we announced in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that both this difficulty and the appointed time were known to us much earlier. Enough has been said about this already, if, of course, you keep in mind what is being said; Today we came to talk about the reason for the delay. And since such a study requires consideration of the entire passage regarding Easter, we want, with God’s help, to take this subject and, in accordance with our own strength, present the teaching about this mystery. Due to the fact that here on the part of opponents who are far from understanding the essence of truth, great claims are being made, and both heretics and Jews who have fallen away from us pretend that they celebrate Easter, while only Christians have this sacrament, and only with us its celebration rests on unshakable foundations - I want, by briefly mentioning all such claims, to dispel what is mixed with our sacrament and thus find out what thought is connected with this or that time [of celebrating Easter], as far as the only begotten Son of God will help. We have often heard bewilderment expressed by some: why is the feast of the Nativity of the Savior celebrated on a certain day - it happens, as we all know, exactly eight days before the January calendar according to the Roman calendar; the feast of the Epiphany - too, because it is celebrated on a certain day, on the thirteenth of the fourth month, according to the Asian calendar; the memory of martyrs is also celebrated in relation to a specific day; But is it different with Easter? This is because this sacrament does not refer to one and, moreover, some random day, but its celebration falls on precisely the time that satisfies many predetermined dates. So, first of all, the first month is taken, the first month of the truly first time, which is determined by the spring equinox. Moreover, when taking the first month, we must pay attention to the first time, which tells the month itself the name of the first. And further, whoever takes the first time must pay attention to the beginning of the first time; its beginning is nothing other than the spring equinox, as I will show later. And so, since we take into account the first time, and the equinox, and at the same time the fourteenth day of the moon, and in addition three days - Friday, Saturday and the Lord's Day, and it is impossible to celebrate Easter if at least one of these times is missing - then we cannot therefore appoint one specific day for the sacrament of Easter, but, taking all these specific times together, we separately determine the time of saving suffering. So, before expounding the teaching about the equinox, which is mysterious, about the fourteenth day of the moon, which coincides with the sacrament itself, and then about the three days related to the end of the sacrament, I want to talk about the custom of the Jews who are alien to us, how unreasonably they act - thanks to which the purity of the church sacrament will be revealed with greater brilliance. Even heretics, although they also act falsely, still stand above them. The Jews do not observe one specific period for celebrating Passover; they keep the solar month, as they believe, and the fourteenth moon. And so, when the fourteenth day of the moon happens to them, but the first month has not yet arrived, they postpone this fourteenth day and take the first solar month, so that with this resulting confluence of the first time and the fourteenth day of the moon, they apparently achieve what they want. So, brother, you see that the Jews are trying to do this and agree with us in that they appoint not one specific day for the celebration, but different times. There are fourteen heretics who celebrate Passover with the Jews and act in the same way as they do. The Novatians seem to imitate us in some other way, although they themselves obey the Jewish custom in determining time and observe the first month, like those, as well as the fourteenth day of the moon; but they do not stop there, but, having reached this point, move on to three days, without having any right to do so and yet without the consent of the church, as will be shown. Then there is the heresy of the Montanists, which obviously does not want to do as the Jews do, but unfortunately for itself, it is at odds with the church. Namely, they observe the fourteenth day of the first month, i.e. the seventh month according to the Asian calendar, and not the fourteenth day of the moon; I don’t know where this ruling came from. After all, the only begotten Son of God suffered during the Passover of the Jews, on the fourteenth day of the moon, in the first month, on this very fourteenth day, which coincided with the Jewish Passover. So, where did this unfortunate heresy get the fourteenth day of the solar month, and not the lunar one? It is clear, of course, that it came from a seducing demon. However, although it fell away from the church reckoning, it nevertheless later returned to three days. However, let her die. After I said that every heresy obviously tends to more or less adhere to a certain time, I want to first expose the Jews in the rest, and then thus explain the reasons that Christians have (for determining the Easter holiday). The church contains a certain time of Christ's suffering, the vernal equinox, the fourteenth day of the moon, three days: Friday, Saturday and the Lord's day. We use them in this case and quite legally, not following any innovation, but observing, according to tradition from Moses himself, precisely the fourteenth day of the moon after the equinox. I have wise Jewish witnesses. One should not heed the foolishness of the present-day Jews, because they have perverted everything that was fair in the law; but one should listen to wise Jewish researchers and be guided by their opinion. Having rejected those as apostates, let us formulate our teaching with the views of these latter: having received confirmation from this side, it will become completely reliable. The Jews have now lost all their blessings. Thus, they also rejected the Scriptures of seventy-two wise interpreters. Such was the number of Jews who devoted themselves in ancient times, before the coming of the Savior, to such research, and who were chosen from the best according to their merits to translate the Holy Scriptures, which were even then very famous in the Hebrew language. And then this translation was approved, and all the Jews sent curses on the one who would have decided to change it. Therefore, we can rightfully follow this translation. If, in the words of Moses: “at the words of two witnesses, or at the words of three witnesses... the matter will take place” (Deut. 19:15), then the more calmly one can accept the translation of not two, but seventy-two witnesses. But while these wise men were influential among the Jews, the Jews recognized the significance of the translation they made; When the Jews committed iniquity against the Savior, all their goodness was extinguished. The prophet was the one who proclaimed: “Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the staff and the reed, every reinforcement of bread and every reinforcement of water, a brave leader and a warrior, a judge and a prophet, and a seer and an elder, a Pentecostal and a nobleman and a counselor, and a wise artist and skilled in words. And I will give them boys to be rulers, and the children will rule over them” (Isa. 3:1–4). This prophetic word came true for most of the Jews; deprived of understanding, having no prophet to guide them on the path of salvation, they abandoned the traditions of their learned men, and even the very foundations of the law were in danger of being distorted. And so, then they made changes in the Holy Scriptures and rejected the translation of those wise men, trusting the interpretation of one proselyte 4) and forgetting about the works of so many men and about their own curses; At the same time they distorted the definition of the time of Easter. 2. We have wise Jewish witnesses, for example, Philo and Joseph, and some others, who testify in their writings that it is impossible to accurately celebrate Easter except after the spring equinox. At the same time, they claim that this order regarding the fourteenth day of the moon has been observed for a long time, as has already been said several times. And these men, as the Jews know, lived long after the Savior suffered, so it is clear that the Savior also suffered during the Passover that followed the equinox. So, already from the testimony of scientists you see that the Jews, now outcasts, from the very beginning celebrated the Passover of the lamb after the equinox on the fourteenth day of the moon. Let this position stand firmly, and on it I will try to substantiate what I said earlier. However, it is necessary to make a reservation that the Jews indifferently celebrate Passover even before the equinox, excluding the intercalary month, when they certainly assign it to the time after the equinox. However, this is not done intentionally, but is a matter of simple accident. Now, at the present time, they celebrate Passover before the equinox, for which those wise Jews denounced them as criminals of the anointing. But with us the power of the sacrament remains intact, because the time in which the Savior suffered is not lost on us. Historical evidence surviving from the time of Pilate gives an indication of a specific day for Easter; It says there that the Savior suffered eight days before the Kalends of April. And this day falls after the equinox, as those in the know know well. Guided by this instruction, you can be convinced that Christ suffered precisely at this specific time, and knowing this, we will always observe the celebration of Easter after the equinox, imitating Christ; and if you already did not share the wickedness of the heretics, then now you will also know the reasons by which this particular time and not another is determined. So I am trying to make a calculation of this time in order to show the agreement of the sacrament with the ancient institution. Christ suffered after the equinox and precisely on Friday, as we know and as is known from Holy Scripture; Friday then fell on the fourteenth day of the moon; then He suffered during the Passover; and the Jewish Passover then brought all the dates into one time of the suffering of Christ: it was preceded by the equinox, fell on the fourteenth day of the moon, and the days then were corresponding to our Friday, Saturday and the Lord's Day. Why and why this was so, I must now say about this, considering what was proposed separately; Of course, in this case, the shortcomings of my language will be reflected in my conversation, but the correct meaning of the things themselves will be preserved. Of course, the entire flow of time must begin from the equinox - this is confirmed by the data of world-making. The first month in a row must coincide with the time from which the counting of time in general begins, and the counting of time must begin, of course, from that first day and that first night, which are equal in number. And no other principle corresponds to the first time, but precisely the equality of these given quantities. Time itself was then still in the future, but when day and night had just appeared, their magnitude was determined in equal measure, and only then, as a result of movement, unevenness between them appeared. If unevenness arose from movement, then uniformity had to be observed during creation. And this can be confirmed from Holy Scripture. “In the beginning,” says the writer of everyday life, “God created the heavens and the earth.” Then he adds that there was darkness and there was no light yet. “And God said, let there be light. And there was light... And God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness night” (Gen. 1:1-5). So the first day and the first night appeared. What then? How did “God separate the light from the darkness,” which he appointed to be night? This the most “between” (in the middle) - indicates two (equal) halves. Since everything that God created, He created in a certain nature, it is natural that He enclosed both the first day and night within certain and uniform boundaries and, given the presence of such boundaries, saw that this was very good. The unevenness between day and night should have appeared later, as a consequence of movement. And so, if the first day and night were equal, then the equinox is the beginning of the first time, as was shown. Then, after the equinox (note what I say) on the fourth day the sun and moon appear. The equality of the equinox corresponds to the (position) of the luminaries. On the sixth day God creates man and then on the seventh he rests from all his work. From the next day, which is again the first, He left everything created to go in its own order. Save this and keep it in your memory so that you can explain what has been said. God created man, and, being good, He created man the same. Do not look at the present person, but keep in mind his first state: after all, God created him in His image. And in order to show that man by nature is not inferior to the stars, Scripture indicates that God placed him in paradise naked, not needing clothing: licentiousness was still alien to his eyes and he did not need any covering. So, Scripture testifies that God created man and placed the first people in paradise, and that they were naked and not ashamed. But just as the sun and moon flaunt in all the splendor of their nakedness, so they had the opportunity to admire their natural beauty. Having shown such a benefit to man, placing him among the pleasures of heaven, and showing His favor to him in abundance, God, as was right, sought feelings on his part and taught him to express gratitude to Him by his obedience. But since God saw that it was impossible for a person to keep this gift unless he was in communion with God, who rewarded him, and did not give honor to Him, He prescribed a law for him as a guardian of nature, so that by the remembrance of the Lawgiver and with his help he could support himself, as with some good medicines; and if the law was observed, he promised him immortality, and if he violated it, death. What happened next is known to everyone: namely, man, being inclined by the envy of the devil to break the law, becomes corruptible and is expelled from paradise; then, having multiplied, he began to lead a bestial life and became a receptacle of wickedness and intemperance. Therefore, the prophets proclaimed his initial dignity and subsequent dishonor: “but man will not remain in honor; he will be like animals that perish” (Ps. 49:13). In this state of affairs, in such a fall of human nature, the only begotten Son of God, in accordance with his fatherly intention, wanting to restore man and free him from the judgment that threatened him, came up with a time and a method of help - a time to begin healing in a timely manner, and a method that would be convenient for cleansing and restoration. Having become a man, but remaining at the same time God, He suffered for the whole world. I have often spoken about this sacrifice. Recently I spoke a lot, bringing evidence against the Jews from themselves and against the Greeks from the Greeks themselves, and showing the truly saving significance of this sacrifice, which destroyed demons, dangers, enemies and everything shameful; Now, of course, I will not take up arms against them, so as not to be distracted from the sequence of the proposed word. And so, when the only begotten Son of God wanted to grant resurrection to fallen man, to renew him, and through His suffering recreated him according to the prototype, look how He acts. Since He himself was the Creator of the first man, he intended, even after his fall, to be a servant in the matter of correcting all nature; namely, to bring Himself into suffering, and for restoration it chooses the same time that it used for creation, so that the end would be in agreement with the beginning and the Creator’s method would be the same. Precisely, He wanted, and just as He used the purest time to create the first man - after all, this first time was later desecrated as a result of the crime, having become corrupted along with the criminal himself, and made it so that the centuries immediately following him were also desecrated - so in the same way, for the restoration of man, He chose the very first time, so that together with it, by purification through suffering, and the subsequent time, he could purify from the initial moment and throughout the entire subsequent course - in order to immediately show everything together in one and the same thing - both the renewal of man, and the purity of time, and the Renewer and Creator of nature - to show with clarity with the help of signs of time. 3. So what time is first? Where is the beginning of the first time? The equinox, brother, as we have shown, requires the equality of day and night, and, moreover, it is the spring equinox, which is confirmed by the sequence of events. After all, Moses says that on the third day God commanded to appear to flowers, trees and plants; and this is a sign of spring, according to the art, method and order of God creating everything. Since the first creation of man took place after the equinox, namely, on the sixth day of the equinox (after all, man was created on Friday), the full moon was created after the equinox on the fourth day, and then the fall of man through sin took place, therefore God raises his correction and renewal to the period that corresponds to the time of his creation, bringing together the equinox, and the fourteenth day after the equinox, and the sixth day, in order to clearly show by the confluence of these moments of time the single source of both the resurrection of the Sufferer, and the renewal of nature, and its leadership. Therefore, the apostle, pointing to this headship perfected by God, said: “according to the riches of His grace, which He bestowed upon us in abundance in all wisdom and understanding, having revealed to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He first purposed in Him, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, that all things in heaven and on earth might be united under the head of Christ” (Eph. 1:7-10). Do you see how he talks about the things on earth being put in charge of those in heaven? After the fall of man and the separation from the piety of the heavenly angels occurred, He, wanting to return us through suffering to this unity, what else does He do if not the completion of good? Therefore, He chooses the time of creation as a time of renewal, and He gives you the opportunity to hear about the greatest mystery. Since these times can hardly coincide, as happened in the first days of creation, in the same week (note that that first week - the week of creation, I say - had the equinox in it at the beginning, then the full moon, which appeared on the fourth day, and a little later the sixth day on which man was created: this cannot always happen on the same week), so how difficult it was for these specific times came together during one week, as during the first creation, then the Savior precisely took advantage of their confluence for the construction of suffering, in order to show the upcoming completion. Therefore, being often sought out by the Jews for the purpose of killing, He evaded their hands until the coincidence of times followed. And you yourself read in the Gospels that the Jews wanted to seize Him, but He withdrew; those who did not know the secret saw it as cowardice; but here there was no fear, but an expectation of the coming of a predetermined time. When the Son of God gathered together the signs of the times, when he found that this week was consistent with that first week of creation, that the equinox, and the full moon, and Friday, on which He had to suffer and the renewal was to take place, came together, then He then gave himself up to suffering. Raising his eyes to heaven, He said: “Father! The hour has come, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also will glorify You” (John 17:1), and he said to the disciples: “The hour has come that the Son of Man may be glorified” (John 12:23). Thus, the only begotten Son of God tried to bring all those first times in which created man fell into one in order to correct him and arrange the renewal of nature, for which it was necessary to unite certain times. Therefore, during suffering, the equinox is observed, as if the head of time. Before this equinox, before the day appeared, there was darkness, and at this time of darkness it was not worthy for suffering and correction of the fall to occur, because the first man does not appear in darkness, but after the light; after the equinox, day takes precedence over night. Thus, it was necessary for the suffering that took place for correction to be revealed in such a situation when the light of piety was supposed to increase, and the darkness of wickedness decreased. But just as the equinox during suffering is observed due to the head (completion) of time, so by virtue of the same thing, Friday is the day of suffering, because on this day man was created; and it was necessary that on whatever day created man fell, on the same day he was restored. Further, Scripture dedicates the Sabbath to rest, expressing it this way: “And He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done... and sanctified it” (Gen. 2:2-3). So the Lord, having now made a renewal, having suffered on Friday and having completed the work of restoring fallen man, on the seventh day rests and abides in the heart of the earth, granting freedom to those in hell through his suffering. Just as God once was, so the Lord now rests from all his works. Since the fall of man occurred as a result of crime, then again a work appeared for God, namely the work of restoring him. Having accomplished this in suffering and restored the lost man whom He saved on Easter Saturday, He calmed down from all work, since there was no more work left to accomplish our salvation. Thus, having observed both the equinox, Friday, and Saturday during His suffering in accordance with the original ones, He reveals the light of the resurrection as one from the Saturdays; and this is due to the connection of time. Namely, this day was again the first of all time, because then on this day there was the beginning of the light perceived by the senses, and now - the beginning of the spiritual resurrection. Having kept all this in accordance with the circumstances of the first creation, and the full moon, as we said, He kept, as then, after the equinox. And then a new miracle appears, for the sake of which this was arranged. Since there had to be darkness during the Savior’s suffering, and the Greeks explain the eclipse of the sun by the passage of the moon between the sun and the earth, so that no one would think of hiding behind Greek science out of piety, the fourteenth day of the moon was taken; so, during the suffering there was a full full moon and the moon was directly opposite the sun, as a result of which no shadow could be cast on the miracle, and it was exclusively forgiveness for a grave sin, incapable of scientific explanation. That is why Christ adapted His unusual suffering to these dates, recorded by antiquity; That is why we observe all the specific tenses in order to show imitation of that mysterious meaning. But the Savior, celebrating the true Easter, in order to free everyone from the inevitable judgment, as is natural in relation to the true and in the proper sense of the Easter, reduced to one week with accuracy - in accordance with antiquity - all the previously indicated dates, in order to accurately reproduce all the circumstances of creation. And we, due to the fact that certain times cannot always come together with such precision, performing only an imitation of the true Easter, we reduce certain times to one place only so much as to achieve similarity within the limits of possibility, leaving the exact establishment of their prototype - the Savior's Easter. So precisely, if the Only Begotten was once sacrificed and this exhausted the economy, then no more person is sacrificed, but the Savior himself, having endured suffering, to imitate his own sacrifice, gives bread and a cup, designating them with ineffable names - one with his own body, the other with blood, and commanding that Easter be celebrated in these images. 4. In accordance with this imitation, we combine the times imitatively as much as we can, timing the equinox, the fourteenth day of the moon and the three-day period to one place - the fourteenth day by necessity, as ancient custom teaches, including in one week with those three days, and placing the equinox around the time of Easter, when it happens. The Savior, having celebrated Easter in the proper sense, turned away from us the evil that beset us, demons, idolatry and all filth, and made our nature free for a new perception of bliss. Since at this very time, just before suffering, He commanded that we, in remembrance of Him, use the symbols He gave, saying: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19), then, naturally, we celebrate Easter every year, remembering all these events that followed the equinox; with general joy and in imitation of the Savior, we celebrate Easter for the salvation of us all, to avert present evils and receive heavenly bounties. For this reason, we eliminate from ourselves the mistakes of heretics and Jews, always taking the equinox to celebrate Easter, looking for the fourteenth day after it and from here counting Friday, Saturday and the Lord's Day, named after the Lord, as it has been said more than once - just as the Lord himself observed all these dates when he wanted to reveal the mystery of what the Old Testament lamb was, slain in accordance with the law. time. Look, brother, how necessary this was to discover the truth. Moses commanded in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the moon, to slaughter a lamb, in which the prophets saw the image of the Savior, which is why they even compared him with the Savior himself and said: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By His stripes we were healed” (Is. 53:7, 5); and therefore the Baptist John, seeing Him, exclaimed: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And so, since it was natural that the image lost its power when the obvious Truth itself came, Christ was not looking for any other time than the time of the slaughter of the lamb, in order to show its replacement by others. Therefore He connects all times, and the fourteenth day coincides with Friday; and just as the law commanded that the lamb be slaughtered in the evening in the midst of twilight, so the Savior observes the day and time of the slaughter: the day is Friday on which man was created, and the hour is the ninth: about the very ninth hour He gave up the ghost on the cross. The evening usually begins after six at seven o'clock; the time “in the midst of twilight” (mid-evening), if counted from the beginning of the seventh hour, falls exactly at half past nine, when, according to the instructions of Jewish scientists, a lamb was slaughtered. And at this very hour of the slaughter of the lamb on Friday, the Savior, having given up his ghost, revealed the meaning of the riddle and, according to the timing, made the leadership undoubted. And this replacement of the riddle (with reality) was so inevitable that even in view of the proximity of the Passover holiday and with all their respect for it, the Jews could not delay their criminal deed, which others, of course, would have done; but once they voluntarily decided to kill, they achieved a verdict consistent with their desire, not even suspecting that this replacement (the lamb) would be revealed all the more clearly. It is further revealed to you that the reason for the full moon during suffering is that since the sun, during the commission of such a grave sin against the Savior, was supposed to darken from the sixth hour to the ninth and turn its rays back, as if it were eyes, so as not to see such a great crime, then the suffering was destined to take place during the full moon, so that the eclipse of the sun would not seem to the Greeks to have occurred as a result of the passage of the moon, but so that it would be necessary to recognize its cause is in the Sufferer, since the moon itself diverged from the sun in opposite directions. According to the testimony of the Gospels, darkness occurred from the sixth hour during the suffering of the Savior. Foreseeing this, Amos exclaimed: “And it will come to pass in that day, says the Lord God: I will cause the sun to go down at noon and darken the earth in the midst of the bright day” (Amos 8:9). And since that day was to be divided into light and darkness, another prophet, Zechariah, says: “And it will happen on that day: there will be no light, the luminaries will be removed. This day will be the only one known only to the Lord: neither day nor night; only in the evening will the light appear” (Zechariah 14:6–7). By alternating darkness and light (God) makes this whole day ambiguous. And just as the prophet exclaimed that the sun would be darkened at noon, while some are inclined to distrust whether this really happened for the sake of the Savior’s suffering or not - you have already with your own eyes just contemplated a great sign in order to, seeing the restoration after the sign of the previous order, resolve the question you are looking for. So, were these words of the Lord through the prophet justified by subsequent events? Amos, denouncing the Jews, pointing to the suffering of the beloved divine Savior and contrasting their iniquity with him, says: “I will cause the sun to go down at noon and darken the earth in the middle of a bright day. And I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your songs into mourning, and I will put sackcloth on every loin and baldness on every head; And I will make the land mourn as for an only son, and its end will be like a bitter day" (Amos 8:9-10). He indicated a sign that the sun would set at noon, deeds would turn into suffering, songs into lamentation; and all this, he said, God will do for the sake of His Beloved. Such, he says, will be the sadness, such is the necessity of punishment, which will be precisely required in accordance with the dignity of the humiliated Beloved. Look now, isn’t it because the Savior suffered that they are persecuted out of disaster, isn’t that why their holidays turn into sadness, their songs into lamentation, the sun doesn’t set at noon? If you recognize the great miracle that Christ was crucified on the cross during the Easter holiday, then at the same time you will see that, as retribution for this, their holidays turned into tears when the Romans attacked, and all the Jews fled to Jerusalem, as if into some common trap for all, and when during the very celebrations, as history testifies, they were destroyed by fire and sword with helpless cries, so that when such great disasters struck them themselves, the transformation of celebrations into sadness and song into lament clearly followed, as clearly as it was clear that what happened before our eyes was that the sun set at noon. This is precisely what has been said. For two years the war kept the Jews in sorrow and brought disaster to all of Judea even to this day. Indeed, where is the church? Where is the priesthood? Where is the royal power? Where is their seat? Where is the city of law? Everything has passed, everything has faded away, everything has been destroyed to the ground: when the sun set, everything turned into sadness. And so, since this happened for the sake of the great sacraments during the suffering of the Savior, therefore, on each Easter holiday, trying to renew the meaning of the sacrament, we combine, as far as we can, certain times and take the fourteenth day, not only for some reasons, both indicated and not indicated, but also because the sun set at noon; let it be clear that the darkness was not a natural phenomenon, according to Greek science, but a work of retribution, as has been said more than once, because it did not happen during the passage of the moon, but when the moon rose on the side directly opposite to that where the sun was, and when, as someone would say, it moved in such a way that the fourteenth day became for everyone an eternal sign of the miracle that had happened. 5. For the above reasons, we also take Friday, Saturday and the Lord's Day and, completing the entire consideration of the sacrament by connecting certain times, we get rid of both the foolishness of the Jews and the madness of the heretics who disagree with them in this and present in full and intact form the entire feature of the restoration (heading) of everything on the sacred holiday of Easter. And just as Christ suffered under the full combination of all these signs of the times, so we must celebrate Easter under the same, as far as possible, conditions; and if any of them were missing, then the imitation would turn out to be lame. Since you have already heard enough about all this, it is necessary to finally say how the determination of the time of Easter is now done, as I promised at the beginning. We said, brother, that for the time of suffering we should take together the spring equinox, and the fourteenth day of the moon, but not before the equinox, and (Friday) and Saturday and the Lord's Day. And so, if the fourteenth day of the moon ever happens before the equinox, we leave it and look for another one, which should be after the equinox, and then an intercalary month occurs until the fourteenth day appears after the equinox. Just now, brother, on this Easter coming before us, the fourteenth day falls at the time of two days before the equinox and becomes invalid; therefore, we wait until the end of the lunar month and take the next fourteenth day to complete the month of the Savior in it. So, now we use the intercalary month. And as we have seen that if the fourteenth day of the moon occurs before the equinox, then we do not use this day, but the corresponding one after the equinox, so in turn, if the fourteenth day of the moon occurs with the day of the Lord, then we do not celebrate this day of the Lord as the day of resurrection, but take the next day of the Lord, because the fourteenth day is the day of suffering - on this day, which coincides with Friday, Christ suffered. And just as Friday cannot be the day of resurrection for us, so it is the same with the fourteenth day that coincides with it. The resurrection must correspond to the day of the Lord and not refer to the day of suffering. Therefore, if the fourteenth day, which refers to the day of suffering, coincides with this day, then, leaving it, we stop at the next day free from (memories of) suffering. And when we are faced with the remembrance of the suffering and resurrection of the Lord, we, as the Master did, always observe the Lord’s day, as corresponding to the day of resurrection and free from (memory of) suffering, attributing the remembrance of suffering to the days preceding it. Since you understand this, pay further attention to what I say. Two days before the equinox, as I said, the fourteenth day of the moon is now falling; out of necessity, we must leave this day and stop at the next one after the equinox. But this fourteenth day again coincides with the twenty-sixth day of the seventh month and coincides, moreover, with the day of the Lord. Since, therefore, the fourteenth day again coincides with the Lord's day, we transfer the celebration of the resurrection to the next Lord's day, free from the number (memory) of suffering, and, adding a week to the twenty-sixth day of the seventh month, we celebrate the Sunday day on the second day of the eighth month. This is the basis for determining the time of Easter. If anyone would like to object to the twenty-sixth day of this seventh month and say that now the day of the Lord coincides with the fourteenth day of the lunar month, let him go, if he wishes, to consider the opposite, taking the Hellenic scholars as witnesses that the fourteenth day embraces the entire day of the Lord and this and the next night almost until the next second day. And let no one say that Easter has never been defined in this way. We have many witnesses who remember this. Then, what is false can never correspond to knowledge, and the mind always seeks knowledge; Often things happen quickly, sometimes even faster, and again slower, however, no reasonable person will dwell for long on this unevenness of time, but will look for correspondence in meaning. How many times do you think this “it never happens” was repeated in former times, and yet science did not lose its strength? What's the difference? Opponents admit that Easter often occurs on the twenty-ninth day of the seventh month. This means that here we are talking about three or four days, which they do not dare to provide this knowledge. So where finally is this unexpected difficulty of definition? They are surprised that Easter is celebrated too inconsistently with the times; but for those who understand, this is not surprising. Have you seen, brother, poetic or tragic poems? Some are short, others are even shorter, while others, on the contrary, are drawn out. Those ignorant of this are positively surprised that they are so simply located; but of course an artist who knows the law of proportionality skillfully achieves correctness, even if in appearance the work seems uneven. Now, without a doubt, brother, Sunday will be on the second day of the eighth month, next year on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, and again the next on the ninth day of the seventh month, and then in the third year on the twenty-ninth day of this month there will be a Sunday; and no one suffers any harm or sorrow from this, but everyone appreciates the conformity of art and rejoices at the success of science. One thing only must be observed is that the fourteenth day of the moon is not taken before the vernal equinox and that the day of the Lord, appointed for the remembrance of the resurrection, is not connected with the fourteenth day of the moon, as a result of which difficulties arise for those who cannot make a thorough judgment. It is necessary that the fourteenth day falls in the week before the specified Sunday. If it falls during the week, then it is convenient to determine; if it coincides with the day of the Lord, in this case careful precaution is needed, because those who do not make an accurate study may mistake the fifteenth day of the lunar month for the fourteenth; this same thing happened now. So, we must strongly insist on this and explain that even now the determination of time is done correctly. This we must know; and before the next week let everyone have a strong opinion on this subject, and let everyone know that this is the first of the seven weeks in which fasting is required. At the same time, we fulfilled our promise, if only the meaning of everything said is retained in memory. May God grant that all the secrets may be preserved in your hearts, and that you yourself may be in Christ, with whom glory rises to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. By this proselyte we must understand Aquila. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.