Conversation at the entrance to the Holy Pentecost (Easter Homily No. 18)

“Conversation at the Entry into the Holy Pentecost” is the 18th sermon among the “Easter Epistles” of St. Cyril of Alexandria. The sermons represent the annual district messages of St. Cyril, indicating the date of the beginning of Lent and the celebration of Easter. This is due to the ancient tradition according to which the primate of the Alexandrian Church on the day of Epiphany sent out these messages to all the cities and monasteries of his Church. A total of 29 Easter Epistles of St. Cyril for 414-442. They have a general outline of presentation: the saint announces the approaching time of fasting and Easter; encourages you to take advantage of this time for repentance and exercise in virtue in order to become partakers of the redemption accomplished by Christ; briefly outlines the doctrine of the economy of salvation; indicates the date of the beginning of Lent, Easter and Pentecost. The sermons raise predominantly moral and ascetic topics: fasting, the fight against passions, prayer, works of charity and mercy, worldly pleasures, etc. An important place is occupied by the discussion of dogmatic issues: the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation and atonement. Some conversations contain polemics with Jews and pagans. 1. The time of our holy holiday is shining again. Therefore, need insists that we remember what Almighty God says. “Hear, O priests, and bear witness to the house of Jacob,” says the Lord God Almighty (Hos. 5:1). So let us testify and say that the time has come in which we must be adorned with virtues befitting the Holy One and enriched with the perfections of the Gospel life. But it seems to me that mentors in goodness deserve respect. For the words of the Prophet are true: “How red are the feet of those who bring good news” (Is. 52:7), those who bring good news, of course, are not temporary and perishing, not those who serve for the enjoyment of our earthly bodies; on the contrary, such good things are prepared by the grace of our Savior, which make their owners blessed and triumphant over both mental and physical suffering. For “better is a good name than great wealth,” as Solomon says (Proverbs 22:1). So, for well-minded people, there is never a time in which they do not consider it proper to be such: but if, in addition, they are also offered the duty of voluntarily taking up feats of virtue, then, having driven out all carelessness from their hearts and quickly rushing to everything that is amazing, they consider labors as pleasure and in the hope of future blessings they find food for their complacency. An active and hardworking farmer, when the time comes to plow the land and sow seeds, although he then faces very many and lengthy labors, however, he does not value them, but strives only to fertilize the field - and very prudently. For, although he is only still harnessing the ox, he already sees the field growing fat with grain; Although he is still throwing grain into the ground, he is already having fun (thinking) about the reapers, and with the eyes of hope he looks in surprise at the harvest falling under the sickle, and contemplates the threshing floor filled with sheaves. And those who are engaged in navigation and trade, as soon as they see that the sea is quietly agitated by the spring winds, they immediately leave peace and boldly set out to sea; although he knows that there he will be subject to excitement and the fierce pressure of the winds, he is not at all afraid of this, meaning profit and enrichment. So, it is extremely shameful that, while these people, for perishable and earthly things, decide to endure all labor, we, who expect divine and fruits that surpass understanding, do not joyfully celebrate this time, which precedes our holy holiday, and which, although it forbids us excess in food and drink, but for this enriches us with spiritual gifts. Therefore, when the time itself awakens us to courage, no one should indulge in bliss; on the contrary, go cheerfully wherever the Lord leads. And I consider it necessary (again) to say what God spoke through the mouth of Jeremiah: “Take up your weapons and shields, and go to battle, saddle your horses, and give them all the horsemen, and stand with your helmets, put on your spear, and put on your armor” (Jer. 46:34). For we must, with zeal and great courage, rebel against the pleasures that lead to sin, and, putting on spiritual armor, fight the passions, since the divine Paul writes: “the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh” (Gal. 5:17). They oppose each other, and when the flesh overcomes, the defeated (spirit) becomes vile and unclean and the foulest of all filth; on the contrary, when the flesh is overcome and submits to the spirit, then the winners are given brilliant and coveted crowns: for they will immediately be clean from filth, removed from vice and adorned with the brilliance of virtues. But I think that we should with all our might avoid that which causes harm, and guard ourselves from evil, and on the contrary, take care of what deserves surprise. For no one, of course, will dispute that good health of the body is a desired good. When we happen to fall ill, we immediately send for a doctor skilled in treatment, who knows how to counteract attacks of illness with the benefits of his art, and at the same time, refusing to please the belly, we seem to be blocking the very source of the disease by avoiding satiety, and through malnutrition we eliminate what causes harm. This is the kind of care we take about the body! But if we see the sick that is incomparably superior to the body, that is, the soul, and then we begin to find a way to restore its health, and this can only be through abstinence: then how can we not willingly accept fasting, if only we value good mind and health above illness? Let us therefore cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, as it is written, remembering that God says through the Prophet: “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44), and through one of the holy disciples: “Brethren, I pray for strangers and strangers, to flee from the lusts of the flesh, which make war on the soul” (1 Peter 2, 11). – It is considered amazing and worthy of all praise when someone decides to endure, if it happens, even death itself, boldly exposing himself to such danger for the sake of his children and wife. Evenly, when destroying countries or cities devastate the fields and deprive the inhabitants of all means of life; then it will not be an honor for those who have been subjected to such a disaster to remain dead; on the contrary, they must take up arms against the evils, and it is better to fall with courage than to continue a miserable life. - If all this happens between us, and no one, I think, will blame what I said: then how is it not necessary for us to fight for the benefit of the soul, when the flesh is ready to enslave it? We can fight through labor, overthrowing the pride of the flesh so that it submits to the will of the spirit. For in this way we will follow the straight path of duty, walking along the path leading to everything glorious, and acquiring for ourselves the hope of eternal life: because we are all strangers and strangers in this world, and the time of carnal life is extremely short, on the contrary, the continuation of the future is endless. Therefore, we must, having detached our minds from the temporal and rejecting, as shameful and unclean, the enjoyment of carnal pleasures, thirst for future blessings and consider worthy of all respect and wonder what God has prepared for the saints. For “eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not breathed what God has prepared for those who love Him” (Isa. 64:4; 1 Cor. 2:9). And what is the way in which those who love God please Him, let us tell you about this, if possible, as some encouragement for your zeal for good. David, who sat on the royal throne and had a countless number of subjects who were accustomed to winning battles, in those cases when some of the neighboring nations outraged the Jews with war, although he commanded the soldiers to arm themselves and repel the attacks of enemies; however, protecting himself and others with heavenly protection, the most zealous prayed and asked the Lord for strength to unite with him and help him gain victory and triumph over the ferocity of his enemies. That is why his hope was never in vain, and now, listen to what he says: “When I was in the cold, I clothed myself in sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned to my bosom” (Psalm 34:13). Do you hear, he fasted and dressed in sackcloth, that is, he behaved as befits one who mourns: he was sad and shed tears, did not indulge in luxury, did not have fun, did not drown in pleasure, but exhausted himself with the feat of fasting. What is the fruit from here, what is the profit? We have now heard that he himself says: “and my prayer will return to my bosom.” For those who give gifts to someone, if they want to show their generosity, put them in the bosom (of those receiving gifts), counting handfuls of hands as small. And the Lord of all, when he rewards someone with his mercies, then in the same way gives to him, as it were, in his bosom, with the abundance of his gifts exceeding the very hope of the one asking. So David fasted, this man worthy of all praise and even surprise, courageous and wise, adorned with a royal crown, possessing many pleasures and wealth - and he was in weeping and fasting in order to receive favor from above. For this reason, he triumphed over his enemies and won victories in battles, and was glorified and pleased by everyone. If anyone wishes, in addition to this, to see these three young men, I mean Ananias, Azariah and Misail, then here too he will find abstinence beneficial. They were of Judean origin; and when the Persian rulers captured Jerusalem, and together with others took them into captivity, they, as excellent young men, were assigned to live at the king’s court. For, since the Persians always loved pomp, they raised all the best captives, distinguished from others in appearance and stature, for their king; Therefore, these captives were given meat in extremely large quantities, so that they would always be fat and, showing the color of joy on their faces to the audience, would present a look corresponding to the glory of the king. What did the courageous young men do in such circumstances? Having despised the sybaritic meal and rejected exquisite dishes, they loved - as the mother and teacher of all beauty for them - and took fasting and labor for pleasure. What from here? They earned the surprise of their enemies, they triumphed over the intrigues and surpassed even those who were famous among them, because God loved everyone and kept them; they defeated the flame and, having become above the power of fire, rejoiced along with the forces on high; and for earthly creatures they became mentors, as if convincing all creation to give the Creator the praises due to Him. So, whoever decides to imitate the beauty of the virtues of the saints will, without a doubt, receive equal rewards. For he will easily defeat his opponents and will easily triumph over the cruelty of his enemies. Let shameful passions attack his soul like fire and flame: he will overcome them too, strengthened by God. Just as the Angel, who descended into the furnace to Ananias and those who were with him, tamed the fiery flame and miraculously made the fire submit to human bodies: so Christ, through the Holy Spirit, having entered our mind and heart, will undoubtedly tame the fierce flame of vicious desires and, having made us conquerors of the wiles of demons, will make us citizens of heaven, and will widen the path for us to all virtue. That we can receive such help from God as a reward for fasting and as the fruit of good deeds, all Holy Scripture testifies to this. For in the book of Ezra it is written like this: “And I promised that fast to the young men before the Lord our God, that we might seek from him a good way for us, and for our children and livestock who are with us. We are afraid to ask the king for footmen, horsemen and guides to protect us from the adversary. For this I recommend to the king: For the power of our Lord will be with those who seek Him for all government. And again we prayed to the Lord our God for these, and we received mercy” (2 Ezra 8:49–53). You see, Ezra says that by fasting the Jews asked for a prosperous path, heavenly help and the indestructible protection of the One who can save - by fasting they asked for the favor of God, who very easily does everything and with a generous hand bestows blessings on those who ask. Consequently, if we fast, he will deliver us and free us from all evil, and will open the path to all virtue for us; It will easily soften what seems tough, and will make what is difficult to walk capable and comfortable for movement. However, fasting should also be accompanied by prayer. For both of these virtues live, as it were, next to each other, and have a very saving effect when they are in union with each other. In my opinion, the absence of one of these virtues makes the other less useful and piety - as if sanctimonious. So let us pray, fasting in purity. And the power of prayer to God is very great. And we will see this again from the most inspired Scripture. During Israel's wanderings in the desert, when the insane Amalekites (a barbarian people), inflamed with wicked envy, armed themselves and began to fight with the Israelites; then blessed Moses gave the following command to Jesus: “Choose for yourself strong men and go out and fight against Amalek in the morning” (Ex. 17:9). And meanwhile, as the young men stood under arms, and a great multitude of skilled in battle and very strong men rushed towards the enemy phalanx: blessed Moses himself, standing on the top of the mountain, said prayers to God. And what was the benefit from this for those who fought, we see this from the Scripture: “And it came to pass,” it is said, “when Moses lifted up his hand, he prevailed over Israel; when he lowered his hand, he overcame Amalek” (Ex. 17:11). Look how the hands of Moses were stronger than the weapons and the phalanx of horsemen! For as long as they were stretched out in prayer, Until then, Israel was invincible, but when they sank, Amalek was able to overcome it. And blessed Paul writes about what happened to the ancients: “This whole image was received in silence: but it was written for our instruction, and in them the ends of the ages reached” (1 Cor. 10:11). What has been said seems to be sufficient to demonstrate the benefits of prayer. However, nothing prevents us from touching on another narrative, which in its content is related to the previous one. Once upon a time, the minds of the Israelites deviated towards the deification of stones and trees, so that, leaving the one God by nature, each of them idolized what he liked. Through this, having irritated the Lord against themselves, they were betrayed to some of the neighboring nations and enslaved by enemies, and their country was captured. Then, finally, having been greatly struck by extraordinary disasters, they completely changed their wicked disposition and, having recognized their sin, through repentance they sought mercy, and having come to the blessed Prophet Samuel, this is what they immediately heard from him: “Gather all Israel to me at Mizpif, and I will pray for you to the Lord. And the people gathered together at Mizpeth, and drew water, and poured it on the ground before the Lord: and they fasted that day, and decided, “I have sinned before the Lord.” And “Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah” (1 Sam. 7:5), And further: “And the foreign commanders rose up against Israel: and the children of Israel heard, and were afraid at the sight of the foreigners. And the children of Israel said to Samuel: Do not keep silent when you cry to the Lord our God, that He may deliver us from the hand of our tribesmen. And Samuel took one lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering with all the people of the Lord: and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord listened to him. And Samuel offered up burnt offerings, and the foreign women came near to fight against Israel: and the Lord roared with a great voice that day against the foreigners, and they were troubled and fell before Israel” (1 Samuel 7:7-10). So, that fasting is beneficial and has wonderful power for the wise, with the assistance of prayer, this is clearly proven both by what was said above and by the narrative that I have now proposed. The enemies who had previously defeated them attacked the Israelites, thinking that now they would subdue them to their power easily and without difficulty: but behold, they themselves (the enemies) were defeated and fell, having encountered not a large army of foot and horse, experienced in war and skilled in battle, but the insurmountable resistance of the God who fought the Israelites. For the sky thundered strongly and menacingly against them (the enemies), and those who had previously proudly dreamed of themselves, now, struck by fear, fled; and the Israelites triumphed over their conquerors through the power of fasting and prayer. By the way, now let’s consider, if you like, what kind of sacrifice the Israelites had. For we will find that they were saved and conquered in Christ, although this was done in images and fortune-telling, perfectly demonstrating the power of the sacrament of Christ. “And the people gathered together,” it is said, “to Mizpif, and I drew water and poured it on the ground before the Lord.” What does it mean? someone might rightly ask. What is the power of such a sacrifice? What did they do that pleased God? The Law commanded through Moses to sacrifice oxen and dedicate turtledoves or doves to God (Lev. 1:5,14). But nowhere did he command this kind of sacrifice to pour water on the ground. What did the ancients do, and with them the Prophet, who possessed the coveted knowledge of sacred and divine decrees? We affirm that he, as a Prophet, having a mind filled with the Holy Spirit, certainly knew the venerable and great mystery of the Incarnation of the Only Begotten; and he reasoned that the very image of truth can save those in need, writing, as it were, on itself the power of salvation bestowed by Christ. And so, as far as possible, we will explain how the truth was accomplished in the shadows. The Only Begotten Word of God, being by nature life, subjected itself to voluntary exhaustion, and became similar to us, that is, man, without however changing its own nature to earthly flesh - because the Divine nature is unchangeable in its perfections, but having clothed itself in our earthly body, united with a rational soul. The Prophet Samuel depicted this for the ancients as if on water, and spilled water on the earth. Here water is a symbol of life, earth - flesh. “And the word became flesh,” according to the teaching of John the Theologian (John 1:14); and the life-giving Divinity and earthly humanity came into a wonderful and incomprehensible unity. And now, finally, we see one of the two Emmanuel, both from the limits of the Divinity who did not step forward for the perception of the flesh, and who did not refuse to become like us, according to His natural meekness, and according to His wise economy in this matter. For since He deigned to endure, in order to bring life to all, death, and death, of course, according to the flesh, so that, having risen from the dead, He would destroy, like life and God, the dominion of death: He took upon Himself a body subject to death, that is, human, or flesh, so that, through it, having abolished the ancient invincible corruption, He would raise human nature to life. For He was resurrected not according to His own nature, according to which He appears and is God, who performs the resurrection, but so that we in Him might receive this rich gift. For this reason He is called the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20) and the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18). Pointing out this very thing to the ancients, blessed Samuel, when he prayed for Israel, not only presented to them, as in a shadow and a riddle, the image of the incarnation through the shedding of water on the earth, but he immediately added the rest, that is, the death (of Jesus Christ) for the whole world. And “Samuel took, it is said, one lamb, and offered it as a burnt offering with all the people of the Lord. And Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord listened to him.” Do you hear, he slain the lamb in the image of the true God? to whom blessed John, as if with an outstretched hand, pointed and said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). For this immaculate sacrifice is Christ, by whose honest blood we are saved and sanctified. 3. God and the Father commanded to depict this same mystery through the wise Moses. The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians; - these were ferocious and very cruel people; They, as the Scripture says, “create a painful life by making clay and making boards” and burdening them with punishments for the very work (Ex. 1.14). When God had mercy on the unfortunate and wanted to save them from the violence of their owners; then he commanded the wise Moses to tell them (the Israelites) that they would receive mercy and not long later they would go to the land promised to their fathers, having overthrown the unbearable yoke of slavery. since it could happen that the Israelites, having lost hope for a better future, would not accept the words of Moses: then the God of all commanded him to perform miracles. For a miracle always has some power to attract to faith and is capable of arousing hope for the best even in a soul that has sunk to extreme despondency. Therefore, God, having commanded Moses to perform signs, added: “If they do not believe you, then they will listen to the voice of the first sign, and they will believe you for the sake of the voice of the second sign. And it shall come to pass, that if the two of these signs do not believe thee, they will listen to thy voice, that thou shalt stir up the water of the river, and pour it out upon the dry land: and the water that thou hast poured out from the river shall be blood on the sustenance” (Ex. 4:8-9). The nature of God is likened to a source - both the Father and the Son, and the river and water are called - sometimes the Father, sometimes the Son, and sometimes the Holy Spirit. So in Jeremiah, God the Father says about himself: “The heavens were horrified at this, and greatly trembled, says the Lord. My people have committed two evils: they have abandoned the source of living water for me, and dug up for themselves broken treasures that cannot contain water” (Jer. 2:12-13). And the Son himself speaks about himself through the Prophets: “Behold, I turn down upon us, like the river of peace, and like the flooded stream, the glory of the tongues” (Is. 66:12). And blessed David, playing for us on the spiritual lyre, speaks about himself to the Heavenly Father: “Thou hast multiplied thy mercy, O God: but the sons of mankind have hope in the blood of thy wing. They will be drunk with the fatness of Thy house, and I will give Thy stream of sweetness to drink. For You are the fountain of life” (Ps. 35:8-10). Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself called the life-giving Spirit poured out through Him from the Father water, in a conversation with a Samaritan woman: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is, say to you: Give me to drink; you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” And further: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will be in him a fountain of water flowing into an everlasting belly” (John 4:10, 13, 14). And so from God the Father, as from a source or river, life-giving water is born - the Son, who gives life to everything, and “in Him” we “live, move and are” (Acts 17:28). This very thing, as if showing us through images and explaining it with small examples, God said to the wise Moses: “let the water of the river be mixed” (water from the river) “and pour it dry” (on the ground). For, as I said, the nature of the Father is very suitably likened to the river, and to the water the Son born of Him by nature. This water from the river mixed with the earth. For “the word became flesh” (John 1:14), according to economic unity. And that the Son, having once become man, in every possible way and invariably desired to die for us in the flesh, and God showed this, saying: “And the water that thou shalt be stirred up from the river shall be blood on the sustenance.” And blood here means nothing more than death, because until the Word became flesh, until then he was not blood; for living and life-giving nature is, of course, superior to death. But after It became like us, it also adopted death according to its own flesh; and since then it has been said about Him that It Itself died for us, and with His blood acquired the heavenly realm, which, although it always belonged to Him - for It is the Creator of the universe - but deviated from Him, being overly carried away into sins and desiring to worship the creature and pay respect to the elements of the world. It falls on the Greeks. And the Jews, having despised the Law of God, declared through Moses, turned away to the teachings and commandments of men, and thus, as blessed David says, “they all turned away, and together they were without keys; For this reason, the Only Begotten Word of God appeared in the flesh “and lived with men,” as it is written (Bar. 3:38), and, before all other people, preached to the Israelites about salvation and life: but, as blessed John says, “he came to his own and did not receive him from his own” (John 1:12). For they did not at all heed the Savior of all, on the contrary, they insulted Him, brutally committed every kind of wickedness, and finally reached such a degree of fury that they even nailed the Author of life to the cross, and imagined that they could overcome the Conqueror of death by death. For He rose on the third day, emptying hell and opening the doors of death to the spirits imprisoned in the underworld; for human nature, having become the way, the door and the firstfruits to incorruption, he ascended to the Father and God who is in heaven, and is co-throne with Him and together with Him rules over everything. But at the end of the age He will come “to judge the world in righteousness,” as it is written (Psalm 9:9). So, since, as the wise Paul says, “it is fitting for us all to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that everyone may receive what he has done with his body, either good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10), let us fast in purity, removing all kinds of sins and expelling every kind of uncleanness from our hearts. To this end, let us be kind, brotherly loving, compassionate, merciful to orphans, charitable to widows, caring for the sick, compassionate towards those in prison, in general, let us try to practice every virtue. For, adorned with such a bright and God-loving life, we will celebrate in purity, beginning the holy Pentecost on the twenty-third day of the month of February, and the week of the saving Easter - on the twenty-eighth day of March, ending the fast on the third day of the month of April, in the deep evening, according to the word of the Gospel, and celebrating the holiday itself with the dawn of the following Sunday - on the fourth of April month, adding to this the subsequent seven weeks of Holy Pentecost. For in this way we inherit the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom and with whom to the Father with the Holy Spirit be glory and dominion forever. Amen. This conversation is the 18th in a series of 30 conversations known under the name: “Homilia de festis paschalibus”, which St. Cyril spoke to the Alexandrian flock, at the onset of Great Lent, one every year, from 414 to 442 AD. – See S. Cyrilli Alexandr. oper. tom. v. pars 11. pag. 235 etc. edit. joan. Auberti Lutetiae. 1638.