Часть 3

Book 13. More about the priesthood Let this be said to us about the priests and Aaron for now. But to what has been said, I think, we should add what seems to be missing from it: the decree concerning the Levites; then the reasoning will be sufficient. Palladium. So go on and explain; for you reason correctly. Kirill. Establishing the best order for sacred rites, God subordinates the Levitical institution to the high priest, thus saying in the book of Numbers: “Proclaim to the Levites and say to them: when you take from the children of Israel the tithe that I gave you from them as an inheritance, then you will offer an offering of it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe, and this offering of yours will be counted to you as bread from the threshing floor and as taken from the winepress; So you also will present an offering to the Lord of all your tithes that you take from the children of Israel, and you will give of them the offering of the Lord to Aaron the priest. From all that is given to you, offer an offering to the Lord, from all the best that is sanctified. And tell them: When you bring the best of this, it will be credited to the Levites as that which is received from the threshing floor and that which is received from the winepress; You may eat this in every place, you and your families, for this is your wages for your labors in the tabernacle of meeting; and you will not bear sin for it when you bring the best of this; and what is dedicated by the children of Israel you shall not defile, and you shall not die” (Num. 18:26-32). Do you see the mystery of Christ, foreshadowing as if still in shadows and images? for “he who receives tithes ... gives tithes,” according to the words of blessed Paul (Heb. 7:9). But then Melchizedek served as an image, and in the time of Moses Aaron, signifying the priest of priests - Christ, the Chief and Primate of the holy tabernacle, that is, the Church - the Holy of Holies, the God of gods, to whom we owe all fruitfulness; for it is written that “all who are around Him, let them bring gifts” (Ps. 75:12). But the things of Moses were still in images; now the true guardians of the gospel commandments delight their Redeemer with spiritual fruits. K. And that the Levitical race is chosen and taken away from others, He makes it clear in some way this way: He commanded to number the people and make an accurate account of the entire multitude of the people, not because the Creator did not know this, for with Him the “raindrops” were also numbered, according to what is written (Sir. 1, 2), and not because anything could be hidden from a pure mind, but so that those who read the Holy Scriptures would very clearly They saw that those who are committed to God and who are called His people are in the records of God and in the book of life, numbered among those who know Him and are already kept in the memory of the Lord of all. So, when the people were being rewritten, then it was as if God had especially appointed a chosen and sacred race and did not allow it to be on the same level with others, but, as it were, separated a preferential part for it, speaking to the wise Moses; “Only do not include the tribe of Levi in ​​the census, and do not number them along with the children of Israel” (Numbers 1:49). For the destiny of the saints is chosen and their honor is preferable. Perhaps they are written in other books; because the Divine Daniel contemplated more than one book, but, as he himself says, “the judges sat down, and the books were opened” (Dan. 7:10). So the writing corresponds to the measure of each; and, as it were, the clan separated and dedicated for Divine sacred rites was taken away from the rest of the people. But he also explained the image of the sacred rites of the Levites, directly saying: “Bring the tribe of Levi, and set them before Aaron the priest, so that they serve him; and they shall be on guard for him, and on watch for all the congregation at the tabernacle of meeting, to officiate at the services of the tabernacle; and let them keep all the things of the tabernacle of meeting, and be on guard for the children of Israel, to officiate at the services of the tabernacle; give the Levites to Aaron... and his sons... for disposal: that they may be given unto him from among the children of Israel; Now entrust Aaron and his sons... so that they observe their priestly office; and if any stranger approaches, he will be put to death” (Numbers 3:6-10). So, the Levites were appointed as collaborators in a certain way and, as it were, as assistants to the priests; “let them be on the watch for him”, obviously Aaron, “all the things of the tabernacle of meeting, and they will be on the watch for the children of Israel.” The appearance of their assistance comes to this. Above the tabernacle he places Aaron and his sons with him: “and let them keep,” it is said, “all the things of the tabernacle of meeting,” and the inner veil, that is, the most hidden and most mysterious, and everything that was usually done by those sitting at the Divine altar. And it is clear that this image refers to Christ, whom the Father set over his house, “and we are his house” (Heb. 3:6). Those who are priestly, together with Aaron, clearly signify the sacred and miraculous face of the holy Apostles, as if hastening and serving Christ; for they were “fellow workers with God” (1 Cor. 3:9), guardians and “builders of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1), and also “only ministers” we believed (1 Cor. 3:5). And if anyone wanted to carefully examine the church rite, he would rightly be surprised at the pre-description in the law. For the bishops who have received the lot of leadership, and those who have a lower rank, I mean presbyters, are entrusted with the altar and with those things that are behind the veil; It would be fitting for them to say: “and let them guard their priesthood,” and for the deacons: “let them be on guard for him and on guard for the whole community” of the people. Do they not sometimes order, proclaiming in churches, that the people should sing songs and stand decorously, and often that they should calm down, and also encourage them to pray? And when a bloodless sacrifice is made, are they not the ones who carry the most sacred of vessels and make precise observations of everything necessary? K: So, the highest ones are priestly; the Levites will advance; by this the letter of the law foreshadows the rank of church priesthood. The people are forbidden to do any sacred work, and the highest punishment threatens those who admire this honor: for “he will die,” it is said, anyone who would arbitrarily begin it, without having Divine election to do so. K. So, the Levitical family is not included in the lists of others, but is written down separately, and in the book of God. For it is said: “And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying: Number the sons of Levi according to their families, according to their generations; all males from one month old and above were numbered. And Moses numbered them... according to the word of the Lord, as commanded. And these are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon according to their families: Livni and Shimei. And the sons of Kohath according to their families: Amram and Izgar, Hebron and Uzziel. And the sons of Merari according to their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the generations of Levi according to their families” (Num. 3:14-20). Pay attention, Palladius, and above all else to this (for it is a subtle remark): we were copying people from the age of twenty and above, since, I think, the legal accuracy does not deign to write into the book of God the powerless and still infirm; for, of course, those who are mature and already in a spiritually blossoming age should be included in the calculation of saints. Thus, the law makes the body a decent reflection of spiritual age and places the blooming age in the chosen race, bypassing the immature and infirm and still childish and not placing them in the sacred book. In relation to the Levites, the census began from the age of one month: for the Lord accepts all, and very joyfully, the infancy in Christ of the elect, as well as, without a doubt, the rational; because it is excellent to be distinguished by both, that is, by reason and simplicity in Christ. Therefore, the divine Paul says: “Brothers! Do not be children in your mind: be infants in evil, but be mature in your mind” (1 Cor. 14:20). And Christ Himself says in one place: “Be wise as serpents and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). So, the simplicity of the saints is pleasing (to God). Then, the calculation is made by names and by clans (hosts) and families (houses of fatherland); for those whom God wants to honor, He worthy of His own supervision, both one by one, and by multitude, and by generation. And the Savior Himself indicates thoroughness in this matter, saying to the holy Apostles: “Are not two small birds sold for an assarium? And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father; But even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:29-30). K. In addition to this, he commanded to make another census of the Levitical family and assign to each one the service appropriate to him, saying: “Number the sons of Kohath from the sons of Levi according to their generations, according to their families, from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who are able to serve, to send out work in the tabernacle of meeting. This is the ministry of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of meeting: to bear the Holy of Holies. When I need to go up on the road, Aaron and his sons will come in and take away the curtain that covers it, and cover the ark of the testimony with it; And they will put on it a covering of blue skins, and on top of it they will throw a covering all of blue wool, and they will put in the poles thereof; and the table of the showbread shall be covered with a robe of blue wool, and dishes and plates, cups and drink cups shall be placed on it, and its bread shall always be upon it; And they will put a scarlet robe on them, and cover it with a mantle of blue skin, and put in the staves thereof; And they will take a robe of blue wool, and cover the lamp, and its lamps, and its tongs, and its trays, and all the vessels for oil that are used with it, and they will cover it and all its utensils with a covering of blue skins, and put it on a stretcher; And on the golden altar they will put a robe of blue wool, and cover it with a mantle of blue skins, and set up its staves. And they will take all the articles of service that are used for serving in the sanctuary, and put them in garments of blue wool, and cover them with a covering of blue skins, and place them on stretchers. And they will cleanse the altar from the ashes and cover it with a purple robe; and they will put on it all his vessels that are used for serving with him - fireboxes, forks, shovels and bowls, all the vessels of the altar - and they will cover it with a covering of blue skins, and they will put in his poles.... When, at the departure of the camp, Aaron and his sons have covered the whole sanctuary and all the things of the sanctuary, then the sons of Kohath will come up to carry; but they must not touch the sanctuary, lest they die” (Num. 4:2-15). Whereas the census, starting with those who are one month old, teaches that even the gentleness of the saints is pleasing and favorable to God: the fact that for sacred deeds one certain age is prescribed by law - from twenty-five to fifty years old, means, I think, that excellent and impeccable service to God accomplishes everything that is already reasonable and still strong: for already among such is the one who is twenty-five years old, but also the one who has reached fifty. Because the husband, who has passed fifty years, is already inclined to cease his strength, and is no longer at a fully flourishing age, but seems to be moving towards the diseases of old age. Meanwhile, no one unreasonable, and also no one powerless, can serve God blamelessly, if it is true that the works of strength and perfect rationality are those that are directed towards virtue, and to which praise is determined by the legislator. J. Those who came from the family of Kohath were to minister to the Holy of Holies, but only after the priests had first approached it and closed it. For everywhere the superior in rank is more revered and everything that God has is kept in order, but nothing is disordered at all: and the Levitical family was in service and in a subordinate position during the sacred ceremonies of those placed above them. In addition, the holy ark, the golden censer, the lamp and the ministering vessels are covered with blue skins and clothes, and the blue color means what appears to us from above and from heaven: for this is the color of the ether that extends into the heights and deep distances. And that the sacred vessels are images of Christ, who came from above and from heaven, this has already been shown by us in long discussions. But the table (offerings), in addition to blue coverings, has all purple (crimson) clothing, and the altar of offerings has scarlet clothing, and the laver also has all purple clothing with blue coverings. The meal, which has an offering of bread, signifies a bloodless sacrifice, which we bless by eating the bread that came down from heaven, that is, Christ, who was made like us, but at the same time was and is God, coming from above and from the Father and existing above all, as the King and Lord of all. A covert indication of the royal dignity of Christ could, it seems to me, be that at the meal there was a crimson robe, that is, a purple cover. And the altar of offerings was covered with scarlet clothing; We will take the garment dyed scarlet as an image of blood: for Christ was sacrificed for us and for us, and, like a lamb, ascended to the Divine altar in the aroma of the aroma of God and the Father. In addition to the blue coverings on the washbasin, there was also a covering of clothing all purple. The laver is an image of holy baptism, washing us with holy waters for the remission of sin and bringing us into the Kingdom of Heaven; Holy baptism from above and from heaven: the blue color serves as a hidden indication of this. Don't you think that I am saying here the best that can be said given such incomprehensibility of the spiritual meaning? K. This is the service assigned to the sons of Kohath. In the same way, the Hedsonites and Merarites from twenty-five to fifty years old were rewritten, by name, by clan and family. The ministry of the family of Gideon was entrusted with the skins of the tabernacle, the coverings, the curtains of the doors, the coverings of the courtyard, and everything superfluous, for so it is written (Num. 3:25-26). The clan of Merari (and this was the Levitical clan) was entrusted with the pillars of the tabernacle, the stools (standing), the beams (heads), the stakes (pegs) and the poles (belts) and the curtain of the outer tabernacle and other things beyond this (Num. 3:36-37). And the sons of Gideon and Merarin, with the help of chariots, transported everywhere what was entrusted to them; The Kohafits walked with the Holy of Holies on their shoulders; for this is what is written in the book of Numbers: “Then came ... the rulers of Israel, the heads of their families, the rulers of the tribes who were in charge of the numbering, and presented their offering before the Lord, six covered wagons and twelve oxen, one wagon from the two rulers and one ox from each, and they presented it before the tabernacle. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take it from them; this will be for the administration of the work of the tabernacle of meeting; and give it to the Levites, according to the nature of their service. And Moses took the carts and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites: two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to the nature of their service: and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the children of Merari, according to the nature of their service, under the supervision of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest; He did not give it to the sons of Kohath, because their service was to bear the sanctuary; they must be carried on their shoulders” (Num. 7:2–9). Do you hear how it was the custom of those people to carry and carry sacred utensils on chariots, and only of the Kaafites on their shoulders? K: Because that which is always endowed with advantage and which is more sacred bears greater labor; everywhere and in everything is connected with this the need to work and, moreover, to endure suffering, moreover, unequal with others, for those who are more holy and, as it were, stand closer to God. Isn't what I say true? K. In this order the Levitical family served. But I think this constitutes an image of the sacrament. K. It seems that these two families: Gideonov and Merarin mysteriously point to the people under the law, I mean Israel: the Kohathites - to those sanctified in Christ by faith. For in their care were the coverings of the court, the skins of the tabernacle, the curtains and pillars, the beams and sockets, the stakes and curtains, and everything superfluous, as the Holy Scripture says (Num. 3:26), which means what is necessary for the service; and these (Kahathites) dared to carry the Holy of Holies and that by which Christ is signified, not in one way, but, on the contrary, in many different ways and in many ways: like an ark, like a table, like a golden lamp and a golden censer; because being simple by nature, like God by difference of action, He is known in manifold ways; for there is no doubt that the Word of the Father is “living and active” (Heb. 4:12), and moreover, It is life (John 11:25, 14, etc.), and light (Luke 2:32; John 1:7, 12, etc.) and the stench of mental fragrance (Eph. 5: 2). So, those who are committed to the commandments given by Moses have their service over the superfluous in the tabernacle: for the law is useless if it is not spiritually understood. And those who dare to wear the Holy of Holies are completely holy in Christ, they do not wear anything superfluous, but Emmanuel Himself, who, so to speak, sits on them. K. But pay attention, if you like, to this. K. Those who were entrusted with everything superfluous in the holy tabernacle carry it in chariots; The Kohafits marched, not placing the Holy of Holies on their chariots, nor on anything else, but on their shoulders. P. So what does this mean? K: Then, my friend, I would say that the law is heavy and is an unbearable burden; a clear indication of this can be that unnecessary things were not carried on the shoulders, for the sake of the weakness of those under the yoke of the law. Therefore, the Divine disciples said to those who, after accepting the faith, turned to service according to the law: “Why are you now tempting God, wanting to lay on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither our fathers nor we could bear?” (Acts 15:10.) The Kohathites, having placed on their shoulders that which marks Christ, carried a burden that was light and easy to bear. Isn’t this, obviously, what Christ Himself said about: “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30)? K. I would add the following to what has been said, since it would not be useless for complete certainty: in the first census of the Levites (Num. 3, 15 et seq.), the sons of Gideon were placed at the beginning, then in the middle Kohath and last Merari (these were the families of the Levites); in the second, which is from twenty-five years (Num. 4), Kohath is placed ahead of the others and named first, and then after him Gideon and Merari, whose service was subject to excess in the tabernacle. And besides, each of these two genera (Gideon and Merarin) has two separate families, and the previous one (Kahath) even extends to four. Do you understand the hidden meaning of this? K. Israel was called first, but when the society of the pagans came into the midst, he was placed behind it: and “the last became first, according to the word of the Savior, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). K: And that the Jewish people are small in number, while the countless crowd of pagans outnumber them, this is clear. K. Therefore, God says to the sacred keeper Moses: “Leave Me therefore, that My wrath may be kindled against them;... I will smite him with plague and destroy him, and I will make of you... a nation greater in number and stronger than he is” (Ex. 32:10, and Num. 14:12). The entire Levitical family is honored with such service: and the rule of sacred rites for them is to be subordinate to the highest and to act under the leadership of Aaron. But to think about what is higher than this and to seek more than what is assigned and determined by God causes punishment and destruction; and this is shown by experience itself; for in the same book of Numbers it is written: “Korah the son of Isaac, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, and Abnan the son of Peleph, the sons of Reuben, rose up against Moses, and with them of the children of Israel two hundred and fifty men, the leaders of the congregation, called to the assemblies, men of renown. And they gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, It is enough for you; the whole community, all are holy, and the Lord is among them! why do you put yourselves above the people of the Lord? When Moses heard this, he fell on his face and spoke to Korah and all his companions, saying: Tomorrow the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, to bring him closer to Himself; and whomever He chooses, he will bring him closer to Him; This is what you should do: Korah and all his accomplices, take yourself censers and tomorrow put fire in them and pour incense into them before the Lord; and whomever the Lord chooses will be holy. Enough for you, sons of Levi! And Moses said to Korah: Listen, you sons of Levi! Is it really not enough for you that the God of Israel separated you from the community of Israel and brought you closer to Himself, so that you performed services at the tabernacle of the Lord and stood before the community..., serving for them? He has brought you close and with you all your brothers, the sons of Levi, and you also covet the priesthood" (Num. 16:1-10.) The sons of Kohath, having the ministry of carrying the Holy of Holies on their shoulders, foolishly aspired to the highest rank and challenged the priests for their dignity, delighting themselves with honor, according to what is written (Heb. 5:4), neglecting the commandment of God, wickedly violating the laws of sacred rites, imputing the honor of the primates to absolutely nothing. For they said to Moses and Aaron: “You are sufficient as the whole congregation, all are holy, and the Lord is in them.” You hear how low they look at the degree granted to them and almost say that the honor of a bishop is a common property, and belongs not only to their family, but also to everyone else, and that in general there is nothing special or more glorious in them (Moses and Aaron), even though they were considered to be above others, having received their advantage by definition from God: and this obviously means to condemn the highest definitions and impute the will of the Lawgiver to nothing. But the divine Moses, acting with his usual meekness, admonished them as if they were sick and, not yet thinking about how great wrath would befall them, reproached them, saying: “May it be sufficient for you, sons of Levi.” For “food is not enough for you,” he says, “that the God of all has made you chosen out of all for a service so honorable and admirable? They were still hard-hearted, indestructible and unbridled in their arrogance, until their madness brought them to the point of disaster that “the earth opened its mouth,” captured them with their offspring and tents and plunged them into extraordinary destruction, for “they went down... alive into the pit,” as it is written (Num. 16, 30, 33; fn. Ps.54:16). So, it is wicked and guilty of death according to the judgment of God - to rebel against the head and not to submit to those who have been appointed to be in charge and have received preferential honor from God. The fruit of the highest intelligence is to value what you have and to be grateful for it, and not to rush recklessly into what is beyond the measure determined for us, and not to strive for what has not yet been given to us, considering that what is common and accessible to many is that which is controlled only by a wave from above. K. So, the order of the priesthood should not be violated through the merging of offices: this is how it should be and should not be otherwise. K. But, as if he were assigning gifts to the people under his authority as a common inheritance for both, and whatever someone brings as a gift and sacrifice to God, this, he says, should belong to the priests and Levites together. For this is what the God of all things said to Aaron: “You will have no inheritance in their land, and you will not have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel; And to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given tithes for an inheritance of all that Israel has for their service, because they minister in the tabernacle of meeting; and the children of Israel shall not henceforth approach the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die: let the Levites correct the services in the tabernacle of meeting, and bear their sin. This is an everlasting statute throughout your generations; but among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance; Because the tithe of the children of Israel, which they bring as an offering to the Lord, I give to the Levites as an inheritance, therefore I said to them, “They will not receive an inheritance among the children of Israel” (Num. 18:20-24). In Deuteronomy, as if returning to the same speech, he says: “The priests of the Levites, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no part or inheritance with Israel: they must eat the sacrifices of the Lord and His part; But there will be no inheritance for him among his brothers: the Lord himself is his inheritance, as He told him. This is what should be due to the priests from the people, from those who sacrifice oxen or sheep: they must give the priest the shoulder, jaws and stomach; Also, the firstfruits of your bread, your wine, your oil, and the firstfruits of the wool of your sheep, you shall give to him, for the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand [before the Lord your God], to serve... in the name of the Lord, he and his sons all the days” (Deut. 18:1-5). See how the sacred race is not included in the people and is separated from the others, not only by their service activities, but also by the difference of hope. For to those who lead a low life, committed to earthly things and thirsting for what is temporary and, like a shadow, transitory, one could rightly say: this is your part; “This is your lot, the portion measured out to you from Me, says the Lord” (Jer. 13:25). For those who have preferred a holy and immaculate life and have already been chosen for the sake of virtue, it is very fitting to say: “You will have no inheritance in their land, and you will not have any share among them; “I am your portion and your inheritance,” says the Lord (Num. 18, 20; Deut. 10:9, 18:1). So the Savior, who once came and asked how he could receive “eternal life,” said: “You know the commandments: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, and the like; and when he clearly stated that he was the keeper of all this, and added to this, asking: what else am I missing? Jesus told him: if you want to be perfect, “go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me” (Mark 10:17–21; Matt.19:16–21). So, those who want to serve God without distraction, who consider it their duty to follow Him, must move away from earthly things, only recognize Him as their destiny, and be fattened with hope in Him, according to what is sung in the Psalms: “Delight yourself in the Lord,... Commit to the Lord... and He will fulfill it” (Ps. 36:4-5). Thus he divides tithes to the Levites as reward for the labor of their service, because their labor is not without reward for the saints, but chosen honors and glorious rewards. For “do not worry,” says the Savior, “about your life, what you will eat and what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will wear... Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:25, 33). Sins (Num. 18:23) refers to what is sacrificed for sins. And this is also an image of Christ, who was sacrificed and slain for us in order to abolish the sin of the world. Further, only the priests could eat from the sin offering; for it is not fitting for defiled souls to partake of the holy Body of Christ, but for the elect and pure, to whom one could cry: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9). Then, for those appointed to serve, the shoulder, jaws and stomach are removed; for active and perfecting power must be inherent in the chosen race: and this is what the shoulder means; also, of course, the word, obviously a teaching word, the image of which is the jaws; and also the stomach, which very well signifies fertility. Shouldn't he who truly performs sacred acts and is close to God be active and capable? K. So, God made the Levitical family deprived of an inheritance, and the chosen one gave it an inheritance - Himself. However, he wisely did not allow him to seem placed completely outside the others, receiving absolutely nothing; but he established a kind of proportionality in this matter, giving a small something for the necessary use. For it is written like this: “And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying: Command the children of Israel, that out of the portions of their possession they should give the Levites cities to live in, and give the fields around the cities on all sides to the Levites: the cities will be for them to live in, and the fields will be for their livestock and for their goods and for all their daily needs; the fields of the cities, which you are to give to the Levites, from the wall of the city shall extend [two] thousand cubits in all directions; And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, and in the middle a city: such shall be their fields by the cities. Of the cities that you will give to the Levites, [there will be] six cities for refuge, into which you will allow the murderer to flee” (Num. 35, 1-6). For the saints in this world are allowed to own what would be sufficient to support life and could satisfy them in the necessary needs of the body, because “Having food,” it is said, “and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Tim. 6:8). And excess is not harmless. In this way, the cities and dwellings and the surrounding fields were separated for the holy servants, and the surrounding fields, moreover, measured: God decided so in order, on the one hand, not to weaken them to the point of effeminacy, giving more than was necessary, on the other, not to cause immeasurable oppression through unnecessary constraint, but in order to usefully eliminate very great poverty and destroy the burden; for he balanced the contentment with the need. He also commands that cities of refuge be handed over to the Levites, entrusting to the care of the priestly people the most unfortunate people and those in greatest need of help. Here, I think, an image has been given to the churches to care for prisoners, for “Remember,” it says, “the prisoners, as if you were in bonds with them, and those who suffer, just as you yourself are in the body” (Heb. 13:3). K: And that the object of hope of the holy priests is firm, and that their destiny is constant, He mysteriously showed this in this way. At the end of the book of Leviticus it is written: “And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you come into the land that I am giving you, then the land shall rest on the Sabbath of the Lord; six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the produce thereof: and in the seventh year shall there be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath of the Lord” (Lev. 25:1-4). Having defined the sabbatical period and commanded that the land be left unsown and unplowed in the seventh year, he added: “And count yourself seven sabbatical years, seven times seven years, so that in the seven sabbatical years you will have forty-nine years; And you shall blow the trumpet in the seventh month, on the tenth [day] of the month, on the day of atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. and sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom on earth to all its inhabitants: let this be your jubilee; and return every one to his possession, and every one return to his tribe.... In the year of jubilee, return every one to his possession” (Lev. 25:8-10,13). What is the basis for the fact that the land itself was liberated, and also what the year of liberation means, we will explore this in due time. And that the Levites were given a chosen inheritance, this will now be said; Meanwhile, it is also written like this: “If someone sells a residential building in a city fenced with a wall, then it can be redeemed before the expiration of a year from its sale: within a year it can be redeemed; But if it is not redeemed before the end of a whole year, then the house that is in the walled city will remain forever with the one who bought it throughout his generations, and will not depart from him at the jubilee. And houses in villages around which there is no wall should be considered equal to a field of land: you can redeem them... it is possible, and they go away on the anniversary. And the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites can always redeem; But if any of the Levites does not redeem, then the house that was sold in the city of their possession will go away at the jubilee, because the houses in the cities of the Levites constitute their possession among the children of Israel; and the fields around the cities cannot be sold, because this is their eternal possession” (Lev. 25:29-34). P. But what does the law say here? I don't quite understand. K. So listen. If someone in the city bought a building from the owners, then let it be allowed, it is said, that those who sold it would be allowed to buy back what was sold, and this before the expiration of one year; and if this is not done, then after a year the one who bought it will be, it is said, the owner, and will no longer be subject to obligation. If it is a field and an estate, then it will be allowed, it is said, to always be returned as soon as the seller pays back the money given to the buyer; and if he cannot pay and receive his possession back, then he ordered that it be returned in the fiftieth year without any payment from the ancient owner; for to the one who bought the property, the law credited the benefits of long-term use in payment of what was due to him. But God legitimized this for the common people. The Levitical possession was again placed as if separately and in special honor, saying that it could always be redeemed, and preventing it from being sold: for “this,” he says, “is their portion and lot.” P. So, is it really, most honorable, that the purpose of the law is limited to this for us, and research cannot produce anything necessary at all? K. In this case, how else is the law spiritual (Rom. 7:14)? Or how is it that the Holy Scripture says that what is in the city should not be ransomed after one year deserves attention, but that which is outside the city and in the fields can always be ransomed? But it is easy to see that the all-wise God does not give much importance to the literal meaning, when it is followed by the spiritual meaning and the exact features of the truth are clearly visible. P. Explain what the law says. K. It is not clear, Palladium, the matter of this sale is very inaccessible to understanding, even if anyone in the simplest sense wanted to understand it. I will say, however, as best I can and as it comes to my mind. But I also ask you, and you tell me: to the people engaged in the devastation of cities and countries, whom do you think would be more convenient to take captive with less difficulty - those who are inside the walls and well-fortified cities, or those who are in the fields? P. Who doesn’t understand this? It is easiest to take prisoners in fields unprotected by walls. K. You said it right. And which ones, do you think, lead their lives better and more decently, those who are urban and have knowledge of the law, or those who were brought up more roughly in the villages? Are not the inhabitants of the villages weaker in protecting their safety, while those living in fortified cities will give the best advice, and will lawfully discuss what is necessary for their own benefit, when there is a time for advice and judgment? P. Truth: although it may happen that they too will be defeated. K. Yes, and everyone will forgive those living in the villages if they were captured and sinned against the best decision; for they are not at all surrounded by walls and are less sensible than those who live in cities. And everyone would blame these, and I think quite rightly, if they, after defending themselves from the enemies and saving their property, during the attacks of the opponents, surrendered themselves to them voluntarily and, defeated by their own cowardice, fell to the power of the opponents. K. Look now at the Jews living in the holy city, about which the God of all says: “I will be for it, says the Lord, a wall of fire around it, and I will be glorified in the midst of it” (Zechariah 2:5); and, moreover, wise in the law; That’s why (the prophet) said: “Happy are we, Israel, that we know what is pleasing to God” (Bar. 4:4). Don’t you think that such people are completely inaccessible to demonic attacks, if only they decided to live right and obey the Divine laws? J. Crowds of pagans, having a coarser and more captivated mind, quite naturally, without difficulty, can be captured by the predator Satan, being deprived of help from above and not having the law as a guide. J. Thus, the Jews, living in a city fortified by walls and fenced with help from above, having an educated mind and knowing what is pleasing to God, then, without considering what is appropriate for them, frivolously rejecting the inheritance assigned to them and falling away from the highest hope, if they do not sober up from their drunkenness, according to what is written, and do not return their property at the coming of the year of redemption, that is, the coming of our Savior, they will continue to remain, and will forever be under the power of the one who bought it, that is, Satan. For “behold, says the Lord, through your iniquities they were sold for your sins and your mother was released” (Is. 50: 1). But the completely helpless multitude of pagans, afflicted by a rude and ignorant mind, and therefore given over to the slavery of others, can always be redeemed by the mercy of God: for they will receive their lot, having been called to freedom in the summer of abandonment, when Christ freed all the sunflowers from dominion of demons, removed from the snares of sin, justified by faith and sanctified by the Spirit, having abolished with His cross “the handwriting that was written about us” (Col. 2:14). The Levitical is not alienated: the inheritance of the saints is unshakably observed, and they have a sure hope. Likewise, Christ once told the most inquisitive Mary that she “has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). But both the small and the great priest, and the people, and everyone in general belong to the redemption and steadfastness of hope in Christ. P. So, Israel will sell its inheritance without knowing the year of redemption, and the pagans will have hope, and through Christ there will be a return of the blessings of nature. K: I think so; and our word will be sealed in truth by the God of all, and in another way meaning this through the mouth of Ezekiel, in the distribution of property: “Thus says the Lord God: if a prince gives a gift to one of his sons, then this should also go as an inheritance to his sons; this ownership of them must be hereditary. If he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his slaves, then it will belong to him only until the year of liberation, and then it will return to the prince. Only to his sons should his inheritance pass. But the prince cannot take from the hereditary plot of the people, displacing them from their possession; He can only give out of his own possessions to his children, so that none of My people will be driven out of his possessions” (Ezek. 46:16-18). Is this saying clear to you, and does the meaning of what was said seem simple? P. Nimalo; but I would very gladly learn it from you. K. Palladius calls the Elder the High Priest who received the lot to be the leader of the people subordinate to him. So, since the holy priests were allocated necessary and chosen inheritances, and since God decreed that they should be retained forever and not be alienated, it was necessary for Him to make this clear. For if, he says, it happened that one of the elders, that is, the clergy, should share something from his inheritance with his own children, then let it be established, he says, and let the gift be inalienable to the one who received it; because this inheritance does not pass from foreigners to anyone, but from priests to priests. And if he gave it to one of the slaves, then, he says, the one who received it will not own it permanently, but will completely return to the elder in the “summer of scapegoating” his inheritance. But to this is added the command that the celebrant removes from himself the desire for the lot of others; for this, I think, means what is said: “let not the elder take away from the inheritance of the people” of his own. Does this speech seem sufficient to you to explain the matter? K. So, let her proceed to the study of the spiritual meaning: for what is given in the law is images, and in the shadows the image of the truth is inscribed. K. So, the inheritances passing from fathers to children are unshakable and constant; and vice versa, those who pass from masters to slaves are alienated and returned back: for this is said in the Holy Scriptures. J. Among us who are justified by faith, there is one elder - Christ, who has as His inheritance the inheritance of God the Father. That is why he said when he addressed Him as if in the form of a prayer: “And all that is mine is Yours, and yours is Mine; and I was glorified in them. (John 17:10). The divine Songsinger sings somewhere that He “ascended on high, took captivity captive, received gifts for men” (Ps. 67:19; cf. Eph. 4:8); for “And God hath appointed others in the Church, firstly apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers” (1 Cor. 12:28), “To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge” and similar things (1 Cor. 12:8). And just to say, with his blessings he fattens the souls of those who love Him. So firmly and permanently is the possession of what is bestowed upon the celebrant and the free; and among those who have a servile spirit, that is, among the Israelites who do not accept free faith, but are still under the yoke of nasty and vile sin, even the grace given through Moses is alienated and taken away, that is, the knowledge of the law, which leads to the truth. And they have absolutely no inheritance with the saints, and no part with Christ: “For to everyone who has,” it is said, “more will be given and he will have abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29, 13 and Luke 8:18). And that Israel is deprived of its inheritance, having not accepted faith and not adorned with the dignity of freedom, the Savior pointed out this, exposing, as I think, the power of this law; for he said this to those who decided not to obey: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. But the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free” (John 8:34-36). So, look, the right to share in the inheritance belongs only to the free, and not to those under the yoke of slavery: for the sons are those who are in the house, and not slaves, it is said. K. By adding: “let not the elder take from the inheritance of his people” in order to give the inheritance to “his son,” the law indicates something such that Christ (because He is our Elder) will never allocate to any of the sanctified an inheritance that is not appropriate for him. For is it not a different part and a different destiny that befits those who have not completely dedicated their lives to God, and a different and superior one befits the chosen ones and those who have reached the pinnacle of lordship in Christ? J. So, it is indecent for saints to strive to receive from Christ that which befits the worldly and those who lead a life that is not entirely holy; on the contrary, they should not seek anything carnal, but everything Divine and spiritual. So the Savior Himself commanded the holy Apostles to say words of prayer, composing a petition very suitable for saints: for “Pray thus:,” he says, “...Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:9-13). So, to those who indecently ask for what the Elder does not give, we will say: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly” (James 4:3). And that it is true that he who says to God: You will reward everyone “according to his deeds” (Jer. 25, 14), the law again points this out to us, saying that for this reason “let not the elder take away from the inheritance of people,” in order to give his inheritance to his sons, says, “so that none of My people is driven out of his possession” (Ezek. 46, 18); for everyone, as it were, has been prepared from God for his own portion and a portion corresponding to his deeds. Or, perhaps, he says that it is very indecent for the sanctified to step out of their position and desire what those who think about worldly things have, and this is temporal and carnal and, like shadows, transitory. K. So, special inheritances, as well as cities, taken from others, were given from God to the holy priests as rewards; but, as it were, the one, the glorified Jerusalem, determines what is common to all. For this is what he said in Deuteronomy: “And if a Levite comes from one of your dwellings, from all the land of Israel where he lived, and comes according to the desire of his soul to the place that the Lord will choose, and serves in the name of the Lord his God, like all his brothers the Levites who stand there before the Lord, then let them enjoy the same share, in addition to what they received from the sale of their father’s property” (Deut. 18, 6-8). Since One is the God of the priests. everywhere, then we must be united by those who have been elevated to this rank and chosen by a decree from above. This is still preserved in the churches, and the law about this is honored among us: for although each of those elected to the priesthood has his own city and his own destiny, he is accepted for the priesthood if on some occasion he comes from one to another city, or country, and eats with the priests and is honored according to the laws of love. But it seems that this law, as I think, also means something mysterious: for countless throughout the universe are countries and cities in which holy and God-loving souls of people serve God, living lawfully and evangelically, and as if offering Him sacrifices in the stench of a fragrance, obviously spiritual: faith, hope, love, patience, meekness, mercy for the poor: “for such sacrifices are pleasing to God,” according to the Scriptures (Heb. 13, 16). But they all flock, as it were, to one and common mother, “to the heavenly Jerusalem,... the church of the firstborn” (Heb. 12:22–23), the beautiful city on high, “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Heb. 8:2). There the purer will serve, since sin will be completely taken away from us, and there will be no lion and serpent, basilisk and asp there: for “And there will be...,” it is said, “the path along it will be called the holy way.... There will be no lion there, and no ravenous beast will ascend on it” (Is. 35, 8-9). There we will eat the portion set aside for us; for it is written: “bear the fruits of your labors” (Ps. 127:2). Wouldn’t there be a reward of benefits corresponding to the labors of everyone, albeit to a greater extent, according to the bounty of the Lord? For “good measure,” it is said, “shaken down, pressed together, and running over, will be poured into your bosom” (Luke 6:38). P. You said it right. Just explain this to me: weren’t the Levites allowed to officiate everyone in their own city and village? K. It was not: for there was one tabernacle and one altar, on which all sacrifices were offered, and one temple in Jerusalem, built by Solomon, which carried out the image of that ancient tabernacle. And the law absolutely forbids anyone to offer sacrifices outside the holy tabernacle; and for those who decided to do this, the punishment was extermination and they were threatened with a death sentence, for he clearly said this: “if anyone... slaughters a bull or a sheep or a goat in the camp, or if anyone slaughters it outside the camp... then that person will be cut off from his people” (Lev. 17:3,9). And that those who wished to make sacrifices at that time were quite necessary to come to the church and to the most holy city and there it was lawful to make the sacrifices that those who came from the tribe of Levi offered, you can clearly hear about this from God, who directly says in Deuteronomy: “You may not eat in your gates the tithes of your bread, and of your wine, and of your oil, and of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, and of all your vows that you You have promised both your freewill offerings and the heft of your hands; but eat this... before the Lord your God, in the place that the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, and your manservant and your maidservant, and the Levite, [and the stranger] who is within your gates, and rejoice before the Lord your God in all that has been done with your hands. See that you do not leave the Levite all the days [that you live] in your land” (Deut. 12:17-19). For the Divinity is inaccessible and sacrifice is not acceptable without the mediation of the Levites. They mediate, imitating the mediator “between God and men” (1 Tim. 2:5), that is, Christ. And that there is one Church, one sacrament of Christ, and that a sacrifice not performed in the church is illegal, moreover, rejected and cannot be pleasing to God, this was clearly shown by the law, saying that sacrifices should not be performed outside the holy tabernacle. How strictly the observance of this was, learn from this. There would be nothing incredible, but on the contrary it was true that innumerable cities, scattered throughout Judea, were separated from Jerusalem by long intermediate distances. And because it was difficult and not easy for those who wanted to sacrifice the firstfruits of bread, as well as oil and wine, to carry it out such a long way! For some, the obstacle to this may have been the labor of their hands. But it was obscene, moreover, even very absurd, due to the fact that the matter was difficult and inconvenient for those who were far away, to violate the beauty of the truth by the sons of Israel offering sacrifices not in the holy tabernacle. Therefore, in order that the law regarding this, after the proper removal of all obstacles encountered in the way, could finally be fulfilled in accordance with the will of the Lawgiver, Moses gave instructions and explains the Divine will in Deuteronomy, saying: “Take tithes of all the produce of your seed, which comes from [your] field every year, and eat before the Lord your God in the place that He will choose for His name to dwell. there; ...the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, and the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the road is long for you, so that you cannot carry it, because the place that the Lord your God will choose to put His name there is far from you, and the Lord your God has blessed you, then exchange it for silver and take the silver in your hand and come to the place that the Lord your God will choose; and buy with this money everything that your soul desires, oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, and everything that your soul requires of you; and eat there before the Lord your God, and rejoice, you and your family. And do not leave the Levite who is in your gates, for he has no part or inheritance with you” (Deut. 14:22-27). Do you see with what skill the law levels out the uneven, makes the difficult to pass easily, and makes the difficult easier? And this, I think, means what was said through the mouth of the prophet: “The path of the righteous is straight; You make the paths of the righteous smooth” (Is.26:7). Pay attention also to the fact that everywhere and necessarily the Levite is involved, by which the law clearly shows us that God would not accept any sacrifice from unholy hands and made in disagreement with the law. P. So, the Levitical family is honored in everything. K. Absolutely so, Palladium; for the priest is the image and imprint of Christ, since Emmanuel is called the intercessor of “God and men,” also the messenger and Holy Hierarch of our confession, according to the Scriptures (1 Tim. 2:5 and Heb. 3:1), who “not with the blood of goats and bulls, but with His own blood, once entered into the sanctuary and obtained eternal redemption.... For by one offering He made forever those who are sanctified are perfect,” according to the Scriptures (Heb. 9:12, 10:14). Pay attention, if you wish, to how in another way the celebrant is crowned with the glory of Christ. Meanwhile, He clearly calls to us and says: “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father” (John 5:22-23); and also through the mouth of the saint: “There is one Lawgiver and Judge,” as it appears in the Holy Scriptures (James 4:12): and meanwhile the divine David sings: “For God is the Judge” (Ps.49:6). The legislator, appropriating the bright dignity of such a court as coming from a sacred family, says this in Deuteronomy: “If in any matter it becomes difficult for you to decide between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, between wallpaper and beatings, and there are dissenting opinions in your gates, then get up and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose..., and come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who will be in those days, and ask them, and they will tell you how to judge; and do according to the word that they tell you, in the place that the Lord chooses..., and try to do everything that they teach you; act according to the law that they will teach you, and according to the decree that they will tell you, and do not deviate either to the right or to the left from what they tell you. And whoever acts so boldly that he does not listen to the priest who stands there in service before the Lord your God, or the judge..., he must die - and so destroy evil from Israel; and all the people will hear and fear, and they will no longer act insolently” (Deut. 17:8-13). You see that the law clearly requires those who decide to bring a complaint against someone for any reason, that they make the clergyman the judge and decider. But be careful to fulfill in accordance with everything that will be prescribed to you: “For the mouth of the priest shall keep knowledge, and the law shall be sought from his mouth,” according to the word of the prophet (Mal. 2:7). For he himself does not at all lay down laws, but on the contrary brings the will of the Lawgiver onto the straight path, incorruptibly explaining it and being the best dispenser of justice, subtly weighs the judgment on each case. Therefore, those who decide not to obey them are accused of rudeness and arrogance and are assigned the highest of all evils as punishment, that is, death: “let him die,” it is said, he who does not pay attention to “the priest standing there in the service before the Lord your God” (Deut. 17:12). So, great and truly wonderful is the presence of God and His service; and he who does not honor the servant of God is subject to judgment and punishment, and he who despises this Divine dignity will suffer severe punishment for his contempt. We will find that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself cared about respect for this law; for He thus cried out to the people of Judah: “The scribes and Pharisees sat in the seat of Moses; So whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do” (Matthew 23:2-3). Therefore, let no one judge the priest, even if he seemed dissolute and was negligent in his determination to live in accordance with the law, but let him be kind to him when he explains the law; for he suffers from shortcomings depending on his own will, but he explains what is God's. So, God should not be dishonored because of human things. K. And what is glorious and truly worthy of attention is the work of the priesthood, you can also see this from the fact that it has a most glorious beginning and the same end: for it cannot be hidden either that someone is elevated to the degree of priesthood, or that he is called from God to the highest and heavenly abodes (John 14:2) and left the priesthood to another. Therefore, Christ also said about the priests preaching the gospel among the pagans (Rom. 15:16), as well as among the Israelites, that they will be known everywhere and in everything and will gain visible glory for everyone: for “No one, having lit a candle, puts it in a hidden place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, so that those who enter may see the light” (Luke 11, 33). And that what has been said is true, I mean that the Divine servant will be in visible and wondrous glory, let the divine Isaiah convince of this, exclaiming: “Come up to the high mountain, O preacher of Zion!” (Is.40, 9). P. That this is so is clear to everyone. But tell me how this image was written for us in the Holy Scriptures. K: It may be very easy for you, my friend, to see this depicted as if in rough outline; for this is what God said in the book of Numbers to the most sacred Moses: “And take Aaron... and Eleazar his son, and lead them to Mount Hor...; And take off Aaron's clothes, and put them on Eleazar his son, and let Aaron go away and die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded. They went to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation, and Moses took off Aaron's clothes, and clothed Eleazar his son in them; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain” (Num. 20:25–28). So, do you understand how Aaron, who was about to die and cease to exist, and also who was to be his successor in the priesthood, who was descended from him, that is, Eleazar, is elevated to the mountain? The mountain signifies the visible and high position and vastness of glory from everywhere. So about everyone elevated to the level of sacred rites, let it be said: “A city standing on the top of a mountain cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). Book 14. About the fact that those who want to have access to the church must be clean and washed from sinful filth and only such approach to God K. You will understand very well, and not for a long time. The Ammanites, who descended from Esau, were close in origin and consanguineous with the sons of Jacob, with Israel, I say; but even nature itself, I don’t know how, having been ignored, those descended from Esau turned out to be unfaithful to the customs of kinship, they appeared cruel and unforgiving towards their loved ones and half-blooded people, that is, towards Israel. For when he (Israel), leaving Egypt, passed near the country of the Ammanites, then, like a brother, he begged the inhabitant of this country to allow him to cross it and show mercy to them, the offended; but he didn't allow it. And what am I saying: I didn’t allow it? Moreover, he armed himself, went to war and would have seriously offended if Israel, according to the Divine voice, had not shied away from him. And it is written about this like this: “And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the King of Edom [to say], “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the difficulties that have befallen us; our fathers went over to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt for a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly; and we cried to the Lord, and He heard our voice, and sent an Angel, and brought us out of Egypt; and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city at your very border; let us pass through your land: we will not go through the fields and through the vineyards, and we will not drink water from [your] wells; But let us go along the royal road, we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have crossed your borders. But Edom said to him: do not pass through me, otherwise I will come out against you with a sword” (Num. 20: 14-18). And after a few words: “And Edom came out against him with a large people and with a strong hand. So Edom did not agree to allow Israel to pass through its borders, and Israel went away from it” (Num. 20, 20-21). Is this word not clear and visual? K: Don’t you understand that those who were related to the Israelites through a relationship of close kinship were exposed by their very deeds as being alien to love and hard-hearted, and no different from wild animals? For when they should have pity on those who are brothers in exploits and labors, they go out to fight against them. Therefore, the law says: “you cannot enter into the congregation of the Lord... because they did not meet you with bread and water on the way when you came from Egypt” (Deut. 23:3-4), that is, because of extreme lack of compassion and savagery of morals reaching the point of wickedness. You can see that this is the attitude of the crowds and leaders of heretics towards us who have decided to walk the right path. For as regards the knowledge of the one and only God the Father and the acceptance of faith in the Son and the Spirit, although not entirely sound (acceptance), they have the glory, though not true, of brotherhood in relation to us, and in an inauthentic sense, however, they retain kinship with us; but when we are persecuted, they do not protect us, but on the contrary, they burden us with their malice: for “They went out from us, but were not ours, according to what is written: for if they had been ours, they would have remained with us” (1 John 2:19). And the Savior Himself turns, and very rightly, to those who have false honesty, who are not yet accustomed to doing deeds for His glory, with the words: “He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters” (Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23). Does it seem to you that the Ammonites are like the God-hating crowds of heretics, excessively afflicted with lack of compassion and wickedness? K. Look, if you like, at the Moabites, who are clearly very hostile to those who want to serve the one by nature and true God. For they were worshipers of idols; overly relying on divination and sorcery, not a little frightened even by the flight of birds, and gnashing their teeth at the prosperity of Israel, they bribed Balaam and inspired him to pronounce a curse (on Israel); but by the unspeakable power of God the lips of the soothsayer turned to blessings they did not want. The same is the war of the Hellenes against us, envious of the glory of our Savior and raising up against us all the power of the devil, which is shaken by Divine and highest grace, pouring out powerlessness in the crowd of demons and transforming that towards which malice was directed into something that produces joy. K. So, the Ammonites, as well as the Moabites, are inaccessible to the holy thing, and very rightly: for those who have similar daring attempts and similar insolence, it becomes them to suffer equal punishments. Pay attention also to the caution of the law: it completely separates the saints from them and even, one might say, does not command you to enter into conversation with them, saying: “Do not wish them peace and prosperity all your days, forever” (Deut. 23:6). Is this not, obviously, what the two saints, Paul and John, taught us? For one of them says: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house and do not welcome him” (2 John 1:10); and this, I think, means: “Do not consult with them in a way that is peaceful and useful to them.” And another says: “The heretic, after the first and second admonition, turn away, knowing that such a one has become corrupted and sins, being self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11); this means: don’t say something useful to them. For it is necessary, says the law, to give way to people who are extremely depraved, as if they were mad, saying (to them): “Go into the flame of your fire and the arrows of your fiery arrows” (Is. 50:11). But the Ammonite was forbidden (to enter the court of the tabernacle) until the third generation, and the Moabite even until the tenth, in which, as I think, at the very time God shows us the greatness of his indignation towards both of them: a lesser punishment, as is natural, is assigned to heretics, and about them we can say what was undoubtedly said about the Jews: “For I testify to them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10, 2); for, considering themselves to be speaking correctly and wise, the wretched do not notice that they are fighting against the dogmas of truth, and, being possessed by false zeal, they think that they are defending the glory of God, taking up arms against those who walk the right path. The Moabites, that is, crowds of pagans, brazenly and openly, and without any hesitation, fight for God's glory; That is why the law threatened them with a more severe punishment. However, both of them were thrown out of the sacred enclosure as unclean and God-hating. P. So, regarding desecration, it is not a harmless thing to even enter into a conversation with someone alien and different-minded. K. You understand very well. Therefore, the law separates those who are washed and clean and therefore have already become God’s own, as if by a wall, from uncleanness, saying: “When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are going to take possession of it, and drives out from before you the many nations, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, the seven nations that more numerous and stronger than you, and the Lord your God will deliver them to you and defeat them, then consign them to the curse, do not enter into an alliance with them and do not spare them; and thou shalt not enter into kinship with them: thou shalt not give thy daughter to his son, and thou shalt not take his daughter to thy son; for they will turn your sons away from Me” (Deut. 7:1–4). The law is so careful: “Let them not make a will,” he says, “to make a covenant against them”; for that which is still defiled does not agree and is not in touch with that which is sanctified, that which is enlightened is in darkness and darkness, that which is accepted is unacceptable, that which is accepted is not acceptable, and that which enters into the sacred and Divine tabernacle is expelled from it. P. But what kind of forethought of the law is this? And why does he separate, and, moreover, completely, the pure from the defiled, even though the latter was perhaps adorned with virtue? K. Because there is a very great danger, my friend, that even what appears to be right does not take a deviation towards what is improper and is not distracted from what is proper, either by being carried away by something, or by a lust-inducing pleasure, or by the inherent inclination to do so, which leads to sin in nature itself. She is almost always inclined to the vicious, as the Divine Word testifies to us: “the thoughts of the human heart,” it says, “are evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21). I will give, if you wish, as a visual proof of this, what, as it is related, she herself suffered, born of Jacob. P. Dina, of course, you mean, I think so. K. Absolutely so, Palladium; for it is thus written in the book of Genesis: “When Jacob returned from Mesopotamia, he came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, and encamped before the city. And he bought part of the field on which he pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred coins. And he built an altar there, and called on the name of the Lord God of Israel. Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of that land, saw her, and took her, and slept with her, and did violence to her. And his soul was attached to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the maiden and spoke after the maiden’s heart” (Gen. 33:18–20, 34:1–3). So, look: while she was still willingly turning and staying in her father’s tent, in which he called upon the God of Israel and erected the holy altar, she was still undefiled and adorned with virginity; but as soon as she left her father’s tent and, leaving the sacred place, mixed with other people’s women, she was immediately forced to defile herself in a way that was unusual for her and was no longer a virgin; and although at first she involuntarily submitted to the voluptuousness of others, after that she herself wanted to be with her offender; for “he spoke,” it is said, “after the maiden’s heart.” K. So, having offered this sensible thing as an image of the intelligible, let us now say that the soul, leading an excellent life as if in some kind of tabernacle, will be all-pure and undefiled, and free from all abomination; if he goes out somewhere and rushes to the daughters of foreigners, that is, if he experiences and considers the life of the worldly, he will corrupt his good and noble mind, for cohabitation with the vicious is not harmless for those who intend to lead a glorious life. But the divine David, as we know, did not want to walk outside the sacred tabernacle, but on the contrary, most of all he prayed to stay and live not far from it, saying: “I asked one thing from the Lord, this only I seek, that I might abide in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, contemplate the beauty of the Lord and visit His church, for He would hide me in His tabernacle on the day of trouble, would hide me in the secret place of the village. His own, he would lift me up on a rock” (Ps. 26:4-5). In this case, I think, he refers to the firmness and steadfastness of a pious life as a village Divine and sacred, in which village, having taken refuge in some way, he would be elusive to the passions striving to destroy him. K. What then? Can’t everyone learn more clearly and truly that sometimes even in people who seem to have established themselves, the treatment of foreigners can produce an extreme degree of defilement, when they bring into evidence the end of Solomon’s life and what happened to him to experience on the very threshold of old age? K. He was so famous and glorious that he had already received incomparable fame; however, he later turned to vileness, moreover, he even cowardly condescended to extreme wickedness against God. So it was with him; for it is written in the Third Book of Kings: “King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. And all [the kings] on earth sought to see Solomon in order to listen to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart” (1 Kings 10:23-24). But so glorious and famous, and so finally achieved in wisdom that he was the subject of immense wonder among very distant peoples, was overthrown by passion for vicious women and, so to speak, kidnapped from the very Divine tabernacle, plunged into the ditch of idolatry. For this is what is written about him: “And King Solomon loved many foreign women, except Pharaoh’s daughter, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Sidonians, the Hittites, from those nations about whom the Lord said to the children of Israel: “Do not go in to them, and let them not come in to you, lest they turn your hearts aside to their gods.” Solomon clung to them with love. And he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines; and his wives corrupted his heart. During Solomon's old age, his wives inclined his heart to other gods, and his heart was not completely devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father. And Solomon began to serve Ashtoreth, the deity of Sidon, and Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as David his father did” (1 Kings 11:1-6). Is he not worthy of mourning who is said to have fallen into such evil? He who erected this famous temple in Jerusalem, who asked for the Divine “wisdom to sit before Thy throne” (Wisdom 9:4), who, due to his incomparable wisdom, was the subject of wonder even to the very ends of heaven, who shone like a star in cities and countries, being overcome by a passion for shameful women and following the foulest lust, finds himself fallen into such madness that he is completely incompetent. He also considered piety itself in relation to God. So, it is dangerous, without a doubt, to be in communication with foreigners; but the most dangerous thing is to be overcome by carnal pleasure: such an unclean person is hated by the all-pure God, and deprived of virtue, cannot approach the sacred and Divine tabernacle; but he also cannot offer a pleasant sacrifice; for it is written in Deuteronomy: “There shall not be a harlot among the daughters of Israel, and there shall not be a fornicator among the sons of Israel.” (There shall be no tribute-payer of the daughters of Israel, nor one of the sons of Israel who is sold.) “You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord your God by any vow, for both are an abomination to the Lord your God” (Deut. 23:17-18). P. How harsh the law is, and how extremely useful it is! K. Okay, Palladium: you are thinking correctly. But you will be amazed, I think, and even more so if you consider that, by greatly complicating the easy path to pleasure, he drives out the dissolute and unbridled. For look how he clearly condemns those who want to voluntarily and by their own choice practice shameful defilement, and he leads others to this by force; see how, by pointing out what they should not do, he leads them to greater caution and makes it difficult for them to find excuses that could be sufficient for defense: it will no longer be the sins of ignorance that will be blamed, but the sins of negligence and a rebellious spirit. K. Do not some willingly go into fornication, and is it not out of desire for reward that women and youths sell their beauty to the intemperance of some? K. What else? Are not some overcome by shameful greed and, offering those who want their maids or those youths whom they happen to buy, do they not collect this pitiful money, about which the prophet says: “And the young women sell wine and drink?” (Joel 3:3.) It is true that some reach such a degree of depravity and impurity that they sometimes wickedly dare to collect taxes on such shameful things. K: So, those who commit fornication voluntarily, having been removed from evil, then rush towards it of their own free will. Tax payers are those who pay taxes to others under compulsion and collect income from debauchery for those who bought them. J. So, the law everywhere prohibits this, recognizes as wicked the one convicted of such a crime, places him outside the sacred tabernacle and directly makes the Divine altar inaccessible to him, saying that the sacrifice will be unpleasant and the vow unacceptable: for truly unclean are the vows “from the bribes of harlots.” In the same way, he considers “the price of a dog” to be hateful and most abominable: but I think he calls a dog the one who is receptive to uncleanness and who gives himself indifferently to everyone who comes; and the price of a penny is what is offered to him for it. That is why the law proclaims, “Let there be no harlot among the daughters of Israel, and let no fornicator be among the sons of Israel.” And the wise Paul, in agreement with this, cries out: “Flee fornication; Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18). Likewise, he urged those courageously striving for the beauty of abstinence to seek the best; for he also said: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service; and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God, good, acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:1-2). Don't you think that putting aside shameful things is a truly holy and truly all-pure sacrifice? K: And when we withdraw from carnal pleasure, God rejoices; and when we are inclined towards weakness, it greatly grieves, and when we decide to fall into the desires of the flesh, it imposes punishment: for sometimes ardent and unbridled voluptuousness forces us to deviate from God; and that this is true can be immediately shown by what is told about Solomon. But even before him, Israel, who was subjected to this in the desert, was exposed; for it is written: “And Israel dwelt in Shittim, and the people began to commit fornication with the daughters of Moab, and they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate [their sacrifices] and worshiped their gods. And Israel cleave to Baalpeor. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said to Moses: Take all the leaders of the people and hang them before the Lord before the sun, and the fury of the wrath of the Lord will be turned away from Israel” (Num. 25:1-4). Do you see that the Divine most blessed nature seems to be irritated and almost brought into involuntary anger by us? For it is proper for beasts to frantically rush to the charms of women, and it is very wicked to boldly exchange the reverence of God for unbridled pleasure. Therefore, such people “are exposed to the Lord directly to the sun,” that is, they are hanged on straight pillars facing the east: this was one of the types of punishment for them, while this image almost cried out clearly and proclaimed that no one guilty of such sins can hide from the all-seeing and infallible eye of the Judge and go unpunished, but will be exposed, according to the word of the prophet, to shame of all flesh (Isaiah 66:24), subject to severe punishment for the sins they have committed. P. Thus, to be rebuked directly by the sun means to be punished openly and as if before the eyes of God? K. Absolutely so: and this speech of ours does not deviate from the goal. And that those who commit fornication or those who are completely committed fornication will give an account to God of such a vile and nasty life that what is hidden to Him is revealed, and that what is in everyone will be clearly known, this is also depicted to us in another law. For it is written in the book of Numbers: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If a man’s wife be unfaithful, and be unfaithful to him, and a man sleep with her, and shed seed, and it shall be hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she shall be defiled in secret, and there shall be no witness against her, and shall not be caught, and a spirit of jealousy shall come upon him, and he shall be jealous of his wife when she is defiled, or shall come against him. the spirit of jealousy, and he will be jealous of his wife when she is not defiled - let the husband bring his wife to the priest and sacrifice for her a tenth of an ephah of barley flour, but he will not pour oil on her or put frankincense, because this is an offering of jealousy, an offering of remembrance, reminiscent of iniquity; and let the priest bring and set her before the Lord, and the priest shall take the holy water in an earthen vessel, and the priest shall take the earth from the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water; And the priest will set the woman before the Lord, and will uncover the woman’s head, and will give the offering of remembrance in her hands—this is the offering of jealousy, and in the priest’s hand will be bitter water that brings a curse. And the priest will curse her and say to the wife: if no one has slept with you, and you have not become defiled and have not cheated on your husband, then you will be unharmed by this bitter water that brings a curse; but if you have been unfaithful to your husband and have become defiled, and if anyone has slept with you other than your husband, then let the priest swear the wife with a curse, and the priest will say to the wife: May the Lord give you over to a curse and a curse among your people, and may the Lord make your bosom fallen and your belly swollen; and let this water, which brings a curse, pass into your inward parts, so that [your] belly may swell and [your] bosom may fall off. And the wife will say: Amen, amen. And the priest will write these spells on a scroll, and wash them away in bitter water; and he will give the woman bitter water that brings a curse to drink, and the water that brings a curse will enter into her to her harm. And the priest shall take the grain offering of zeal from the hand of the woman, and shall offer that offering before the Lord, and shall bring it to the altar; And the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial, and burn it on the altar, and then give the woman some water to drink; and when he gives her water to drink, then, if she is unclean and has committed a crime against her husband, the bitter water that brings a curse will enter her to her harm, and her womb will swell and her womb will fall off, and this woman will be cursed among her people; if the wife was not defiled and was clean, then she will remain unharmed and will be fertilized with seed” (Num. 5: 11-28). This is the law. But I think that what is written here at length is excellently reduced to a few thoughts by the divine Paul, when he writes to us: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive according to what he has done while living in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). P. I think that this is said correctly; but explain in detail what is relevant to each of the decree. K. Commanded that a wife suspected of adultery, when she suffers an accusation not supported by evidence, should be brought to the priest and brought before the eyes of God: this, I think, means that we will all appear before Christ. Then he commanded that for her we bring a gift consisting of barley flour, not sprinkled with Lebanon and not watered with oil; for this is a sacrifice of jealousy, resembling sin. It is obvious, then, that in everyone’s life a sort of stench ascends to God, accusing those who are devoted to negligence of all their absurd actions, and in relation to those who tried very hard to live correctly, testifying to their righteousness. Therefore, he says, and very rightly, that the gifts of those who are not under suspicion contain flour from wheat with the addition of Lebanon, as well as a libation of oil; for in any case, a life worthy of a person, the image of which can be wheat flour, will be considered by the virtuous God to be fragrant and joyful. And a sign, and a very clear one, of an illegal and decent life for cattle can be barley flour; for it is more fitting for beasts and quite unusual for humans to be uncontrollable in lust and an unbridled desire to rush towards vile voluptuousness. Therefore, the wife, accused of illegal living, brought barley flour to God, without Lebanon and oil, that is, without fragrance and joy; for it is a sacrifice resembling sin; and where there is a reminder of sin, there is how or where there would be joy, because the judged is not in the hope of crowns, but in the fear of condemnation and fire. And, in addition, the wife is brought to the Judge uncovered, that is, not in her usual and befitting adornment. What is the basis for this? - That her guilt is also a guilt of obscenity and an accusation of desecration. And remember that it is not allowed for an uncovered woman to pray to God, and Paul, versed in the law, took the very law of nature as proof that she should be covered, “since,” he says, “hair was given to her instead of a veil” (1 Cor. 11:15). So, the wife accused of indecency was no longer decently adorned. Unveiled in other ways; for before the eyes of the Judge everything is naked, and no one at all can hide from the One who searches the heart and the womb and through the mouth of the prophet, saying: “Am I God only near, says the Lord, and not God far away? Can a person hide in a secret place where I cannot see him? "(Jer. 23, 23-24.) However, that Christ is the Judge, this again indicates mysteriously: for he said that living and pure water should be poured into an earthen vessel, and also part of the earth located at the tabernacle should be poured in; then, after washing away the words of the spell with water, he commanded the wife, suspected of fornication, to drink it: and if she is guilty of a crime, then “the swollen (will swell),” it is said, “the womb ..., and her lashes will fall away; if she is free from guilt, and the suspicion against her is false, then the seed will be fruitful.” P. What is the meaning of these words? Or how can what is named signify Christ for us even now? K. Under the living and pure water is the life-giving Word of God, truly pure and completely unrelated to sin, which appeared in the flesh as if in an earthen vessel; for that the flesh is dust and was taken from the earth, how or from what side can this be doubtful? Under the earth taken from the tabernacle, understand Him who suffered death for our sake; for it is said to human nature: “You are dust, and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:19). And by the words of the curse you can very easily understand the one who was “cursed against us” due to the fact that He was hanged on a tree: “for it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Gal. 3:13; Deut. 21:23). So, Emmanuel, being God by nature, when he penetrates into the depths of human thoughts, then he will expose those guilty of sin, punishing, and will show those who are innocent of this to be fruitful; for this, I think, means: “and will be fertilized by seed”: since this bodily state signifies the fertility of the soul. P. Excellently said. K. So, fornication and carnal passions defile a person and remove him from communion with God: for “those who live according to the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). Flesh, as I think, refers to carnal thoughts: in this sense, what is written will be correctly understood. Moreover, a vicious lifestyle, as well as a mood characterized by coarse morals, and an inclination towards everything most obscene, make us vile and unclean. We should not only take courage against carnal passions, but also be distinguished by meekness of morals, be very careful about love for the brethren, appear crowned with the adornment of justice, and, above all, have a subtle and tested mind, but one that has a wrong attitude towards opinions about God and in the study of dogmas everywhere maintaining impeccability. These are truly perfect and lack nothing better. And that “a man of God must be perfect,” the divine Paul also told us; he calls him perfect for every good work, prepared for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17) and one who is well disposed to do deeds of virtue. Isn’t that so? K. Look how the law (Lev. 11) benefits us in countless ways, mysteriously pointing to the multitude of dumb animals, and to the feathered and aquatic species for the depiction of human morals. Do not be surprised if sometimes he even likens the plants themselves, the natural quality of each perfectly denoting the properties of each of us. For God said through the mouth of Isaiah, pointing to the fragrance, obviously spiritual, and also to the height in virtue of those who blossomed into life through faith in Christ: “I will make a road in the desert, rivers in the desert. I will plant cedar, shittim, myrtle, and olive in the desert; I will plant cypress, sycamore and beech in the steppe” (Is. 43:19, 41:18–19), and also: and it will be said that “Instead of thorns (dracia) a cypress will grow; instead of nettles, myrtle will grow” (Is. 55:13), I think, and decently calling nettles the souls that have not yet been tamed and appear before the eyes of God in the form of wild thorns. But the honest host of saints sometimes likens them to stones: “like stones in a crown, they will shine on the earth” (Zechariah 9:16). And the Savior says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven and mustard seed (Luke 13:21, 19). So, it is customary for God-inspired Scripture to clarify human things with many and clear examples. K. So note that, having usefully indicated the countless types of animals, as well as birds and swimmers, it recognizes some as nasty, as unclean, while others it accepts and delivers from censure, so that those who serve God may know well what they do, they will not be accepted, and what, by wisely abstaining from, they will be far from vice and will be bright and worthy, and honorable, as determined from above. Our law about this is as follows: “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them: Tell the children of Israel, These are the animals that you may eat of all the livestock on the earth: Every cattle that has cloven hooves and a deep cut in the hooves, and that chews the cud, eat; Only these you shall not eat from those that chew the cud and have cloven hooves: a camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, it is unclean to you; and a jerboa, because it chews the cud, but its hooves are not cloven, it is unclean for you, and a hare, because it chews the cud, but its hooves are not cloven, it is unclean for you; and a pig, because its hooves are cloven and there is a deep cut in its hooves, but it does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you; Do not eat their meat and do not touch their corpses; they are unclean to you” (Lev. 11:1-8). Meanwhile, Christ says very clearly: “what comes out of the mouth defiles a person” (Matthew 15:11). This was also said to the divine Peter, when the shroud was lowered from heaven by the four corners, in which, as it is written, there were all sorts of four-legged and feathered creatures: “Rise, Peter, kill and eat”; and when the disciple exclaimed, still fearing the prohibition of the law and saying: “But Peter said: No, Lord, I have never eaten anything bad or unclean.... Then another time a voice came to him: what God has cleansed, you do not consider unclean” (Acts 10:11-15, cf. Ezek.4:14). The divine Paul also writes: “Food does not bring us closer to God” (1 Cor. 8:8). Thus, it is clear that the law does not at all consider anything existing to be unclean, but recognizes that “To the pure all things are pure” (Titus 1:15); but very wisely, applying the natural properties of each animal to the qualities of human morals, brings considerable benefit. And that what I say is true and undoubted, you can also understand from the following. One must abhor, he decreed, that which is condemned by everyone, such as: the camel and the chirogrill (jerboa), the night corvid and the lilik (sea bird), the halavotis (a kind of lizard) and the migali (shrew) (Lev. 11, 4–5, 17, 30), and even more vile than this. Isn't the Lawgiver's intention clear in this, my friend? K: So, it is necessary to transfer with skill what is inherent in some of the dumb animals to the quality of morals, since each of them, one might say, somehow depicts the character of a person and indicates what properties he has. So, aren’t we also in the habit of calling people who are extremely ardent and strong, and those who surpass others in courage, boars, or lions, or by the name of some other such animal, and people who are meek and calm and having a compliant character are called sheep and doves, and sometimes crowned with the name of Silence (sea nymph), borrowing a designation befitting the character of each from a more obvious one? K: So let us turn to the intention of the law and examine carefully what it suggests. K. Commendable deeds of justice and all fairness in general, although they come from the will of everyone, are accomplished, I think, in a twofold way and have, as it were, a twofold appearance. J. We either do something good for ourselves, cutting off, for example, obscene and vicious pleasures, mortifying “mortify the members of the earth” (Col. 3:5), bringing the spirit into a state of meekness, caring about spiritual poverty, having a mind as pure and unclouded as possible, or we do good deeds towards the brethren who wanted to upset us and insulted us with hostility. kindness, giving help to the suffering, comforting the distressed, turning those who are lost through ignorance to the right path and leading to the better, satisfying those in need and zealously striving to do what could be pleasing to God. So, isn’t there a twofold type of justice, one performed in relation to ourselves, and the other in relation to others? K. Therefore, the law almost always likens such duality to a cloven hoof or two-toed feet; for the foot can always be for us a sign and image of actually walking along the path of activity, and we say that they walk with the right foot about those who very zealously strive to walk immaculately towards the accomplishment of what serves for the benefit. David also sings: “My foot is in righteousness” (Ps. 25:12), that is, I walked in justice and righteousness and hated what was corrupt; about sin-loving people it is said: “Their feet are quick to shed blood; destruction and destruction are in their ways” (Rom. 3:15–16; Is.59:7). So, the leg is a sign of progress in business; double-fingeredness can serve as a clear image of the fact that we can rightly and impeccably walk one way or the other; by virtue in relation to ourselves, and by virtue in relation to others. K. So, whoever knows how to walk rightly and wisely in one and the other way, who can bring benefit to himself and others, I mean, by the quality of morals, and, moreover, is intelligent and very prudent, makes his heart, as it were, some kind of container and dwelling of thoughts about God, constantly, as it were, brings into all-round movement thoughts about Divine dogmas, and through this frequent and reasonable study, in some way refines his so carefully acquired thoughts: he will be completely like an animal, chewing the cud, always regurgitating the food in the womb and bringing it to the teeth, so that it, once again crushed, is well digested and benefits. P. You say correctly. K. An animal that has a leg ending in a cloven hoof and regurgitates back the cud hidden in the womb is called clean by the law because a person who is capable of being useful and kind in relation to himself and others and combines with this love of love and experience in knowledge, obviously about God, will be perfect in virtue and will have in himself impeccability in relation to everything that is admirable. Yes, if someone else became involved in such a thing - I mean - through teaching, and, so to speak, ate up his words, became an imitator (of him), decided to compete with such an excellent and chosen husband: then he would be undefiled and pure; because he will live together with the pure one, and his own way of life will immediately reveal, as it were, a reflection of his wisdom and useful knowledge. This, I think, means that we should eat from every animal that by nature divides its leg into two hooves and regurgitates the cud. For such animals are pure, says the law, for the reason just stated. P. I understand what you are saying. K. So, he mysteriously pointed out a person who is excellent and perfect in virtue in an animal that is characterized by two fingers and which regurgitates the cud. And that it is beautiful and useful to move away from that which is not such a spirit, from one that limps, as it were, in goodness and seeks behind perfection in virtue, this is again taught when he does not approve of those who regurgitate the cud, but do not have two-fingered hands, or those who are naturally two-fingered if they do not have the cud, but, on the contrary, accuses them of uncleanness and considers them among those capable of desecrating. So, reasoning correctly and translating what was mysteriously said into the truth, we affirm that two-toed feet are an image of active power and quality of morals. We define chewing gum as a sign of the word according to piety and knowledge of the dogmas of what is right and tested. Isn't that right? J. Therefore, one who boasts of good deeds, but does not possess the truth of doctrine, and does not have the words of truth in his mind, can be considered justly imperfect in virtue and far from worthy of admiration. And that the opposite is true is also clear: for the truth of doctrine and sweet reflection on Divine verbs would not in the least help perfection in the reasoning of virtue if the glory of good deeds were not associated with them. Only the one who is right in both will receive perfect praise; and whoever lacks one or the other will not have full praise for good. The Savior also points to something like this when he says that “he who teaches but has not yet created himself will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven,” and vice versa, “great” and glorious is he who created and taught (Matthew 5:19). So, according to the law, he who does not possess only one thing is unclean. And what should be removed from such and in no way be part of them, he explained this, saying: “Do not eat from their meat, and do not touch their carrion”: that is, while they are alive, do not have communication with them, and when, perhaps, one of them dies, keep your mind clean, without even touching, so to speak, what they have done, their obviously verbose and nasty writings, for this - remains of human life. This is usually done by ignorant heretics. For although those who became leaders of their inherent ignorance were undoubtedly mistaken, they nevertheless passed on the remains, as it were, of their wickedness to their disciples; but these accept it, moreover, very willingly, and assimilate it with their minds, and have a defilement that is difficult to wash away, as if touching carrion, full of extreme stench and uncleanness. K. As an example of a camel that does not have a cloven hoof, but regurgitates the cud, it is a strong and huge animal; further - the hare and the jerboa (chirogrill), animals, so to speak, the most small-looking of all the others - to the extremes, as I think, embracing in abbreviation everyone in general and omitting nothing from what is in the middle; for this is as if it were said: from the very high and highest to the small and lowest, everyone is vile and unclean. “For there is no partiality with God,” according to what is written (Rom 2:11); but if someone were both great and arrogant, raised to heights by wealth and worldly glory, then he too would receive an inglorious, dishonorable lot, as soon as he would be accused of depravity; if, on the other hand, whoever was small, living in poverty and dishonor, is also condemned for uncleanness, if he cannot boast of a virtuous character, and no one should consider humiliation a reason to be pardoned by the Righteous Judge, not having splendor in deeds obviously consistent with piety and virtue. So, the camel, the hare and the jerboa serve as a clear image of the great and the small. He also represents the pig as an unclean animal, because although it has a cloven hoof, it is still incapable by nature of chewing food, that is, regurgitating the cud, thereby showing that praise by deeds is invalid and useless without a word consistent with piety; for just as “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20), and vice versa, decorum and honesty in deeds are completely dead, if there is no knowledge of God and the word consistent with godliness has not taken up residence in our souls, but being low, our soul has bowed to the ground and is, as it were, afraid to raise its gaze upward. We will find quite a few people affected by this disease; Although they sometimes lead an honest and pure life, yet without knowing Him who is true by nature God, they, so to speak, fix the gaze of their mind only on earthly things. And such one is also unclean; for no one “will be crowned if he strives unlawfully,” according to what is written (2 Tim. 2:5). P. Therefore, he considers us unclean, like the pig, and also other animals, when we are guilty of crimes condemned by the law. K. You said absolutely right. And the law was dissatisfied with the fact that it brings the image of unclean people in only these and underwater animals, but deciding to help every creature, as it were, and abundantly offering knowledge of what is useful and appropriate, it surveys both the genera of aquatic animals and flocks of birds, so that, by carefully examining what is characteristic of each, we could understand what pleases God, and what, on the contrary, is disgusting and hateful to Him, and thus leading a life most consistent with law, as strenuously as possible moving away from everything capable of desecration. Therefore, the law also said: “Of all the animals that are in the water, eat these: those that have feathers and scales in the water, whether in the seas or rivers, eat them; but all those that do not have feathers and scales, whether in the seas or rivers, of all those that swim in the waters and of everything that lives in the waters, are unclean for you; they must be unclean for you: you shall not eat their meat or their carcasses. abhor; all animals that do not have feathers and scales in the water are unclean to you" (Lev. 11:9-12). P. What is the difference between these - I mean in relation to spiritual contemplation, tell me about this yourself, for I don’t really understand. K: Okay; I will say as much as possible, making clear what the law offers by way of example. All those aquatic animals that the Creator of everything wisely created in the form of fish, always cutting through the water with waves of their feathers, as if with oars, make a very strong and very fast movement wherever they want, and when the ray of the sun emits warmth on the surface of the waters, they swim up and almost dare to jump out of the very waters, not wanting to always stay below; They also easily escape from the nets of catchers. Those that do not have scales and feathers, but have hard coverings and are clothed with a natural shell, those least of all know the height, always go deep into the grass and willingly stay in the muddiest places. Moreover, they are sluggish and easy to catch, and once seen they can be easily caught. This is the word about them, clear and true. Let us now move on, as it were, from similarities and images to something clearer. P. You would do well if you revealed this and readily began to do so. K. Beautifully depicting for us the turmoil of this life and the joyless spilling and mixing of things in it, the Psalmist sings: “This is a great and vast sea: there are reptiles there, of which there is no number, animals small and large” (Ps. 103:25); fish can very easily be likened to those who rush here and there without any benefit and only acquire that which makes them carnal and subjects them to vain labors. K. The disciple of Christ also condemns such people, saying: “Now listen to those who say: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and we will live there for one year, and we will trade and make a profit.” Instead of saying to you: “If the Lord wills and we live, we will do this or that,” you, in your arrogance, become vain: all such vanity is evil” (James 4:13, 15-16). So, like fish, we swim through this wide and spacious sea, that is, the world: for everyone’s life is different. Some have not completely turned away to sin, but are aware that they are sometimes weak, obsessed with the bonds of the dominion of the flesh, and although they do not want to lag behind other sins: “we all sin many things,” according to what is written (James 3:2), however, they avoid as if it were absurd, from the impudent commission of something shameful, and no one would convince them to commit an obvious and undisguised sin, but they try very hard hide, for “the prudent hides an insult,” according to what is written (cf. Proverbs 12:16). This, I think, means having scales instead of a covering. Very often they also float to heights, for they do not always turn their gaze to the low, but they also think about the higher, and quickly run away from those who want to catch them to their destruction. This, one might say, means using, as it were, mental feathers and making a strong movement of the spirit. P. You said rightly: for the image leads to the idea that this is how its meaning should be represented. K. Some sin fearlessly, completely indulging in impudent, seemingly undisguised depravity, and it can be perfectly said about them that “their glory is in their shame” (Phil. 3:19); for they are always directed towards uncleanness, and, wallowing in the deepest mud, they are truly reptiles or something else close to this. Such people are in all respects sluggish and elusive, enslaving to the most vile pleasures. Isn't this the life of lost people? For dissolute women or harlots, as well as the most shameful and unclean kind of effeminate, as well as those who are distinguished on the scenes, in whom carnal voluptuousness is insatiable and to whom wandering in unclean idolatry is welcome, lead a life truly cursed and reaching the most shameful defilement. So, the law considers as pure those who, although suffering from human weaknesses, have not yet become completely corrupted; on the contrary, they seem to float to the surface, have not rested on earthly things alone, but are also thinking about heavenly things, and are, as it were, divided between God and the world. He considers as unclean those who in every possible way constantly strive to do and think carnal and worldly things, and at the same time lose all shame, getting used to brazenly and openly disgraceful behavior. With benefit, he removes from communication with these, without recognizing communication with those as dishonor; for it is not safe to approach the vicious, but with the more honest; because it is written: “He who associates with wise men will be wise, but he who associates with fools will become corrupt” (Proverbs 13:21). Paul also writes: “While he is called a brother, he remains a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a thief; You shouldn’t even eat with someone like that” (1 Cor. 5:11). P. You said it well; for this is of great benefit. K: This is what the law about swimming and aquatic animals tells us mysteriously. But, as if expanding the scope of presenting examples for us, he also adds flocks of birds, saying: “Of the birds, abhor these...: the eagle, the vulture and the sea eagle, the kite and the falcon with its kind, every raven with its kind, the ostrich, the owl, the seagull and the hawk with its kind, the eagle owl, the fisherman and the ibis, the swan, the pelican and the vulture, the heron, zuya with his breed, hoopoe and bat. All animals, reptiles, winged, walking on four legs, are unclean to us; Of all the winged reptiles that walk on four legs, eat only those that have legs higher than their feet, so that they can jump on the ground; of these you shall eat: locusts with their kind, solam with their kind, hargol with their kind, and chagab with their kind. Any other reptile, winged, or having four legs, is bad for you; from them you will be unclean: whoever touches their corpse will be unclean until the evening” (Lev. 11, 13-24). Is the meaning of what was said clear to you? K. Or don’t you understand that the natural properties of each of the named animals, along with others (previously mentioned), serve as images of morals and differences in characters? K: Would you like us to say something special about each one, making a subtle difference between them? K. So, the law prohibits the consumption of the eagle and the vulture, and the sea eagle, and the kite (tawny owl): for they fly high, love very high places and despise what is below: “the chicks... of soup,” it is said, “fly high” (Job 5:7); and this is in some way proud and very arrogant, having an arrogant mind in himself, accustomed to despising modest and moderate thoughts and not at all loving to follow the humble (Rom. 12:16). Together with them, he also condemns the falcon (iktina) and its breed, the crow and its breed, which very well denotes the predatory and cunning race of people. The image of the first is a falcon, and the second is the blackest and darkest raven: dark and not obvious to everyone are people who are keen on wickedness and have a malignancy of morals in themselves, invisible to many; and those afflicted with damned pride always have a desire to take advantage of anyone possible, to besiege them with various inventions of evil and thus steal, and insatiably. Therefore, he immediately adds: “ostrich, owl”; for these animals, I think, are the most insatiable, and always collect whatever they come across. Then he says: “and the hawk with its kind, the eagle owl, the fisherman, and the ibis, the swan.” These can portray themselves as people who cruelly and brutally plot against whomever they can, so that they do not refuse to expose even the lives of some to danger and fear: a hawk, for example, quickly attacks any weakest bird, rushes towards small birds and, having grabbed them, destroys them; the fisherman (lilik), the ibis (ivin) and the azure plume (porphyrion), to which I would add the pelican, frantically rush at the fish and make their death (corpse) food for themselves: and such are all of them as far as character and rudeness of morals are concerned, considering it nothing to destroy someone for the sake of their own pleasure. They have rejected the law of mutual goodwill, insult the rules of love, and in all fairness they should hear from us: seek not your own, but your neighbors (1 Cor. 10:24); for love, it is said, does not do evil to the sincere” (Rom. 13:10). One should also turn away, it is said, “the owl, the seagull and the hawk with its kind, the eagle owl, the fisherman and the ibis, the swan, the pelican and the vulture, the heron, the hawk with its kind, the hoopoe and the bat.” These, I suppose, are lovers of the night; they rejoice in the darkness and most willingly try to fly in it; on the contrary, they hate sunlight and do not tolerate doing anything in it: these, obviously, are the doers of evil; for it is true what Christ said: “For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil, but he who does righteousness comes to the light, so that his deeds may be revealed, because they are done in God” (John 3:20-21). All the creeping birds that walk around are also unclean, it is said in four, as, for example, flies and things related to them. Countless are these animals, small and disgusting, and not having high flight. What is the basis for the fact that the law reaches them, this needs to be considered. As before, when he mentioned cattle, having named a camel, he added a hare, in every way showing the unclean street in depravity, whether one was great or small: “For there is no respect of persons with God,” according to what is written (Rom. 2:11): so here, having mentioned the eagle and calling it the most royal of the birds, he descends again to the least of the birds. wearing wings, considering the small and the great on an equal basis, if he is doing something obscene and has not ceased to be subject to accusation. However, he excludes from this genus “locusts” and “winged” and the like, as being so strong as to be able to jump up and not at all remain below, on the contrary, often rise to a height and easily jump. This is, in some way, leading a worldly life, but not completely uninvolved in the love of God and other virtues; for such a one is not completely attached to earthly things and does not rest on the low, but tries to think partly about the above, and sometimes gain glory by rushing to heights and flying over earthly things. Further, he who touched the unclean and became defiled had to wash his clothes; and by the evening, he says, he will be clean, very clearly revealing the mystery of Christ, through whom we are cleansed, receiving remission of sins through holy baptism, obviously from the time of His coming, which was, as it were, towards evening, that is, when the present age was already drawing to a close. Do we not recognize that in the last times the Word of God became man? K. And in another sense, the law considers unclean a person who touches a wild animal or another of the unclean animals. And he said this: “Of all four-legged animals, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you: anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening; whoever takes their corpse must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening: they are unclean for you. This is what is unclean for you among the animals that move on the earth: the mole, the mouse, the lizard with its kind, the anaka, the chameleon, the letaa, the homet and the tinshemet - these are unclean for you among all the reptiles: whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until the evening. And everything on which any of them falls dead, every wooden vessel, or clothing, or skin, or bag, and every thing that is used for work, will be unclean: you must put them in water, and they will be unclean until the evening, then they will be clean” (Lev. 11:27-32). He added to this that every vessel into which anything from their carrion falls will be desecrated: a clay vessel and a leather vessel, as well as clothing, food and drink, except for the source of water and the stream, it is said, and the collection of waters and seeds (Lev. 11, 33-37). It seems that by means of wild animals the law designates the most cruel of robbers, by whom even the most extreme of all atrocities, murder, is considered nothing, and who kill almost everyone they meet, destroying mercilessly and without any mercy; and by means of the mouse, the weasel and their relatives and the like, I mean the earthly crocodile, the lizard and the star lizard (halavotis) - that kind of thieves, timid and cowardly, wandering at night, who loves to secretly harm those sleeping, but is terribly afraid of being caught and avoids the vigilance of those to whom harm is caused. For aren’t the most thieving animals the weasel and the mouse, which at the same time are very prone to timidity and hide in holes dug in the ground as soon as a knock is heard, and feed most readily at night rather than during the day, as well as the earth’s crocodile and their relatives? K. So, everything that is predatory is unclean, whether someone has a beast-like disposition and has hands stained with blood, or steals little things like a mouse and a weasel, and like a mole and the stars of a lizard climbs onto walls and roofs. And if anyone touches those defiled in this way, he will be involved in the guilt: for communication with such in any case makes them unclean. In turn, defiled vessels serve as an image of people: for a person is something like a vessel. However, he excludes from the number of desecrated objects the source of water, the stream and the collection of water, even if something desecrated by the law got into them, so as not to allow, I think, those under the law to consider this matter completely burdensome and inconvenient and consider observance of the law inapplicable, since through this they would suffer damage in the most necessary things, to the point that sometimes cities and houses would be forced to abandon due to the desecration of the waters in them and taking away what is necessary and urgently needed. Thus, the law renounced the exact observance of the prescription, for the sake of what is necessary and useful for those under the law. K. But just like others, it is said, carrion and clean animals are unclean; and it, added, can defile the one who touches it. And it is written like this: “And when any livestock dies, which you eat as food, then whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until the evening; and whoever eats its carrion must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; and whoever carries his corpse must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening” (Lev. 11:39–40). This, I think, obviously means: “do not communicate with someone who, while calling himself a brother, remains a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a predator; You shouldn’t even eat with someone like that” (1 Cor. 5:11). That is, if one of those recognized as completely honest, of those who have already been purified and accepted into spiritual communion through faith, is subjected to the resulting deadness from sin, then such a person will be “unclean,” as it is said, and rejected; for being defiled by dead works, he, in any case, defiles him who cleaves to him. But even if anyone has been defiled, let him be clean with the help of water in the evening; and what this means was clearly shown to us by the previous speech. Note that the law considers the one who eats their carrion, and the one who even touches them, unclean, neither the one who participates in their death from vice and guilt, nor the one who approaches them and approaches them, without calling them innocent: for one must, I think, vigilantly avoid not only doing the same thing that the wicked do, but also from the very communication with them; because “Whoever touches the resin will be blackened,” it is said (Sir. 13:1); and this word is true. And that to indicate the quality of morals from the examples chosen by law that are useful, everyone can learn from what is added later; for he also said: “Do not defile your souls with any creeping animal, and do not make yourselves unclean through them, so as to be unclean through them, for I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 11:43-44). What kind of desecration could the death of an animal and touching the deceased cause to the human soul? What harm could the food “contained in the belly and expelled by the aphedro” cause, according to the word of the Savior (Matthew 15:17)? P. None, I think; you are thinking correctly. K. So, I believe, we must, like the most skillful of swimmers who set all their gear in motion, pass by defilement and strive, as it were, to a quiet and calm shore - to the life most dear to God: for only in this way, and not otherwise, is He accessible to us. And that this is true is not difficult to see, for it is also written in the book of Exodus: “Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. One day he led his flock far into the desert and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a thorn bush. And he saw that the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Moses said: I will go and look at this great phenomenon, why the bush does not burn up. The Lord saw that he was coming to look, and God called to him from the midst of the bush and said: Moses! Moses! He said: here I am...! And God said: Do not come here; take off your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground” (Ex. 3:1-5). So, do you understand that no one can be close to the all-pure God without first washing away all impurity from his soul, without freeing his leg from all deadness, which is mentally imagined in deeds, that is, the mental march towards deeds; for are not shoes the remains of a dead animal? P. Who doubts this? K. So, she is an image of deadness, from which if someone frees himself, breaking the bonds by which he was removed from God, he will approach Him and become familiar to Him, and will also be able to save others. So Moses was chosen for the work of messenger and deliverance of the children of Israel. Holy Scripture also calls to us: “if you are wise, then wise to yourself...; and if you are violent, then you will endure alone” (Proverbs 9:12). K. Well, shouldn’t we add this to this? K. When God Almighty was about to descend in the form of fire on Mount Sinai, Moses received orders to properly prepare Israel for the contemplation of God. And the very method of preparation was established by the Lord of all; for “And the Lord said to Moses: Go to the people, ... and sanctify them today and tomorrow; Let them wash their clothes so that they will be ready for the third day: for on the third day the Lord will descend in the presence of all the people on Mount Sinai” (Ex. 19:10-11). So, it is necessary to pre-purify those who want to be close to God and who have the intention of standing before Him and serving Him with strength and readiness for all good; and whoever finally becomes such will not be unable to see in some way God Himself, according to the word of the Savior: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). Having achieved such glory, you can also see, if you want, the divine Abraham. But let us tell you in detail what is being told about it. It is written like this: “And God said to Abraham: You shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you must keep between Me and you and your descendants after you...: that all your males be circumcised; circumcise your foreskin: and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Every male child born in the house and bought for money from a foreigner who is not of your seed, shall be circumcised within your generations within eight days from birth. He who is born in your house and bought with your money shall certainly be circumcised, and My covenant shall be an everlasting covenant upon your body. But the uncircumcised male who does not circumcise his foreskin... that soul will be cut off from among his people, for he has broken My covenant” (Gen. 17:9-14). Then it says: “And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all those born in his house, and all those bought with his money, even all the males of the house of Abraham; and he circumcised their foreskin on that very day, as God had spoken to him” (Gen. 17:23). And what was the reward for this obedience, how useful was circumcision, we learn from what follows: “And the Lord appeared to him,” it is said, “at the oak grove of Mamre, when he was sitting at the entrance to the tent..., during the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood against him. Seeing, he ran towards them from the entrance to the tent... and bowed to the ground and said: Master! If I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant; and they will bring some water and wash your feet; and rest under this tree, and I will bring bread, and you will strengthen your hearts; then go...; as you pass by your servant. They said: Do as you say” (Genesis 18:1-5). Circumcision in the flesh was an image, and a very clear one, of circumcision in mind and in the spirit, through which Christ removes all filthiness from our souls: we are circumcised, according to the words of Blessed Paul, “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the sinful body of the flesh” (Col. 2:11): for, as if having put off “the old man, which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts” (Eph. 4:22), and, so to speak, having cut off carnal pleasures by the sharpness and action of the spirit, we will show ourselves worthy of being capable of contemplation of God and becoming the sacred abode of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity: “For who He will be ashamed of Me and My words in this generation... and We will come to him and make our abode with him,” said the Savior (Mark 8:38 and John 14:23). And the reward for a good life will not only extend to this point, but, as having already been accepted into kinship with God, we will know what is in Himself, obviously through Revelation from Him, just as it was undoubtedly revealed to the divine Abraham about the destruction of Sodom, for with him, as if with a friend, God had communion. So look at how many benefits are rewarded for us by staying away from defilement. This is why Paul says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). Likewise, the prophet Jeremiah clearly cried out: “Wash away the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved” (Jer. 4:14). P. So, we must not approach the all-holy God with an unclean soul, but with a holy and immaculate life: for in this way we will directly come to what is proper. K. Absolutely so, Palladius, and I think a little work will be needed so that you can see the truth of your word about this, if only you decide to curiously and prudently examine the lives of the saints; for what was done educationally among the ancients was “described for our instruction,” as the divine Paul said (1 Cor. 10:11). So, that one must approach God clean and washed, anyone can also learn from the following. Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, who was a virgin and of marriageable age, came out of her father's tent to look at the daughters of Shikim. But Shechem, the son of Emmor, did not rest: he immediately fell in love with the girl and was carried away by uncontrollable lust for what he wanted; and proceeding roughly to this, he raped a Jewish maiden, being a foreigner and still uncircumcised. This matter seemed unbearable to the sons of Jacob, and they went to war against those who wickedly insulted the Jewish woman and their sister. When the divine Jacob was greatly worried about this and was in great fear, supposing that he would perish with all his family, God came to him and saved him again. And how - this is worthy of finding out. It is precisely written like this: “And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have disturbed me, making me hateful to... the inhabitants of this land, to the Canaanites and Perizzites. I have few people; They will gather against me and smite me, and I and my house will be destroyed. They said: is it really possible to treat our sister like a harlot! God said to Jacob: Arise, go to Bethel and live there, and build there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother. And Jacob said to his house and to all that were with him, Cast away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; let us arise and go to Bethel; there I will build an altar to God, who heard me in the day of my trouble and was with me... in the way that I walked. And they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their hands, and the earrings that were in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak tree that was near Shechem” (Gen. 34:30–31, 35:1–4). You see that the Lord of all comes to the frightened righteous man and commands him to erect an altar in the stench of fragrance and as a bright offering to God for the salvation and help that was to be granted to him. He, knowing very well that it is necessary to do this, commands that he should first purify himself, throwing away the false gods and putting on other clothes; and this, I think, directly means sincerity in faith and purity in life; for by the rejection of alien gods one can rightly understand the desire to devote oneself to God alone, without being divided in thoughts and not inclined to be afflicted by the remnants of demonic seduction, and by changing clothes it is as if re-dressing oneself in a pure life. This is how it seemed necessary for the wise Paul to write; don’t you hear how he clearly says: “put off the old man, which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts, and put on the new man, created according to God” (Eph. 4:22, 24; Col. 3:10)? He calls the deposition of the flesh the deposition of carnal pleasures. Solomon also writes: “let your garments be bright at all times” (Eccl. 9:8). I think - and reasoning very correctly - that the wise Solomon would not have gone to such idle talk as to convince us to childishly enjoy the lightness of clothes; but he compares light clothing to a life washed and free from all uncleanness. Otherwise, how could anyone put on our Lord Jesus Christ? Don’t you think, my friend, that one who is clothed in the beauty of the Gospel life fully achieves this? K. But if anyone turns to the glorious Joseph himself, he will find him not omitting anything related to an honest life, on the contrary, thinking that God will assist and help him in every matter if he himself courageously turns away from defilement. For while it was easy for him to prosper and drown in pleasures, allowing the ardent movements of his youth to rush towards the pleasant and amiable and to be carried away without restraint by such aspirations, he nevertheless did not do this; far from it: he seemed to consider the best lot to be with God, and he preferred the labors of abstinence to anything that was only temporarily pleasing. He knew that although the irritation of the flesh is pleasant at first, and that this kind of pleasure enchants the mind with some kind of sweetness, it leads to an end that is far from pleasant; for punishment and condemnation and similar disasters will immediately hang over the head of the sinner. If you want, we will say a little of what has been written about him. K. “Joseph,” it is said, “was handsome in figure and handsome in face. And his master’s wife turned her eyes to Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master knows nothing in the house with me, and he has given everything that he has into my hands; there is no more me in this house; and he forbade me nothing except you, because you are his wife; how can I do this great evil and sin?” before God? When she spoke thus daily to Joseph, and he did not obey her to sleep with her and be with her, it happened one day that he entered the house to do his work, and none of the household was here in the house; she grabbed him by his clothes and said: “Look with me.” But he, leaving his clothes in her hands, ran out and ran out, and she called to her household and said to them: he brought a Jew to us to mock us. He came to me to lie with me, but I screamed with a loud voice, and he, hearing that I raised a cry and screamed, left his clothes with me, and ran, and ran out" (Gen. 39, 6-15). Do you see how the woman forcibly dragged him, even though he didn’t want to, to the bed? But his mind was firmly established in abstinence, completely undefeated by anything. He was still a young man, barely seventeen years old, when the beard is just beginning to emerge, when pleasures are in their full force, when the movements of the flesh are most ardent, and lusts, so to speak, are stubborn and unwilling to be suggested by reason; for almost adolescence always loves to give in uncontrollably to carnal desires and does not easily bear the reins of abstinence. But the wondrous Joseph was unshakable, not leaving his youthful debauchery without guidance and not being afraid of the fact that he was a stranger and a servant, since he was made by both and was sold to the Ishmael brothers. When he turned out to be above the most vile pleasure and desire for debauchery, then the woman resorts to slander and turns the blame on the young man: he, who did not yield to her demands, calls him an insulter (to her honor). And as a result of this, the young man became a prisoner; but he was saved by Divine grace and, as a reward for his abstinence, immediately received command over the entire country of Egypt. So, although this matter is associated with labor, although difficult feats are presented to those who strive for the praise of abstinence, this is of little importance for those who decide to be completely God-loving: he will certainly have equivalent praise and corresponding reward. Therefore, the divine David is surprised at the most praiseworthy young man for enduring this, saying: “Joseph was sold as a slave. They bound his feet with shackles; his soul entered into iron” (Ps. 104:17-18). Iron, I think, refers to the firm and indestructible power of exploits, through which one can suppress sins and avoid all uncleanness, and achieve a holy and purest life, I mean the life of the Gospel and in Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. Book 15. About the fact that we must approach God clean and washed, and that our cleansing is in Christ From all the reasoning, Palladius, we have a clear and visual proof that we must come to the house of God in all honesty, bright and washed, acquiring closeness to God through sanctification: because then we will meet a merciful God and, so to speak, with a whole eye looking at what concerns us, and showing mercy that the saints are worthy of. “On whom I will look,” he says, “to him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Is. 66:2) For truly holy hands will stretch out and, as it were, in the very ear of the Divine, he will cry out, so that, having achieved the fulfillment of what he prayed for, he will say out of excess joy: “He heard my voice from... His palace, and my cry came to His ears” ( Ps.17:7). Or have you not heard the divine David, who clearly sings to us that “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry” (Ps. 33:16)? Kirill. There should be no doubt that this word is true. But what method can we have to cleanse ourselves from defilements? For “no one understands the fall” (Ps. 18:13); “we all sin greatly” (James 3:2); our nature is sick with inclination towards sin and is very easily carried away into the habit of doing wrong, when vile and vile pleasure in some way angles for us the path of striving towards the wicked. P. You say well. Without any hesitation, I will agree with you, since what you say is correct. K. Already the flesh from the earth, taken in itself, is ill with the law of sin, and the human mind is very easily carried away by the inclination “evil from youth,” according to what is written (Gen. 8:21). Therefore, the Holy Scriptures rightly complain to us: “Everyone has turned aside,” he says, “and have become equally indecent; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Ps. 13:3). since there was no deviation from evil, then God and the Father sent us from heaven as the Savior and Redeemer of His Son, who justifies by faith, delivers from punishment, makes the weak very strong, enlightens the darkened, converts the erring and delivers from the dominion of the devil those who are subject to him. P. So, in Christ we will be cleansed from the filth of sin, and having been cleansed in this way and having become as far as possible from all vice, we will come through Him to God and the Father. K. You understand very well. Everyone can hear the holy prophets themselves, proclaiming to us such a wonderful and highly desired grace. For example, Micah the Wise says: “Who is God like You, who forgives iniquity and does not impute transgression to the remnant of Your inheritance? He is not always angry, because He loves to have mercy” (Mic. 7:18). Also another: “Remember this, Jacob and Israel, for you are My servant... I will blot out your iniquities like a cloud, and your sins like a cloud” (Is. 44: 21-22). And quite a lot could be collected from Divine Scripture, very clearly showing us the truth of this, but I consider it unnecessary to add something else to what evokes a clear and obvious conviction. P. That this matter is obvious is clear to everyone; but I would also like to discern from the images of the law the cleansing that takes place in Christ. K: So listen, if it seems pleasant to you, that we turn to this. Those who were defiled and accused of breaking the law were commanded by the law to make a sacrifice, distinguishing two kinds of sacrifices: some of them depict Emmanuel, who was slain for us, and others - ourselves, dying for the world and offering our life and salvation to God in the stench of fragrance. For shall we not lead a divine and evangelical life, mortifying our “earthly members” (Col. 3:5), and ridding our minds of worldly confusion and earthly pleasures? K. So, sacrifice is the purification that takes place in the death of Christ; and the vow and gift on our part is dedication to God of piety and a life lived in holiness. But with benefit and necessity the law forewarns and clearly testifies that immaculate offerings must be made at this time. since of the sacrifices made, some signified Christ as being slain for us, while others also represented us, as if sacrificing their lives to God: therefore it is said that they must be blameless and in no way suffer from injury. For Christ is blameless: He “caused no sin” (1 Pet. 2:22). But God will not accept us, even if we are still defiled and sick with the abomination of sin. Therefore it is written in the book of Leviticus: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Proclaim to Aaron and his sons and to all the children of Israel and say to them: If anyone from the house of Israel, or from the strangers [settled] among the Israelites, either by any vow or by diligence, offers his sacrifice, which is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering, then in order to thereby gain favor from God, the sacrifice must be without blemish, male, from a large cattle, sheep and goats; Do not bring any animal that has a blemish...; for it will not gain you favor. And if someone brings a peace offering to the Lord, fulfilling a vow, or out of zeal..., from cattle or small animals, then the sacrifice must be without blemish in order to be pleasing to God: there should be no blemish on it; an animal that is blind, or damaged, or deformed, or sick, or scabbed, or scabby, you shall not offer such to the Lord, and do not offer them as a sacrifice on the altar of the Lord; You can offer a calf and a lamb with members disproportionately long or short as a sacrifice of zeal; and if by vow, then it will not please God; an animal whose yatra is crushed, broken, torn or cut out, do not bring it to the Lord and do not do this in your land; and from the hands of foreigners, do not bring all such animals as a gift to your God, because they have damage, a blemish on them: they will not gain you favor” (Lev. 22:17-25). Notice how clearly and obviously the law instills in the Israelites by blood, and those who have come from outside and are numbered among the people - I mean the proselytes, who must very carefully observe whether there is any defect in the sacrifices; for what we must offer, he said, is masculine and immaculate, that is, strong and free from passions: because effeminacy and femininity of the spirit, as well as illness within the mind and mental mutilation are completely unpleasant to God and are rejected before Him. Do you not call unholy that which is inherent in this? K: So, rejected, powerless and, as it were, weakened; It is pleasantly strong, as if depicted in the nature of the male sex, if it has chastity attached to it. This serves as a clear image of Christ for us: for Emmanuel is a man and at the same time blameless, since He is truly the power of God and knew no sin. He is also a husband in another sense: for the masculine always prevails and is superior to the other sex; moreover, more powerful. But the Son is incomparably superior to all and rules over everything, although he became like us and, being a shepherd, was numbered among the sheep for our benefit. It is unholy and excluded from the number of victims is the blind, with broken limbs, also with a cut off tongue, worm-eaten, scabby, with lichen, with a cut off ear or tail. But also the one whose male members are said to be damaged, and completely castrated, is necessarily considered sick; for this, I think, means: “whose yatras are crushed, broken, torn off or cut out.” P. So, shouldn't this be accepted in relation to our morals and way of life? K. Absolutely so; for it is not otherwise than in this way that the law can be spiritual for us; and serving as if in the shadows would have no meaning before God; He would not have even once defined the laws for this service if he had not prefigured in it the most distinct beauty of truth. P. You say well. So discuss the meaning of each vice and explain what it consists of. K. I begin this, and very willingly. He seems to call blind the unreasonable and foolish, and not having in himself the light of the Divine, that is, enlightenment through Christ in the Spirit: but the one who is still unreasonable and unfaithful is completely unsacred; for “If you do not believe,” it is said, “it is because you are not proven” (Is. 7:9). Contrite, further, he calls someone who is completely ill, who has absolutely nothing healthy, who cannot even walk upright, that is, who is powerless to do anything good and wholly devoid of strength in Christ and in the Spirit. Such a vice suffers those about whom it is written by one of the holy prophets: “Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am setting up stumbling blocks for this people, and because of them fathers and children together, their neighbor and their friend, will stumble, and they will perish” (Jer. 6:21). Meanwhile, the divine Psalmist presented those justified by faith in Christ to us joyful, singing and saying: “Bless my soul the Lord... who heals all your ailments, who delivers your belly from corruption” (Ps. 102:2-4). “The tongue of the poor,” as I think, means one who does not know how to speak rightly and cannot proclaim “the word of faith which we preach,” according to Scripture (Rom. 10:8), from “a good conscience, which saves by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:21). But that they will also be delivered from such an ailment at the passing of Christ, this is explained by the prophet, saying: “those who are tongue-tied will speak clearly” (Is. 32:4). So, he who is still mute and has not learned to speak the peace given to us from above and from the Father, that is, Christ or that which concerns Him, has a cut tongue. We call those who are wormy, scabby and have lichens who have a suffering spirit within themselves and suffer from great corruption in sins, do not think about leading themselves to reduce evil, but on the contrary strive to move on to the most shameful and expand into the worse. For worminess, scabs, and also lichen, always tend to increase, as if tending to the worse, and little by little they spread throughout the body. Such are the unstoppable passions in our souls, always moving to the worse with seemingly uncontrollable swiftness. Earless and, moreover, tailless can mean rebellious and disobedient and not good-looking in everything. Isn't there hearing damage in people with a cut off ear? K. And would you consider those animals that do not have a tail to be very beautiful to look at? No way: for they bear a very great ugliness. So, ugly and absurd is the one to whom it is indirectly indicated, as if in an animal that does not have a tail. He also considers it an outcast that, although he is masculine by nature, he cannot act like a man, I mean an animal with crushed or cut out yatras. Such may also be those who, although apparently have the courage necessary for virtue, are not yet active in acquiring the glory of virtue, as if they are dry and fruitless, and lack the strength to bear its varied fruits: for the greatest multitude of unclean mouths inevitably draws us to powerlessness and inactivity, and besides this, also to the inability to bear this fruit, as I think, and in many names calls the law castrated: “whose yatras are crushed, broken, torn off or cut out,” because the passions in us are very diverse, leading, as it were, through many paths to impotence and inactivity. P. Your word is convincing. K. And that it is also vile to make a sacrifice to God with a foreign hand, the law showed this, saying: “Neither from the hand of a foreigner shall you offer gifts to the Lord your God,” through which it is symbolically signified that through Christ alone the Father is available, for He is our truly blameless and great Bishop, the Mediator for the economy (Heb. 4:14, 7:26, 8:6), as the divine Paul writes: in Him “we have access to the Father in one Spirit” (Eph. 2:18; cf. Rom. 5:2). So, it behooves those who would decide to devote their souls to God and the Father through the mediation of Christ to be free from vice: for “be holy,” it is said, “for I am holy, the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:2). P. Excellently said. K. Having counted the types of sacrifices, as it were, in oxen and sheep, and in other ways, continue to very carefully instill in us that those who are in the habit of doing this should approach God immaculately. For he said again in the book of Leviticus: “You shall not make any grain offering that you offer to the Lord that is leavened, for you shall not burn either leaven or honey as a sacrifice to the Lord; as an offering of firstfruits you shall offer them to the Lord, but you must not offer them on the altar for a pleasant aroma. Every grain offering of yours shall be salted with salt, and you shall not leave your sacrifice without the salt of the covenant of your God: with all your offering you shall offer ... salt” (Lev. 2:11-13). Leaven is an image of cunning, not only one that is blameworthy, but also another - that, I mean, good and praiseworthy, which the word of wisdom promises to give to the kindly (Proverbs 1:4): the name of cunning is in some way a mean (general). And honey sometimes indirectly points us to bodily pleasure, as in the saying: “The mouth of a man’s wife drips honey, and her speech is softer than oil” (Prov. 5, 3); sometimes it serves as an image of good sweets, for it is written: “Eat, my son, honey, because it is pleasant, and honeycomb, which is sweet to your throat” (Proverbs 24:13). So, the law prohibits the offering and sacrifice of leaven and honey; for although he accepts the firstfruits as a gift from the one who offers them, he does not at all offer them “to God for a sweet aroma” (Eph. 5:2). P. Explain again what this hint means. K. This is a difficult matter, Palladium; for how is it not difficult to find out what it means not to consider something rejected, but not to offer it as an offering and sacrifice? So, I think that sometimes the cunning of a holy and good soul, if it is applied to a matter in a timely manner and has piety towards God as its basis, is not rejected before Him, however, it will not be placed on an equal footing with fragrant virtue and will not be counted as a mental sacrifice. Simplicity has more honor before God: “The Holy Scripture marvels at the divine Jacob, thus saying: “Jacob was a meek man, living in tents” (Gen. 25:27): because cunning is alien to all the gentle. However, the Savior Himself said to the holy Apostles: “Be wise as serpents, and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). True, ingenuousness is honest before God and, in comparison with the opposite, is certainly better; but cunning and cunning befit the dispensation of the apostleship, which Blessed Paul also used at times, everywhere avoiding suffering premature death from his enemies. So, cunning is accepted in deeds done for the sake of God, but is by no means counted as the fragrance of virtue if assessed by its own nature. In the same way, honey, taken as an image of carnal pleasure, means, I think, this worldly and carnal pleasures are not alien to life; for marriage is honorable when it leads to procreation, and the one who uses it is innocent according to the law in Christ; however, this will not have the power of virtue for anyone and will not be placed on a par with the glory of abstinence. And blessed Paul writes to those who are married: do not separate: “Do not separate from each other, except by consent, for a time, to practice fasting and prayer, and then be together again,” he says, “so that Satan does not tempt you with your intemperance,” but to this he added: “However, this was said by me as permission, and not as a command” (1 Cor. 7:5-6). So, you see, he gives advice to those who are married. How can something that is healed by advice be a virtue? And about the virgin he says that “it is more blessed if she remains so” (1 Cor. 7:40), that is, celibate. So, honey is not rejected because marriage is accepted; however, not “into the stench of fragrance,” like types of virtue. But salt is also poured onto the victims; for, I think, we must offer sacrifices wisely and wisely, and being well prepared for every good deed. Unpleasantness and stupidity can least of all befit those who have chosen the path of piety. That is why the Savior said to the holy disciples: “you are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Paul also writes: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col. 4:6 and Eph.4:29). P. Therefore, reasonableness and pleasantness are signified by salt. K. Truly so. But I think that, having very clearly distinguished the types of sacrifice, we must discern from the Holy Scriptures themselves how those who are sick with sin could get rid of this illness and eliminate the harm resulting from sins. In the book of Leviticus it is written: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Tell the children of Israel, If any soul sin by mistake against any of the commandments of the Lord, and do anything which he ought not to do; If the anointed priest sins and makes the people guilty, then for the sin that he has committed, let him present a bullock from the herd, without blemish, to the Lord as a sin offering, and bring the bullock to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, and lay his hands on the head of the bullock, and kill the bullock before the Lord; and the anointed priest shall take the blood of the bull and bring it into the tabernacle of meeting, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle the blood seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary; And the priest shall put the blood [of the bull] before the Lord on the horns of the altar of incense, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and the rest of the blood of the bull shall pour out at the foot of the altar of burnt offerings, which is at the entrance of the tabernacle of the congregation; And he will take out of the calf for sin all the fat thereof, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is on the thighs, and the seal on the liver; he will separate it from the kidneys, just as he separates it from the body of a peace offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering; and let him take the skin of the calf and all its meat with its head and its legs, and its entrails and its uncleanness, the whole calf outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it with fire on wood; where the ashes fall, there let them be burned" (Lev. 4, 1–12). So, this is what the law says about a leader who gives a reason to the people subordinate to him to sin with him against what is proper. And to this he immediately added the command: “If the whole congregation of Israel sins by mistake and the matter is hidden from the eyes of the congregation, and does something against the commandments of the Lord, which ought not to be done, and is guilty, then when the sin that they have committed is known, let them present from the whole congregation a bullock from the herd as a sin offering” (Lev. 4:13-14). And then he talks in detail about how he must be sacrificed in a similar first way. P. What is the meaning of these words? K. Clear, Palladius, and easily understandable for those who are completely sane: for in Christ is the purification of the priests and the people, small and great, and all together, and also if individually we find ourselves sinning, either through ignorance of the Divine law, or perhaps against our will, carried away to something that is not at all pleasing to the Lord of all God. Therefore, the divine David cried out: “Do not remember the sins of my youth and my crimes” (Ps. 24:7). And blessed Job almost openly accuses the good by nature, good and merciful and not ignorant of the weakness of our nature for slowness and evasiveness in remitting the sins of some. He says this: “And why not forgive me my sin and take away my iniquity?” (Job 7:21.) So, the law foretold that in Christ, and only in Him alone, those who are held by sins will be justified through faith; for He, like a calf, is slain for us before the doors of the sacred and Divine tabernacle, in order to open the entrance for us. He “bears our sins,” according to the word of the prophet (Is. 53:4); because this, I think, means laying hands on the calf. He “through His blood once entered into the sanctuary and acquired eternal redemption,” according to the words of Blessed Paul (Heb. 9:12). Through the sprinkling of His own Blood, He sanctifies the Church and, moreover, richly. “Let the priest,” it is said, “dip his finger in the blood, and let him sprinkle the blood seven times with his finger before the Lord,” for we “have come, says the Scripture, to the heavenly Jerusalem,... the church of the firstborn, written in heaven,... and to the sprinkled Blood, which speaks better than Abel’s” (Heb. 12:22-24); because the blood of Abel cried out to God, condemning the murderer, but the honest Blood of Christ, the Savior of us all, speaks better of us before God, for it was shed as a ransom for the life of all. The blood of the calf was poured out at the foot of the altar; for the death of Christ is holy and truly sacred. revealed, and hidden; because the Word was holy and there was nothing unclean in Him. The skin and the rest are burned outside the gate: thus even the very place of suffering does not leave the law unspecified to us. Therefore, the divine Paul told us: “Let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:13), that is, the cross was borne for us and for our sake. And the Savior Himself says: “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38). It seems that Saint Paul, when he says: “outside the camp,” means: “outside the world”; for the desire to follow Christ removes us from worldly life. And Paul testifies to this again; for he said this about Christ: “The world is crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). Walking on earth, the saints no longer try to live according to earthly things, but rather to have a residence in heaven (Phil. 3:20). Then ashes with water serve as a cleansing for the defiled: for the suffering of the Savior serves as deliverance from sin, sanctifying us with water, through which we acquire “not the washing away of fleshly uncleanness,” according to what is written (1 Pet. 3:21), but the washing away of spiritual defilements; for “Wash yourselves,” it is said, “be cleansed,” so the Prophetic word admonished us long ago (Is. 1:16). P. So, in the calf, as if in an image and outline, the death of Christ, endured for us and for us, is depicted in hay. K. You understand very well. And, besides, you will be surprised, I think, looking at this. K. If, it is said, the leader sins together with his subordinates, or the subordinate people (sin) by themselves, then the sacrifice must be a calf; If the leader falls into sins apart from the people, then let him bring, it is said, a goat from the goats; and if the sinner is one of the people, it is no longer male, but female that must be sacrificed. But I will read, if you like, the very laws about this. It is precisely said this way: “And if the ruler sins and does something by mistake against the commandments of the Lord his God, which he should not have done, and he is guilty, then when the sin that he has committed is known to him, he is to sacrifice a goat without blemish, and lay his hand on the head of the goat, and slaughter it in the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered before the Lord: this is a sin offering; And the priest shall take with his finger the blood of the sin offering, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of his blood at the foot of the altar of burnt offering; And all his fat shall be burned on the altar, like the fat of the peace offering, and so the priest shall atone for him from his sin, and it shall be forgiven him” (Lev. 4, 22–26). And to this he adds: “If anyone of the people of the earth sins by mistake and does something against the commandments of the Lord, which he should not have done, and is guilty, then when the sin that he has sinned is known to him, he is to sacrifice a goat without blemish for the sin that he has sinned” (Lev. 4: 27-28). And having outlined the way in which the sacrifice should be made, he says: “If he wants to offer a sin offering from the flock of sheep, let him bring a female without blemish” (Lev. 4:32). So, do you understand, Palladius, the depth of the mystery, as if depicted by the ancients in a mirror and shadows? The offering of sacrifices is commensurate with the greatness of the sins. The calf was offered for the ruler and the people, who, as it were, were suffering from the same sin; and for one, or for one soul, one goat; for Christ offered Himself for all together, as if in the form of a calf, as a much-valued and great sacrifice: “And when sin increased,” it is said, “grace began to abound all the more” (Rom. 5:20). But like a goat and a sheep, for each and separately, due to the fact that he was likened to those subject to sin and “accounted with the transgressors,” according to the Scriptures (Is. 53:12); and the image of the wicked is a young goat, as barren and dry. So Christ places the saints on the right side like sheep, and the workers of lawlessness on the left side like goats (Matthew 25:33). So, His glory and greatness can be seen by everyone in the calf; and you can understand the likeness to us and the imputation with the wicked by a goat. Also, like a sheep, He was slaughtered, due to the innate meekness of this animal and the primary obedience of the sacrifice; for, “like a sheep,” it is said, “He was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Is. 53:7) But if the leader was guilty of sins, then a male goat was sacrificed; but if one was from the people and individually, then what was slaughtered was female, whether it be a sheep or a goat, so that and in the very distinction of sacrifices, the law indicates the wisdom of the economy of our Savior: for the man is always in charge and in the first honor, the next and second place is occupied by the woman. So, the cleansing through Christ corresponds to the sins of each in those who stand in front and in charge, and in those under authority, and in each one individually, and in the subordinates: because the ruler and the people who have fallen into sin are unequally guilty, but to a greater extent, of course, those in authority are therefore purified by more abundant grace. P. I understand what you are saying: the masculine is superior to the feminine. K. And you can see in Christ this, as it were, difference in glory: for He, without a doubt, is the chief and leader of all, like God and Lord, but he also became, as it were, second in line in humanity; placed also under the law as if subordinate. K. He adds other types of defilements, and for each he again predicted cleansing, as being fulfilled in Christ; but he said this: “If anyone sins by hearing the voice of the curse and being a witness, or seeing, or knowing, but not declaring it, then he will bear the sin. Or if he touches something unclean, or the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of an unclean creeping thing, but did not know it, then he is unclean and guilty. Or if he touches human uncleanness, any uncleanness that causes defilement, and he did not know it, but later finds out, then he is guilty. Or if someone recklessly swears with his mouth to do something good or bad, any matter that people foolishly swear, and he did not know it, but later finds out, then he is guilty of it. If he is guilty of any of these, and confesses what he has sinned, then let him bring to the Lord for the sin that he has sinned, a guilt offering from small livestock, a sheep or a goat, for the sin, and the priest will cleanse him from his sin” (Lev. 5:1-6). So, notice that the one who heard the voice of the oath and attributed this matter to absolutely nothing, as well as other defilements who became involved, as well as being exposed to this in a false oath, is presented with an equal and completely identical type of sin: for truly immeasurable defilement and the most extreme degree of evil is contempt for God, and this sin is close and akin to carnal types of uncleanness. Shouldn't the damned false oath and contempt for an oath be put in equal meaning? P. Absolutely so; because in both cases the guilt is equal. K. In this way, resolution from these sins will follow through confession and the slaughter of a lamb or goat. For “you spoke your iniquity before,” it is said, “that you might be justified” (Is. 43:26). Likewise, the divine David exclaims: “I said: ‘I confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You took away from me the guilt of my sin” (Ps. 31:5). However, for complete cleansing, confession alone is not enough: the death of Christ, who suffered for us and carried on Himself the sins of us all, completely cleanses, like all kinds of meek animals, such as bulls, as well as sheep and goats. The law recognizes as inexcusable the neglect of a sacrifice for those in defilement and uncleanness, even if someone did not have a bull or a sheep, and urges to show honor at least to those who have at hand and what they can, saying: “If he is not able to bring a sheep, then as a toll for his sin, let him bring to the Lord two turtle doves or two young doves, one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; Let him bring them to the priest, and [the priest] will first present one of these birds that is for sin, and will break its head from its neck, but will not separate it; and he shall sprinkle the blood of this sin offering upon the wall of the altar, and pour out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar: this is the sin offering; and the other he will use for a burnt offering according to the ordinance; and so the priest will cleanse him from the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven” (Lev. 5:7-10). The turtledove and the dove can very easily be likened to our Lord Jesus Christ; because the first is the most harmonious and loudest among the birds, and the second, above all, reaches the highest degree of meekness. Both were in Christ: for the high and heavenly turtledove delighted the whole world with the gospel preaching, as if singing a captivating song and revealing the will of God and the Father, as the divine John says: “He whom God has sent speaks the words of God” (John 3:34). He also called us to imitate His inherent meekness and humility, saying: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). So, let him, it is said, “let the priest take the turtle dove and tear it off with his fingernail: this is how small birds are slain, but let him not separate” completely, it is clear, the head. This is how the death of Christ was accomplished, not to division, but to union. Therefore, in ancient times, laying down the law on Easter, God commanded that a lamb be slaughtered as a sacrifice, but only “In one house,” he says, “one must eat it... do not take the meat out of the house and do not break her bones" (Exod. 12:46). For Christ is by no means divided, but is entirely one in each and in all; and “He is... our peace,” bringing us into unity with each other in unanimity, and through Himself with God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:14, 18). So, that the death of Christ became the cause not of division, but of unity between us, this was indirectly indicated by the fact that although the bird was slaughtered, its head was not completely separated from the ridge; and that He sanctifies the Church with His Blood, this was signified by the fact that the blood of the bird was sprinkled on the tabernacle and what was in it. Then, one of the turtle doves was offered for sin, and one for a burnt offering; but by both we mean Christ, both dying for us, and being, as it were, burnt as an offering to the aroma of the Father, and also giving Himself as a ransom for the lives of all. K. The law brings the image of sacrifice to the most accessible and commands that it be performed according to the means of everyone, everywhere suppressing laziness in the most beneficial and making negligence inexcusable in those inclined to it. He writes like this: “If he is not able to bring two turtle doves or two young doves, let him bring a tenth of an ephah of wheat flour as a sin offering because he has sinned; Let him not pour oil on it, and let him not put frankincense on it, for it is an offering for sin; and he will bring it to the priest, and the priest will take a handful of it as a memorial and burn it on the altar as a sacrifice to the Lord: this is an offering for sin; and so the priest will cleanse him from his sin, which he sinned in any of these cases, and he will be forgiven; [the remainder] belongs to the priest, like a grain offering” (Lev. 5:11-13). But in this there is no longer anything that could be understood about Christ; this type of sacrifice points us only to the life of the offerer, to access (to the Father) in Christ and to dedication to God. For wheat flour is offered, that is from which bread is made; bread is a way of life. But neither Lebanon, he says, should be sprinkled on it, nor should it be soldered with oil. The wise and necessary reason for this is very clearly proclaimed in the fact that this sacrifice “is about sin ... is”, from which in any case and in all respects the joy, as if implied in the oil, is very far from it, as well as the fragrance indicated, as if in Lebanon. It is indisputable that sin in us is something truly sad and unscented, while, on the contrary, virtue always seems to abound in joy in itself, through trust in God having a lot of fragrance, obviously mental in quality. So, wheat flour without frankincense and oil is a way of life that has no joy and is devoid of fragrance; but in Christ she too turns to joy; receives the fragrance in faith, and is offered to God through Him, who cleanses the defiled and mentally washes those who have fallen into uncleanness. Let “the priest,” it is said, “take from the wheat flour and offer burnt offerings on the altar” to the Lord; for in Christ is our “bringing” and through Him we come defiled to God (Eph. 2:18), but we are justified by faith and are lifted up “into a sweet aroma” to the Father (Eph. 5:2), no longer having ourselves as a spiritual aroma, but Christ in us. K. In addition, if someone offended God and took away something that was consecrated, or deviated from fulfilling what was promised and did not bring it immediately, if 6 negligence in this reached the guilt of oblivion, he again indicates the method of purification; for it is written thus: and “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, If anyone commits a crime and sins by mistake against those dedicated to the Lord, for his guilt he is to offer to the Lord a ram from the flock of sheep without blemish, according to your estimation, with shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering; for that holy thing against which he sinned, let him repay and add a fifth share to it, and give it to the priest, and the priest will atone for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it will be forgiven him” (Lev. 5:14-16). It is truly a very serious sin to take away anything that was consecrated and donated for the glory of God. But he will equally be subject to accusation and failure to fulfill his promise will also be considered no small crime; for it is said: child, “When you make a vow to God, do not hesitate to fulfill it, because He does not take pleasure in fools: what you promised, fulfill it. It is better for you not to promise, than to promise and not fulfill” (Eccl. 5:3-4). The divine David also sings: “Pray and give thanks to the Lord our God” (Ps. 75:12). The sons of Eli were also punished for stealing some of the shrines and appropriating for themselves what belonged to God (1 Sam. 2, 12 et seq.). What kind of remission could there be for this guilt? Or how could anyone loosen his foot from the bonds of guilt and be free? - First of all, if he returns the stolen property in excess: for “the fifth part,” it is said, “will be added by Nan.” Then, “let him sacrifice a ram” of the purchased one: this is the image of Christ, whom the Jewish leaders in some way bought for thirty denarii (pieces of silver) that they paid to the traitor disciple. So, in Christ there is remission of crimes against God. And that He can also deliver from sins against people, this is not difficult to see by reading the law adjacent to the one cited and following it in order. It is as follows: “This is the law of the guilt offering: it is a great holy thing; The trespass offering must be slaughtered in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and its blood must be sprinkled on all sides of the altar; the one who brings it must present all the fat from it, the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and both kidneys and the fat that is on them, that is on the buttocks, and the omentum that is on the liver; with the kidneys let him separate this; And the priest shall burn it on the altar as a sacrifice to the Lord: it is a trespass offering. All males of the priestly race may eat it; one must eat it in a holy place: this is a great shrine. Both the sin offering and the trespass offering have the same law: it belongs to the priest, who makes atonement through it” (Lev. 7:1-7). Do you see that the cleansing in both cases occurs and is carried out in the same way? Namely, the law very clearly commanded that sins both against God and against brothers and fellow tribesmen should be cleansed through returning in abundance and through the sacrifice of a ram. In Christ there is not partial justification, but, on the contrary, complete washing of that which tends to be desecrated. That is why He said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has eternal life... and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 6:47, 5:24). And if someone who has acquired justification through Christ in faith has escaped judgment, then it is absolutely necessary to say that he has also escaped crimes, and no kind of accusation against him, I think, therefore, has any force; for “Who condemns? Who will blame? (Rom. 8:33-34.) So, by giving satisfaction through our deeds to the offended brethren, we will find completely secure justification in Christ. So Zacchaeus the tax collector, called to the apostleship, not only promised to follow the One who called, but also to repay quadruple for everything he had offended (Luke 19:6,8). For those who are preparing to have Christ dwell within them through the Spirit must, I think, first be washed from defilements and cleansed from crimes and thus reveal their soul to Him bright and undefiled, as, without a doubt, the divine Songsinger, having been adorned with such virtue, exclaimed, saying: “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I ​​will sing and sing” (Ps. 56:8). Just as to wool, if it is clean, paints stick well, and if there is some residue of impurity in it, then the induced dye easily falls off, without having a firm fixation in it: so the communion of Christ solders holy and pure souls, but in souls that are not so inclined, it cannot at all be established: “the Holy Spirit of wisdom will depart from wickedness,” according to what is written, “and will not dwell in the body, enslaved to sin” (Wis. 1, 5, 4). So, by providing services to the offended and by deeds of love, driving away the grief of our brothers, let us rid ourselves of all guilt and obtain remission in Christ. P. You said it very correctly. K: Do you now want us, adding to these other methods of understanding, to explain both the vices that arise from defilements and the laws of purification established for each case? P. Of course, I want to: for in this way reasoning about this can bring us even greater benefit. K. It is written in the book of Numbers: “And the Lord spake to Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel to send out of the camp all lepers, and all that have a discharge, and all that are defiled by the dead, both men and women, send them out of the camp, so that they do not defile their camps, among whom I live” (Num. 5: 1-3). I think it is obvious to everyone that the law would seem unjust if in these words it charged us with guilt for something done out of necessity and against the will: for why punish the suffering of the body, and would it be fair if someone who fell into a bodily illness was subject to reproach from the law? Thus, it is reasonable and necessary to take bodily ailments as images and reflections of mental illnesses: for this is the only way a spiritual law can be and can be considered a righteous decision that is spoken by God for each case at that time, as punishing not those who fell into involuntary illnesses, but those whose transgression serves as a basis for just punishment. P. How well you speak! K. So, the Lord commanded that the leper be expelled from the camp, but at the same time he commands to do the most thorough test about him, to examine exactly his illness, thus saying: “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: when anyone has a tumor, or a lichen, or a spot on the skin of his body, and on the skin of his body it becomes like a sore of leprosy, then he must be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests; the priest will examine the ulcer on the skin of the body, and if the hair on the ulcer has turned white, and the ulcer appears deep into the skin of his body, then this is a leprous ulcer; the priest, having examined him, declares him unclean. And if there is a white spot on the skin of his body, but it is not deepened into the skin, and the hair on it has not changed white, then the priest must imprison the one who has the ulcer for seven days; on the seventh day the priest will examine him, and if the ulcer remains in its form and the ulcer does not spread across the skin, then the priest must imprison him for another seven days; on the seventh day the priest will examine him again, and if the ulcer is less noticeable and the ulcer has not spread across the skin, then the priest must declare him clean: these are lichens, and let him wash his clothes and be clean. If lichens begin to spread on the skin after he has appeared to the priest for cleansing, then he must appear to the priest a second time; the priest, seeing that lichens are spreading on the skin, will declare him unclean: this is leprosy” (Lev. 13: 1-8). There is something subtle, Palladius, in these words, and it is not easy to comprehend their meaning; and I consider it necessary, condensing their meaning into a few words, to say that I wanted to indicate the law. But now for now I will pre-explain the peculiarity of this disease. Leprosy is the most serious disease in human bodies, not easily healed, all-consuming, but it is combined with the death of the flesh: for a deep ulcer immediately forms, and the skin is destroyed and constantly settles deeper, because incorruption penetrates deeper and deeper. That’s why, like me, the hair growing in the affected areas dries out and turns white, just as a plant decays along with the earth lying underneath it. This is the disease leprosy. White rash is a bodily ailment very similar to leprosy; only it does not carry the disease into the depths and does not extend the sensation of illness inside, but remains, as it were, on the outskirts, as soon as it appears on the surface of the body, and the hair does not turn white, nor does it spread uncontrollably, but with very insignificant therapeutic care it is easily delayed, and the rash-covered flesh returns to a healthy state. Thus, leprosy is an undoubted death; and the white rash that appears as if it were leprosy is not yet one with it in reality - it is not leprosy and necrosis. So, the law declares the leper unclean, as having already undergone mortification; but he exempts from the same accusation a person who is ill with a white rash, as having been subjected only to suspicion of being possessed by leprosy, but not yet actually a leper. Therefore, “if,” it is said, “there is a scab of a sign and an ulcer of leprosy,” and a sunken appearance of the skin, as well as a change in the color of the hair to white, since the hair probably dies along with the flesh lying under it: then in any case it will be leprosy: for the necrosis extends into the depths. If some white rash appears, without a deepening in the skin and without changing the color of the hair to white, let him undergo experience, it is said, on the part of the priest and we will separate it twice. There is nothing incongruous that even the very stretch of days of testing an illness can sometimes show the truth to those experiencing it: if the hair undergoes a change in color and the skin deepens, then the white rash has turned into leprosy; if none of this happened, let him be, it is said, freed from accusation: for this disease is not leprosy, but only similar to leprosy and very close to it, that is, a white rash. Thus, the immediate meaning and explanation of the matter are sufficiently stated. Let's now talk about the spiritual meaning and touch on the implied and hidden. P. How wonderful and useful this will be! J. So, we, who are quickened in Christ - I mean spiritual quickening - must move away from dead works and stay away from them as far as possible; and they are, I think, Those from whom there is a deadening of the soul and a weakening of the mind, and who unbridledly strive for the carnal and worldly. For if it is true that “he who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption” (Gal. 6:8), and that “those who live according to the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8): then how or where can it be doubtful that they will die? So, he is dead and possessed by the deeds of death, defiled in soul and mind, and also filled with worldly lewdness; and if someone wanted to call such a state true spiritual leprosy, then they would not sin against correctness. Therefore, he is unclean in the eyes of Christ: for “let the priest defile him,” it is said. “Putted before the Divine Judgment Seat among the very sinful, he will hear: “Depart from Me, all workers of unrighteousness, I do not know you” (fn.: Matt. 25, 41; Ps. 6, 9; Luke 13, 27). And those who have a white rash and a “sign scab” (tumor) should be likened to those who still remain with only lusts and have not yet begun their intended business. Don’t you recognize it as true that before we do things, lusts and thoughts arise in us and are, as it were, raised up, calling for something that is rejected by the law? P. I admit; for I remember blessed David saying: “Before I was afflicted I was mistaken” (Ps. 119:67). K. You said very correctly: because before the commission of deeds, sins exist, of course, in the spirit that preconceived lust, and, however, sin lies in lusts alone; the spirit stands between the two warring parties, looking at both of them and still having a free desire to turn where it wants; he has not yet undergone necrosis, but is very close to this evil and will already be overcome by the birth pangs of the disease. This is something that the Savior’s disciple clearly proclaimed to us. “When tempted, no one should say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone Himself, but everyone is tempted by being carried away and deceived by his own lust; But lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin once it has been committed gives birth to death” (James 1:13-15). J. So, dying, as if in leprosy, that is, mental, and as if in a disease combined with mortification arising from sin, does not consist in lusts alone, but in the outcome of deeds committed, and while the spirit is still in the throes of the birth of evil, it is not yet mortification, not yet death: for not every “sin leads to death,” as the Savior’s disciple said (1 John 5:16-17), but still only leads to suspicion of an illness that brings death with it. We said that it seems like leprosy or a white rash close to it. “The priest,” it is said, “will see” one possessed by this disease, namely a white rash, and if it does not appear to change into leprosy, then let him not “defile him, but rather excommunicate him,” for approaching evil, even in lusts, is not blameless before God. If the disease, it is said, does not undergo changes, does not incline towards the worse, then “he will be clean,” it is said. The best thing, therefore, and truly salutary, is to avoid mortification, I mean, which consists in deeds, and by the deeds themselves, as if killing the spirit. In addition, it is also a wise thing to carefully try to reject passions, even if they consist of simple lusts: this, I think, means moving away from both leprosy itself and the white rash. You know that Emmanuel, who is God by nature and our great Bishop, deigns the most careful supervision of everything that concerns us, and admits to himself only those who have been washed from obscenity, and if he sees them as defiled, he expels them from the camp of the saints. K. “Be holy,” it is said, “for holy am I the Lord” (Lev. 19:2). Note also that after washing the clothes, he who is freed from guilt will be clean, says the law, foreshadowing cleansing with water and, as if in images accessible to the bodily sense, outlining to us the sacrament of holy baptism. K. Consider also, Palladius, how great the attentiveness of the law is: it seems to transfer our thought to the opposite and, as it were, shows in all sorts of ways what serves for the benefit. K. He said again: “If anyone has the plague of leprosy, he should be brought to the priest; the priest will examine, and if the tumor on the skin is white, and the hair has changed to white, and there is live flesh on the tumor, then this is old leprosy on the skin of his body; and the priest shall declare him unclean and imprison him, for he is unclean. If leprosy blooms on the skin, and leprosy covers the entire skin of the patient from his head to his feet, as far as the priest’s eyes can see, and the priest sees that leprosy has covered his entire body, then he will declare the patient clean, because everything has turned white: he is clean. When there is live flesh on him, he is unclean; the priest, seeing live meat, will declare it unclean; live meat is unclean: it is leprosy. If the living meat changes and turns white, let him come to the priest; the priest will examine him, and if the ulcer turns white, the priest will declare the patient clean; he is pure” (Lev. 13:9–17). P. What kind of opposition do we mean here? K: Don’t you understand that we argued that leprosy is partly a death in a living body and that the one possessed by this disease was rejected as unclean! K: So, notice that with us the matter seems to turn into the opposite again, because if, as it is said, he is completely leprous and obsessed with mortification, having nothing healthy, then let him be free from the charge of defilement: he is clean. If there is any remnant of living flesh in him, then let the priest accuse him, it is said, of uncleanness: living flesh will defile him; he is a leper; because it would be tantamount to the guilt of leprosy. P. What is this you say, I cannot understand, for if leprosy partially defiles anyone, how can leprosy, complete and widespread throughout the body, make him clean? K. Although this matter, Palladius, is really subtle, we should not think that the accuracy of the law introduces some kind of controversial and contradictory speculation for us. Each circumstance is associated with some wise and necessary meaning that has impeccability. Let's talk about him, if you like. P. Very pleased: for to me, who longs to know this, your words will be very pleasant. K. In two ways, I think, we can lead a life completely in accordance with the laws before the virtuous God: either, by living for Him, we avoid death from passions and sin - and this means not suffering from leprosy, for the death that partly happens to a living body produces leprosy, or in another way - through laudable mortification and abstinence from worldly life - as if we were adorned with some kind of crown awarded a reward for all the best deeds; because the divine Paul writes to some: “Likewise you also count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:11). So, living in Christ, since we strive to do what is pleasing to Him, we will hate the mortification that obviously comes from passions and sin, but having died to sin, according to Scripture, we will refuse to live in it, rightly philosophizing (Rom. 6:12). P. Explain this to me even more clearly, because I don’t really understand. K. Do we not affirm, Palladius, that Christ suffered death for us, “and he who lives does not live for himself, but for him who died for them and rose again,” that is, Christ (2 Cor. 5:15)? P. We affirm without a doubt. K. So, we live for Christ, living according to the Gospel and abhorring the deadness that comes from sin, or death from passions. So the divine Peter writes about Christ: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, having been delivered from sins, might live for righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24); for I think that those who mean to live brightly should be away from everything that kills and do well in getting rid of defilements. K. So, he who decides to live for Christ, who follows the Gospel broadcasts and rejects the deadness that comes from sin, will not suffer in the least from the disease of leprosy. K: And this is one way in which we can please God; another may be as follows: “mortify your earthly members: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust and covetousness” (Col. 3:5), we must appear as if we had already died to sin, moreover, completely, and no longer live in it. The divine Paul also affirms this, saying: “What shall we say? Should we remain in sin so that grace may increase? No way. We died to sin: how can we live in it? (Rom. 6:1–2). Therefore, just as in choosing Life for Christ, the law condemns dying in part, so in dying to sin, living in it would again be a defilement, not free from the accusation of the law. That is why it is said that if leprosy is on the whole body and, as it were, deadness has spread throughout all the members (and this means one who has died to sin), then there is no longer any defilement in the body: for the whole person, it is said, is clean, completely dead to sin, has not given up a single place to it, and has not allowed itself to be established. “And if,” it is said, “living flesh will appear on it... again, then the living flesh will defile him: for in general, living for sin, at least in part, reveals the afflicted person as defilement; therefore, “a little leaven,” it is said, “leaves the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6). This word is true: “If it is formed,” it is said, “living flesh, and changes into leprosy, then let him be freed from the accusation: he is clean”; for he got rid of partly living for sin, as soon as his spirit passed on to praiseworthy deadness and experienced a truly good change of state. So, I repeat in the main outlines what I said: if we live for God, then let there be nothing dead in us; if we died for греха, то да не будет в нас живым ничто из него. Вот светлый путь нашего святолепного жительства, не имеющего ничего укоризненного. K. But distinguishing these ailments even more precisely, the law says: and if there is a suspicion and assumption that leprosy has appeared either in a crusted wound, or in a part of the body that was once burned, then let the priest again apply the same care and observation. And if the seemingly blossoming white has not changed into leprosy, then let him be clean, it is said. If the change from white to leprosy is clear, then he will be unclean and defiled (Lev. 13:18-28). The law shows us through this that mental ailments, and they are countless, extracted by an honest life and over time brought to the point of hardening, if through our negligence they were again, as it were, taken care of, then Christ, our great High Priest, will examine them and pronounce a very just judgment. For if the illness has reached only thoughts, then even in this case the patient is by no means blameless: he is excommunicated, it is said, will be (Lev. 13:26), but not completely rejected and not completely dead. If the disease has passed the limits of thoughts and even desires, if the person who has fallen ill with it again has already suffered a complete change for the worse, then punish him for desecration. So, one must be especially careful not to awaken calmed passions again, not to renew spiritual wounds and not to return again to former vices. Otherwise, we too will hear the saint exclaiming: “But it happens to them according to the true proverb: a dog returns to its vomit, and a washed pig goes to wallow in the mud” (2 Pet. 2:22). P. It seems to me that you say this correctly and very opportunely. K: So, about leprosy, about scabs and wounds, the law taught us this; but to this he adds and says: “If a man or a woman has an ulcer on the head or on the beard,” the head, and if, he says, there is some hollowness on it due to the fact that the skin is destroyed and settles, and if there is a change in the hair to white, then such, without a doubt, will be leper and unclean. If nothing of the kind happens, then let him “cut off”, it is said, the head or beard that has been exposed to a white rash. Having cut his hair in this way, let him come to the priest and then undergo a test; for if the spot or white rash does not spread in width, but remains as if in place or comes to decrease, then let him be clean again; because this disease is not leprosy, but is only suspected and appears to be so (Lev. 13:29 et seq.). P. So what will be the meaning of these words? K. There are two kinds of defilement in us, Palladius: carnal and spiritual. And the flesh defiles these vile and unclean passions, and the soul and mind, more than anything else, are deviations from the correctness of teaching for the worse and damage to sound faith, and also deceits and deceptions, false oaths, slander, arrogance, quarrels, zeal and everything that is close and akin to these and has the same fate in condemnation for obscenity. So, the law with these words seems to remind us of mental passions and wants to designate with them the ailments that usually happen to the mind; for the head is the image of the mind, and the beard is the image of a mature mind, because it is also a sign of perfection. So, everything that concerns us is observed and subtly examined by this Bishop of all, that is, Christ; He will look into the mind itself and experience the inner and innermost thoughts. And if there is damage or a change from the right faith to the wrong, or a deviation towards the depravity of morals and ill-will, especially hateful to Him, then He will reject them again as defiled, and pronounce judgment declaring them completely unclean. This, I say, means suffering from leprosy on the head or beard. If it turns out that the mind is, as it were, only at the beginning of the illness and does not seem to be completely inclined towards the illness that I spoke about, then it will be excommunicated, being subjected to moderate punishments, but will not be completely unclean and alien to God; on the contrary, having washed his clothes, he will be clean, that is, he will receive justification in Christ to help him. The cutting of hair, which presents the priest with a naked wound, may indicate that before the eyes of the Divinity everything seems to protrude from the middle and everything that He would like to look at is naked; “And there is no creature hidden from Him, but everything is naked and open before His eyes,” as it is written (Heb. 4:13). P. Truth; for He said through the mouth of one saint: “Am I God only near, says the Lord, and not God at a distance? Can a person hide in a secret place where I cannot see him? (Jer.23, 23–24.) K. Note, Palladius, that the law speaks of much more subtle things and does not omit anything from what is necessary for knowledge that could benefit the listeners, subordinating it to its rules; because, as it is written: “Who understands the Fall?” (Ps.18:13.) “We all sin greatly” (James 3:2). For our nature suffers from powerlessness and inclination to sin: “Who can be born clean from an unclean thing? , - as the Holy Scripture says, “Not one” (Job 14:4). Therefore, the divine David sings about us: “If You, Lord, notice iniquities, - Lord! who can stand? But with You is forgiveness” (Ps. 129: 3-4). So, look now how the law mercifully frees us from the accusation of such sins and, by goodness, cleanses those who, due to human instability are subject to almost serious involuntary falls; for he said this: “If a man or a woman has spots on the skin of their body, white spots, and the priest sees that the spots on the skin of their body are pale white, then this is a lichen that has bloomed on the skin: he is clean” (Lev. 13, 38-39). Although, according to accurate research, the suffering of deprivation is a disease of the flesh and is close to leprosy; however, it is not yet connected with necrosis and is not completely hopeless. The same in some way are the falls into sin that happen to us, which, although they are, without a doubt, vices, do not yet lead to death and destruction of the soul. And the Judge is not very strict in his sentence, “For He knows our composition” (Ps. 102:14), and He is not unaware of the weakness of our nature. So, He grants remission according to His characteristic love for mankind. And this, I think, means that the person suffering from lichen is “clean.” And sometimes small sins come to mind for good people, such as, for example: short-term irritation, moderate movements towards anger, cowardice in relation to the brethren, sometimes the desire for vain glory. And such attempts usually sometimes happen even to people who lead an impeccable life and are truly pure: for this is characteristic of man and, so to speak, common to everyone leading a life in flesh and blood. So this again mysteriously depicts the law, saying: “If someone has hair on his head, then he is bald: he is clean; and if hair comes out on the front side of the head, then he is bald: he is clean” (Lev. 13:40–41). Involuntary hair loss is a disease of the head; and we recently said that the head is called the image of the mind: for the head is the dwelling of the mind, as some think. K: So, vices of the head of the body rightly indicate illnesses of the mind, but again minor and such that it is decent to forgive. Thus, the law frees us from accusations of all natural passions for humans and of involuntary defilements that can happen to us, because our nature is necessarily afflicted with weakness, and to be completely alien to passions is not the lot of the present time, but befits only the future age, in which sin will be overthrown to the ground, and we will settle into a completely blameless life. However, “If there is a white or reddish spot on the bald head,” it is said, “then he is a leper and will be unclean (Lev. 13:42–44). Ибо иногда и малые страсти переходят в сильные вины и весьма сквернят, не будучи пресекаемы нами, но получив как бы свободный и беспрепятственный доступ к худшему. I say as an example: if someone sometimes gets a little angry, and this passion has intensified in him, then let him cut it off with meekness, so that the small fall from sin, growing, little by little does not turn out to be a mortal guilt for the one possessed by passion. This probably means that leprosy has blossomed on the bald area, that is, as if in the image of an aspiration from an insignificant beginning to a bad end. Therefore, I believe, it is correct what blessed David said: “Be angry and do not sin” (Ps. 4:5). P. How deep this word is! K. Of course so: for you realize, as I think, that I am speaking in a very subtle way and that without difficulty I can neither conceive nor express such speculations. And that it is impossible for a wickedly ill person to hide behind obvious sins, while very small ones sometimes remain unknown and hidden, you can learn this from the following. Those suffering from baldness are clean, says the law, and reminds us of this, rightly forgiving us the smallest of our sins, as we said recently. But if anyone has leprosy on his bald head, that is, when the ailment goes from unimportant to worse, then he declares it clearly vile and without a word to justify his guilt. Therefore, he says: “The leper who has this ulcer must have his clothes torn, and his head must not be covered, and his mouth must be covered and shout: unclean! unclean! As long as the plague remains on him, he must be unclean; he is unclean; he must live separately, his dwelling outside the camp” (Lev. 13:45–46). The tearing of clothes and the uncovering of the head may indicate very clearly the lack of concealment of shamelessness; and entwined around the mouth - due to the lack, so to speak, of protection and the inability to say anything when God accuses uncleanness. The need to leave the camp can serve as an image of the fact that this sinner is no longer installed with the faces of the saints, but, having been expelled from their sacred society, will remain unparticipated in any good. P. How terrible and damnable this is! K. Absolutely so, Palladium. Therefore, the divine David says: “The sin of my youth, and do not remember my ignorance: remember me according to your mercy, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord” (Ps. 24:7). But it is as if the law reaches to everything, providing proof of its inherent precision, to vessels, to wool, to weft and warp and a leather vessel. “If there is leprosy,” he says, and the disease appears on any of this, then the “priest” will “see” again and excommunicate the “ulcer”: and if there is no transition of the stain to the better, then “let it be burned in the fires: for leprosy is already there,” he says (Lev. 13, 51–52). He also commands that the spoiled be washed; and if after this it turns out that the corruption has taken root, then he will consign to the fire as completely useless, probably likening what concerns us to wool, weft, warp and leather. For that the horn has no meaning in terms of wool, weft, or anything like that, how or why can anyone doubt? So, we must recognize the gravest of crimes when, after the cleansing and washing that Christ did in us, we do not move away from defilements, but abide and remain in them. For if Christ, who washes us, does not see in us any benefit from washing, he will give us up to fire as punishment, just as the under-the-law priest, not seeing any benefit for the weft or warp from washing, finally burned them. K. So, by leprosy the law perfectly points out mortification, as if in deeds skillfully borrowing from what can be seen clearly and sensually, thinking about more hidden things and clarifying the mental with carnal examples. But offering us rich knowledge about spiritual defilements and presenting as if in bodily ailments what happens mentally, in addition to what has been said, he also says in the book of Leviticus: “If anyone has a discharge from his body, then from his discharge he is unclean. And this is [the law] about his uncleanness from his flow: when his flow flows out of his body, and when his flow is retained in his body, this is his uncleanness; every bed on which he who has a discharge lies is unclean, and every thing on which he sits... is unclean; and whoever touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; Whoever sits on any thing on which someone with a discharge has sat must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and will be unclean until the evening; and whoever touches the body of one who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; If someone who has a discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he will be unclean until the evening” (Lev. 15:2-8). And besides this, he says that every vessel on which “it sits ... pours out seed” will be vile and disgusting, even if it washes its hands with water, and it will be defiled (Lev. 15:9 et seq.). And if anyone touched his body, in any case he also becomes involved in the guilt of uncleanness; also, if any of the undefiled still approached him, then in that case they would be subject to the guilt of uncleanness. That is why he, along with the lepers, went out and was expelled from the camp, being inaccessible to everyone and having no communication with them, even with the touch of his hand he desecrated those who happened to meet him. P. But what kind of illness could there be in the soul, similar to the bodily outpouring of semen? For the law is spiritual: is it not? K. Absolutely so; you said it right. But think about this: the flow of semen from the body in some way harms the natural ability to fertility, turning the supply of semen into nothing and weakening the tension in the members; it seems to make corruption involuntary, so that those possessed by this disease are in long-term and constant defilement. So now move from the bodily illness and the visual image to what is happening in the mind: the mind itself is corrupted, working dissolutely on what it should not, and not using the tension of its activity for anything necessary, so that it does not have any true fruit, but on the contrary, it always strives for the unjust and suffers from an uncontrollable descent into the shameful. P. What are you talking about? K: Didn’t the divine Paul tell us, Palladius, that man was “created... for good works?” (Eph.2:10.) K: So, he received a nature that was directly directed and capable of everything praiseworthy. Or do you not recognize that this animal is receptive to wisdom and all knowledge? that it could very easily perform deeds of prudence and courage, as well as justice, if it wanted to do what is proper to it and follow the Divine laws? K. If someone, leaving this aside, would no longer be wise, but insane and heartless, directing the desire of his desires in the wrong direction, which is capable of leading to the truth, and, on the contrary, preferring to rush outside what is proper and, together with those who care about the overthrow of the right, descends to destruction, a perfect and impeccable opinion of God and not impeccably walking the path of activity: then wouldn’t it be fair to call such a person mentally shedding the seed, how in vain is he waiting for the strength through which he could bear fruit for God? K. What then? If someone, having abandoned the execution of works of justice and adorning himself with the splendor of courage, turned out to be unjust and devoted to pleasures, then would you not consider him to be ill in the same way as the one who sheds the seed, as one who relies on a shameful natural ability for good, and who prefers losing it to spiritual well-being for deeds that are not at all useful? K. The Law commanded us to move as far as possible from the one who pours out the seed, as if teaching us in particular to move away from those prone to depravity and to courageously repel from ourselves those whom God Himself would abhor as those suffering from constant defilement; for it is truly not a harmless thing to cleave to evil people. It is truly written: “Whoever touches the resin will be blackened” (Sir. 13:1). He who pours out the seed defiles every thing that he touches, his bed, his body, cups, water and wooden vessels: through this mysterious thing it is indicated that anyone who is even close to him in his spiritual disposition will be a participant in his inherent impurity. For it is written: “Keep yourself pure, and do not participate in the sin of others” (1 Tim. 5:22). However, obvious vices, and illnesses hidden in the depths of our thoughts, and in general all our weaknesses, only Christ removes and the cleansing He bestows, since the law is not able to do this; for, according to what is written, “by the law no one is justified” (Gal. 3:11). And you will see that this is by no means a lie if you delve into the subsequent words of the law; he says: “And when he who has an issue is freed from his issue, then he must count seven days for himself for his cleansing and wash his clothes and wash his body with living water, and he will be clean; and on the eighth day he will take for himself two turtle doves or two young doves, and will come before the Lord to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and will give them to the priest; And the priest shall offer one of these birds for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make an atonement for it before the Lord from its issue” (Lev. 15:13-15). So, it cleanses the one who sheds the seed and delivers him from illness, but only in Christ, through water and blood. Yes, “he will number for himself,” he says, “seven days for his cleansing, and he will wash his garments, and he will wash his body with water and be clean.” The extension of purification for seven days means, of course, that throughout life and at every time of life those who have decided to move from worldly depravity to doing decent deeds must be purified by good deeds; because the measure of the week includes the fullness of time and a return to what was at the beginning, since time has already approached the end. He also says very clearly that cleansing through Christ and cleansing by water must be added and must be added to our good deeds, so that in the washing of the body and clothes, holy baptism is already understood, with the addition, obviously, of cleansing by blood. For “on the 8th day,” he says, “let him take for himself two turtle doves, or two chicks of a dove.” The eighth day can again mean the time of our dispensation with the flesh, when Immanuel endured the slaughter for us - this truly harmonious and most harmonious turtledove, who with his own blood made “those who are sanctified forever” (Heb. 10:14). And that the death of Christ has in itself every fragrance, since it was accomplished for the life of the world and for the taking away of sin, this is signified by the fact that there were two turtle doves, one of which was slain for sin, and the other for a burnt offering; but that Christ also became the propitiation for our sins, as the Scriptures say (1 John 2:2; cf. Rom. 3:25), and he showed this by saying: “and let the priest pray for him before the Lord for his pouring out.” K. This is how one who sheds seed must be purified, according to the commandment of the Divine Law. The outflow also defiles everyone to whom it happens, whether it be involuntary or voluntary, having its source in innate movement. Voluntary, I say, happens during communications with a wife and according to the law of marriage; involuntary, which happens during night dreams. For he also said this: “If anyone has an outpouring of semen, he must wash his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until the evening; if a man lies with a woman and he has an emission of semen, then they must wash themselves in water, and they will be unclean until the evening” (Lev. 15, 16, 18): because the same guilt lies on both, and there is nothing different. So, in the outpouring of semen we depicted before us as if a long and constant illness; in the present case, the purpose of the law seems to be to show that someone who is not completely and not completely afflicted with corruption will be defiled, but would appear to be afflicted only partially and occasionally. The Savior’s disciple pointed out something like this: “Whoever,” he says, “keeps the whole law and sins in one thing, he becomes guilty of everything. For the same one who said: Do not commit adultery, also said: Do not kill; therefore, if you do not commit adultery, but kill, then you are also a transgressor of the law” (James 2: 10-11). the law, or has sinned in one thing and in part, must be guilty of everything. So, the one who is unclean by the law, although he does not reach the extreme degree of defilement, is nevertheless fallen into it, even only in part. However, he does not become completely rejected, but is cleansed by water in Christ; It was not at the very end of this age that Christ appeared, through whom and in whom we are washed from all uncleanness of sin, and being overcome by sins, we are delivered from small and great sins. And that before the time of the coming of the Savior it was impossible to be washed from filth, for in the law no one will be justified, according to the Scriptures, you can learn this from what is clearly said that “one will not be clean until the evening.” P. I understand what you say, and your word is true. K. To this adds the law of the ruling about a wife suffering from bleeding, and suffering from an uncontrollable stream that defiles her. And just as every vessel, every bed, every garment, and everyone who touches it or comes near is defiled by the one who sheds semen, so also by her. He also delivers her in the same way as him, washing her with water, killing turtledoves, and also with propitiation through the priest. But as if leading us to spiritual speculations and not allowing us to remain with the infirmities of the flesh (for they must be taken as an image of the infirmities contained within the soul and mental), the law clearly adds: “So protect the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness, desecrating My habitation, which is among them” (Lev. 15:31). For only those already purified and sanctified through Christ, then and only then will we approach truly bright and will no longer desecrate the holy tabernacle; but when we come to church, let us worship the all-holy God purely and purely. J. That human nature has already been weakened by defilement and can only be purified through Christ, a truly sacred and holy sacrifice, you can find out this and very clearly, carefully examine another decree of the same law. For it is written again in the book of Leviticus: “And the Lord spake to Moses, saying, Tell the children of Israel: If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean for seven days; as in the days of her suffering by purification, she will be unclean; on the eighth day his foreskin will be circumcised; and she must sit thirty-three days, cleansing herself from her blood; She must not touch anything sacred and must not come to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. If she gives birth to a female child, then during her purification she will be unclean for two weeks, and she must sit for sixty-six days, cleansing herself from her blood. At the end of the days of purification for her son or daughter, she must bring a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young dove or turtle dove for a sin offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting to the priest; he will bring it before the Lord and cleanse her, and she will be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law regarding whoever gives birth to a male or female child” (Lev. 12:1-7). P. Who is this – the wife who gave birth? And what again is the purpose of the law regarding her? K: It seems that we need to have subtle speech; for the meaning of this commandment is very difficult to understand and is not easily understood. However, we will explore it as much as possible. Above all else, I am amazed at this, Palladium. J. While this law applies to every woman who gives birth to a male or female, and contains a condemnation common to all of us, the Holy Virgin, from whom, we affirm, Christ was born in the flesh, was removed from such dishonor; for consider, if you wish, the accuracy of the law. “A woman,” he says, “and not everything is indifferent, but even if she conceives and gives birth to a male, she will be unclean.” And the Divine body received its composition from the Holy Spirit, ineffably formed in the holy Virgin and little in accordance with the laws of nature; because the Firstborn of the saints, the firstfruits of those who received rebirth from God through the Holy One, did not in the least need to come from the seed Spirit, - those about whom it is clearly said: “who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). So, the holy Virgin escaped condemnation from the law, having not received seed from outside, but having conceived the divine Child through the action of the Holy Spirit, a woman who gives birth, and therefore an unclean woman, according to justice and at the request of sound. reason is human nature. It is not for nothing that nowadays we attribute a female face to nature itself. She is accused by the law and is called guilty of defilement for the fact that she gives birth to corruption and is not now what she was immediately after receiving her existence from God (for she was created for incorruption), but on the contrary has reached the necessity of incorruption, having been condemned for a crime and, being by nature, as a result of the Divine curse, suffers punishment against nature: “God did not create death,” according to what is written, “and does not rejoice.” destruction of the living, for He created everything for existence, and everything in the world is saving:... but through the envy of the devil death entered the world” (Wis. 1:13–14, 2:24). So, nature is desecrated by corruption that has come from outside and, through the envy of the devil, death that has prevailed, having sin as its root. It also defiles in another way, precisely because what is born is sown as if in carnal voluptuousness. And it seems that the divine David signifies something of this when he sings and says: “Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sin” (Ps. 50:7). So, nature is unclean, as subject to corruption as a result of crime and curse, contrary to the will of God; “He created everything for being,” as it is truly said. P. So add to this how one could get rid of uncleanness. K. The condemning law itself shows us, Palladius, this path, for it says: let her be excommunicated as unclean “seven days.” Let him also count the other “thirty and three days... and he will sit in the blood of his unclean spirits,” precisely at the birth of a male. “If a female gives birth,” he says, then the excommunication should be twice as long, and the deduction of other days should be double. So, if the child born is male, then the one who gave birth will be unclean and remain in defilement for seven and thirty-three days, that is, forty; if female, then fourteen and sixty-six, that is, eighty. P. What, finally, is the meaning of this? J. The law again leads us from carnal examples to the perception of the invisible and, as it were, on what deck of spiritual contemplation writes the sensible. People knowledgeable in this claim that if something conceived in the womb is male, then it is conceived only after forty days; if female, then she achieves this more slowly, as if she is weak and powerless. And it needs, they argue, for its obvious vision a number of days twice as large as forty, that is, eighty. So, the one who gave birth to a male child was unclean for forty days, and the mother of a female child remained in defilement and uncleanness for eighty days, that is, until the fetus was formed in the womb and reached the human form. For purification, according to the definition of the law, a lamb and a turtledove were slain before the doors of the holy tabernacle, with the mediation of the priest and his sacrifice. In addition, the male sex had to be circumcised, according to the definition of the law, precisely on the eighth day. This is the literal meaning. We, ascending to spiritual contemplation, will now say how nature, which gave us birth to corruption and uncleanness, drove away filth and escaped uncleanness and condemnation from the law; for she had already spent a long time in excommunication, that is, from the presence of God. And this was the time that preceded the appearance of Christ and in which death reigned, from Adam to Moses, and manifold sin ruled over those living on earth. When, on the eighth day, that is, after the time of the law and after the ancient Sabbath, we were “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands” (Col. 2:11) through the Spirit and received the image of Christ (cf. Gal. 4:19), becoming partakers of His “Divine... nature” (2 Pet. 1:4): then we had already driven away guilt, then uncleanness also disappeared and all our defilement was taken away, for we are no longer born to corruption, because of transgression in Adam, but to life and incorruption, because of justification in Christ, since He suffered the slaughter for us, like a lamb pure and true, like a turtle dove divine and spiritual; P. Absolutely so; the mysterious image is now very clear. Book 16. About the fact that we must bring spiritual sacrifices and gifts to God So, enough, I think, has been said about the fact that we must courageously begin to blot out sin and to the cleansing that is accomplished through Christ, who is able to blot out all uncleanness that is in us, destroys it by the action of the Spirit and reveals us washed away and holy. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures foretold to us about the action of the Spirit that would take place on us, saying that “Behold, I am sending My angel, and he will prepare the way before Me, and suddenly the Lord, whom you seek, and the Angel of the covenant, whom you desire, will come to His church; Behold, He comes, says the Lord of hosts. And who will endure the day of His coming, and who will stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner of fire and like refiner’s lye, and He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord in righteousness” (Mal. 3:1-3). In agreement with this, the divine Isaiah also speaks, saying that “when the Lord washes away the filthiness of the daughters of Zion and cleanses the blood of Jerusalem from among her with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of fire” (Is. 4:4). But is it only in this one thing, Palladius, that we will be filled with the image of the righteousness that is meant in Christ, that we will be cleansed (from sins)? And the fact that our former defilements will be blotted out, tell me, will it be enough for us for holy glory and will it crown us with the highest honors? Or, perhaps, only then will we receive a better fate and adorn our heads with the highest praises, when we bring to God, as it were, some kind of spiritual gift and a truly sacred sacrifice, a life lived in holiness and reverence, and we will perform spiritual service in the proper way? Kirill. And indeed, this matter is in accordance with the sacred laws and is pleasing to God, and more approving of everyone; for He commanded that all work should cease on the Sabbath, and absolutely did not allow anyone to do anything, thus saying in the book of Exodus: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; six days thou shalt work and do... all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: on it thou shalt not do any work” (Ex. 20:8-10). It is clear that this image indicates Sabbathkeeping in the spirit, which occurred when we were called by Christ Himself to cessation and rest from all carnal deeds and vicious aspirations, when we shook off the burden of sin, loved to move away from depravity and not do what is not in accordance with the law: “for such Sabbathism was left to the Israelites; because they by no means entered into the rest of Christ, according to the word of blessed Paul (Heb. 4:9, 6). Christ gave us peace and inspired us to mentally keep the Sabbath, indulging in virtue and observing the beautiful non-commitment of sins. K. But although in ancient times God legalized that everyone should cease from work on the Sabbath, those crowned with the glory of Divine service and appointed to abide at the holy tabernacle performed services and, breaking the Sabbath, were, according to the word of the Savior, “innocent” (Matthew 12:5), without being accused of breaking the law. Therefore, although we will cease in Christ from earthly affairs, performing mental sabbath keeping, we will not refrain from sacred deeds, that is, from offering spiritual sacrifices and mental gifts to God. Following, as it were, the “footsteps” of Christ, according to what is written (1 Pet. 2:21), let us sacrifice ourselves, not by the slaughter of sheep and the blood of calves, honoring the God of all, but, on the contrary, devoting ourselves to Him “in the aroma of fragrance”: “for “the Lord is more pleasing than an ox, than a calf with horns and hoofs,” according to the word of the Psalmist ( Ps.68:32). P. You understand correctly, but continue further, and from the Holy Scriptures offer images of such an important and wonderful service. K. In the book of Leviticus, God apparently said this to all the Israelites: “When any of you wants to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, then, if from livestock, you offer your sacrifice from large and small livestock. If his sacrifice be a burnt offering of herds, he shall offer it a male, without blemish; let him bring her to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, that he may find favor with the Lord; and he will lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and he will receive favor, for the atonement of his sins; and he shall kill the bull before the Lord; The sons of Aaron, the priests, will bring the blood and sprinkle the blood on all sides on the altar, which is at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces; The sons of Aaron, the priests, will put fire on the altar and lay wood on the fire; And the sons of Aaron the priests will lay out the parts, the head and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; And he will wash the entrails of the sacrifice and its feet with water, and the priest will burn everything on the altar: it is a burnt offering, a sacrifice, an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev. 1:2-9). Isn’t it obvious (here) the depiction of the life of holy people and their complete affinity with God in the Spirit and sanctification? We are depicted as meek animals, that is, a calf and a ram, dying to the world through mortification of the flesh, in order to live for God through gospel living, as if ascending to the Father through the Son as a truly spiritual and most fragrant sacrifice. But again we will tell you about each subject separately and in as much detail as possible. Each one offers up his own life to the Almighty God, as if it were some gift, but he offers it up as he has been given, and to the extent that he has: “one this way, another another, each having his own gift from God,” according to the words of the wise Paul (1 Cor. 7:7): for the size of animals and the difference in their appearance indirectly indicates inequality and dissimilarity in spiritual and rational strength. So whether someone is great and very strong like a calf, or small and far from perfect like a sheep, in both cases he offers himself as a gift to God and as a burnt offering, that is, in total dedication, not having a life divided between God and the world, but entirely pleasant and dedicated to God. The image of the sacrifice should be as follows: “male,” it is said, “and let the sacrifice be blameless; because the saints are always, as it were, conformed to Christ, who is the “male sex” and truly “blameless,” since the male sex represents leadership, and integrity represents extraordinary and insurmountable holiness: for one is our leader and the all-holy without comparison, Emmanuel. And otherwise it is possible and, I think, necessary to say that those dedicated to God must be male and immaculate, not having anything feminine in themselves and not weakening to the point of frivolity, but must strive with all their might to take courage and maintain a courageous and, as it were, excited mind. However, I would add to this that they should be as pure and immaculate as possible for human nature; because, as the divine David very wisely sings in one place: “Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity in me” (Ps. 7:9), before God human righteousness in some way has a corresponding measure, since obviously the righteousness of the holy Angels prevails and greatly exceeds our measure. So, “male and blameless” let it be a sacred sacrifice. It is brought to the very doors of the holy tabernacle: for we are not made perfect in any other place, but certainly only in the church, becoming acceptable to God and the Father, when Christ brings us as priest: “for through Him we both have access” (Eph. 2:18), and He Himself renewed our access to being, “the forerunner of us” by entering the Holy of Holies (Heb. 6, 20) and showing us the true path. Further, He commanded those offering to lay their hands on the calf, indirectly signifying by this that they were figuratively offering it instead of themselves, very decently making the slaughter of an animal an image of the fact that it is possible to live holyly only by dying to the world. And look how the canopy depicts the truth to us. The calf was slain before the Lord, and the blood was shed on the altar; for death to the world and the mortification of carnal movements are most pleasing to God and worthy of praise from above. And perhaps something similar is sung to us by the divine David, saying: “honorable before the Lord is the death of His saints” (Ps. 115:6): for the death of the saints is, as it were, a sacred offering to God. And I do not say: death of all who walk in the flesh. These words, on the contrary, indicate the death that those who die to the world, but live for God in reverence and holiness, usually endure; for it would be difficult for us to lead a holy life if we had not first died to the world. Peter writes about Christ: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, having been delivered from sins, might live for righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24). So, the slaughter of a calf seems to mean deliverance from sins and the enduring of death, honest before God, which He honors with His charity: for “let them slaughter,” it is said, “the calf before the Lord” (Lev. 1:5). The shedding of blood at the altar, I think, can signify the dedication of life and the exaltation of the soul to the glory of God. The skin of the victim is torn off, and it is crushed into pieces: tearing off the skin means, as it were, exposing and revealing everything that is in us, and fragmentation into parts very well indicates the penetration of the word of God to the members and brains: “For the word of God,” it is said, “is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword: it penetrates to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and is a judge of thoughts and intentions.” cardiac. And there is no creature hidden from Him, but everything is naked and open before His eyes: to Him we will give an account” (Heb. 4:12-13). When the priest lights the fire, then the crushed parts are placed on the altar, together with the head and legs, as well as the entrails washed in water: for everything that belongs to the saints is fragrant, since nothing rejected by God is thought of as belonging to them. Meat can be an image of their life, as it were, rough and physical, for it is honest and holy. The head is a sign of the mind, the insides - thoughts and desires; the legs serve as a subtle hint of active walking, as if manifested in action. P. How intricate this explanation is! K. However, it contains truth, although it penetrates to us as if through fog and darkness; for the meaning of the law is deep. “If his burnt offering... is from small livestock,” he says, “from sheep, or from goats, he shall offer it as a male, without blemish... and slaughter it before the Lord on the north side of the altar” (Lev. 1:10-11). This too is broken into pieces, with the insides being washed away in exactly the same way as in relation to the calf. He also legitimized that it should be offered up on the altar: and this, too, may have an explanation of the meaning. However, there is something different here: the lamb was slain “on the north side of the altar.” P. What is the meaning of this ritual? K. Don’t you know that further to the south lies the land of Judea, and the more northern country towards the sea was divided among themselves by countless crowds of pagans who settled in villages and cities? K. Therefore, the fact that the lamb is slain in the northern part serves as an indication that the very crowds living to the north will also be dedicated to God. This is exactly what the Savior proclaimed about the crowd of pagans, saying: “I have other sheep which are not of this fold, and these I must bring: and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd” (John 10:16). K. But in order to place above cowardice and any slowness those who would like to fulfill what is established by the law, the God of all in some way equalizes the path of fruit bearing and commands that sacrifices be made from animals that are smaller than sheep. He says: “If he offers a burnt offering to the Lord from birds, let him offer his sacrifice from turtle doves, or from young pigeons; the priest will bring her to the altar, and twist her head, and burn her on the altar, and drain the blood against the wall of the altar; he will take away her crop with its feathers and throw it near the altar on the east side, where the ashes are; and the priest will break her in her wings, without separating them, and the priest will burn her on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire: this is a burnt offering, a sacrifice, an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev. 1:14-17). Notice again how excellently and wisely it is observed here that the saints are conformed to Christ; for He is truly the highest and sweetest-voiced dove, as well as the meekest dove. Therefore, in the book of Song of Songs it is written about Him: “the voice of a turtledove was heard in” the wilderness (Song. 2:12). And He presented Himself to us as a kind of example and example of extreme and highest meekness when He said: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). But the saints, since they bear the image of Christ, are very carefully observed to be splendid and admirable in the same virtues; because they, too, can rightly be understood by turtle doves as conveying the Divine and sacred word to listeners and willingly performing singing and songs to the glory of God. That is why they say: “my tongue... will learn your righteousness,” all day long your praise (Ps. 70, 24, 14, 15). Также и жизнь свою они проводят во Христе и шествуют кротчайшею стезею евангельского жития, желающим ударить их в правую ланиту подставляя и левую и принуждающим их пройти одно поприще добровольно предлагая, если хотят, пройти с ними и два ( Мф.5, 39–41 ). So, they consecrate themselves as a fragrant aroma and as a burnt offering to God, as if in the form of turtle doves and doves. Then, having torn off the head, the priest places it on the altar, pouring out the blood: for the mind of saints is truly holy and predominately sacred, and it is fitting for it to be dedicated to the all-holy God. He is full of good thoughts and fragrant with the world of true knowledge of God: “thoughts of righteous destinies,” according to what is written (Proverbs 12:5). And that the life of those who live in the fear of God is also holy, this can be clear from the fact that blood must be shed at the holy altar: for blood represents life. The larynx of birds, that is, the crop with feathers, is separated and ejected as completely unnecessary. And this may be a clear indication that the life of the saints is above bodily pleasure, so that it no longer seems to require a belly that contains food. This is especially the life of the most industrious people (ascetics), who, neglecting food and even the belly itself, exhaust their flesh, mortify their lusts and become free and delivered from everything worldly and superfluous. This, I think, means taking away the feathers. It is necessary for birds to have feathers: but we also need that through which this earthly body achieves the satisfaction of its own needs, I mean clothing, means of food, and besides this, it is very necessary that with the help of which all this appears, that is, monetary income that counteracts the pressure of need, a soft bed, and the like. But although this is useful and necessary for those living on earth and in bodies, it is considered nothing by holy people; on the contrary, rejecting the acquisition of all such things as an unnecessary burden, they spend their lives almost naked and unclothed in this world, reluctantly satisfying bodily needs with what happens and what can easily be obtained. After removing the feathers and taking away the crop or larynx, “let him break,” it is said, “from the wings, and let him not divide,” and then let him lift him up “to the altar.” Breaking out the wings can be an image and a clear example of the fact that the mind of the saints does not think about excessively great things and does not soar high, but rather strives towards humble thoughts and, as it were, seeks the lower (Rom. 12:16). The mind of arrogant people always seems to soar high and rushes to heights, does not tolerate holding on to something baser and despises moderate and humble thoughts. So, breaking out the wings covertly indicates the deposition of arrogance. And that they completely and, so to speak, completely devoted their lives to God, undivided between Him and the world, this is indicated by the fact that the wings were not separated: the wise Paul also spoke about the separation of those in marriage (1 Cor. 7:33). So, the mind of holy people is sacred, their life is holy, and stands above bodily pleasures, free from worldly cares and adorned with a humble thought, not divided by God and worldly objects. Therefore, she ascends into the stench of fragrance to God. K. But the law reduces the types of sacrifice to a smaller one, accessible to everyone and obtained without labor, expanding, as I think, the path to praiseworthy activity for both small and great; for it is written: “Your commandment is great” (Ps. 119:96). And it is not by the size of the gift, no doubt, that the sincerity (of the offering) is measured in the eyes of the kind-loving God, but the poor person, who gives away his daily needs and wants to honor God with what he has and what he can, is on the same level as those who have much. Therefore He also said this: “If any soul wishes to offer a grain offering to the Lord, let him bring flour of wheat, and pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it, and bring it to the sons of Aaron the priests, and take a handful of flour with oil and all the frankincense, and the priest will burn it as a memorial on the altar; it is a sacrifice, an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev. 2:1-2). Do you understand how he reminds the one who brings him of humility: the Divine law calls him generally a soul, even if in this life he was very humble, thereby showing justice to everyone and the impartiality of the Highest Nature, just as, without a doubt, in other words: “all souls are Mine” (Ezek. 18:4): “For there is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:11), as I said recently. So, if one of the people who do not have, as it is said, nobility in the world, wanted to bring a gift to God, then let the type of his sacrifice be “wheat flour... be”, only watered with oil and mixed with incense. And that wheat flour serves as a way of life, oil - joy, based on hope, and incense - fragrance in deeds and exploits and in life, fully consistent with the law, this was clarified to us by a long conversation. So, those who want to rejoice in themselves the God of all must, the law very wisely says, betray and devote their lives to Him, without grieving over the deeds undertaken for the sake of virtue, for do not “murmur,” says the divine Paul (1 Cor. 10, 10), but dedicating a life to Him, filled with a mental fragrance; because then only the “priest of her will ascend” to God. In other words, we will draw closer in Christ to God and the Father through spiritual sacrifice, thereby acquiring what will be in His memory: for by what we usually become good praised, it will thereby be revealed that we have become worthy of the memory of God and known to Him in Christ. P. You said it perfectly. K. But to this he adds: “If you offer a grain offering made from something baked in the oven, then offer unleavened wheat bread mixed with oil, and unleavened cakes anointed with oil. If your sacrifice is a grain offering from a frying pan, then it must be unleavened wheat flour mixed with oil; break it into pieces and pour oil on it: this is a grain offering.... If your sacrifice is a grain offering from a pot, then you must make it of wheat flour with oil” (Lev. 2:4-7). P. How deep is the meaning of the law! So explain this, so that, delving into such subtle objects with our minds, we do not deviate from the goal. K. I think this foresight and high wisdom of the law are worthy of attention, for it descends to every state, accepts even a very small gift and everywhere imparts fragrance and pleasantness to it. You know, of course, as even Christ Himself says: “And whoever gives one of these little ones to drink only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, truly I tell you, will not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). Something similar should be understood here, and the mercy of the Lawgiver should be glorified with praises befitting Him. The gift is acceptable, as I said, even if someone wanted to fulfill what was prescribed in the law even with cheap sacrifices. Whether, it is said, his gift will be leavened bread or unleavened bread, whether it will be from “a furnace, or from a frying pan, or from a fireplace” (hearth), whether it will be not from wheat, but new grains crushed, that is, flour from hulled fruits, let only what is brought be drunk with oil and have incense on it. It seems that in these words Scripture seems to point us to the glorification of the saints through burning, labor, and also through contrition; for the furnace and the fire, as well as the grinding of the millstone, of course, are signs of the crushing and labor of people being tested, as it were, by fire. That is why they exclaimed, walking along such a glorious path: “You have tested us, O God, you have refined us as silver is refined” (Ps. 65:10). The divine David also sings: “God will not despise a contrite and humble heart” (Ps. 50:19). And that those who have labored in this way become the fragrance of Christ, this must undoubtedly be true; in the same way, that they will be shown mercy and abundantly fattened with the grace of the Spirit, this is clear to one who considers the use of incense and oil: for does not what is contained in the law serve as a subtle hint for us to what is hidden and revealed? K. So, we will offer ourselves to God, dying to sin and mentally suffering this sacred death, living “in righteousness,” according to what is written (1 Pet. 2:24), and as a gift of gratitude we will devote our own lives to Him, glorious and impeccable, adorned with the glory of Divine love. We can know this clearly from other laws; for it is written in the book of Leviticus: “If his offering is a peace offering, and if he offers of herd, male or female, he shall offer it to the Lord without blemish, and shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; The sons of Aaron, the priests, will sprinkle the blood on the altar on all sides; And he will offer from the peace offering to the Lord the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, and both kidneys, and the fat that is on them, that is on the hips, and the seal that is on the liver; with the kidneys he will separate it; and the sons of Aaron will burn it on the altar, along with the burnt offering that is on the wood, on the fire: this is an offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev. 3:1-5). So, the calf is offered without blemish: for those who exalt themselves to the aroma of God must be pure and as far removed as possible from all vice. He was slain at the very doors of the holy tabernacle, and the hands of the offering were laid on him. The meaning of such a ritual has already been clearly stated. We offered up the fat of the womb, and both kidneys, along with the fat removed from them, “and the obstruction... of the liver.” The fat that is in the womb can indicate, as I think, the well-being of the mind and the fatness of the heart, excellently educated by the mental guidance of the Spirit: for good nutrition produces fatness in dumb animals, as well as in human bodies; the most abundant communion of Divine gifts fills the minds of the saints with all good things. That is why they become sacred and chosen as a fragrant aroma to God. The kidneys can serve as an image of the rational activity contained in the mind, according to which it considers that which is harmful to be worthy of rejection, and that which is useful is worthy of preference and election. The divine Paul also writes: “Do not despise prophecies. Test everything, hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:20–21). So, since the separating member in the body is the kidney (since it very well separates what is superfluous, and transfers what is necessary and useful to the nature of the body, skillfully dividing where and how much needs to be separated), then the kidneys can rightly be interpreted in the sense of the rational ability of the mind. Therefore, the kidneys of holy people, that is, the rational faculty that they have in the mind, are sacred and dedicated to God. People devoted to God are experienced and precise moneychangers, always condemning what is bad and accustomed to honoring with excellent praise that which serves the good. Therefore, I think, the divine Psalmist, who gained glory in this, cried out to God: “For you have created my womb,” O Lord (Ps. 138:13). The membrane of the liver indicates nothing else to us than the action of the soul, or the movement of the heart in which it moves towards wishes. Some who have carefully examined objects of this kind say without difficulty that every animal has wishes in the liver. So, we must also dedicate to God the membrane of the liver, that is, the very source, so to speak, of all our desires, according to how the Psalmist sings: “Lord, all my desire is before You” (Ps. 37:10). But only he can boast of himself and pronounce such a glorious and wonderful message who has his aspirations directed only towards what pleases God, and is eager to do what He wants. P. I agree; for you understand correctly. K. Concerning the sheep, and also the goat, He defines the same law; and over them we performed the rite of sacrifice in the same way, and the difference in size of the animals excellently indicates the measure of piety and the acquisition of glory of those who bring the gift; for one abundantly and excellently (succeeds in piety) - and it should be understood as if under the image of a calf; the other is mediocre, as can be seen under the image of a sheep; and some even less so, because a goat is smaller than a sheep. And this, I think, means the same as the Gospel parable, according to which the fertile land brought forth fruit in a hundred and sixty and thirty (Matthew 13: 8, 23). K. And that, accordingly, the right deed of everyone will be the retribution of a reward, and that those who decide to take courage in goodness are determined by God to be equivalent to deeds and rewards, the Savior Himself will convince of this, Who says that the distribution of talents was unequal, but from those who acquired glory, he appoints one over ten cities, another over five (Matthew 25: 15-29). Everyone’s life is, as it were, weighed and retribution will certainly be balanced with our good quality. Likewise, the law of Moses will show us what I said; for this is what he says in the book of Numbers: “And the Lord spake to Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye enter into the land of your habitation which I am giving unto you, and ye offer a burnt offering to the Lord, or a slaughtered offering of oxen and sheep, to fulfill a vow, or according to zeal, or on your feasts, to make a pleasing aroma unto the Lord, then he that offereth his sacrifice As a bread offering you must bring to the Lord a tenth of an ephah of wheat flour mixed with a fourth of an hin of oil; and of wine for a drink offering, you shall offer the fourth part of an hin for a burnt offering, or for a slaughtered sacrifice, for each lamb.... And when you offer a ram, you shall offer as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of an hin of oil; and offer a third of an hin of wine for a drink offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. If you offer a young ox as a burnt offering or a slaughtered sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the Lord, then along with the ox you must bring a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of wheat flour mixed with half an hin of oil; and offer half a gin of wine as a drink offering as a sacrifice for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Do this with every offering of an ox and a ram and a lamb from a sheep or a goat; according to the number of sacrifices you offer, do this for each one according to their number. Every native should do this, offering a sacrifice of a pleasant aroma to the Lord; and if a stranger dwells among you, or whoever has been among you throughout your generations, and brings a sacrifice for a pleasing aroma to the Lord, then he too shall do as you do; for you, the congregation [of the Lord], and for the stranger who sojourns [with you], there is one statute, a statute forever throughout your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord; there shall be one law and the same rights for you and for the stranger who lives with you” (Num. 15:1-16). P. So where can we see in this the uniformity and correspondence of the reward, as you say, with the deeds of everyone? K. Do you not hear, my friend, that the law clearly says: when anyone wants to make prayers and burnt offerings, then if he slaughters a lamb, he must add to the sacrifice a tenth part of an ephah of wheat flour, and of wine and oil a fourth part of an inn (these are the measures in the Hebrew language): and if a ram, he says, then the addition accompanying the sacrifice must be in an increased volume, that is, it is a third part, for is the fourth part of the measure less than the third? When the calf is brought, the amount of wheat flour and everything else exceeds even a third, and already reaches half. P. I know that, but what does it mean? K. You, of course, know that wheat flour is an image of life, and oil is an image of joy; because it is written: “Anoint your face with oil” (Ps. 103:15). Wine serves as an indication of mental, from above and through the Spirit, unsent joy; for “wine,” it is said, “...makes a man’s heart glad” (ibid.). K: So, according to what someone begins to bear fruit with, God will grant him life with joy and gladness. Of course, we do not say that there is more or less in life or in the life given by God. This would be idle talk. But when we speak of life, we mean glory in life, by which one is superior to another, and the other, on the contrary, has less in comparison with others. However, he will not be deprived of honor and glory; “And star differs from star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). So, the image of the life of the saints in glory is here the difference in sacrifices, which, by the number of offerings accompanying the sacrifice, outlines for us the measure of glorification. And that the pagan peoples, together with those descended from the tribe of Israel, will bow their necks under the yoke of the Savior and will follow the path of the same sacrifices and the same spiritual glorification, he showed this, adding that the stranger should be guided by no different laws, like the Israelites; for there is one path for all, leading to affinity with God and the Father. And this way is Christ; for, as the divine Peter said: “For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). P. How excellent and skillful this explanation is! J. That we are not lying in the least when we claim that there are different ways of glorifying and that retribution will be distributed by God according to the measure of each (merit), this is also clear to the wise Paul when he says: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Cor. 9:6). And even before him, David declared: “And the Lord will reward me according to my righteousness, and according to my purity he will reward me” (Ps. 17:21). Do you not admit that, for example, the righteousness of Paul is different in comparison with the righteousness of someone else who is not yet like him, I mean - in relation to spiritual strength, so that he could exclaim with confidence: “I do not want to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14.) K. What else? Don't we agree that the purity of John's hands is different in comparison with anyone else, since he ascended to the height of the Gospel life? P. We agree: how could it be otherwise? K. Then tell me: will the righteous Judge of all demand from us a righteousness equal and in all respects similar to the good deeds of the saints, or, having experienced the measure of our inherent strength, will he not demand from us anything more than what each of us has and can fulfill? P. I think so myself; for this is what Christ said: “and to whom much has been entrusted, from him they will require more” (Luke 12:48). Obviously, the opposite is also true: from those who receive less, of course, little will be required. K. So look: this is also written in the law, that is, according to the measure of each person, God requires from him. Being the source and beginning of mercy and love for mankind that surpasses the mind, He does not reject anyone who resorts to Him in faith, but admits everyone with what he has, and accepts spiritual gifts, without at all demanding that which is beyond strength. And we have the following law about this in the book of Leviticus: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Proclaim to the children of Israel and say to them: if anyone makes a vow to consecrate his soul to the Lord according to your assessment, then your assessment for a man from twenty to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; if it be a woman, then your estimate shall be thirty shekels; from five years to twenty, your estimate for a man shall be twenty shekels, and for a woman ten shekels; and from a month to five years, your assessment for a man shall be five shekels of silver, and for a woman your assessment shall be three shekels of silver; from sixty years old and upward, for a man your assessment shall be fifteen shekels of silver, and for a woman ten shekels. If he is poor and is not able to give according to your estimate, then let him be presented to the priest, and let the priest evaluate him: in proportion to the condition of the one who made the vow, let the priest evaluate him” (Lev. 27: 1-8). Some came who included themselves among those dedicated to God and more willingly offered as a gift to Him the number of didrachmas determined by law. If someone was from among the people who were not very wealthy or not noble, then the payment was no longer according to the law; but after testing him by those who were priests at that time, the duty was determined according to the extent of its possibility. So here is a clearer interpretation and meaning of Scripture. I also consider it necessary to remind those who study the Holy Scriptures with particular curiosity about how Christ once addressed a speech to the Pharisees, and clearly and clearly mentioned this very commandment. They, striving for a vain life and disapproved by the law and “teaching doctrines, the commandments of men,” according to what is written (Matthew 15:9), approached Him, saying: “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread” (Matthew 15:2). But the Savior immediately said to them: “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded: honor your father and mother; and: He who curses his father or mother shall die by death. And you say: “If someone says to his father or mother: “What you would use from me is a gift to God”, he may not honor his father or his mother; Thus you have made void the commandment of God by your tradition” (Matthew 15:3-6; sn. Exodus 20:12). The Pharisees, being very money-loving and selfish, wanted to see as many people as possible coming to them for a census according to the law, and in order to fill their wallets, they collected money from each of those who came with an insatiable hand. But it was natural that some avoided the census, having a not unreasonable excuse for delaying poverty and the fact that they had to support old fathers or mothers from what they themselves obtained with some difficulty. The criminal Pharisees, as soon as they learned about this, exhorted them to begin dedicating the gift to God as quickly as possible, no longer thinking about what is just and despising what is prescribed by the law, that is, that they should show respect to their parents with full diligence and take care of them, but driving them away from themselves, they fulfilled what was established by the law (regarding gifts). And since according to the laws it was guilt and a crime to appropriate to oneself anything that was brought for the glory of God, and the name of the offering was: gift, they taught to say to parents who demanded assistance: “gift ... what you would use from me,” that is, what I could give you is dedicated to God, and know that you are breaking the law by stealing what was offered for the glory of God and wickedly receiving it. And these perpetrators of the most shameful fabrications for those who preferred to dedicate their property to God according to the law, argued that such inhumanity towards parents was innocent. This, I think, means: “And you say: if someone says to his father or mother: the gift that you would use from me, he may not honor his father or his mother; in other words: not honoring the father and not showing respect to the mother, it is permissible to say: “a gift to God is what you would use from me,” that is, what I would benefit you if I gave you, is a gift from God, and you will turn out to be a thief of sacred offerings. P. I believe that this is said correctly and truly. K. since the literal meaning is now clear to us, let us move on to the spiritual and touch on the contemplation of supersensible objects. К. Каждый из нас, Палладий, оправданных верою и освященных Духом, сделался священным даром Богу. Each of us owes our life to Christ; for, as the divine Paul said, we are bought “with a price” and do not belong to ourselves (1 Cor. 7:23, 6, etc.), and: one “died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5, 15). He purchased us with Himself from God and the Father, as if paying some price for us, His own blood. So, we come to the Savior of all, Christ, through faith and sanctification, as a reward for what He has done for us, offering Him the gift of a godly life. But the image of this offering is different, and more than one is presented - and quite rightly - for some do not strive very courageously for this, while others, as it were, with more ardent readiness and with an excited spirit, with a cheerful mind and with lively impetuosity, go to accomplish what they must do and what they can do that is pleasing to Him. These are the essence, according to the literal meaning, who are between the ages of twenty and sixty years; for even up to the sixtieth year the strength of the body and the strength of its movements reach. At the same time, the mind is still alert and strong and is very capable of perceiving what it would like to learn. But he who knows “our creation,” as it is written (Ps. 103:14), knows, of course, the same age in our souls: from bodily likenesses speech moves on to mental ones. So, whether it be male or female, both of them, while they are at the age of spiritual maturity, let them bring the gift determined by the law, that is, the male sex - fifty didrachms, as the whole and most perfect fruit of spiritual service, the highest completeness and perfection of which is clearly attested through seven - seven. Female gender - thirty didrachms; for he is less worthy of praise than the male sex; however, it also bears fruit as if perfect by nature, and produced with difficulty, signified by three dozen. From five to twenty years, if male, pays twenty didrachms, and if female, ten; for barely from the age of five, I think, the mind begins, so to speak, to see with understanding, although still childish and weak, but moving towards greater perfection; also the body becomes stronger and stronger. Разве ты не понимаешь, что я говорю? K. So, the fruit from each person is commensurate with spiritual well-being. At the same time, the female sex is everywhere behind the male and is often valued half as much. That a woman is a weak vessel, the divine Peter clearly testified to this (1 Pet. 3:7). She lacks the natural gifts of a man and is silent in the “churches” (1 Cor. 14:34); for she is not entrusted with the right to speak, and she is not as strong for the fulfillment of virtue as a man. From one month, it is also said, and up to five years, the male sex is five didrachms, and the female sex is three. And truly, what kind of fruit can be from babies? So, here the Word of God in some way hints to us about the newborn child in Christ, for whom, as the holy Paul said, milk is proper for food (Heb. 5:12; 1 Cor. 3:2). From those who have just been called through faith and are still in childhood, the fruit is small. And knowing this, the divine disciples command the converts from the pagans to beware “from fornication, strangulation and blood” (Acts 15:20), although much greater Gospel commandments were given by Christ, and they add that those who do so will do well (Acts 15:29); for truly a mind that is still tender and in its infancy should not be burdened with very heavy rules. But the law also added that from the age of sixty and older, fifteen didrachms should be required from the male sex, and ten from the female; because what is already inclined to weakness and inactivity cannot have greater fertility, just as, without a doubt, obsolete plants, due to the fact that their roots are decaying, are slow to produce ripe fruits. So, the truly just and merciful God accepts fruits according to the disposition of each and the ability of the mind, not rejecting the powerless and outdated and not removing them as inactive, and not letting go of the strong without reward, but as if expanding the path for everyone who wants to gain glory in the way in which he can. And He Himself will take care of those who are weakest in condition, as well as those of little sense, assigning fruit to each one according to his strength. This, I think, means: “let him stand before the priest, and let the priest appreciate him: as the hand of the promised one can.” P. How subtle is this explanation! K: So, Palladius, we must offer up to God, as the stench of a fragrance and as something due, a holy life and the glory of an excellent life. You know, of course, what one of the holy men writes: “Honor the Lord with your righteous labors, and give Him the firstfruits of your fruits of righteousness” (Proverbs 3:9). The ancients thought to honor God by sacrificing oxen and incense: because this was the way of living according to the law. But we, who in Christ walk through faith in the best and most excellent path, will offer up worship to God in spirit and truth, making every effort to be able to courageously do what we must, and honor God with spiritual and sacred offerings: for we should, I think, remember who clearly said through the wise Moses: “Keep what comes out of your mouth” (Deut. 23:23), that is, what you promised, try to fulfill it as quickly as possible, because delay in this case is not a harmless matter; “When you make a vow to God,” it is said, “do not hesitate to fulfill it... It is better for you not to promise than to promise and not fulfill it” (Eccl. 5:3-4). K. And of course, everyone can accurately learn the proper subject of the art of fulfilling vows and confessions only through the law; for it is written that “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105). In fact, aren’t we guided by the Divine law, and isn’t it then that everyone follows a straight and unmistakable path when he has, as if for his lamp, the rays emanating from him? P. How could it be otherwise? For the divine David sings; “The commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes” (Ps. 18:9). K. But how we gain glory by leading a praiseworthy and all-pure life and, as a bright gift to God, bringing Him examples of the highest honesty, you will learn about this, and very clearly from other sayings of God who commands us. It is in the book of Numbers that it says this: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and tell them: if a man or woman decides to take the Nazirite vow to dedicate himself as a Nazirite to the Lord, then he must abstain from wine and strong drink, and must not drink vinegar from wine or vinegar from drink, and must not drink anything prepared from grapes, and must not eat either raw or dried grapes; all the days of his Naziriteship he shall not eat... anything that is made from grapes, from grains to skins. All the days of his Nazirite vow, no razor shall touch his head; Until the fulfillment of the days for which he dedicated himself as a Nazirite to the Lord, he is holy: he must grow hair on his head. All the days for which he dedicated himself as a Nazirite to the Lord, he should not approach a dead body: by touching his father, and his mother, and his brother, and his sister, he should not be defiled when they die, because dedication to his God is on his head; all the days of his Naziriteship he is holy to the Lord. If someone suddenly, accidentally, dies in his presence, and he thereby defiles the head of his Nazirite: then he must shave his head on the day of his atonement, on the seventh day he must shave it, and on the eighth day he must bring two turtle doves, or two young doves, to the priest, to the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting; the priest shall offer one of the birds for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and shall cleanse him from the defilement of the dead body, and sanctify his head on that day; and he must again begin the days of his Nazirite consecrated to the Lord and offer a lamb of one year for a trespass offering; but the former days have perished, because his Naziriteship has been defiled” (Num. 6:1-12). P. It is not easy to gain insight into these words of revelation, and it is completely impossible if this law is not subjected to subtle study: because not to shave the hair on the head, but to let it grow long and scatter it, to avoid wine, vinegar (otsta), from dry bunches, as well as from grape seeds - all this can relate to what type of service to God? K. Truly to no avail, Palladius, if we consider this matter entirely in itself, by its nature. However, one cannot help but be amazed at the purpose of the law, which very skillfully changes Hellenic customs to more decent ones and perfectly transforms what seems vain into the way of life of the Gospel. So, if anyone had the goal of purifying himself before God according to a great vow, that is, living according to the image of the highest life and walking the straight and undefiled path of perfect righteousness, he must flee far from wine and strong drink, that is, free the spirit from everything that has the power to intoxicate and darken it. This is the essence, as I think, of worldly thoughts, earthly lusts, carnal cares, vain entertainments. Some of the priests who were subjected to this are mourned by the prophetic word in the following words: “The priest and the prophet are staggered by wine and are led astray by strong drink” (Is. 28:7). The prophet also says about others: “For their grapes are from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah; Their berries are poisonous, their clusters are bitter; their wine is the poison of dragons and the deadly poison of asps” (Deut. 32, 32–33). It is also said about some others that they “will make their friends drunk with muddy corruption” (Hab. 2:15). Thus (the law) restrains the mind of the sanctified from everything that can intoxicate. He also speaks very clearly about the fact that one should not touch vinegar, calling vinegar, as I think, unnatural and perverted pleasures. It also prohibits the consumption of dry grapes and grains, not allowing our mind to deviate even, so to speak, to the old remnants of our inherent desires for pleasure. For these reasons, I think, and not for other reasons, wine and everything made from it are rejected by law. What could finally mean that it was supposed to grow long hair for God, we will say about this now, having previously noted this: the most unreasonable Hellenic fiends, following their unnatural customs and leading the life of dumb animals, let their hair grow, based on the fact that they were growing it for their deities, but from time to time they cut it, some for mountain nymphs, others for river nymphs, and this business was one of their forms of worship. The wise Moses, or rather, through Moses, the wise and most skillful artist - God established the same thing in the law for the Israelites, for whom it was difficult to cleanse themselves from the Egyptian error - little by little, through ancient customs and way of life, as if through images and shadows, transferring them to the point of giving veneration no longer to demons, but to God of all. For this reason, He established laws regarding sacrifices and accepted, however reluctantly, blood sacrifices. And He spoke clearly through the mouth of Isaiah: “Who will exact this from your hands?” (Isa. 1, 12.) So, the Greeks had a most unreasonable custom, but the law teaches what is best, and even what seems vain is rationally transformed into good. Would you like us to talk about each one individually, as much as possible? K: Don’t you know—I’ll remember what was said to you before—that the Word of God set the head as the image of the mind, as the dwelling place of the mind? For this is exactly how the inspired Scripture accepts. P. I agree. But what of that? K. That the hair is like the fruit of the head and comes out of it like sprouts planted in the ground: in the same way, thoughts and everything that comes from the mind are the fruit of the mind; they return the law to us and, as it were, serve as beautiful and blooming hair befitting it. Therefore, we must have in us a mind that is not naked and devoid of good thoughts, but, so to speak, abundant in vegetation and growing for God, like hair, an accurate knowledge of all that is best, with the help of which it can explore the Divine beauty itself - in what it consists, it will clearly see, as it were, hidden in the depths and acquire very correct concepts, so that it will be able to receive completely impeccable knowledge about God and walk infallibly. a path, - I’m talking about a path to everything praiseworthy. Wouldn't you say that such a thing already penetrates, as it were, to the pinnacle of all praise? K. What then? Doesn't shaving and removing hair from the head, cutting it off to the roots, suggest dishonor to those to whom it would happen? K. You know what God says to the mother of the Jews, that is, to Jerusalem: “Take off your hair, cut your hair, grieving for your dearly beloved sons; because of them, widen your bald head like a moulting eagle, for they will be carried away from you” (Mic. 1:16); because cutting one's hair is a shameful and dishonorable task, and most of all befits those who mourn. K: So the mind is as if naked and very dishonored, and filled with shame, if it does not have in itself that by which respect is achieved. This includes, and quite rightly, people who have little understanding and have a perverted concept of God, so that they worship stones and foolishly dare to worship the creature, instead of the Creator and Creator, they think and say something completely corrupted and, rejecting the true and immaculate faith, rush on the contrary to what can only be idle talk out of foolishness, because they do not have a mind adorned with good thoughts. K. So, let the mind be filled with right thoughts and the invention of thoughts directed towards everything praiseworthy, being, as it were, adorned with hair: for such a mind is extremely wise and capable of establishing within itself the enlightenment received in Christ by faith. For a person who leads such a beautiful and excellent life and is distinguished by such a mind, Divine revelation orders him to move away from everything that defiles, to avoid carnal affairs and to throw away as far as possible everything that leads to deadness and corruption. This very thing, of course, is indicated to us by the commandment that one should not approach the dead and be defiled by touching a dead person; the law completely prohibits this, placing what is pleasing to God above respect even for parents: for the father, he says, and for the mother, “let him not come in” (Num. 6:6): because with the exercise of virtue, let carnal love be removed, and let God be higher and dearer than blood kinship. Christ Himself says this: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37-38). And that God is higher than respect for parents, the Savior Himself taught us about this. One of those who had newly entered the number of His disciples approached Him, saying: “Lord! let me first go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him: follow me, and let the dead bury their dead” (Matthew 8:21-22). Dead, I think, He calls those who want to think about worldly things and do not refrain from the works of death. K. This is the image of living all-pure and fair according to the law, or better, in spirit and truth; for the law is the canopy. But if, it is said, the sanctified one happens to be defiled by a dead man, then let him “shave” and deprive his “head” of hair, because the hair on his head is already in some way not sacred. “And on the eighth day he must bring two turtle doves, or two young doves” (Num. 6:10). “And to offer,” it is also said, “a lamb of one year old for a trespass offering; but the former days have perished, because his Naziriteship has been defiled” (Num. 6:12). That is, if it happened that the sanctified one neglected what became him and became defiled by mortal deeds, turning away to the carnal, then the consequence of this would be the deprivation of his ornaments of all-pure living and, as it were, the greatest dishonor on his head: for such something is indicated by the cutting of his hair. As someone who has labored in vain in the past, he will mourn the loss of his labors. This, I think, is what the words mean: “let not the former days be numbered among him.” Something similar was said through the mouth of Ezekiel: “The righteousness of the righteous will not save in the day of his transgression, and the wicked for his iniquity will not fall in the day of his iniquity, just as the righteous cannot live in the day of his sin for his righteousness” (Ezek. 33:12). So, if the sanctified were to become desecrated in the midst of their deeds, they would lose what they had done before; however, this loss is not irreparable. They are cleansed in Christ, who, like the turtledove and the dove, offers Himself for us to God and the Father, just as a lamb is slain and justifies us by the death of His Flesh. Поэтому-то и повелено потерпевшему острижение (волос) приносить жертвы во образ Христа, Который оправдывает нечестивого, укрепляет немощное, восставляет падшее, обращает заблуждающееся и омывает оскверненное. K. I think that by paying a little attention to the subject of our study, we can discern another depth of subtle and intimate thoughts; for it is not without a purpose that the law encourages us to do this, speaking about one who grows his hair for God: “If someone dies in his presence suddenly, by accident, and he thereby defiles the head of his Nazirite: then he must shave his head on the day of his atonement, on the seventh day he must shave it, and on the eighth day he must bring two turtle doves, or two young doves, to the priest, to the entrance of the tabernacle of the congregation; the priest will offer one of the birds as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and will cleanse him from the defilement of the dead body, and will sanctify his head on that day” (Num. 6:9-11). It was also commanded to bring a lamb of the first year. P. But the student of Christian Science will rightly remain perplexed as to what the meaning of this hidden passage is and where it is heading. Explain this, as I wish to learn. K. I will tell you about this as best I can. You, in turn, if I deviate from the (proper) path, be lenient; for this part of the law is very difficult and its hidden meaning is unclear. K. Since the head of the body, Palladium, serves for us as an image of the mind (for this is accepted in the Divine and Holy Scriptures): then the thoughts arising naturally from it and in it, by which we are guided in the knowledge of everything that exists, we liken to the hairs on the head; for they grow out of our heads. K. Consequently, our mind is, so to speak, uncut and adorned with hair for God when it is full of good thoughts. On the contrary, he is naked and deprived of hair and suffers from the most dishonorable baldness, if he does not have right concepts about God and does not enrich himself with the most excellent knowledge of everything that he should do. P. True. We also revealed this recently. K. So, before the coming of the Savior, Israel was called to the knowledge of God through Moses. That is why he was sanctified. In some way he also gave God a vow of purity: for he openly promised that he would be the keeper of the law on Mount Horeb, saying: “We will do everything that the Lord has said” (Ex. 24:3). Thus he had a mind full of instruction in the law and, as it were, hair growing for God, adorned with the glory of the commandment given through Moses. But they (the Israelites) defiled themselves over the dead man; for they killed Immanuel. And although the death of Christ was truly holy, yet those who killed Him remained desecrated - the guilt of murdering the Lord. Therefore, the law commands them, like a hair, to cut off this instruction in the law and almost shave themselves, as was done educationally on the seventh day (Num. 6:9), that is, to remove from the head what had grown until the eighth day, on which Christ came to life (resurrected), renewing us into incorruption and transforming us for a new and gospel life. So, having shaved what grew before the 8th day, he (Israel) again adorns himself with hair and sanctifies his head after the 8th day. And his mind is no longer decorated with images and shadows, as before, but with the very dogmas of faith and truth. Or don’t you think that those who are justified in faith should, as it were, remove from themselves the glory of serving under the law and, on the contrary, grow and perceive in their minds and hearts the knowledge of the Gospel, as much better and more excellent than previous knowledge? P. How do you assert this? K. Isn’t it clear and open that Paul, trained in the law, exclaims, speaking of this ancient and under-the-legislative glory: “But whatever was gain to me, these I counted loss for Christ’s sake. And I count all things but loss for the excellency of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Phil. 3:7-9). K. He also condemns others for honoring circumcision according to the law after the appearance of the sacrament of Christ: “we were left,” he says, “without Christ, we have fallen from grace, but we in spirit expect and hope for righteousness from faith” (Gal. 5:4-5). He also says that this ancient commandment has become useless and not free from reproach, and that another one has been introduced in its place, that is evangelical K. So, the mysterious command indicates the invalidity of the instruction in the law, that Israel who has made a vow should cut his hair as if he had been defiled by a dead man, that is, as guilty of the crime of murdering the Lord, and that he should dedicate to God, as it were, another hair after the 8th day, that is, after the resurrection - I mean a careful and refined education and teaching in the Gospel commandments. The law commanded the one who grows back his hair to bring turtledoves and doves (Num. 6:10), as if thereby indicating the cleanser of the defiled, that is, Christ; because He is indicated by both: by the turtledove, as the most kind, and by the dove, as the meekest, while the law is tongue-tied and has no meekness, for it immediately imposes punishment on those who sin. Along with the birds, a lamb is also brought (Num. 6:12), so that Christ may be understood in everything: in the birds, as having come down from above and from heaven, and in the lamb, as from below and from the earth; for “The Word, being God by nature, became flesh” (John 1:14). But even so, It was and is God; It delivers us from the shadow of the law and puts the knowledge of His commandments into the hearts of all, and makes us truly holy, cleansing us with its “blood”, according to the Scriptures (Rom. 5:9). K: If, as it is said, the ritual of the vow of the one who grows his hair after the eighth day will be fulfilled well, then let it be completed. And how this should be, God lays down the law, saying: “And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his Nazarite are fulfilled: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tabernacle of the congregation, and he shall sacrifice to the Lord one lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for a peace offering, and a basket of unleavened bread made of fine flour. loaves baked with oil, and unleavened cakes anointed with oil, and with them a grain offering and a drink offering; And the priest will present it before the Lord, and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering; he will offer a peace offering to the Lord with a basket of unleavened bread, and the priest will also offer his grain offering and his drink offering; And the Nazarite at the door of the tabernacle of meeting shall shave the head of his Nazarite, and take the hair of the head of his Nazarite, and put it on the fire which is under the peace offering; And the priest shall take the cooked shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened cake, and put it in the hands of the Nazarite, after he has shaved the head of his Nazarite; and the priest shall lift it up, shaking it before the Lord: this holy thing is for the priest, above the breast of the wave, and above the shoulder of the wave. After this the Nazirite can drink wine. This is the law of the Nazarite who has made a vow, and his sacrifice to the Lord for his Nazariteship, besides what his wealth allows him; according to his vow, which he makes, so he must do, in addition to what was legalized about his Naziriteship” (Num. 6: 13-21). Having laid aside, as it were, some kind of burden, the rough shell of the Mosaic writing and freed the mind, as it were, from some long and very thick hair - from serving in the image and canopy, having pledged to God a vow of purity, having, as it were, newly grown hair - truly creating knowledge and instruction in the commandments given by Christ will be holy and sacred, and moreover, worthy. He will exalt himself into the stench of fragrance to God and dedicate to Him, as it were, a pleasant sacrifice, the glorious and impeccable beauty of his life: for “let him bring,” it is said, “his gift, a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and another lamb... for the sake of sin, and also a ram for a salvation offering, and a bunch of unleavened bread soaked in oil, and unleavened bread anointed with oil.” By the lamb we can rightly understand the infancy in Christ of the sacrificer, and by the ram - the perfection of the mind, as well as fruitfulness; for it is said: “Brothers! Do not be children in your mind: be infants in evil, but be mature in your mind” (1 Cor. 14:20). In the middle of these sacrifices is placed a lamb “for sin’s sake,” in which again it is easy for us to see that the life of very pure people, who spend it in simplicity and gentleness, understood in Christ, and perfect in soundness of mind, is not entirely blameless, but in any case needs to be cleansed. No one can acquire complete impeccability, and only Emmanuel is given and assigned, as belonging to Him, the right to say: “For the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). So, in the lamb, the lamb and the ram, everyone can see what I said: in the unleavened bread, a simple and pure life is indicated, for the all-wise Paul writes to the sanctified: “Purge the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, since you are unleavened, for our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). And in unleavened bread the pleasantness and, as it were, sweetness of the life of the saints is indicated. Thus we will sacrifice ourselves, as if in a lamb, because of our infancy in Christ; в агнице же, – вследствие немощи естества и удобопреклонности к прегрешению – потому что женский пол есть образ немощи. In the ram, further, we will offer ourselves as perfect, having reached the measure of the stature of Christ; in unleavened bread as if it were pure; in unleavened bread, as acceptable, but only having been shown mercy by Christ; for we are justified “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by our own” great mercy” (Titus 3:5). For this reason, it was very prudent to pour oil on the loaves. The priest then acts as a mediator and brings first of all a sacrifice for sin, then a burnt offering, and thirdly a ram as a sacrifice of salvation; for since Christ is an intercessor for us and leads us to God and the Father, we will be accepted, offering prayers for our sins and asking for forgiveness of previous crimes. Then we are mentally offered up as a burnt offering, that is, we will be completely and completely holy and sacred and will offer ourselves to God in the stench of fragrance, without being divided between Him and what is in the world; For the burnt offering was all consumed by fire. Let us also offer thanks for our salvation and for life, not honoring God with corruptible and earthly things, but as an acceptable gift, offering Him pure and unleavened, pleasant and holy life; for such is in some way the life of the saints. After the priest has made the sacrifice according to the law, “and he will take,” it is said, “the hair of the head of his Nazirite, and put it on the fire” (Num. 6:18). P. What does this mean, in your opinion? K. Fulfillment of a vow and, as it were, the limit of what was promised; for no longer as one defiled over a dead man cut off the dishonored and defiled hair, so here too we must take the form of cutting; but already as perfect in Christ and having grown other hairs after the last day, he figuratively dedicates to God what was promised. The sign that the gift has been accepted by God is the destruction of the hair by fire: for the form of fire is always attributed to the Divine nature by the Holy Scriptures. So the divine Moses said: “Our God consumed fire” (Heb. 12:29; cf. Deut. 4:23), likening, as I think, the omnipotence of the Divine and pure nature to fire. Pay attention also to the fact that at the doors of the tabernacle this complete shorning took place, that is, the end of all our righteousness and purity; for how is it only our own purity and righteousness could lead us into the Holy of Holies, when it does not have perfect innocence and infallibility? “Who can be born clean from an unclean person” (Job 14:4). Christ leads us (there) without hesitation, liberating and delivering us from all sin: because he “entered as a forerunner for us” (Heb. 6:20), not for Himself, of course, making access there easier, but for those who were “outside the gates” (cf. Heb. 13:12) and, as it were, at the very threshold of the holy tabernacle. K. It is said of him that He “opened for us... a new and living way” (Heb. 10:19-20). After the shorn of the one who came to the very doors of the holy tabernacle, as well as after the destruction of the hair by fire, “and the priest will take,” it is said, “the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened pie from the basket, and one unleavened cake, and put it in the hands of the Nazarite,” and again taking it, “and the priest will lift it up,” it is said, “wavering before the Lord: this shrine is for the priest.” , like the sternum of “participation” (Num. 6, 19–20). P. So what does the law want to mean by this? К. В богодухновенном Писании мышца всегда представляется образом крепости или дел, в крепости совершаемых, а бесквасный хлеб – образом святой и чистой жизни; Unleavened bread, smeared with oil and prepared in the form of a cake, represents an image of pleasantness and pleasure. Anyone can quite rightly apply the face of the intermediate priest to Emmanuel. So, having achieved the highest holiness and brought to the all-pure God as a glorious gift the works of strength, obviously spiritual, under the image of the shoulder of a ram, and immaculate life, represented by the image of unleavened bread, as well as the pleasure and pleasantness of life in sanctification, under the image of unleavened bread, as if laying all this on his own hands, he offers it to God through the Mediator Christ, who, as it were, accepts gifts from hand to hand, rewarding the true worshiper His highest honors, especially this very one. Therefore, it is said that the one who fulfills such a holy and all-pure vow, placing it on his own hands, transfers to the priest the assignment and the chosen and allocated part for him, such as the sternum of a ram, according to the definition of the legislator. And just as a muscle means, we say, the deeds produced by strength, or the strength itself, so the sternum of the ram is feeling and mind: for we have feeling in the heart and chest, and Divine Scripture is often expressed indifferently, sometimes representing the head as an image of the mind, and sometimes making the chest an indication of feeling. So, sacred and chosen gifts, as if passed from hand to hand, and for the sake of Christ, gifts favorable to God and the Father, are the spiritual strength of those being cleansed, as well as their feeling. Yes, to tell the truth, then the saints could not do anything pleasing to God any other way than through spiritual strength, and also through good feeling. K. And the law commanded the boiled to take the shoulder in order to remove from the strength of the saints, as it were, everything that is rude and inconsistent with what is proper: because those dedicated to God should not be harsh and have an unrestrained spirit, but should try to quietly, gently and very deftly do what relates to virtue. Only if, and not otherwise, will the deeds of the saints be pleasing and, as it were, tasty to God, if they do not have anything rude and intolerable in themselves. You know, of course, that Christ calls the salvation of those who live in purity as his own food, saying to the holy disciples: “I have food that you do not know” (John 4:32). Remember also that God, when he commanded to slaughter a lamb in the image of Christ, he added to this the following decree: “Do not eat from it half-baked, or boiled in water, but eat baked on fire” (Ex. 12:9), calling harsh (raw), as I think, unacceptable and, so to speak, not easily cooked. That is why it is said that the “boiled shoulder of a ram” should be charged (Num. 6:19), which means that what is not cooked is unpleasant, inedible, and therefore not acceptable. P. How subtle and truthful this explanation is! K. So, one must fulfill one’s vows to God, and whoever has promised something, let him fulfill it without any delay, because not to fulfill it soon is very scary and dangerous, as I think and as the Holy Scripture itself affirms. For if we, thinking correctly, consider it very indecent to be accused of false speech, then how would it not be shameful to confess something and promise something before God, and then lie in this promise? Therefore, the law accuses anyone who has made a vow and is slow in fulfilling it, as well as those who completely deviate from fulfilling it, of sin; but he frees from guilt those who have absolutely nothing of their own, but are, as it were, bound by necessary bonds and live under the authority of another. It is written like this in the book of Numbers: “And Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying: This is what the Lord commanded: if anyone makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath, putting a vow on his soul, then he must not break his word, but must fulfill everything that has come out of his mouth. If a woman makes a vow to the Lord and makes a vow on herself in her father’s house, in her youth, and her father hears her vow and the vow that she has made on her soul, and her father remains silent about it, then all her vows will come true, and every vow that she has made on her soul will come true; If her father, having heard it, forbids her, then all her vows and covenants that she has placed on her soul will not take place, and the Lord will forgive her, because her father forbade her” (Num. 30: 2-6). But if it were, it is said, a wife who was married to her husband according to the law, then let the same law be in force (Numbers 30:7-9). Regarding the widow and the wasteland, he provides special definitions and very wisely says that their promises must certainly be fulfilled, and everywhere he exposes the guilt of those who are free and outside the bonds (of marriage) if they do not want to fulfill what they promised; but in fairness it permits those who are not in such a state, have no rights and are subordinate to others. In this case, the rulers, that is, the father and husband, who have expressed consent and, as it were, approval of the vows of those who are under their control and authority, are charged with impiety if they do not want to fulfill what they promised. And if they do not agree, then he determines permission from sins, because what is dedicated to God must be the fruit of free will, and not coercion (Num. 30: 10-17). Book 17. About holy holidays Regarding the purity of those who take vows, as well as of priests, we will be content with what has been said. But, I think, we should finally add a discussion about what the reward for labor will be from God and what, by doing, those who have undertaken it will acquire the highest honors and become partakers of eternal hope. Palladium. What you say is correct. Kirill. Without a doubt, Palladius, it is fitting for those who have led a glorious and excellent life and have reached such a degree of bright life that they deserve the best opinion about them, it is fitting to enjoy lasting prosperity, in celebration and spiritual joy, having Emmanuel as the leader of the triumph and resting on firm hope. P. Of course, it’s decent, and your word is true. K: So, would you like us to examine the holidays that were celebrated in the image and according to the law and explain the rituals of the sacrifices that were made during them, elevating, as much as possible, to the truth the power of the meaning contained in them? P. I would like to; How can you not want to? K: So, since you find that I think correctly and beautifully, considering it appropriate to discuss this subject, then please, first of all, we will examine when and on what occasions the Holy Scripture prescribed us to celebrate holidays, for in this way our conversation will go the straight path to the proper one and, moreover, will not harm the appearance of not being skillfully conducted. P. So proceed to what you please; because you will bring great benefit by doing so. K. Once, when the Israelites were gathered in the desert at Mount Horeb, the God of all decreed a law determining what we should do, having given very many and useful commandments, finally added: “Three times in the summer you will make a holiday for Me.” And what times these should be, He also explained, saying immediately: “Three times a year you shall celebrate Me: observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread: for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; and let them not come before Me empty-handed; Observe both the festival of harvesting the first fruits of your labor, which you sowed in the field, and the festival of gathering the fruits at the end of the year, when you harvest your work from the field. Three times a year all your male sex must appear before the Master, the Lord” (Ex. 23:14-17). So, that holidays for the glory of God should be celebrated especially by people who are courageous, and not by those who have fallen in spirit, having a weak mind and always inclined to carnal and worldly pleasures, He showed this when he said: “Three times in the year, let every male sex appear before the Lord your God”: for the male sex is worthy of the view from above from God in the sense that has already been said before. But He also legitimized with benefit that it was necessary to celebrate holy holidays; because it should, truly should have been shown to people who are embarking on the beginning of proper child rearing and already, as it were, placing the Divine yoke on themselves, very clearly the end of a life consistent with the law, that is, that in any case it will certainly end in pleasures and joys, obviously spiritual. Therefore, He, having proclaimed the law, wisely rejecting what causes harm, but on the contrary, approving what serves to benefit and offering the path of life pleasing to Him, made it clear that their work would one day end in pleasure. So, the first holiday was in the new (first) month; the second and, as it were, adjacent to it is the feast of the firstfruits of the harvest; the third and last at the end of summer, after we have gathered the fruits, in the seventh month of the year. Isn't that what the Holy Scripture says? K: So, it is necessary to clearly show what is characteristic of each time and, as much as possible, to understand how and for what reasons it should be celebrated. The merciful God at that time commanded the sons of Israel to come out of the land of Egypt and throw off the yoke of unbearable slavery, and set the path to the land of promise. But Pharaoh resisted the Divine decree; he boldly cried out against the unspeakable glory, saying: “I do not know the Lord” (Exodus 5:2) and repeatedly asserted that he would not let the children of Israel go (Exodus 5:2, 7:13–14, 22, 8:15, 32, etc.). And so he was struck by many executions that followed one after another. But since he was still cruel and retained in his heart an invincible stubbornness against God, God sent a destroyer against the firstborn of Egypt, and He who had power over all judged them all to die in one night. But he took care in advance that the tribes of Judah would not suffer evil, and that they would be as far as possible from the hand and wrath of the destroyer. And this could only be achieved by anyone except through Christ, Who is the “life” (Jn. 14:6) and life-giving, as having come from the belly by nature, that is, from the Father (John 5:26). And so the law prefigured this sacrament of Christ, thus saying: “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 among you between the months of the year. Tell the whole congregation... of Israel: on the tenth day of this month, let each one take for himself one lamb according to his family, 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 him until the morning...; but what remains of it you shall burn in the fire until the morning. 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; From the very first day, destroy leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leaven from the first day until the seventh day, that soul will be cut off from among Israel. And on the first day you shall have a holy convocation, and on the seventh day a holy convocation: you shall do no work in them; As soon as everyone eats, you can do one thing” (Ex. 12:1-16). So do you want us, having gone through all this lightly and briefly, to say what is needed? For by this we will give guilt to the wise and make the matter known to the righteous, as it is written (Prov. 9:9); and they will improve on themselves and become much better. K: So, at the beginning of the year and in the first month the sacrament of Christ appears; because for us the time of the coming of our Savior serves as a new age, changing everything for the better, and transforming what was dilapidated and aging, and close to extinction into the renewal of creation; for what is in “Christ is a new creation; the old has passed away, everything is new” (2 Cor. 5:17). And we no longer live in the spirit of Moses, but are brought to the gospel life, since Christ renews us with the Spirit. K. Everyone takes a sheep and those invited to eat from it gather several people in one house; for we too, being, as it were, separated individually on the side of natural existence, came together in Christ into spiritual unity, since we have one soul and one heart. Either a sheep or “from the goats” is sacrificed; a sheep - because of its unparalleled meekness and gentleness and, on top of this, its fertility: for “like a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent” (Is. 53:7). The Lamb - because he was slain for us and given up for our sins, according to the Scriptures (2 Cor. 5:7; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 2:2). The goat is a sacrifice for sins, according to the law. The sheep must “be completely male.” Perfection means either freedom from all vice, strength and health (for Christ is blameless and alien to all passion), or actual perfection, because Emmanuel is all-perfect, having in Himself and by nature that through which He is God. The male gender means that He is the leader of all; because the male sex always occupies a dominant position, and the female always takes second place. And the sheep is taken from the tenth day of the month, and is sacrificed towards the evening on the fourteenth day: for the sacrament of Christ is not something new, and it did not only become known for the first time, when it seemed like intoxication to the Jews (Acts 2:13). But the knowledge of Christ was much older than suffering, since holy people foretold about Him, and the law cried out, and since the Holy Scriptures foreshadowed His sacrament to us. So, we then kept with us, as if in foreknowledge, the Lamb that had not yet been devoured; but we were not unaware that He would be slain in the evening: for the death of Christ took place in the last times of the age, at the very end of the passing time. It is tempered by the whole society; for He died for all, so that when they brought the lamb to the slaughter for the sake of their salvation, they would know that they were “bought... with a price” and are not “their own” (1 Cor. 6:19-20), but that one “died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15). Since He was betrayed for our sins, it is said that He died for our sake. Therefore we too are those who slay Him; for those for whose sake He inevitably died are obviously almost the executors of His suffering, even if the fulfillment belonged to others. And that the sprinkling of blood saves the anointed, He immediately showed this by commanding that the entrances of houses be anointed with blood - I mean the doorposts and thresholds of doors: for the sacrament of Christ, as it were, blocks and makes the entrance impenetrable to death. So, there is no doubt that we, anointed with honest blood, will be conquerors of death, we will despise corruption, imputing the destroyer to nothing; because it is the blood of life that delivers us, that is, the Blood of Christ. It is also said that the meat of the lamb must be eaten in one night; for truly one thing is the time of saving suffering, and once he has died “who dies no more,” as it is written, “death no longer has power over Him. For if He died, He died once to sin; and whatever he lives, he lives for God” (Rom. 6:9-10). The meat was eaten baked, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. At the same time, baking indicates, as it were, the accomplishment of Emmanuel through suffering: “It was necessary,” it is said, “that He, for whom are all things and from Whom are all things...to accomplish their salvation through suffering” (Heb. 2:10). And that it was eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, this mysteriously signifies that we, to whom Christ is offered for communion, must remove ourselves from mental leaven, that is, from malice and wickedness, but on the contrary, with the greatest willingness to endure suffering for the sake of love for Him and endure bitter labors, or to follow the One who went to death for our sake; for, urging us to this, He says: “A disciple is not above a teacher, and a servant is not above his master” (Matthew 10:24). called Beelzebub, much less his household?” (Matthew 10:25). In addition, the law prohibits eating meat raw or boiled in water, although I think I would not eat it raw if the law had not prohibited it. So, by this he mysteriously indicates that the Sacrament of Christ has in itself neither inconvenience, depending on the abundance of inventions, nor wateriness and liquefaction; while the famous Hellenic poets and writers, and sages in the field of literature, describing secret festivals (orgies) in honor of their gods, shamelessly lie and offer to the minds of people legends that seem crude and inconvenient, containing a lot of watery things. So they talk about adultery, about carnal love for dissolute women, about child molestation, about cutting off childbearing members, about turning girls into trees, and besides, other shameful and ugly fables invented by them. And everything that is in Christ is true, acceptable and edible for the mind, and does not contain anything loose or watery. It leads those who want to understand to decency, and does not dispose to sensual pleasures and carnal pleasure, as the empty and old-woman Hellenic fables undoubtedly do. Do you understand clearly what I am saying? P. I understand completely clearly. J. And that the one who has become a partaker of Christ through the communion of His holy Flesh and Blood must also have His mind and try to follow the path of His deeds, with a clear understanding of what is in Him, He showed this immediately, saying that the head with the legs and entrails must be devoured: for didn’t we say that the head is the image of the mind, and the legs everywhere indicate, as it were, a procession along the path of deeds? Do not the entrails of sacrificed animals indicate something internal and hidden? P. It would seem that this is the correct understanding. However, explain to me what the mind of Christ means, what kind of procession this is, and also what is hidden. K. The mind of Christ means thinking only about what has in mind the glory of God and the Father, and desiring the fulfillment of what is pleasing to the Parent: “For I came down from heaven,” says Christ, “not to do My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 6:38). And the divine disciples, who wanted to think and implement this, clearly said: “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). And they also taught to say in prayers: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 6:9-10). Do you see that those who have become conformed and like-minded to Christ clearly affirm that they also have His mind? This, I think, means that the head of the lamb was eaten. The procession of Christ consists in the fact that He courageously and undauntedly endured death in order, as Paul says, “to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). We should also be fully prepared for this and be ready to sacrifice even our bodily life for our brothers. So one of the holy disciples said: “Christ suffered for us in the flesh, then arm yourself with the same thought for Him” (1 Pet. 4:1). Paul reproaches some, saying: “Why do you weep and break my heart? I not only want to be a prisoner, but I am ready to die in Jerusalem for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 21:13). And Christ Himself, commanding to follow His footsteps, says: “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38). The procession of Christ and His path are holy in all other respects and extend to every virtue. By the inward parts you understand the Word hidden in Him in mystery. For being God by nature and appearing from God, the Only-Corned One “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) and being “in the image and likeness of the Parent, He made Himself humble to the point of exhaustion and took the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:6-7). So, let us take into our souls not only the human and externally visible in the nature of Emmanuel, but also the very By filling the mind with His innards, that is, with His hidden mysteries, we will have good spiritual nutrition. Съесть всего агнца, сказал Бог, должно в эту одну ночь, чтобы совсем ничего не было от него оставлено и сохранено до утра; and he did not allow his bones to be broken. The first precept means that in the coming century Christ will sanctify and bless in some other way those who dedicate themselves to Him through faith and sanctification and will not again nourish with His own Flesh and give life with His Blood, as now; but since death will already be abolished and corruption will be completely destroyed, there will be some mental image of sanctification. So, morning, I think, can mean nothing more than the century to come. The second injunction - I mean the prohibition to break bones - leads us to the thought of Christ and convinces us to follow the verbs of the preachers of God: for the divine Evangelist, taking that saying in a bodily sense about Christ, says: the soldiers “did not break His legs... ...that the Scripture might be fulfilled: Let not His bone be broken by Him” (John 19:33, 36; Exodus 12, 46). They eat the lamb with their loins girded, their feet shod, and staffs in their hands, and, simply put, in the appearance of those setting out on a journey; and this is very correct; because being, as it were, fully prepared for a mental relocation, hastening, so to speak, to get away from the amusements of this world and willingly striving to move on to all that is best, we will holyly and purely partake of Christ; At the same time, we do not get used to being among temporary things, but we courageously move on to the solid and permanent and, moving away from carnal impurities, we approach spiritual beauty, remembering the words of Christ: “Rise, let us go from here” (John 14:31). That is why those who ride a lamb in the image of Christ are clothed with a look befitting one who sets out on a journey. The Lamb had to be eaten with haste; because he is the Passover of the Lord, that is, passing, or a sacrifice for passing; similarly, when the time has come in which we need to move from worldly lasciviousness to diligently doing what pleases God, then not to do this with all haste, but, on the contrary, to hesitate and evade, still clinging to the former evil, would not this be the most dangerous thing? So the divine Paul says: “Run to receive” (1 Cor. 9:24). So, we must go to the communion of Christ through faith, trampling over all slowness and not allowing any stopping, but with great haste: for in this way we will pass from sins to justification, from death to life, and having removed from ourselves the shame of slavery, we will be enriched by the glorious grace of sonhood. K. When all this will be accurately observed and, according to the definition of the Lawgiver, brought to an end, then, He says, I will pass and, as it were, go around the whole land of Egypt and destroy the firstborn, and I will also take vengeance among the gods of Egypt, that is, on everyone who is high and exalted and for the sake of his glory was almost placed among the worshiped, I will bring punishment for such a bitter and immoderate disposition of him and for such a great arrogance. He promised to provide protection to the children of Israel if their thresholds were anointed with blood, which he called a sign of their closeness to Him, “and I will see,” he says, “the blood and will pass by you” (Ex. 12:13). When God brings His wrath and indignation “on everyone who is high and majestic,” according to the word of the prophet (Is. 2:12), and condemns to death the dissolute and criminal, and who constantly neglects the reverence of God, then only those who are sealed with the glorious seal and sprinkled with the Blood of Christ are spared from condemnation and are not involved in punishment, for you know that He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and he who believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. But he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 5:24, 6:54, 3:36). So, those who are sanctified through the communion of Christ, obviously mysterious, and anointed with the holy Blood, are also partakers of eternal life, and friends and known to God and the Father, and conquerors of death. He says very well that we must try to endlessly fulfill this law: since we will never cease to celebrate in Christ, driving out leaven from our own borders, that is, from every country; wherever we have a stay. For those who are called by faith to justification through Christ, celebrating spiritually, must do this not “in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but on the contrary, purifying the old leaven, changing for the better and already becoming, as it were, a new mixture” (1 Cor. 5:7-8), with the whole family and house, and those who live throughout that country, through which is signified some great and countless holy society of people, those who accepted the faith. He also said that the first day of the week should be called holy, and also the seventh - “deliberately holy.” By this, I think, the law shows that the initial time of human life was holy, in the forefather of the human race - Adam, who had not yet broken the commandments and had not neglected the Divine commandments. But it is also holy, and much more so, the last time of life is in Christ, Who is the second Adam, transforming our race from the state that came in the middle into renewal of life by the Spirit. He also commands that they certainly keep the Sabbath on the seventh day, withdrawing from all work: for it is fitting, and very justly, for those who have entered through faith into the rest of Christ to abstain henceforth from all carnal work, from earthly cares and vain cycles, but on the contrary, try to do only that which leads to an undamaged life and which makes us venerable and holy, because The wise Paul writes to us this way: “Whoever has entered into His rest, obviously Christ, has also rested from his works, just as God did from His” (Heb. 4:10). K: Thus the Divine prophecy spoke to us. And the divine Moses, explaining to the children of Israel what was commanded, said: “Choose and take for yourself lambs according to your families and kill the Passover; and take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the jar, and anoint the lintel and both doorposts with the blood that is in the jar; but you, no one, go out of the door of your house until the morning. And the Lord will go to smite Egypt, and he will see blood on the lintel and on both doorposts, and the Lord will pass by the doors, and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to destroy” (Ex. 12:21-23). That the lamb is taken according to the houses of the fatherland, or according to kinship, this indicates, I think, identity in spiritual kinship in faith and like-mindedness: for we will not celebrate with those who have empty thoughts, and we will have fellowship in the holy and life-giving sacrifice not with those who are accustomed to think anything other than what is right and true, but with those who are like-minded to us and brothers in unity of spirit and identity of faith. Hyssop is prudently combined with the blood of the lamb. What could be the meaning of this circumstance, I will tell you briefly. Hyssop, Palladium, they say, is a herb that doctors highly value because it, due to its inherent natural warmth, has sufficient ability to strongly destroy the impurity found in the insides and greatly dilute the thickening of phlegm. So, with hyssop, as I recently said, blood is united: this image indirectly shows us that the honest Blood of Christ delivers us not only from destruction, but also from all uncleanness hidden within us, and does not allow us to cool to the point of indifference, but on the contrary makes us burning in spirit. And that it is necessary and useful that those who have once been worthy to receive communion of Christ should try firmly and unswervingly to adhere to a holy life, this is again indicated by the law, when those who have eaten the lamb are commanded to sit inside the doors, so that, having left their houses, they will not perish along with the Egyptians: for there is no doubt that anyone who belongs to the number of the sacred, having virtue as if in some house, if in any way leaves the state of sanctification, will perish along with others and together with them will be subject to punishments, which will be imposed on people suffering from a dissolute and incurably bad life. Therefore, the divine Psalmist says: “Lord! I have loved the habitation of Your house and the dwelling place of Your glory. Do not destroy my soul with sinners and my life with the bloodthirsty, who have wickedness in their hands” (Ps. 25:8-10). Pay attention also to the fact that the law says: “Do not leave the doors of your house before dawn”: for the Holy Scripture likens the present age to night; the day, on the contrary, will be the expected future age. So blessed Paul, looking at the present age as already reaching its end, and at the future age as approaching and almost already at the door, proclaimed, saying: “The night is past, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the weapons of light. Let us behave decently as in the daytime” (Rom. 13:12–13). So, the expression: “until morning” can mean: until the end of your entire life, that is, until the future time appears. How can this happen to us? At the end of everyone’s life, the future age almost begins, if it is true that the one who suffered death was freed from sin (Rom. 6:7), “for God shut” for him, according to what is written (Rom. 11:32), and it is preserved for the judgment seat of Christ, so that as he finds himself caught by his own death, so he will appear at the judgment. P. I understand what you are saying, and your explanation is very good. K. This is how the sacrament of Christ was written by the ancients at the time when a lamb was sacrificed, in the image of which Emmanuel Himself truly suffered the slaughter for the sake of the life of all. So the divine Paul writes that “Our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). But Divine revelation shows us that we must also perform this sacrifice and perform the ritual of the holiday in the second month, if any of the necessary obstacles accidentally interfere and distract from the opportunity to fulfill the Divine decree in the first month. Do you want, we will offer the words of this very Divine revelation and say what follows regarding it. K. In the book of Numbers it is written: “And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying: Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at the appointed time for it: on the fourteenth day of this month in the evening you shall observe it at the appointed time for it, according to all its statutes and according to all its rites. And Moses said to the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. And they celebrated the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, in the wilderness of Sinai: in everything that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. There were people who were unclean from touching dead human bodies and could not celebrate the Passover on that day; and they came to Moses and Aaron that day, and the people said to him, “We are unclean from touching the dead bodies of men; Why should we be deprived of bringing an offering to the Lord at the appointed time among the children of Israel? And Moses said to them: Wait, I will listen to what the Lord commands about you. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the children of Israel: if any of you or of your descendants is unclean by touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, then he too shall keep the Passover of the Lord; on the fourteenth day of the second month in the evening let such people do it, and let them eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; and let them not leave her until the morning and let her not break her bones; let them perform it according to all the regulations regarding Easter; but whoever is clean and is not on the road and does not keep the Passover, that soul will be cut off from his people, for he did not bring an offering to the Lord in due time: that person will bear his sin; if a stranger lives with you, then he must also celebrate the Lord’s Passover: according to the statute about Easter and according to its ritual, he must celebrate it; Let you have one rule for both the stranger and the native” (Num. 9:1-14). P. I would like, be sure, to clearly know who the unclean “o souls of men” are, for whom this is the reason for the impossibility of celebrating Easter? K. The meaning of this story is very broad. Let me remind you that God once clearly spoke to Moses the sacred keeper: say, “Command the children of Israel to send out of the camp all lepers, and all who have a discharge, and all who have been defiled by the dead” (Num. 5:2). But we have already discussed this enough before. However, this time I’ll say that I think it’s useful. The Holy Scripture calls the one who has defiled himself over a dead person unclean “about the souls of men”; because it was forbidden to even touch a soulless body, and the ancient law laid the blame of uncleanness on those mourning one of their neighbors and blood relatives. That is why they were expelled from the camp. By this again the law foreshadowed that he who takes part in the deadness of another, relating to morals and lifestyle, will be defiled and filled with spiritual uncleanness: for those who are dead according to their way of life are those about whom Christ said: “Let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22). So, he is outside the Divine court and expelled from the “church of the firstborn” (Heb. 12:23) and the society of the saints, the one who entered into fellowship with those who were accustomed to think and do dead things, or who became close to them in the sense that he wanted to think and do the same with them. This is the hidden meaning of this law. If we seek the understanding of the true and most appropriate for us, spiritual people, then we must consider none other than the Jews, defiled by the murder of Christ and subject to accusation of uncleanness because of their insolence against Emmanuel, as unclean “about the souls of men” and for this reason in the second month celebrating the feast and slaughtering a sacrifice in the image of Christ according to the law of Passover. They inevitably lost participation in our holy holiday. They were late and made a mistake regarding the time at which the Beginning, the leader of the lives of all, ended His life in suffering. But by the grace of Him who wills “all...to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4), and they will become partakers of Christ in the times following this, as if in the second month, and will celebrate together with the saints called at the proper time, that is, with the saints from the Gentiles: for pay attention to the fact that those who were immediately washed in Egypt from the uncleanness of idolatry slaughter a lamb in the first month and are the first to come to faith, being anointed with the blood of the Lord for nothing they will be considered the destroyer and will be the conquerors of corruption; and those come barely in the second year and month and confess their defilement; They also clearly state that they have become unclean “about the souls of men,” and ask for a blessing, but celebrate the holiday later and after the first: for when “the full number of the Gentiles comes in,” it is said, then “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25-26). The prophet also foretold about them: “After this the children of Israel will return and will seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they will revere the Lord and His goodness in the last days” (Hos. 3:5): for in the last times the remains of Israel will be sought (Rom. 11:5) Christ, who came from the seed of David according to the flesh. P. Your word is true, because Israel is left in hope. K. And that not celebrating holidays in Christ is not only not an innocent thing, but, on the contrary, the most dangerous of all, the law immediately explained this, saying that a person who has not become unclean “about the souls of men,” who has not been on a long journey and who has not had an insurmountable obstacle, will be subject to extreme punishment if he does not want to fulfill what is prescribed by the law. By unclean “about the souls of men” we can understand, as I recently said, the murderer of the Lord - the people of Judah; under the one who is, as it were, on a long journey and outside of Jerusalem, that is, the Holy Church of our Savior - the one who says “to the tree God is ‘my father’, and to the stone: ‘thou hast begotten me’” (Jer. 2:27), and worships the creature instead of the Creator (Rom. 1:25), or suffers from some other delusion, if it is true to consider a good person close to God and having a true concept of He is not, and vice versa - those who have retreated from Him and are moving away and are far from Him - those who are not like that. So, not being unclean “about the souls of men,” like the Jews, and not being on a long journey, like the Greeks or heretics, let us offer sacrifice with haste and without delay and give honor to the feasts of the Lord. The stranger will also celebrate with us according to the same law, and the stranger will also rejoice with those who rejoice: for those who, during the time of faith in Christ, accept this praiseworthy faith, we make fellow members of the bloodless sacrifice and call them to partake of the holy meal. To this, I think, it is necessary to add the fact that a custom has been established in the churches, emanating, I believe, from the same law, namely, that if the fourteenth day of the moon does not happen in the first month, then use the second, closest month and look for a specific day in it, so that the time of the holiday does not move away from the proper one. This is how things are conducted, in accordance with what was announced by the ancient law. P. You said it right. However, explain to me whether everyone, even those on a long journey and very far from Jerusalem, was allowed by law to celebrate Easter innocently. K. Not at all; for he ordered the sacrifice to be made in the holy city alone, in which Solomon also built an ancient church. This is exactly what Moses cried out to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy, saying; “Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. And you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flocks and from the herds, in the place that the Lord will choose for His name to abide there. Do not eat leaven with it; For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of disaster, for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste, so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life; You shall not have anything leavened in all your allotment for seven days, and of the meat that you sacrificed in the evening on the first day, nothing shall remain until the morning. You cannot keep the Passover in any of your dwellings that the Lord your God will give you; but only in the place that the Lord your God chooses for His name to abide there, kill the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the same time at which you left Egypt; and bake and eat in the place that the Lord your God will choose, and the next day you can return and enter your tents” (Deut. 16:1-7). The country of Judea was filled with a great multitude of cities and villages, but God commanded that sacrifices be made and the law concerning Passover be fulfilled in the holy city alone. By this, the letter of the law, I think, very well describes to us that the sacrament of Christ is decent and permissible to perform in any way or in any place: because there is only one place that is appropriate for it and truly most characteristic, this is the holy city, that is, the Church, in which the lawful priest exists, and with consecrated hands the sacrifice is made and “incense is offered to the Almighty God, and the sacrifice is pure,” according to the word of the prophet (Mal. 1, 11). Thus, the heretics, who pervert everything that is right, regard this law as nothing; because they sacrifice a lamb not in the holy city and not by the hand of those chosen through the Spirit for the sacred rite, but, as the divine Paul writes to us, they themselves delight in this “honor” (Heb. 5:4) and offer the sacrifice in every place. Like unbridled and violent oxen, they indiscriminately strive only for what they like. But they, being greatly carried away by their uncontrollability and tendency to madness, will receive cruel punishments from the Judge for such thoughts. We will follow the tried and true path, examining the decree of the law we have given, which you have already heard clearly expressed in the words: keep “the month of Aviv...slaughter the Passover to the Lord your God from flocks and herds.” But someone will say: the one who decreed the Passover law for those in Egypt ordered that only one lamb be sacrificed, but we will not find any mention of sheep and calves. So did Moses really sin against what he should have? - No way; because in the book of Numbers God decreed that oxen and sheep should also be added to the lamb, thus saying: “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is the Passover of the Lord. And on the fifteenth day of this month is a holiday; You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day [may you have] a holy assembly; do not do any work; and you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord: from the herds, two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs a year old; You shall have them without blemish; And with them you shall offer as a grain offering of flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, and two tenths of an ephah for each ram, and a tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs, and one goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. In addition to the morning burnt offering, which is a permanent burnt offering, you shall offer this. So bring it on each of the seven days; This is the bread of the sacrifice, a pleasing aroma to the Lord; In addition to the constant burnt offering and its drink offerings, this must be offered. And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; Do not do any work” (Num. 28:16–25). That Easter had to be celebrated according to the law in the first month and, moreover, on the fourteenth day - we have already talked about this. What the eating of unleavened bread and rest from work on the Sabbath can also mean, and in addition the designation of the first and seventh days as deliberate saints, this was clearly revealed by the previous discussion. Therefore, without dwelling further on this, let us turn again to the rituals of sacrifices. Two bullocks are offered as burnt offerings and sacrifices, one ram, as well as seven lambs, all unblemished and one year old, and the sacrifice with them is wheat flour, watered with oil, but not in the same measure: three tithes for each bull, two for the ram, and one for each of the lambs. Then, along with this, a goat of the goats is also offered as a sin offering. And all this, it is said, “except for the everlasting burnt offering.” So, look, Palladius, how much fruit the death of Emmanuel brings, which was clearly and truly said by Himself: “Truly, truly, I say to you: unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if he dies, he will bear much fruit” (Jn. 12:24): for a lamb is slain in the image of Christ in the first month according to the law, and on the fourteenth day; to this are added bulls, rams and lambs for sacrifice and burnt offerings, which all, as I think, figuratively affects the multitude of those called to sanctification through faith and the measure of their spiritual well-being; because if Christ had not died for us, we would not have been accepted by God and the Father into the stench of incense. since He was consumed through suffering, we follow in His footsteps, offering ourselves as a sacred offering to God and the Father and as a truly spiritual sacrifice. There were two bulls: because there were two nations: I mean Israel and the converts from the Gentiles. But one Aries; because we are united in Christ, who “made both one and destroyed the barrier that stood in the middle, abolishing the enmity in His flesh, and the law of commandments by doctrine, in order to create in Himself one new man from the two, making peace,” as it is written (Eph. 2:14-15). There were seven lambs; because we all, having become one in Christ, constitute a certain great flock, and submitting to the leadership of the one Archpastor over all, gathered from two flocks into one and distinguished by a pure and immaculate life, we lead such a life in the world for the sake of what was imputed for us “with the wicked” and who suffered slaughter for the sin of all (Is. 53:12), Who is also signified by the image of a goat. And having mentioned the calf, the ram and the lamb, the law pointed to the threefold type of God-loving residence of the saints, I mean the highest, the middle and the even smaller and lower: for in the bodily size of the animals the amount of spiritual well-being was depicted; because didn’t the word of God say that the most fruitful soil produces three kinds of fruits of the gospel life? (Matthew 13:23; Mark 4:20; Luke 8:8.) P. Truth; for it is said that one created “a hundred,” another “sixty,” and another “thirty.” K: So, it has been decided that the difference in virtue and variety in life is beautifully depicted, as it were, in the size of the sacrifices and their bodily volume. Thus, the highest and most excellent kind of life is in Taurus, the average and inferior to the perfect is in the smaller one - Aries; the lowest is in the lesser and this - the lamb, since the lamb is less than the ram, just as, without a doubt, the ram is less than the calf. Therefore, according to the size of each, a measure of wheat flour is also offered, which serves as an image of life, for three tithes are assigned to the bull, two to the ram and one to the lamb. Moreover, all this must be watered with oil, it is said; since, of course, according to the measure of each, a reward from God will follow, and there will be a great difference in life in the kingdom of glory and bliss: for some, a higher life is rightfully appropriate, for others, as it were, lower than that, but also not devoid of honor and glory, and for some, even lower and inferior to this: “another star; and star differs from star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). And among the holy Angels themselves, I think, there is a great difference in the measure of glory. However, whatever this measure, the life of the saints is joyful and must necessarily be accompanied by joy and fattened with the gifts of God: for notice that oil is poured not only on three tithes, but also on two and one. The law calls the lamb slain at the holy tabernacle in the morning and at evening the constant sacrifice and burnt offering. Through this you can know the words that the aroma of the holy tabernacle is great and the fragrance of the churches and the holy people in them is truly continuous. They are fragrant with Immanuel and perform the sacrament of Christ, offering bloodless service to God: for this, I think, means offering lambs for burnt offerings in the morning and in the evening, because the lamb for a burnt offering is taken at the beginning and end, and in the middle of the day. So, from beginning to end, a fragrance is poured into the churches, as if in a lamb, in Christ. K. Moreover, another feast adds the law to the first and almost connects their very times with each other, saying in the book of Numbers: “And on the day of firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord in your weeks, you shall have a holy congregation; do not do any work; And you shall offer burnt offerings as a pleasing aroma to the Lord: of the herds, two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs a year old... and with them a grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths of an ephah for each ram, and a tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs, and one goat [for sin], to cleanse you; in addition to the constant burnt offering and the grain offering with it, offer [this to Me] with their drink offering; You shall have them without blemish” (Numbers 28:26–31). In the first month, according to Jewish law, a lamb was slain, but in the next month and the next after it, it was customary to collect fruits from the fields, I mean the early hulled fruits and sheaves of ears after harvesting the grain. So, the time of new (fruits) is that in which what was sown on them must be gathered from the fields. This holiday, it is said, is deliberate and must be celebrated legally, with the elimination of labor and fatigue: for during holidays it is usual to remain free from labor and in every possible way withdraw from activities that are more burdensome. And from this again, everyone can know that those who celebrate a holy holiday are least befitting of God to commit an inglorious and very painful sin; but on the contrary, releasing one into freedom and saturating the mind, enjoy virtuous activities. The burnt offering and sacrifice are two bulls, one ram and seven lambs, flour dipped in oil, and a male goat. What this mysterious decree of the law means has been said recently; we will not repeat the same thing. However, we must say that the time of new (fruits) prefigures the mystery of the Resurrection of our Savior: for human nature flourished for the first time only in Christ, having been delivered from corruption and having already cast aside the decay of sin. Therefore, it greatly boasted of this, saying: “I will rejoice in the Lord with joy, my soul will rejoice in my God; ибо Он облек меня в ризы спасения» ( Ис.61, 10 ). The robe of salvation and the robe of joy are here called incorruptibility, given from above and from heaven and wholly in Christ. But God decreed the law about this celebration even more clearly and explained the mysterious image in many words, saying in the book of Leviticus: “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: when you come into the land that I am giving you and you reap the harvest from it, then bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest; he will offer this sheaf before the Lord, that he may find favor with you; on the next day of the feast the priest will raise him up; And on the day of the sheaf offering, you shall offer as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb of the first year, without blemish, and with it a grain offering, two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, as an offering to the Lord for a sweet aroma, and a drink offering thereof, a quarter of an hin of wine. You shall not eat any new bread, nor dried grain, nor raw grain, until the day on which you bring an offering to your God: this is an everlasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Count for yourself from the first day after the festival, from the day on which you bring the wave sheaf, seven full weeks, until the first day after the seventh week, count fifty days” (Lev. 23:10-16). Truly a saving feast is the death of Emmanuel for us: for He paid our debts for us, and it is true that He Himself lifts up the sins of our likeness. Immediately after that, the law introduced for us a clear foreshadowing of Holy Pentecost, saying that we must count seven weeks after the bringing of the sheaf (Lev. 23:15); for after the day of the Resurrection of the Savior, we believers, having counted seven weeks, celebrate this holiday. J. And that the time of the Resurrection of our Savior leads those sanctified by the Spirit and justified by faith to the fact that they can bear the fruit of a new and blameless life - this the law clearly showed, so saying right after: “And then bring a new grain offering to the Lord: from your dwellings you bring two heave breads, which must consist of two-tenths of an ephah of wheat flour and must be baked sour, like the first fruit. And present unto the Lord, together with the loaves, seven lambs, without blemish, a year old, and of the herds one bull, and two rams...; these shall be a burnt offering unto the Lord, and a grain offering and a drink offering thereof, for a savor unto the Lord, one male goat for a sin offering, and two lambs a year old for a peace offering.... the priest shall bring it, shaking it before the Lord, together with the shaken loaves of the firstfruits and the two lambs, and it shall be holy to the Lord; to the priest [who brings it, it belongs]; and call the people together this day; you shall have a sacred assembly; you shall not do any work; this is an everlasting decree in all your dwellings throughout your generations” (Lev. 23:16-21). The firstfruits and, as it were, the first fruit recreated for the renewal of creation is Immanuel; and among us also He is thought of as the first bread and the new mixture; in His likeness we too, as if having entered upon the same path, are called, in a sense, a new mixture. A clear image of this is the bread brought from new fruits; but the law determines to offer not one bread, but two: because there are two peoples, although they are brought to unity through the Mediator Christ. But let only the ferments be baked, it is said. What this mysterious saying means, we will now say, having surveyed as well as possible the depth of the law. Should these words be understood as the leaven that consists of depravity and untruth? Isn't this crazy? for how then could we consider those who are brought to the renewal of the Gospel life to be free from malice? Or how could this relate to the update? Также каким образом мог бы кто-либо называться новым смешением, если в нем еще пребывает остаток оной закваски, и если он еще не совсем непричастен нечестивой и гнусной порочности? So, in accordance with the sense befitting speculation, here we must understand another type of leaven, which is not subject to blame, but on the contrary, in the inspired Scripture is considered worthy of wonder. Thus, the Savior likens to leaven the glorious and beneficial power of the Divine gospel instruction, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened” (Matthew 13:33): for, entering the mind and heart, the life-giving effect of the gospel instruction transforms the soul, body and spirit, as it were, into its own quality. So, this is the kind of leaven with which the nations must be assumed to be fermented, as if they were brought in the form of loaves. And each of them is “from two tithes,” which image mysteriously points us to a double type of instruction. P. What are you saying? K. Do you not, Palladius, recognize that through double instruction - legal and evangelical - we will be sacred and acceptable to God and thus move towards a new and chosen life? K. The Savior Himself explained this to us, saying: “For this reason I told you that every scribe who has been taught in the kingdom of heaven is like a master who brings out of his treasury new and old” (Matthew 13:52): for having a mind versed in what was proclaimed through Moses, and filled with these ancient ones and, as it were, in the images of the set forth commandments, and then beyond that those who enriched him with new knowledge, the Gospel, I believe, are double decorated, therefore, with instruction. K. But it is not in the bread alone that we are shown a society of people prepared for the renewal of life. The law adds to this the decree that seven lambs must be sacrificed with one bull and two rams, followed, of course, by a libation on the sacrifices, that is, wine is poured in the amount of a fourth part of an inn, which in Greek can be designated as six xestas. So, seven lambs will again serve as an image of the flock of believers, infancy in Christ - since the lamb is a symbol of infancy - however, in relation to strength and spiritual courage reaching perfection and the measure of “the age of the fulfillment of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). K. Having mentioned the lambs, and then placing the bull in the middle, the law adds the rams. Lambs serve as an image of the herd, and bulls serve as an image of strength and courage, since this is a strong animal; Finally, the rams serve as the image of perfect age. So, believers, taking courage against everything earthly, ascend to the perfection that is understood in Christ: for the rams are perfect in age, very well denoting the measure of mental perfection. But there are two rams, because our double perfection in Christ is intelligible in deeds and knowledge: for “whoever does and teaches,” it is said, “he will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19). Next, wine is again poured onto the victims; because, without a doubt, those who have tried to achieve the perfection imagined in Christ will rejoice: for “wine,” it is said, “makes glad the heart of man” (Ps. 103:15). We also slaughtered a goat as a sacrifice for sin; and two more lambs with loaves are added to it as a sacrifice of salvation. What does this mean again? The fact that Emmanuel died for our sins, as if represented in the form of a goat, making our life sacred and favorable, carried out in renewal, and our change into a new mixture, and an offering and dedication extended to soul and body to God, which we do, as if dying together with the One who was for us among the dead, so that we might live with Him. The wise Paul writes something similar to us in his Epistle, saying: “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4). So, He was slain for our sins, and we were buried by Him, suffering not a physical death, but putting to death “earthly members” (Col. 3:5), and no longer living for the world, but for Christ, and through Him, for the Father. See also that along with the slaughtered goat the lambs also die, and the loaves are burnt: because our consecration is pleasant and in the stench of the fragrance the new gospel life is accepted, which, as it were, is in conformity with the sufferings of Christ and is aimed at imitation of Him: for if “we suffer with Him, we also reign with Him”: if we die with Him, “then we will live with Him”: if we are sharers of suffering, we will also be partakers of glory (Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:11-12; Rom. 6:8). And let such a sacrifice be called a sacrifice of salvation, says the law, and very rightly, for Christ saves those for whom He suffered the slaughter, since He delivers from sin and makes those who are buried with Him and those who die with Him conqueror of death and corruption in the way that has already been said. P. How deep is the word of Scripture, and dark is the content of the law! K: This is because, Palladius, it is mysterious and is, as it were, a vague outline of the shadow of subtle and sophisticated thoughts. K. The law has determined three times at which it is fitting for us to celebrate. “Three times in the summer you will create a holiday,” says God. Since we have already talked enough about the two holidays, would you like us to now talk about what the third holiday is and for what reason is it celebrated? You have already heard about the reasons for the accomplishment of each of those: one of them was accomplished, and very appropriately, because Christ granted salvation, enduring death for the salvation of us all, and the other - because, having destroyed corruption, He rose again and renewed us for a new life. And the time of the first holiday was the first in the months of the year and occurred at the beginning. The time of the second holiday was close to it and connected with it, during which it was time to put a sickle on the ears of grain, as well as to collect other seeds that were countless in the fields. So now let’s say what follows, and about the time of the third holiday, very carefully examining how and for what reasons it should be celebrated, we will look for information about it in the law and borrow it from the Holy Scriptures themselves; for in this way our word will be directed towards the truth. Or perhaps it seems to you that I am speaking and reasoning incorrectly? P. No, absolutely right. K. In the book of Leviticus it is written: “Say to the children of Israel: in the seventh month, on the first [day] of the month, let you have a rest, a feast of trumpets, a holy assembly...; Do not do any work and offer sacrifice to the Lord” (Lev. 23:24–25). It seems that the seventh month indicates the last time, which is to take place at the end of everything; for in the seventh month everything must be gathered from the fields, no longer to the threshing floor, Palladius, but locked up in the very treasuries (granaries) of everyone. The time for fruiting has already passed, the beginning of winter has already arrived, the plants dry out and the flowers fade. Now, transferring what concerns time to ourselves, let us say that as this age is already coming to an end, and as if the future age is already coming and coming, in which lovers of sin will necessarily be punished, then everyone will collect from his own labors, if he is prudent, and take it to the heavenly treasuries, remembering what Christ says: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but collect for yourself treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19–20). Therefore, when Christ rose from the dead, the words of the holy leaders bring to our memory the end of the age; for they proclaim from everywhere: “the end of the age” (Matthew 24:3; cf. John 2:18; 1 Cor. 7:31, etc.); let everyone, they say, collect his property into the heavenly treasuries. But in the new moon, it is said, the month in which you lock up the fruits (in granaries), “may there be rest for you, the remembrance of trumpets”: because everyone will collect into treasuries the benefits of their own labors and will provide and take care of eternal bliss and peace, remembering what the divine Paul speaks about, namely: “for the Lord Himself with a proclamation, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven” ( 1 Sol. 4, 16); “for the trumpet will sound,” he says, “and the dead will rise incorruptible” (1 Cor. 15:52); “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive according to what he has done while living in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Therefore, let us remember this sacred and very terrible trumpet when the well-known, deliberately holy feast of the saints arrives, when they will already receive as their inheritance what they hoped for and will receive rich retribution for their glorious deeds. So, it is necessary that we, flowing with such thoughts towards the highest righteousness, stop every activity that cannot bring absolutely any benefit - on the contrary, even something that defiles. This, I think, is what Paul wisely told us: “the time is short, so that those who have wives must be as if they had none;... and those who use this world as if they do not use it” (1 Cor. 7:29, 31). K. The law further says that “also on the ninth [day] of this seventh month, the day of atonement, you shall have a holy convocation; humble your souls and offer sacrifice to the Lord; You shall do no work on this day, for it is a day of atonement, to cleanse you before the Lord your God. and every soul that does not humble itself on that day will be cut off from among its people; and if any soul do any work on this day, I will destroy that soul from among his people; You shall do no work: this is a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwellings; This is a Sabbath of rest for you, and mortify your souls, from the evening of the ninth [day] of the month; from evening to evening...celebrate your Sabbath” (Lev. 23:27–32). The law commanded humility and fasting, the offering of burnt offerings, as well as the cessation of every work, through fasting depicting the mortification of carnal lusts, and through burnt offerings - offering oneself to God in the stench of fragrance, not in parts, but completely and completely; and through rest from business and complete withdrawal from work, the law excellently signifies that we should no longer do anything earthly. Don’t you think that those who have already reached the end of time, who remember this sacred and final trumpet and have the Judge in mind, and therefore collect the wealth of their spiritual fruitfulness into the highest treasuries, should mortify lusts and be the highest of bodily passions, even moreover, should fragrant before God with a virtuous way of life and try to go far and move away from vain pursuits? And this, I believe, is the essence of the occupation of this world and the burdensome care of life. K. What then? Will not the conquerors of the passions, who mortify “your earthly members: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust” (Col. 3:5), offer themselves as a fragrant aroma to God and will not be among the burnt offerings, making this, as it were, some kind of ransom and propitiation for their own souls? K. So, the Lawgiver called the day of fasting the day of propitiation, and very correctly and lawfully, since it mortifies the flesh and its lusts, and is fragrant with types of virtue. And he who does not cease from every worldly work will certainly and in any case be subjected to extreme calamities, which the law clearly showed when it said that he who does not fast, does not offer burnt offerings, and violates the law of idleness will be required of his people. Calling the time of this holiday the Sabbath of Sabbaths, he allows us to think that it is a time of not doing from not doing, that is, an all-perfect and fully applied putting aside from deeds, but it is clear that deeds tending towards depravity and sin: for if this age ceases, and time almost grows old, then what significance can the desire for vanity have for us in general? Wouldn't we, on the contrary, be more prudent if we remained in the most pleasing idleness to God and completely removed ourselves from our troubles? K. Then he further decrees: “And on the fifteenth day,” he says, “the day of the seventh month, when you gather the produce of the earth, celebrate the Feast of the Lord for seven days: on the first day rest and on the eighth day rest; On the first day take for yourselves branches of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, branches of broadleaf trees and willows, and rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. and you shall celebrate this feast of the Lord seven days in the year: it is a statute forever throughout your generations; in the seventh month you shall celebrate it” (Lev. 23:39–41). Do you understand now that after the harvest of grain from the fields into the granary, when the fruits of everyone are gathered, the next holiday is the most glorious holiday of the construction of tabernacles, which is a way of life in paradise and elevates a person to the communion of the original blessings: for by the construction of tabernacles we mean the mental and true construction of human bodies and, after what has happened in the interval of decay, their revival to incorruption. Rest was due on the first and eighth days, because before the initial crime, when the most calamitous sin had not yet entered into us and imposed on us a truly painful and unbearable yoke, we spent in paradise, in the person of Adam - the beginning and root of our race, a calm, free and alien life to all labor. When Christ came to earth, the intermediate state of labor returned again to its original state on the eighth day, that is, after sabbathing according to the law, or fulfilling the legal time, and we, having cast off from our souls the unbearable and shameful yoke of sin, calmed down from all burdens, since Christ calls us to this through faith and says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” ( Matthew 11:28). So, the day of rest is the first day of the week, indicating the initial time of man; But like that, the eighth day is also a day of rest, on which Christ was resurrected, having nailed to His cross “the handwriting that was written about us” (Col. 2:14), and one for all died, so that, having delivered us from death and sins, he would free us from punishment and labor, and so that through Him we might acquire the original “peace” (Heb. 4:11). “On the first day,” it is said, “let them take for themselves the fruit of the red tree, and the figurine branch,” and other branches, from which one can understand how the matter itself seems to cry out loudly, that in Christ God gives us again the sweets of heaven, although we have lost them in the intervening time due to the initial crime. In Adam we were expelled from Paradise, but through Christ we were brought back into it. You know that He says to the thief who was hanged with Him: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43): for Christ turned away this rotating weapon from us (Gen. 3:24), and finally the entrance to paradise was opened for believers, since He transformed everything to its original state and restored it to its ancient position. The branches from ever-blooming plants signify the continuity of grace and, as it were, the unfading of hope: “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable,” according to what is written (Rom. 11:29). And truly the blessedness of the saints is unceasing, as the wise Isaiah exclaims, saying: “and everlasting joy will be over their heads... everlasting, and sorrow and sighing will be removed” (Is. 35:10). The laws about this holiday also include the command to rejoice from the stream; for it is said that on the last day of the week or on the eighth one should draw water from the stream and so rejoice for those who believe. And the mental and heavenly stream is Christ, who feeds the souls of those who honor Him with flowing sources from above. Therefore, He speaks through the mouth of the prophets: “Behold, I am sending the world to him like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream” (Is. 66:12). The divine David also exclaims to the God of all and the Father: “How precious is Your mercy, O God! The sons of men are at rest in the shadow of Thy wings: they are satisfied from the fatness of Thy house, and from the stream of Thy sweets Thou givest them to drink” (Ps. 35:8-9): for it is fitting and very just for the citizens of paradise to richly partake of Christ and rejoice in the abundant gifts of the Spirit. P. Of course it is appropriate, and what you say is correct. K. Pay attention also to the fact that this holiday was celebrated only in Jerusalem alone, and therefore it was absolutely necessary that residents from all of Judea gather here. And this could be a sign that all who have led a glorious and praiseworthy life will certainly gather in the highest city, heavenly Jerusalem, and there they will be present and celebrate together with Christ. And those who still remain unfaithful and do not accept the grace of the Resurrection, on the contrary, have rejected such a venerable and deep sacrament, are condemned to destruction, and in any case are threatened with all kinds of disasters. They will go to execution. A witness to this can be the faithful prophet Zechariah, who says: “And it shall come to pass: unless any of the tribes of the earth go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain for them. And if the tribe of Egypt does not rise up on its journey and does not come..., then it will not have rain and it will be defeated, as the Lord will strike the nations that do not come to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14, 17-18). So, we will have to consider the most desirable feast of tabernacles the Resurrection of all bodies that have Christ as their firstfruits, because He is called the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18) and truly is such. P. You reason very correctly. K. But just know this. K. In the words of the law we recently quoted, the everlasting sacrifice was named, as well as the new moons, Sabbath sacrifices, as well as fasting, and also the much-desired feast of tabernacles. Moreover, the law adds everywhere and for each of the cases mentioned: “those who brought burnt offerings to the Lord.” But what types of sacrifices we can have that are appropriate for the new moon and the Sabbaths, also for fasting and the Feast of Tabernacles, or what the constant sacrifice consists of, the Lawgiver was silent about this in the book of Leviticus, but he speaks at length about this and sets it out in great detail in the book of Numbers. Do you want us to talk about this as much as possible, taking each part apart? K. It is written thus: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, Take heed, that my offering, my bread, as a sacrifice unto me, as a sweet savour, may be brought unto me in due season. And say to them, “This is the sacrifice that you must offer to the Lord: two lambs of the first year without blemish per day, for a perpetual burnt offering; One lamb thou shalt offer in the morning, and another lamb thou shalt offer in the evening; and for your grain offering you shall offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil; This is a permanent burnt offering, which was made at Mount Sinai, for a pleasant aroma, as a sacrifice to the Lord; and the drink offering thereof shall be a quarter of a hin for one lamb: in the holy place thou shalt pour out a drink offering of wine unto the Lord. Offer another lamb in the evening, with the same grain offering as in the morning, and with the same drink offering, offer it as a sacrifice for a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (Num. 28:1-8). Do you understand how the Divine law in these words states that it is most appropriate for the holidays to offer sacrifices: for I think that everywhere and in every case during them we should fragrant before God the image of our life in Christ, appearing as if instead of incense and offering ourselves to God as a fragrant burnt offering, according to what has been said, I think it is very correct: “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, for your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1). And the law speaks very well about the fact that the constant sacrifice must be performed when it gives the command to slaughter one lamb in the morning, and another in the evening, and wheat flour was burned with them, and oil and wine were added to it; because at all times and unceasingly, from beginning to end, in the holy tabernacle, that is, in the Church, we are fragrant in Christ with every virtue. That the lambs burn incense in the morning and in the evening, this can serve as a pre-image of Him who, for our sake and for us, ascends to the Father in the aroma of fragrance, and with Him lifts up the life of those who believe in Him, which is filled with joy in the hope of lasting glory and kingdom, and beyond this will be filled with joy from eternal pleasures. A sign of such a life can be wheat flour, watered with oil and sprinkled with wine. This is a sacrifice of salvation, similar to the one performed by Moses on Mount Sinai. Namely, in the book of Exodus, after the laws of the Almighty God had been established concerning everything that had to be done, it is written: “And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and, rising early in the morning, he built an altar and twelve stones under the mountain, according to the number of the twelve tribes of Israel; and he sent young men from the children of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed bulls as peace offerings to the Lord” (Ex. 24:4-5). I think it makes no difference to the meaning of the sacrifice whether those sacrificed are called lambs or calves, because in both the image of gentleness is preserved, which is most applicable to the face of Christ, Who through the mouth of Jeremiah said: “But I, like a meek lamb led to the slaughter, did not know” (Jer. 11:19). If someone wanted to understand differently the morning and evening sacrifices performed in the holy tabernacle, that is, about the time of humanity, which was fragrant before the crime of Adam and appeared as such again in the last times in Christ and in the life according to Him imagined, then he would not deviate from the goal and would reason wisely; for this is the essence of the matter. K. The law further defines the Sabbath sacrifices, saying immediately afterwards: “And on the Sabbath [you shall offer] two lambs of the first year without blemish, and for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of wheat flour mixed with oil, and a drink offering with it: this is the Sabbath burnt offering on every Sabbath, in addition to the constant burnt offering and its drink offering” (Num. 28:9-10). It is not a different method of sacrifice and, at the same time, compared to the one about which it was recently said: it is absolutely the same and does not represent any change. But pay attention, Palladius, to this: the eternal sacrifice is celebrated incessantly and, according to the law, is performed every day; The Sabbath sacrifice is not performed every day, but only on the Sabbath itself. So, so that the Israelites, believing that the everlasting sacrifice made every day was sufficient, would not be careless in relation to the offering of the Sabbath sacrifice, the law made the necessary addition: this is “the burnt offering of the Sabbath on the Sabbaths, for the everlasting burnt offering and its drink offerings.” P. So, in addition to the everlasting sacrifice, according to the law, the Sabbath sacrifice is also celebrated? K: Yes, and there is no doubt about it; because we too, having kept the Sabbath in Christ and entered into His rest, seem doubly able to offer sacrifices of spiritual aroma to God, if it is not false that even among the most ancient people the praise of the lawful in righteousness was fragrant: “for the law is spiritual... and the commandment is holy and righteous and good,” according to the word of blessed Paul (Rom. 7:12, 14). But much more excellent. living in Christ and keeping the Sabbath in the spirit is far better for the aroma than righteousness under the law. K. To this the law also adds: “And in your new moons you shall offer burnt offerings to the Lord: from the herd, two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs a year old without blemish, and three-tenths of an ephah of flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for one bull, and two-tenths of an ephah of flour mixed with oil for one bull, and a grain offering for a ram, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for each lamb; this is a burnt offering, a sweet aroma, a sacrifice to the Lord; And their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a quarter of a hin for a lamb; This is a burnt offering in every new moon in all months of the year. And you shall offer one goat to the Lord as a sin offering; In addition to the constant burnt offering, one must offer it with a drink offering” (Num. 28:11-15). The constant and unceasing sacrifice, made every month, in the new moon, is made independently of the everlasting sacrifice, offered daily. But the meaning of the New Moon will again not be simple. There is obviously a mysterious meaning hidden here. By the mental and true new moon we rightly mean a new age in Christ, when the first, under the law, has passed. And in another sense, the new moon can serve as an image of the future century, following the present, but not yet arrived, but having only the beginning of the Resurrection of Christ, through which we moved on to renewal, having received, as if in the form of a deposit of the Spirit of grace, and the undoubted hope of incorruptible life, in bliss and sanctification being transformed into the original state and, as if in our reverse procession, conforming to the age to come. What kind of sacrifice is appropriate for the new moons, that is, the new moon in Christ and the mental one, as well as life similar to the life of the century to come? – This sacrifice must consist in us dying for God and living no longer in the realm of sin, but completely moving away from earthly life in order to live with Christ. Likewise, the divine Paul writes to those who are sanctified in the Spirit, justified in Christ and have received instruction in the virtues of the age to come, saying: “if you ... died in Christ, why are you, as living in the world, holding fast to the ordinances” (Col. 2:20) and again: “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” (Col. 3:3-4). So, see that those who live commendably die sacredly to God in varying degrees of spiritual well-being, and immediately receive a reward for their approving life. Two bulls are slain, and with them are one ram and seven lambs without blemish. Through all these animals the society of saints is depicted to us - through calves, as distinguished by the highest degree of virtue, - under the image of a ram, as standing lower and, as it were, in second place, and in the image of lambs, as occupying an even smaller and lower degree. There are two Taurus, because there are two peoples; in the middle there is one ram, due to the union of both into one in Christ. Further, seven lambs, because the people of holy people are in perfect completeness. Being two and together one in spiritual unity, this society can rightly be considered the most perfect; because the flock of believers is very large and is distinguished by its simplicity and infancy in Christ. Note also that for one bull there were allocated three tithes of wheat flour and half a hin, that is, six xests of oil and wine, and for a ram two tithes of flour and a third of a hin of poured substances. Finally, the sacrifice for each of the lambs consisted of one tithe of flour, and the drink offering, that is, oil and wine, was the fourth part of a hin: for equally to the labors of each and the strength of his virtue will be determined by God, the righteous Judge, and the degree of life in glory and bliss, as well as in the fatness bestowed by Him, as well as the degree of spiritual joy; because haven’t we often said that wheat flour serves as a way of life, oil for fatness, and wine for spiritual joy? K. To these sacrifices is added a goat, slain for sins, in the image of Christ: for our sacrifice becomes pleasant and pleasing to God because of the saving suffering of Christ. And this, I think, means what the Savior Himself said to the holy Apostles: “without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). So, Christ’s is necessarily added to our incense, which in some way mixes with ours and, together with itself, lifts them to the Father: for we can only be received through Christ alone. K. These are the sacrifices performed on Saturdays and new moons; and “in the seventh month,” it is said, “on the first [day] of the month, you shall have a sacred assembly; do not do any work; let this be a day for you to sound the trumpet; and offer a burnt offering for a sweet aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven lambs a year old, without blemish” (Num. 29: 1-2). And three tithes of wheat flour are assigned to the calf, with a corresponding amount accompanying it and pouring out - I mean oil and wine, that is, half a Jewish hin, a third and a fourth part of it. What is the significance of this holiday, this law explains, saying: “The day of the sign will be for you.” Namely, this holiday points us to the last trumpet, which will sound with the voice of an Angel, from which all the dead will rise and those in their graves will rise, as we said before. He also commanded that on the tenth day of the same month, on which fasting fell, representing the mortification of carnal lusts and removal from earthly passions, to perform the same sacrifice and according to the same ritual as the first day. And what power does what is done on this day have from the point of view befitting speculation, we have already said enough about this. K. He also legitimizes what sacrifices we can perform that are appropriate for the Feast of Tabernacles, and says: “And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month let you have a sacred assembly; Do not do any work and observe the Feast of the Lord seven days; and you shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice, a sweet savor to the Lord: thirteen bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs a year old; let them be without blemish; and their grain offering was of fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths of an ephah for each of the two rams, and a tenth of an ephah for each of the fourteen lambs, and one goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and their drink offerings (Num. 29, 12–16 ). Then, with the number of bulls decreasing by one each day, the sacrifices are made according to the same ritual and in the same measure: two rams, fourteen lambs and one goat. And thus on the second day twelve calves were brought, on the third - eleven, on the fourth - ten, on the fifth - nine, on the sixth - eight and on the seventh - seven. So, do you notice that the number of bulls decreases by one every day, but the number of rams and lambs and the amount of meal and drink offering remains the same? P. What does this mean, my friend? Why are there thirteen bulls at the beginning, and then one decreases each day, but there are always two rams, fourteen lambs, with a goat also added to the sacrifices? K. It is not easy to discern, Palladium, the meaning of these laws, and this subject, by its nature, is not clear. However, I will try, as much as possible, to express what comes to my mind; and you yourself will direct for the better that in which I deviate from the goal. K. It seems that the Divine decree depicts to us, on the one hand, the stewardship of the children of Israel through the law, and on the other, the calling of those who are brought through faith to sanctification. The mysterious image of the sacrifice, I think, indicates that it is possible to distinguish between two times in which Jewish society was child-bearing towards the knowledge of God and living in accordance with the law. What kind of times could these be if not the time in which there were still Moses, Joshua (Joshua) and the judges, and the time in which there were prophets before John the Baptist, who, according to the word of the Savior, had a predominant mission and prophetic ministry? (Matthew 11:9-11.) But in these two times, as the Holy Scripture shows, there were people who, although they walked the path of life praised by the law, were not in equal measure, and not quite the same in relation to spiritual strength and well-being. Some possessed a higher power, the image of which is the calf; others - by force, represented as if in an average measure. Aries can serve as a sign of this. Still others, beyond these, with even less power and in a lower degree, as undoubtedly this can be represented by the very physical size of the lambs: for is not a ram smaller than a calf, and a lamb is not inferior in size to a ram? P. I suppose; How could it be otherwise? K: So, the named animals serve as a very clear image of the size of each, obviously in a virtuous life. And since that which is predominant and chosen is always less in number than that which is in second or third place, since it happens rarely, then for this reason there are thirteen bulls, two rams and fourteen lambs. since there were two, we said, there were rams, then the number of sacrifices was double: instead of seven lambs there were fourteen, and two rams. Was it not natural that there should be many venerable and holy people, glorious for their integrity in legal righteousness, as the divine Evangelist undoubtedly wrote to us about Zechariah and Elizabeth, that “Both of them were righteous before God, walking blamelessly according to all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (Luke 1:6)? P. I agree; for God also accuses the mother of the Jews, saying: “How the faithful capital, full of justice, has become a harlot! Truth dwelt in her” (Is. 1:21). K. So, there was righteousness according to the law, in relation to which it was natural that there were people who were most experienced in obedience to God, although the law did not fully complete in sanctification. J. Thus, indicating the calling of Israel, as if at the highest, middle and lowest level, bulls, rams, lambs were slain as a sacrifice to God; at the same time, the number of calves gradually decreased, since the chosen people, distinguished by advantages and the most experienced, gradually decreased in number, and time suffered from their rarity constantly, even until the seventh day, that is, until the time of the coming of our Savior, in which the Sabbathkeeping in the spirit finally came and the cessation of works leading to sin: for we are justified in Christ, when the present age has already reached its end. A sign of this can again be Saturday, which is at the end of the entire week. Therefore, the law wisely stops the offering of ancient sacrifices on the Sabbath, that is, the under-legal calling and the sacred rites in accordance with it, and instead introduces, as it were, a sacred rite in Christ, saying: “On the eighth day let you have the celebration of the holiday; do not do any work; and you shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice, a sweet savor to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven lambs a year old, without blemish, and with them a grain offering and a drink offering for the bull, the ram and the lambs according to the number of them, according to the statute, and one goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and the grain offering and the drink offering thereof. Offer this to the Lord on your feasts, in addition to your burnt offerings and your grain offerings and your drink offerings and your peace offerings, either by vow or by zeal” (Num. 29:35-39). Do you hear how clearly the law says: there is an outcome? for it was as if the ministry in the shadows and the instruction in the type had their outcome on the eighth day, on which Christ was resurrected and the time of circumcision in the spirit came. The ancient society of the called was excluded because it was suffering from the guilt of unbelief; but on the other hand, it was as if a new people had arisen, distinguished by spiritual strength, like a calf, and enjoying the glory of perfection in the fullness of age, like a ram, and shining with the highest beauty of infancy in Christ and gentleness, like a lamb, if it is counted among the most perfect: for such perfection is indicated by the words that the number of “lambs is seven.” Then comes the goat also; for in Christ he also gains glory through faith, ascending with him to God in the stench of fragrance, as we have often said about this. K. And that we will keep the Sabbath in Christ, having entered into rest through the cessation of worldly pursuits, no longer held back by earthly cares, but on the contrary, enjoying “the Lord,” as it is written (Ps. 36:4), and having His chosen lot, God declares this, saying in the book of Leviticus to the sacred mystery Moses: “Tell the children of Israel and say to them: when you come into the land that I give you, then the earth must rest on the Sabbath of the Lord; six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the produce thereof: and in the seventh year shall there be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath of the Lord: thou shalt not sow thy field, neither shalt thou prune thy vineyard; whatever grows in your harvest, do not reap, and do not remove grapes from your unpruned vines; May this be a year of peace for the earth; And during the Sabbath of the land it shall be food for all of you, for you and for your manservant and your maidservant, and for your hired servant, and for your sojourner who lodges with you; and to your livestock and to the beasts that are in your land, all its produce shall be for food. And count yourself seven Sabbath years, seven times seven years, so that in the seven Sabbath years you may have forty-nine years. And you shall blow the trumpet in the seventh month, on the tenth [day] of the month, on the day of atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. and sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom on earth to all its inhabitants: let this be your jubilee; and return every one to his possessions, and every one return to his tribe” (Lev. 25:2-10). Do you understand that the law allows you to plow the land and sow and cultivate grapes only until the seventh year? In the seventh year, he commands us to abandon concern for this: for we, being Sabbath in Christ, calm down, leaving concern for earthly things and completely moving away from vain concerns. “Seven weeks of years,” that is, forever and ever, we will always enjoy the blessings prepared and set before us, obviously given to us from God and spiritual, and celebrate the holiday. The time of liberation will be for all of us, living throughout the entire universe, the last time, when “each one shall return to his possession,” that is, to his proper and assigned portion from God: for just as the kinds of life of the saints are different, so are the types of rewards different, since God proportions the reward according to the deeds of each. The trumpet is also mentioned, proclaiming this: because the time of our sabbath keeping, obviously in Christ, as well as absolution and the giving of inheritance, will be the Resurrection from the dead, which will in its time be accomplished by the sound of the trumpet and the voice of the Angel - when the bright host of saints will hear Christ saying: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from creation of the world" (Matthew 25:34), which we too may receive by the grace and love of mankind of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: