Secret Teachings

“The Secret Teachings” is a cycle of five conversations delivered during Easter week (348 or 350-351). St. Cyril of Jerusalem interprets to the newly enlightened the essence and rites of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, which they received on Easter Day. The first word discusses those preliminary actions that precede the Sacrament of Baptism: the denial of Satan and union with Christ. In the 2nd - the mysterious meaning and grace-filled power of the actions performed at Baptism itself, which is understood as likening the death and Resurrection of Christ, through which we receive salvation. In Baptism, everything that actually happened to the Savior also happens to us, but painlessly, without suffering. Having destroyed the power of death by His death and Resurrection, Christ led humanity out of the captivity of death. By participating in the sufferings of Christ through Baptism, we participate in this victory. The 3rd word explains the actions and their meaning in the Sacrament of Confirmation. St. Cyril dwells on the connection between the words “anoint” and “Christian.” To be a Christian means to be anointed and to participate in the anointing of the Old Testament kings, priests and, finally, Christ himself. The last two words are dedicated to the Sacrament of the Eucharist: the 4th speaks about the essence of the Sacrament, its material elements and mysterious action. St. Cyril affirms to his listeners that the bread and wine in the Eucharist are truly transformed into the Body and Blood of the Lord, although their appearance remains unchanged. He emphasizes the difference between the perception of the substance of the Holy Mysteries by the bodily senses and the living faith of the human soul: “do not reason (judge) a thing according to taste, but from faith be known without a doubt that you have been made worthy of the Body and Blood of Christ.” Homily 5 is devoted to setting out the order of celebrating the Liturgy of the Faithful and the Eucharistic Canon. The last two teachings are of particular importance, since they represent the testimony of St. Cyril on the order of celebrating the liturgy in the middle of the 4th century and the firm belief of the Ancient Church in the transmutation of the Holy Gifts. Also in the 5th word there is an important commentary on the Lord's Prayer. The interpretation of the petition for daily bread is especially interesting. “Essential” in Greek literally means “supra-essential” or “super-essential.” St. Cyril believes that this bread, “having an effect on the essence of the soul,” is none other than the Eucharist. *The title of the work in Greek is Κατήχησις μυσταγωγικὴ. *The title of the work in Latin is Mystagogiae. The first secret teaching [To the newly enlightened, to the words from Peter’s first Council Epistle, from this place: Be sober, be vigilant (1 Peter 5:8), even until the end of that epistle.] 1. Before, O true and longed-for children of the Church, I wished to talk with you about these spiritual and heavenly mysteries. But since I knew for sure that sight assures more than hearing, I was waiting for the present time to find you through this test more prepared to listen to what is preached, and it would be all the more convenient for me to lead you into the brightest and most fragrant flower garden of this paradise. Yes, indeed, you have become more capable of receiving these Divine mysteries, having been granted Divine and life-giving Baptism. And since it is necessary to offer a meal of the most perfect teaching, we will try to teach you this, so that you will know these mysteries, the power that took place over you on this evening of Baptism. 2. You first ascended to the threshold of the baptismal porch, standing facing the west, listened, at the command you stretched out your hand and, as if Satan was there, denied. But you should know that in the history of the Old Testament there is a foreshadowing of this. For when Pharaoh, that most cruel and inhuman tormentor, oppressed the free and noble Jewish people, then God sent Moses to rescue them from the grave slavery of Egypt. And the lintels and doorposts were smeared with the blood of the lamb, so that the destroyer would pass by the houses that had the sign of the blood (see Ex. 12:22, 28), and thus the Jewish people would be miraculously saved. But when the enemy pursued those who had already been freed and saw the sea, which had been divided for them by a supernatural action, he fled, however, hastily after them, then, suddenly being covered by the waves, he was drowned in the waters of the Red Sea (see Ex. 14:22–30). 3. I beg you to pass from these ancient things to the new, from type to truth. There Moses, by the command of God, came to Egypt; Here is Christ, sent from the Father into the world. There is a prophet there, may he bring the oppressed people out of Egypt; Christ is here, may he deliver the people who are burdened with sin in the world. There the blood of the Lamb turned away the destroyer; here the blood of the most pure Lamb (see 1 Peter 1:19) of Jesus Christ became a driving away of demons. That tormentor drove the ancient people to the sea; and a fierce, shameless and incipiently evil demon pursued you even to those saving waters. That one is drowned in the sea, and this one disappears in the saving water. 4. But you also hear, you are commanded, stretching out your hand as if to someone who is near you, and say: I deny you, Satan. I also want to say why you stood facing the west, because it is necessary. Since the place of visible darkness is the West, Satan, being darkness, has power in darkness; Therefore, by looking portentously to the west, you deny that dark and gloomy prince. What did each of you say while standing? I deny you, Satan, you, the evil and cruel tormentor. You say: I am no longer afraid of your strength. For Christ destroyed it, having partaken of my blood and flesh, so that through this He would abolish death by death, so that throughout my life I would not be guilty of work (see Heb. 2:15). I deny you, the crafty and most evil serpent. I deny you, the treacherous one, who, under the pretense of friendship, committed every lawlessness and caused in our first parents a departure from God. I deny to you, Satan, all the malice of the inventor and accomplice. 5. Then in the second word you learn to say: and all your works. The works of Satan - every one is a sin, which must be denied: just as someone who has run away from a tormentor, runs away in every possible way from his weapons. So, every kind of sin refers to the works of the devil. However, know that everything you said, especially in this terrible hour, is written in God’s books. So, if you do anything contrary to this, you will be condemned as a criminal. Therefore, you deny the works of Satan, all, I say, deeds and thoughts that are contrary to reason. 6. Then you say: and all your pride. The pride of Satan is all sorts of frantic spectacles and horse racing, catching with dogs and all such vanity, from which, praying to get rid of, the holy prophet says to God: Turn away my eyes, so as not to see vanity (Ps. 119:37). May you not desire spectacular frenzy, where you will see the impudence of jesters performed with shamelessness and all manner of obscenity, and you will see frantic dancing of effeminate men. May you also not covet the madness of those who, in the hunt, give themselves up to beasts, for the whim of their accursed womb. Those who, in order to please their belly with food, are themselves, in justice, the food of indomitable beasts. And it would be more correct to say that for the sake of their belly, which is their God (see Phil. 3:19), they destroy their own lives through single combat. Run away from the horse races, the frantic spectacle that kills souls, because all this is the pride of the devil. 7. Also, what was offered at idol festivals, whether it was meat, or bread, or anything else similar to this, defiled by the invocation of unclean demons, is considered to be the pride of the devil. For just as the bread and wine of the Eucharist, before the holy invocation of the adored Trinity, were simple bread and wine, but after the invocation, the bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the wine becomes the Blood of Christ, so these trash of satanic pride, being simple in nature, become vile through the invocation of demons. 8. After this you say: and all your service. Serving the devil is prayer performed in churches; everything that happens to honor soulless idols: lighting candles, or burning incense at springs and rivers, since others, seduced by dreams or demons, came to these waters in the hope of finding healing for bodily ailments, or anything else of this kind - you do not join in this. Bird fortune-telling, enchantment, predictions, or pendants on the neck against the eyes of the ghost, or on sheets of writing, sorcery, or other evil tricks and other similar obscenities, are the essence of serving the devil. So, avoid this, for if you fall into this, after rejecting Satan and uniting with Christ, you will experience the great cruelty of the tormentor, who previously treated you as if he were his own household, relenting you in heavy slavery, and now is greatly grieved by you: you will lose Christ, and you will see great malice towards yourself from Satan. Have you not heard the ancient story about Lot and his daughters (see Gen. 19:15, 30)? Didn’t he escape with his daughters when he went up the mountain, and didn’t his wife turn into a pillar of salt, so that she could remain an eternal monument to her evil will and turning her gaze back (see Gen. 19:26)? Take heed to yourself (see Deut. 4:23) and do not turn back, putting your hand to the plow (cf. Luke 9:62), but run to the mountain (see Gen. 19:17) to Christ Jesus, to this stone, which was cut out of the mountain without hands (Dan. 2:35, 45) and filled the world. 9 . When you deny Satan, completely breaking off every alliance with him and the ancient agreement with hell (see Is. 28:15), then the paradise of God is opened to you, planted in the east (see Gen. 2:8), from where our forefather was expelled for a crime (see Gen. 3:23). Meaning this, you turned from the west to the east, the land of light. At that time you are commanded to say: I believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and in one baptism of repentance. What in the first teachings, how much the grace of God helped, was told to you at length. 10. So, with these words we affirm being sober. For your adversary the devil, as was recently read, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Indeed, in former times death reigned supreme, but at the holy bath of rebirth God took away the tears from all faces (Is. 25:8). For you will no longer mourn, having put off the old man, but you will rejoice (see Is. 61:10), having put on the robe of salvation, in Christ Jesus (see Rom. 13:14). 11. And this happened to you on the eve of the Church. When, by God's will, in subsequent mysteries we enter into the Holy of Holies, then we will recognize the images of the things happening there. To God the Father be glory, power and majesty, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. Secret teaching second [About Baptism. To the words of the apostle from the Epistle to the Romans, from the place: Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? To the point: you are not under the law, but under grace (Rom. 6:3–14).] 1. Everyday secret teaching and the latest teaching about new things are useful to us, and especially to you, who have been renewed from the old man into the new. Why, as necessity demands, I will offer you the following after yesterday’s secret teaching, so that you understand what things are represented by the action that you performed in the inner vestibule. 2. So, immediately upon your entry you put aside your robe, and this meant: putting off the old man with his deeds (Col. 3:9). By folding the robe, you were naked, imitating in this Christ, naked on the Cross, who through nakedness stripped off the Principle and Power and with boldness triumphed over them on the Cross (see Col. 2:14-15). And since opposing forces were hidden in your members, it is no longer fitting for you to wear old garments, not these, I say, of course, sensual ones, but the old man, which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts (Eph. 4:22). Let not the soul, having once been put off by this, again clothe itself in this man, but let it repeat the word which the bride of Christ speaks in the Song of Songs: I have cast off my tunic; How can I put it on again? ( Song 5:3 ). Oh wonderful thing! You were naked in front of everyone - and you were not ashamed. Truly you bore the image of the primordial Adam, who was naked in paradise and not ashamed (see Gen. 2:23). 3. Then, having taken off your clothes, you were anointed with exorcism oil, from the top of your head even to your feet, and you became partakers of the good olive tree, Jesus Christ. For, having been cut off from the wild olive tree, you have clung to the good olive tree and have partaken of the fat of the good olive tree. So, the exorcism oil meant participation in the anointing of Christ, which reflects every trace of resistive force. Just as the breath of the saints, like a powerful flame, scorches and drives away demons, so this incantatory oil, by invoking God and prayer, receives such power that it not only burns away traces of sins and cleanses, but also drives out all the invisible forces of the evil one. 4. After this, you were led to the holy font of Divine Baptism, just as Christ was from the Cross to the present tomb. And we asked each of you whether he believed in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit? And you confessed the saving confession, and were immersed three times in the water, and again emerged from the water. And here you significantly depicted the three-day burial of Christ. For just as the Savior remained three days and three nights in the womb of the earth (see Matt. 12:40), so you depicted the first day as the first appearance from the water, and the first night of Christ’s sojourn in the earth as the immersion. For just as a person no longer sees at night, but turns into light during the day, so in immersion, as in the night, you saw nothing, but in emerging from the water, as in the days. And at the same time you were dying and being born; and this saving water was both your coffin and your mother. And what Solomon said about other things, this also becomes you. There he said: a time to be born, and a time to die (Eccl. 3:2); about you, on the contrary: a time to die and a time to be born. And one time accomplished both: both your death and your birth came together. 5. O strange and wonderful thing! We did not truly die, we were not truly buried, we were not truly resurrected after the crucifixion, but in the image we are imitated, and in the truth we are saved. Christ was truly crucified, truly buried, truly resurrected, and He gave us all this by grace, so that by sharing His suffering in the likeness, we may acquire salvation through the truth itself. O incomprehensible love for humanity! Christ took the nails on His most pure hands and feet and endured suffering, and to me, although I was not sick or suffered, He grants salvation through the single communion of His passions. 6. So, no one should think that supposedly baptism is the grace of remission of sins only, which was John’s baptism; but it is also the grace of adoption. Since you truly know that it is both the remission of sins and the giving of the gift of the Holy Spirit, and an image of the passion of Christ. For this is why Paul, recently crying out, said: 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 (Rom. 6:3-4). He spoke this to those who believe that in baptism, although remission of sins and adoption are accomplished, there is no communion of Christ’s passions in likeness. 7. Therefore, in order for us to understand that Christ endured everything that He endured for us and for our salvation, in the truth itself, and not in illusion, and that we are partakers of His suffering, Paul cried out with all knowledge: For if we are united with Him in the likeness of His death, we must also be united in the likeness of the resurrection (Rom. 6:5). This word is pretty much connected; for just as here 1 the true grapes were planted, so we too, having partaken of death through baptism, became conformable to it. Turn your thoughts with great attention to the words of the apostle. For he did not say: how we are united with Him by His death, but: in the likeness of death. For truly death belongs to Christ, because truly the soul was separated from the body, and true burial, because His holy body was wrapped in a clean shroud (see Matt. 27:59), and everything in Him was truly completed. In you is the likeness of death and suffering, but salvation is not likeness, but truth. 8. Having understood this, keep in mind, I pray you, and I, who am unworthy, will say about you: I praise you, brethren, because you remember everything that is mine and keep the traditions as I handed them down to you (1 Cor. 11:2). Now God is mighty, who presented you to God as alive from the dead (Rom. 6:13), to give you to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4), for to Him be glory and dominion, now and forever. Amen. Mystery teaching third [About Confirmation. To the words from the First Epistle of John, from the place: And you have the anointing of God and know everything (cf. 1 John 2:20) - to the place: and we will not be put to shame by Him at His coming (1 John 2:28).] 1. Having been baptized into Christ and having put on Christ (see Gal.3:27), you have become conformed to the Son of God (see Rom.8:29). Because God, who predestined you (see Eph.1:5) as sons, made you conformable to the body of the glory of Christ (see Phil.3:21). Having become partakers of Christ (see Heb. 3:14), you are worthily called Christians, that is, anointed, and God said about you: do not touch My anointed (Ps. 105:15). You became anointed when you received the identity of the Holy Spirit: and everything was completed on you in a figurative manner, that is, in likeness, because you are the image of Christ. He, having washed himself in the Jordan River and imparted a fragrance from His Divine sweat to the waters, ascended from them, and there was a significant influx of the Holy Spirit upon Him, when like rested on like. Likewise, when you came out of the font of sacred waters, you were given an anointing corresponding to the one with which Christ was anointed. This is the Holy Spirit, about whom blessed Isaiah in his prophecy spoke on behalf of the Lord: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, for the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor (Is. 61:1). 2. For Christ was not anointed with oil, or bodily ointment, from man, but the Father, having presented Him as Savior to the whole world, anointed Him with the Holy Spirit, as Peter says: just as God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power (Acts 10:38). And David the prophet cried out, saying: Your throne, O God, endures forever; the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore, O God, Your God anointed You with the oil of joy more than Your companions (Ps. 45:7-8). And just as Christ was truly crucified, buried and resurrected, and through baptism in likeness you were worthy to be crucified, buried, and raised with Him, so it is in Confirmation. He was anointed with the spiritual oil of joy, that is, with the Holy Spirit, which is called the oil of joy, because it is the author of spiritual joy; But you were anointed with myrrh, becoming fellow members of Christ and partakers. 3. But be careful not to consider this world simple. For just as the bread in the Eucharist, upon the invocation of the Holy Spirit, is not simpler bread, but the Body of Christ, so the holy ointment is not more simple, nor ordinary, upon invocation, but a gift of Christ and the Holy Spirit, made real by the presence of His Divinity. Your forehead and other instruments of the senses will be anointed with it. And when the body is visibly anointed, then the soul is sanctified by the Holy and Life-giving Spirit. 4. And, firstly, you were anointed on your forehead to get rid of the shame that the first criminal carried around (see Gen. 3:7-8). And so that with an open face you may contemplate the glory of the Lord (see 2 Cor. 3: 18). Then on the ears, so that you may receive an ear to hear the Divine mysteries, about which Isaiah said: The Lord awakens My ear, that I may listen (Is. 50:4). And the Lord Jesus in the Gospel: he who has ears to hear, let him hear (cf. Matt. 11:15). Then on your nostrils, so that you, fragrant with the Divine world, exclaim: For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing (2 Cor. 2:15). Next on the Persians: put on the breastplate of righteousness, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:14, 11). For just as Christ, after baptism and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, came forth and defeated the adversary (see Matt. 4:1 et seq.), so you, after Holy Baptism and the sacramental Confirmation, having put on the weapon of the Holy Spirit, stood against the power of the adversary and conquered it, exclaiming: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (cf. Phil. 4:13). 5. Having received this holy Confirmation, you are called Christians, justifying the name itself by rebirth. For before you were granted this grace, you were not actually worthy of this name, but strived to become Christians. 6. You should know that the prototype of this Confirmation is found in the Old Scripture. For when Moses conveyed God's command to his brother (see Lev.8:1-2) and appointed him to be the high priest, then after washing with water he anointed him (see Lev.8:6, 12), and he was called anointed (Lev.4:5), that is, from the educational anointing. So Solomon, elevating him to the kingdom, was anointed by the bishop after he was washed out in Gihon (see 1 Kings 1:39, 45). But all this happened to them as images (1 Cor. 10:11). It is unimportant to you, truly, because you are truly anointed by the Holy Spirit. The beginning of your salvation is Christ, for He truly is the firstfruits, but you are the whole. If the first fruit is holy, it is clear that holiness will flow into the whole (cf. Rom. 11:16). 7. Keep (this anointing) immaculately, for it itself teaches you everything (1 John 2:27), if it remains in you, as you have now heard blessed John speak and speak much about this anointing. For it is sanctification, spiritual preservation of the body and salvation of the soul. From ancient times, blessed Isaiah, predicting, said that the Lord would do to all nations on this mountain (see Is. 25:6); he calls the Church a mountain, as in another place, when he says: And it will come to pass in the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be set at the top of the mountains (Is. 2:2). They will drink wine, drink joy, and be anointed with myrrh (see Is. 25:6–7). And to confirm you, listen to what he says about this world as a mysterious one: he will destroy on this mountain the veil that covers all nations, the veil that lies on all nations (Is. 25:7). So, you, having been anointed with this holy ointment, keep it within yourself immaculately and blamelessly, being successful in good deeds and pleasing the Author of your salvation, Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Mystery teaching fourth [About the Body and Blood of Christ. To the words from Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians: For I received from the Lord Himself what I also passed on to you, etc. (1 Cor. 11:23).] 1. Even this teaching of Blessed Paul is enough to confirm you about the Divine mysteries, which, having been granted, you have become bodily and intimate with Christ. For now the apostle cried out: that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread and, having given thanks, broke it and said: Take, eat, this is My Body, broken for you; Do this in remembrance of Me (1 Cor. 11:23–24). And, taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said: drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood (Matthew 26:27). And when Christ Himself announced and said about bread: this is My Body, after that who will dare not to believe? And when He Himself assured and said about the cup: This is My Blood, who then will doubt and say that this is not His Blood? 2. In Cana of Galilee, he once turned water into wine (see John 2:1, 10), similar to blood, and is he unworthy of faith when he turns wine into blood? If, having been called to a bodily marriage, He performed this glorious miracle, is it not more so that He gave His Body and His Blood to the sons of the bridal chamber (Matthew 9:15) for their enjoyment, and demands our confession. 3. Why, with all confidence, let us accept this as the Body and Blood of Christ. For in the form of bread the Body is given to you, and in the form of wine the Blood is given to you, so that, having partaken of the Body and Blood of Christ, you may become bodily and intimate with Him. For in this way we also become Christ-bearers, when His Body and Blood are communicated to our members. Thus, according to the words of Blessed Peter, we will become partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). 4. Once Christ, while talking, said to the Jews: if you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you (John 6:53). They, not spiritually hearing what was said, but having been tempted, departed from Him (John 6:66), thinking that he was inclining them to carnivory. 5. There were showbreads in the Old Testament, but they, as belonging to the Old Testament, were abolished. And in the New Testament there is the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation (see Ps. 116:4), sanctifying the soul and body. For just as bread is like the body, so the word is like the soul. 6. So, do not understand the bread and wine (in the Eucharist) to be simple, for the Body and Blood of Christ are, according to the saying of the Master. For although feeling presents this to you, let faith confirm you. Do not judge a thing according to taste, but from faith be known without a doubt that you have been made worthy of the Body and Blood of Christ. 7. And David explains to you this (Sacrament) power, saying: You have prepared a table before me in the sight of my enemies (Ps. 22:5). And his words mean this: before Your coming, demons prepared a meal for people, unclean and nasty (see Mal. 1:7), full of devilish power; but after Your coming, O Master! You prepared a meal for me. When a person says to God: You have prepared a table before me, what else does it mean if not the mysterious and mental meal that God has prepared for us in opposition, that is, in opposition and in opposition to demons? And quite fair. For that one had communion with demons, and this one had communion with God. He anointed my head with oil (Ps. 22:5). He anointed your head on your forehead with oil, through the seal that you have from God, so that you would be an image of the seal with the inscription “Holiness to the Lord” (Ex. 28:36). My cup is overflowing (Ps. 22:5). Do you see what is said here about the cup that Jesus took in his hands, gave thanks and said: for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28). 8. Why does Solomon, about this fortune-telling grace, in Ecclesiastes say: go, eat your bread with joy (Eccl. 9:7) (that is, spiritual bread. And through the word come he names the saving and blessed calling). And drink your wine with joy in your heart, i.e. spiritual wine. And let not the oil on your head fail (Eccl. 9:8) (do you see how he also marked the mysterious Anointing?). Let your garments be bright at all times, for God is well pleased with your works (Eccl. 9:7-8). For before you came to grace, your works were vanity of vanities (Eccl. 1:2). When you have put off your old clothes and have clothed yourself spiritually in white, you must wear white at all times. We are not at all saying that you should dress in white clothes at all times, but you need to dress in white in the true sense and light (i.e., spiritual) so that you can speak with blessed Isaiah: my soul will rejoice in my God; for He has clothed me with the robe of salvation, He has clothed me with the robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10). 9 . Having learned about this and made sure that visible bread is not bread, although it is felt by taste, but the Body of Christ and visible wine is not wine, although it appears so to the taste, but the Blood of Christ, as David sang about this of old, he said: and the bread that strengthens a person’s heart, and the oil that makes his face shine (Ps. 103:15), strengthen your heart, partaking of it as spiritual: anoint the face of the soul. yours. Having it revealed in a clear conscience and contemplating the glory of the Lord, oh that you would come from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18), in Christ Jesus! To whom is honor, and dominion, and glory forever and ever. Amen. Secret teaching fifth [From Peter’s conciliar epistle: So, having put aside all malice and all deceit, and hypocrisy, etc. (1 Peter 2:1).] 1. According to God’s love for mankind, in past meetings you have heard quite a lot about Baptism, Confirmation and Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ; Now we must move on to what follows and today we must crown the spiritual creation of your benefit. 2. So, you saw the deacon giving the priest and elders surrounding the altar of God to wash. But it was not for the sake of bodily impurity that he served water, not for this reason. For we do not enter the Church with carnal defilement. But washing means that you must cleanse yourself from all sins and iniquities. For since hands are an image of an action, then through washing we depict, therefore, the purity and innocence of actions. Have you not heard blessed David expressing this mysteriously: I will wash my hands in innocence and walk around Your altar, O Lord (Ps. 25:6)? So, to wash your hands means to be innocent of condemnation for sins. 3. Then the deacon cries out: hug each other, and kiss each other; Don’t think that this kissing is the same as those kisses that occur between friends at the market. This is not what this kiss is like: it unites souls mutually and copulates with each other through unmemorable malice. So, this kiss marks the union of souls and the driving away of all memory of malice. That is why Christ said: So, if you are bringing your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24). Consequently, the kiss is reconciliation and therefore holy, as blessed Paul cried out, saying: Greet one another with a holy kiss (1 Cor. 16:20); and Peter: with the kiss of love (1 Peter 5:14). 4. After this, the priest proclaims: woe (we have) hearts. For truly, in that terrible hour, the mountain should have a heart towards God, and not down to the earth and to earthly things. Therefore, this proclamation is the same, as if the priest commanded, so that at this hour everyone would leave worldly cares and household worries, and would have a heart in heaven towards God, the Lover of Mankind. To this you answer: imams to the Lord, agreeing to this command through your confession. So, no one should stand here in such a disposition that he would say with his lips: Imams to the Lord, but with his mind he would think about worldly concerns. And one must always remember God, and if this is impossible due to human weakness, at least at this hour one must take care of it with love. 5. Next the priest says: we thank the Lord. Truly we must thank God for calling us, unworthy, into such grace; that, although we were enemies, we were reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10); that He has made us worthy of the Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15). To this you say: worthily and righteously. For by sending thanksgiving, we are doing a worthy and righteous deed; God, not in righteousness, but acting above righteousness, has benefited us and granted us such blessings. 6. Therefore, we remember the sky, the earth and the sea, the sun and the moon, the stars and all creation, verbal and non-verbal, visible and invisible, Angels, Archangels, Powers, Dominions, Principalities, Authorities, Thrones, the many-eyed Cherubim (see Ezek. 10:21 and 1:6), as if speaking to David: Magnify the Lord with me (Ps. 33:4). We also remember the Seraphim, whom Isaiah saw by the Holy Spirit, standing around the Throne of God with two wings covering their face, two covering their legs, and two flying and exclaiming: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts (Is. 6:2-3). And for this reason we repeat this theology handed down to us from the Seraphim, so that we may become partakers of the hymn together with the worldly hosts. 7. After this, having sanctified ourselves with these spiritual songs, we pray to God, the Lover of Mankind, to send the Holy Spirit upon the gifts that are presented: may He make bread for the body of Christ, and wine for the blood of Christ. For everything that the Holy Spirit touches is sanctified and transformed. 8. Then, after performing the spiritual sacrifice, the bloodless service, with the same propitiatory sacrifice, we pray to God for the universal peace of the churches, for the well-being of the world, for kings, for soldiers and companions, for those who are infirm, for those weary with labor, and in general for everyone who requires help, we all pray and offer this sacrifice. 9 . Afterwards we remember those who have died before, firstly, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, so that through their prayers and intercession God may accept our prayer. Then about the reposed holy fathers and bishops and in general about all of us who have previously died, believing that there will be great benefit to the souls for whom prayer is offered at the time when the holy and terrible sacrifice is offered. 10. I want to assure you with an example. For I know that many say: what is the benefit of a soul departing from this world with sins or without sins, if it is remembered in prayer? And what if some king sent those who had annoyed him into exile, and their neighbors then, weaving a crown, brought it to him for those suffering punishment, then wouldn’t he lighten their punishment? Thus, we, too, for the departed, even if they are sinners, when we offer prayers to God, we do not weave a crown, but we offer Christ, who was slain for our sins, propitiating for them and for us the Lover of God. 11. At the end of this, we read the prayer that the Savior conveyed to His disciples, with a clear conscience calling God the Father and saying: Our Father who art in heaven (see Matt. 6:9). O great love of God! To those who withdrew from Him and were in extreme malice against Him, He granted such oblivion of insults and a share of grace that they also call Him Father: Our Father, Who art in heaven. Those can be heavens, which bear the image of heavenly things (1 Cor. 15:49) and in which God dwells and walks (see 2 Cor. 6:16). 12. Hallowed be Thy name. The name of God is holy by nature, whether we say it or not. But in those who sin, it is sometimes defiled, according to the word: For for your sake, as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles (Is. 52:5; Rom. 2:24). For this purpose, we pray that the name of God will be sanctified in us: not because it is as if, without being holy, it will begin to be holy, but because in us it becomes holy when we ourselves are sanctified and do what is worthy of shrine. 13. Thy kingdom come. A pure soul can boldly say: Thy kingdom come. For whoever heard Paul say: Let not sin reign in your mortal body (Rom. 6:12), and whoever purifies himself in deed, and in thought, and in word, can say to God: Thy kingdom come. 14. Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth. The divine and blessed Angels of God do the will of God, as David, singing, said: Bless the Lord, [all] His Angels, mighty in power, who do His word (Ps. 102:20). Therefore, when you pray, you say this in this meaning: just as Your will is done in the Angels, so may it be done in me on earth, Master! 15. Give us this day our daily bread. Our common bread is not our daily bread. This holy bread is our daily bread: instead of saying, it is provided for the being of the soul. This bread does not enter into the belly and come out of the belly (see Matt. 15:17), but is divided into your entire composition for the benefit of body and soul. And the word "today" is said instead - for every day, as Paul said: how long can one say: “today” (Heb. 3:13). 16. And forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors. For we have many sins. Because we sin in word and thought and do a lot of things worthy of condemnation. And if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8), as John says. So, God and I make a condition, praying to forgive us our sins, just as we forgive our neighbors our debts. So, considering what we receive instead of what, let us not hesitate and let us not put off forgiving each other. The insults that happen to us are small, light and forgivable, but those that happen to God from us are great and require only His love for mankind. So, be careful that for small and easy sins against you, you do not deny God’s forgiveness to yourself for your gravest sins. 17. And do not lead us into temptation (Lord)! Is this what the Lord teaches us to pray about, so that we may not be tempted in the least? And how it is said in one place that an untested person is inexperienced (see Sir.34:9-10) and in another: Receive it with great joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations! (James 1:2). But to enter into temptation does not mean to be consumed by temptation? Because temptation is like a kind of stream that is difficult to cross. Consequently, those who, being in temptations, do not plunge into them, pass on like the most skillful swimmers, without being drowned by them; and those who are not like that, having entered, are immersed, as, for example, Judas, having entered into the temptation of the love of money, did not swim across, but, having immersed, drowned physically and spiritually. Peter entered into the temptation of rejection, but, having entered, he did not get bogged down, but, courageously swimming across, was freed from temptation. Listen also in another place, how the whole face of the saints gives thanks for deliverance from temptation: You have tested us, O God, you have refined us, as silver is refined. You have brought us into a net, you have put fetters on our loins, you have placed a man on our head. We entered fire and water, and You brought us out to freedom (Ps. 65:10-12). Do you see them boldly rejoicing that they have arrived and are not stuck? and You, speaking, brought us to freedom (Ps. 65:12). For them to enter into rest means to be freed from temptation. 18. But deliver us from evil. If leading us not into temptation meant not being tempted at all, I would not have added: but deliver us from the evil one. The evil one is a resistant demon, from which we pray to get rid of. When the prayer is fulfilled, you say: Amen. Capturing through Amen, what it means is everything that is contained in this God-given prayer. 19. After this is done, the priest says: Holy of holies. The Holy One is the Gifts that are presented, having received the influx of the Holy Spirit. Holy are you too, you who have been granted the Holy Spirit. So, the Holy Place becomes holy. To this you say: there is only one Holy One, one Lord Jesus Christ. For truly there is only one Holy One who is Holy by nature. And we are holy, but not by nature, but by communion, deed and prayer. 20. After that, you hear a singer calling you with a Divine song to partake of the Holy Mysteries and saying: Taste and see how good the Lord is! (Ps.33:9). Let us not judge this by bodily taste, in any way, but by undoubted faith. For those who eat are not commanded to eat bread and wine, but the opposite, the Body and Blood of Christ. 21. And so, when you come, do not approach with outstretched hands or spread fingers, but making your left hand a throne with your right, as if you want to raise the King, and bending your hand, accept the Body of Christ and immediately say: Amen. And so with fear, having sanctified your eyes with the touch of the holy Body, you took communion, being careful that you do not destroy anything from it. And if you destroy anything, it’s as if you’ll lose your own member. For tell me, if someone gave you sawdust of gold, would you not hold it with all fear, keeping it so as not to lose anything from it or cause damage? Isn’t it with great fear that you must take care of the most honest gold and precious stones so that not a single grain falls from you? 22. Then, after communion of the Body of Christ, approach the Chalice of Blood: not stretching out your hands, but bending down and saying in an image of worship and reverence: Amen, sanctify yourself and partake of the Blood of Christ. And when there is still moisture on your lips, touching with your hands, sanctify your eyes, your forehead, and other senses. Finally, after waiting for prayer, thank God, who has vouchsafed you such Sacraments. 23. Keep these traditions blameless and keep yourselves blameless. Do not excommunicate yourself from communion. For the sake of the defilement of sins, do not deprive yourself of these sacred and spiritual Mysteries. May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved completely without blemish at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23). To whom be glory, honor and power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. 1. Bible. Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. In Russian translation with parallel passages and applications. Danilov Monastery. Danilovsky evangelist, 2008. (Reprinted from the publication of the Moscow Patriarchate.) 2. Bible. Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. In Church Slavonic with parallel passages. Russian Bible Society, 2005. Reprint edition. (St. Petersburg, Synodal Printing House, 1900. With the blessing of the Holy Governing Synod.) Consider the Holy Sepulcher, before which St. Cyril taught the doctrine You might be interested in: