Какое содействие доставляет ей освящение священного жертвенника

This is the meaning of the sacred sacraments, and this is the preparation they provide us for true life. Since the altar is the beginning of every sacrament, whether it is necessary to receive supper or anointing, and also to receive illumination, or to participate in the sacrament of the font, therefore, in addition to what has been said, as much as possible for us, let us judge about it and about the sacrament by which it is confirmed. I don’t think of doing anything unnecessary and superfluous, but let’s make the word more complete by talking about the source, the beginning of the sacraments, or whatever else this should be called. Therefore, having laid out in order everything that happens by the hands of the performer and what the altar is made of, let us then see what the meaning of each action is and why it is performed. First of all, the Hierarch, having put on himself a white sap and girded his hands and the rest of his body, falls to God, bowing down not only to the bare ground, and having prayed in order to achieve his desired goal, he carefully gets to work and, picking up the lying meal, confirms it and strengthens it, not only by ordering, but also by doing it himself with his own hands. Having confirmed it, he washes it with warm water, praying that this water will have the power to cleanse not only visible impurity, but also from demonic attacks. Then he anoints him, pouring on him the best wine and pure oil made from roses. After this, he brings the sacred myrrh and anoints him, tracing the cross three times and singing a prophetic, solemn song to God. Then, covering it with white orchard, he decorates it with precious clothes and places on them other plates anointed with myrrh, like the meal, which, having been placed on top of the meal, should lie directly under the sacred books. And having done this, he unties and takes off the swearing shirt, and, wearing the bishop’s vestments, goes out to some nearby sacred house. There, taking the prepared bones of the holy martyrs and placing them in one of the vessels of the altar, in which terrible gifts are placed, and closing them with what they are closed, he piously lifts them up, and, carrying them on his head, goes to the church to be consecrated; many honor his procession with candles and singing, and incense, and fragrant ointments. And when, walking in this way, he reaches the church, he stands in front of the closed doors, and commands those behind the doors to open the doors for the King of Glory, both speaking himself and hearing from those inside the very words of David, which he puts into the mouths of the angels who spoke to each other during the Savior’s ascension into heaven, and after the doors are opened, he enters the sanctuary, having the covered vessel on his head. Then he enters the altar and the table itself, lays it on it, and opens it, and takes out the treasure put into the vessel, puts it into a storehouse, the size of which is commensurate with what was put in, and after this, having poured out the most holy myrrh on this, he places it under the sacred table. When everything is done in this way, the house already becomes a house of prayer, and the meal is already appointed for the sacrifice, and prepared, and becomes completely an altar. And about the reason why, after this is done, it becomes a sanctuary, and why, when this is done by the priest, it can be both a house and a meal, we will now say, considering each action. So, the vestment and the fact that the Hierarch, so dressed, begins to perform, represents the image of the sanctuary, in accordance with the human concept; for David says that having been washed from all evil and made whiter than snow, a person comes into himself, and gathers himself into himself, and truly infuses God into his soul, and makes his heart an altar. The sign of this is, in the first respect, that it has a white and shining vestment on it, and in another, that it is closed in itself from everywhere and is enclosed throughout the body. And thus, before the consecrated place, in itself, as far as it is possible to show the altar, then the performing hand extends to the consecrated place, since in those who practice art, and in general in all those who can work, the thought, before the hands, does the work in itself, and what it has conceived, it sets as a rule for the hands, which express this on the substance. And it is sometimes possible for painters to paint according to a model, composing their work from paintings, but sometimes they use their memory for this, and contemplate the model in their souls, and everyone knows that this happens not only to painters, but also to sculptors, and to all working artists. And if there was any opportunity to see with the eyes of the artist’s soul, you would see the house itself, or a statue, or some other work, only without substance. Therefore, the Hierarch not only represents the model of the altar by serving as its organizer, but also by the fact that human nature alone can be the church of God and the true altar from all that is visible, so that even armed with the hands of people (the altar) preserves its image, which is why it is necessary that in this action the deed should appear before the image, and the truth should precede the images. For he who said, “What house will you build for Me,” says again, “I will dwell in them and walk around; What this means, I think, is that he who wants to be useful to others must first help himself, and he who is worthy of putting such power into the soulless must first provide himself with such benefit; just as Paul thinks that a Bishop who intends to be good for the city and the people must begin with the family, and he who must rule the house must first conduct himself according to the right word. And for this work God is needed, for without God’s assistance no one can accomplish anything else, especially the sacraments, in which everything is His sole work. Since the common ruler did not give orders about the slaves and did not send advisers to them, but He Himself came and He Himself was the author of everything that was needed for salvation, therefore the Hierarch, His disciple, must personally establish the altar, from which for us all the benefits of salvation; and he does this with this psalm in his mouth; “I will exalt you, my God, to my king” (Ps. 144:1), which contains thanksgiving to God and remembrance of His miracles. If Paul's law commands us to give thanks for everything, how much more just is it to give thanks for this most important of blessings? After this he adds another psalm: “The Lord shepherds me, and will deprive me of nothing” (Ps. 22:1), and with this he sings not only of God’s love for mankind, but also touches on real events. For it mentions baptism, and divine anointing, and the cup, and the table containing the sacred bread; He calls baptism both the water of rest and a green place, and he who is flocked by God said well that he will rest forever in it. For, since he caused sin and labor to those who dared to commit it, and filled the earth for us with thorns, then correctly, I think, the water that washes away sin is called, in relation to labor, the water of rest, and in relation to thorns, a green place, and the last rest because the last good in which we who seek Christ will rest can be found here. And for another reason it can be called the water of repose, that it stopped the desire of nature, which “many kings and prophets desired to see,” it is said, “(Luke 10:24). Why does the Hierarch, falling down to God and praying, not directly touch the floor of the church, if not because something that has not yet received consecration is not adapted to the sacrament, and a house that has not yet become a house of prayer will properly receive the one praying? Therefore, and vice versa Moses, who intended to enter the sacred land, had to take off his shoes, as if he were entering into a direct interview, and the Jewish people dedicated to God once had to walk in shoes on the land of Egypt (Exodus 3:5). For since the common tormentor, having enslaved the ruler of the visible - man, then invaded everything sensual, as if into the royal house after the fall of the king, then each sacrament, borrowing substance from the sensual, needs something cleansing from the dominion of the evil one. Likewise, the priest first cleanses the water in which to baptize someone approaching the sacrament with prayers from all devilish malice, and then pronounces the final word. For the same reason, he first washes the meal with evil waters, and at the same time shows the image of how one should strive for good, i.e. to avoid evil first, why he did this and sings the psalm; sung about human evil: “Sprinkle me with your hyssop, and I will be clean, having washed me, I will be whiter than snow” (Ps. 50:9), and after this he gives thanks to God and glorifies Him. And this is in each of the sacraments. For everything must be done for the glory of God, and most of all the sacraments, since they are the most beneficial of all and come from God alone. Because before divine grace it is necessary not only to purify ourselves, but, as far as is possible for us, to show the virtues corresponding to it, since it is impossible otherwise to receive the author of grace. (For God gives prayer not to the one who sleeps, but to the one who asks, and helps the one who struggles, and the grace of chastity bestows on those who are chaste as much as possible, and in general in everything the desire for what is sought must be shown not by what we desire, but by the actions themselves.) Therefore, before the most divine peace, which should impart grace from God to the altar, anoints the table with our incense, wine and myrrh, of which one only gives us what is pleasant, and the other helps life, to show what is human, bringing in everything that fills our whole life, i.e. what is necessary for life and what is pleasant, begins with both, since He (Christ), having come, gave life and added more, not only resurrecting and resolving us, but also enthroning us and introducing us to imperishable pleasure; Therefore, the Hierarch also adds myrrh to this, which, having all the power for the sacrament, is also related to the sacrifice itself. Since the Savior first accomplished it with these two: “Take,” it is said, “the bread and bless it with his hand,” then we must also look for both hands and words; the words are pronounced by the priests, and they are effective, as if He Himself commanded, for, “Do this,” He said, “in remembrance of Me,” and instead of a hand, myrrh has the power, and it, according to the word of the divine Dionysius, introduces Jesus. But the Apostles laid their hands, and the same grace was there, and their successors for this sacrament needed the word, only through it they performed the sacrament. For for the first priests, the hands served as an altar, and for their successors, through them, Christ built the mystical houses. Pouring out the myrrh at the table, the Hierarch does not add any words, but only sings to God a song in the Hebrew language, included in a few letters, but in its meaning the all-holy song of the face of the sacred prophets. For it is fitting for those who tell about what has happened to praise with a long word, and it is fitting to glorify what is being glorified, including a song in a few words. The first, I think, is proper when praising past or future events, so that words should serve instead of them for those contemplating, and the second, I think, is proper for the present and those taking place, when the deeds are obvious in themselves, and words are needed not so much to express the pleasure of those proclaiming, but to show surprise, as the prophets prophesied only before John. For what need was there for messengers when He Who was proclaimed Himself appeared? All that remained was to sing and crown Him, which was clear to the Angels to whom He first appeared when He came to earth, and their word of rejoicing was: glory to God in the highest. For this reason, the Hierarch, after he has come to know the glorified benefactor from his very deeds, does not pray for any of the things mentioned in his prayers and does not list the deeds of love for mankind that are before his eyes, but only glorifies these in a mysterious song. Since the power of the altar is the ointment, it is necessary that the underlying substance correspond to this power. For, I think, it can act better this way, just as fire and light act through collected bodies. Therefore, the very name of the Savior, which, when invoked, has power in everything, does not reveal its power equally in everyone’s mouth. And so the celebrant, having searched for which of the bodies would be more appropriately subject to the world, did not find anything more suitable than the martyr’s bones, and having anointed them with myrrh, and having anointed them at the table, he completely sanctified the altar. For there is nothing more akin to the sacraments of Christ than the martyrs, for they have everything in common with Christ himself: body, spirit, and image of death. Even during their lives, He was present with them and does not leave those who have died dead, but, being united with their souls, this frailty is also present, and dust is mixed in, and if in anything visible one can find and have the Savior, then of course with these bones. Therefore, when he comes to the church, with those words he opens the gates for them, as if introducing Christ Himself, and in all other respects he honors them on a par with sacred gifts. The truly true church of God and the altar are these bones, and this man-made one is an imitation of the true one. And so it is fitting to attach it to this church and use it to accomplish this, just as the new laws serve to complete the ancient ones. Then, having completed everything and prepared the house for sacrifice and prayer, having lit a lamp on the altar, he goes out, firstly, I think, indicating by this the time of the sacrifice at which it was offered at the beginning, for this happened in the evening and when the lamps were lit. Then, so that, as in the house of one who lost the drachma, this lamp would bring to our memory the lamp that he lit, with which he sought and found the drachma, covered with earth and darkness, as if lying underground in hell (this, I think, means sweeping the house and opening everything and bringing it to the light) - He who filled hell with light by descending into it. Then, going around the whole house, he anoints it with myrrh, so that it becomes a house of prayer, and has an effective name, and helps us in prayers, for the boldness of people towards God and the correction of our prayer, like a censer, is the myrrh poured out - the Savior, who has become our intercessor before God and mediator. For when, being the Only Begotten, He poured out Himself on the servants, then the Father was truly reconciled and looks mercifully at us, and accepts those who come, as if He had found His most beloved Son in us. Why is it necessary that this house, in which we call upon God, should be poured out with the ointment of prayer in order to attract to it the God called upon in it, and that, as Solomon prayed, “His eyes should be open day and night upon this church” (1 Kings 8:29). And again, in order for the one who is called the church of God to be elevated to the true church and have something in common with it, for this, just as he was anointed by the Divine, it is necessary in various ways for this one also to become anointed, being anointed with myrrh. I mean the true church of God - His all-holy body, as he himself called it, “destroy,” he said, “this church” (John 2:19). You might be interested in: