Exodus 12

And we can also understand the same about this: "This month shall be to you the beginning of months"; although it is understood as the 7th in terms of time, because it spoke of the Lord's Passover, which is celebrated at the beginning of spring. Therefore, in this beginning of months, He made the heavens and the earth, which was fitting for the beginning of the world, where a suitable spring season was for everyone.

Consequently our elders decided that one full month must be observed for the birthday of the world and that Easter should be observed in whatever part of it both the day and the moon coincided. This is not without scriptural authority, for Moses said, "This month shall stand at the head of your calendar, the first month of the year." With these words he consecrated a whole month for the day of the world's birth. Thus our elders, who had found that March 22 was the birthday of the world, defined April 21 as a limit in determining the first month. So it will be permitted to celebrate Easter neither before March 22 nor after April 21. But when during this month both the moon and the day coincide, that is, the fourteenth day of the moon and Sunday, then Easter is to be celebrated. Now again, since the fourteenth day of the moon frequently does not fall on Sunday, they preferred to have the moon extended for seven days, provided they observed Sunday in the joy of the resurrection. So when the day falls thus, we always postpone Easter as far as the twenty-first day of the moon for the sake of Sunday, so that Easter is celebrated neither before March 22 nor after April 21. In this way it is found that the month and the day and the moon are retained in the observance of Easter.

In Matthew it is not written: "he was beginning"; but here, because he was about to ascend from baptism, "he was beginning" is read, Scripture relating: "and this same Jesus was beginning". For when he was baptized and took up the mystery of the second birth, so that you too might destroy your former nativity and be born in the second regeneration, then he is said "to have begun". And just as the people of the Jews, when they were in Egypt, did not have a beginning of months, but when they had gone out of Egypt, then it is said to them: "this month, the beginning of months, shall be the first for you among the months of the year", so he who is not yet baptized is not narrated "to have begun". For let us not suppose that it was added in vain to that which is said, "this same was Jesus", what follows: "beginning".

But now we shall pass to the text itself, word by word, so that the meaning inherent in the historical events may be shown more rationally. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: "This month is for you the beginning of months, the first for you among the months of the year."

God says to Moses and Aaron, as they come out of Egypt, that this is the beginning of months and the first among the months of the year. As regards the historical sense, then, this is indeed the first month, and the Jews celebrate this feast every year on the fourteenth day of the first month, when they sacrifice a lamb in their houses according to the Law given to them through Moses. Yet since Christ came "not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to bring them to fulfillment," He has shown us what the true Passover is, the true passage out of Egypt.

It is the beginning of months for the one who effects this passage precisely when the month of the passage out of Egypt comes, so that for him there may be the beginning of another birth, when a new manner of life begins for the one who definitively abandons the darkness and sets out on the way toward the light. I refer specifically to the sacrament granted through water to those who have placed their hope in Christ. This water is called "the laver of regeneration." Regeneration: what else does it mean but the beginning of a second birth?

It is truly necessary to live according to a perfect manner of life and love, so that one, though still continuing to live in the present world, may be able to hear the words: "This month is the beginning of months for you." For this prescription is not given by God to the whole people, but only to Moses and Aaron; for it is not written, "And God said to the people, This month is for you the beginning of months," but it is written: "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month is for you the beginning of months." Only then does He add: "Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel: On the tenth day of this month let each one take a lamb."

For if He had added, "Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel: This month is for you the beginning of months," God would have spoken indistinctly both to Moses and Aaron and to the whole people. But since it is said to Moses and Aaron, "This month is for you the beginning of months," and then the command is given to convey to the people not this order, but that on the tenth day of the month they take a lamb in the houses of each family, it is clear that that was the beginning of the month not for the whole people, but only for Moses and Aaron, to whom the command is given.

For it is necessary to have renounced completely the creation and this world, in order to understand that one has become almost another person than what he was, so that he may be able to hear: "this month is for you the beginning of months, the first for you among the months of the year." That the perfect believer indeed has the beginning of another birth and becomes another person than what he was before, the Apostle teaches us when he says: "Our old man has been crucified with Christ," and again: "If we have died together with Christ, together with Him we shall also live"; of himself he says simply: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."

These, though still living in the world, are able to hear that this is the first month and that it is for them the beginning of months. Let us reflect on the fact that the perfect believer, having become another person than what he was, receives from God promises and blessings. It is not Abram who receives the promises, but Abraham; and it is not Jacob who receives the blessings, but Israel. The first disciple of the Savior is Peter and not Simon; James and John, apostles, are sent forth having become Boanerges, which means "sons of thunder." If we observe attentively the whole of Scripture taken in its totality, we shall find in it that designations of this kind are noted because those who have been made perfect have other names: they are no longer what they were, but have become other persons than those they were previously.

And so it became for them the beginning of months. It is fitting to ask […] He could have said, "This is for you the beginning of the months and of the year," or, "This is the first month of the year for you"; instead, as though there were a distinction to be drawn, He says that the month is a beginning, and that it is the first. Strictly speaking, one speaks of the first only when there is nothing else that precedes; whereas the word "beginning" takes on its meaning in relation to the things of which it is the starting-point, even if they come at the end. What is first, this is also a beginning; but what is a beginning is not also first. Now then, since the beginning does not possess the absolute beginning, whereas the first does in fact possess the beginning as well, Scripture defines this month as the beginning of months and the first of the months of the year for them.

After having inflicted the Egyptians with many plagues, he led them out of Egypt in the month of flowers, when the most pleasant spring appears and the sadness of winter passes away.

This, I say, is the first month of the year. This brings joy to every creature. It clothes the naked trees. It opens the earth. This produces joy in all animals. It brings mirth to all. This is for Christians Xanthicus, the first month, the time of the resurrection in which their bodies will be glorified by means of the light which even now is in them hidden. This is the power of the Spirit who will then be their clothing, food, drink, exultation, gladness, peace, adornment and eternal life.

The bridegroom, who was to call good and bad to his marriage, was pleased to assimilate himself to his guests, in being born of good and bad. He thus confirms as typical of himself the symbol of the Passover, in which it was commanded that the lamb to be eaten should be taken from the sheep or from the goats—that is, from the righteous or the wicked. Preserving throughout the indication of both divinity and humanity, as man he consented to have both bad and good as his parents, while as God he chose the miraculous birth from a virgin.

It was commanded that the paschal lamb, by whose immolation the people of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt, should be selected five days before the [feast of] Passover, that is, on the tenth [day of the lunar] month, and immolated on the fourteenth [day of the lunar] month at sundown. This signified the one who was going to redeem us by his blood, since five days before the [feast of] Passover (that is, today), accompanied by the great joy and praise of people going ahead and following, he came into God's temple, and he was there teaching daily. At last, after five days, having observed up to that point the sacraments of the old Passover, he brought them to perfect fulfillment, and he handed over the new sacraments to his disciples to be observed henceforth.[Then], having gone out to the Mt. of Olives, he was seized by the Jews and crucified [the next] morning. He redeemed us from the sway of the devil on that very day when the ancient people of the Hebrews cast aside the yoke of slavery under the Egyptians by the immolation of the lamb.

"The lamb," the Lord says, "must be without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats." In another place of Holy Writ, it is prescribed that if anyone is unable to keep the Passover in the first month, he is to do so in the second. According to the regulation above, anyone who is unable to sacrifice a lamb may substitute a kid. In the house of the church, moreover, Christ is offered in a twofold manner: if we are just, we eat of the flesh of the lamb; if we are sinners and do penance, for us a goat is slain. This does not mean that Christ is from the goats that stand, as he has taught, on his left hand, but that Christ becomes a lamb or a goat in conformity with individual and personal merit.

But let us now proceed to what follows in the pericope: "Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel: On the tenth day of this month let each one take a lamb for every family, let each one take a lamb per house."

He does not say, "Let them sacrifice a lamb on the tenth of the month," but "Let them take a lamb." They are commanded to sacrifice this lamb on the fourteenth day of the month, and it is in this way that the Hebrews celebrate the Passover. They must, then, take the lamb in every house and in every family beginning from the tenth day, feed it still on the eleventh, the twelfth, and the thirteenth day, and finally consecrate it with a prayer: "This lamb is offered in sacrifice for this and this reason," without neglecting the eighteen names. On the fourteenth day, between the two evenings, the lamb is immolated, so that five are the days that intervene from the choosing of the lamb until its immolation. All of this takes place according to what is perceptible to the senses.

[…] Christ is the true lamb because He, who is second after the Father, is taken during the second monad, that is, I mean the number ten.

Just as, according to that prescription, the lamb is not immolated at the same time as its choosing on the tenth day of the month, but on the fourteenth, so that five days pass, in the same way whoever takes the true lamb, that is, Christ, does not sacrifice Him and feed upon Him at once, for five days pass after His choosing.

For whoever sets himself to listen to Christ and believes in Him, this one chooses Christ, but he does not sacrifice Him and feed upon Him before five days have passed. For, since the senses of man are five, unless Christ be present in each one of them, He could not be offered in sacrifice and, roasted, eaten. When He should make clay with His saliva, anoint our eyes with it, and make us see distinctly; when He should open the ears of the heart so that we might be able to hear with these ears; when we should smell His fragrance, recognizing that His name is the fragrance of ointment poured out; if by taste we should learn that the Lord is good, and by touch should handle Him, as John too says: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, seen with our own eyes, and our hands have touched, that is, the Logos of life," then we should be able both to sacrifice the lamb and to eat it, and so to come out of Egypt […].

That which was according to the typology of the mystical realities reveals also a spiritual understanding, of which we shall speak hereafter. The biblical saying too which affirms: "See, thou shalt make all things according to the typology of the tent that was shown thee on the mountain" gives to understand that the legislation is a shadow and a typology […].

We too, if the perfect and true light did not rise for us and we did not see that the higher part of our soul is well illumined, could not offer the true lamb in sacrifice and feed upon it.

[…] And indeed, when He tells the disciples to have the people arranged upon the grass, He gives this exhortation: "make them sit down in groups of guests," and thus prepares a banquet for them. For He serves them the food, after having gathered the multitude of those who eat His bread, not in undifferentiated groups but like with like. And the passage that immediately follows is akin, indeed identical, to the explanation already given.

"If they were too few in one house to be sufficient for eating a lamb, he shall take to himself his neighbor, the one nearest. And each shall measure, upon a lamb, what is sufficient for him, reckoning the number of persons. Let the lamb be for you perfect, male, and a year old. You shall take it from among lambs and kids" […].

Each one must associate to himself the neighbor nearest to his house, so that the guests may be sufficient for the lamb, that is, the number of persons is counted for one lamb.

"A perfect lamb, male, a year old." For Christ is perfect because He is lacking in nothing and, in Himself, is in nothing imperfect. Male refers to His strength and His courage. He is called "a year old" because a year indicates a perfect number, inasmuch as in the space of twelve months the sun returns to its seat.

Those who eat do not feed in the same way but differently, each according to his capacity, since not all can partake of Him as a lamb, but some, and perhaps the greater number, feed upon Him as a kid. The perfect, with great effort, now without sins, feed upon the lambs, because "Christ is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," while those who still lie under the weight of sin will take from the kids, because, according to the Law, it is affirmed that a goat is offered for sins.

Perhaps the Gospel too knows the same distinction, when the Savior feeds those who followed Him with loaves that are not alike but different. For to some of them He breaks five of wheat, to others seven of barley, so that those who are not able to partake of the purer bread, the bread of wheat, of Christ, because they still live in a beast-like way and are not yet rational, may feed upon the bread of barley.

And because these are the more numerous, the loaves of barley are seven: this is the number of idleness, according to which the greater part of people live, sluggish and unoccupied until the rising of the day. The loaves of wheat are five, just as the senses are, which spiritual men do not allow to suffer hunger. These continually nourish the senses with spiritual bread, and therefore enjoy the possession of them, as it is also written in the Bible: "They shall neither hunger nor thirst, nor shall their eyes be overcome by sleep."

To the advantage of these last salvation has come, thanks to His blood, the blood of Christ, the perfect lamb; for "as a lamb He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb silent before its shearer, so He opens not His mouth. Who shall tell of His generation? For His life is taken away from the earth, and for the iniquities of His people He was led to death. And I will give the poor in exchange for His death and the rich in exchange for His tomb, because He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth." For His death was not caused by sin, but He Himself "bears our sins and is afflicted for us; by the blows He suffered we were healed."

As those of old were prefigured in a male lamb, so are we in a man like a lamb; as they were in a perfect lamb, so are we in the fullness of the will of the Father; as they were in a lamb of one year, so are we in the completion of the ages — for as a year is the completion of the months, so is He the completion of the Law and the Prophets —; as they were in a lamb without defect, so are we in a lamb without sin; as they were in the first month, so are we in the beginning of all creation, because "in Him all things were created"; as they were in the ten, so are we in the fullness of the monarchy. The "until the fourteenth day," of the second week, signifies the rest of two weeks, which went from the first creation, which is hidden, to the second, which is visible.

But now then, can there be anybody who is not curious to know what the meaning can be of the fact that the Jews answered from Scripture the inquiry of the magi about where the Christ would be born and yet did not go with them to worship him themselves? Don't we see the same thing even now, when by the very rites and sacraments to which they are subjected for their hardness of heart, nothing else is indicated but the very Christ in whom they refuse to believe? Even when they kill the sheep and eat the Passover, aren't they demonstrating to the Gentiles the very Christ whom they themselves don't worship along with them?And isn't it the same sort of thing, when people have their doubts about the prophetic testimonies in which Christ was foretold and wonder if they haven't perhaps been compiled by Christians after the event, not before? We appeal to the codices in the possession of the Jews to set the minds of doubters at rest. Don't the Jews on such occasions too show the Gentiles the Christ whom they decline to worship with the Gentiles?

Does any one perchance flatter himself with this notion, that although in the morning, water alone is seen to be offered, yet when we come to supper we offer the mingled cup? But when we sup, we cannot call the people together to our banquet, so as to celebrate the truth of the sacrament in the presence of all the brotherhood. But still it was not in the morning, but after supper, that the Lord offered the mingled cup. Ought we then to celebrate the Lord's cup after supper, that so by continual repetition of the Lord's supper we may offer the mingled cup? It behoved Christ to offer about the evening of the day, that the very hour of sacrifice might show the setting and the evening of the world; as it is written in Exodus, "And all the people of the synagogue of the children of Israel shall kill it in the evening." And again in the Psalms, "Let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice." But we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord in the morning.

We read in Exodus that on the fourteenth day a lamb is sacrificed; on the fourteenth day when the moon is a full moon, when its light is at its brightest. You see Christ is not immolated except in perfect and full light.

Why is this lamb offered up in the evening and not during the day? The reason is plain enough, for our Lord and Savior suffered his passion at the close of the ages. So John says in his letter: "Dear children, it is the last hour." Since, moreover, it is the last hour, it is the beginning of night, for day has come to an end. It must be understood, however, that as long as we are in this world, as long as we abide in Egypt, we are not in a clear light but in a dark mist. Although the church shines as the moon in the nighttime, nevertheless we cannot yet dwell in the full splendor of the true sun.

"You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. The whole assembly of the children of Israel shall slaughter it at sunset, and they shall take some of its blood and place it upon the two doorposts and upon the lintel of every dwelling in which they shall eat of the lambs, among them" […].

We are given the command to sacrifice the lamb at sunset because in the last hour the true lamb, our own, the Savior, came into the world […].

We sacrifice and anoint with the blood our own houses — by which I mean our bodies. This anointing is precisely our faith in Him, through which we believe that the power of the destroyer is brought to nothing.

"The whole multitude of the children of Israel shall slaughter it toward evening." The whole multitude of the children of the man who sees God, that is, of the power of God; at evening, that is, at the end of the times.

"And they shall anoint with its blood the lintels and both the doorposts of the doors." The lintels: that which is above the head of all the lambs; the doorposts of the doors: their edges, through which they enter and go out among them — some enter into them, others go out from them — in which are contained those who dwell among them.

The sacrifice takes place in Egypt, where Pharaoh reigns, a land turned toward the things of the earth and blinded by darkness, which is ignorance. Those live in the gross ignorance of their blindness who are subject to the lordship of him who is king in Egypt; and this man, who has fixed his dwelling there, is under the dominion of the deceptive opinion of his own arrogance, as it is written: "Who then is the Lord? I do not know Him. I will not let Israel go." This declaration accords with this other one: "I will set my throne above the clouds, I will ascend to heaven, I will be equal to the Most High."

Those who listen to the prophet fulfill this commandment, since they are as strangers in the presence of Pharaoh, inasmuch as they have fallen under his tyranny in a time of famine, in that they have received from their fathers the most ancient oath that their offspring would be strangers, as was said to father Abraham.

The offering of this sacrifice is made by them in ignorance, because "they do not know what they do" — and for this reason it is forgiven them — namely, that "it is expedient that one man should die for the people." It is not permitted that a prophet die outside Jerusalem, that is, outside the company of those who strive to live in peace and in justice.

For why would the Lord instruct them to kill a sheep on this very feast day except that it was he about whom it was prophesied: "As a sheep is led to the slaughter." The doorposts of the Jews were marked with the blood of a slaughtered animal. Our foreheads are marked with the blood of Christ. And that sign, because it was a sign, was said to keep the destroyer away from the houses marked with the sign. The sign of Christ drives the destroyer away from us insofar as our heart receives the Savior.

Moses caused the doorposts of the Israelites to be signed with the blood of a lamb; but you have given us a sign, the blood itself of a Lamb without blemish, slain for the sin of the world. Ezekiel says that a sign was given on the foreheads of the persons.

For Moses says: "They shall take of the blood of the lamb and put it on both doorposts and on the lintels of the houses in which they shall eat it." All of which things indeed bring forth great edification for us, if they are examined through mystical interpretation. For who the blood of the lamb is, you have learned not now by hearing, but by drinking. This blood is placed on both doorposts when it is received not only by the mouth of the body but also by the mouth of the heart. For the blood of the lamb is placed on both posts when the sacrament of His passion is received by the mouth for Redemption, and is also contemplated with attentive mind for imitation. For he who receives the blood of his Redeemer in such a way that he does not yet wish to imitate His passion has placed the blood on only one post; it must also be placed above on the lintels of the houses. For what do we understand spiritually by houses except our minds, in which we dwell through thought? The lintel of this house is the very intention that presides over action. Therefore, whoever directs the intention of his thought toward the imitation of the Lord's passion places the blood of the lamb on the lintel of the house. Or certainly our houses are the bodies themselves, in which we dwell as long as we live. And we place the blood of the lamb on the lintel of the house because we bear the cross of His passion on our forehead.

This blood cleansed the secret place, and the Holy of Holies. And if the type of it had such great power in the temple of the Hebrews, and in the midst of Egypt, when smeared on the door-posts, much more the reality. This blood sanctified the golden altar; without it the high priest dared not enter into the secret place. This blood consecrated priests, this in types cleansed sins. But if it had such power in the types, if death so shuddered at the shadow, tell me how would it not have dreaded the very reality?

The sacrifice of this lamb was so great that even the shadow of its truth was sufficient for salvation in freeing the Jews from the slavery of Pharaoh, as though already the liberation of the creature from the slavery of corruption was prefigured, the image of Christ's coming passion worked for the advent of salvation. Therefore it was declared by God that in the first month of the year on the fourteenth day of the moon, a year-old lamb without blemish should be sacrificed. With its blood they were to make signs upon the doorposts of their houses, lest they be frightened by the angel of destruction. And on that very night when the lamb was eaten in their homes, which was the celebration of the Passover, they should receive liberation through the figure of slavery. It is not difficult to interpret the spotless lamb of Christ and his sacrifice made to free the slavery of our death. For, marked by the sign of his cross as by the sprinkling of blood, we shall be saved from the angels of destruction even to the consummation of the world.

Concerning this lamb it is added further: "And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted with fire." Indeed we eat the lamb at night, because we now receive the Lord's body in the sacrament when we do not yet see one another's consciences. Yet these meats must be roasted with fire, because fire indeed dissolves the meats that water has boiled; but those that fire cooks without water, it strengthens. And so fire cooked the meats of our Lamb, because the very power of His passion rendered Him stronger for resurrection and strengthened Him for incorruption. For He who recovered from death—clearly His flesh was hardened by fire. Hence also through the Psalmist He says: "My strength has dried up like a potsherd." For what is a potsherd before fire except soft clay? But it is subjected to fire so that it may become solid. Therefore the strength of His humanity dried up like a potsherd, because from the fire of passion it grew into the power of incorruption.

But having received the sacraments of our Redeemer alone is not sufficient for the true solemnity of the mind, unless good works are also joined to them. For what does it profit to receive His body and blood with the mouth, and to oppose Him with perverse conduct? Hence it is well added concerning the eating: "And unleavened bread with wild lettuce." For he eats bread without leaven who performs righteous works without the corruption of vainglory, who shows the commands of mercy without admixture of sin, lest he wickedly seize what he seems to dispense rightly. They had also mixed this leaven of sin into their good action, to whom the Lord spoke through the voice of the prophet in rebuke: "Come to Bethel and act impiously." And after a few words: "And sacrifice praise from what is leavened." For he offers praise from what is leavened who prepares a sacrifice to God from robbery. Wild lettuces are indeed very bitter. Therefore the flesh of the Lamb must be eaten with wild lettuces, so that when we receive the body of the Redeemer, we afflict ourselves with weeping for our sins, so that the very bitterness of repentance may cleanse from the stomach of the mind the humor of a perverse life.

Yet they were also completely ignorant of the commands of Moses himself, who ordered them specially to eat this bitterness when he established the paschal sacraments for them to observe and said, "You will eat it with bitterness, for it is the pasch of the Lord." For he did not order, as they think, the consuming of the very bitter juices of insignificant herbs with the roasted flesh of a lamb. Rather, he commanded the fruitful devouring of the bitter words of Christ's precepts with the sacrament of the Lord's passion. For do not the words of the Lord seem to be bitter when he says: "If you wish to be perfect, leave all that you have and come, follow me?" And when he says that one is not to possess two tunics or a wallet or sandals, that bitterness of such words is a medicine for souls.

Christians every day eat the flesh of the Lamb, that is, they daily take the flesh of the word. "For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed." And because the law of the Passover is such that it should be eaten in the evening, therefore the Lord suffered in the evening of the world, so that you may always eat of the flesh of the word, because you are always in the evening, until the morning comes. And if in this evening you are watchful and lead your life "in weeping and fastings" and in every labor of righteousness, you too will be able to say: "Weeping shall tarry until the evening, and joy until the morning." For you will rejoice in the morning, that is, in the age to come, if in this age you gather "the fruit of righteousness" in weeping and labor.

And we must eat the meat roasted with fire with unleavened bread. For the Word of God is not only flesh. He says, indeed, "I am the bread of life," and "This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he shall live forever."36We must not, however, fail to remark that all food is loosely said to be bread, as it is written in the case of Moses in Deuteronomy: "He did not eat bread for forty days, and he did not drink water," instead of saying he partook of neither dry nor wet nourishment. Now I have noted this because it is also said in the Gospel according to John, "And also the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Finally, the unleavened bread too is commanded to be eaten with bitter herbs; nor is it possible to reach the land of promise unless we pass through bitter things. For just as physicians insert certain bitter ingredients into their medicines with a view to the safety and health of the sick, so too, with a view to our safety, the physician of our souls has willed us to suffer the bitter things of this life in various trials, knowing that the end of this bitterness gains for our soul the sweetness of salvation; just as, on the contrary, the end of the sweetness which is in bodily pleasure, as the example of that rich man has taught, yields a bitter end in the hell of punishments.

But we eat the flesh of the lamb and the unleavened bread with bitter herbs either by being grieved with a godly grief because of repentance for our sins, a grief which produces in us a repentance unto salvation which brings no regret, or by seeking and being nurtured from the visions of the truth which we discover because of our trials.

Children of purity and disciples of chastity, let us celebrate the praises of the virgin-born God with lips all pure. Being counted worthy to partake of the flesh of the spiritual Lamb, let us take the head with the feet, understanding the head as the divinity and the feet as the humanity.

Where it is also added: "You shall not eat any of it raw, nor cooked in water." Behold, now the very words of the history drive us from a historical understanding. Surely, dearest brothers, that Israelite people established in Egypt had not been accustomed to eat raw lamb, that the law should say to them: "You shall not eat any of it raw"? Where it is also added: "Nor cooked in water." But what does water signify except human knowledge, according to what is said by Solomon in the voice of heretics: "Stolen waters are sweeter." What do the raw flesh of the Lamb signify except His humanity considered without reflection and left without reverence of thought? For everything that we consider carefully we, as it were, cook with the mind. But the flesh of the lamb is neither to be eaten raw nor cooked in water, because our Redeemer is neither to be considered a mere man, nor is how God was able to become incarnate to be thought through by human wisdom. For everyone who believes our Redeemer to be a mere man, what else does he do but eat the raw flesh of the lamb, which he was unwilling to cook through understanding of His divinity? And everyone who attempts to examine the mysteries of His incarnation according to human wisdom wishes to cook the flesh of the lamb in water, that is, he wishes to penetrate the mystery of His dispensation through dissolute knowledge. Therefore, whoever desires to celebrate the solemnity of Paschal joy, let him neither cook the lamb in water nor eat it raw, so that he may neither seek to penetrate through human wisdom the depth of His incarnation, nor believe in Him as in a mere man; but let him eat the flesh roasted by fire, so that he may know that all things were dispensed through the power of the Holy Spirit.

"You shall eat it with its head and shanks and inner organs." To me, the head seems to be that of the Lamb, written of in St. John's Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God." The shanks represent the human nature that he deigned to assume for our salvation. Another interpretation, however, is also possible. The head may be taken to signify spiritual understanding; the shanks, historical narrative; the inner organs are whatever lies hidden within the letter, whatever is not perceived on the surface but is brought to light by exegetes only after they have well considered it in painstaking investigation.

One must not therefore eat the flesh of the lamb raw, as the slaves of the letter do in the manner of animals which are irrational and quite savage. In relation to men who are truly rational through their desire to understand the spiritual aspects of the world, the former [slaves of the letter] share the company of wild beasts.We must strive, however, in transforming the rawness of Scripture into boiled food, not to transform what has been written into what is flaccid, watery and limp. This is what they do who "have itching ears and" turn them away "from the truth" and transform the anagogical meanings so far as they are concerned to the carelessness and wateriness of their manner of life.

Once we have been anointed — that is, once we have believed in Christ — then we are given the command to approach the food of Christ, as the words that follow clearly show: "They eat the flesh roasted with fire this night, and they feed upon the unleavened bread set on bitter herbs. You shall not eat of a lamb raw or boiled in water, but roasted with fire, the head with the feet and the entrails."

[…] If Christ is the lamb, and if Christ is the Logos, what is the flesh of the divine words if not the divine Scriptures? It is upon these very Scriptures that we ought fittingly to feed, when they are neither raw nor boiled. If some make a superficial use of these words, they would be feeding upon the flesh of the Savior raw; and, precisely because they partake of His flesh raw, they would procure for themselves not life but death, inasmuch as they eat of His flesh like wild beasts and not like men — for "the letter kills, but the spirit gives life," as the Apostle teaches. If the Spirit is granted to us as a gift by God, "God is a consuming fire," and the Spirit Himself is fire. And so the Apostle, fully persuaded of this, exhorts us to be "fervently kindled with the Spirit."

Rightly is the Holy Spirit called fire; and we, receiving Him, duly enter into familiarity with the flesh of Christ — by which I mean the divine Scriptures — so that, once we have cooked them at the fire of the Spirit, we may feed upon them, precisely because they have been roasted with this fire. For the words of Scripture are so transformed by this fire that we shall behold the sweetness of their nourishment, without cooking them together with some inferior water.

In conclusion, we are commanded not to cook the flesh of the Savior — that is, the words of the Scriptures — in such water, not to mingle with these words some other matter that would soak them and soften them through boiling. On the contrary, we are commanded to partake of them only after they have been cooked with fire — that is, with the divine Spirit — and not to feed upon them when they are raw or boiled with water. The Jews partake of them when they are raw, because they rest upon the mere literal interpretation of the Scriptures. For if, through the Spirit, they came to know wherein the true circumcision consists, and — would that it were so! — also the true meaning of the Sabbath, and "if they work while it is day, before the night comes, when no one can any longer work," only then would they eat the Scripture cooked with fire by the Spirit […].

Some partake of His head, others of the hands, others of the breast, some of the entrails, others of the thighs, and some even of the feet, where there is not much flesh, because each one shares in the lamb according to his own capacity. And thus we are able to take a fitting portion of the true lamb, if we partake of the divine Logos. There are those who partake of the head, and preferably of each part of the head — of the ears, for example, so that "having ears they may hear" His words; those who taste of the eyes will see distinctly, "so that their feet do not stumble"; those who feed upon the hands are the industrious, whose hands are neither slack nor cramped in giving, cleaving tenaciously to the teaching of the Lord before His wrath blazes forth.

Others, leaning upon the breast of the Lord, will through this food come to know also who are the betrayers of Christ. Those who feed upon the entrails will behold even "the depths of God"; for the entrails are furnished with intricate folds and set in motion the complexity of the vital functions for the benefit of the body. Such likewise is the one who has been initiated into the mysteries — or rather, he will behold the profound meaning of the Incarnation, hidden and as it were situated in the midst, if we take the head to be the divinity. Those who partake of the thighs keep guard over their flesh, following wherever Christ goes. Those who share in the feet, without any hesitation, run with zeal "toward the prize of the heavenly calling of Christ." The head might also be faith, and the feet the works, without which faith is dead.

The food of those who eat the Passover is varied, and yet all share the same purpose: he who feeds upon the head shares it with the one who eats the feet, because "the head cannot say to the feet: I have no need of you." Many are the parts that are eaten, but the body of Christ is one alone. Yet, so far as is possible, let us strive to preserve the harmony of the parts, that we may never be accused of rending Christ.

Concerning which it is rightly added: "You shall consume the head with the feet and the entrails," because our Redeemer is the Alpha and Omega, that is, God before the ages and man at the end of the ages. And as we have already said, brothers, we have learned from Paul's testimony that God is the head of Christ. Therefore, to consume the head of the lamb is to receive His divinity by faith. To consume the feet of the lamb is to seek out the footsteps of His humanity by loving and imitating. What indeed are the entrails except the hidden and mystical commands of His words? These we consume when we take up the words of life with eagerness. In this word "consuming," what else is reproved but the torpor of our sloth? We who do not seek out His words and mysteries by ourselves, and hear the things spoken by others unwillingly.

"Nothing of it shall remain until morning," because His words must be examined with great care, so that before the day of resurrection appears, in this night of the present life all His commands may be penetrated through understanding and doing. But because it is very difficult for all sacred eloquence to be understood and every mystery of it to be penetrated, it is rightly added: "But if anything remains, you shall burn it with fire." What remains of the lamb we burn with fire when we humbly reserve to the power of the Holy Spirit that which we cannot understand and penetrate concerning the mystery of His incarnation, so that no one may proudly dare either to despise or to proclaim what he does not understand, but hands it over to the fire when he reserves it to the Holy Spirit.

Let us therefore compare the divine Scripture itself with itself, and let us follow the path of solution which it shall have opened to us. For we find in the sacrifice of the Passover, which is commanded to be immolated "in the evening", a command similarly given that "nothing remain of the flesh until the morning". This is not idle, that the divine word does not wish us to eat yesterday's flesh, but always fresh and new — those especially who immolate to God the sacrifice of the Passover or "the sacrifice of praise"; it commands them to eat new and fresh flesh of that very day, and forbids yesterday's.

"You shall not leave any part of the lamb until morning, nor shall you break a bone of it: what remains you shall burn in the morning."

Just as the mysteries of the Passover celebrated in the Old Testament have been done away with by the truth of the New Testament, so the mysteries of the New, which we are to celebrate in like manner, will not be necessary in the resurrection; for this is the meaning of the "morning," when nothing shall be left over and whatever remains shall be burned […].

[…] "Imperfectly we know, imperfectly we prophesy," as the Apostle himself teaches, "but when perfection comes, that which is imperfect shall be abolished" — which corresponds to the burning up completely in the morning. For the night signifies the present world, and the day the world to come. This too the Apostle attests when he says: "The night is far advanced, the day is at hand."

Truly few are they who, possessing senses long exercised "to distinguish the beautiful from the evil," able to nourish themselves on solid food, will also be able to leave nothing of the flesh until morning, according to the Scripture — perhaps one in a thousand, or two out of ten thousand; and among these were the blessed apostles.

He who has crossed beyond the borders set by God on account of the disobedience in Adam is the Lord, He who has blunted the sting of death and cast down its power, and has given to the spirits imprisoned in Hades the possibility of leaping forth outside, through the proclamation of the good news; in other terms, He has offered a way of ascent to heaven through His ascension, when gates and portals were lifted up at His entrance: "Princes, lift up your portals, and be lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in."

And since the command was heard a second time by the powers that guarded the gates, at their reply, "Who is He?", they heard this answer: "The Lord strong and mighty in battle, the Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory" — Lord of the glory of the Father, in whom the Father is glorified. He "reconciled the world to Himself, not reckoning the transgressions against Him, canceling the bond that was against Him, which was hostile to Him, and He took it out of the way." This was accomplished in Christ when He says: "It was God reconciling the world to Himself in Christ." And the reconciliation consists in this: "Like an innocent lamb led to the sacrifice, without knowing it."

For they contrived a wicked plan against Him, knowing that "it is necessary that the Son of Man suffer many sufferings, die, and on the third day rise again." And since the disciples, on hearing it, were in a certain way grieved, He added: "That I go away comes about for your benefit: if the grain of wheat does not die, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit" — words that correspond to these others: "Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me." Since, then, "the children have blood and flesh in common, He likewise was associated with them, in order to reduce to nothing, through His death, him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and to set free those who, through fear of death, were subject to slavery all their life long."

The true lamb, that is, Christ, has freed us from the slavery of the ruler of the darkness of this world — the lamb of whom the lamb slaughtered in Egypt was the type, in that time the savior of the Hebrews from the ancient dominion of the prince of Egypt, defined as darkness, the reckless Pharaoh, who scatters the works accomplished in the light of virtue, by reason of his mighty domination — that is, the manner of thinking of those who live in the darkness.

[The father of the prodigal son] orders the shoes to be brought out, for he who is about to celebrate the Lord's Passover, about to feast on the Lamb, ought to have his feet protected against all attacks of spiritual wild beasts and the bite of the serpent.

Therefore, the just man commends his vow with swiftness. And our fathers hastened to eat the Passover, having their loins girded, and their feet shod with shoes, and carrying burdens of the body, so that they would be ready for the passage; for the Passover of the Lord is a passage from sufferings to exercises of virtue. And therefore it is called the Passover of the Lord; because even then in that Lamb the truth of the Lord's Passion was announced, and now it is celebrated by his grace.

THE REASON FOR THE PASSOVER. — Passover, dearest brothers, is named from “passion,” as the prefiguration of this tradition teaches us, which was fulfilled in Egypt through God’s servant Moses, as Scripture says: “It is the victim of the Lord’s Passover” (Exod. 12:11). What then is the reason that the mystical ceremony was celebrated by blood, and the restoration of life came through death; so that when death thought it was increasing its power, it was diminished and dissolved by receiving the blood of the Savior; and when it believed it was acting with strength, it collapsed, weakened? For death found death through His work, by divine ordering: so that, since it always wills evil, it was allowed to prevail for a time, in order that, its own work of injustice being destroyed, it could not complain that its kingdom had been taken away. For although God can do all things, He nevertheless does nothing that is contrary to reason. The justice that He requires is the very justice He performs; He does not presume upon His power. Therefore there is great providence toward the human race, in that, while preserving justice, He therefore loosed what had been justly decreed, and rescued man from death, although he was not held without cause. But because he had been deceived by the Devil’s envy, it was just that he should be helped. For the sentence was God’s, but it was Satan who had brought this about. Therefore, just as it was seen to be just that man should be delivered, so it would have been unjust that this should be done by mere power, with justice disregarded. Since man, overcome at the Devil’s persuasion, was to receive mercy, the Devil, as accuser, resisted. Therefore it was brought about that the one who gloried in man’s sin should be caught sinning, so that then at last, made guilty, he would not dare to contradict. Therefore it came to pass that the Son of God was born as man, and, proclaiming justice, provoked the Devil because He restrained men from his vices, to the point that he even killed Him who knew no sin. Then he was found to have sinned, and more gravely indeed than the man whom he accused. For while, by God’s decree, he claimed man for himself on account of sin, since he who sins belongs in part to the Devil, he was found to have sinned more, when he killed Him who had not sinned, that he might seize Him for himself. Through death, therefore, destruction entered into death; so that, in order that blood might be restored, blood was shed. Because, as I have said, the author of death, who is the Devil, since he was found to have sinned in the death of the Savior, lost His blood together with that of us all: for just as through one Adam, who sinned, he held all in death, so through one who did not sin he lost all. Therefore the blood of the Savior, shed unjustly, obtained this reward: that, recovering with triumph the blood of His own stock, He might return restored human nature to its former state in a better condition. Conquered death could not resist Him who had conquered it. Blessed, then, is the mystery of Passover, which redeemed us by blood, with death having been conquered through death, just as poison is often overcome by poison.

[The word] pascha is not, as some think, a Greek word, but a Hebrew one; yet most conveniently there occurs in this name a certain congruity between the two languages. Because in Greek [the word for] "to suffer" is paschein. For this reason "pascha" has been thought of as a passion, as though this name has been derived from [a Greek word for] "suffering." But in its own language, that is, in Hebrew, "pascha" means "a passing over." For this reason the people of God celebrated the pascha for the first time when, fleeing from Egypt, they "passed over" the Red Sea. So now that prophetic figure has been fulfilled in truth when Christ is led as a sheep to the slaughter. By his blood, after our doorposts have been smeared [with it], that is, by the sign of his cross, after our foreheads have been marked [with it], we are freed from the ruin of this world as though from the captivity or destruction in Egypt. And we effect a most salutary passing over when we pass over from the devil to Christ and from this tottering world to his most solidly established kingdom. And therefore we pass over to God who endures so that we may not pass over with the passing world.

Passover means "passing over." It derives its ancient name from the Lord's passing over on this [day] through Egypt, striking the firstborn of the Egyptians and freeing the children of Israel, and from the children of Israel's passing over on that night from their slavery in Egypt in order that they might come to the land which had once been promised to their heirs as a land of peace. Mystically it signifies that on this [day] our Lord would pass over from this world to his Father. Following his example, the faithful, having cast off temporal desires and having cast off their slavery to vices by their continual practice of the virtues, should pass over to their promised heavenly fatherland.

Whoever looks upon this mercy seat with full turning of the countenance, gazing upon him who hangs upon the cross through faith, hope, and charity, devotion, admiration, exultation, appreciation, praise, and jubilation, makes the Passover, that is, the passing over, with him, so as to pass through the Red Sea by the rod of the cross, entering the desert from Egypt, where he may taste the hidden manna, and may rest with Christ in the tomb as though outwardly dead, yet sensing, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring, what was said on the cross to the thief clinging to Christ: Today you shall be with me in paradise.

And let us know that the law also of the most wise Moses is found to have commanded something of this kind to the Israelites. For a lamb was sacrificed on the fourteenth day of the first month, as a type of Christ. For our Passover, Christ is sacrificed, according to the testimony of most sacred Paul. The hiero-phant Moses, then, or rather God by his means, commanded them, when eating its flesh, saying, "Let your loins be girt, and your shoes on your feet, and your staves in your hands." For I affirm that it is the duty of those who are partakers of Christ to beware of a barren indolence. Yet it is a further duty not to have as it were their loins ungirt and loose but to be ready cheerfully to undertake whatever labors become the saints; and to hasten besides with alacrity wherever the law of God leads them. And for this reason he very appropriately made them wear the garb of travelers [at the Passover].

Since therefore we have learned how the Passover ought to be eaten, let us now recognize by whom it ought to be eaten. It follows: "And thus shall you eat it. You shall gird your loins." What is understood by the loins except the delight of the flesh? Hence the Psalmist also asks, saying: "Burn my loins." For if he had not known that the pleasure of lust resides in the loins, he would by no means have asked that they be burned. Hence, because the power of the devil has prevailed over the human race especially through lust, it is said of him by the voice of the Lord: "His power is in his loins." Therefore he who eats the Passover ought to have his loins girded, so that he who celebrates the solemnity of resurrection and incorruption may no longer be subject to corruption through any vices, may subdue pleasures, and may restrain the flesh from lust. For he does not know what the solemnity of incorruption is who still lies subject to corruption through incontinence. These things are hard for some, but narrow is the gate that leads to life.

And we now have many examples of the continent. Hence it is also well added: "You shall have sandals on your feet." For what are our feet except our works? And what are sandals except the skins of dead animals? Now sandals protect the feet. And what are the dead animals from whose skins our feet are protected, except the ancient fathers who have gone before us to the eternal homeland? When we contemplate their examples, we protect the feet of our works. Therefore to have sandals on our feet is to contemplate the life of the dead and to guard our steps from the wound of sin.

"Holding staffs in your hands." What does the law designate by the staff except pastoral care? And it should be noted that we are first commanded to gird our loins, afterward to hold staffs, because those ought to undertake pastoral care who already know how to subdue the excesses of lust in their own bodies, so that when they preach difficult things to others, they themselves do not weakly succumb to soft desires.

And it is well added: "And you shall eat in haste." Note, dearest brothers, note what is said: "in haste." Learn the commandments of God, the mysteries of the Redeemer, the joys of the heavenly homeland with haste, and take care to fulfill the precepts of life with haste. For since we know that it is still permitted today to do good, we do not know whether it will be permitted tomorrow. Therefore eat the Passover in haste, that is, yearn for the solemnity of the heavenly homeland. Let no one grow sluggish on the journey of this life, lest he lose his place in the homeland. Let no one interweave delays in pursuing his endeavors, but let him complete what he has begun, lest he not be permitted to fulfill what he has started.

Before undertaking a word-by-word explanation of the Passover, it is fitting to offer a few brief remarks on the simple term "Passover." For most of the brethren, perhaps all of them, accept an etymology of the word "Passover" according to which the feast would take its name of "Passover" from the passion of the Savior.

In truth, the feast here set before us is properly named in Hebrew not "Passover" but "phas," of which the translation is "passage" (for the three letters of "phas," together with the more forceful rough breathing among the Hebrews, make up the name of this feast). Since, then, it was on the occasion of this feast that the people of Israel came out of Egypt, it is consequently called "phas," that is, "passage."

Because it is not possible to pronounce the Hebrew word with Greek phonetics — the Greeks being unable to say "phas" with the reinforcement of the rough breathing, which is harder in Hebrew — the term was Hellenized. Among the prophets it is said "phasek," and then, more completely Hellenized, it came to be called "Pascha."

If, then, one of our own should meet with Hebrews and quite incautiously tell them that the etymology of "Passover" derives from the passion of the Savior, he would be covered with ridicule by them, since he would be wholly in the dark as to the meaning of the term — granted that the perfect interpret the word "Passover" exactly as the Hebrews do.

What has been said so far about the word simply in itself is already sufficient for our instruction concerning the meaning of the term "phas" and for our edification, so that we do not hastily employ the Hebrew tongue without first knowing the Hebrew meaning of the words. Now we shall pass to the explanation of the text itself, it being established that the meaning of "Passover" is passage.

By the following rules the Scripture prescribes also that those who eat the Passover be clothed in such a manner: "Thus shall you eat the Passover: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staffs in your hands. And you shall eat the meal in haste. It is the Passover of the Lord."

We shall be instructed by other words of Scripture as to why the loins are to be girded. The Apostle, in his explanation of the offspring that comes from the loins of Abraham, who was blessed by Melchizedek, says: "And Levi, who himself receives tithes, paid the tithe, because he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek went to meet him." In another passage he affirms: "though he came from the loins of Abraham"; and in the book of Job it is said, concerning the devil: "His strength is in his loins and in the navel of his belly."

For the devil has power to harass and to lay men low above all by force of this appetite, since the loin is to be interpreted as the male sexual organ and, by a decent expression, the navel of the belly as the female, so that it may appear plainly that it is chiefly through this urge that the devil holds dominion over both male and female.

Once the Scripture has indicated that the loins stand for sexual relations, we are on the right path to understand why, when it speaks of the Passover, it requires that we eat it with our loins girded, gathered together by families. We are given the command, when we eat the Passover, to be pure from sexual acts — since this is the meaning of the girdle about the loins — for it teaches us to place a covering around the organ that produces the seminal fluid, and it orders us to restrain the stirrings of sexual union, when we partake of the flesh of Christ […].

He who prepares himself for the contest, and observes those who submit to continence for the sake of a perishable combat in order to win a temporary victory, aspires by his own exertion to gain an incorruptible victory. If, then, a man girds his loins in this manner, he will be able to leave no remnant of the flesh until morning. Perhaps with this same intention John the Baptist too, as a perfect man, wore "a girdle of leather about his loins," because he wished to make evident that he had mortified every sexual appetite of his: for the leather signifies mortality, since mortality had wholly penetrated his nature. He who eats the Passover and is married will gird his own loins. "Blessed are those who, though having a wife, live as though they had none," says the Apostle.

The Scripture says that those who eat the Passover are to keep their sandals on, a directive that to some might seem to contradict the oracle given to Moses. For when Moses was walking upon holy ground, he was given the command to take off his shoes. How is it, then, that although the Passover too is holy, those who eat of it are prescribed to put on their sandals? But these passages of Scripture are not in opposition, for they express different ideas.

When a man walks upon holy ground, he receives the command to have nothing with him that is in a condition of death, because he had nothing of himself in this state to conceal; whereas when he eats the Passover, he is given the command to eat in haste so as to be ready, as the Apostle also teaches when he says: "Having your feet shod in readiness for the Gospel." So that, when the day comes, he may go out without hindrance, he is given the command to have his sandals already on his feet; and in this precept he shows a meaning still more evident concerning the condition of the flesh at the resurrection, for it comes out of Egypt together with us: "For we must mortify the members that are upon the earth — fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry" and what follows, and so come out of Egypt.

To see the likeness between the Law and the Gospel, let us compare what is said according to the Law with what is said according to the Gospel. Moses, who prepares to lead the people out of Egypt in order to bring them into the holy land in obedience to the command of God, receives the order to have no sandals; while to the apostles sent to lead out of the spiritual Egypt the people coming from the pagan nations, the command is given "to carry no staff on the road, nor wallet, nor to have sandals on their feet."

Thus, as there those who eat the Passover in haste are commanded to have their sandals on their feet, so likewise in the Gospel to those who are now able to sacrifice and eat the Passover, as has been explained, the Apostle commands that, "having girded their loins with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness and taken the helmet of salvation," they have their sandals on their feet in readiness for the Gospel, and that they hold also the staff in their hands because they share in discipline, since the staff is precisely the symbol of discipline. For we have read in the book of Proverbs that "he who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him corrects him with care."

Although they were under the Law, they did not carry out its prescriptions, but, acting against the Law, they turned aside from the salvation that comes by the natural law […] Rather, those have consented to celebrate the Passover according to the Law who are zealous for the faith and hold in check the thoughts of the body, who with sandals ready for the preparation of a journey that brings good, and with staves in their hands, henceforth pass their life in fear, which is for them salvation: "If you do not eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no part with Me."

This the true lamb says, the lamb who truly "takes away the sin of the world" and who, alone, dies for the salvation of the whole people, according to the high priest of that year, who spoke without knowing what he was saying. For the sacrifice was made ready for the salvation of those who dwell as strangers because of their childish love for the earth, which by feeding them had become their nurse.

Having this nurse, they treated her as if she were their mother, since they did not know the true one, reared bodily in the licentiousness of the flesh in this transient world, made the sweeter by the pleasure they tasted, while ignorance of their paternal world held them under the yoke. These are called Hebrews. And so it is that Scripture declares: "The God of the Hebrews has called us." At the passage of the passing world into the abiding aeon of the Father, the conversion of the sons comes about through the perfect fulfillment of the word "Passover," which means precisely passage. For they pass through the naming of the mystery and take part in it, and thus they obtain salvation for themselves, inasmuch as they are not destroyed together with the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, "from Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, to the maidservant who is beside the mill" — that is, those who live, in ignorance, in the pride stirred up by riches and power, and do not know Him who "raises up rulers out of the dung and sets them upon royal thrones."

They were held in subjection in their ignorance, shut within their own borders, one by fate, another by chance, another by the tyranny of the prince, since, on account of food conformed to that of the time of their infancy, they had been reared forgetful of their natural mother and of their true Father, who said: "I have set My gaze upon the sufferings of My people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry, and I have come down to deliver them from the taskmasters of the works, to deliver them from the slavery inflicted by Pharaoh and from the hand of the Egyptians, to lead them toward the land of the fathers, which I swore to Abraham and to Isaac to give them for an inheritance" — which He accomplished in the fullness of the times when He came to remove sin by means of His flesh, doing away with the enmity.

By His coming He "brought the glad tidings to us who were far off and to those who were near," ransoming us from the dominion of darkness and transferring us into His light. In keeping with this, He has brought us out of Egypt and away from its princes, whom He nailed to the cross, when He made of them a public spectacle, in His triumph. Therefore: "Behold, I come — it is written in the scroll of the book concerning Me — O God, to do Thy will," having first said: "Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not willed, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me; Thou hast not been pleased with holocaust for sin." Through this offering of Himself is obtained the purification of the world gone astray, until it shall come to its conversion. He "makes peace with all things through the blood of His cross," having done away with the enmity, which is the wrath for the destruction of the disobedient.

For if these had disposed themselves with fervor to obey the legislation, according to what has been said, celebrating it with a bunch of hyssop — that is, with the fragrance of thoughts directed toward conversion — the true Passover would have been accomplished for them, Christ, who says: "I sanctify Myself for these, and not for these only, but for all who believe in Me." It was not in faith that they set themselves to celebrate this rite, but in unbelief, without knowing the Scriptures that the prophets had announced: "If you have not believed, you will not understand. I have not come to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me," and His will consisted in being delivered up on behalf of all who believe. Had those been zealous to lead Him to the sacrifice for their own sanctification, the commandment would have been fulfilled for them: "Eat the lamb in haste; it is the Passover of the Lord" — that is, it is the passage of the Lord.

Observe that he has named a certain power of the soul feet, with which we as it were make our way, walking toward him who said "I am the way", and which must be shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace. And I think that the symbols of these sandals are the "sandals" recorded in Exodus, which those who ate the Passover and were ready for the journey were required to have. For thus he says, "You shall eat it: your loins girded and your sandals on your feet and your staffs in your hands, and you shall eat it with haste; it is the Lord's Passover". For it belongs to readiness both to eat "with haste" and to eat shod, so that, being strengthened by the food, they may be able to journey.

Therefore let him who is journeying be shod, but let him who has arrived at the holy land unloose his sandals; for "Loose", he says, "the sandal from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground".

For this reason let him who is not an apostle be shod as to the feet in readiness of the gospel of peace; but let the apostle no longer "take up sandals for the road", since he has already been perfected and is in the place where, both standing and walking, he is in "holy ground", living in Christ.

In what follows, "on their gods I shall pass judgment," the Hebrews affirm that on the night on which the people departed, all the temples in Egypt were destroyed, either by an earthquake or by a bolt of lightning. But we say, spiritually, that when we depart from Egypt, the idols of error take flight and the whole culture of perverse dogmas is crushed.

Original sin could not have easily been forgiven, if a victim had not been offered for it, if that sacred blood of propitiation had not been shed. Even then the words in Exodus were not vainly said of our Lord: "I shall see the blood and shall protect you." That figure of the lamb represented this passion of Christ our Lord. Blood is given for blood, death for death, a victim for sin, and thus the devil lost what he held.

As also the Word of God, when desirous [to establish the paschal feast] said to his disciples, "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you." Now that is a wonderful account, for a man might have seen them at that time girded as for a procession or a dance and going out with staves and sandals and unleavened bread. These things, which took place before in shadows, were typical anticipatory symbols. But now the truth has drawn near to us, "the image of the invisible God," our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Light. Instead of a staff, he is our scepter; instead of unleavened bread, he is the bread which came down from heaven; who instead of sandals has furnished us with the preparation of the gospel. It is he who, to speak briefly, by all these means has guided us to his Father. And if enemies afflict us and persecute us, he again, instead of Moses, will encourage us with better words, saying, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the wicked one." And if after we have passed over the Red Sea, heat should again vex us or some bitterness of the waters befall us, even then again the Lord will appear to us, imparting to us of his sweetness and his life-giving fountain, saying, "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink."

WHY DO WE, WHO ARE KEEPING THE PASSOVER FEAST (EASTER) BY THE PHASE OF THE MOON, REPROACH THE PAGANS FOR OBSERVING THE DAYS AND THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF THE MOON? — Far be it from Christians to be said to worship the stars, when they have been granted a spiritual cultivation, so that, despising what is seen, they may be united to what is invisible and above the heavens, and surpass all these things, destined to be with the Angels of God. For the worshipers of the stars will either be with them, or below them. How can it happen that someone should be above the things he worships? The pagans therefore do not observe the calculation of the moon, but worship the moon itself as a goddess. And having persuaded themselves that they have grasped the effects of its courses, they determine what must be done or avoided on particular days, subjecting their life and conduct in an ordered way to its supposed authority. Because they have dared to take these things outside God’s ordinance, we frequently discover that they are deceived. For God appointed these luminaries as signs for the seasons. Therefore we too keep the count of the moon, but we do not cultivate the moon itself; so that from the fourteenth moon, which according to the Law is for us the first, we may observe the rule of Easter. For God established all things in fullness: and therefore from the fourteenth up to the twenty-first, in these seven days it has been granted to us to celebrate Easter, so that some of these seven days may be enclosed between the preparation (Parasceve) and the resurrection of the Lord: so that neither the thirteenth day be in the Passion, nor the fourteenth or fifteenth in the Resurrection, lest the Passion of Christ be before the first moon as we count it, nor His Resurrection be on a day other than the first day on which the world was begun. For all the seasons of the world are numbered by the cycles of a single week, because in these days God composed the parts and ornaments of the world. In six days He fitted the world, and on the seventh He ceased, which He called the sabbath. In these seven days the order and number of the entire world are contained. For they ever return into themselves, increasing the number of the seasons. After the sabbath, therefore, it always repeats from the first day up to the seventh day, that is, the sabbath; so that we may learn that the Lord’s resurrection took place on the first day of the world’s beginning, which is called the Lord’s Day. For the Lord made that day one with the evening, and being unfolded into the sevenfold number, it begins again, so as to be the first after the week. This was so decreed from the beginning because of the mystery of the Lord’s incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection. For in the body of the Lord almost the whole world rose again and was renewed. It is settled that we do not worship the moon, but keep the number that has been established by the moon’s course. But the Devil, who is Satan, in order that he may attach some authority to his deceit and color his fabricated lies with truth, in the first month in which he knows the Lord’s mysteries are to be celebrated, since he is not of small power, instituted mysteries for the pagans to observe, so that he might hold their souls in error for two reasons: since deceit has anticipated truth, it might seem that deceit is something better, as if by its antiquity influencing the truth. And because in the first month, in which the Romans have the equinox, as we do, that same observance is kept by them, so that they even say that expiation is made by blood, just as we by the cross: by this trickery he keeps the pagans in error, so that they think our truth to appear rather an imitation than truth, as though invented through a certain superstition in rivalry. “For,” they say, “what has been discovered later cannot be judged true.” But since among us truth is for certain, and this is from the beginning, signs of powers and wonders bear witness, so that, with power as a witness, the wickedness of the Devil may be made known. For since truth alone easily persuades, it has been set against the cunning and pre-emption of the Devil, to reveal his deception. For no one, not even among enemies, would dare deny that there is truth where power appears.

What then did Moses do? "Sacrifice an unblemished lamb," he said, "and smear your doors with its blood." What do you mean? Can the blood of an irrational animal save one who expresses reason? "Yes," he says. "Not because it is blood but because it prefigures the Master's blood." Although statues of the emperor have neither life nor perception, they can save the men endowed with perception and life who flee to them for refuge, not because they are bronze but because they are images of the emperor. So too that blood which lacked life and perception saved the men who had life, not because it was blood but because it was an anticipatory type of the Master's blood.

For he who is baptized is seen to be purified both according to the law and according to the gospel. According to the law, because Moses sprinkled the blood of the lamb with a bunch of hyssop. According to the gospel, because Christ's garments were white as snow, when in the gospel he showed forth the glory of his resurrection.

They are to bear in mind that those who celebrated the Passover at the time through figures and shadows, when they were commanded to mark their doorpost with the blood of the lamb, marked them with hyssop. This is a mild and humble plant, but it has very strong and penetrating roots. So, "being rooted and grounded in love," we may be able "to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth," that is, the cross of the Lord.

Be it so, some will say, in the case of those who ask for baptism; what have you to say about those who are still children and conscious neither of the loss nor of the grace? Are we to baptize them too? Certainly, if any danger presses. For it is better that they should be unconsciously sanctified than that they should depart unsealed and uninitiated.A proof of this is found in the circumcision on the eighth day, which was a sort of typical seal. It was conferred on children before they had use of reason. And so is the anointing of the doorposts, which preserved the firstborn, though applied to things which had no consciousness.

I cull these few flowers in passing from the fair field of the Holy Scriptures. They will suffice to warn you that you must shut the door of your breast and fortify your brow by often making the sign of the cross. Thus alone will the destroyer of Egypt find no place to attack you. Thus alone will the firstborn of your soul escape the fate of the firstborn of the Egyptians. Thus alone will you be able with the prophet to say, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise."

This [cross] we have been given as a sign on our forehead, just as Israel was given the circumcision. For by it we faithful are set apart from the infidels and recognized. It is a shield and armor and a trophy against the devil. It is a seal that the destroyer may not strike us, as Scripture says.

[The Son of God's] cross is our victory, and his gibbet is our triumph. With joy let us take this sign on our shoulders, let us bear the banners of victory. Let us bear such an imperial banner, indeed, on our foreheads! When the devil sees this sign on our doorposts, he trembles. Those who are not afraid of gilded temples are afraid of the cross, and those who disdain regal scepters and the purple and the banquets of the Caesars stand in fear of the loneliness and the fasts of the Christian.

We must also inquire who that being was of whom it is said in Exodus that he wished to kill Moses because he was setting out for Egypt. And afterwards, who is it that is called the "destroying angel"? And who also is he who in Leviticus is described as Apopompeus, that is, the Averter, of whom the Scripture speaks thus: "One lot for the Lord, and one lot for Apopompeus"?

And who else could be the destroyer in Exodus, which Moses wrote, except the one who is the cause of destruction to those who obey him and who do not resist and struggle against his wickedness?

It should be asked whether Pascha is to be interpreted as “passage,” as it appears to the Greeks. — The Apostle could not have been mistaken when he says, “Christ our Pascha has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). This is not, of course, his own expression, but a word of the Law, as Moses says: “And it shall be, when your sons say to you, ‘What is this service?’ you shall say, ‘This sacrifice is the Pascha of the Lord’” (Exod. 12:26–27). What more is needed as evidence? The law speaks; the Apostle proves it this remains, that the objector be cast out as stubborn. For it is plain that the passage took place after Pascha. For of the blood of the sacrificed lamb they placed it upon the doorposts and upon the threshold, so that when the angel passed by at night he would not strike the house in which the sign of blood was found. Therefore it was the blood that brought salvation, not the passage; because in order that the passage should not harm, the blood stood in the way.

If God’s judgment is just, why were infants in Sodom burned together with their parents? — So that the exceedingly wicked crime of the Sodomites might be noticed, their sin reached even to the killing of their own children, so that no trace might remain of their origin. Was it not provided for them that, by not living long, they would not follow the example of their parents? For they are free from hell, having been killed in another’s cause. The parents are guilty both for themselves and for these, because, in order that their deeds might be wiped out, all their offspring was erased. For just as children rejoice in the good things of their parents, because they are praised by their parents’ due, so also they cannot complain about the death which is inflicted on account of their parents’ evils. For just as they are sharers in profit, it is necessary that they also be sharers in loss. Likewise in Egypt, children were struck down for the faults of their parents, but in such a way that it might lead to their modification: so that, since for other reasons they were unwilling to believe in and worship God, who was with Moses, terrified by this plague they might confess with satisfaction, lest they suffer more heavily for this guilt. Therefore this death of the children is the crime of the parents. For in whatever way the children yielded up their due spirit, they will be future accusers of their parents, because their parents could not overcome their own treachery even by the shedding of their children’s blood. So the evils of the parents did not overtake the children in the future, but in the present time. Nor is it any kind of benefit not to be glorious, and yet not to be guilty. For if some people, with prayers and great effort, at the very end of life strive to come to true faith, so that, if not a crown, they might at least deserve pardon, how can those complain at all whose case was such that they had neither any means by which they might ask to be forgiven, nor any exalted merit, because they did not toil at all? Now compare a momentary torment with a long-lasting punishment. Imagine also that many labor hard, and because they cannot persevere, they not only lose the fruit of their labor, but are also punished. Add moreover that it is difficult for those born of the wicked and raised or living among the most vicious people to discipline their minds to follow God’s teaching. Consider then whether it was not better dealt with in the case of the children of the lost.

"He that has opened a pit and dug it." We do not find the name of "pit" (lakkos) ever assigned in the divine Scriptures in the case of something good, nor a "well" of water (phrear) in the case of something bad. That into which Joseph was thrown by his brothers is a pit (lakkos). And there is a slaughter "from the firstborn of Pharaoh unto the firstborn of the captive woman that was in the prison (lakkos)."

Theft is the handling of another's property, against the owner's will, out of greed. If it is done not out of greed, as the children of Israel by the Lord's command carried with them from Egypt vessels of silver and gold, or when someone takes a sword from another lest he do harm, then he is not said to commit theft.

The Egyptians not only had idols and crushing burdens which the people of Israel detested and from which they fled. They also had vessels and ornaments of gold and silver, and clothing, which the Israelites leaving Egypt secretly claimed for themselves as if for a better use. Not on their own authority did they make this appropriation, but by the command of God. Meanwhile, the Egyptians themselves, without realizing it, were supplying the things which they were not using properly. In the same way, all the teachings of the pagans have counterfeit and superstitious notions and oppressive burdens of useless labor. Any one of us, leaving the association of pagans with Christ as our leader, ought to abominate and shun them.

From their single ancestor, in not much more than four hundred years, the Hebrew people became so numerous that at the time of the exodus from Egypt there were, we are told, six hundred thousand men of military age. This number does not include the Idumeans, who were not reckoned with the people of Israel, although they were descended from Israel's brother Esau, who was a grandson of Abraham. Nor does it include those other descendants of Abraham who were not of the line of his wife Sarah.

Joseph came into Egypt alone, and soon thereafter six hundred thousand depart from Egypt. What is more marvelous than this? What greater proof of the generosity of God, when from persons without means he wills to supply the means for public affairs?

"The teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth," the Apostle Paul, handed down to the Church which he gathered from among the Gentiles how it ought to attend to the books of the Law, which it had received from others and which had formerly been unknown to it and altogether foreign, lest, in taking up institutions foreign to it and being ignorant of the rule of those institutions, it should tremble amid an alien instrument. Therefore he himself, in a number of passages, hands down examples of the understanding, so that we too may observe things similar in the rest, lest perchance, on account of the likeness of the reading and of the instrument of the Jews, we should believe that we have been made their disciples. This, then, is what he wishes to distinguish between the disciples of Christ and the disciples of the synagogue: that the Law which they, by understanding it badly, did not receive Christ, we, by understanding it spiritually, may show to have been rightly given for the instruction of the Church. The Jews, then, understand only this: that "the children of Israel departed" from Egypt, and that their first departure was "from Rameses," and that departing thence they came "to Succoth," and that "departing from Succoth" they came "to Othon" by Epauleum near the sea; then, further, that there the cloud went before them and that "the rock" followed, from which they drank water, and that they also passed through the Red Sea and came into the desert of Sinai. But let us see what rule of understanding concerning these things Paul the Apostle has handed down to us. Writing to the Corinthians, he says in a certain place thus: "For we know that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ." You see how much Paul's tradition differs from the historical reading: what the Jews think a crossing of the sea, Paul calls baptism; what they reckon a cloud, Paul sets down as the Holy Spirit; and he wishes that to be understood as like this which the Lord commanded in the Gospels, saying: "unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdoms of heaven." And again the manna, which the Jews reckon food for the belly and satiety for the gullet, Paul names "spiritual food." And not only Paul, but the Lord Himself in the Gospel says concerning the same thing: "your fathers ate manna in the desert, and they died. But whoever shall eat of the bread which I give him shall not die for ever." And after this He says: "I am the bread which came down from heaven." Then, further, concerning "the rock that followed" Paul openly declares and says: "and the rock was Christ." What, then, must we do, who have received from Paul, the teacher of the Church, institutions of understanding of this kind? Does it not seem just that we should keep the rule of this kind handed down to us by a like example in the rest? Or shall we, as certain people wish, forsaking these things which so great and such an Apostle handed down, turn back again to "Jewish fables"? For my part, if I should expound these things otherwise than as they seem to Paul, I think this is to give a hand to the enemies of Christ, and this is what the prophet says: "Woe to him who gives his neighbor to drink with turbulent overthrow!" Having therefore received from the blessed Apostle Paul the seeds of spiritual understanding, let us cultivate them, insofar as the Lord shall deign to enlighten us through your prayers.

"Raising themselves up," it says, "the children of Israel came from Rameses to Succoth, and departing from Succoth they came to Othon." If there is anyone who is preparing to depart from Egypt, if there is anyone who desires to leave behind the dark deeds of this world and the darkness of errors, first of all he must depart "from Rameses." Now "Rameses" is interpreted the commotion of the moth. If, therefore, you wish to come to this, that the Lord may be your leader and go before you "in the pillar of the cloud" and that the rock may follow you, which may furnish you "spiritual food" and no less "spiritual drink," depart and go out "from Rameses," "and do not lay up treasure there, where the moth destroys and where thieves dig through and steal." This is what the Lord openly says in the Gospels: "if you wish to be perfect, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." This, then, is to depart "from Rameses" and to follow Christ. But let us see what also is the place of encampment to which one comes "from Rameses." "They came," it says, "to Succoth." The interpreters of names hand down that "Succoth" is understood among the Hebrews as tabernacles. When, therefore, forsaking Egypt, you have shaken off from yourself the moths of all corruption and have cast away the incitements of vices, you will dwell in tabernacles. For we dwell in tabernacles, out of which "we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed upon." And the dwelling in tabernacles indicates that he who hastens to God is unencumbered and without any impediments.

But the deceitful, and he that is not pure of heart and possesses nothing that is pure (as Proverbs says, "To a deceitful man there is nothing good") shall assuredly, being a stranger and of a different race from the saints, be accounted unworthy to eat the Passover, for "a foreigner shall not eat of it." Thus Judas, when he thought he kept the Passover, because he plotted deceit against the Savior, was estranged from the city which is above and from the apostolic company. For the law commanded the Passover to be eaten with due observance. But he, while eating it, was sifted of the devil, who had entered his soul.

Now next, that the legs of those two were broken, while his [Christ's] were not. He was already dead. Why this happened was stated in the Gospel itself. It was fitting, you see, to demonstrate by this sign as well that the true point and purpose of the Jewish Passover, which contained this instruction, not to break the lamb's bones, was to be a prophetic preenactment of his death.

God says, "In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not cast the flesh abroad out of the house." The flesh of Christ and the holy thing of the Lord cannot be cast out. The faithful have no home but the one church. This home, this house of unanimity, the Holy Spirit announces unmistakably in the Psalms: "God who makes men to dwell together of one mind as in a house."

For the faith of the sacred Scripture sets forth that the Church is not without, nor can be separated nor divided against itself, but maintains the unity of an inseparable and undivided house; since it is written of the sacrament of the passover, and of the lamb, which Lamb designated Christ: "In one house shall it be eaten: ye shall not carry forth the flesh abroad out of the house." Which also we see expressed concerning Rahab, who herself also bore a type of the Church, who received the command which said, "Thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household unto thee into thine house; and whosoever shall go out of the doors of thine house into the street, his blood shall be upon him." In which mystery is declared, that they who will live, and escape from the destruction of the world, must be gathered together into one house alone, that is, into the Church; but whosoever of those thus collected together shall go out abroad, that is, if any one, although he may have obtained grace in the Church, shall depart and go out of the Church, that his blood shall be upon him; that is, that he himself must charge it upon himself that he perishes; which the Apostle Paul explains, teaching and enjoining that a heretic must be avoided, as perverse, and a sinner, and as condemned of himself. For that man will be guilty of his own ruin, who, not being cast out by the bishop, but of his own accord deserting from the Church is by heretical presumption condemned of himself.

All such efforts are only of use when they are made within the church's pale. We must celebrate the Passover in the one house. We must enter the ark with Noah. We must take refuge from the fall of Jericho with the justified harlot, Rahab.

The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. [Exodus 12:46]

And that prophecy also is fulfilled, "A bone of Him shall not be broken." (Ex. xii. 46; Num. ix. 12.) For even if this was said with reference to the lamb of the Jews, still it was for the sake of the reality that the type preceded, and in Him the prophecy was more fully accomplished. On this account the Evangelist brought forward the Prophet. For since by continually producing himself as witness he would have seemed unworthy of credit, he brings Moses to help him, and saith, that neither did this come to pass without a purpose, but was written before of old. And this is the meaning of the words, "A bone of Him shall not be broken."

We partake of the flesh of Christ, that is, of the divine Scriptures, […] we strive to follow in the footsteps of the true lamb, for the Apostle declares that Christ is the lamb of our Passover when he says: "Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed." His flesh, His bones, and His blood, as has already been shown, are the divine Scriptures: if we eat them, we possess Christ, inasmuch as His bones have become words, and the thoughts that arise from the words, flesh. If we approach them as is fitting, we contemplate what is to come "in an enigma and as through a mirror," for His blood is the evangelical faith of the new covenant, as the Apostle testifies when he says: "profaning the blood of the covenant." Anointed with this blood, that is, with faith, we shall escape the destroyer.

The writers again of Egyptian history, namely, Manethô, and Chaerêmôn, Apollonius surnamed Molôn, Lysimachus and Apiôn the Grammarian mention Moses and the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. For, as being Egyptians and the historians of Egypt, they also agree in their relations of local transactions, and traduce Moses as a promoter of sedition, who stirred up a mob of rascally beggars and lepers, and say that these had gone away to Mount Sinai and Jerusalem, and were called Jews. And in a word the Chaldaeans and Egyptians, as being older nations than the Greeks, testify in a manner to divine scripture, asserting that both the deluge in the days of Noah did occur, that a Tower was built, and that there was a departure of the children of Israel from Egypt.