Eat head/feet/inwards = Christ’s mind, walk, mysteries
Cyril: …leaving aside cold and old-womanish tales of the Greeks. Do you understand clearly what I mean?
Palladius: Very much so.
Cyril: That one who has become a sharer in Christ — by partaking of his holy flesh and blood — must also have his mind and love to go forward through inward achievements, understanding well what concerns him, he hinted at once by saying that head must be eaten with the feet and the inward parts. (Ex 12:9; Jn 6:53-56)
For did we not say that the head is a type of the mind, and the feet everywhere signify the journey in deeds? And did the inward parts of the victims again point to what is inside and hidden?
Palladius: It seemed right to understand it so. But tell me this: what would Christ’s mind be, what his journey, and what the hidden things?
Cyril: Christ’s mind would be to think only what looks toward the glory of God the Father, and to will to accomplish what pleases the One who begot him. ‘I have come down from heaven,’ he says, ‘not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.’ (Jn 6:38; Phil 2:5) His journey is the way of the commandments; the hidden things are the mysteries of the gospel, which fatten the mind with spiritual nourishment.
Greek
λήνων ψυχρὰ καὶ γραώδη διηγήματα. Συνίης οὖν ἄρα σαφῶς ὅ φημι;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὅτι δὲ χρὴ τὸν Χριστοῦ γεγονότα μέτοχον, διά γε τοῦ μεταλαχεῖν τῆς ἁγίας αὐτοῦ σαρκός τε καὶ αἵματος, καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ νοῦν ἔχειν, καὶ διὰ τῶν ἔσω κατορθωμάτων ἰέναι φιλεῖν, συνιέντα εὖ μάλα τὸ ἐπ' αὐτῷ, ὑπέφηνεν ἂν εὐθὺς, δεῖν ἐσθίεσθαι λέγων κεφαλὴν σὺν τοῖς ποσὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐνδοσθίοις. Ἦ γὰρ, οὐχὶ νοῦ μὲν εἰς τύπον ἐλέγομεν εἶναι τὴν κεφαλὴν, πόδας δὲ αὖ πανταχῆ, τῆς ὡς ἐν ἔργοις πορείας σημαντικούς; παρεδήλου δὲ πάλιν τὰ εἴσω τε καὶ κεκρυμμένα τῶν θυομένων τὰ ἐντόσθια;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἐδόκει μὲν ὧδε νοεῖν ὀρθῶς. Πλὴν, ἐκεῖνο φράσον, τίς ἂν εἴη Χριστοῦ μὲν ὁ νοῦς, τίς δὲ ἡ πορεία, καὶ μέντοι τὰ κεκρυμμένα;
{ΚΥΡ.} Νοῦς μὲν ἂν εἴη Χριστοῦ, τὸ μόνα φρονεῖν τὰ ὅσαπερ ἂν εἰς δόξαν βλέποι τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, καὶ τὸ βούλεσθαι κατορθοῦν τὸ τῷ γεννήσαντι δοκοῦν. Καταβέβηκα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ οὐχ ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με.» Τοῦτό τοι φρονεῖν καὶ κατορθοῦν ᾑρημένοι καὶ οἱ θεσπέσιοι μαθηταὶ διαῤῥήδην ἔφασκον· «Ἡμεῖς δὲ νοῦν Χριστοῦ ἔχομεν.» Καὶ γοῦν ἐδίδασκον λέγειν ἐν προσευχαῖς· «Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἁγιασθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου, γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.» Ὁρᾷς ὅτι σύμφοροί τε καὶ ὁμογνώμονες Χριστοῦ γεγονότες, καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ νοῦν ἔχειν διαβεβαιοῦνται σαφῶς; Τοῦτο, οἶμαι, ἐστὶ τὸ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐσθίεσθαι τοῦ ἀμνοῦ. Πορεία γε μὴν ἡ Χριστοῦ, τὸ κατ' αὐτὸν ἀνατλῆναι γεννικῶς, καὶ μὴ κατοκνῆσαι τὸν θάνατον, ἵν' ὡς Παῦλός φησιν, ἁμαρτωλοὺς σώσῃ· ἑτοιμοτάτους δὲ εἶναι καὶ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς εἰς τοῦτο προσήκει, καὶ αὐτὴν ὑπὲρ ἀδελφῶν δαπανῶντας ἑτοίμως τὴν ἐν σώματι ζωήν. Καὶ γοῦν ἔφη τις τῶν ἁγίων μαθητῶν· «Χριστοῦ οὖν παθόντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκὶ, καὶ ὑμεῖς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔννοιαν ὁπλίσασθε.» Παῦλός γε μὴν ἐπιτιμᾷ τισιν ὡδί πη λέγων· «Τί κλαίετε συνθρύπτοντές μου τὴν καρδίαν; Ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐ μόνον δεθῆναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποθανεῖν ἑτοίμως ἔχω ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.» Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ Χριστὸς τοῖς ἰδίοις ἴχνεσι κατακολουθεῖν ἐπιτάττων· «Ὃς οὐ λαμβάνει,» φησὶ, «τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καθ' ἡμέραν, καὶ ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μου, οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος.» Ἁγία δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως πανταχῆ, καὶ διὰ πάσης ἀρετῆς, ἡ Χριστοῦ πορεία καὶ ὁδός. Ἐντόσθια δὲ νοήσεις τὸν ἐπ' αὐτῷ κεκρυμμένον τε καὶ ἐν παραβύστῳ λόγον. Θεὸς γὰρ ὢν κατὰ φύσιν, καὶ ἐκ Θεοῦ πεφηνὼς ὁ Μονογενὴς, γέγονε σὰρξ, καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ εἰκὼν καὶ ὁμοίωσις ὑπάρχων τοῦ γεγεννηκότος, καθῆκεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς κένωσιν, καὶ εἰς δούλου μορφήν. Εἰσδεξώμεθα δὴ οὖν ἐν ἰδίαις ψυχαῖς, οὐχὶ μόνα τὰ ἀν
About this text
Cyril continues the dialogue with Palladius. Book 17 of a seventeen-book dialogue — the final book of the series.
English follows Migne PG 68 (Aubert reprint). The PDF and a cleaned text of the same print were checked against each other. This page is Book 17 of seventeen. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek.
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- Copy-text Migne PG 68 De adoratione Book 17 (Aubert reprint) (Greek · Book 17)
- Checked print PDF of PG 68 De adoratione (Greek · Book 17)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.