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Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures
Edwin Hamilton Gifford; NPNF2-07 (1894) · Edition commentary
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Translator and historical edition notes (part 21)
i. 1), where it occurred in the context of the incident narrated in Matt. xxvi. 41, Mark xiv. 38.
Jas. i. 2.
ἀπεπνίγη. Matt. xxvii. 5: ἀπήγξατο.
Compare the description of Peter’s repentance in Cat. ii. 19.
Ps. lxvi. 10–12.
For ἐμπαρῆναι the Ben. Ed. conjectures ἐμπαγῆναι “to have been stuck fast.”
Cyril is here a clear witness for the reference of τοῦ πονηροῦ to “the wicked one.”
From § 14, εὐχόμενος τοῦτο λέγεις, it seems probable that the whole Prayer was said by the people as well as by the Priest. See Introduction, “Eucharistic Rites.”
Compare Waterland on this passage, c. X. p 688.
Apost. Const. VIII. c. xiii:
“Let the Bishop speak thus to the people: Holy things for holy persons. And let the people answer: There is One that is holy; there is one Lord, one Jesus Christ, blessed for ever, to the glory of God the Father.”
The Liturgies of St. James and of Constantinople have nearly the same words: in the Liturgy of St. Mark the answer of the people is: One Father holy, one Son holy, one Spirit holy, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Ps. xxxiv. 9. In the Apostolic Constitutions the “Sancta Sanctis” and its response are immediately followed by the “Gloria in excelsis,” and the “Hosanna.” Then the Clergy partake, and there follows a direction that this Psalm xxxiv. is to be said while all the rest are partaking. In the Liturgy of Constantinople there is the direction: “The Choir sings the communion antiphon (τὸ κοινωνικόν) of the day or the saint.”
For μὴ ἐπιτρέπητε, probably an itacism, we should read μὴ ἐπιτρέπεται, as a question, the propriety of the change being indicated by the answer οὐχί. “Is the judgment of this entrusted to the bodily palate? No, but, &c.”
ἀντιτύπου σώματος, “the antitypical Body,” not “the antitype of the Body,” which would require τοῦ σώματος. Cf. Cat. xxi. § 1, note 6.
Cat. xviii. 32: “with what reverence and order you must go from Baptism to the Holy Altar of God.”
Cyril appears to be the earliest authority for thus placing the hands in the form of a Cross. A similar direction is given in the 101st Canon of the Trullan Council (692), and by Joh. Damasc. (De Fid. Orthod. iv. 14). Dict. Chr. Ant. “Communion.” That the communicant was to receive the Bread in his own hands is clear from the language of Cyril and other Fathers. Cf. Clem. Alex. Strom. I. c. i. § 5: “Some after dividing the Eucharist according to custom allow each of the laity himself to take his part.” See the passage of Origen quoted in the next note, and Tertull. Cor. Mil. c. iii.
“The Sacrament of the Eucharist, which the Lord commanded both (to be taken) at meal-times and by all, we take even in assemblies before dawn, and from the hand of none but the presidents.”
Origen. Hom. xiii. in Exod. § 3:
“I wish to admonish you by examples from your own religion: ye, who have been accustomed to attend the Sacred Mysteries, know how, when you receive the Body of the Lord, you guard it with all care and reverence, that no little part of it fall down, no portion of the consecrated gift slip away. For you believe yourselves guilty, and rightly so believe, if any part thereof fall through carelessness.”
κύπτων, not kneeling, but standing in a bowing posture. Cf. Bingham, XV. c. 5, § 3.
Apost. Const. VIII. c. 13:
“Let the Bishop give the Oblation (προσφοράν) saying, The Body of Christ. And let him that receiveth say, Amen. And let the Deacon hold the Cup, and when he delivers it say, The Blood of Christ, the Cup of Life. And let him that drinketh say, Amen.”
Cat. xxi. 3, note 8.
In the Liturgy of St. James, after all have communicated,
“The Deacons and the People say: Fill our mouths with Thy praise, O Lord, and fill our lips with joy, that we may sing of Thy glory, of Thy greatness, all the day. And again: We render thanks to Thee, Christ our God, that Thou hast accounted us worthy to partake of Thy Body and Blood, &c.”
1 Thess. v. 23.