Letter 455

To the Same Person. You say that the saying is obscure: "Do not offer to the impious man what is lawful for the righteous." The saying does indeed admit of yet another interpretation; receive this one now. Christ the Savior is the pasture of all the faithful, and their food, and their garment; for in him we were created, "and we live, and move, and have our being" [Acts 17:28]. Since, then, the Master's body and the blood of God the Word, through the dispensation [oikonomia, the Incarnation], constitute the pasture of all Christians, and they are fed and given drink by this mystery, it would be unfitting to impart the aforesaid mystery to any impious and deceitful man, such as Simon the Magician [Simon Magus, Acts 8], who merely pretended to believe. But neither should one offer the deeper unfolding of the revered oracles [the Scriptures] to any uninitiated and wicked person. "For do not give," he says, "what is holy to the dog, nor cast your pearls before swine" [Matthew 7:6]. Again you asked me how one ought to understand what is written in like manner in Solomon. For we do not, O lover of Christ, partake of that awesome and longed-for table in the Church as we do of common bread and wine, to the filling of the belly; but a small portion is imparted to us by those who minister to God, and we receive it gazing upward with the eyes of the soul, so as to be cleansed of our trespasses, and to obtain sanctification and salvation. And I think it good, at the common table in our houses too, not to be beguiled by the stuffing of the belly, that is, not to overstep the bounds of necessary need; for indeed the best measure for the use of foods or of drinks is the body's need.

Ἀσαφὲς λέγεις ὑπάρχειν τὸ ῥητόν « Μὴ προσ-ἀγάγῃς ἀσεβεῖ νόμιμον δικαίων. » Ἔχει μὲν οὖν τὸ ῥητὸν καὶ ἄλλην ἑρμηνείαν, ταύτην δέχου ἀρτίως. Νομῇ πάντων πιστῶν, καὶ τροφῇ, καὶ ἔνδυμα, ὁ Σωτὴρ Χριστὸς ὑπάρχει· ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ἐκτίσθημεν, « καὶ ζῶμεν, καὶ κινούμεθα, καὶ ἐσμέν. » Ἐπειδὴ οὖν καὶ τὸ Δεσποτικὸν σῶμα, καὶ αἷμα τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου διὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν νομῇ τυγχάνει Χριστιανῶν ἁπάντων, καὶ τούτῳ τῷ μυστηρίῳ τρέφονται καὶ ποτίζονται· ἄτοπον ἂν εἴη μεταδιδόναι τοῦ λεχθέντος μυστηρίου ἀνδρί τινι ἀσεβεῖ καὶ δολίῳ, καθὼς τῷ μάγῳ Σίμωνι δῆθεν πιστεύειν καθυποκρινομένῳ. Ἀλλὰ μηδὲ τὴν βαθυτέραν τῶν σεβασμίων λογίων ἀνάπτυξιν προσφέρειν ἂν ἀμυήτῳ τινὶ καὶ πονηρῷ ἀνθρώπῳ. « Μὴ δῷς γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸ ἅγιον τῷ κυνὶ, μηδ’ ἔμπροσθεν χοίρων βάλης τοὺς μαργαρίτας. » Πάλιν δέ με ἠρώτησας, πῶς χρὴ νοεῖν τὸ γεγραμμένον ὁμοίως παρὰ τῷ Σολομῶντι, « Οὐ γὰρ ἂν, φιλόχριστε, καθάπερ ἄρτου κοινοῦ καὶ οἴνου, πρὸς πλήσμονὴν τῆς γαστρὸς, τῆς φρικώδους ἐκείνης καὶ ποθεινῆς τραπέζης μετέχομεν ἐπὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας· βραχέος δὲ μέρους τινὸς μεταδίδοται ἡμῖν ὑπὸ τῶν τῷ Θεῷ λειτουργούντων, καὶ μεταλαμβάνομεν εἰς ὕψος ἀτενίζοντες τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμοῖς, πρὸς τὸ καθαρισθῆναι πλημμελημάτων, καὶ ἁγιασμοῦ καὶ σωτηρίας τυχεῖν. Καλὸν δὲ νομίζω, καὶ ἐν τῇ κοινῇ τραπέζῃ ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις ἡμῶν μὴ ἀπατᾶσθαι χορτασίᾳ κοιλίας, τουτέστι μὴ ὑπερβαίνειν τὰ ὅρια τῆς ἀναγκαίας χρείας· μέτρον γὰρ δὴ ἄριστον τῆς τῶν βρωμάτων ἢ τῶν πομάτων χρήσεως, ἡ χρεία ὑπάρχει τοῦ σώματος.