Chapter 28

1After this, let the bishop teach the mysteries to the people. But if he is not present, let a presbyter speak, so that the faithful may know whom they are approaching and who their God and Father is. Then let the teaching of the mysteries be spoken as follows:

2Initiation into the Mysteries, Spoken to the Faithful Before the Offering

3We confess him who existed before all things, who was, who is, and who is to come; who suffered and was buried, rose, and was glorified by the Father; who freed us from the bonds of death and rose from the dead; who is not only man but also God; who, through the Holy Spirit, restored the flesh of Adam with his soul to immortality, because he preserved Adam by the Spirit; who clothed himself with dead Adam and made him live; who ascended into heaven; under whom, after the cross, Death fell and was conquered when its bonds, by which the Devil had once grown strong and prevailed against us, were broken.

4Through his passion, Death was shown to be useless and weak when Jesus cut his bonds and destroyed his power and snares, and struck him in the face. Death was filled with darkness, shaken, and afraid when he saw the Only-Begotten Son, who in his soul descended in the Godhead into Sheol; who descended from the pure heights above the heavens.

5We confess him, the indivisible Thought who comes from the Father and is of one will with him; the Maker of heaven with his Father; the Crown of the angels, the Strength of the archangels, the Garment of the hosts, and the Spirit of the dominions; the Ruler of the eternal kingdom and Prince of the saints; the unfathomable Intelligence of the Father; he who is the Wisdom, Power, Lord, Thought, Intelligence, Hand, and Arm of the Father.

6As we believe, we confess him who is our Light, Salvation, Savior, Protector, Helper, Teacher, Deliverer, Rewarder, Support, Strength, and Wall; our Shepherd, Entrance, Door, Way, Life, Medicine, Provision, Drink, and Judge.

7We confess him as capable of suffering yet incapable of suffering, Son yet uncreated, dead yet alive, the Son of the Father, incomprehensible yet comprehensible. Though sinless, he bore our sins when he left the Father’s heaven. His broken body becomes our salvation, and his blood and Spirit our life and holiness, and the water our cleansing. He enlightens the hearts of those who fear him and is with them in all things. He has made us strangers to every way of the Devil. He is the Renewer of souls, in whom we have all placed our trust.

8He is God, existing before the worlds with the Father, the eternal God. When he saw the world perishing in the bonds of sin, trampled under the power of a cunning wild beast, and subjected to death through ignorance and error, he determined to heal the human race. He came to a virgin womb, hidden from all the camps of the heavenly beings, and kept the opposing hosts in ignorance.

9When the Incorruptible One clothed himself with corruptible flesh, making flesh that was under death incorruptible, he displayed in the flesh of dead Adam, with which he clothed himself, an example of incorruptibility. Through this example the things of corruption were abolished.

10He delivered holy commandments through the Gospel, which proclaims the kingdom beforehand. Through this Gospel, as a figure of the kingdom, we learned to live. Through this Gospel the bonds of the Devil were cut, so that we might attain immortality instead of death and receive the grace of watchfulness instead of ignorance.

11He, the Son of God and Lord, became man and took upon himself the dead race of Adam in all its forms by emptying himself. He who is the First came to birth as man, though he is God. He was foreknown by the prophets, preached by the apostles, praised by angels, and glorified by the Father of all.

12He was crucified for us, and his cross is our life, strength, and salvation. It is the hidden mystery and the unspeakable joy. Through it the whole nature of humanity, always bearing it, is made inseparable from God. It is the gracious virtue, inseparable from God, which these lips cannot praise as they should. It was hidden from the beginning, but now the mystery has been revealed for the faithful. It will be not as it appears to be, but as it is.

13This is the cross in which we boast so that we may be glorified. Its bearers, the faithful and perfect, separate their souls from everything that can be felt and everything that is seen, as from something that is not true. Through this cross, ask for yourselves, you who act courageously. Make your visible ears deaf and your bodily eyes blind, so that you may know the will of Christ and the whole mystery of your salvation.

14Holy men and women, whose calling is to boast in the Lord, listen to the inward person.

15Our Lord taught us, established a covenant for us, and made us members of his household. After his passion he entered Sheol and took the whole earth captive. He subjected the nature of death to life. When Death saw him descending in his soul into Sheol, Death was deceived and expected him to be food, as was his custom. But when he saw in him the beauty of the Godhead, he cried aloud:

16Who is this who has clothed himself with the man who was under my power and has conquered me? Who is this who snatches from destruction the flesh that I had bound? Who is this who has clothed himself with earth but is himself heaven? Who is this who was born in corruption but suffers no corruption? Who is this who is a stranger to my laws? Who is this who takes my possessions captive? Who is this who struggles with the power of burning Death and conquers darkness? What is this new glory in this vision that prevents me from doing what I desire? Who is this new dead one, without sin? Who is this who extinguishes darkness by the abundance of light and does not allow me to rule over those who are mine, but draws to heaven the souls that were given to me? What is this glory that keeps the body from corruption? Who is this whom I cannot touch? What is this glory, unfathomable to all around it? Woe to me! I am put to flight by him and by the things that are his, for I cannot harm them.

17He is the Christ who was crucified, through whom those on the left were placed on the right, those below became like those above, and those behind became like those before. When he rose from the dead, he trampled down Sheol and slew Death through death.

18After he rose on the third day, he gave thanks to the Father, saying:

19I thank you, my Father, not with these lips that are joined together, nor with a bodily tongue through which truth and falsehood come forth, nor with this created and material word. I thank you, the King, with that Voice which through you understands all things, which does not come through a bodily organ, does not fall upon bodily ears, is not in the world, and is not left upon the earth. I thank you with this Voice, the Spirit who is in us, speaking only to you, Father, loving and praising you. Through him the whole company of perfect saints calls you Beloved, Father, Sustainer, and Helper. For you are all, and all are in you. Whatever exists is yours and belongs to no other, but to you alone, who exist forever and ever. Amen.

20Let the shepherd know the mysteries of all nature.

21Jesus says, “After I have prayed to the Father, as you know and see, I am taken up.”

22Therefore the shepherd should speak the teaching of initiation into the mysteries, so that the people may know whom they partake of in the holy things and what memorial they make through the Eucharist.

23At the end, let him say:

24Since we have taken refuge in him and have learned that it belongs to him alone to give, let us ask him for the things he said he would give us: things no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and which have not entered the human heart, the things God has prepared for those who love him, as Moses and some of the saints have said.

25Since we have placed our hope in him, let us give him praise. To him be glory and might forever and ever. Amen.

26Let the people say, “Amen.”

27After the people have been taught the initiation into the mysteries, let the Eucharist be offered. But let the initiation into the mysteries not be spoken every time, but only at Pascha, on Saturday, on the first day of the week, and on the days of Epiphany and Pentecost.