Origen spiritualizes Pascha: the one who eats “the flesh of the word” and strives “in thoughts, words, and deeds” to pass over “from the things of this life to God” “never ceases to keep the Paschal feast”; how does this redefine what God intends a “holy day” to accomplish in us beyond a calendar event?
Another way to ask: Origen says Pascha is also a daily “passing over” to God in what we think, say, and do—how does that change what a holy day is supposed to do inside us? How could a holiday become more than just a date on a calendar?
Direct Answer
Origen’s approach reframes Pascha as a continual spiritual “Passover”—a daily turning from worldly life to God—so a holy day is meant to form a holy people, not just mark a date.
Support from Transcript:
Origen says Christians “are accustomed to observe certain days… there is Pascha,” acknowledging calendar observance.
He grounds it in Christ: “He who considers that Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.”
He defines the deeper keeping of the feast: it is one’s “duty to keep the feast by eating the flesh of the word.”
Then he expands it beyond a day: such a person “never ceases to keep the Paschal feast.”
He explains why: “Pascha means a Passover,” so the believer strives “in all of his thoughts, words, and deeds to pass over from the things of this life to God.”
This fits Bercot’s opening contrast between “holy day” and modern “festivities and amusements… anything but holy.”
Discussion Follow-ups
What would it look like for holiday observance (even good holidays) to be evaluated by whether it produces real “passing over” in our habits and loves?
