Quartodecimans and Pascha in Early Christianity

Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching

Again, he who considers that Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us, and that it is his duty to keep the feast by eating of the flesh of the Word, never ceases to keep the paschal feast;

Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching

for the pascha means a passover, and he is ever striving in all his thoughts, words, and deeds, to pass over from the things of this life to God, and is hastening towards the city of God.

Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness

And the Passover of the Jews was near, John 2:13. As I examine the accuracy of the very wise John in this passage, I ask myself, what is shown by the added words, “of the Jews”? The Passover was a festival of what other nation? Would it not have been enough to say, “And the Passover was near”? It may be, however, that the human passover is one thing, when it is kept by men not as Scripture intended, and that the divine passover is another thing: the true Passover, kept in spirit and truth by those who worship God in spirit and truth. Then the distinction shown in the text may be the distinction between the divine Passover and the one said to be of the Jews. We should pay attention to the law of the Passover and observe what the Lord says about it when it is first mentioned in Scripture. Exodus 12:1-3: “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month is to you the beginning of months; it is the first for you among the months of the year. Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month every man shall take a sheep, according to the houses of your families.’” Then, after some instructions in which the word Pas

Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness

...l statements about the law, especially those connected with the festivals, and most of all with the Passover. The Jews' Passover consists of a sheep that is sacrificed, each person taking a sheep according to his father's house. The Passover is also accompanied by the slaughter of thousands of rams and goats, in proportion to the number of the people's houses. But our Passover has been sacrificed for us, namely Christ. Another feature of the Jewish feast is unleavened bread. All leaven is removed from their houses. But we keep the feast, 1 Corinthians 5:8, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Whether there is any Passover and any feast of leaven beyond the two we have mentioned is something we must examine more carefully, since these serve as a pattern and a shadow of the heavenly things we spoke of. And not only such things as food and drink and new moons and Sabbaths, but the festivals also, are a shadow of the things to come. First, when the Apostle says, "Our Passover is sacrificed, Christ," one may raise doubts such as these. If the sheep among the Jews is a type of Christ's sacrifice, t

Methodius, Concerning Free Will Supporting witness

... people of Israel rightly kept the fourteenth day of the first lunar month and celebrated on it the Passover of the law. Therefore, when the holy prophets, and all those who, as I have said, walked rightly and justly in the law of the Lord, together with the whole people, celebrated a symbolic and shadowy Passover, the Creator and Lord of every visible and invisible creature, the only-begotten Son, and the Word co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and of the same substance with them according to His divine nature, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, in the last age of the world, was born according to the flesh from our holy and glorious Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin, truly from Mary the Mother of God. And when He was seen on earth, and truly and really lived as a man among men who were of the same substance as He was according to His human nature, He Himself also, with the people, in the years before His public ministry and during His public ministry, celebrated the legal and shadowy Passover, eating the symbolic lamb. For the Savior Himself said in the Gospel, "I came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them."

Methodius, Fragments Supporting witness

The typical Passover, therefore, then ceased, the true Passover being present: For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us, as has been before said, and as that chosen vessel, the apostle Paul, teaches.

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

for even Christ our passover is sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:7 Background

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Direct teaching

...kept through our generations by those who are able to discern this mystery, at the beginning of the fourteenth day, which, he says, is the beginning of a decade from which they count. For the monad, up to fourteen, is the summary of that one small stroke of the perfect number. For one, two, three, and four become ten, and this is the one small stroke. But from fourteen to twenty-one, he says there is a Hebdomad contained in the one small stroke of the world, and it makes an unleavened creature in all these. For in what way, he says, would the one small stroke need any substance such as leaven from outside for the Lord's Passover, the eternal feast, which is given from generation to generation? For the whole world and all the causes of creation make up a passover, that is, a feast of the Lord. For God rejoices in the conversion of the creation, and this is brought about by ten strokes of the one small stroke. And this small stroke is Moses' rod, which God gave into Moses' hand. And with this rod Moses strikes the Egyptians in order to alter bodies, for example, water into blood, and the rest of material things in the same way, such as the locusts, which are a symbol of grass. And

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Direct teaching

...wledge, and more quarrelsome than usual, join together in insisting that Easter must be kept on the fourteenth day of the first month, according to the commandment of the law, whatever day of the week it falls on. But in this they pay attention only to what is written in the law: that he will be accursed who does not keep the commandment in the way it is ordered. However, they do not consider this fact: the legal command was made for the Jews, who in later times would kill the true Passover. And this Passover sacrifice, in its power, has spread to the Gentiles and is understood by faith, and is not now observed merely by the letter. They pay attention to this one commandment, and do not look to what has been spoken by the apostle: "For I testify to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to keep the whole law." Galatians 5:3. In all other respects, however, these agree with all the traditions handed down to the Church by the Apostles.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

But the entire is for those who have not been altogether perfected in understanding a mystery, a new and not antiquated feast, legal, (and) everlasting, a passover of the Lord God kept unto our generations, by those who are able to discern (this mystery), at the commencement of the fourteenth day, which is the beginning of a decade from which, he says, they reckon.

Methodius, Fragments Background

Exodus 9:32 Whence it is rightly prescribed by the law, that from the vernal equinox, in whatsoever week the fourteenth day of the first month shall fall, in it the Passover is to be celebrated, becoming and conformable songs of praise having been first taken up for its celebration.

Methodius, Fragments Background

5.— That Up to the Time of the Destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews Rightly Appointed the Fourteenth Day of the First Lunar Month

Methodius, Concerning Free Will Direct teaching

...s public ministry, He did not eat of the lamb. Instead, He Himself suffered as the true Lamb in the Paschal feast, as John, the divine and evangelist, teaches us in the Gospel written by him, where he says this: "Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the judgment hall. And it was early. And they themselves did not go into the judgment hall, so that they would not be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover." John 18:28 And after a few more things: "When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out, and sat down in the judgment seat, in a place that is called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the third hour," as the correct books render it, and as the copy itself that was written by the hand of the evangelist says, which, by the divine grace, has been preserved in the most holy church of Ephesus, and is there adored by the faithful. And again the same evangelist says: "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, so that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that Sabbath day was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Lastly, the slaying of the lamb by those very persons who perform it is called the paschal feast, from the word paschein, because it is a figure of the passion, which God, foreknowing the future, delivered by Moses to be celebrated by His people.

Methodius, Fragments Supporting witness

... public ministry, He did not eat the lamb. Instead, He Himself suffered as the true Lamb during the Passover feast, as John, the divine and evangelist, teaches us in the Gospel written by him, where he says: “Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the judgment hall. And it was early. And they themselves did not go into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.” John 18:28. And after a few more things, he says: “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat, in a place that is called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the third hour,” as the correct books give it, and as the very copy written by the hand of the evangelist gives it, which, by the divine grace, has been preserved in the most holy church of Ephesus and is there honored by the faithful. And again the same evangelist says: “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath day—for that Sabbath day was a high day—asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” John 19:31.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Background

...amined the Gospels to determine how many times after His baptism the Lord went to Jerusalem for the Passover, as was the custom for Jews from every land to gather there each year to celebrate it. First, after turning water into wine at Cana of Galilee, He went to the Passover, and it is written, "Many believed in Him when they saw the signs He did," as recorded by John, the disciple of the Lord. Then, withdrawing from Judea, He went to Samaria, and there He conversed with the Samaritan woman and cured the son of the centurion from a distance by saying, "Go, your son lives." Later, He went a second time to Jerusalem for the Passover, where He healed the paralytic man who had been lying by the pool for thirty-eight years, telling him to rise, take up his bed, and walk. Again, withdrawing to the other side of the Sea of Tiberias, seeing a large crowd had followed Him, He fed them all with five loaves of bread, and twelve baskets of leftovers were collected. When He raised Lazarus from the dead and the Pharisees plotted against Him, He withdrew to a city called Ephraim; and from there, it is written, "He came to Bethany six days before the Passover," and from Bethany went to Jerusal

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching

... He showed that He alone would save those who do not turn away from His faith. And the blood of the Passover, sprinkled on each man’s doorposts and lintel, saved those who were rescued in Egypt, when the firstborn of the Egyptians were destroyed. For the Passover was Christ, who was later sacrificed, as Isaiah also said, ‘He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.’ And it is written, that on the day of the Passover you seized Him, and also during the Passover you crucified Him. And just as the blood of the Passover saved those who were in Egypt, so also the blood of Christ will save from death those who have believed. Would God, then, have been wrong if this sign had not been placed above the doors? I do not say that; but I assert that He announced the future salvation for humanity in advance through the blood of Christ. For the sign of the scarlet thread, which the spies sent to Jericho by Joshua, son of Nun, gave to Rahab the harlot, instructing her to tie it to the window through which she let them down to escape from their enemies, also showed the symbol of the blood of Christ, by which those who were once harlots and unrighteous people from all nations are saved, receiving f

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness

...he day of His passion, Moses was not unaware, and he foretold it in a symbolic manner by naming the Passover; and during that very festival, long ago proclaimed by Moses, our Lord suffered, thus fulfilling the Passover. Moses not only described the day but also the place and the time of day when the sufferings ended, and the sign of the setting of the sun, saying: “You may not sacrifice the passover within any other of your cities that the God gives you; but in the place which your God chooses for His name to be called on there, you shall sacrifice the passover in the evening, towards the setting of the sun.”

Tatian, The Diatessaron Background

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Jews used to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus sent two of his disciples, Cephas and John, and said to them, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it." They said to him, "Where do you want us to prepare it?" He said to them, "Go into the city. When you enter it, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'Our Master says, "My time has come, and at your house I am keeping the Passover." Where is the guest room where I may eat with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Prepare for us there." His two disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as he had told them. And they prepared the Passover.

Tatian, The Diatessaron Background

But when his brothers went up to the feast, he traveled from Galilee and came to the borders of Judea, to the region beyond the Jordan. Great crowds followed him there, and he healed them all there. And he went up to the feast, not openly, but as one who was hiding himself. Then the Jews looked for him at the feast and said, "Where is this man?" And there was much murmuring among the great crowd that had come to the feast because of him. Some said, "He is good." Others said, "No, but he leads the people astray." But no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jews.

Methodius, Fragments Supporting witness

but, as I have said, He Himself, as the true Lamb, was sacrificed for us in the feast of the typical Passover, on the day of the preparation, the fourteenth of the first lunar month.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Background

and from that place, as it is written “He came to Bethany six days before the passover,” and going up from Bethany to Jerusalem, He there ate the passover, and suffered on the day following.

Ignatius, Epistles of Ignatius Direct teaching

..., lest he lose his reward. Do not underestimate the festivals. Do not disregard the period of forty days, as it is an imitation of the conduct of the Lord. After the week of the passion, do not neglect to fast on the fourth and sixth days, while also giving from your abundance to the poor. If anyone fasts on the Lord’s Day or on the Sabbath, except on the paschal Sabbath only, he is a murderer of Christ.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

... am in the middle of great affliction. And as if you were here with me, I remember your former love day and night; God alone knows it. Therefore I ask that you will grant my request, and that you will grieve with me over the spiritual death of my sister, who in this time of destruction has fallen away from Christ. For she has sacrificed and provoked our Lord, as seems clear to us. Because of her actions, on this day of paschal rejoicing, I have spent the days weeping day and night, in tears, sackcloth, and ashes, and I am still spending them this way to this very day. This will continue until the help of our Lord Jesus Christ comes to aid such a terrible shipwreck, together with the love shown through you, or through those my lords who have been crowned, from whom you are about to ask it. For I remember your former love: that you will grieve, along with all the rest, for our sisters whom you also knew well, that is, Numeria and Candida. Because of their sin, and because they have us as brothers, we ought to keep watch for them. For I believe that Christ, according to their repentance and the works they have done for our banished colleagues who came from you, and from whom you yo

Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness

...ht at once to begin their festival joy and gladness. But in what you wrote to me, you showed very clearly, and with an intelligent understanding of the Holy Scriptures, that they do not seem to give any exact statement of the hour when He rose. For the Evangelists describe differently the people who came one after another to the tomb, and all declare that they found the Lord already risen. Matthew says it was at the end of the Sabbath. John writes that it was early, while it was still dark. Luke says it was very early in the morning. Mark tells us it was very early in the morning, at the rising of the sun. So no one has shown us clearly the exact time when He rose. It is admitted, however, that those who came to the tomb at the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, found that He was no longer lying in it. And let us not suppose that the Evangelists disagree or contradict one another. Even if there seems to be some small difficulty in the matter we are asking about, they all agree that the Light of the world, our Lord, rose on that one night, though they differ about the hour. So we may rightly try, with a wise and faithful mind, to bring their

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

... their calculation, do not be concerned about it. Keep your nights of watching in the middle of the days of unleavened bread. And when the Jews are feasting, you must fast and mourn for them, because on the day of their feast they crucified Christ. And while they are grieving and eating unleavened bread in bitterness, you should feast. But no longer be concerned to keep the feast with the Jews, for we now have no communion with them. For they have been led astray even in the calculation itself, which they think they carry out perfectly, so that they may be led astray on every side and shut off from the truth. But carefully observe the vernal equinox, which comes on the twenty-second of the twelfth month, which is Dystros, March. Observe carefully until the twenty-first of the moon, lest the fourteenth of the moon should fall in another week, and by making an error, you should in ignorance celebrate the Passover twice in the year, or celebrate the day of the resurrection of our Lord on some day other than Sunday.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...tation of this persecution, and by the Lord's protection it also will quickly pass away. Then after Easter I will again come before you with my colleagues, and when we are present, we will be able both to arrange and to complete the matters that need to be done, according to your judgment and the general counsel of us all, as was decided before. But if anyone, refusing to repent and to make satisfaction to God, should give himself over to the party of Felicissimus and his followers, and should join himself to the heretical faction, let him know that afterward he cannot return to the Church and have communion with the bishops and the people of Christ. I bid you, dearest brothers, a heartfelt farewell always, and I ask that you continue to pray for me, so that the mercy of God may be sought.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

He Himself commanded us to fast during these six days because of the impiety and transgression of the Jews. He also commanded us to mourn over them and grieve for their destruction. For He Himself even wept over them, because they did not know the time of their visitation. But He commanded us to fast on the fourth and sixth days of the week: the first because He was betrayed, and the second because of His passion. But He appointed us to end our fast on the seventh day at cockcrow, yet to fast on the Sabbath day. This is not because the Sabbath day is a day of fasting, since it is the rest from creation, but because we ought to fast on this one Sabbath only, while on this day the Creator was under the earth. For on their very feast day they seized the Lord, so that the oracle might be fulfilled which says, "They placed their signs in the middle of their feast, and did not know them." You ought, therefore, to mourn over them, because when the Lord came they did not believe in Him, but rejected His teaching, and judged themselves unworthy of salvation. But you are happy, who once were not a people, but now are a holy nation, delivered from the deceit of idols, from ignorance, and from

Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Supporting witness

and the reasons he subjoins. But on the Lord's day we ought not to fast, for it is a day of joy for the resurrection of the Lord, and on it, says he, we have received that we ought not even to bow the knee.

Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness

However, it will be acknowledged cordially by all, that from the date of the resurrection of our Lord, those who up to that time have been humbling their souls with fastings, ought at once to begin their festal joy and gladness.

Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Supporting witness

But the Lord's day we celebrate as a day of joy, because on it He rose again, on which day we have received it for a custom not even to bow the knee.