In Vitam et Passionem Christi
Standard abbreviation: Hom. Life Pass.
Other titles: Exegesis Delivered on Easter Wednesday, In Passionem Domini, Homily Delivered on Wednesday after Easter
Clavis numbers: ECCA 532
Category: Pseudo-Apostolic Memoirs
Related literature: Epistle of Lentulus, Names of the Twelve Apostles and of Their Parents, Homily on the Resurrection and the Passion by Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem, Homily II on the Passion by Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem, Vita beate virginis Marie et Salvatoris Rhythmica, Didascalia Apostolorum
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Homily on the Life and the Passion of Christ by Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/homily-on-the-life-and-the-passion-of-christ-by-pseudo-cyril-of-jerusalem/.
Created February 2019. Current as of January 2024.
1. SUMMARY
As with many of the Coptic “pseudo-apostolic memoirs,” Hom. Life Pass. is introduced as a homily delivered by a leading figure of Coptic Miaphysite orthodoxy, in this case Cyril of Jerusalem, on the occasion of a particular feast day, here the fourth day of Holy Week. After a brief mention of the importance of the month Parmoute (in which both creation and the crucifixion occurred), Cyril reveals that Theodosius the deacon found a “small book of parchment” in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, in Jerusalem. It was written in a shorthand that a priest named Bachios was able to decipher. Cyril then presents the contents of this book.
The first portion of the text, told from the perspective of Peter, recounts the calling of the apostles. The list of the twelve includes additional information about where they are from, their professions, and the names of their parents. The same information is found in other texts, including the Greek Names of the Twelve Apostles and of Their Parents. Various miracles and healings are recounted as well as Jesus’ conflicts with Jewish authorities, which arises because his followers were not going to the synagogues and instead were bringing gifts to Jesus. Then the scene shifts to a discussion among the chief priests about Jesus that has some connections with texts from the Pilate Cycle. Joseph of Arimathea comes to Jesus’ defense, proclaiming him a “great teacher” and recounting the circumstances of his birth, drawing here upon traditions from the Protevangelium of James. Annas and Caiaphas seek to kill Joseph but Nicodemus stands up for Joseph and the group disperses. Nicodemus then visits Jesus and becomes a disciple (expanding upon John 3:1–10).
The text continues with Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, again incorporating stories from the canonical Gospels: the raising of Lazarus and Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi. A new episode is given in which Jesus’ mother Mary seeks to prevent Jesus’ death by convincing him to escape with her to Egypt as he did when he was young; Jesus reassures her that he will rise again.
Jesus arrives in Jerusalem on the first day of the week (Saturday). Here begins a chronology attributed in the text to the Constitutions of the Apostles, but paralleled also in the Syriac Didascalia Apostolorum. This chronology conflicts with the canonical Gospels’ testimony that the Last Supper took place on the Thursday with his arrest the subsequent night; instead, the events occur two days earlier, on Tuesday.
The week unfolds with the disturbance in the temple, Judas’ meeting with the chief priests (prefaced by an episode in which Judas is convinced to betray Jesus by his “wicked wife”), then comes an episode similar to the Transfiguration (though without mention of Moses and Elijah and Jesus becomes “like a column of fire, and his feet were with us on the mountain but his head reached to the sky”), the Last Supper (held in a garden in the Kidron Valley), the agony in the garden, and the arrest. It is said that Judas needs to identify Jesus to the temple guards because his appearance continually changes (the chief priests say, “we have never seen him in one and the same appearance”).
On day four of Holy Week, the same day as Cyril’s homily, Jesus is brought before the high priest, where he is beaten and then sent, at Nicodemus’s insistence, to Pontius Pilate. At this point the text inserts a physical description of Jesus that is reminiscent of the Epistle of Lentulus. Pilate is considered a saint in the Coptic church, so he is portrayed here as a believer in God and reluctant to harm Jesus. Seeking to abdicate responsibility, Pilate sends Jesus to Herod Antipas but Herod returns him with a letter instructing Pilate to crucify him. On the fifth day, Pilate dines with Jesus and suggests to him that he give the crowd his only son in Jesus’ place; but Jesus tells Pilate to give the crowd Herod’s letter, thus absolving Pilate of guilt. Jesus declares that he could escape if he wished and then demonstrates this by becoming invisible. Pilate tells Jesus about a dream in which an eagle is crucified by the Jews and Egyptians gather to him but the eagle lives again and flies off to heaven. Jesus interprets the dream as his rejection by the Jews and acceptance by the Egyptians who will “build churches to worship me therein and to continue to commemorate my resurrection and to marvel at my death.” Procla, the wife of Pilate, also has a dream in which another eagle, representing Pilate, is decapitated.
Realizing he has gone beyond the fourth day, Cyril apologizes for straying off-topic and finishes his homily with a short summary of the fourth day and a promise to continue the story with Jesus’ burial and resurrection; the author may be alluding here to another Ps.-Cyril homily called Homily On the Resurrection and the Passion.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Abraham (patriarch), Adam (patriarch), Andrew (apostle), Annas (scribe/high priest), Bachios (priest), Barabbas, Bartholomew (apostle), Caiaphas, Cyril of Jerusalem, Daughter of Jairus, Eve (matriarch), Herod Antipas, Holy Spirit, Jacob (patriarch), James (son of Alphaeus), James (son of Zebedee), Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), John (the Baptist), Joseph (patriarch), Joseph (of Nazareth), Judas Iscariot, Laban, Legion, Lazarus (of Bethany), Luke (evangelist), Mark (evangelist), Martha (of Bethany), Mary (mother of John Mark), Mary (of Bethany), Mary (Virgin), Mary Magdalene, Matthew (apostle), Matthias (apostle), Moses (patriarch), Nicodemus, Paraclete, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Philip (apostle), Pontius Pilate, Procla (wife of Pilate), Simeon, Simon (the Canaanite/Zealot), Thaddaeus (apostle), Theodosius (deacon), Widow of Nain, Wife of Judas, Zechariah (priest).
Geographical Locations: Bethany, Bethlehem, Egypt, Galilee, House of Mary, Israel, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Judah, Kidron Valley, Mount Sinai, temple (Jerusalem).
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Coptic (Sahidic; CPC 0113; PAThs entry)
New York, Morgan Library and Museum, M610 (9th cent.) = MICH.BS
Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Museum, E16262 (9th/10th cent.)
Broek, Roelof van den. Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Life and the Passion of Christ. A Coptic Apocryphon. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 118. Leiden: Brill, 2013 (text and translation based on both manuscripts, pp. 123–81).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Broek, Roelof van den. Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Life and the Passion of Christ. A Coptic Apocryphon. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 118. Leiden: Brill, 2013 (text and translation based on both manuscripts, pp. 123–81).
3.3 General Works
Broek, Roelof van den. “An Early Chronology of Holy Week in Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem’s On the Passion (Pierpont Morgan Library, M 610).” Pages 101–108 in vol. 1 of Ägypten und Nubien in spätantiker und christlicher Zeit. Akten des 6. Internationalen Koptologenkongresses, Müster, 20.–26. Juli 1996. Edited by Stephen Emmel et al. 2 vols. Sprachen und Kulturen des Christlichen Orients 6/1–2. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1999.
Campagnano, Antonella. Ps. Cirillo di Gerusalemme: Omelie copte sulla Passione, sulla Croce e sulla Vergine. Testi e documenti per lo studio dell’ Antichità 65. Milan: Cisalpino-Goliardica, 1980.
Orlandi, Tito. “Cirillo di Gerusalemme nella letteratura copta.” Vetera Christinanorum 9 (1972): 93–100.
Suciu, Alin. The Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon: A Coptic Apostolic Memoir. WUNT 370. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017 (see pp. 76–77).