Letter 821: The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

To Isidore. What is meant by "On the second-first Sabbath," and what by "Sabbaths of Sabbaths." The phrase "On the second-first Sabbath," spoken in the Gospels, you have asked me to explain to you as something unclear; so listen. It is called "second-first" because it was the second day of the Passover, but the first day of the Unleavened Bread. For having sacrificed the Passover in the evening, on the following day they celebrated the festival of the Unleavened Bread, which they also called "second-first," because, as I said, it was the second day of the Passover but the first of the Unleavened Bread. And that this is true is clear from the fact that the apostles were accused of plucking the ears of grain and eating them. For at that season alone do the ears of grain bear their fruit, and they are bent down by the fruit and by the season of harvest, as it were calling the sickle upon themselves. On the third day of the Unleavened Bread, then, the sheaf [of first-fruits] was also offered. Thus both from the season and from what took place, the matter inquired into is clear. And if it is called a "Sabbath," do not be surprised; for they call every feast a "Sabbath." And for this reason it is said "Sabbaths of Sabbaths." For it happened at times that either the beginning of the festal assembly or its end coincided with the Sabbath of the week, as one might say, and this often occurs among us too. For just as, when the Theophany [the Epiphany] or the Saviour's birth in the flesh falls on a Lord's Day [Sunday], it makes the festival double, as it were a feast within a feast, so also among them, if the festal assembly coincided with the Sabbath, it was called "Sabbaths of Sabbaths." Many who have set themselves over the care of the poor end up using it for their own profit. These men one ought not to envy, but either to correct, or, from a great distance, to flee from them as destroyers. For they increase the poverty of those whom it was their duty to relieve.

Τί ἐστι τό, «Ἐν Σαββάτῳ δευτεροπρώτῳ»· καὶ τί, «Σάββατα σαββάτων.» Τό, «Ἐν Σαββάτῳ δευτεροπρώτῳ (75)», εἴρημένον ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις, ἑρμηνευθῆναί σοι ὡς ἀσαφὲς παρακαλέσας, ἄκουε· Δευτερόπρωτον εἴρηται, ἐπειδὴ δεύτερον μὲν ἦν τοῦ Πάσχα, πρῶτον δὲ τῶν Ἀζύμων. Ἑσπέρας γὰρ θύοντες τὸ Πάσχα, τῇ ἑξῆς τὴν τῶν ἀζύμων ἐπανηγύριζον ἑορτήν· ἣν καὶ δευτερόπρω- τον ἐκάλουν· διὰ τό, ὡς ἔφην, δευτέραν μὲν εἶναι τοῦ Πάσχα, πρώτην δὲ τῶν Ἀζύμων. Καὶ ὅτι τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν ἀληθές, δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ ἀποστόλους ἐγκα- λῆσθαι ὡς τίλλοντας τοὺς στάχυας, καὶ ἐσθίοντας. Ἐν ἐκείνῳ γὰρ τῷ καιρῷ μόνη καρποφοροῦσιν οἱ στάχυες, καὶ κέκλινται ὑπὸ τοῦ καρποῦ καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἄμητον ὥρας, οἱονεὶ τὴν δρεπάνην ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς καλοῦντες. Τῇ τρίτῃ γοῦν ἡμέρᾳ τῶν Ἀζύμων, καὶ τὸ δράγμα προσεφέρετο. Οὕτως καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ καιροῦ, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ γεγενημένου δῆλον ἐστὶ τὸ ζητούμε- νον. Εἰ δὲ Σάββατω εἴρηται, μὴ θαυμάσῃς. Σάβ- βατον γὰρ πᾶσαν ἑορτὴν καλοῦσι. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτ᾽ εἴ- ρηται Σάββατα σαββάτων. Ἐπειδὴ δαθ᾽ ὅτε, ἡ ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς πανηγύρεως, ἢ τὸ τέλος συνέπιπτε τῷ τῆς ἑβδομάδος Σαββάτῳ, οἷον εἰπεῖν, καὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν που- λάκις γίνεται. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὅταν τὰ Θεοφάνια ἢ ἡ τοῦ Σωτῆρος κατὰ σάρκα γέννησις ἐν Κυριακῇ ἀπαντή- σειε, ποιεῖ διπλῆν τὴν πανήγυριν, οἱονεὶ ἑορτὴν ἐν ἑορτῇ· οὕτω καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς, εἰ καὶ ἡ πανήγυρις τῷ Σαββάτῳ συνέπιπτε, Σάββατα σαββάτων ἐκαλεῖτο. Πολλλοὶ τὴν τῶν πενήτων φροντίδα προστησάμενοι, εἰς τὸν ἴδιον χρηματισμὸν τελευτῶσιν. Οὓς οὐ χρὴ ζηλοῦν, ἀλλ’ ἢ διορθοῦν, ἢ ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιόντος, ὡς λυμεῶνας φεύγειν. Ἐπισρίθουσι γὰρ τὴν ἐκείνων πενίαν, ἣν θεραπεύειν ἐχρῆν.