[649] Origen, _c. Cels._ 3. 59. Persons who have partaken of the Eucharist are οἱ τελεσθέντες (Chrys. _de compunct. ad Demet._ 1. 6. i. p. 132), and οἱ μεμυημένοι (id. _Hom._ vi. _de beat. Phil._ c. 3. i. p. 498, and in _Ep. ad Hebr._ cap. x., _Hom._ xvii. 4, vol. xii. 169). Degrees and distinctions came to be recognized within the circle of the very initiated themselves, _Apost. Const._ vii. 44, viii. 13. [650] The earlier offerings were those of Irenæus, 4. 17. 5, where he speaks of Christ “suis discipulis dans consilium, primitias Deo offerre ex suis creaturis;” and again the Church offers “primitias suorum munerum in Novo Testamento ei qui alimenta nobis præstat.” The table in the heathen temple was important; upon it were placed the offerings: Th. Homolle in _Bulletin de Corresp. Hellén._ 1881, p. 118. For the Eucharist itself as a mystery, cf. φρικωδεστάτη τελετὴ, Chrys. _de sacerdot._ 3. 4, vol. i. 382. He argues for silence on the ground that they are mysteries, _de bapt. Christ._ 4. ii. 375. Cf. Greg. Naz. _Orat._ 44, p. 713; Conc. Laod. 7, Bruns, p. 74. [651] Found in Chrys. e.g. _Hom. in Ep._ ii. _ad Corinth._ v. c. 3, vol. x. 470: τοιαύτῃ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐκεῖνο φοινίσσεται σφαγῇ. [652] _Ad Ephes._ 5; see Lightfoot’s note. Cf. _Trall._ 7; _Philad._ 4; _Mag._ 7; _Rom._ 2. [653] _Ap. Const._ ii. 57, p. 88. But see for θυσιαστήριον in a highly figurative sense, iii. 6, iv. 3. [654] _H. E._ x. 4, 44. [655] Isid. Pelus. _Epist._ 3. 340, p. 390, προσῆλθε μὲν τῷ σεπτῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ τῶν θείων μυστηρίων μεταληψόμενος; also 4. 181, p. 516, τὰ θεῖα μῂ διδόσθαι μυστήρια. Cf. Chrys. _de comp. ad Demet._ 1. 6, vol. i. p. 131; Theodoret, _dial._ 2, vol. iv. 125. There was a sacred formula. Basil says that no saint has written down the formula of consecration: _de Spir. Sancto_, 66, vol. iv. pp. 54, 55. After saying that some doctrines and usages of the Church have come down in writing, τὰ δὲ ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἀποστόλων παραδόσεως διαδοθέντα ἡμῖν ἐν μυστηρίῳ παρεδεξάμεθα, he instances the words of the Eucharistic invocation as among the later; τὰ τῆς ἐπικλήσεως ῥήματα ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναδείξει τοῦ ἄρτου τῆς ἐυχαριστίας καὶ τοῦ ποτηρίου τῆς ἐυλογίας τίς τῶν ἁγίων ἐγγράφως ἡμῖν καταλέλοιπεν. [656] In Dionysius Areop. (s. v. ἱεράρχης, ed. Corderius, i. 839), the bishops are τελεσταί, ἱεροτελεσταί, τελεστάρχαι, μυσταγωγοί, τελεστουργοί, τελεστικοί; the priests are φωτιστικοί; the deacons, καθαρτικοί; the Eucharist is ἱεροτελεστικωτάτη (c. 4). The deacon, ἀποκαθαίρει τοὺς ἀτελέστους (c. 5, § 3, p. 233), i.e. dips them in the water; the priest, φωταγωγεῖ τοὺς καθαρθέντας, i.e. leads the baptized by the hand into the church; the bishop, ἀποτελειοῖ τοὺς τῷ θείῳ φωτὶ κεκοινωνηκότας. [657] Dion. Areop. _Eccles. Hier._ c. 3, par. 1, §§ 1, 2, pp. 187, 188. [658] For in the decree mentioned in a previous note (p. 292, n. 2), among other honours to T. Ælius Alcibiades, he is to be πρῶτον τοῖς διπτύχοις ἐνγραφόμενον.