VI.
And, therefore, in this concurrence of the sun and
moon, the Paschal festival is not to be celebrated, because as long as
they are found in this course the power of darkness is not overcome;
and as long as equality between light and darkness endures, and is not
diminished by the light, it is shown that the Paschal festival is not
to be celebrated. Accordingly, it is enjoined that that festival
be kept after the equinox, because the moon of the fourteenth,1173
| 1173 xiv.
luna. The Romans used the phrase luna prima,
secunda, &c., as meaning, the first, second day, &c.,
after new moon.—Tr. |
if before the
equinox or at the equinox, does not fill the whole
night. But
after the equinox, the
moon of the fourteenth, with one day being added
because of the passing of the equinox, although it does not extend to
the true
light, that is, the rising of the sun and the beginning of
day, will nevertheless leave no
darkness behind it. And, in
accordance with this,
Moses is charged by the
Lord to keep seven days
of
unleavened bread for the celebration of the
Passover, that in them
no
power of
darkness should be found to
surpass the
light. And
although the outset of four nights begins to be dark, that is, the 17th
and 18th and 19th and 20th, yet the moon of the 20th, which
rises before that, does not permit
the darkness to extend on even to midnight.
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