"two turtledoves, our soul and our flesh"

Morgan Library M.385 (1440-1460), fol. 12v

     "At the time of [his] first birth, Christ entered after forty days into the earthly Jerusalem, into the Temple, and conveyed as first-born two turtledoves to God.  But at the time of his rebirth from among the dead, too, Christ, after forty days, was taken up into the Jerusalem on high—from which he was n[ever however] separated—into the true Holy of Holies, and, as incorruptible ‘firstborn from among the dead,’ conveyed to God and to the Father [as it were] two turtledoves [without blemish], our soul and our flesh [(ὡς δύο ἀμώμους τρυγόνας τὴν ψυχήν καὶ τὴν σάρκα τήν ἡμετέραν)]. . . ."

     Pseudo-Epiphanius, Homilia in diuini corporis sepulturam (In Sabbato magno, Homily for the Great and Holy Saturday, Ancient homily on Holy Saturday, The Lord's descent into Hades, On the burial of the divine body, Homily on the burial of Jesus, etc.) 3, as translated from the French of A. Vaillant, L’homélie d’Épiphane sur l’ensevelissement du Christ:  Texte vieux-slave, texte grec et traduction française (Zagreb:  1958), 87.  The Greek (presumably of Dindorf (p. 13, ll. 3 ff.) or PG 43 (Petau)) is given at p. 31 ll. 13 ff.  In the next line, Pseudo-Epiphanius distinguishes intriguingly between such claims considered as "[articles] of faith" (which, apparently, they aren't) on the one hand and "[figures] of rhetorique" on the other (μυθικῶς . . . οὐ πιστῶς).  "For just as Christ was born of a Virgin the bolts of [whose] virginity [were] marked with a[n unbroken] seal, so the rebirth of Christ took place with the seals of the tomb unbroken."  For an online English translation of the Greek provided by Vaillant, go here.

Not just the just?

British Library, Cotton MS Tiberius C VI (c. 1050), f.14

"in which [Spirit] he went and preached [(ἐκήρυξεν)] to the spirits in prison [(τοῖς ἐν φυλακῇ πνεύμασιν)], who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark....

"this is why the gospel was preached [(εὐηγγελίσθη)] even to the dead [(νεκροῖς)], that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God."

     1 Pet 3:19-20, 4:6, RSV.

"our imitation was in a figure, and our salvation in reality"

Morgan Library M.803, fol. 68v

"This is something amazing and unheard of! It was not we who actually died, were buried and rose again. We only did these things symbolically, but we have been saved in actual fact. It is Christ who was crucified, who was buried and who rose again, and all this has been attributed to us. We share in his sufferings symbolically and gain salvation in reality. What boundless love for men! Christ’s undefiled hands were pierced by the nails; he suffered the pain. I experience no pain, no anguish, yet by the share that I have in his sufferings he freely grants me salvation."

     St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis 20.5 =Mystagogical catechesis 2.5, as trans. Liturgy of the hours for the Office of readings for Thursday within the octave of Easter.  =PG 33, col. 1081, SC .  The NPNF translation is a bit easier to map onto the Greek:

O strange and inconceivable thing! we did not really die, we were not really buried, we were not really crucified and raised again; but our imitation was in a figure, and our salvation in reality [(ἀλλ' ἐν εἰπόνι ἡ μίμησις, ἐν ἀληθείᾳ δὲ ἡ σωτηρία)].  Christ was actually crucified, and actually buried, and truly rose again; and all these things He has freely bestowed upon us, that we, sharing His sufferings by imitation, might gain salvation in reality [(ἵνα τῇ μιμήσει τῶν παθημάτων αὐτοῦ κοινωνήσαντες, ἀληθείά τὴν σωτηρίαν κερδήσωμεν)].  O surpassing loving-kindness!  Christ received nails in His undefiled hands and feet, and suffered anguish; while on me without pain or toil by the fellowship of His suffering He freely bestows salvation.