Apollinaris of Laodicea: Three Easter Homilies

Jesuit patrologist Enrico Cattaneo has presented a study of three Easter homilies found within the Pseudo-Chrysostom corpus. The volume analyzes the history of these texts, tracing their publication from Henry Savile in 1612 and Bernard de Montfaucon in 1728 to the 1953 critical edition by Pierre Nautin.

Cattaneo argues that the homilies were written by Apollinaris, the bishop of Laodicea in Syria during the second half of the fourth century. He bases this thesis on the homilies' anti-Arian character, which suggests a composition date around 360, and their shared use of typological and symbolic language found in Apollinaris's surviving writings. Structurally, the texts appear to be a single Easter homily divided into three parts, which may have been delivered to the baptized immediately after their baptismal ceremony.

The homilies provide a spiritual and Christological interpretation of the Passover described in Exodus 12. Following the Origenist tradition, the texts explain the term Pascha as a "passing over" by referencing the angel who passed over Jewish houses when seeing the blood of the lamb on the doorposts.