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was the enemy of the church. [handwritten: 225] In the Symposium of Methodius, the church is spoken of as
Handwritten: νικήσασα τὸν ὄφιν καὶ τῆς πληρογελίνου τῆς
Handwritten: ἑαυτῆς τὰς νεφέλας τὰς συνχειμένους ἀπωδαμένη. 226
We have already quoted the Manichean description of the fight of the Church with the dragon and the lion. [handwritten: 227] In another Manichean psalm, there is a vivid description of the devil's attempt to sink the ship, i.e. the Church. [handwritten: 228] The collocation of Christ as guarding the city of Kourion and of saving the ship, i.e. the Church, may be reminiscent reminiscent of the order of the prayers in a rite of the blessing of the waters. The sequence of the pertinent prayers is as follows:
Handwritten: ὑπὲρ τοῦ συμπολεμεῖσθαι:
Handwritten: ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ταύτης:
Handwritten: ὑπὲρ εὐκρασίας:
Handwritten: ὑπὲρ πλεόντων ὁδοιπορούντων. 229
That the εὐκρασίας is [handwritten: the] εὐκρασίας τῶν ἀέρων is shown by Fuller but more recent editions. [handwritten: 230] Finally if the fifth line be a prayer to Christ that he guard the city of Kourion, the sixth line, since it is in the past tense, would normally be expletive of the lion above. The establishment of the Peace of the Church would be a very good reason for Christ's taking over the guardianship of the city. This last line was probably introduced by
65 figures hard to readstruck struck outadded written in above” jug ditto, and what it repeatsword reading not certain