For I am the LORD your God: you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
All Commentaries on Leviticus 11:44 Go To Leviticus 11
Caesarius of Arles
AD 542
Pious souls of the Lord, what the Lord admonishes us is not to be considered merely in passing, for he says, “Be holy because I am holy.” Although this term properly belongs to all the Christian people, according to what blessed Peter says, “You, however, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,” this term seems particularly to apply to all priests in a special way. In all the letters which are addressed to the Lord’s priests by any men whatsoever, it is specially indicated that they are holy. Since then this term is applied to us, we ought to inquire what precisely is its meaning. It is only through Greek that the interpretation of this word holy can be discovered. For agios is the Greek for “holy,” and agios has the meaning “not of the earth.” Therefore if we are more solicitous for heavenly things than for those of earth, this term is not unfittingly applied to us.
