THE FESTAL LETTERS, AND THEIR INDEX (Or Chronicon Athanasianum)
I. FESTAL LETTERS
LETTER I. For 329.
Easter-day xi Phartmuthi; viii Id. April; AEr. Dioclet. 45; Coss. Constantinus
Aug. VIII. Constantinus Caes. IV; Praefect. Septimius Zenius; Indict. II.
OF FASTING, AND TRUMPETS, AND FEASTS.
COME, my beloved, the season calls us to keep the feast. Again, 'the Sun
of Righteousness(1), causing His divine beams to rise upon us, proclaims
beforehand the time of the feast, in which, obeying Him, we ought to celebrate
it, test when the time has passed by, gladness likewise may pass us by. For
discerning the time is one of the duties most urgent on us, for the practice
of virtue; so that the blessed Paul, when instructing his disciple, teaches
him to observe the time, saying, 'Stand (ready) in season, and out of
season(2)'--that knowing both the one and the other, be might do things
befitting the season, and avoid the blame of unseasonableness. For thus the
God of all, after the manner of wise Solomon(3), distributes everything in
time and season, to the end that, in due time, the salvation of men should be
everywhere spread abroad. Thus the 'Wisdom of God(4),' our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, not out of season, but in season, 'passed upon holy souls,
fashioning the friends of God and the prophets(5);' so that although very many
were praying for Him, and saying, 'O that the salvation of God were come out
of Sion(6)!'--the Spouse also, as it is written in the Song of Songs, was
praying and saying, 'O that Thou wert my sister's son, that sucked the breasts
of my mother(7)!' that Thou wert like the children of men, and wouldest take
upon Thee human passions for our sake!--nevertheless, the God of all, the
Maker of times and seasons, Who knows our affairs better than we do, while, as
a good physician, He exhorts to obedience in season--the only one in which we
may be healed--so also does He send Him not unseasonably, but seasonably,
saying, 'In an acceptable time have I heard Thee, and in the day of salvation
I have helped Thee
2. And, on this account, the blessed Paul, urging us to note this season,
wrote, saying, 'Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation(9).' At set seasons also He called the children of Israel to the
Levitical feasts by Moses, saying, 'Three times in a year ye shall keep a
feast to Me(10)' (one of which, my beloved, is that now at hand), the trumpets
of the priests sounding and urging its observance; as the holy Psalmist
commanded, saying, 'Blow with the trumpet in the new moon, on the [solemn] day
of your feast(11).' Since this sentence enjoins upon us to blow both on the
new moons, and on the solemn
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days, He hath made a solemn day of that in which the light of the moon is
perfected in the full; which was then a type, as is this of the trumpets. At
one time, as has been said, they called to the feasts; at another time to
fasting and to war. And this was not done without solemnity, nor by chance,
but this sound of the trumpets was appointed, so that every man should come to
that which was proclaimed. And this ought to be learned not merely from me,
but from the divine Scriptures, when God was revealed to Moses, and said, as
it is written in the book of Numbers; 'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Make to thee two trumpets; of silver shalt thou make them, and they shall be
for thee to call the congregation(13);'--very properly for those who here
love Him. So that we may know that these things had reference to the time of
Moses--yea, were to be observed so long as the shadow lasted, the whole being
appointed for use, 'till the time of reformation(1).' 'For' (said He) 'if ye
shall go out to battle in your land against your enemies that rise up against
you(2)' (for such things as these refer to the land, and no further), 'then ye
shall proclaim with the trumpets, and shall be remembered before the Lord, and
be delivered from your enemies.' Not only in wars did they blow the trumpet,
but under the law, there was a festal trumpet also. Hear him again, going on
to say, 'And in the day of your gladness, and in your feasts, and your new
moons, ye shall blow with the trumpets(3).' And let no man think it a light
and contemptible matter, if he hear the law command respecting trumpets; it is
a wonderful and fearful thing. For beyond any other voice or instrument, the
trumpet is awakening and terrible; so Israel received instruction by these
means, because he was then but a child. But in order that the proclamation
should not be thought merely human, being superhuman, its sounds resembled
those which were uttered when they trembled before the mount(4); and they were
reminded of the law that was then given them, and kept it.
3. For the law was admirable, and the shadow was excellent, otherwise, it
would not have wrought fear, and induced reverence in those who heard;
especially in those who at that time not only heard but saw these things. Now
these things were typical, and done as in a shadow. But let us pass on to the
meaning, and henceforth leaving the figure at a distance, come to the truth,
and look upon the priestly trumpets of our Saviour, which cry out, and call
us, at one time to war, as the blessed Paul saith; 'We wrestle not with flesh
and blood, but with principalities, with powers, with the rulers of this dark
world. with wicked spirits in heaven(5).' At another time the call is made to
virginity, and self-denial, and conjugal harmony, saying, To virgins, the
things of virgins; and to those who love the way of abstinence, the things of
abstinence; and to those who are married(6), the things of an honourable
marriage; thus assigning to each its own virtues and an honourable recompense.
Sometimes the call is made to fasting, and sometimes to a feast. Hear again
the same [Apostle] blowing the trumpet, and proclaiming, 'Christ our Passover
is sacrificed; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness(7).' If thou wouldest listen to a
trumpet much greater than all these, hear our Saviour saying; 'In that last
and great clay of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst,
let him come unto Me and drink(8).' For it became the Saviour not simply to
call us to a feast, but to 'the great feast;' if only we will be prepared to
hear, and to conform to the proclamation of every trumpet.
4. For since, as I before said, there are divers proclamations, listen, as in
a figure, to the prophet blowing the trumpet; and further, having turned to
the truth, be ready for the announcement of the trumpet, for he saith, Blow ye
the trumpet in Sion: sanctify a fast(9).' This is a warning trumpet, and
commands with great earnestness, that when we fast, we should hallow the fast.
For not all those who call upon God, hallow God, since there are some who
defile Him; yet not Him--that is impossible--but their own mind concerning
Him; for He is holy, and has pleasure in the saints(10). And therefore the
blessed Paul accuses those who dishonour God; 'Transgressors of the law
dishonour God(11).' So then, to make a separation from those who pollute the
fast, he saith here, 'sanctify a fast.' For many, crowding to the fast,
pollute themselves in the thoughts of their hearts, sometimes by doing evil
against their brethren, sometimes by daring to defraud. And, to mention
nothing else, there are many who exalt themselves above their neighbours,
thereby causing great mischief. For the boast of fasting did no good to the
Pharisee, although he fasted twice in the week(12), only because he exalted
himself against the publican. In the same manner the Word blamed
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the children of Israel on account of such a fast as this, exhorting them by
Isaiah the Prophet, and saying, 'This is not the fast and the day that I have
chosen, that a man should humble his soul; not even if thou shouldest bow down
thy neck like a hook, and shouldest strew sackcloth and ashes under thee;
neither thus shall ye call the fast acceptable(13).' That we may be able to
shew what kind of persons we should be when we fast, and of what character the
fast should be, listen again to God commanding Moses, and saying, as it is
written in Leviticus(14), 'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, In the tenth
day of this seventh month, there shall be a day of atonement; a convocation,
and a holy day shall it be to you; and ye shall humble your souls, and offer
whole burnt-offerings unto the Lord.' And afterwards, that the law might be
defined on this point, He proceeds to say; 'Every soul that shall not humble
itself, shall be cut off from the people(15).'
5. Behold, my brethren, how much a fast can do, and in what manner the law
commands us to fast. It is required that not only with the body should we
fast, but with the soul. Now the soul is humbled when it does not follow
wicked opinions, but feeds on becoming virtues. For virtues and vices are the
food of the soul and it can eat either of these two meats, and incline to
either of the two, according to its own will. If it is bent toward virtue, it
will be nourished by virtues, by righteousness, by temperance, by meekness, by
fortitude, as Paul saith; 'Being nourished by the word of truth(16).' Such was
the case with our Lord, who said, 'My meat is to do the will of My Father
which is in heaven(17).' But if it is not thus with the soul, and it inclines
downwards, it is then nourished by nothing but sin. For thus the Holy Ghost,
describing sinners and their food, referred to the devil when He said, 'I have
given him to be meat to the people of AEthiopia(18).' For this is the food of
sinners. And as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, being heavenly bread, is
the food of the saints, according to this; 'Except ye eat My flesh, and drink
My blood(1);' so is the devil the food of the impure, and of those who do
nothing which is of the light, but work the deeds of darkness. Therefore, in
order to withdraw and turn them from vices, He commands them to be nourished
with the food of virtue; namely, humbleness of mind, lowliness to endure
humiliations, the acknowledgment of God. For not only does such a fast as this
obtain pardon for souls, but being kept holy, it prepares the saints, and
raises them above the earth.
6. And indeed that which I am about to say is wonderful, yea it is of
those things which are very miraculous; yet not far from the truth, as ye may
be able to learn from the sacred(2) writings. That great man Moses, when
fasting, conversed with God, and received the law. The great and holy Elijah,
when fasting, was thought worthy of divine visions, and at last was taken up
like Him who ascended into heaven. And Daniel, when fasting, although a very
young man, was entrusted with the mystery, and he alone understood the secret
things of the king, and was thought worthy of divine visions. But because the
length of the fast of these men was wonderful, and the days prolonged, let no
man lightly fall into unbelief; but rather let him believe and know, that the
contemplation of God, and the word which is from Him, suffice to nourish those
who hear, and stand to them in place of all food. For the angels are no
otherwise sustained than by beholding at alI times the face of the Father, and
of the Saviour who is in heaven. And thus Moses, as long as he talked with
God, fasted indeed bodily, but was nourished by divine words. When he
descended among men, and God was gone up from him, he suffered hunger like
other men. For it is not said that he fasted longer than forty days--those in
which he was conversing with God. And, generally, each one of the saints has
been thought worthy of similar transcendent nourishment.
7. Wherefore, my beloved, having our souls nourished with divine food,
with the Word, and according to the will of God, and fasting bodily in things
external, let us keep this great and saving feast as becomes us. Even the
ignorant Jews received this divine food, through the type, when they ate a
lamb in the passover. But not understanding the type, even to this day they
eat the lamb, erring in that they are without the city and the truth. As long
as Judaea and the city existed, there were a type, and a lamb, and a shadow,
since the law thus commanded(3): These things shall not be done in another
city; but in the land of Judaea, and in no place without [the land of Judaea].
And besides this, the law commanded them to offer whole burnt-offerings and
sacrifices, there being no other altar than that in Jerusalem. For on this
account, in that city alone was there an attar and temple built, and in no
other city were they permitted
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to perform these rites, so that when that city should come to an end, then
those things that were figurative might also be done away.
8. Now observe; that city, since the coming of our Savior, has had an end,
and all the land of the Jews has been laid waste; so that from the testimony
of these things (and we need' no further proof, being assured by our own eyes
of the fact) there must, of necessity, be an end of the shadow. And not from
me should these things be learned, but the sacred voice of the prophet
foretold, crying; 'Behold upon the mountains the feet of Him that bringeth
good tidings, and publisheth peace[4];' and what is the message he published,
but that which he goes on to say to them, 'Keep thy feasts, O Judah; pay to
the Lord thy vows. For they shall no more go to that which is old; it is
finished; it is taken away: He is gone up who breathed upon the face, and
delivered thee from affliction[5].' Now who is he that went up? a man may say
to the Jews, in order that even the boast of the shadow may be done away;
neither is it an idle thing to listen to the expression, 'It is finished; he
is gone up who breathed.' For nothing was finished before he went up who
breathed. But as soon as he went up, it was finished. Who was he then, O Jews,
as I said before? If Moses, the assertion would be false; for the people were
not yet come to the land in which alone they were commanded to perform these
rites. But if Samuel, or any other of the prophets, even in that case there
would be a perversion of the truth; for hitherto these things were done in
Jud'a, and the city was standing. For it was necessary that while that stood,
these things should be performed. So that it was none of these, my beloved,
who went up. But if thou wouldest hear the true matter, and be kept from
Jewish fables, behold our Saviour who went up, and 'breathed upon the face,
and said to His disciples, Receive ye the Holy Ghost[6],' For as soon as these
things were done, everything was finished, for the altar was broken, and the
veil of the temple was rent; and although the city was not yet laid waste, the
abomination was ready to sit in the midst of the temple, and the city and
those ancient ordinances to receive their final consummation.
9. Since then we have passed beyond that time of shadows, and no longer
perform rites under it, but have turned, as it were, unto the Lord; 'for the
Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty[7];'--as we hear the sacred trumpet, no longer slaying a material
lamb, but that true Lamb that was slain, even our Lord Jesus Christ; 'Who was
led as a sheep to the slaughter, and was dumb as a lamb before her
shearers[8];' being purified by His precious blood, which speaketh better
things than that of Abel, having our feet shod with the preparation of the
Gospel, holding in our hands the rod and staff of the Lord, by which that
saint was comforted, who said[9], 'Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me;' and
to sum up, being in all respects prepared, and careful for nothing, because,
as the blessed Paul saith, 'The Lord is at hand[10];' and as our Saviour
saith, 'In an hour when we think not, the Lord cometh;--Let us keep the Feast,
not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but
with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Putting off the old man and
his deeds, let us put on the new man[11], which is created in God,' in
humbleness of mind, and a pure conscience; in meditation of the law by night
and by day. And casting away all hypocrisy and fraud, putting far from us all
pride and deceit, let us take upon us love towards God and towards our
neighbour, that being new [creatures], and receiving the new wine, even the
Holy Spirit, we may properly keep the feast, even the month of these new
[fruits][12].
10. We[13] begin the holy fast on the fifth day of Pharmuthi (March 31),
and adding to it according to the number of those six holy and great days,
which are the symbol of the creation of this world, let us rest and cease
(from fasting) on the tenth day of the same Pharmuthi (April 5), on the holy
sabbath of the week. And when the first day of the holy week dawns and rises
upon us, on the eleventh day. of the same month (April 6), from which again we
count all the seven weeks one by one, let us keep feast on the holy day of
Pentecost--on that which was at one time to the Jews, typically, the feast of
weeks, in which they granted forgiveness and settlement of debts; and indeed
that day was one of deliverance in every respect. Let us keep the feast on the
first day of the great week, as a symbol of the world to come, in which we
here receive a pledge that we shall have everlasting life hereafter. Then
having passed
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hence, we shall keep a perfect feast with Christ, while we cry out and say,
like the saints, 'I will pass to the place of the wondrous tabernacle, to the
house of God; with the voice of gladness and thanksgiving, the shouting of
those who rejoice[14];' whence pain and sorrow and sighing have fled, and upon
our heads gladness and joy shall have come to us! May we be judged worthy to
be partakers in these things.
11. Let us remember the poor, and not forget kindness to strangers; above
all, let us love God with all our soul, and might, and strength, and our
neighbour as ourselves. So may we receive those things which the eye hath not
seen, nor the ear heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man,
which, God hath prepared for those that love Him[15], through His only Son,
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; through Whom, to the Father alone, by the
Holy Ghost, be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Salute one another with a kiss. All the brethren who are with me salute
you.
Here endeth the first Festal Letter of holy Athanasius.
LETTER II.
For 330.
Easter-day xxiv Pharmuthi; xiii Kal. Mai; 'ra Dioclet. 46; Coss. Gallicianus,
Valerius Symmachus; Proefect, Magninianus; Indict. iii.
AGAIN, my brethren, is Easter come and gladness; again the Lord hath
brought us to this season; so that when, according to custom, we have been
nourished with His words, we may duly keep the feast. Let us celebrate it
then, even heavenly joy, with those saints who formerly proclaimed a like
feast, and were ensamples to us of conversation in Christ. For not only were
they entrusted with the charge of preaching the Gospel, but, if we enquire, we
shall see, as it is written, that its power was displayed in them. 'Be ye
therefore followers of me[1],' he wrote to the Corinthians. Now the apostolic
precept exhorts us all, for those commands which he sent to individuals, he at
the same time enjoined upon every man in every place, for he was 'a teacher of
all nations in faith and truth[2].' And, generally, the commands of all the
saints urge us on similarly, as Solomon makes use of proverbs, saying, 'Hear,
my children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding;
for I give you a good gift, forsake ye not my word: for I was an obedient son
to my father, and beloved in the sight of my mother[3].' For a just father
brings up [his children] well, when he is diligent in teaching others in
accordance with his own upright conduct, so that when he meets with
opposition, he may not be ashamed on hearing it said, 'Thou therefore that
teachest others, teachest thou not thyself[4]?' but rather, like the good
servant, may both save himself and gain others; and thus, when the grace
committed to him has been doubled, he may hear, 'Thou good and faithful
servant, thou hast been faithful in a little, I will set thee over much: enter
into the joy of thy Lord[5].'
2. Let us[6] then, as is becoming, as at all times, yet especially in the
days of the feast, be not hearers only, but doers of the commandments of our
Saviour; that having imitated the behaviour of the saints, we may enter
together into the joy of our Lord which is in heaven, which is not transitory,
but truly abides; of which evil doers having deprived themselves, there
remains to them as the fruit of their ways, sorrow and affliction, and
groaning with torments. Let a man see what these become like, that they bear
not the likeness[7] of the con versation of the saints, nor of that right
understanding, by which man at the beginning was rational, and in the image of
God. But they are compared to their disgrace to beasts without understanding,
and becoming like them in unlawful pleasures, they are spoken of as wanton
horses[7a]; also, for their craftiness, and errors, and sin laden with death,
they are called a 'generation of vipers,' as John saith[8]. Now having thus
fallen, and grovelling in the dust like the serpent[9], having their minds set
on nothing beyond visible things, they esteem these things good, and rejoicing
in them, serve their own lusts and not God.
3. Yet even in this state, the man-loving Word, who came for this very
reason, that He might seek and find that which was lost, sought to restrain
them from such folly, crying and saying, 'Be ye not as the horse and the mule
which have no understanding, whose cheeks ye hold in with bit and bridle[10].'
Because they were careless and imitated the wicked, the prophet prays in
spirit and says, 'Ye are to me like merchant-men of Phoenicia[11].'' And the
avenging Spirit protests against them in these words, 'Lord, in Thy city Thou
wilt despise their image[12].' Thus, being changed
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into the likeness of fools, they fell so low in their understanding, that by
their excessive reasoning, they even likened the Divine Wisdom to themselves,
thinking it to be like their own arts. Therefore, 'professing themselves to be
wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into
the likeness of the corruptible image of man, and birds, and four-footed
beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind,
to do those things which are not convenient[13].' For they did not listen to
the prophetic voice that reproved them (saying), 'To what have ye likened the
Lord, and with what have ye compared Him[14]?' neither to David, who prayed
concerning such as these, and sang, 'All those that make them are like unto
them, and all those who put their trust in them[15].' Being blind to the truth
they looked upon a stone as God, and hence like senseless creatures, they
walked in darkness, and, as the prophet cried, 'They hear indeed, but they do
not understand; they see indeed, but they do not perceive; for their heart is
waxen fat, and with their ears they hear heavily[16].'
4. Now those who do not observe the feast, continue such as these even to
the present day, feigning indeed and devising names of feasts[17], but rather
introducing days of mourning than of gladness; 'For there is no peace to the
wicked, saith the Lord[1].' And as Wisdom saith, 'Gladness and joy are taken
from their mouth[2].' Such are the feasts of the wicked. But the wise servants
of the Lord, who have truly put on the man which is created in God[3], have
received gospel words, and reckon as a general commandment that given to
Timothy, which saith, 'Be thou an example to the believers in word, in
conversation, in love, in faith, in purity[4].' So well do they keep the
Feast, that even the unbelievers, seeing their order[5], may say, 'God is with
them of a truth[6].' For as he who receives an apostle receives Him who sent
him[6a], so he who is a follower of the saints, makes the Lord in every
respect his end and aim, even as Paul, being a follower of Him, goes on to
say, 'As I also of Christ[7].' For there were first our Saviour's own words,
who from the height of His divinity, when conversing with His disciples, said,
'Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your
souls[8].' Then too when He poured water into a basin, and girded HimseIf with
a towel, and washed His disciples' feet, He said to them, 'Know what I have
done. Ye call Me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am. If therefore
I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one
another's feet: for I have given you an example, that as I have done to you,
ye also should do[9].'
5. Oh! my brethren, how shall we admire the loving-kindness of the
Saviour? With what power, and with what a trumpet should a man cry out,
exalting these His benefits! That not only should we bear His image, but
should receive from Him an example and pattern of heavenly conversation; that
as He hath begun, we should go on, that suffering, we should not threaten,
being reviled, we should not revile again, but should bless them that curse,
and in everything commit ourselves to God who judgeth righteously[10]. For
those who are thus disposed, and fashion themselves according to the Gospel,
will be partakers of Christ, and imitators of apostolic conversation, on
account of which they shall be deemed worthy of that praise from him, with
which he praised the Corinthians, when he said, 'I praise you that in
everything ye are mindful of me[11].' Afterwards, because there were men who
used his words, but chose to hear them as suited their lusts, and dared to
pervert them, as the followers of Hymen'us and Alexander, and before them the
Sadducees, who as he said, 'having made shipwreck of faith,' scoffed at the
mystery of the resurrection, he immediately proceeded to say, 'And as I have
delivered to you traditions, hold them fast[12].' That means, indeed, that we
should think not otherwise than as the teacher has delivered.
6. For not only in outward form did those wicked men dissemble, putting on
as the Lord says sheep's clothing, and appearing like unto whited sepulchres;
but they took those divine words in their mouth, while they inwardly cherished
evil intentions. And the first to put on this appearance was the serpent, the
inventor of wickedness from the beginning--the devil,--who, in disguise,
conversed with Eve, and forthwith deceived her. But after him and with him are
all inventors of unlawful heresies, who indeed refer to the Scriptures, but do
not hold such opinions as the saints have handed down, and receiving them as
the traditions of men, err, because they do not rightly know them nor
their[13] power. Therefore Paul justly praises the Corinthians[11], because
their opinions were in accordance with his traditions. And the
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Lord most righteously reproved the Jews, saying, 'Wherefore do ye also
transgress the commandments of God on account of your traditions[14].' For
they changed the commandments they received from God after their own
understanding, preferring to observe the traditions of men. And about these, a
little after, the blessed Paul again gave directions to the Galatians who were
in danger thereof, writing to them, 'If any man preach to you aught else than
that ye have received, let him be accursed[15].'
7. For there is no fellowship whatever between the words of the saints and
the fancies of human invention; for the saints are the ministers of the truth,
preaching the kingdom of heaven, but those who are borne in the opposite
direction have nothing better than to eat, and think their end is that they
shall cease to be, and they say, 'Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we
die[16].' Therefore blessed Luke reproves the inventions of men, and hands
down the narrations of the saints, saying in the beginning of the Gospel,
'Since many have presumed to write narrations of those events of which we are
assured, as those who from the beginning were witnesses and ministers of the
Word have delivered to us; it hath seemed good to me also, who have adhered to
them all from the first, to write correctly in order to thee, O excellent
Theophilus, that thou mayest know the truth concerning the things in which
thou hast been instructed[17].' For as each of the saints has received, that
they impart without alteration, for the confirmation of the doctrine of the
mysteries. Of these the (divine) word would have us disciples, and these
should of right be our teachers, and to them only is it necessary to give
heed, for of them only is 'the word faithful and worthy of all
acceptation[18];' these not being disciples because they heard from others,
but being eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word, that which they had heard
from Him have they handed down.
Now some have related the wonderful signs performed by our Saviour, and
preached His eternal Godhead. And others have written of His being born in the
flesh of the Virgin, and have proclaimed the festival of the holy passover,
saying, 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed[19];' so that we, individually and
collectively, and all the churches in the world may remember, as it is
written, 'That Christ rose from the dead, of the seed of David, according to
the Gospel[20].' And let us not forget that which Paul delivered, declaring it
to the Corinthians; I mean His resurrection, whereby 'He destroyed him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil[1];' and raised us up together with
Him, having loosed the bands of death, and vouchsafed a blessing instead of a
curse, joy instead of grief, a feast instead of mourning, in this holy joy of
Easter, which being continually in our hearts, we always rejoice, as Paul
commanded; 'We pray without ceasing; in everything we give thanks[2].' So we
are not remiss in giving notice of its seasons, as we have received from the
Fathers. Again we write, again keeping to the apostolic traditions, we remind
each other when we come together for prayer; and keeping the feast in common,
with one mouth we truly give thanks to the Lord. Thus giving thanks unto Him,
and being followers of the saints, 'we shall make our praise in the Lord all
the day[3],' as the Psalmist says. So, when we rightly keep the feast, we
shall be counted worthy of that joy which is in heaven.
8. We begin the fast of forty days on the 13th of the month Phamenoth
(Mar. 9). After we have given ourselves to fasting in continued succession,
let us begin the holy Paschal[5] week on the 18th of the month Pharmuthi
(April 13). Then resting on the 23rd of the same month Pharmuthi (April 18),
and keeping the feast afterwards on the first of the week, on the 24th (April
19), let us add to these the seven weeks of the great Pentecost, wholly
rejoicing and exulting in Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be
glory and dominion in the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
The brethren which are with me salute you. Salute one another with a holy
kiss[6].
Here endeth the second Festal Letter of the holy lord Athanasius, Bishop
of Alexandria.
LETTER III.
For 331.
Easter-day xvi Pharmuthi ; iii Id. April ; 'ra Dioclet. 47; Coss. Annius
Bassus, Ablabius; Proefect, Florentius; India. iv.
AGAIN, my beloved brethren, the day of the feast draws near to us, which,
above all others, should be devoted to prayer, which the law commands to be
observed, and which it would be an unholy thing for us to pass. over in
silence. For although we have been held under restraint by those who afflict
us, that, because of them, we should not announce to you this season; yet
thanks be to 'God, who comforteth the afflicted[1],' that we have
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not been overcome by the wickedness of our accusers and silenced; but obeying
the voice of truth, we together with you cry aloud in the day of the feast.
For the God of all hath commanded, saying, 'Speak[2], and the children of
Israel shall keep the Passover.' And the Spirit exhorts in the Psalm; 'Blow
the trumpet in the new moons[3], in the solemn day of your feast.' And the
prophet cries; 'Keep thy feasts, O Judah[4].' I do not send word to you as
though you were ignorant; but I publish it to those who know it, that ye may
perceive that although men have separated us, yet God having made us
companions, we approach the same feast, and worship the same Lord continually,
And we do not keep the festival as observers of days, knowing that the Apostle
reproves those who do so, in those words which he spake; 'Ye observe days, and
months, and times, and years[5].' But rather do we consider the day solemn
because of the feast; so that all of us, who serve God in every place, may
together in our prayers be well-pleasing to God. For the blessed Paul,
announcing the nearness of gladness like this, did not announce days, but the
Lord, for whose sake we keep the feast, saying, 'Christ, our Passover, is
sacrificed[6];' so that we all, contemplating the eternity of the Word, may
draw near to do Him service.
2. For what else is the feast, but the service of the soul? And what is
that service, but prolonged prayer to God, and unceasing thanksgiving[7]? The
unthankful departing far from these are rightly deprived of the joy springing
therefrom: for 'joy and gladness are taken from their mouth[8].' Therefore,
the [divine] word doth not allow them to have peace; 'For there is no peace to
the wicked, saith the Lord[9],' they labour in pain and grief. So, not even to
him who owed ten thousand talents did the Gospel grant forgiveness in the
sight of the Lord[10]. For even he, having received forgiveness of great
things, was forgetful of kindness in little ones, so that he paid the penalty
also of those former things. And justly indeed, for having himself experienced
kindness, he was required to be merciful to his fellow servant. He too that
received the one talent, and bound it up in a napkin, and hid it in the earth,
was in consequence cast out for unthankfulness, hearing the words, 'Thou
wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and
gather where I have not strawed; thou oughtest therefore to have put my money
to the exchangers, and on my return, I should have received mine own. Take
therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents[11].'
For, of course, when he was required to deliver up to his lord that which
belonged to him, he should have acknowledged the kindness of him who gave it,
and the value of that which was given. For he who gave was not a hard man, had
he been so, he would not have given even in the first instance; neither was
that which was given unprofitable and vain, for then he had not found fault.
But both he who gave was good, and that which was given was capable of bearing
fruit. As therefore 'he who withholdeth corn in seed-time is cursed[12],'
according to the divine proverb, so he who neglects grace, and hides it
without culture, is properly cast out as a wicked and unthankful person. On
this account, he praises those who increased [their talents], saying, 'Well
done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful in a little, I will
place thee over much; enter into the joy of thy Lord[13].'
3. This was right and reasonable; for, as the Scripture declares, they had
gained as much as they had received. Now, my beloved, our will ought to keep
pace with the grace of God, and not fall short; lest while our will remains
idle, the grace given us should begin to depart, and the enemy finding us
empty and naked, should enter [into us], as was the case with him spoken of in
the Gospel. from whom the devil went out; 'for having gone through dry places,
he took seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and returning and
finding the house empty, he dwelt there, and the last state of that man was
worse than the first[14].' For the departure from virtue gives place for the
entrance of the unclean spirit There is, moreover, the apostolic injunction,
that the grace given us should not be unprofitable; for those things which he
wrote particularly to his disciple, he enforces on us through him[15], saying,
'Neglect not the gift that is in thee. For he who tilleth his land shall be
satisfied with bread; but the paths of the slothful are strewn with thorns;'
so that the Spirit forewarns a man not to fall into them, saying, 'Break up
your fallow ground, sow not among thorns[16].' For when a man despises the
grace given him; and forth-
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with falls into the cares of the world, he delivers himself over to his lusts;
and thus in the time of persecution he is offended[17], and becomes altogether
unfruitful. Now the prophet points out the end of such negligence, saying,
'Cursed is he who doeth the work of the Lord carelessly[18].' For a servant of
the Lord should be diligent and careful, yea, moreover, burning like a flame,
so that when, by an ardent spirit, he has destroyed all carnal sin, he may be
able to draw near to God who, according to the expression of the saints is
called 'a consuming fire[19].'
4. Therefore, the God of all, 'Who maketh His angels [spirits],' is a
spirit, 'and His ministers a flame of fire[1].' Wherefore, in the departure
from Egypt, He forbade the multitude to touch the mountain, where God was
appointing them the law, because they were not of this character. But He
called blessed Moses to it, as being fervent in spirit, and possessing
unquenchable grace, saying, 'Let Moses alone draw near[2].' He entered into
the cloud also, and when the mountain was smoking, he was not injured; but
rather through 'the words of the Lord, which are choice silver purified in the
earth[3],' he descended purified. Therefore the blessed Paul when desirous
that the grace of the Spirit given to us should not grow cold, exhorts,
saying, 'Quench not the Spirit[4].' For so shall we remain partakers of
Christ[5], if we hold fast to the end the Spirit given at the beginning. For
he said, 'Quench not;' not because the Spirit is placed in the power of men,
and is able to suffer anything from them; but because bad and unthankful men
are such as manifestly wish to quench it, since they, like the impure,
persecute the Spirit with unholy deeds. 'For the holy Spirit of discipline
will flee deceit, nor dwell in a body that is subject unto sin; but will
remove from thoughts that are without understanding[6].' Now they being
without understanding, and deceitful, and lovers of sin, walk still as in
darkness, not having that 'Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
worlds[7].' Now a fire such as this laid hold of Jeremiah the prophet, when
the word was in him as a fire, and he said, 'I pass away from every place, and
am not able to endure its.[8].' And our Lord Jesus Christ, being good and a
lover of men, came that He might east this upon earth, and said, 'And what?
would that it were already kindled[9]!' For He desired, as He testified in
Ezekiel[10], the repentance of a man rather than his death: so that evil
should be entirely consumed in all men, that the soul, being purified, might
be able to bring forth fruit; for the word which is sown by Him will be
productive, some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred[11]. Thus, for instance,
those who were with Cleopas[12], although infirm at first from lack of
knowledge, yet afterwards were inflamed with the words of the Saviour, and
brought forth the fruits of the knowledge of Him. The blessed Paul also, when
seized by this fire, revealed it not to flesh and blood, but having
experienced the grace, he became a preacher of the Word. But not such were
those nine lepers who were cleansed from their leprosy, and yet were
unthankful to the Lord who healed them; nor Judas, who obtained the lot of an
apostle, and was named a disciple of the Lord, but at last, 'while eating
bread with the Saviour, lifted up his heel against Him, and became a
traitor[13].' But such men have the due reward of their folly, since their
expectation will be vain through their ingratitude; for there is no hope for
the ungrateful, the last fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, awaits
those who have neglected divine light. Such then is the end of the unthankful.
5. But the faithful and true servants of the Lord, knowing that the Lord
loves the thankful, never cease to praise Him, ever giving thanks unto the
Lord. And whether the time is one of ease or of affliction, they offer up
praise to God with thanksgiving, not reckoning these things of time, but
worshipping the Lord, the God of times[14]. Thus of old time, Job, who
possessed fortitude above all men, thought of these things when in prosperity;
and when in adversity, he patiently endured, and when he suffered, gave
thanks. As also the humble David, in the very time of affliction sang praises
and said, 'I will bless the Lord at all times[15].' And the blessed Paul, in
all his Epistles, so to say, ceased not to thank God. In times of ease, he
failed not, and in afflictions he gloried, knowing that 'tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and that hope maketh
not ashamed[16].' Let us, being followers of such men, pass no season without
thanksgiving, but especially now, when the time is one of tribulation, which
the heretics excite against us, will we praise the Lord, uttering the words of
the saints; 'All these
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things have come upon us, yet have we not forgotten Thee(17).' For as the Jews
at that time, although suffering an assault from the tabernacles(17a) of the
Edomites, and oppressed by the enemies of Jerusalem, did not give themselves
up, but all the more sang praises to God; so we, my beloved brethren, though
hindered from speaking the word of the Lord, will the more proclaim it, and
being afflicted, we will sing Psalms(17b), in that we are accounted worthy to
be despised, and to labour anxiously for the truth. Yea, moreover, being
grievously vexed, we will give thanks. For the blessed Apostle, who gave
thanks at all times, urges us in the same manner to draw near to God saying,
'Let your requests, with thanksgiving, be made known unto God(18).' And being
desirous that we should always continue in this resolution, he says, 'At all
times give thanks; pray without ceasing(19).' For he knew that believers are
strong while employed in thanksgiving, and that rejoicing they pass over the
walls of the enemy, like those saints who said, 'Through Thee will we pierce
through our enemies, and by my God I will leap over a walls 20.' At all times
let us stand firm, but especially now, although many afflictions overtake us,
and many heretics are furious against us. Let us then, my beloved brethren,
celebrate with thanksgiving the holy feast which now draws near to us,
'girding up the loins of our minds(1),' like our Saviour Jesus Christ, of Whom
it is written, 'Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and
faithfulness the girdle of His reins(2).' Each one of us having in his hand
the staff which came out of the root of Jesse, and our feet shod with the
preparation of the Gospel(3), let us keep the feast as Paul saith, 'Not with
the old leaven, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth(4);'
reverently trusting that we are reconciled through Christ, and not departing
from faith in Him, nor do we defile ourselves together with heretics, and
strangers to the truth, whose conversation and whose will degrade them. But
rejoicing in afflictions, we break through the furnace of iron and darkness,
and pass, unharmed, over that terrible Red Sea. Thus also, when we look upon
the confusion of heretics, we shall, with Moses, sing that great song of
praise, and say, 'We will sing unto the Lord, for He is to be gloriously
praised(5).' Thus, singing praises, and seeing that the sin which is in us has
been cast into the sea, we pass over to the wilderness. And being first
purified by the fast of forty days, by prayers, and fastings, and discipline,
and good works, we shall be able to eat the holy Passover in Jerusalem.
6. The beginning of the fast of forty days is on the fifth of Phamenoth
(Mar. 1); and when, as I have said, we have first been purified and prepared
by those days, we begin the holy week of the great Easter on the tenth of
Pharmuthi (Apr. 5), in which, my beloved brethren, we should use more
prolonged prayers, and fastings, and watchings, that we may be enabled to
anoint our lintels with precious blood, and to escape the destroyer(6). Let us
rest then, on the fifteenth of the month Pharmuthi (Apr. 10), for on the
evening of that Saturday we hear the angels' message, 'Why seek ye the living
among the dead? He is risen(7).' Immediately afterwards that great Sunday
receives us, I mean on the sixteenth of the same month Pharmuthi (April 11),
on which our Lord having risen, gave us peace towards our neighbours. When
then we have kept the feast according to His will, let us add from that first
day in the holy week, the seven weeks of Pentecost, and as we then receive the
grace of the Spirit, let us at all times give thanks to the Lord; through Whom
to the Father be glory and dominion, in the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Salute one another with a holy kiss. The brethren who are with me salute
you. I pray, brethren beloved and longed for, that ye may have health, and
that ye may be mindful of us in the Lord.
Here endeth the third Festal Letter of holy Athanasius.
LETTER IV.
For 332.
Easter-day vii Pharmuthi(1), iv Non. Apr.; AEra Dioclet. 48; Coss. Fabius
Pacatianus, Maecilius Hilarianus; Praefect, Hyginus(2); Indict. v. He sent
this Letter from the Emperor's Court by a soldier(3).
I SEND unto you, my beloved, late and beyond he accustomed time(4); yet I
trust you will forgive the delay, on account of my protracted journey, and
because I have been tried with illness. Being hindered by these two causes,
and unusually severe storms having occurred,
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I have deferred writing to you. But notwithstanding my long journeys, and my
grievous sickness, I have not forgotten to give you the festal notification,
and, in discharge of my duty I now announce to you the feast. For although the
date of this letter is later(4a) than that usual for this announcement, it
should still be considered well-timed, since our enemies having been put to
shame and reproved by the Church, because they persecuted us without a
cause(5), we may now sing a festal song of praise, uttering the triumphant
hymn against Pharaoh; 'We will sing unto the Lord, for He is to be gloriously
praised; the horse and his rider He hath cast into the sea(6).'
2. It is well, my beloved, to proceed from feast to feast; again festal
meetings, again holy vigils arouse our minds, and compel our intellect to keep
vigil unto contemplation of good things. Let us not fulfil these days like
those that mourn but, by enjoying spiritual food, let us seek to silence our
fleshly lusts(7). For by these means we shall have strength to overcome our
adversaries, like blessed Judith(8), when having first exercised herself in
fastings and prayers, she overcame the enemies, and killed Olophernes. And
blessed Esther, when destruction was about to come on all her race, and the
nation of Israel was ready to perish, defeated the fury of the tyrant by no
other means than by fasting and prayer to God, and changed the ruin of her
people into safety(9). Now as those days are considered feasts for Israel, so
also in old time feasts were appointed when an enemy was slain, or a
conspiracy against the people broken up, and Israel delivered. Therefore
blessed Moses of old time ordained the great feast of the Passover, and our
celebration of it, because, namely, Pharaoh was killed, and the people were
delivered from bondage. For in those times it was especially, when those who
tyrannized over the people had been slain, that temporal feasts and holidays
were observed in Judaea(10).
3. Now, however, that the devil, that tyrant against the whole world, is
slain, we do not approach a temporal feast, my beloved, but an eternal and
heavenly. Not in shadows do we shew it forth, but we come to it in truth. For
they being filled with the flesh of a dumb lamb, accomplished the feast, and
having anointed their door-posts with the blood, implored aid against the
destroyer(11). But now we, eating of the Word of the Father, and having the
lintels of our hearts sealed with the blood of the New Testament(12),
acknowledge the grace given us from the Saviour, who said, 'Behold, I have
given unto you to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of
the enemy(13).' For no more does death reign; but instead of death henceforth
is life, since our Lord said, 'I am the life(14);' so that everything is
filled with joy and gladness; as it is written, 'The Lord reigneth, let the
earth rejoice.' For when death reigned, 'sitting down by the rivers of
Babylon, we wept(15),' and mourned, because we felt the bitterness of
captivity; but now that death and the kingdom of the devil is abolished,
everything is entirely filled with joy and gladness. And God is no longer
known only in Judaea, but in all the earth, 'their voice hath gone forth, and
the knowledge of Him hath filled all the earth(16).' What follows, my beloved,
is obvious; that we should approach such a feast, not with filthy raiment, but
having clothed our minds with pure garments. For we need in this to put on our
Lord Jesus(17), that we may be able to celebrate the feast with Him. Now we
are clothed with Him when we love virtue, and are enemies to wickedness, when
we exercise ourselves in temperance and mortify lasciviousness, when we love
righteousness before iniquity, when we honour sufficiency, and have strength
of mind, when we do not forget the poor, but open our doors to all men, when
we assist humble-mindedness, but hate pride.
4. By these things Israel of old, having first, as in a figure, striven
for the victory, came to the feast, for these things were then fore-shadowed
and typified. But we, my beloved, the shadow having received its fulfilment,
and the types being accomplished, should no longer consider the feast typical,
neither should we go up to Jerusalem which is here below, to sacrifice the
Passover, according to the unseasonable observance of the Jews, lest, while
the season passes away, we should be regarded as acting unseasonably(18) ;
but, in accordance with the injunction of the Apostles, let us go beyond the
types, and sing the new song of praise. For perceiving this, and being
assembled together with the Truth(19), they drew near, and said unto our
Saviour, 'Where wilt Thou that we should make ready for Thee the Passover(1)?'
For no longer were these things to be done which belonged to Jerusalem which
is beneath; neither there alone was the feast to be celebrated, but wherever
God willed it to be. Now
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He willed it to be in every place, so that 'in every place incense and a
sacrifice might be offered to Him(2).' For although, as in the historical
account, in no other place might the feast of the Passover be kept save only
in Jerusalem, yet when the things pertaining to that time were fulfilled, and
those which l belonged to shadows had passed away, and the preaching of the
Gospel was about to extend everywhere; when indeed the disciples were
spreading the feast in all places, they asked the Saviour, 'Where wilt Thou
that we shall make, ready?' The Saviour also, since He was changing the
typical for the spiritual, promised them that they should no longer eat the
flesh of a lamb, but His own, saying, 'Take, eat and drink; this is My body,
and My blood(3).' When we are thus nourished by these things, we also, my
beloved, shall truly keep the feast of the Passover.
5. We begin on the first of Pharmuthi (Mar. 27), and rest on the sixth of
the same month (Apr. 1), on the evening of the seventh day; and the holy first
day of the week having risen upon us on the seventh of the same Pharmuthi
(Apr. 2), celebrate we too the days of holy Pentecost following thereon,
shewing forth through them the world to come(4), so that henceforth we may be
with Christ for ever, praising God over all in Christ Jesus, and through Him,
with all saints, we say unto the Lord, Amen. Salute one another with a holy
kiss. All the brethren who are with me salute you. We have sent this letter
from the Court, by the hand of an attendant officer(5), to whom it was given
by Ablavius(6), the Praefect of the Praetorium, who fears God in truth. For I
am at the Court, having been summoned by the emperor Constantine to see him.
But the Meletians, who were present there, being envious, sought our ruin
before the Emperor. But they were put to shame and driven away thence as
calumniators, being confuted by many things. Those who were driven away were
Callinicus, Ision, Eudaemon, and Geloeus(7) Hieracammon, who, on account of
the shame of his name, calls himself logius.
Here endeth the fourth Festal Letter of holy Athanasius.
LETTER V. For 333.
Easter-day(1), Coss. Dalmatius and Zenophilus, Praefect, Paternus(2) ; vi
Indict.; xvii Maii, xx Pharmuthi; xv Moon; vii Gods; AEra Dioclet. 49.
WE duly proceed, my brethren, from feasts to feasts, duly from prayers to
prayers, we advance from fasts to fasts, and join holy-days to holy-days.
Again the time has arrived which brings to us a new beginning(3), even the
announcement of the blessed Passover, in which the Lord was sacrificed. We
eat, as it were, the food of life, and constantly thirsting we delight our
souls at all times, as from a fountain, in His precious blood. For we
continually and ardently desire; He stands ready for those who thirst; and for
those who thirst there is the word of our Saviour, which, in His
loving-kindness, He uttered on the day of the feast; 'If any man thirst, let
him come to Me and drink(4).' Nor was it then alone when any one drew near to
Him, that He cured his thirst; but whenever any one seeks, there is free
access for him to the Saviour. For the grace of the feast is not limited to
one time, nor does its splendid brilliancy decline; but it is always near,
enlightening the minds of those who earnestly desire it(5). For therein is
constant virtue, for those who are illuminated in their minds, and me-dilate
on the divine Scriptures day and night, like the man to whom a blessing is
given, as it is written in the sacred Psalms; 'Blessed is the man who hath not
walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat
in the seat of corrupters. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in
His law doth he meditate day and night(6).' For it is not the sun, or the
moon, or the host of those other stars which illumines him, but he glitters
with the high effulgence of God over all.
2. For it is God, my beloved, even the God Who at first established the
feast for us, Who vouchsafes the celebration of it year by year. He both
brought about the slaying of His Son for salvation, and gave us this reason
for the holy feast, to which every year bears witness, as often as at this
season the feast is proclaimed. This also leads us on from the cross through
this world to that which is before us, and God produces even now from it the
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joy of glorious salvation, bringing us to the same assembly, and in every
place uniting all of us in spirit; appointing us common prayers, and a common
grace proceeding from the feast. For this is the marvel of His
loving-kindness, that He should gather together in the same place those who
are at a distance; and make those who appear to be far off in the body, to be
near together in unity of spirit.
3. Wherefore then, my beloved, do we not acknowledge the grace as becometh
the feast? Wherefore do we not make a return to our Benefactor? It is indeed
impossible to make an adequate return to God; still, it is a wicked thing for
us who receive the gracious gift, not to acknowledge it. Nature itself
manifests our inability; but our own will reproves our un-thankfulness.
Therefore the blessed Paul when admiring the greatness of the gift of God,
said, 'And who is sufficient for these things(7)?, For He made the world free
by the blood of the Saviour; then, again, He has caused the grave to be
trodden down by the Saviour's death, and furnished a way to the heavenly gates
free from obstacles to those who are going up(8). Wherefore, one of the
saints, while he acknowledged the grace, but was insufficient to repay it,
said, 'What shall I render unto the Lord for all He has done unto me(9)?' For
instead of death he had received life, instead of bondage(10), freedom, and
instead of the grave, the kingdom of heaven. For of old time, 'death reigned
from Adam to Moses;' but now the divine voice hath said, 'To-day shalt thou be
with Me in Paradise.' And the saints, being sensible of this, said, 'Except
the Lord had helped me, my soul had almost dwelt in hell.(10a).' Besides all
this, being powerless to make a return, he yet acknowledged the gift, and
wrote finally, saying, 'I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name
of the Lord; precious in His sight is the death of His saints(11).'
With regard to the cup, the Lord said, 'Are ye able to drink of that cup
which I am about to drink of?' And when the disciples assented, the Lord said,
'Ye shall indeed drink of My cup; but that ye should sit on My right hand, and
on My left, is not Mine to give; but to those for whom it is prepared(12).'
Therefore, my beloved, let us be sensible of the gift, though we are found
insufficient to repay it. As we have ability, let us meet the occasion. For
although nature is not able, with things unworthy of the Word, to return a
recompense for such benefits, yet let us render Him thanks while we persevere
in piety. And how can we more abide in piety than when we acknowledge God, Who
in His love to mankind has bestowed on us such benefits? (For thus we shall
obediently keep the law, and observe its commandments. And, further, we shall
not, as unthankful persons, be accounted transgressors of the law, or do those
things which ought to be hated, for the Lord loveth the thankful); when too we
offer ourselves to the Lord, like the saints, when we subscribe ourselves
entirely [as] living henceforth not to ourselves, but to the Lord Who died for
us, as also the blessed Paul did, when he said, 'I am crucified with Christ,
yet I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me(13).'
4. Now our life, my brethren, truly consists in our denying all bodily
things, and continuing stedfast in those only of our Saviour. Therefore the
present season requires of us, that we should not only utter such words, but
should also imitate the deeds of the saints. But we imitate them, when we
acknowledge Him who died, and no longer live unto ourselves, but Christ
henceforth lives in us; when we render a recompense to the Lord to the utmost
of our power, though when we make a return we give nothing of our own, but
those things which we have before received from Him, this being especially of
His grace, that He should require, as from us, His own gifts. He bears witness
to this when He says, 'My offerings are My own gifts(14).' That is, those
things which you give Me are yours, as having received them from Me, but they
are the gifts of God. And let us offer to the Lord every virtue, and that
true holiness which is in Him, and in piety let us keep the feast to Him with
those things which He has hallowed for us. Let us thus engage in the holy
fasts, as having been prescribed by Him, and by means of which we find the way
to God. But let us not be like the heathen, or the ignorant Jews, or as the
heretics and schismatics of the present time. For the heathen think the
accomplishment of the feast is in the abundance of food; the Jews, erring in
the type and shadow, think it still such; the schismatics keep it in separate
places, and with vain imaginations. But let us, my brethren, be superior to
the heathen, in keeping the feast with sincerity of soul, and purity of body;
to the Jews, in no longer receiving the type and the shadow, but
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as having been gloriously illumined with the light of truth, and as looking
upon the Sun of Righteousness 15; to the schismatics, in not rending the coat
of Christ, but in one house, even in the Catholic Church, let us eat the
Passover of the Lord, Who, by ordaining His holy laws, guided us towards
virtue, and counselled the abstinence of this feast. For the Passover is
indeed abstinence from evil for exercise of virtue, and a departure from death
unto life. This may be learnt even from the type of old time. For then they
toiled earnestly to pass from Egypt to Jerusalem, but now we depart from death
to life; they then passed from Pharaoh to Moses, but now we rise from the
devil to the Saviour. And as, at that time, the type of deliverance bore
witness every year, so now we commemorate our salvation. We fast meditating on
death, that we may be able to live; and we watch, not as mourners, but as they
that wait for the Lord, when He shall have returned from the wedding, so that
we may vie with each other in the triumph, hastening to announce the sign of
victory over death.
5. Would therefore, O my beloved, that as the word requires, we might here
so govern ourselves at all times and entirely, and so live, as never to forget
the noble acts of God, nor to depart from the practice of virtue! As also the
Apostolic voice exhorts; 'Remember Jesus Christ, that He rose from the
dead(16).' Not that any limited season of remembrance was appointed, for at
all times He should be in our thoughts. But because of the slothfulness of
many, we delay from day to day. Let us then begin in these days. To this end a
time of remembrance is permitted, that it may show forth to the saints the
reward of their calling, and may exhort the careless while reproving them(17).
Therefore in all the remaining days, let us persevere in virtuous conduct,
repenting as is our duty, of all that we have neglected, whatever it may be;
for there is no one free from defilement, though his course may have been but
one hour on the earth, as Job, that man of surpassing fortitude, testifies.
But, 'stretching forth to those things that are to come(18),' let us pray that
we may not eat the Passover unworthily, lest we be exposed to dangers. For to
those who keep the feast in purity, the Passover is heavenly food; but to
those who observe it profanely and contemptuously, it is a danger and
reproach. For it is written, 'Whosoever shall eat and drink unworthily, is
guilty of the death of our Lord(19).' Wherefore, let us not merely proceed to
perform the festal rites, but let us be prepared to draw near to the divine
Lamb, and to touch heavenly food. Let us cleanse our hands, let us purify the
body. Let us keep our whole mind from guile; not giving up ourselves to
excess, and to lusts, but occupying ourselves entirely with our Lord, and with
divine doctrines; so that, being altogether pure, we may be able to partake of
the Word(20)
6. We begin the holy fast on the fourteenth of Pharmuthi (Apr. 9), on the
[first] evening of the weeks'; and having ceased on the nineteenth of the same
month Pharmuthi (Apr 14), the first day of the holy week dawns upon us on the
twentieth of the same month Pharmuthi (Apt. 15), to which we join the seven
weeks of Pentecost; with prayers, and fellowship with our neighbour, and love
towards one another, and that peaceable will which is above all. For so shall
we be heirs of the kingdom of heaven, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
Whom to the Father be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. All the
brethren who are with me salute you. Salute one another with a holy kiss.
Here endeth the fifth Festal Letter of holy Athanasius.
LETTER VI.
For 334.
Easter-day, xii Pharmuthi, vii [Id. April: xvii Moon; AEra
Dioclet. 50; Coss. Optatus Patricius, Anicius Paulinus; Praefect,
Philagrius(1), the Cappadocian; vii Indict.
Now again, my beloved, has God brought us to the season of the feast, and
through His loving-kindness we have reached the period of assembly for it. For
that God who brought Israel out of Egypt, even He at this time calls us to the
feast, saying by Moses, 'Observe the month of new fruits(2), and keep the
Passover to the Lord thy God(3):' and by the prophet, Keep thy feasts, O
Judah; pay to the Lord thy vows(4).' If then God Himself loves the feast, and
calls us to it, it is not right, my brethren, that it should be delayed, or
observed carelessly; but with alacrity and zeal we should come to it, so that
having begun joyfully here, we may also receive an earnest of that heavenly
feast. For if we diligently celebrate the feast here, we shall doubtless
receive the perfect joy which is in heaven, as
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the Lord says; 'With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you
before I suffer. For I say unto you, that I will not eat it until it is
fulfilled with you in the kingdom of God(5).' Now we eat it if, understanding
the reason of the feast, and acknowledging the Deliverer, we conduct ourselves
in accordance with His grace, as Paul saith; 'So that we may keep the Feast,
not with old leaven neither with the leaven of wickedness; but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth(6).' For the Lord died in those days,
that we should no longer do the deeds of death. He gave His life, that we
might preserve our own from the snares of the devil. And, what is most
wonderful, the Word became flesh, that we should no longer live in the flesh,
but in spirit should worship God, who is Spirit. He who is not so disposed,
abuses the days, and does not keep the feast, but like an unthankful person
finds fault with the grace, and honours the days overmuch, while he does not
supplicate the Lord who in those days redeemed him. Let him by all means hear,
though fancying that he keeps the feast, the Apostolic voice reproving him;
'Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years: I fear test I have
laboured among you in vain 7.'
2. For the feast is not on account of the days; but for the Lord's sake,
who then suffered for us, we celebrate it, for 'our Passover Christ, is
sacrificed(8).' Even as Moses, when teaching Israel not to consider the feast
as pertaining to the days, but to the Lord, said, 'It is the Lord's
Passover(9).' To the Jews when they thought they were keeping the Passover,
because they persecuted the Lord, the feast was useless; since it no longer
bore the name of the Lord, even according to their own testimony. It was not
the Passover of the Lord, but that of the Jews(10). The Passover was named
after the Jews, my brethren, because they denied the Lord of the Passover. On
this account, the Lord, turning away His face from such a doctrine of theirs,
saith, 'Your new moons and your sabbaths My soul hateth(11)',
3. So now, those who keep the Passover in like manner, the Lord again
reproves, as He did those lepers who were cleansed, when He loved the one as
thankful, but was angry with the others as ungrateful, because they did not
acknowledge their Deliverer, but thought more of the cure of the leprosy than
of Him who healed them. 'But one of them when he saw that he was healed,
turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell on his If ace at
the feet of Jesus giving Him thanks; and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus
answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but those nine -- whence are
there none found who returned to give glory to God, but this stranger(12)? '
And there was more given to him than to the rest; for being cleansed from his
leprosy, he heard from the Lord, 'Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath saved
thee(13).' For he who gives thanks, and he who glorifies, have kindred
feelings, in that they bless their Helper for the benefits they have received.
So the Apostle exhorts all men to this, saying, 'Glorify God with your body;'
and the prophet commands, saying, 'Give glory to God.' Although testimony was
borne by Caiaphas(14) against our Redeemer, and He was set at nought by the
Jews, and was condemned by Pilate in those days, yet exalted exceedingly and
most mighty was the voice of the Father which came to Him; 'I have glorified,
and will glorify again(15).' For those things which He suffered for our sake
have passed away; but those which belong to Him as the Saviour remain for
ever.
4. But in our commemoration of these things, my brethren, let us not be
occupied with meats, but let us glorify the Lord, let us become fools for Him
who died for us, even as Paul said; 'For if we are foolish, it is to God; or
if we are sober-minded, it is to you; since because one died for all men,
therefore all were dead to Him; and He died for all, that we who live should
not henceforth live to ourselves, but to Him who died for us, and rose
again(16).' No longer then ought we to live to ourselves, but, as servants to
the Lord. And not in vain should we receive the grace, as the time is
especially an acceptable one(17), and the day of salvation hath dawned, even
the death of our Redeemer(18). For even for our sakes the Word came down, and
being incorruptible, put on a corruptible body for the salvation of all of us.
Of which Paul was confident, saying, 'This corruptible must put on
incorruption(19).' The Lord too was sacrificed, that by His blood He might
abolish death. Full well did He once, in a certain place, blame those who
participated vainly in the shedding of His blood, while they did not delight
themselves in the flesh of the Word, saying, 'What profit is there in my
blood, that I go down to corruption(20)?' This does not mean that the descent
of the Lord was without profit, for it gained the whole world; but rather that
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after He had thus suffered, sinners would prefer to suffer loss than to profit
by it. For He regarded our salvation as a delight and a peculiar gain; while
on the contrary He looked upon our destruction as loss.
5. Also in the Gospel, He praises those who increased the grace twofold,
both him who made ten talents of five, and him who made four talents of two,
as those who had profited, and turned them to good account; but him who hid
the talent He cast out as wanting, saying to him, 'Thou wicked servant!
oughtest thou not to have put My money to the exchangers? then at My coming I
should have received Mine own with interest. Take, therefore, from him the
talent, and give it to him that hath ten talents. For to every one that hath
shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly; but from him that hath not,
shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth[21].' For it is not His will that the grace we have received should be
unprofitable; but He requires us to take pains to render Him His own fruits,
as the blessed Paul saith; 'The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and,
peace[1].' Having therefore this right resolution, and owing no man anything,
but rather giving everything to every man, he was a teacher of the like
rightness of principle, saying, 'Render to all their dues[2].' He was like
those sent by the householder to receive the fruits of the vineyard from the
husbandmen[3]; for he exhorted all men to render a return. But Israel despised
and would not render, for their will was not right, nay moreover they killed
those that were sent, and not even before the Lord of the vineyard were they
ashamed, but even He was slain by them. Verily, when He came and found no
fruit in them, He cursed them through the fig-tree, saying, 'Let there be
henceforth no fruit from thee[4];' and the fig-tree was dead and fruitless so
that even the disciples wondered when it withered away.
6. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet; 'I will take
away from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the scent of myrrh, and the light of a
lamp, and the whole land shall be destroyed[5].' For the whole service of the
law has been abolished from them, and henceforth and for ever they remain
without a feast. And they observe not the Passover; for how can they? They
have no abiding place, but they wander everywhere. And they eat unleavened
bread contrary to the law, since they are unable first to sacrifice the lamb,
as they were commanded to do when eating unleavened bread. But in every place
they transgress the law, and as the judgments of God require, they keep days
of grief instead of gladness. Now the cause of this to them was the slaying of
the Lord, and that they did not reverence the Only-Begotten. At this time the
altogether wicked heretics and ignorant schismatics are in the same case; the
one in that they slay the Word, the other in that they rend the coat. They too
remain expelled from the feast, because they live without godliness and
knowledge, and emulate the conduct shewn in the matter of Bar-Abbas the
robber, whom the Jews desired instead of the Saviour. Therefore the Lord
cursed them under the figure of the fig-tree. Yet even thus He spared them in
His loving-kindness, not destroying them root and all. For He did not curse
the root, but [said], that no man should eat fruit of it thenceforth. When He
did this, He abolished the shadow, causing it to wither; but preserved the
root, so that we might [not][6] be grafted upon it; 'they too, if they abide
not in unbelief, may attain to be grafted into their own olive tree[7].' Now
when the Lord had cursed them because of their negligence, He removed from
them the new moons, the true lamb, and that which is truly the Passover.
7. But to us it came: there came too the solemn day, in which we ought to
call to the feast with a trumpet[8], and separate ourselves to the Lord with
thanksgiving, considering it as our own festival[9]. For we are bound to
celebrate it, not to ourselves but to the Lord; and to rejoice, not in
ourselves but in the Lord, who bore our griefs and said, 'My soul is sorrowful
unto death[10].' For the heathen, and all those who are strangers to our
faith, keep feasts according to their own wills, and have no peace, since they
commit evil against God. But the saints, as they live to the Lord also keep
the feast to Him, saying, 'I will rejoice in Thy salvation,' and, 'my soul
shall be joyful in the Lord.' The commandment is common to them, 'Rejoice, ye
righteous, in the Lord[11]'--so that they also may be gathered together, to
sing that common and festal Psalm, 'Come, let us rejoice[12],' not in
ourselves, but, 'in the Lord.'
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8. For thus the patriarch Abraham rejoiced not to see his own day, but
that of the Lord ; and thus looking forward 'he saw it, and was glad[13].' And
when he was tried, by faith he offered up Isaac, and sacrificed his
only-be-gotten son--he who had received the promises. And, in offering his
son, he worshipped the Son of God. And, being restrained from sacrificing
Isaac, he saw the Messiah in the ram[14], which was offered up instead as a
sacrifice to God. The patriarch was tried, through Isaac, not however that he
was sacrificed, but He who was pointed out in Isaiah; 'He shall be led as a
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers he shall be
speechless[15];' but He took away the sin of the world. And on this account
[Abraham] was restrained from laying his hand on the lad, lest the Jews,
taking occasion from the sacrifice of Isaac, should reject the prophetic
declarations concerning our Saviour, even all of them, but more especially
those uttered by the Psalmist; 'Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not; a
body Thou hast prepared Me[16];' and should refer all such things as these to
the son of Abraham.
9. For the sacrifice was not properly the setting to rights[17] of Isaac,
but of Abraham who also offered, and by that was tried. Thus God accepted the
will of the offerer, but prevented that which was offered from being
sacrificed. For the death of Isaac did not procure freedom to the world, but
that of our Saviour alone, by whose stripes we all are healed[18]. For He
raised up the falling, healed the sick, satisfied those who were hungry, and
filled the poor, and, what is more wonderful raised us all from the dead;
having abolished death, He has brought us from affliction and sighing to the
rest and gladness of this feast, a joy which reacheth even to heaven. For not
we alone are affected by this, but because of it, even the heavens rejoice
with us, and the whole church of the firstborn, written in heaven[19], is made
glad together, as the prophet proclaims, saying, 'Rejoice, ye heavens, for the
Lord hath had mercy upon Israel. Shout, ye foundations of the earth. Cry out
with joy, ye mountains, ye high places, and all the trees which are in them,
for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and Israel hath been glorified[20].' And
again; Rejoice, and be glad, ye heavens; let the hills melt into gladness, for
the Lord hath had mercy on His people, and comforted the oppressed of the
people[1].'
10. The whole creation keeps a feast, my brethren, and everything that
hath breath praises the Lord[2], as the Psalmist [says], on account of the
destruction of the enemies, and our salvation. And justly indeed; for if there
is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth[3], what should there not be
over the abolition of sin, and the resurrection of the dead? Oh what a feast
and how great the gladness in heaven! how must all its hosts joy and exult, as
they rejoice and watch in our assemblies, those that are held continually, and
especially those at Easter? For they look on sinners while they repent; on
those who have turned away their faces, when they become converted; on those
Who formerly persisted in lusts and excess, but who now humble themselves by
fastings and temperance; and, finally, on the enemy who lies weakened,
lifeless, bound hand and foot, so that we may mock at him; 'Where is thy
victory, O Death? where is thy sting, O Grave[4]?' Let us then sing unto the
Lord a song of victory.
11. Who then will lead us to such a company of angels as this? Who, coming
with a desire for the heavenly feast, and the angelic holiday, will say like
the prophet, 'I will pass to the place of the wondrous tabernacle, unto the
house of God; with the voice of joy and praise, with the shouting of those who
keep festival[5]?' To this course the saints also encourage us, saying, 'Come,
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of
Jacob[6].' But not for the impure is this feast, nor is the ascent thereto for
sinners; but it is for the virtuous and diligent; and for those who live
according to the aim of the saints; for, 'Who shall ascend to the hill of the
Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place, but he that hath clean hands, and
a pure heart; who hath not devoted his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully
to his neighbour. For he,' as the Psalmist adds, when he goes up, 'shall
receive a blessing from the Lord[7].' Now this clearly also refers to what the
Lord gives to them at the right hand, saying, 'Come, ye blessed, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you[8].' But the deceitful, and he that is not pure of
heart, and possesses nothing that is pure (as the Proverb saith, 'To a
deceitful man there is nothing good[9]'), shall assuredly, being a stranger,
and of a different race from the saints, be accounted unworthy to eat the
Passover, for 'a foreigner shall not
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eat of it[10].' Thus Judas, when he thought he kept the Passover, because he
plotted deceit against the Saviour, was estranged from the city which is
above, and from the apostolic company. For the law commanded the Pass-over to
be eaten with due observance; but he, while eating it, was sifted of the
devil[11], who had entered his soul.
12. Wherefore let us not celebrate the feast after an earthly manner, but
as keeping festival in heaven with the angels. Let us glorify the Lord, by
chastity, by righteousness, and other virtues. And let us rejoice, not in
ourselves, but in the Lord, that we may be inheritors with the saints. Let us
keep the feast then, as Moses. Let us watch like David who rose seven times,
and in the middle of the night gave thanks for the righteous judgments of God.
Let us be early, as be said, 'In the morning I will stand before Thee, and
Thou wilt look upon me: in the morning Thou wilt hear my voice[12].' Let us
fast like Daniel let us pray without ceasing, as Paul commanded; all of us
recognising the season of prayer, but especially those who are honourably
married; so that having borne witness to these things, and thus having kept
the feast, we may be able to enter into the joy of Christ in the kingdom of
heaven[13]. But as Israel, when going up to Jerusalem, was first purified in
the wilderness, being trained to forget the customs of Egypt, the Word by this
typifying to us the holy fast of forty days, let us first be purified and
freed from defilement[14], so that when we depart hence, having been careful
of fasting, we may be able to ascend to the upper chamber[15] with the Lord,
to sup with Him; and may be partakers of the joy which is in heaven. In no
other manner is it possible to go up to Jerusalem, and to eat the Passover,
except by observing the fast of forty days.
13. We begin the fast of forty days on the first day of the month
Phamenoth (Feb. 25); and having prolonged it till the fifth of Pharmuthi
(Mar. 31), suspending it upon the Sundays and the Saturdays[16] preceding
them, we then begin again on the holy days of Easter, on the sixth of
Pharmuthi (Apr, 1), and cease on the eleventh of the same month (Apr. 6), late
in the evening [17] of the Saturday, whence dawns on us the holy Sunday, on
the twelfth of Pharmuthi (Apr. 7), which extends its beams, with unobscured
grace, to all the seven weeks of the holy Pentecost. Resting on that day, let
us ever keep Easter joy in Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom, to the Father,
be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. All the brethren who are with
me salute you. Salute one another with a holy kiss.
Here endeth the sixth Festal Letter of the holy and God-clad Athanasius.
LETTER VII.
For 335.
Easter-day iv Pharmuthi, iii Kal. April; xx Moon; 'r. Dioclet. 51; Coss.
Julius Constantius, the brother of Augustus, Rufinus Albinus; Praefect, the
same Philagrius; viii Indict.
THE blessed Paul[1] wrote tO the Corinthians[2] that he always bore in his
body the dying of Jesus, not as though he alone should make that boast, but
also they and we too, and in this let us be followers of him, my brethren. And
let this be the customary boast of all of us at all times. In this David
participated, saying in the Psalms, 'For thy sake we die all the day; we are
accounted as sheep for the slaughters[3].' Now this is becoming in us,
especially in the days of the feast, when a commemoration of the death of our
Saviour is held. For he who is made like Him in His death, is also diligent in
virtuous practices, having mortified his members which are upon the earth[4],
and crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts, he lives in the
Spirit, and is conformed to the Spirits. He is always mindful of God, and
forgets Him not, and never does the deeds of death. Now, in order that we may
bear in our body the dying of Jesus, he immediately adds the way of such
fellowship, saying, 'we having the same spirit of faith, as it is written, I
believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore
speak[6].' He adds also, speaking of the grace that arises from knowledge;
'For He that raised up Jesus, will also raise us up with Jesus, and will
present us before Him with you[7].'
2. When by such faith and knowledge the saints have embraced this true
life, they receive, doubtless, the joy which is in heaven; lot which the
wicked not caring, are deservedly
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deprived of the blessedness arising from it. For, 'let the wicked be taken
away, so that he shall not see the glory of the Lord[8].' For although, when
they shall hear the universal proclamation of the promise, 'Awake, thou that
steepest, and arise from the dead[9],' they shall rise and shall come even to
heaven, knocking and saying, ' Open to us [10];' nevertheless the Lord will
reprove them, as those who put the knowledge of Himself far from them, saying,
'I know you not.' But the holy Spirit cries against them, 'The wicked shall be
turned into hell, even all the nations that forget God.[11].' Now we say that
the wicked are dead, but not in an ascetic life opposed to sin; nor do they,
like the saints, bear about dying in their bodies. But it is the soul which
they bury in sins and follies, drawing near to the dead, and satisfying it
with dead nourishment; like young eagles which, from high places, fly upon the
carcases of the dead, and which the law prohibited, commanding figurativey,
'Thou shalt not eat the eagle, nor any other bird that feedeth on a dead
carcase[12];' and it pronounced unclean whatsoever eateth the dead. But these
kill the soul with lusts, and say nothing but, 'let us eat and drink, for to
morrow we die[13].' And the kind of fruit those have who thus love pleasures,
he immediately describes, adding, 'And these things are revealed in the ears
of the Lord of Hosts, that this sin shall not be forgiven you until ye
die[14].' Yea, even while they live they shall be ashamed, because they
consider their belly their lord; and when dead, they shall be tormented,
because they have made a boast of such a death. To this effect also Paul bears
witness, saying, 'Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall
destroy both it and them[15].' And the divine word declared before concerning
them; 'The death of sinners is evil, and those who hate the righteous commit
sin[16].' For bitter is the worm, and grievous the darkness, which wicked men
inherit.
3. But the saints, and they who truly practise virtue, 'mortify their
members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness passions, evil
concupiscence[17];' and, as the result of this, are pure and without spot,
confiding in the promise of our Saviour, who said, 'Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God[18].' These, having become dead to the world,
and renounced the merchandise of the world, gain an honourable death; for,
'precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints[19].' They are
also able, preserving the Apostolic likeness, to say, 'I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me[20].' For that
is the true life, which a man lives in Christ; for although they are dead to
the world, yet they dwell as it were in heaven, minding those things which are
above, as he who was a lover of such a habitation said, 'While we walk on
earth, our dwelling is in heaven[21].' Now those who thus live, and are
partakers in such virtue, are alone able to give glory to God, and this it is
which essentially constitutes a feast and a holiday[1]. For the feast does not
consist in pleasant intercourse at meals, nor splendour[2] of clothing, nor
days of leisure, but in the acknowledgment of God, and the offering of
thanksgiving and of praise to Him[3]. Now this belongs to the saints alone,
who live in Christ; for it is written, 'The dead shall not praise Thee, O
Lord, neither all those who go down into silence; but we who live will bless
the Lord, from henceforth even for ever[4].' So was it with Hezekiah, who was
delivered from death, and therefore praised God, saying, 'Those who are in
hades cannot praise Thee I the dead cannot bless Thee; but the living shall
bless Thee, as I also do[5].' For to praise and bless God belongs to those
only who live in Christ, and by means of this they go up to the feast; for the
Passover is not of the Gentiles, nor of those who are yet Jews in the flesh;
but of those who acknowledge the truth in Christ[6], as he declares who was
sent to proclaim such a feast; 'Our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed 7.'
4. Therefore, although wicked men press forward to keep the feast, and as
at a feast praise God, and intrude into the Church of the saints, yet God
expostulates, saying to the sinner, 'Why dost thou talk of My ordinances?' And
the gentle Spirit rebukes them, saying, 'Praise is not comely in the mouth of
a sinners[8].' Neither hath sin any place in common with the praise of God;
for the sinner has a mouth speaking perverse things, as the Proverb saith,
'The mouth of the wicked answereth evil things[9].' For how is it possible for
us to praise God with an impure mouth? since things which are contrary to each
other cannot coexist. For what communion has righteousness with iniquity? or,
what fellowship is there between light and darkness? So exclaims Paul, a
minister of the Gospel[10].
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Thus it is that sinners, and all those who are aliens from the Catholic
Church, heretics, and schismatics, since they are excluded from glorifying
(God)with the saints, cannot properly even continue observers of the feast.
But the righteous man, although he appears dying to the world, uses boldness
of speech, saying, 'I shall not die, but live, and narrate all Thy marvellous
deeds[11].' For even God is not ashamed to be called the God[12] of those who
truly mortify their members which are upon the earth[13], but live in Christ;
for He is the God of the living, not of the dead. And He by His living Word
quickeneth all men, and gives Him to be food and life to the saints; as the
Lord declares, 'I am the bread of life[14].' The Jews, because they were weak
in perception, and had not exercised the senses of the soul in virtue, and did
not comprehend this discourse about bread, murmured against Him, because He
said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven, and giveth life unto
men[15].'
5. For sin has her own special bread, of her death, and calling to those
who are lovers of pleasure and lack understanding, she saith, 'Touch with
delight secret bread, and sweet waters which are stolen[16];' for he who
merely touches them knows not that that which is born from the earth perishes
with her. For even when the sinner thinks to find pleasure, the end of that
food is not pleasant, as the Wisdom of God saith again, 'Bread of deceit is
pleasant to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel[17].'
And, 'Honey droppeth from the lips of a whorish woman, which for a time is
sweet to thy palate; but at the last thou shalt find it more bitter than gall,
and sharper than a two-edged sword[18].' Thus then he eats and rejoices for a
little time; afterwards he spurneth it when he hath removed his soul afar. For
the fool knoweth not that those who depart far from God shall perish. And
besides, there is the restraint of the prophetic admonition which says, 'What
hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Gihon? And what
hast thou to do in the way of Asshur, to drink the waters of the rivers[19]?'
And the Wisdom of God which loves mankind forbids these things, crying, 'But
depart quickly, tarry not in the place, neither fix thine eye upon it; for
thus thou shalt pass over strange waters, and depart quickly from the strange
river[20].' She also calls them to herself, 'For wisdom hath builded her
house, and supported it on seven pillars; she hath killed her sacrifices, and
mingled her wine in the goblets, and prepared her table; she hath sent forth
her servants, inviting to the goblet with a loud proclamation, and saying,
Whoso is foolish, let him turn in to me; and to them that lack understanding
she saith, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine I have mingled for
you[1].' And what hope is there instead of these things? 'Forsake folly that
ye may live, and seek understanding that ye may abide[2].' For the bread of
Wisdom is living fruit, as the Lord said; 'I am the living bread which came
down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever[3].'
For when Israel ate of the manna, which was indeed pleasant and wonderful, yet
he died, and he who ate it did not in consequence live for ever, but all that
multitude died in the wilderness. The Lord teaches, saying, I am the bread of
life: your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the
bread which came down from heaven, that a man should eat thereof, and not
die[4].'
6. Now wicked men hunger for bread like this, for effeminate souls will
hunger; but the righteous alone, being prepared, shall be satisfied, saying,
'I shall behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when Thy glory
is seen by me[5].' For he who partakes of divine bread always hungers with
desire; and he who thus hungers has a never-failing gift, as Wisdom promises,
saying, 'The Lord will not slay the righteous soul with famine.' He promises
too in the Psalms, 'I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her
poor with bread.' We may also hear our Saviour saying,
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled[6].' Well then do the saints and those who love the life which is in
Christ raise themselves to a longing after this food. And one earnestly
implores, saying, 'As the hart panteth after the fountains of waters, so
panteth my soul after Thee, O God! My soul thirsteth for the living God, when
shall I come and see the face of God?' And another; 'My God, my God, I seek
Thee early; my soul thirsteth for Thee; often does my flesh, in a dry and
pathless land, and without water. So did I appear before Thee in holiness to
see Thy power and Thy glory[7].'
7. Since these things are so, my brethren, let us mortify our members
which are on the earth[8], and be nourished with living bread, by faith and
love to God, knowing that without faith it is impossible to be partakers of
such bread as this. For our Saviour, when He called all men to him, and said,
'If any man
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thirst, let him[come] to Me and drink[9],' immediately spoke of the faith
without which a man cannot receive such food; 'He that believeth on Me, as the
Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water[10].' To
this end He continually nourished His believing disciples with His words, and
gave them life by the nearness of His divinity, but to the Canaanitish woman,
because she was not yet a believer, He deigned not even a reply, although she
stood greatly in need of food from Him. He did this not from scorn, far from
it (for the Lord is loving to men and good, and on that account He went into
the coasts of Tyre and Sidon); but because of her unbelief, and because she
was of those who had not the word. And He did it righteously, my brethren; for
there would have been nothing gained by her offering her supplication before
believing, but by her faith she would support her petition; 'For He that
cometh to God, must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of
them that seek Him;' and that 'without faith it is impossible for a man to
please Him[11].' This Paul teaches. Now that she was hitherto an unbeliever,
one of the profane, He shews, saying, 'It is not meet to take the children's
bread, and to cast it to dogs[12].' She then, being convinced by the power of
the word, and having changed her ways, also gained faith; for the Lord no
longer spoke to her as a dog, but conversed with her as a human being, saying,
'O woman, great is thy faith[13]!' As therefore she believed, He forthwith
granted to her the fruit of faith, and said, 'Be it to thee as thou desirest.
And her daughter was healed in the self-same hour.'
8. For the righteous man, being nurtured in faith and knowledge, and the
observance of divine precepts, has his soul always in health. Wherefore it is
commanded to 'receive to ourselves him who is weak in the faith[14],' and to
nourish him, even if he is not yet able to eat bread, but herbs, 'for he that
is weak eateth herbs.' For even the Corinthians were not able to partake of
such bread, being yet babes, and like babes they drank milk. 'For every one
that partaketh of milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness[15],'
according to the words of that divine man. The Apostle exhorts his beloved son
Timothy, in his first Epistle, 'to be nourished with the word of faith, and
the good doctrine whereto he had attained.' And in the second, 'Preserve thou
the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which
are in Christ Jesus 16.' And not only here, my brethren, is this bread the
food of the righteous, neither are the saints on earth alone nourished by such
bread and such blood; but we also eat them in heaven, for the Lord is the food
even of the exalted spirits, and the angels, and He is the joy of all the
heavenly host[17]. And to all He is everything, and He has pity upon all
according to His loving-kindness. Already hath the Lord given us angels'
food[18], and He promises to those who continue with Him in His trials,
saying, 'And I promise to you a kingdom, as My Father hath promised to Me;
that ye shall eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel[1].' O what a banquet is this, my
brethren, and how great is the harmony and gladness of those who eat at this
heavenly table! For they delight themselves not with that food which is cast
out, but with that which produces life everlasting. Who then shall be deemed
worthy of that assembly? Who is so blessed as to be called, and accounted
worthy of that divine feast? Truly, 'blessed is he who shall eat bread in Thy
kingdom[2].'
9. Now he who has been counted worthy of the heavenly calling, and by this
calling has been sanctified, if he grow negligent in it, although washed
becomes defiled: 'counting the blood of the covenant by which he was
sanctified a profane thing, and despising the Spirit of grace,' he hears the
words, 'Friend, bow camest thou in hither, not having wedding garments?' For
the banquet of the saints is spotless and pure; 'for many are called, but few
chosen[3].' Judas to wit, though he came to the supper, because he despised it
went out from the presence of the Lord, and having abandoned his Life[4],
hanged himself. But the disciples who continued with the Redeemer shared in
the happiness of the feast. And that young man who went into a far country,
and there wasted his substance, living in dissipation, if he receive a desire
for this divine feast, and, coming to himself, shall say, 'How many hired
servants of my father have bread to spare, while I perish here with hunger!'
and shall next arise and come to his father, and confess to him, saying, 'I
have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am not worthy to be called thy
son; make me as one of thy hired servants[5];'--when he shall thus confess,
then he shall be counted worthy of more than he prayed for. For the father
does not receive him as a hired servant, neither does he look upon him as a
stranger, but he kisses him as a son, he brings him
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back to life as from the dead, and counts him worthy of the divine feast, and
gives him his former and precious robe. So that, on this account, there is
singing and gladness in the paternal home.
10. For this is the work of the Father's loving-kindness and goodness,
that not only should He make him alive from the dead, but that He should
render His grace illustrious through the Spirit. Therefore, instead of
corruption, He clothes him with an incorruptible garment; instead of hunger,
He kills the fatted calf; instead of far journeys, [the Father] watched for
his return, providing shoes for his feet; and, what is most wonderful, placed
a divine signet-ring upon his hand; whilst by all these things He begot him
afresh in the image of the glory of Christ. These are the gracious gifts of
the Father, by which the Lord honours and nourishes those who abide with Him,
and also those who return to Him and repent. For He promises, saying, 'I am
the bread of life; he that cometh unto Me shall not hunger, and he that
believeth on Me shall never thirst(6).' We too shall be counted worthy of
these things, if at all times we cleave to our Saviour, and if we are pure,
not only in these six days of Easter(7), but consider the whole course of our
life as a feast(8), and continue near and do not go far off, saying to Him,
'Thou hast the words of eternal life, and whither shall we go(9)?' Let those
of us who are far off return, confessing our iniquities, and having nothing
against any man, but by the spirit mortifying the deeds of the body(10). For
thus, having first nourished the soul here, we shall partake with angels at
that heavenly and spiritual table; not knocking and being repulsed like
those five foolish virgins(11), but entering with the Lord, like those who
were wise and loved the bridegroom; and shewing the dying of Jesus in our
bodies(12), we shall receive life and the kingdom from Him.
11. We begin the fast of forty days on the twenty-third of Mechir (Feb.
17), and the holy fast of the blessed feast on the twenty-eighth of Phamenoth
(Mar. 24); and having joined to these six days after them, in fastings and
watchings, as each one is able, let us rest on the third of the month
Pharmuthi (Mar. 29), on the evening of the seventh day. Also that day which
is holy and blessed in everything, which possesses the name of Christ, namely
the Lord's day(13), having risen upon us on the fourth of Pharmuthi (Mar. 30),
let us afterwards keep the holy feast of Pentecost. Let us at all times
worship the Father in Christ, through Whom to Him and with Him be glory and
dominion by the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen. All the brethren who are
with me salute you: salute one another with a holy kiss.
There is no eighth or ninth, for he did not send them, for the reason
before mentioned(1).
Here endeth the seventh Festal Letter of holy Athanasius the Patriarch.
LETTER X.
For 338.
Coss. Ursus and Polemius; Pr'f. the same Theodorus, of Heliopolis, and of the
Catholics(2). After him, for the second year, Philagrius; Indict. xi;
Easter-day, vii Kal. Ap.(3) xxx Phamenoth; Moon 18 ; .(3) xxx Phamenoth; Moon
18 1/2, 'ra Dioclet. 54.
ALTHOUGH I have travelled all this distance from you, my brethren, I have
not forgotten the custom which obtains among you, which has been delivered to
us by the fathers(5), so as to be silent without notifying to you the time of
the annual holy feast, and the day for its celebration. For although I have
been hindered by those afflictions of which you have doubtless heard, and
severe trials have been laid upon me, and a great distance has separated us;
while the enemies of the truth have followed our tracks, laying snares to
discover a letter from us, so that by their accusations, they might add to the
pain of our wounds; yet the Lord, strengthening and comforting us in our
afflictions, we have not feared, even when held fast in the midst of such
machinations and conspiracies, to indicate and make known to you our saving
Easter-feast, even from the ends of the earth. Also when I wrote to the
presbyters of Alexandria, I urged that these letters might be sent to you
through their instrumentality, al-
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though I knew the fear imposed on them by the adversaries. Still, I exhorted
them to be mindful of the apostolic boldness of speech, and to say, 'Nothing
separates us from the love of Christ; neither affliction, nor distress nor
persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness nor peril, nor sword(6).' Thus,
keeping the feast myself, I was desirous that you also, my beloved, should
keep it; and being conscious that an announcement like this is due from me, I
have not delayed to discharge this duty, fearing to be condemned by the
Apostolic counsel; 'Render to every man his due(7).'
2. While I then committed all my affairs to God, I was anxious to
celebrate the feast with you, not taking into account the distance between us.
For although place separate us, yet the Lord the Giver of the feast, and Who
is Himself our feast(8), Who is also the Bestower of the Spirit(9), brings us
together in mind, in harmony, and in the bond of peace(10). For when we mind
and think the same things, and offer up the same prayers on behalf of each
other, no place can separate us, but the Lord gathers and unites us together.
For if He promises, that 'when two or three are gathered together in His name,
He is in the midst of them(11),' it is plain that being in the midst of those
who in every place are gathered together, He unites them, and receives the
prayers of all of them, as if they were near, and listens to all of them, as
they cry out the same Amen(12). I have(13) borne affliction like this, and all
those trials which I mentioned, my brethren, when I wrote to you.
3. And that we may not distress you at all, I would now (only) briefly
remind you of these things, because it is not becoming in a man to forget,
when more at ease, the pains he experienced in tribulation; lest, like an
unthankful and forgetful person, he should be excluded from the divine
assembly. For at no time should a man freely praise God, more than when he has
passed through afflictions; nor, again, should he at any time give thanks more
than when he finds rest from toil and temptations. As Hezekiah, when the
Assyrians perished, praised the Lord, and, gave thanks, saying, 'The Lord is
my salvation(14); and I will not cease to bless Thee with harp all the days of
my life, before the house of the Lord(15).' And those valiant and blessed
three who were tried in Babylon, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, when they
were in safety and the fire became to them as dew, gave thanks, praising and
saying words of glory to God(16).' I too like them have written, my brethren,
having these things in mind; for even in our time, God hath made possible
those things which are impossible to men. And those things which could not be
accomplished by man, the Lord has shewn to be easy of accomplishment, by
bringing us to you. For He does not give us as a prey to those who seek to
swallow us up. For it is not so much us, as the Church, and the faith and
godliness which they planned to overwhelm with wickedness.
4. But God, who is good, multiplied His loving-kindness towards us, not
only when He granted the common salvation of us all through His Word, but now
also, when enemies have persecuted us, and have sought to seize upon us. As
the blessed Paul saith in a certain place, when describing the
incomprehensible riches of Christ: 'But God, being rich in mercy, for the
great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in follies and sins,
quickened us with Christ(17).' For the might of man and of all creatures, is
weak and poor; but the Might which is above man, and uncreated, is rich and
incomprehensible, and has no beginning, but is eternal. He does not then
possess one method only of healing, but being rich, He works in divers
manners for our salvation by means of His Word, Who is not restricted or
hindered in His dealings towards us; but since He is rich and manifold, He
varies Himself according to the individual capacity of each soul. For He is
the Word and the Power and the Wisdom of God, as Solomon testifies concerning
Wisdom, that 'being one, it can do all things, and remaining in itself, it
maketh all things new; and passing upon holy souls, fashioneth the friends of
God and the prophets(18).' To those then who have not yet attained to the
perfect way He becomes like a sheep giving milk, and this was administered by
Paul: 'I have fed you with milk, not with meat(19).' To those who have
advanced beyond the full stature of childhood, but still are weak as regards
perfection, He is their food, according to their capacity, being again
administered by Paul(20),' Let him that is weak
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eat herbs.' But as soon as ever a man begins to walk in the perfect way, he is
no longer fed with the things before mentioned, but he has the Word for bread,
and flesh for food, for it is written, 'Strong meat is for those who are of
full age, for those who, by reason of their capacity, have their senses
exercised(1).' And further, when the word is sown it does not yield a uniform
produce of fruit in this human life, but one various and rich; for it bringeth
forth, some an hundred, and some sixty, and some thirty(2), as the Saviour
teaches--that Sower of grace, and Bestower of the Spirit(3). And this is no
doubtful matter, nor one that admits no confirmation; but it is in our power
to behold the field which is sown by Him; for in the Church the word is
manifold and the produce(4) rich. Not with virgins alone is such a field
adorned; nor with monks alone but also with honourable matrimony and the
chastity of each one. For in sowing, He did not compel the will beyond the
power. Nor is mercy confined to the perfect, but it is sent down also among
those who occupy the middle and the third ranks, so that He might rescue all
men generally to salvation. To this intent He hath prepared many mansions(5)
with the Father, so that although the dwelling-place is various in proportion
to the advance in moral attainment, yet all of us are within the wall, and all
of us enter within the same fence, the adversary being cast out, and all his
host expelled thence. For apart from light there is darkness, and apart from
blessing there is a curse, the devil also is apart from the saints, and sin
far from virtue. Therefore the Gospel rebukes Satan, saying, 'Get thee behind
Me, Satan(6).' But us it calls to itself, saying, 'Enter ye in at the strait
gate.' And again, 'Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom which is
prepared for you(7).' So also the Spirit cried aforetime in the Psalms,
saying, 'Enter into His gates with psalms(8).' For through virtue a man enters
in unto God, as Moses did into the thick cloud where God was. But through vice
a man goes out from the presence of the Lord; as Cain(9) when he had slain his
brother, went out, as far as his will was concerned, from before the face of
God; and the Psalmist enters, saying, 'And I will go in to the altar of God,
even to the God that delighteth my youth(10).' But of the devil the Scripture
beareth witness, that the devil went out from before God, and smote Job(11)
with sore boils. For this is the characteristic of those who go out from
before God--to smite and to injure the men of God. And this is the
characteristic of those who fall away from the faith--to injure and persecute
the faithful. The saints on the other hand, take such to themselves and look
upon them as friends; as also the blessed David, using openness of speech,
says, 'Mine eyes are on the faithful of the earth, that they may dwell with
me.' But those that are weak in the faith(12), Paul urges that we should
especially take to ourselves. For virtue is philanthropic(13), just as in men
of an opposite character, sin is misanthropic. So Saul, being a sinner,
persecuted David, whereas David, though he had a good opportunity, did not
kill Saul. Esau too persecuted Jacob, while Jacob overcame his wickedness by
meekness. And those eleven sold Joseph, but Joseph, in his loving-kindness,
had pity on them.
5. But what need we many words? Our Lord and Saviour, when He was
persecuted by the Pharisees, wept for their destruction. He was injured, but
He threatened(14) not; not when He was afflicted, not even when He was killed.
But He grieved for those who dared to do such things. He, the Saviour,
suffered for man, but they despised and cast from them life, and light, and
grace. All these were theirs through that Saviour Who suffered in our stead.
And verily for their darkness and blindness, He wept. For if they had
understood the things which are written in the Psalms, they would not have
been so vainly daring against the Saviour, the Spirit having said, 'Why do the
heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?' And if they had considered
the prophecy of Moses, they would not have hanged Him Who was their Life(15).
And if they had examined with their understanding the things which were
written, they would not have carefully fulfilled the prophecies which were
against themselves, so as for their city to be now desolate, grace taken from
them, and they themselves without the law, being no longer called children,
but strangers. For thus in the Psalms was it before declared, saying, 'The
strange children have acted falsely by Me.' And by Isaiah the prophet; 'I have
begotten and brought up children, and they have rejected Me'? And they are no
longer named the people of God, and a holy nation, but
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rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah; having exceeded in this even the
iniquity of the Sodomites, as the prophet also saith, 'Sodom is justified
before thee(17).' For the Sodomites raved against angels, but these against
the Lord and God and King of all, and these dared to slay the Lord of angels,
not knowing that Christ, who was slain by them, liveth. But those Jews who had
conspired against the Lord died, having rejoiced a very little in these
temporal things, and having fallen away from those which are eternal. They
were ignorant of this--that the immortal promise has not respect to temporal
enjoyment, but to the hope of those things which are everlasting. For through
many tribulations, and labours, and sorrows, the saint enters into the kingdom
of heaven; but when he arrives where sorrow, and distress, and sighing, shall
flee away, he shall thenceforward enjoy rest; as Job, who, when tried here,
was afterwards the familiar friend of the Lord. But the lover of pleasures,
rejoicing for a little while, afterwards passes a sorrowful life; like Esau,
who had temporal food, but afterwards was condemned thereby.
6. We may take as a type of this distinction, the departure of the
children of Israel and the Egyptians from Egypt. For the Egyptians, rejoicing
a little while in their injustice against Israel, when they went forth, were
all drowned in the deep; but the people of God, being for a time smitten
and injured, by the conduct of the taskmasters, when they came out of Egypt,
passed through the sea unharmed, and walked in the wilderness as an inhabited
place. For although the place was unfrequented by man and desolate, yet,
through the gracious gift of the law, and through converse with angels, it was
no longer desert, but far more than an inhabited country. As also Elisha(1),
when he thought he was alone in the wilderness, was with companies of angels;
so in this case, though the people were at first afflicted and in the
wilderness, yet those who remained faithful afterwards entered the land of
promise. In like manner those who suffer temporal afflictions here, finally
having endured, attain comfort, while those who here persecute are trodden
under foot, and have no good end. For even the rich man(2), as the Gospel
affirms, having indulged in pleasure here for a little while, suffered hunger
there, and having drunk largely here, he there thirsted exceedingly. But
Lazarus, after being afflicted in worldly things, found rest in heaven, and
having hungered for bread ground from corn, he was there satisfied with that
which is better than manna, even the Lord who came down and said, 'I am the
bread which came down from heaven, and giveth life to mankind(3).'
7. Oh! my dearly beloved, if we shall gain comfort from afflictions, if
rest from labours, if health after sickness, if from death immortality, it is
not right to be distressed by the temporal ills that lay hold on mankind. It
does not become us to be agitated because of the trials which befall us. It is
not right to fear if the gang that contended with Christ, should conspire
against godliness; but we should the more please God through these things, and
should consider such matters as the probation and exercise of a virtuous life.
For how shall patience be looked for, if there be not previously labours and
sorrows? Or how can fortitude be tested with no assault from enemies? Or how
shall magnanimity be exhibited, unless after contumely and injustice? Or how
can long-suffering be proved, unless there has first been the calumny of
Antichrist(4)? And, finally, how can a man behold virtue with his eyes, unless
the iniquity of the very wicked has previously appeared? Thus even our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ comes before us, when He would shew men how to
suffer, Who when He was smitten bore it patiently, being reviled He reviled
not again, when He suffered He threatened not, but He gave His back to the
smiters, and His cheeks to buffetings, and turned not His face from
spitting(5); and at last, was willingly led to death, that we might behold in
Him the image of all that is virtuous and immortal, and that we, conducting
ourselves after these examples, might truly tread on serpents and scorpions,
and on all the power of the enemy(6).
8. Thus too Paul, while he conducted himself after the example of the
Lord, exhorted us, saying, 'Be ye followers of me, as I also am of
Christ(7).' In this way he prevailed against all the divisions of the devil,
writing, 'I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God which is in Jesus Christ(8).' For the enemy draws near to us
in afflictions, and trials, and labours, using every endeavour to ruin us. But
the man who is in Christ, combating those things that are contrary, and
opposing wrath by long-suffering, contumely by meekness, and vice by virtue,
obtains the victory, and exclaims, 'I can do all
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things through Christ Who strengtheneth me;' and, 'In all these things we are
conquerors through Christ Who loved us(9).' This is the grace of the Lord, and
these are the Lord's means of restoration for the children of men. For He
suffered to prepare freedom from suffering for those who suffer in Him, He
descended that He might raise us up, He took on Him the trial of being born,
that we might love Him Who is unbegotten, He went down to corruption, that
corruption might put on immortality, He became weak for us, that we might rise
with power, He descended to death, that He might bestow on us immortality, and
give life to the dead. Finally, He became man, that we who die as men might
live again, and that death should no more reign over us; for the Apostolic
word proclaims, 'Death shall not have the dominion over us(10).'
9. Now because they did not thus consider these matters, the
Ario-maniacs(11), being opponents of Christ, and heretics, smite Him who is
their Helper with their tongue, and blaspheme Him who set [them] free, and
hold all manner of different opinions against the Saviour. Because of His
coming down, which was on behalf of man, they have denied His essential
Godhead; and seeing that He came forth from the Virgin, they doubt His being
truly the Son of God, and considering Him as become incarnate in time, they
deny His eternity; and, looking upon Him as having suffered for us, they do
not believe in Him as the incorruptible Son from the incorruptible Father. And
finally, because He endured for our sakes, they deny the things which concern
His essential eternity; allowing the deed of the unthankful, these despise the
Saviour, and offer Him insult instead of acknowledging His grace. To them may
these words justly be addressed: Oh! unthankful opponent of Christ, altogether
wicked, and the slayer of his Lord, mentally blind, and a Jew in his mind,
hadst thou understood the Scriptures, and listened to the saints, who said,
'Cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved;' or again, 'Send out Thy
light and Thy truth(12);'--then wouldest thou have known that the Lord did not
descend for His own sake, but for ours; and for this reason, thou wouldest the
more have admired His lovingkindness. And hadst thou considered what the
Father is, and what the Son, thou wouldest not have blasphemer the Son, as of
a mutable nature(13). And hadst thou understood His work of loving-kindness
towards us, thou wouldest not have alienated the Son from the Father, nor
have looked upon Him as a stranger(14), Who reconciled us to His Father. I
know these [words] are grievous, not only to those who dispute with
Christ(15), but also to the schismatics; for they are united together, as men
of kindred feelings. For they have learned to rend the seamless coat(16) of
God: they think it not strange to divide the indivisible Son from the Father
10. I know indeed, that when these things are spoken, they will gnash
their teeth upon us, with the devil who stirs them up, since they are troubled
by the declaration of the true glory concerning the Redeemer. But the Lord,
Who always has scoffed at the devil, does the same even now, saying, 'I am in
the Father, and the Father in Me(18).' This is the Lord, Who is manifested in
the Father, and in Whom also the Father is manifested; Who, being truly the
Son of the Father, at last became incarnate for our sakes, that He might offer
Himself to the Father in our stead, and redeem us through His oblation and
sacrifice. This is He Who once brought the people of old time out of Egypt;
but Who afterwards redeemed all of us, or rather the whole race of men, from
death, and brought them up from the grave. This is He Who in old time was
sacrificed as a lamb, He being signified in the lamb; but Who afterwards was
slain for us, for 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed(19).' This is He Who
delivered us from the snare of the hunters, from the opponents of Christ, I
say, and froth the schismatics, and again rescued us His Church. And because
we were then victims of deceit, He has now delivered us by His own self.
11. What then is our duty, my brethren, for the sake of these things, but
to praise and give thanks to God, the King of all? And let us first exclaim in
the words of the Psalms, 'Blessed be the Lord, Who hath not given us over as a
prey to their teeth(20).' Let us keep the feast in that way which He hath
dedicated for us unto salvation--the holy day Easter--so that we may celebrate
the which is in heaven with the angels. Thus anciently, the people of the
Jews, when they came out of affliction into a state of ease, kept the feast,
staging a song of praise for their victory. So also the people in the time of
Esther, because they were delivered from the edict of death, kept a feast to
the Lord(21), reckoning it a feast, returning thanks to the
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Lord, and praising Him for having changed their condition. Therefore let us,
performing our vows to the Lord, and confessing our sins, keep the feast to
the Lord, in conversation, moral conduct, and manner of life; praising our
Lord, Who hath chastened us a little, but hath not utterly failed nor forsaken
us, nor altogether kept silence from us. For if, having brought us out of the
deceitful and famous Egypt of the opponents of Christ, He hath caused us to
pass through many trials and afflictions, as it were in the wilderness, to His
holy Church, so that from hence, according to custom, we can send to you, as
well as receive letters from you; on this account especially I both give
thanks to God myself, and exhort you to thank Him with me and on my behalf,
this being the Apostolic custom, which these opponents of Christ, and the
schismatics, wished to put an end to, and to break off. The Lord did not
permit it, but both renewed and preserved that which was ordained by Him
through the Apostle, so that we may keep the feast together, and together keep
holy-day, according to the tradition and commandment of the fathers.
12. We begin the fast of forty days on the nineteenth of the month Mechir
(Feb. 13); and the holy Easter-fast on the twenty-fourth of the month
Phamenoth (Mar. 20). We cease from the fast on the twenty-ninth of the month
Phamenoth (Mar. 25), late in the evening of the seventh day. And we thus keep
the feast on the first day of the week which dawns on the thirtieth of the
month Phamenoth (Mar. 26); from which, to Pentecost, we keep holy-day, through
seven weeks, one after the other. For when we have first meditated properly on
these things, we shall attain to be counted worthy of those which are eternal,
through Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be glory and
dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Greet one another with a holy kiss,
remembering us in your holy prayers. All the brethren who are with me salute
you, at all times remembering you. And I pray that ye may have health in the
Lord, my beloved brethren, whom we love above all.
Here endeth the tenth Letter of holy Athanasius.
LETTER XI.
For 339.
Cost. Constantius Augustus II, Constans I: Pr'efect, Philagrius the
Cappadocian, for the second time; Indict. xii; Easter-day xvii Kal. Mai, xx
Pharmuthi; 'ra Dioclet. 55.
THE blessed Paul, being girt about with every virtue(1), and called
faithful of the Lord--for he was conscious of nothing in himself but what was
a virtue and a praise(2), or what was in harmony with love and
godliness--clave to these things more and more, and was carried up even to
heavenly places, and was borne to Paradise(3); to the end that, as he
surpassed the conversation of men, he should be exalted above men. And when he
descended, he preached to every man; 'We know in part, and we prophesy in
part; here I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known(4).'
For, in truth, he was known to those saints who are in heaven, as their
fellow-citizen(5). And in relation to all that is future and perfect, the
things known by him here were in part; but with respect to those things which
were committed and entrusted to him by the Lord, he was perfect; as he said,
'We who are perfect, should be thus minded(6).' For as the Gospel of Christ is
the fulfilment and accomplishment of the ministration which was supplied by
the law of Israel, so future things will be the accomplishment of such as now
exist, the Gospel being then fulfilled, and the faithful receiving those
things which, not seeing now, they yet hope for, as Paul saith; 'For what a
man seeth, why doth he also hope for? But if we hope for those things we see
[not], we then by patience wait for them(7).' Since then that blessed man was
of such a character, and apostolic grace was committed to him, he wrote,
wishing 'that all men should be as he was(8).' For virtue is philanthropic(9),
and great is the company of the kingdom of heaven, for thousands of thousands
and myriads of myriads there serve the Lord. And though a man enters it
through a strait and narrow way, yet having entered, he beholds immeasurable
space, and a place greater than any other, as they declare, who were
eye-witnesses and heirs of these things. 'Thou didst place afflictions before
us.' But afterwards, having related their afflictions, they say, 'Thou
broughtest us forth into a wide place;' and again, 'In affliction Thou hast
enlarged us(10).' For truly, my brethren, the course of the saints here is
straitened; since they either toil painfully through longing for those things
which are to come, as he who said, 'Woe is me that my pilgrimage is
prolonged(11);' or they are distressed and spent for the salvation of other
men, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, saying, 'Lest, when I come to you, God
should humble me, and I should bewail many of those who have sinned already,
and not repented for the uncleanness and for-
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nication and lasciviousness which they have committed[12].' As Samuel bewailed
the destruction of Saul, and Jeremiah wept for the captivity of the people.
But after this affliction, and sorrow, and sighing, when they depart from this
world, a certain divine gladness, and pleasure, and exultation receives them,
from which misery and sorrow, and sighing, flee away.
2. Since we are thus circumstanced, my brethren, let us never loiter in
the path of virtue; for hereto he counsels us, saying, 'Be ye followers of me,
as I also am of Christ[13].' For he gave this advice not to the Corinthians
only, since he was not their Apostle only, but being 'a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith and verity[14],' he admonished us all through them; and in
short, the things he wrote to each particular person are commandments common
to all men[15]. On this account in writing to different people, some he
exhorted as, for instance, in the Epistles to the Romans, and the Ephesians,
and Philemon. Some he reproved, and was indignant with them, as in the case of
the Corinthians and Galatians. To some he gave advice, as to the Colossians
and Thessalonians. The Philippians he approved of, and rejoiced in them. The
Hebrews he taught that the law was a shadow to them[16]. But to his elect
sons, Timothy and Titus, when they were near, he gave instruction; when far
away, he put them in remembrance. For he was all things to all men; and being
himself a perfect man, he adapted his teaching to thee need of every one, so
that by all means he might rescue some of them. Therefore his word was not
without fruit; but in every place it is planted and productive even to this
day.
3. And wherefore, my beloved? For it is right that we should search into
the apostolic mind. Not only in the beginning of the Epistles, but towards
their close, and in the middle of them, he used persuasions and admonitions. I
hope therefore that, by your prayers, I shall in no respect falsely represent
the plan of that holy man. As he was well skilled in these divine matters, and
knew the power of the divine teaching, he deemed it necessary, in the first
place, to make known the word concerning Christ, and the mystery regarding
Him; and then afterwards to point to the correction of habits, so that when
they had learned to know the Lord, they might earnestly desire to do those
things which He commanded. For when the Guide to the laws is unknown, one does
not readily pass on to the observance of them. Faithful Moses, the minister of
God, adopted this method; for when he promulgated the words of the divine
dispensation of laws, he first proclaimed the matters relating to the
knowledge of God: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord[17].'
Afterwards, having shadowed Him forth to the people, and taught of Him in Whom
they ought to believe, and informed their minds of Him Who is truly God, he
proceeds to lay down the law relating to those things whereby a man may be
well-pleasing to Him, saying, 'Thou shall not commit adultery; thou shall not
steal;' together with the other commandments. For also, according to the
Apostolic teaching, 'He that draweth near to God must believe that He is, and
that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him[18].' Now He is sought by means of
virtuous deeds, as the prophet saith; 'Seek ye the Lord, and when 'ye have
found Him, call upon Him; when He is near to you, let the wicked forsake his
ways, and the lawless man his thoughts[19].'
4. It will also be well if a man is not offended at the testimony of the
Shepherd, saying in the beginning of his book, 'Before all things believe that
there is one God, Who created and established all these things, and from
non-existence called them into beings[1].' And, further, the blessed
Evangelists--who recorded the words of the Lord--in the beginning of the
Gospels, wrote the things concerning our Saviour; so that, having first made
known the Lord, the Creator, they might be believed when narrating the events
that took place. For how could they have been believed, when writing
respecting him who [was blind] from his mother's womb, and those other blind
men who recovered their sight, and those who rose from the dead, and the
changing of water into wine, and those lepers who were cleansed; if they bad
not taught of Him as the Creator, writing, 'In the beginning was the Word[2]?'
Or, according to Matthew, that He Who was born of the seed of David, was
Emmanuel, and the Son of the living God? He from Whom the Jews, with the
Arians, turn away their faces, but Whom we acknowledge and worship. The
Apostle therefore, as was meet, sent to different people, but his own son he
especially reminded, 'that he should not despise the things in which he had
been instructed by him,' and enjoined on him, 'Remember Jesus Christ, who rose
from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my Gospel[3].' And speaking
of these things being delivered to him, to be always had in remembrance, he
immediately writes to him. saying, 'Meditate on these things: be engaged
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in them C For constant meditation, and the remembrance of divine words,
strengthen s piety towards God, and produces a love to Him inseparable and not
merely formal[5]; as he, being of this mind, speaks about himself and others
like-minded, saying boldly, 'Who shall separate us from the love of God 6?'
For[7] such men, being confirmed in the Lord, and possessing an unshaken
disposition towards Him, and being one in spirit (for[8] 'he who is joined to
the Spirit is one spirit'), are sure 'as the mount Sion;' and although ten
thousand trials may rage against them, they are founded upon a rock, which is
Christ[9]. In Him the careless take no delight; and having no continuous
purpose of good, they are sullied by temporal attacks, and esteem nothing more
highly than present things, being unstable and deserving reproof as regards
the faith. For 'either the care of this world, or the deceitfulness of riches,
chokes them[10];' or, as Jesus said in that parable which had reference to
them, since they have not established the faith that has been preached to
them, but continue only for a time, immediately, in time of persecution, or
when affliction ariseth through the word, they are offended. Now those who
meditate evil we say, [think] not truth, but falsehood and not righteousness,
but iniquity, for their tongue learns to speak lies. They have done evil, and
have not ceased that they might repent. For, persevering with delight in
wicked actions, they hasten thereto without turning back, even treading under
foot the commandment with regard to neighbours, and, instead of loving them,
devise evil against them, as the saint testifies, saying, 'And those who seek
me evil have spoken vanity, and imagined deceit all the day[11].' But that the
cause of such meditation is none other than the want of instruction, the
divine proverb has already declared; 'The son that forsaketh the commandment
of his father meditateth evil words[12].' But such meditation, because it is
evil, the Holy Spirit blames in these words, and reproves too in other terms,
saying, 'Your hands are polluted with blood, your fingers with sins; your lips
have spoken lawlessness, and your tongue imagineth iniquity: no man speaketh
right things, nor is there true judgment[13].' But what the end is of such
perverse imagining, He immediately declares, saying, 'They trust in vanities
and speak falsehood; for they conceive mischief, and bring forth lawlessness.
They have hatched the eggs of an asp, and woven a spider's web; and he who is
prepared to eat of their eggs, when he breaks them finds gall, and a basilisk
therein[14].' Again, what the hope of such is, He has already announced.
'Because righteousness does not overtake them, when they waited for light,
they had darkness; when they waited for brightness, they walked in a thick
cloud. They shall grope for the wall like the blind, and as those who have no
eyes shall they grope; they shall fall at noon-day as at midnight; when dead,
they shall groan. They shall roar together as a bear, or as a dove[15].'
This is the fruit of wickedness, these rewards are given to its familiars,
for perverseness does not deliver its own. But in truth, against them it sets
itself, and it tears them first, and on them especially it summons ruin. Woe
to them against whom these are brought; for 'it is sharper than a two-edged
sword[16],' slaying beforehand and very swiftly those who will lay hold of it.
For their tongue, according to the testimony of the Psalmist, is a 'sharp
sword, and their teeth spears and arrows[17].' But the wonderful part is that
while often he against whom men imagine [harm] suffers nothing, they are
pierced by their own spears: for they possess, even in themselves, before they
reach others, anger, wrath, malice, guile, hatred, bitterness. Although they
may not be able to bring these upon others, they forthwith return upon and
against themselves, as he prays, saying, 'Let their sword enter into their own
heart.' There is also such a proverb as this: 'The wicked is held fast by the
chain of his sins[18].'
5. The Jews in their imaginings, and in their agreeing to act unjustly
against the Lord, forgot that they were bringing wrath upon themselves.
Therefore does the Word lament for them, saying, 'Why do the people exalt
themselves, and the nations imagine vain things[19]?' For vain indeed was the
imagination of the Jews, meditating death against the Life[1], and devising
unreasonable things against the Word of the Father[2].' For who that looks
upon their dispersion, and the desolation of their city, may not aptly say,
'Woe unto them,
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for they have imagined an evil imagination, saying against their own soul, let
us bind the righteous man, because he is not pleasing to us[3].' And full well
is it so, my brethren; for when they erred concerning the Scriptures, they
knew not that 'he who diggeth a pit for his neighbour falleth therein; and he
who destroyeth a hedge, a serpent shall bite him[4].' And if they had not
turned their faces from the Lord, they would have feared what was written
before in the divine Psalms: 'The heathen are caught in the pit which they
made; in the snare which they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord is known
when executing judgments: by the works of his hands is the sinner taken[5].'
Let them observe this, and how that 'the snare they know not shall come upon
them, and the net they hid take them[6].' But they understood not these
things, for had they done so, 'they would not have crucified the Lord of glory
7.'
6. Therefore the righteous and faithful servants of the Lord, who 'are
made disciples for the kingdom of heaven, and bring forth from it things new
and old;' and who 'meditate on the words of the Lord, when sitting in the
house, when lying down or rising up, and when walking by the way[8];'--since
they are of good hope because of the promise of the Spirit which said,
'Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of corrupters; but his
delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and
night[9];'--being grounded in, faith, rejoicing in hope, fervent in spirit,
they have boldness to say, 'My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of
my heart shall be of understanding.' And again, 'I have meditated on all Thy
works, and on the work of Thy hands has been my meditation.' And, 'If I have
remembered Thee on my bed, and in the morning have meditated on Thee[10].'
Afterwards, advancing in boldness, they say, 'The meditation of my heart is
before Thee at all times[11].' And what is the end of such an one? He cites
immediately; 'The Lord is my Helper and my Redeemer[12].' For to those who
thus examine themselves, and conform their hearts to the Lord, nothing adverse
shall happen; for indeed, their heart is strengthened by confidence in the
Lord, as it is written, 'They who trust in the Lord are as mount Sion: he who
dwelleth in Jerusalem shall not be moved for ever[13].' For if at any time,
the crafty one shall be presumptuously bold against them, chiefly that he may
break the rank of the saints, and cause a division among brethren; even in
this the Lord is with them, not only as an avenger on their behalf, but also
when they have already been beaten, as a deliverer for them. For this is the
divine promise; 'The Lord shall fight for you[14].' Henceforth, although
afflictions and trials from without overtake them, yet, being fashioned after
the apostolic words, and 'being stedfast in tribulations, and persevering in
prayers[15]' and in meditation on the law, they stand against those things
which befall them, are well-pleasing to God, and give utterance to the words
which are written, 'Afflictions and distresses are come upon me; but Thy
commandments are my meditation[16].'
7. And whereas, not only in action, but also in the thoughts of the mind,
men are moved to deeds of virtue, he afterwards adds, saying, 'Mine eyes
prevent the dawn, that I might meditate on Thy words[17].' For it is meet that
the spiritual meditations of those who are whole should precede their bodily
actions. And does not our Saviour, when intending to teach this very thing
begin with the thoughts of the mind? saying, 'Whosoever looketh on a woman to
lust after her, hath already committed adultery:' and, 'Whosoever shall be
angry with his brother, is guilty of murder[18].' For where there is no wrath,
murder is prevented; and where lust is first removed, there can be no
accusation of adultery. Hence meditation on the law is necessary, my beloved,
and uninterrupted converse with virtue, 'that the saint may lack nothing, but
be perfect to every good works[19].' For by these things is the promise of
eternal life, as Paul wrote to Timothy, calling constant meditation exercise,
and saying, 'Exercise thyself unto godliness; for bodily exercise profiteth
little; but godliness is profitable for all things, since it has the promise
of the present life, and of that which is eternal[20].'
8. Worthy of admiration is the virtue of that man, my brethren! for
through Timothy he enjoins upon all[1], that they should have regard to
nothing more than to godliness, but above everything to adjudge the chief
place to faith in God. For what grace has the unrighteous man, though he may
feign to keep the commandments? Nay rather, the unrighteous man is unable even
to keep a portion of the law, for as is his mind, such of necessity must be
his actions; as the Spirit says, reproving such; 'The fool hath said in his
heart,
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there is no God.' After this the Word, shewing that actions correspond with
thoughts, says, 'They are corrupt; they are profane in their machinations[2].'
The unrighteous man then, in every respect corrupts his body; stealing,
committing adultery, cursing, being drunken, and doing such like things. Even
as Jeremiah, the prophet, convicts Israel of these things, crying out and
saying, 'Oh, that I had a lodge far off in the wilderness! then would I leave
my people and depart from them: for they are all adulterers, an assembly of
oppressors, who draw out their tongue as a bow; lying and not truth has
prevailed upon the earth, and they proceed from iniquities to iniquities; but
Me they have not known[3].' Thus, for wickedness and falsehood, and for deeds,
in which they [proceed] from iniquity to iniquity, he reproves their
practices; but, because they knew not the Lord, and were faithless, he charges
them with unrighteousness.
9. For faith and godliness are allied to each other, and sisters; and he
who believes in Him is godly, and he also who is godly, believes the more[4].
He therefore who is in a state of wickedness, undoubtedly also wanders from
the faith; and he who fails from godliness, falls from the true faith. Paul,
for instance, bearing testimony to the same point, advises his disciple,
saying, 'Avoid profane conversations; for they increase unto more ungodliness,
and their word takes hold as doth a canker, of whom are Hymenaeus and
Philetus[5].' In what their wickedness consisted he declares, saying, 'Who
have erred from the faith, saying that the resurrection is already past[6].'
But again, desirous of shewing that faith is yoked with godliness, the Apostle
says, 'And all those who will live godly in Jesus Christ shall suffer
persecution[7].' Afterwards, that no man should renounce godliness through
persecution, he counsels them to preserve the faith, adding, 'Thou, therefore,
continue in the things thou hast learned, and hast been assured of[8].' And as
when brother is helped by brother, they become as a wall to each other; so
faith and godliness, being of like growth, hang together, and he who is
practised in the one, of necessity is strengthened by the other. Therefore,
wishing the disciple to be exercised in godliness unto the end, and to contend
for the faith, he counsels them, saying, 'Fight the good fight of faith, and
lay hold on eternal life[9].' For if a man first put away the wickedness of
idols, and rightly confesses Him Who is truly God, he next fights by faith
with those who war against Him.
10. For of these two things we speak faith and godliness--the hope is the
same, even everlasting life; for he saith, 'Fight the good fight of faith; lay
hold on eternal life.' And, 'exercise thyself unto godliness, for hath the
promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come[10].' For this
cause, the Ario-maniacs, who now have gone out from the Church, being
opponents of Christ, have digged a pit of unbelief, into which they themselves
have been thrust; and, since they have advanced in ungodliness, they
'overthrow the faith of the simple[11];' blaspheming the Son of God, and
saying that He is a creature, and has His being from things which are not. But
as then against the adherents of Philetus and Hymenaeus, so now the Apostle
forewarns all men against ungodliness like theirs, saying, 'The foundation of
God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His; and,
Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity[12].' For
it is well that a man should depart from wickedness and deeds of iniquity,
that he may be able properly to celebrate the feast; for he who is defiled
with the pollutions of the wicked is not able to sacrifice the Passover to the
Lord our God. Hence, the people who were then in Egypt said, 'We cannot
sacrifice the Passover in Egypt to the Lord our God[13].' For God, Who is over
all, willed that they should go far away from the servants of Pharaoh, and
from the furnace of iron; so that being set free from wickedness, and having
carefully put away from them all strange notions, they might receive the
knowledge of God and of virtuous actions. For He saith,
Go far from them: depart from the midst of them, and touch not the unclean
things[14].' For a man will not otherwise depart from sin, and lay hold on
virtuous deeds, than by meditation on his acts; and when he has been practised
by exercise in godliness, he will lay hold on the confession of faith[15],
which also Paul, after he had fought the fight, possessed, namely, the crown
of righteousness which was laid up; which the righteous Judge will give, not
to him alone, but to all who are like him.
11. For such meditation and exercise in godliness, being at all times the
habit of the saints, is urgent on us at the present time, when the divine word
desires us to keep the feast with them if we are in this disposition. For what
else is the feast, but the constant
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worship of God, and the recognition of godliness, and unceasing prayers from
the whole heart with agreement? So Paul wishing us to be ever in this
disposition, commands, saying, 'Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in
everything give thanks,6.' Not therefore separately, but unitedly and
collectively, let us all keep the feast together, as the prophet exhorts,
saying, 'O come, let us rejoice in the Lord; let us make a joyful noise unto
God our Saviour[17].' Who then is so negligent, or who so disobedient to the
divine voice, as not to leave everything, and run to the general and common
assembly of the feast? which is not in one place only, for not one place alone
keeps the feast; but 'into all the earth their song has gone forth, and to the
ends of the world their words.' And the sacrifice is not offered in one place,
but 'in every nation, incense and a pure sacrifice is offered unto God[1].' So
when in like manner from all in every place, praise and prayer shall ascend to
the gracious and good Father, when the whole Catholic Church which is in every
place, with gladness and rejoicing, celebrates together the same worship to
God, when all men in common send up a song of praise and say, Amen[2]; how
blessed will it not be, my brethren! who will not, at that time, be engaged,
praying rightly? For the walls of every adverse power, yea even of Jericho
especially, failing down, and the gift[3] of the Holy Spirit being then richly
poured upon all men, every man perceiving the coming of the Spirit shall say,
'We are all filled in the morning with Thy favour, and we rejoice and are made
glad in our days[4].'
12. Since this is so, let us make a joyful noise with the saints, and let
no one of us fail of his duty in these things; counting as nothing the
affliction or the trials. which, especially at this time, have been enviously
directed against us by the party of Eusebius. Even now they wish to injure us,
and by their accusations to compass our death, because of that godliness,
whose helper is the Lord. But, as faithful servants of God, knowing that He is
our salvation in the time of trouble:--for our Lord promised beforehand,
saying, 'Blessed are ye when men revile you and persecute you, and say all
manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding
glad, for your reward is great in heavens[5].' Again, it is the Redeemer's own
word, that affliction shall not befall every man in this world, but only those
who have a holy fear of Him:--on this account, the more the enemies hem us in,
the more let us be at liberty; although they revile us, let us come together;
and the more they would turn us aside from godliness, let us the more boldly
preach it saying, 'All these things are come upon us, yet have we not
forgotten Thee[6],' and we have not done evil with the Ario-maniacs, who say
that Thou hast existence from those things that exist not. The Word which is
eternally with the Father, is also from Him.
13. Let us therefore keep the feast, my brethren, celebrating it not at
all as an occasion of distress and mourning, neither let us mingle with
heretics through temporal trials brought upon us by godliness. But if anything
that would promote joy and gladness should offer, let us attend to it; so
that our heart may not be sad, like that of Cain; but that, like faithful and
good servants of the Lord, we may hear the words, 'Enter into the joy of thy
Lord[7].' For we do not institute days of mourning and sorrow, as some may
consider these of Easter to be, but we keep the feast, being filled with joy
and gladness. We keep it then, not regarding it after the deceitful error of
the Jews, nor according to the teaching of the Arians, which takes away the
Son from the Godhead, and numbers Him among creatures; but we look to the
correct doctrine we derive from the Lord. For the guile of the Jews, and the
unbounded impiety of the Arians, cause nothing but sad reflections, for the
former at the beginning slew the Lord; but these latter take away His position
of having conquered that death to which the Jews brought Him, in that they say
He is not the Creator, but a creature. For if He were a creature, He would
have been holden by death; but if He was not holden by death, according to the
Scriptures, He is not a creature, but the Lord of the creatures, and the
subject[8] of this immortal feast.
14. For the Lord of death would abolish death, and being Lord, what He
would was accomplished; for we have all passed from death unto life. But the
imagination of the Jews, and of those who are like them, was vain, since
the result was not such as they contemplated, but turned out adverse to
themselves; and 'at both of them He that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh:
the Lord shall have them in derision 9.' Hence, when our Saviour was led to
death, He restrained the women who followed Him weeping, saying, 'Weep not for
Me[10];' meaning to shew that the Lord's death is an event, not of sorrow but
of joy, and that He Who dies for us is alive. For He does not derive His being
from those
538
things which are not, but from the Father. It is truly a subject of joy, that
we can see the signs of victory against death, even our own incorruptibility,
through the body of the Lord. For since He rose gloriously, it is clear that
the resurrection of all of us will take place; and since His body remained
without corruption, there can be no doubt regarding our incorruption ". For as
by one man[12], as saith Paul (and it is the truth), sin passed upon all men,
so by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall all rise. 'For,' he
says, 'this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality 13.' Now this came to pass in the time of the Passion, in which
our Lord died for us, for 'our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed 14.' Therefore,
because He was sacrificed, let each of us feed upon Him, and with alacrity and
diligence partake of His sustenance; since He is given to all without
grudging, and is in every one 'a well of water flowing to everlasting
life[15].'
15. We begin the fast of forty days on the ninth of the month Phamenoth
(Mar. 5); and having, in these days, served the Lord with abstinence, and
first purified ourselves[16], we commence also the holy Easter on the
fourteenth of the month Pharmuthi (April 9). Afterwards, extending the fast to
the seventh day, on the seventeenth 17 of the month, let us rest late in the
evening. And the light of the Lord having first dawned upon us, and the holy
Sunday on which our Lord rose shining upon us, we should rejoice and be glad
with the joy which arises from good works, during the seven weeks which
remain--to Pentecost--giving glory to the Father, and saying, 'This is the day
which the Lord hath made: we will rejoice and be glad in it[18'], through our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, through Whom to the same, and to His Father, be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Salute one another with a holy
kiss. All the brethren who are with me salute you. That ye may have health in
the Lord, I pray, brethren beloved.
Here endeth the eleventh Letter of holy Athanasius.
*XII.
(Probably for 340 A.D.)
To the Beloved Brother, and our fellow Minister
Serapion[1].
THANKS be to Divine Providence for those things which, at all times, it
vouchsafes to us; for it has vouchsafed to us now to come to the season of the
festival. Having, therefore, according to custom, written the Letter
respecting the festival, I have sent it to you, my beloved; that through you
all the brethren may be able to know the day of rejoicing. But because some
Meletians, being come from Syria, have boasted that they had received what
does not belong to them, I mean, that they also were reckoned in the Catholic
Church; on this account, I have sent to you a copy of one letter of our
fellow-ministers who are of Palestine, that when it reaches you, you may know
the fraud of the pretenders in this matter. For because they boasted, as I
have said before, it was necessary for me to write to the Bishops who are in
Syria, and immediately those of Palestine sent us a reply, having agreed in[2]
the judgment against them, as you may learn from this example. That you may
not have to consider the letters of all the Bishops one after the other, I
have sent you one, which is of like character with the rest, in order that
from it you may know the purport of all of them. I know also that when they
are convicted in this matter, they will incur perfect odium at the hands of
all men. And thus far concerning the pretenders. But I have further deemed it
highly necessary and very urgent, to make known to your modesty--for i have
written this to each one--that you should proclaim the fast of forty days to
the brethren, and persuade them to fast, lest, while all the world is fasting,
we who are in Egypt should be derided, as the only people who do not fast, but
take our pleasure in these days. For if, on account of the Letter [not] being
yet read, we do not fast, we should take away this pretext, and it should be
read before the fast of forty days, so that they may not make this an excuse
for neglect or fasting. Also, when it is read, they may be able to learn about
the fast. But O, my beloved, whether in this way or any other, persuade and
teach them to fast the forty days. For it is a disgrace that when all the
world does this, those alone who are in Egypt, instead of fasting, should find
their pleasure. For even I being grieved because men deride us for this, have
been constrained to write to you. When therefore you receive the letters, and
have read them and given the exhortation, write to me in return, my beloved,
that I also may rejoice upon learning it.
2. But I have also thought it necessary to inform a you of the fact, that
Bishops have suc-
539
ceeded those who have fallen asleep. In Tanis in the stead of Elias[4], is
Theodorus. In Arsenoitis, Silvanus[5] instead of Calosiris. In Paralus,
Nemesion is instead of Nonnus[6]. In Bucolia[7] is Heraclius. In Tentyra,
Andronicus is instead of Saprion[8], his father. In Thebes, Philon instead of
Philon. In Maximianopolis, Herminus instead of Atras. In the lower Apollon is
Sarapion instead of Plution. In Aphroditon, Serenus is in the place of
Theodorus. In Rhinocoruron, Salomon. In Stathma, Arabion, and in Marmarica. In
the eastern Garyathis, Andragathius[9] in the place of Hierax. In the southern
Garyathis, Quintus[9] instead of Nicon[10]. So that to these you may write,
and from these receive the canonical Letters.
Salute one another with a holy kiss.All the brethren who are with me
salute you.
He wrote this from Rome. There is no twelfth Letter.
LETTER XIII.
(For 341.)
Coss. Marcellinus, Probinus; Proef. Longinus; Indict. xiv; Easter-day, xiii
Kal. Maii, xxiv Pharmuthi; AEra Dioclet. 57.
AGAIN, my beloved brethren, I am ready to notify to you the saving
feast[1], which will take place according to annual custom. For although the
opponents of Christ[2] have oppressed you together with us with afflictions
and sorrows; yet, God having comforted us by our mutual faith[3], behold, I
write to you even from Rome. Keeping the feast here with the brethren, still I
keep it with you also in will and in spirit, for we send up prayers in common
to God, 'Who hath granted us not only to believe in Him, but also now to
suffer for His sake[4].' For troubled as we are, because we are so far from
you, He moves us to write, that by a letter we might comfort ourselves, and
provoke one another to good[4a]. For, indeed, numerous afflictions and bitter
persecutions directed against the Church have been against us. For heretics,
corrupt in their mind, untried in the faith, rising against the truth,
violently persecute the Church, and of the brethren, some are scourged and
others torn with stripes, and hardest of all, their insults reach even to the
Bishops. Nevertheless, it is not becoming, on this account, that we should
neglect the feast. But we should especially remember it, and not at all forget
its commemoration from time to time. Now the unbelievers do not consider that
there is a season for feasts, because they spend all their lives in revelling
and follies; and the feasts which they keep are an occasion of grief rather
than of joy. But to us in this present life they are above all an
uninterrupted passage [to heaven]--it is indeed our season. For such things as
these serve for exercise and trial, so that, having approved ourselves zealous
and chosen servants of Christ, we may be fellow-heirs with the saints[5]. For
thus Job: 'The whole world is a place of trial to men upon the earth[5a].'
Nevertheless, they are proved in this world by afflictions, labours, and
sorrows, to the end that each one may receive of God such reward as is meet
for him, as He saith by the prophet, 'I am the Lord, Who trieth the hearts,
and searcheth the reins, to give to every one according to his ways[6].'
2. Not that He first knows the things of a man on his being proved (for He
knows them all before they come to pass), but because He is good and
philanthropic, He distributes to each a due reward according to his actions,
so that every man may exclaim, Righteous is the judgment of God! As the
prophet says again, The Lord trieth the just, and discerneth the reins[7].'
Again, for this cause He tries each one of us, either that to those who know
it not, virtue may be manifested by means of those who are proved, as was said
respecting Job; 'Thinkest thou that I was revealed to thee for any other
cause, than that thou shouldest be seen righteous[8]?' or that, when men come
to a sense of their deeds, they may be able to know of what manner they are,
and so may either repent of their wickedness, or abide confirmed in the faith.
Now the blessed Paul, when troubled by afflictions, and persecutions, and
hunger and thirst, 'in everything was a conqueror, through Jesus Christ, Who
loved us[9].' Through suffering he was weak indeed in body, yet, believing and
hoping, he was made strong
540
in spirit, and his strength was made perfect in weakness[9a].
3. The other saints also, who had a like confidence in God, accepted a
like probation with gladness, as Job said, 'Blessed be the name of the
Lord[10].' But the Psalmist, 'Search me, O Lord, and try me: prove my reins
and my heart[11].' For since, when the strength is proved, it convinceth the
foolish, they perceiving the cleansing and the advantage resulting from the
divine fire, were not discouraged in trials like these, but they rather
delighted in them, suffering no injury at all from the things which happened,
but being seen to shine more brightly, like gold from the fire[12], as he
said, who was tried in such a school of discipline as this; 'Thou hast tried
my heart, Thou hast visited me in the night-season; Thou hast proved me, and
hast not found iniquity in me, so that my mouth shall not speak of the works
of men[13].' But those whose actions are not restrained by law, who know of
nothing beyond eating and drinking and dying, account trials as danger. They
soon stumble at them, so that, being untried in the faith, they are given over
to a reprobate mind, and do those things which are not seemly[13a]. Therefore
the blessed Paul, when urging us to such exercises as these, and having before
measured himself by them, says, 'Therefore I take pleasure in afflictions, in
infirmities.' And again, 'Exercise thyself unto godliness[14].' For since he
knew the persecutions that befel those who chose to live in godliness, he
wished his disciples to meditate beforehand on the difficulties connected with
godliness; that when trials should come, and affliction arise, they might be
able to bear them easily, as having been exercised in these things. For in
those things wherewith a man has been conversant in mind, he ordinarily
experiences a hidden joy. In this way, the blessed martyrs, becoming at first
conversant with difficulties, were quickly perfected in Christ, regarding as
nought the injury of the body, while they contemplated the expected rest.
4. But all those who 'call their lands by their own names[15],' and have
wood, and hay, and stubble[16] in their thoughts; such as these, since they
are strangers to difficulties, become aliens from the kingdom of heaven. Had
they however known that 'tribulation perfecteth patience, and patience
experience, anti experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed,' they would
have exercised themselves, after the example of Paul, who said, 'I keep under
my body and bring it into subjection, test when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway[1].' They would easily have borne the afflictions
which were brought upon them to prove them from time to time, if the prophetic
admonition[2] had been listened to by them; 'It is good for a man to take up
Thy yoke in his youth; he shall sit alone and shall be silent, because he hath
taken Thy yoke upon him. He will give his cheek to him who smiteth him; he
will be filled with reproaches. Because the Lord does not cast away for ever;
for when He abases, He is gracious, according to the multitude of His tender
mercies[3].' For though all these things should proceed from the enemies,
stripes, insults, reproaches, yet shall they avail nothing against the
multitude of God's tender mercies; for we shall quickly recover from them
since they are merely temporal, but God is always gracious, pouring out His
tender mercies on those who please [Him]. Therefore, my beloved brethren, we
should not look at these temporal things, but fix our attention on those which
are eternal. Though affliction may come, it will have an end, though insult
and persecution, yet are they nothing to the hope which is set [before us].
For all present matters are trifling compared with those which are future; the
sufferings of this present time not being worthy to be compared with the hope
that is to come[4]. For what can be compared with the kingdom? or what is
there in comparison with life eternal? Or what is all we could give here, to
that which we shall inherit yonder? For we are 'heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ[5].' Therefore it is not right, my beloved, to consider
afflictions and persecutions, but the hopes which are laid up for us because
of persecutions.
5. Now to this the example of Issachar, the patriarch, may persuade, as
the Scripture[6] saith, 'Issachar desires that which is good, resting between
the heritages; and when he saw that the rest was good, and the land
fertile[7], he bowed his shoulder to labour, and became a husbandman.' Being
consumed by divine love, like the spouse in the Canticles, he gathered
abundance from the holy Scriptures, for his mind was captivated not by the old
alone, but by both the heritages. And hence as it were, spreading his wings,
he beheld afar off 'the rest' which is in heaven, and,--
541
since this 'land' consists of such beautiful works,--how much more truly the
heavenly [country] must also [consist] of such[8]; for the other is ever new,
and grows not old. For this 'land' passes away, as the Lord said; but that
which is ready to receive the saints is immortal. Now when Issachar, the
patriarch, saw these things, he joyfully made his boast of afflictions and
toils, bowing his shoulders that he might labour. And he did not contend with
those who smote him, neither was he disturbed by insults; but like a strong
man triumphing the more by these things, and the more earnestly tilling his
land, he received profit from it. The Word scattered the seed, but he
watchfully cultivated it, so that it brought forth fruit, even a hundred-fold.
6. Now what does this mean, my beloved, but that we also, when the enemies
are arrayed against us, should glory in afflictions[8a], and that when we are
persecuted, we should not be discouraged, but should the rather press after
the crown of the high calling[9] in Christ Jesus our Lord? and that being
insulted, we should not be disturbed, but should give our cheek to the smiter,
and bow the shoulder? For the lovers of pleasure and the lovers of enmity are
tried, as saith the blessed Apostle James, 'when they are drawn away by their
own lusts and enticed[10].' But let us, knowing that we suffer for the truth,
and that those who deny the Lord smite and persecute us, 'count it all joy, my
brethren,' according to the words of James, 'when we fall into trials of
various temptations, knowing that the trial of our faith worketh
patience[11].' Let us rejoice as we keep the feast, my brethren, knowing that
our salvation is ordered in the time of affliction. For our Saviour did not
redeem us by inactivity, but by suffering for us He abolished death. And
respecting this, He intimidated to us before, saying, 'In the world ye shall
have tribulation[12].' But He did not say this to every man, but to those who
diligently and faithfully perform good service to Him, knowing beforehand,
that they should be persecuted who would live godly toward Him.
7. 'But evil-doers and sorcerers will wax worse and worse, deceiving and
being deceived[13]., If therefore, like those expounders of dreams and false
prophets who professed to give signs, these ignorant men being drunk, not with
wine, but with their own wickedness, make a profession of priesthood, and
glory in their threats, believe them not; but since we are tried, let us
humble ourselves, not being drawn away by them. For so God warned His people
by Moses, saying, 'If there shall rise up among you a prophet, or a dreamer of
dreams, and shall give signs and tokens, and the sign or the token shall come
to pass which he spake to thee, saying, Let us go and serve strange gods,
which ye have not known; ye shall not hearken unto the words of that prophet
or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God trieth you, that He may know
whether you will love the Lord your God with all your heart[14].' So we, when
we are tried by these things, will not separate ourselves from the love of
God. But let us now keep the feast, my beloved, not as introducing a day of
suffering, but of joy in Christ, by Whom we are fed every day. Let us be
mindful of Him Who was sacrificed in the days of the Passover; for we
celebrate this, because Christ the Passover was sacrificed[15]. He Who once
brought His people out of Egypt, and hath now abolished death, and him that
had the power of death, that is the devil[16], will likewise now turn him to
shame, and again grant aid to those who are troubled, and cry unto God day and
night[17].
8. We begin the fast of forty days on the thirteenth of Phamenoth (9
Mar.), and the holy week of Easter on the eighteenth of Pharmuthi (Apr. 13);
and resting on the seventh day, being the twenty-third (Apr. 18), and the
first of the great week having dawned on the twenty-fourth of the same month
Pharmuthi (Apr. 19),, let us reckon from it till Pentecost. And at all times
let us sing praises, calling on Christ, being delivered from our enemies by
Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Amen. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All those who are
here with me salute you. I pray, my beloved brethren, that ye may have health
in the Lord.
He wrote this also from Rome. Here endeth the thirteenth Letter.
LETTER XIV. (For 342.)
Cuss. Augustus Constantius III, Constans II,
Proef. the same Zonginus; Indict. xv; Easter-
day iii Id. Apr., xvi Pharmuthi; AEra Dioclet. 58.
THE gladness of our feast, my brethren, is always near at hand, and never
fails those who wish to celebrate it[1]. For the Word is near, Who is all
things on our behalf, even our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, having promised that
His habitation with us should be perpetual, in
542
virtue thereof cried, saying, 'Lo, I am with you all the days of the
world[2].' For as He is the Shepherd, and the High Priest, and the Way and the
Door, and everything at once to us, so again, He is shewn to us as the Feast,
and the Holyday, according to the blessed Apostle; 'Our Passover, Christ, is
sacrificed[3].' He it was who was expected, He caused a light to shine at the
prayer of the Psalmist, who said, 'My Joy, deliver me from those who surround
me[4];' this being indeed true rejoicing, this being a true feast, even
deliverance from wickedness, whereto a man attains by thoroughly adopting an
upright conversation, and being approved in his mind of godly submission
towards God[5]. For thus the saints all their lives long were like men
rejoicing at a feast. One found rest in prayer to God, as blessed David[6],
who rose in the night, not once but seven times. Another gave glory in songs
of praise, as great Moses, who sang a song of praise for the victory over
Pharaoh, and those task-masters[7]. Others performed worship with unceasing
diligence, like great Samuel and blessed Elijah; who have ceased from their
course, and now keep the feast in heaven, and rejoice in what they formerly
learnt through shadows, and from the types recognise the truth.
2. But what sprinklings shall we now employ, while we celebrate the feast?
Who will be our guide, as we haste to this festival? None can do this, my
beloved, but Him Whom you will name with me, even our Lord Jesus Christ Who
said, 'I am the Way.' For it is He Who, according to the blessed John, 'taketh
away the sin of the world[8].' He purifies our souls, as Jeremiah the prophet
says in a certain place, 'Stand in the ways and see, and enquire, and look
which is the good path, and ye shall find in it cleansing for your souls[9].'
Of old time, the blood of he-goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled upon
those who were unclean, were fit only to purify the flesh[9a]; but now,
through the grace of God the Word, every man is thoroughly cleansed. Following
Him, we may, even here, as on the threshold of the Jerusalem which is above,
meditate beforehand on the feast which is eternal, as also the blessed
Apostles, together following the Saviour Who was their Leader, have now become
teachers of a like grace, saying, 'Behold, we have left all, and followed
Thee[10].' For the following of the Lord, and the feast which is of the Lord,
is not accomplished by words only, but by deeds, every enactment of laws and
every command involving a distinct performance. For as great Moses, when
administering the holy laws, exacted a promise from the people[11], respecting
the practice of them, so that having promised, they might not neglect them,
and be accused as liars, thus also, the celebration of the least of the
Passover raises no question, and demands no reply; but when the word is given,
the performance of it follows, for He saith, 'And the children of Israel shall
keep the Passover[12];' intending that there should be a ready performance of
the commandment, while the command should aid its execution. But respecting
these matters, I have confidence in your wisdom, and your care for
instruction. Such points as these have been touched upon by us often and in
various Letters.
3. But now, which is above all things most necessary, I wish to remind
you, and myself with you, how that the command would have us come to the
Paschal feast not profanely and without preparation, but with sacramental and
doctrinal rites, and prescribed observances, as indeed we learn from the
historical account, 'A man who is of another nation, or bought with money, or
uncircumcised, shall not eat the Passover[13].' Neither should it be eaten in
'any' house, but He commands it to be done in haste; inasmuch as before we
groaned and were made sad by the bondage to Pharaoh, and the commands of the
task-masters. For when in former time the children of Israel acted in this
way, they were counted worthy to receive the type, which existed for the sake
of this feast, nor is the feast now introduced on account of the type. As also
the Word of God, when desirous of this, said to His disciples, 'With desire I
have desired to eat this Passover with you[14].' Now that is a wonderful
account, for a man might have seen them at that time girded as for a
procession or a dance, and going out with staves, and sandals, and unleavened
bread. These things, which took place before in shadows, were typical But now
the Truth is nigh unto us, 'the Image of the invisible God[15], ' our Lord
Jesus Christ, the true Light, Who instead of a staff, is our sceptre, instead
of unleavened bread, is the bread which came down from heaven, Who, instead of
sandals, hath furnished us with the preparation of the Gospel[16], and Who,
to speak briefly, by all these hath guided us to His Father. And if enemies
afflict us and persecute us, He again, instead of Moses, will encourage us
with better words, saying, 'Be of
543
good cheer; I have overcome the wicked one[17].' And if after we have passed
over the Red Sea heat should again vex us or some bitterness of the waters
befall us, even thence again the Lord will appear to us, imparting to us of
His sweetness, and His life-giving fountain, saying, 'If any man thirst, let
him come to Me, and drink[18].'
4. Why therefore do we tarry, and why do we delay, and not come with all
eagerness and diligence to the feast, trusting that it is Jesus who calleth
us? Who is all things for us, and was laden in ten thousand ways for our
salvation; Who hungered and thirsted for us, though He gives us food and drink
in His saving gifts[19]. For this is His glory, this the miracle of His
divinity, that He changed our sufferings for His happiness. For, being life,
He died that He might make us alive, being the Word, He became flesh, that He
might instruct the flesh in the Word, and being the fountain of life, He
thirsted our thirst, that thereby He might urge us to the feast, saying, 'If
any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink[1].' At that time, Moses
proclaimed the beginning of the feast, saying, 'This month is the beginning of
months to you[2].' But the Lord, Who came down in the end of the ages[3],
proclaimed a different day, not as though He would abolish the law, far from
it, but that He should establish the law, and be the end of the law. 'For
Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth in righteousness;' as
the blessed Paul saith, 'Do we make void the law by faith? far from it: we
rather establish the law[4].' Now these things astonished even the officers
who were sent by the Jews, so that wondering they said to the Pharisees, 'No
man ever thus spake[5].' What was it then that astonished those officers, or
what was it which so affected the men as to make them marvel? It was nothing
but the boldness and authority of our Saviour. For when of old time prophets
and scribes studied the Scriptures, they perceived that what they read did not
refer to themselves, but to others. Moses, for instance, 'A prophet will the
Lord raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; to him hearken in all
that he commands you.' Isaiah again, 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear
a son, and ye shall call his name Emmanuel[6].' And others prophesied in
different and various ways, concerning the Lord. But by the Lord, of Himself,
and of no other, were these things prophesied; to Himself He limited them all,
saying, 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me[7]'--not to any other person,
but to 'Me.' A man may indeed hear from those concerning My coming, but he
must not henceforth drink from others, but from Me.
5. Therefore let us also, when we come to the feast, no longer come as to
old shadows, for they are accomplished, neither as to common feasts, but let
us hasten as to the Lord, Who is Himself the feast[8], not looking upon it as
an indulgence and delight of the belly, but as a manifestation of virtue. For
the feasts of the heathen are full of greediness, and utter indolence, since
they consider they celebrate a feast when they are idle[9]; and they work the
works of perdition when they feast. But our feasts consist in the exercise of
virtue and the practice of temperance; as the prophetic word testifies in a
certain place, saying, 'The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and
the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth [month], shall be to the
house of Judah for gladness, anti rejoicing, and for pleasant feasts[10].'
Since therefore this occasion for exercise is set before us, and such a day as
this is come, and the prophetic voice has gone forth that the feast shall be
celebrated, let us give all diligence to this good proclamation, and like
those who contend on the race course, let us vie with each other in observing
the purity of the fast[11], by watchfulness in prayers, by study of the
Scriptures, by distributing to the poor, and let us be at peace with our
enemies. Let us bind up those who are scattered abroad, banish pride, and
return to lowliness of mind, being at peace with all men, and urging the
brethren unto love. Thus also the blessed Paul was often engaged in fastings
and watchings, and was willing to be accursed for his brethren. Blessed David
again, having humbled himself by fastings, used boldness, saying, 'O Lord my
God, if I have done this, if there is any iniquity in my hands, if I have
repaid those who dealt evil with me, then may I fall from my enemies as a vain
man[12].' If we do these things, we shall conquer death; and receive an
earnest[13] of the kingdom of heaven.
6. We begin the holy Easter feast on the tenth of Pharmuthi (April 5),
desisting from the holy fasts on the fifteenth of the same month Pharmuthi
(April 10), on the evening of the seventh day. And let us keep the holy feast
on the sixteenth of the same month Pharmuthi (April 11); adding one by one
[the days] till the holy Pentecost, passing on to which, as through a
succession of feasts, let us keep the festival to the Spirit, Who is even
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now near us, in Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom to the Father be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The fifteenth and sixteenth are wanting.
LETTER XVII. (For 345.)
Coss. Amantius, Albinus; Proef. Nestorius of Gaza ; Indict. iii; Easter-day,
vii Id. Apr., xii Pharmuthi; Moon 19; AEra Dioclet. 61. ATHANASIUS to the
Presbyters and Deacons of Alexandria, and to the beloved brethren, greeting in
Christ.
According to custom, I give you notice respecting Easter, my beloved, that
you also may notify the same to the districts of those who are at a distance,
as is usual. Therefore, after this present festival[1], I mean this which is
on the twentieth of the month Pharmuthi, the Easter-day following will be on
the vii Id. April, or according to the Alexandrians on the twelfth of
Pharmuthi. Give notice therefore in all those districts, that Easter-day will
be on the vii Id. April, or according to the Alexandrian reckoning on the
twelfth of Pharmuthi. That you may be in health in Christ, I pray, my beloved
brethren.
LETTER XVIII. (For 346 )
Coss. Augustus Constantius IV, Constans III; Proef. the same Nestorius;
Indict. iv; Easter-day iii Kal. Apr., iv Pharmuthi; Moon 21; AEra Dioclet. 62.
ATHANASIUS, to the Presbyters and Deacons of Alexandria, brethren beloved
in the Lord, greeting.
You have done well, dearly beloved brethren, that you have given the
customary notice of the holy Easter in those districts; for I have seen and
acknowledged your exactness, By other letters I have also given you notice,
that when this year is finished, ye may know concerning the next, Yet now I
have thought it necessary to write the same things that, when you have it
exactly, you also may write with care. Therefore, after the conclusion of this
feast, which is now drawing to its close, on the twelfth of the month
Pharmuthi, which is on the vii Id, Apr.[2], Easter-day will be on the iii Kal,
April; the fourth of Pharmuthi, according to the Alexandrians. When therefore
the feast is finished, give notice again in these districts, according to
early custom, thus: Easter Sunday is on the iii Kal. April, which is the
fourth of Pharmuthi, according to the Alexandrian reckoning. And let no man
hesitate concerning the day, neither let any one contend, saying, It is
requisite that Easter should be held on the twenty-seventh of the month
Phamenoth; for it was discussed in the holy Synod[3], and all there settled
it to be on the iii Kal. April. I say then that it is on the fourth of the
month Pharmuthi; for the week before this is much too early[4]. Therefore let
there be no dispute, but let us act as becometh us. For I have thus written to
the Romans also. Give notice then as it has been notified to you, that it is
on the iii Kal. April; the fourth of Pharmuthi, according to the Alexandrian
reckoning.
That ye may have health in the Lord, I pray, my dearly beloved brethren.
LETTER XIX. (For 347.)
Coss. Rufinus, Eusebius ; Proef. the same Nestorius; Indict. v; Easter-day
Prid. Id. Apr., Pharmuthi xvii; AEra Dioclet. 63; Moon 15.
'BLESSED is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ[1],' for such an
introduction is fitting for an Epistle, and more especially now, when it
brings thanksgiving to the Lord, in the Apostle's words, because He hath
brought us from a distance, and granted us again to send openly to you, as
usual, the Festal Letters. For this is the season of the feast, my brethren,
and it is near; being not now proclaimed by trumpets, as the history
records[2], but being made known and brought near to us by the Saviour, Who
suffered on our behalf and rose again, even as Paul preached, saying, 'Our
Passover, Christ, is sacrificed[3].' Henceforth the feast of the Passover is
ours, not that of a stranger, nor is it any longer of the Jews[4]. For the
time of shadows is abolished, and those former things have ceased, and now the
month of new things[4a] is at hand, in which every man should keep the feast,
in obedience to Him who said, 'Observe the
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month of new things, and keep the Passover to the Lord thy Gods.' Even the
heathen fancy they keep festival, and the Jews hypo-critically feign to do so.
But the feast of the heathen He reproves, as the bread(6) of mourners, and He
turns His face from that of the Jews, as being outcasts, saying, 'Your new
moons and your sabbaths My soul hateth(7).'
2. For actions not done lawfully and piously, are not of advantage, though
they may be reputed to be so, but they rather argue hypocrisy in those who
venture upon them. Therefore, although such persons feign to offer sacrifices,
yet they hear from the Father, 'Your whole burnt-offerings are not acceptable,
and your sacrifices do not please Me; and although ye bring fine flour, it is
vanity, incense also is an abomination unto Me(8).' For God does not need
anything(9); and, since nothing is unclean to Him, He is full in regard to
them, as He testifies, by Isaiah, saying, 'I am full(10).' Now there was a law
given about these things, for the instruction of the people, and to prefigure
things to come, for Paul saith to the Galatians; 'Before faith came, we were
kept guarded under the law, being shut up in the faith which should afterwards
be revealed unto us; wherefore the law was our instructor in Christ, that we
might be justified by faith(11).' But the Jews knew not, neither did they
understand, therefore they walked in the daytime as in darkness, feeling for,
but not touching, the truth we possess, which [was contained] in the law;
conforming to the letter, but not submitting to the spirit. And when Moses was
veiled, they looked on him, but turned away their faces from him when he was
uncovered. For they knew not what they read, but erroneously substituted one
thing for another. The prophet, therefore, cried against them, saying,
'Falsehood and faithlessness have prevailed among them.' The Lord also
therefore said concerning them, 'The strange children have dealt falsely with
Me; the strange children have waxen old(12).' But how gently does He reprove
them, saying, 'Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote
of Me(13).' But being faithless, they went on to deal falsely with the law,
affirming things after their own pleasure, but not understanding the
Scripture; and, further, as they had hypocritically made a pretence of the
plain text of Scripture, and had confidence in this, He is angry with them,
saying by Isaiah, 'Who hath required these of your hands(14)?' And by
Jeremiah, since they were very bold, he threatens, 'Gather together your whole
burnt-offerings with your sacrifices, and eat flesh, for I spake not unto your
fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of
Egypt, concerning whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices(15).' For they did not
act as was right, neither was their zeal according to law, but they rather
sought their own pleasure in such days, as the prophet accuses them, beating
clown their bondsmen, and gathering themselves together for strifes and
quarrels, and they smote the lowly with the fist, and did all things that
tended to their own gratification. For this cause, they continue without a
feast until the end, although they make a display now of eating flesh, out of
place and out of season. For, instead of the legally-appointed lamb, they have
learned to sacrifice to Baal; instead of the true unleavened bread, 'they
collect the wood, and their fathers kindle the fire, and their wives prepare
the dough, that they may make cakes to the host of heaven, and pour out
libations to strange gods, that they may provoke Me to anger, saith the
Lord(16).' They have the just reward of such devices, since, although they
pretend to keep the Passover, yet joy and gladness is taken from their mouth,
as saith Jeremiah, 'There hath been taken away from the cities of Judah, and
the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of those who are glad, and the voice of
those who rejoice; the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the
bride(17).' Therefore now, 'he who among them sacrificeth an ox, is as he who
smiteth a man, and he who sacrificeth a lamb is as he who killeth a dog, he
that offereth fine flour, is as [if he offered] swine's blood, he that giveth
frankincense for a memorial, is as a blasphemer(18).' Now these things will
never please God, neither thus hath the word required of them. But He saith,
'These have chosen their own ways; and their abominations are what their soul
delighteth in(19).'
3. And what does this mean my brethren? For it is right for us to
investigate the saying of the prophet, and especially on account of heretics
who have turned their mind against the law. By Moses then, God gave
commandment respecting sacrifices, and all the book called Leviticus is
entirely taken up with the arrangement of these matters, so that He might
accept the offerer. So through the Prophets, He blames him who despised these
things, as disobedient to the command-
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ment, saying, 'I have not required these at your hands. Neither did I speak to
your fathers respecting sacrifices, nor command them concerning whole
burnt-offerings(1).' Now it is the opinion of some, that the Scriptures do not
agree together, or that God, Who gave the commandment, is false. But there is
no disagreement whatever, far from it, neither can the Father, Who is truth,
lie; 'for it is impossible that God should lie(2),' as Paul affirms. But all
these things are plain to those who rightly consider them, and to those who
receive with faith the writings of the law. Now it appears to me--may God
grant, by your prayers, that the remarks I presume to make may not be far from
the truth--that not at first were the commandment and the law concerning
sacrifices, neither did the mind of God, Who gave the law, regard whole
burnt-offerings, but those things which were pointed out and prefigured by
them. 'For the law contained a shadow of good things to come.' And, 'Those
things were appointed until the time of reformation(3).'
4. Therefore, the whole law did not treat of sacrifices, though there was
in the law a commandment concerning sacrifices, that by means of them it might
begin to instruct men and might withdraw them from idols, and bring them near
to God, teaching them for that present time. Therefore neither at the
beginning, when God brought the people out of Egypt, did He command them
concerning sacrifices or whole burnt-offerings, nor even when they came to
mount Sinai. For God is not as man, that He should be careful about these
things beforehand; but His commandment was given, that they might know Him Who
is truly God, and His Word, and might despise those which are falsely called
gods, which are not, but appear in outward show So He made Himself known to
them in that He brought them out of Egypt, and caused them to pass through the
Red Sea. But when they chose to serve Baal, and dared to offer sacrifices to
those that have no existence, and forgat the miracles which were wrought in
their behalf in Egypt, and thought of returning thither again; then indeed,
after the law, that commandment concerning sacrifices was ordained as law; so
that with their mind, which at one time had meditated on those which are not,
they might turn to Him Who is truly God, and learn not, in the first place, to
sacrifice, but to turn away their faces from idols, and conform to what God
commanded. For when He saith, 'I have not spoken concerning sacrifices,
neither given commandment concerning whole burnt-offerings,' He immediately
adds, 'But this is the thing which I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice,
and I will be to you a God, and ye shall be to Me a people, and ye shall walk
in all the ways that I command you(4).' Thus then, being before instructed and
taught, they learned not to do service to any one but the Lord. They attained
to know what time the shadow should last, and not to forget the time that was
at hand, in which no longer should the bullock of the herd be a sacrifice to
God, nor the ram of the flock, nor the he-goat(5), but all these things should
be fulfilled in a purely spiritual manner, and by constant prayer, and upright
conversation, with godly words; as David sings, 'May my meditation be pleasing
to Him. Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense, and the lifting up
of my hands as the evening sacrifice(6).' The Spirit also, who is in him,
commands, saying, 'Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, and pay to the
Lord thy vows. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and put your trust in the
Lord(7).'
5. Samuel, that great man, no less clearly reproved Saul, saying, 'Is not
the word better than a gift(7a)?' For hereby a man fulfils the law, and
pleases God, as He saith, 'The sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me.' Let a
man 'learn what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice(8),' and I
will not condemn the adversaries. But this wearied them, for they were not
anxious to understand, 'for had they known, they would not have crucified the
Lord of glory(9).' And what their end is, the prophet foretold, crying, 'Woe
unto their soul, for they have devised an evil thought, saying, let us bind
the just man, because he is not pleasing to us(10). The end of such
abandonment as this can be nothing but error, as the Lord, when reproving
them, saith, 'Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures(11).' Afterwards when,
being reproved, they should have come to their senses, they rather grew
insolent, saying, 'We are Moses' disciples; and we know that God spake to
Moses(12);' dealing the more falsely by that very expression, and accusing
themselves. For had they believed him to whom they hearkened, they would not
have denied the Lord, Who spake by Moses, when He was present. Not so did the
eunuch in the Acts, for when he heard, 'Understandest thou what thou
readest(13)?' he was not ashamed to confess his ignorance, and implored to be
taught. Therefore, to him who became a learner, the grace of the Spirit was
given. But as for those
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Jews who persisted in their ignorance; as the proverb saith, 'Death came upon
them. For the fool dies in his sins
6. Like these too, are the heretics, who, having fallen from true
discernment, dare to invent to themselves atheism. 'For the fool saith in his
heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, and become abominable in their
doings(15).' Of such as are fools in their thoughts, the actions are wicked,
as He saith, 'can ye, being evil, speak good things(16);' for they were evil,
because they thought wickedness. Or how can those do just acts, whose minds
are set upon fraud? Or how shall he love, who is prepared beforehand to hate?
How shall he be merciful, who is bent upon the love of money? How shall he be
chaste, who looks upon a woman to lust after her? 'For from the heart proceed
evil thoughts, fornications, adulteries, murders(17).' By them the fool is
wrecked, as by the waves of the sea, being led away and enticed by his fleshly
pleasures; for this stands written, 'All flesh of fools is greatly
tempest-tossed(1).' While he associates with folly, he is tossed by a tempest,
and perishes, as Solomon says in the Proverbs, 'The fool and he who lacketh
understanding shall perish together, and shall leave their wealth to
strangers(2).' Now they suffer such things, because there is not among them
one sound of mind to guide them. For where there is sagacity, there the Word,
who is the Pilot of souls, is with the vessel; 'for he that hath understanding
shall possess guidance(3);' but they who are without guidance fall like the
leaves. Who has so completely fallen away as Hymenaeus and Philetus, who held
evil opinions respecting the resurrection, and concerning faith in it suffered
shipwreck? And Judas being a traitor, fell away from the Pilot, and perished
with the Jews(4). But the disciples since they were wise, and therefore
remained with the Lord, although the sea was agitated, and the ship covered
with the waves, for there was a storm, and the wind was contrary, yet fell not
away. For they awoke the Word, Who was sailing with them(5), and immediately
the sea became smooth at the command of its Lord, and they were saved. They
became preachers and teachers at the same time; relating the miracles of our
Saviour, and teaching us also to imitate their example. These things were
written on our account and for our profit, so that through these signs we may
acknowledge the Lord Who wrought them.
7. Let us, therefore, in the faith of the disciples, hold frequent
converse with our Master. For the world is like the sea to us, my brethren, of
which it is written, 'This is the great and wide sea, there go the ships; the
Leviathan, which Thou hast created to play therein(6).' We float on this sea,
as with the wind, through our own free-will, for every one directs his course
according to his will, and either, under the pilotage of the Word, he enters
into rest, or, laid hold on by pleasure, he suffers shipwreck, and is in peril
by storm. For as in the ocean there are storms and waves, so in the world
there are many afflictions and trials. The unbelieving therefore 'when
affliction or persecution ariseth is offended(7),' as the Lord said. For not
being confirmed in the faith, and having his regard towards temporal things,
he cannot resist the difficulties which arise from afflictions. But like that
house, built on the sand by the foolish man, so he, being without
understanding(8), fails before the assault of temptations, as it were by the
winds. But the saints, having their senses exercised in self-possession(9),
and being strong in faith, and understanding the word, do not faint under
trials; but although, from time to time, circumstances of greater trial are
set against them, yet they continue faithful, and awaking the Lord Who is with
them, they are delivered. So, passing through water and fire, they find relief
and duly keep the feast, offering up prayers with thanksgiving to God Who has
redeemed them. For either being tempted they are known, like Abraham, or
suffering they are approved, like Job, or being oppressed and deceitfully
treated, like Joseph, they patiently endure it, or being persecuted, they are
not overtaken; but as it is written, through God they 'leap over the wall(10)'
of wickedness, which divides and separates between brethren, and turns them
from the truth. In this manner the blessed Paul, when he took pleasure in
infirmities, in reproach, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses
for Christ, rejoiced, and wished all of us to rejoice saying, 'Rejoice always;
in everything give thanks[11].'
8. For what is so fitting for the feast, a turning from wickedness, and a
pure conversation, and prayer offered without ceasing to God, with
thanksgiving? Therefore let us, my brethren, looking forward to celebrate the
eternal joy in heaven, keep the feast here also, rejoicing at all times,
praying incessantly, and in everything giving thanks to the Lord. I give
thanks to God, for those other wonders He has done, and for the various helps
that
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have now been granted us, in that though He hath chastened us sore, He did not
deliver us over to death, but brought us from a distance even as from the ends
of the earth, and hath united us again with you. I have been mindful while I
keep the feast, to give you also notice of the great feast of Easter, that so
we may go up together, as it were, to Jerusalem, and eat the Passover, not
separately but as in one house(12); let us not as sodden in water, water down
the word of God; neither let us, as having broken its bones, destroy the
commands of the Gospel. But as roasted with fire, with bitterness, being
fervent in spirit, in fastings and watchings, with lying on the ground, let us
keep it with penitence and thanksgiving.
9. We begin the fast of forty days on the sixth day of Phamenoth(Mar. 2);
and having passed through that properly, with fasting and prayers, we may be
able to attain to the holy day. For he who neglects to observe the fast of
forty days, as one who rashly and impurely treads on holy things, cannot
celebrate the Easter festival. Further, let us put one another in
remembrance, and stimulate one another not to be negligent, and especially
that we should fast those days, so that fasts may receive us in succession,
and we may rightly bring the feast to a close.
10. The fast of forty days begins then, as was already said, on the sixth
of Phamenoth (Mar. 2), and the great week of the Passion on the eleventh of
Pharmuthi (Apr. 6). And let us rest from the fast on the sixteenth of it (Apr.
11), on the seventh day, late in the evening. Let us keep the feast when the
first of the week dawns upon us, on the seventeenth of the same month
Pharmuthi (Apr. 12). Let us then add, one after the other, the seven holy
weeks of Pentecost, rejoicing and praising God, that He hath by these things
made known to us beforehand, joy and rest everlasting, prepared in heaven for
us and for those who truly believe in Christ Jesus our Lord; through Whom,
and with Whom, be glory and dominion to the Father, with the Holy Ghost, for
ever and ever. Amen.
Salute one another with a holy kiss. The brethren who are with me salute
you.
13 I have also thought it necessary to inform you of the appointment of
Bishops, which has taken place in the stead of our blessed fellow-ministers,
that ye may know to whom to write, and from whom ye should receive letters. In
Syene, therefore, Nilammon, instead of Nilammon of the same name. In
Latopolis, Masis, instead of Ammonius. In Coptos, Psenosiris(14), instead of
Theodorus(15). In Panopolis, because Artemidorus(16) desired it, on account of
his old age, and weakness of body, Arius is appointed coadjutor. In Hypsele,
Arsenius, having become reconciled to the Church. In Lycopolis, Eudaemon(17)
in the stead of Plusianus(18). In Anti-noopolis, Arion(19), instead of
Ammonius and Tyrannus(20). In Oxyrynchus, Theodorus, instead of Pelagius. In
Nilopolis, instead of Theon, Amatus(1), and Isaac, who are reconciled to each
other. In Arsenoitis, Andreas(2), instead of Silvanus(3). In Prosopitis,
Triadelphus, instead of Serapammon(4). In Diosphacus, on the river side,
Theodorus, instead of Serapammon. In Sais, Paphnutius, instead of Nemesion. In
Xois, Theodorus, instead of Anubion; and there is also with him Isidorus, who
is reconciled to the Church. In Sethroitis, Orion(5), instead of Potammon(6).
In Clysma, Tithonas(7), instead of Jacob; and there is with him Paulus, who
has been reconciled to the Church.
LETTER XX.
(For 348.)
Coss. Philippus, Salia; Praefect the same Nestorius; Indict. vi; Easter-day
iii Non. Apr., viii Pharmuthi; AEra Dioclet. 64; Moon 18.
LET us now keep the feast, my brethren, for as our Lord then gave notice
to His disciples, so He now tells us beforehand, that 'after some days is the
Passover(1),' in which the Jews indeed betrayed the Lord, but we celebrate His
death as a feast, rejoicing because we then obtained rest from our
afflictions. We are diligent in assembling ourselves together, for we were
scattered in time past and were lost, and are found. We were far off, and are
brought nigh, we were strangers, and have become His, Who suffered for us, and
was nailed on the cross, Who bore our sins, as the prophet(1a) saith, and was
afflicted for us, that He might put away from all of us grief, and sorrow, and
sighing. When we thirst, He satisfies us on the feast-day itself; standing and
crying, 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink(2).' For such is the
love of the saints at all times, that they never once leave off, but offer the
uninterrupted, constant sacrifice to the Lord, and continually thirst, and ask
of Him to drink(3); as David sang, 'My God, my God, early will I seek
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Thee, my soul thirsteth for Thee; many times my heart and flesh longeth for
Thee in a barren land, without a path, and without water. Thus was I seen by
Thee in the sanctuary(4).' And Isaiah the prophet says, 'From the night my
spirit seeketh Thee early, O God, because Thy commandments are light(5).' And
another says, 'My soul fainteth for the longing it hath for Thy judgments at
all times.' And again he says, 'For Thy judgments I have hoped, and Thy law
will I keep at all times(6).' Another boldly cries out, saying, ' Mine eye is
ever towards the Lord' And with him one says, 'The meditation of my heart is
before Thee at all times.' And Paul further advises, ' At all times give
thanks; pray without ceasing(7).' Those who are thus continually engaged, are
waiting entirely on the Lord, and say, ' Let us follow on to know the Lord: we
shall find Him ready as the morning, and He will come to us as the early and
the latter rain for the earth(8).' For not only does He satisfy them in the
morning; neither does He give them only as much to drink as they ask; but He
gives them abundantly according to the multitude of His lovingkindness,
vouchsafing to them at all times the grace of the Spirit. And what it is they
thirst for He immediately adds, saying, 'He that believeth on Me.' For, 'as
cold waters are pleasant to those who are thirsty(9),' according to the
proverb, so to those who believe in the Lord, the coming of the Spirit is
better than all refreshment and delight.
2. It becomes us then in these days of the Passover, to rise early with
the saints, and approach the Lord with all our soul, with purity of body,
with confession and godly faith in Him; so that when we have here first drunk,
and are filled with these divine waters which [flow] from Him, we may be
able to sit at table with the saints in heaven, and may share in the one voice
of gladness which is there. From this sinners, because it wearied them, are
rightly cast out, and hear the words, 'Friend, how camest thou in hither, not
having a wedding garment(10)?' Sinners indeed thirst, but not for the grace of
the Spirit; but being inflamed with wickedness, they are wholly set on fire by
pleasures, as saith the Proverb,' All day long he desires evil desires.' But
the Prophet cries against them, saying, 'Wo unto those who rise up early, and
follow strong drink; who continue until the evening, for wine inflameth
them(11).' And since they run wild in wantonness, they dare to thirst for the
destruction of others. Having first drunk of lying and unfaithful waters,
those things have come upon them, which are stated by the Prophet; 'My wound,'
saith he, 'is grievous, whence shall I be healed; it hath surely been to me
like deceitful waters, in which there is no trust(12).' Secondly, while they
drink with their companions, they lead astray and disturb the right mind, and
turn away the simple from it. And what does he cry?
Wo unto him who causeth his neighbour to drink turbid destruction, and
maketh him drunk, that he may look upon his caverns(13).' But those who
dissemble, and steal away the truth, quench their hearts. Having first drunk
of these things, they go on to say those things which the whore saith in the
Proverbs, 'Lay hold with delight on hidden bread, and sweet stolen
waters(14).' They lay snares secretly, because they have not the freedom of
virtue, nor the boldness of Wisdom(15), who praises herself in the gates, and
employs freedom of speech in the broad ways, preaching on high walls. For this
reason, they are bidden to 'lay hold with delight(16).' because, having the
choice between faith and pleasures, they steal the sweetness of truth, and
disguise their own bitter waters [to escape] from the blame of their
wickedness, which would have been speedy and public. On this account, the wolf
puts on the skin of the sheep, sepulchres deceive by their whitened
exteriors(17). Satan, that is(18).
FROM LETTER XXII(19).
(For 350.)
WHERE our Lord Jesus Christ, who took upon Him to die for all, stretched
forth His hands, not somewhere on the earth beneath, but in the air itself, in
order that the Salvation effected by the Cross might be
shewn to be for all men everywhere: destroying the devil who was working in
the air: and that He might consecrate our road up to Heaven, and make it free.
FROM LETTER XXIV(19).
(For 352.)
AND at that time when they went forth and crossed over Egypt, their
enemies were the sport of the sea; but now, when we pass over
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from earth to Heaven, Satan himself henceforth falls like lightning from
Heaven.
FROM LETTER XXVII.
(For 355.)
From the twenty-seventh Festal Letter of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and
Confessor; of which the commencement is, 'Again the season of the day of the
living Passover(1).'
FOR who is our joy and boast, but our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who
suffered for us, and by Himself made known to us the Father? For He is no
other than He Who of old time spoke by the Prophets; but now He saith to every
man, 'I Who speak am near(2).' Right well is this word spoken, for He does not
at one time speak, at another keep silence; but continually and at all times,
from the beginning without ceasing, He raises up every man, and speaks to
every man in his heart.
FROM LETTER XXVIII(3).
(For 356.)
... IN order that while He might become a sacrifice for us all, we,
nourished up in the words of truth, and partaking of His living doctrine,
might be able with the saints to receive also the joy of Heaven. For thither,
as He called the disciples to the upper chamber, so does the Word call us with
them to the divine and incorruptible banquet; having suffered for us here, but
there, preparing the heavenly tabernacles for those who most readily hearken
to the summons, and unceasingly, and [gazing] at the goal, pursue the prize of
their high calling; where for them who come to the banquet, and strive with
those who hinder them, there is laid up both a crown, and incorruptible joy.
For even though, humanly speaking, the labour of such a journey is great, yet
the Saviour Himself has rendered even it light and kindly.
ANOTHER FRAGMENT.
BUT let us, brethren, who have received the vineyard from the Saviour, and
are invited to the heavenly banquet, inasmuch as the Feast is now drawing
nigh, take the branches of the palm 4 trees, and proving conquerors of sin,
let us too like those, who on that occasion went to meet the Saviour, make
ourselves ready by our conduct, both to meet Him when He comes, and to go in
with Him and partake of the immortal food, and from thenceforth live eternally
in the heavens.
FROM LETTER XXIX(1)
(For 357.)
From the twenty-ninth Letter, of which the beginning is, 'Sufficient for this
present time is that which we have already written.'
THE Lord proved the disciples(2), when He was asleep on the pillow, at
which time a miracle was wrought, which is especially calculated to put even
the wicked to shame. For when He arose, and rebuked the sea, and silenced the
storm, He plainly shewed two things; that the storm of the sea was not from
the winds, but from fear of its Lord Who walked upon it, and that the Lord Who
rebuked it was not a creature, but rather its Creator, since a creature is not
obedient to another creature. For although the Red Sea was divided before by
Moses(3), yet it was not Moses who did it, for it came to pass, not because he
spoke, but because God commanded. And if the sun stood still in Gibeon(4), and
the moon in the valley of Ajalon, yet this was the work, not of the son of
Nun, but of the Lord, Who heard his prayer. He it was Who both rebuked the
sea, and on the cross caused the sun to be darkened(5).
ANOTHER FRAGMENT(6).
AND whereas what is human comes to an end, what is divine does not. For
which reason also when we are dead, and when our nature is tired out, he
raises us up, and leads us up [though] born of earth to heaven.
ANOTHER FRAGMENT(7).
Here begins a letter of S. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, to his
children. May God comfort you. I know moreover that not only this thing
saddens you, but also the fact that while others have obtained the churches by
violence, you are meanwhile cast out from your places. For they hold the
places, but you the Apostolic Faith. They are, it is true, in the places, but
outside of the true Faith; while you are
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outside the places indeed, but the Faith, within you. Let us consider whether
is the greater, the place or the Faith. Clearly the true Faith. Who then has
lost more, or who possesses more? He who holds the place, or he who holds the
Faith? Good indeed is the place, when the Apostolic Faith is preached there,
holy is it if the Holy One dwell there. (After a little:) But ye are blessed,
who by faith are in the Church, dwell upon the foundations of the faith, and
have full satisfaction, even the highest degree of faith which remains among
you unshaken. For it has come down to you from Apostolic tradition, and
frequently has accursed envy wished to unsettle it, but has not been able. On
the contrary, they have rather been cut off by their attempts to do so. For
this is it that is written, 'Thou art the Son of the Living God(8),' Peter
confessing it by revelation of the Father, and being told, 'Blessed art thou
Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to thee, but 'My Father
Who is in heaven,' and the rest. No one therefore will ever prevail against
your Faith most beloved brethren. For if ever God shall give back the churches
(for we think He will) yet without(9) such restoration of the churches the
Faith is sufficient for us. And test, speaking without the Scriptures, I
should [seem to] speak too strongly, it is well to bring you to the testimony
of Scriptures, for recollect that the Temple indeed was at Jerusalem; the
Temple was not deserted, aliens had invaded it, whence also the Temple being
at Jerusalem, those exiles went down to Babylon by the judgment of God, who
was proving, or rather correcting them; while manifesting to them in their
ignorance punishment [by means] of blood-thirsty enemies(10). And aliens
indeed had held the Place, but knew not the Lord of the Place while in that He
neither gave answer nor spoke they were deserted by the truth. What profit
then is the Place to them?
For behold they that hold the Place are charged by them that love God
with making it a den of thieves, and with madly making the Holy Place a house
of merchandise, and a house of judicial business for themselves to whom it was
unlawful to enter there. For this and worse than this is what we have heard,
most beloved, from those who are come from thence. However really, then, they
seem to hold the church, so much the more truly are they cast out. And they
think themselves to be within the truth, but are exiled, and in captivity, and
[gain] no advantage by the church alone. For the truth of things is judged...
FROM LETTER XXXIX. (For 367.)
Of the particular books and their number, which are accepted by the Church.
From the thirty-ninth Letter of Holy Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, on the
Paschal festival; wherein he defines canonically what are the divine books
which are accepted by the Church.
.... 1. They have(1) fabricated books which they call books of tables(2),
in which they shew stars, to which they give the names of Saints. And therein
of a truth they have inflicted on themselves a double reproach: those who have
written such books, because they have perfected themselves in a lying and
contemptible science; and as to the ignorant and simple, they have led them
astray by evil thoughts concerning the right faith established in all truth
and upright in the presence of God.
.... 2. But(2a) since we have made mention of heretics as dead, but of
ourselves as possessing the Divine Scriptures for salvation; and since I fear
lest, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians(3), some few of the simple should be
beguiled from their simplicity and purity, by the subtility of certain men,
and should henceforth read other books--those called apocryphal--led astray by
the similarity of their names with the true books; I beseech you to bear
patiently, if I also write, by way of remembrance, of matters with which you
are acquainted, influenced by the need and advantage of the Church.
3. In proceeding to make mention of these things, I shall adopt, to
commend my undertaking, the pattern of Luke the Evangelist, saying on my own
account: 'Forasmuch as some have taken in hand(4),' to reduce into order for
themselves the books termed apocryphal, and to mix them up with the divinely
inspired Scripture, concerning which we have been fully persuaded, as they who
from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, delivered to
the fathers; it seemed
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good to me also, having been urged thereto by true brethren, and having
learned from the beginning, to set before you the books included in the Canon,
and handed down, and accredited as Divine; to the end that any one who has
fallen into error may condemn those who have led him astray; and that he who
has continued stedfast in purity may again rejoice, having these things
brought to his remembrance.
4. There are, then, of the Old Testament, twenty-two books in number; for,
as I have heard, it is handed down that this is the number of the letters
among the Hebrews; their respective order and names being as follows. The
first is Genesis, then Exodus, next Leviticus, after that Numbers, and then
Deuteronomy. Following these there is Joshua, the son of Nun, then Judges,
then Ruth. And again, after these four books of Kings, the first and second
being reckoned as one book, and so likewise the third and fourth as one book.
And again, the first and second of the Chronicles are reckoned as one book.
Again Ezra, the first and second(4a) are similarly one book. After these there
is the book of Psalms, then the Proverbs, next Ecclesiastes, and the Song of
Songs. Job follows, then the Prophets, the twelve being reckoned as one book.
Then Isaiah, one book, then Jeremiah with Baruch, Lamentations, and[5] the
epistle, one book; afterwards, Ezekiel and Daniel, each one book. Thus far
constitutes the Old Testament.
5. Again it is not tedious to speak of the [books] of the New Testament.
These are, the four Gospels, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Afterwards, the Acts of the Apostles and Epistles (called Catholic), seven,
viz. of James, one; of Peter, two; of John, three; after these, one of Jude.
In addition, there are fourteen Epistles of Paul, written in this order. The
first, to the Romans; then two to the Corinthians; after these, to the
Galatians; next, to the Ephesians; then to the Philippians; then to the
Colossians; after these, two to the Thessalonians, and that to the Hebrews;
and again, two to Timothy; one to Titus; and lastly, that to Philemon. And
besides, the Revelation of John.
6. These are fountains of salvation, that they who thirst may be satisfied
with the living words they contain. In these alone is proclaimed the doctrine
of godliness. Let no man add to these, neither let him take ought from these.
For concerning these the Lord put to shame the Sadducees, and said, 'Ye do
err, not knowing the Scriptures.' And He reproved the Jews, saying, 'Search
the Scriptures, for these are they that testify of Me(6).'
7. But for greater exactness I add this also, writing of necessity; that there
are other books besides these not indeed included in the Canon, but appointed
by the Fathers to be read by those who newly join us, and who wish for
instruction in the word of godliness. The Wisdom of Solomon, and the Wisdom of
Sirach, and Esther, and Judith, and Tobit, and that which is called the
Teaching of the Apostles, and the Shepherd. But the former, my brethren, are
included in the Canon, the latter being [merely] read; nor is there in any
place a mention of apocryphal writings. But they are an invention of heretics,
who write them when they choose, bestowing upon them their approbation, and
assigning to them a date, that so, using them as ancient writings, they may
find occasion to lead astray the simple.
FROMLETTER XL(7).
(For 368.)
'YE are they that have continued with Me in My temptations; and I appoint
unto you a kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto Me, that ye may eat and
drink at My table in My kingdoms(1).' Being called, then, to the great and
heavenly Supper, in that upper room which has been swept, let us 'cleanse
ourselves,' as the Apostle exhorted, 'from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God(2);' that so, being spotless
within and without,--without, clothing ourselves with temperance and justice;
within, by the Spirit, rightly dividing the word of truth --we may hear,
'Enter into the joy of thy Lord(3).'
FROM LETTER XLII.
(For 370.)
FOR we have been called, brethren, and are now called together, by Wisdom,
and according to the Evangelical parable, to that great and heavenly Supper,
and sufficient for every creature; I mean, to the Passover,--to Christ, Who is
sacrificed; for 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed.' (And afterwards:) They,
therefore, that are thus prepared shall hear, 'Enter into the joy of thy
Lord(4).'
FROM LETTER XLIII.
(For 371.)
OF US, then, whose also is the Passover, the calling is from above, and
'our conversation
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is in heaven,' as Paul says; 'For we have here no abiding city, but we seek
that which is to come(5),' whereto, also, looking forward, we properly keep
the feast. (And again, afterwards:) Heaven truly is high, and its distance
from us infinite; for 'the heaven of heavens,' says he, 'is the Lord's(6).'
But not, on that account, are we to be negligent or fearful, as though the way
thereto were impossible; but rather should we be zealous. Yet not, as in the
case of those who formerly, removing from the east and finding a plain in
Senaar, began [to build a tower], is there need for us to bake bricks with
fire, and to seek slime for mortar; for their tongues were confounded, and
their work was destroyed. But for us the Lord has consecrated a way through
His blood, and has made it easy. (And again:) For not only has He afforded us
consolation respecting the distance, but also in that He has come and opened
the door for us which was once shut. For, indeed, it was shut from the time He
cast out Adam from the delight of Paradise, and set the Cherubim and the
flaming sword, that turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of
life--now, however, opened wide. And He that sitteth upon the Cherubim having
appeared with greater grace and loving-kindness, led into Paradise with
himself the thief who confessed, and having entered heaven as our forerunner,
opened the gates to all. (And again:) Paul also, 'pressing toward the mark for
the prize of the high calling(7),' by it was taken up to the third heaven, and
having seen those things which are above, and then descended, be teaches us,
announcing what is written to the Hebrews, and saying, 'For ye are not come
unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and clouds,
and darkness, and a tempest, and to the voice of words. But ye are come unto
Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
to an innumerable company of angels, and to the general assembly and Church of
the first-born, which are written in heaven(8).' Who would not wish to enjoy
the high companionship with these! Who not desire to be enrolled with these,
that he may hear with them, 'Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world(9).'
FROM LETTER XLIV.
(For 372.)
And again, from the forty-fourth Letter, of which the commencement is, 'All
that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did instead of us and for us(1).'
WHEN therefore the servants of the Chief Priests and the Scribes saw these
things, and heard from Jesus, 'Whosoever is athirst, let him come to Me and
drink(2);' they perceived that this was not a mere man like themselves, but
that this was He Who gave water to the saints, and that it was He Who was
announced by the prophet Isaiah. For He was truly the splendour of the
light(3), and the Word of God. And thus as a river from the fountain he gave
drink also of old to Paradise; but now to all men He gives the same gift of
the Spirit, and says, 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink.'
Whosoever 'believeth on Me, as saith the Scripture, rivers of living water
shall flow out of his belly(4).' This was not for man to say, but for the
living God, Who truly vouchsafes life, and gives the Holy Spirit.
FROM LETTER XLV.
(For 373.)
LET us all take up our sacrifices, observing distribution to the poor, and
enter into the holy place, as it is written; 'whither also our forerunner
Jesus is entered for us, having obtained eternal redemption(5).' ... (From the
same:) ... And this is a great proof that, whereas we were strangers, we are
called friends; from being formerly aliens, we are become fellow-citizens with
the saints, and are called children of the Jerusalem which is above, whereof
that which Solomon built was a type. For if Moses made all things according to
the pattern shewed him in the mount, it is clear that the service performed in
the tabernacle was a type of the heavenly mysteries, whereto the Lord,
desirous that we should enter, prepared for us the new and abiding way. And as
all the old things were a type of the new, so the festival that now is, is a
type of the joy which is above, to which coming with psalms and spiritual
songs, let us begin the fasts(6).
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II. PERSONAL LETTERS
LETTER XLVI.
Letter(1) to the Mareotis from Sardica,
A.D. 343-4.
ATHANASIUS to the presbyters and deacons and the people of the Catholic
Church in the Mareotis, brethren beloved and longed for, greeting in the Lord.
The holy council has praised your piety in Christ. They have all
acknowledged your spirit and fortitude in all things, in that ye did not fear
threats, and though you had to bear insults and persecutions against your
piety you held out. Your letters when read out to all produced tears and
enlisted universal sympathy. They loved you though absent, and reckoned your
persecutions as their own. Their letter to you is a proof of their affection:
and although it would suffice to include you along with the holy Church of
Alexandria(2), yet the holy synod has written separately to you in order that
ye may be encouraged not to give way on account of your sufferings, but to
give thanks to God; because your patience shall have good fruit.
Formerly the character of the heretics was not evident. But now it is
revealed and laid open to all. For the holy synod has taken cognisance of the
calumnies these men have concocted against you, and has had them in
abhorrence, and has deposed Theodore, Valens, Ursacius, in Alexandria(3) and
the Mareotis by consent of all. The same notice has been given to other
Churches also. And since the cruelty and tyranny practised by them against the
Churches can no longer be borne, they have been cast out from the episcopate
and expelled from the communion of all. Moreover of Gregory they were
unwilling even to make mention, for since the man has lacked the very name of
bishop, they thought it superfluous to name him. But on account of those who
are deceived by him they have mentioned his name; not because he seemed worthy
of mention, but that those deceived by him might thereby recognise his infamy
and blush at the kind of man with whom they have communicated. You will learn
what has been written about them from the previous document(4): and though not
all of the bishops came together to sign, yet it was drawn up by all, and they
signed for all. Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the brethren salute
you.
I, Protogenes[5], bishop, desire that you may be preserved in the Lord,
beloved and longed for.
I, Athenodorus(*), bishop, desire that ye may be preserved in the Lord,
most beloved brethren. [Other signatures] Julian, Ammonius, Aprianus,
Marcellus, Gerontius(*), Porphyrius(*), Zosimus, Asclepius, Appian, Eulogius,
Eugenius, Liodorus(26), Martyrius, Eucarpus, Lucius(*), Caloes. Maximus: by
letters from the Gauls I desire that ye may be preserved in the Lord, beloved.
We, Arcidamus and Philoxenus, presbyters, and Leo a deacon, from Rome, desire
that ye may be preserved. I, Gaudentius, bishop of Naissus, desire that ye may
be preserved in the Lord. [Also] Florentius of Meria in Pannonia, Ammianus(9),
of Castellum in Pannonia, Januarius of Beneventum, Pr'textatus of Narcidonum
in Pannonia, Hyperneris (48) of Hypata in Thessaly, Castus of C'saraugusta,
Severus of Calcisus in Thessaly, Julian of Therae Heptapolis(6), Lucius of
Verona, Eugenius (35) of Hecleal Cycbinae(7), Zosimus((2) of Lychni(7)
Sunosion in Apulia(8), Hermogenes of Syceon(9), Thryphos of Magara,
Paregorius(*) of Caspi, Caloes(21) of Castromartis, Ireneus of Syconis,
Macedonius of Lypianum, Martyrius of Naupacti, Palladius of Dius, Broseus (87)
of Lu[g]dunum in Gaul, Ursacius of Brixia, Amantius of Viminacium, by the
presbyter Maximus, Alexander of Gypara in Achaia, Eutychius of Mothona,
Aprianus of Petavio in Pannonia, Antigonus of Pallene in Macedonia,
Dometius(*) of Acaria Constantias, Olympius of Enorodope(10) Zosimus of
Oreomarga, Protasius of Milan, Mark of Siscia on the Save, Eucarpus of Opus in
Achaia, Vitalis(*) of Vertara in Africa, Helianus of Tyrtana, Symphorus of
Herapythae in Crete, Mosmius (64) of Heracla, Eucissus of Chisamus(11),
Cydonius of Cydonia(12).
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LETTER XLVII.
To the Church of Alexandria on the same occasion.
ATHANASIUS to all the presbyters and deacons of the holy Catholic Church
at Alexandria and the Parembola, brethren most beloved, greeting.
In writing this I must begin my letter, most beloved brethren, by giving
thanks to Christ. But now this is especially fitting, since both many things
and great, done by the Lord, deserve our thanks(1), and those who believe in
Him ought not to be ungrateful for His many benefits. We thank the Lord
therefore, who always manifests us to all in the faith, who also has at this
time done many wonderful things for the Church. For what the heretical party
of Eusebius and heirs of Arius have maintained and spread abroad, all the
bishops who assembled have pronounced false and fictitious. And the very men
who are thought terrible by many, like those who are called giants, were
counted as nothing, and rightly so, for just as the darkness is illuminated
when light comes, so, iniquity is unveiled by the coming of the just, and when
the good are present, the worthless are exposed.
For you yourselves, beloved, are not ignorant what the successors of the
ill-named heresy of Eusebius did, namely Theodore, Narcissus, Valens,
Ursacius, and the worst of them all, George, Stephen, Acacius, Menophantus,
and their colleagues, for their madness is manifest to all; nor has it escaped
your observation what they committed against the Churches. For you were the
first they injured, your Church the first they tried to corrupt. But they who
did so many great things, and were as I said above, terrible to the minds of
all, have been so frightened as to pass all imagination. For not only did they
fear the Roman Synod, not only when invited to it did they excuse themselves,
but, now also having arrived at Sardica, so conscience-stricken were they,
that when they had seen the judges, they were astonished. So they fainted in
their minds. Verily, one might say to them: 'Death, where is thy sting,
Death, where is thy victory?' For neither did it go as they wished, for them
to give judgment as they pleased; this time they could not over-reach whom
they would. But they saw faithful men, that cared for justice, nay rather,
they saw our Lord Himself among them, like the demons of old from the tombs;
for being sons of falsehood, they could not bear to see the truth. So
Theodore, Narcissus, and Ursacius, with their friends said as follows(2):
'Stay, what have we to do with you, men of Christ? We know that you are true,
and fear to be convicted: we shrink from confessing cur calumnies to your
face. We have nothing to do with you; for you are Christians, while we are
foes to Christ; and while with you truth is powerful, we have learned to
over-reach. We thought our deeds were hid; we did not think that we were now
coming to judgment; why do you expose our deeds before their time; and by
exposing us vex us before the day?' and although they are of the worst
character and walk in darkness, yet they have learnt at last that there is no
agreement between light and darkness, and no concord between Christ and
Belial. Accordingly, beloved brethren, since they knew what they had done, and
saw their victims[3] ready as accusers, and the witnesses before their eyes,
they followed the example of Cain and fled like him; in that they greatly
wandered(4), for they imitated his flight, and so have received his
condemnation. For the holy council knows their works; it has heard our blood
crying aloud, heard from themselves the voices of the wounded. All the Bishops
know how they have sinned, and how many things they have done against our
Churches and others; and accordingly they have expelled these men from the
Churches like Cain. For who did not weep when your letter was read? who did
not groan to see whom those men had exiled? Who did not reckon your
tribulations his own? Most beloved brethren, you suffered formerly when they
were committing evil against you, and perhaps it is no long time since the war
has ceased. Now, however, all the Bishops who assembled and heard what you
have suffered, grieved and lamented just as you did when you suffered the
injuries and[5] they shared your grief at that time. ...
On account of these deeds then, and all the others which they have
committed against the Churches, the holy general council has deposed them all,
and not only has judged them aliens from the Church, but has held them
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unworthy to be called Christians. For how can men be called Christians who
deny Christ? And how can men be admitted to church who do evil against the
Churches? Accordingly, the holy council has sent to the Churches everywhere,
that they may be marked among all, so that they who were deceived by them may
now return to full assurance and truth. Do not therefore fail, beloved
brethren; like servants of God, and professors of the faith of Christ, be
tried in the Lord, and let not tribulation cast you down, neither let troubles
caused by the heretics who plot against you make you sad. For you have the
sympathy of the whole world in your grief, and what is more, it bears you all
in mind. Now I think that those deceived by them will, when they see the
severe sentence of the Council, turn aside from them and reject their impiety.
If, however, even after this their hand is lifted up, do you not be
astonished, nor fear if they rage; but pray and raise your hands to God, and
be sure that the Lord will not tarry but will perform all things according to
your will I could wish indeed to write you a longer letter with a detailed
account of what has taken place, but since the presbyters and deacons are
competent to tell you in person of all they have seen, I have refrained from
writing much. One thing alone I charge you, considering it a necessity, that
having the fear of the Lord before your eyes you will put Him first, and carry
on all things with your wonted concord as men of wisdom and understanding.
Pray for us, bearing in mind the necessities of the widows(6), especially
since the enemies of truth have taken away what belongs to them. But let your
love overcome the malice of the heretics. For we believe that according to
your prayers the Lord will be gracious and permit me to see you speedily.
Meanwhile you will learn the proceedings at the Synod by what all the Bishops
have written to you, and from the appended letter you will perceive the
deposition of Theodore, Narcissus, Stephen, Acacius, George, Menophantus,
Ursacius and Valens. For Gregory they did not wish to mention: since they
thought it superfluous to name a man who lacked the very name of bishop. Yet
for the sake of those deceived by him they have mentioned his name, not that
his name was worthy of mention, but in order that those deceived by him may
learn his infamy and blush for the sort of man they have communicated with(7)
... I pray that you may be preserved in the Lord, brethren most beloved and
longed for.
LETTER XLVIII.
Letter to Amun(1).
Written before 354 A.D.
ALL things made by God are beautiful and pure, for the Word of God has
made nothing useless or impure. For 'we are a sweet savour of Christ in them
that are being saved(2),' as the Apostle says. But since the devil's darts are
varied and subtle, and he contrives to trouble those who are of simpler mind,
and tries to hinder the ordinary exercises of the brethren, scattering
secretly among them thoughts of uncleanness and defilement; come let us
briefly dispel the error of the evil one by the grace of the Saviour, and
confirm the mind of the simple. For 'to the pure all things are pure,' but
both the conscience and all that belongs to the unclean are defiled(3). I
marvel also at the craft of the devil, in that, although he is corruption and
mischief itself, he suggests thoughts under the show of purity; but with the
result of a snare rather than a test. For with the object, as I said before,
of distracting ascetics from their customary and salutary meditation, and of
appearing to overcome them, he stirs some such buzzing thoughts as are of no
profit in life, vain questions and frivolities which one ought to put aside.
For tell me, beloved and most pious friend, what sin or uncleanness there is
in any natural secretion,--as though a man were minded to make a culpable
matter of the cleanings of the nose or the sputa from the mouth? And we may
add also the secretions of the belly, such as are a physical necessity of
animal life. Moreover if we believe man to be, as the divine Scriptures say, a
work of God's hands, how could any defiled work proceed from a pure Power? and
if, according to the divine Acts of the Apostles(4), 'we are God's offspring,'
we have nothing unclean in ourselves. For then only do we incur defilement,
when we commit sin, that foulest of things. But when any bodily excretion
takes place independently of will, then we experience this, like other things,
by a necessity of nature. But since those whose only pleasure is to gainsay
what is said aright, or rather what is made by God, pervert even a
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saying in the Gospels, alleging that 'not that which goeth in defileth a man,
but that which goeth out[5],' we are obliged to make plain this
unreasonableness,--for I cannot call it a question--of theirs. For firstly,
like unstable persons, they wrest the Scriptures[6] to their own ignorance.
Now the sense of the divine oracle is as follows. Certain persons, like these
of today, were in doubt about meats. The Lord Himself, to dispel their
ignorance, or it may be to unveil their deceitfulness, lays down that, not
what goes in defiles the man, but what goes out. Then he adds exactly whence
they go out, namely from the heart. For there, as he knows, are the evil
treasures of profane thoughts and other sins. But the Apostle teaches the same
thing more concisely, saying, 'But meat shall not bring us before God[7].'
Moreover, one might reasonably say no natural secretion will bring us before
him for punishment. But possibly medical men (to put these people to shame
even at the hands of outsiders) will support us on this point, telling us that
there are certain necessary passages accorded to the animal body, to provide
for the dismissal of the superfluity of what is secreted in our several parts;
for example, for the superfluity of the head, the hair and the watery
discharges from the head, and the purgings of the belly, and that superfluity
again of the seminative channels. What sin then is there in God's name, eider
most beloved of God, if the Master who made the body willed and made these
parts to have such passages? But since we must grapple with the objections of
evil persons, as they may say, 'If the organs have been severally fashioned by
the Creator, then there is no sin in their genuine use,' let us stop them by
asking this question: What do you mean by use? That lawful use which God
permitted when He said, 'Increase and multiply, and replenish the earth[8],'
and which the, Apostle approves in the words, 'Marriage is honourable and the
bed undefiled[9],' or that use which is public, yet carried on stealthily and
in adulterous fashion? For in other matters also which go to make up life, we
shall find differences according to circumstances. For example, it is not
right to kill, yet in war it is lawful and praiseworthy to destroy the enemy;
accordingly not only are they who have distinguished themselves in the field
held worthy of great honours, but monuments are put up proclaiming their
achievements. So that the same act is at one time and under some circumstances
unlawful, while under others, and at the right time, it is lawful and
permissible. The same reasoning applies to the relation of the sexes. He is
blessed who, being freely yoked in his youth, naturally begets children. But
if he uses nature licentiously, the punishment of which the Apostle' writes
shall await whoremongers and adulterers.
For there are two ways in life, as touching these matters. The one the
more moderate and ordinary, I mean marriage; the other angelic and
unsurpassed, namely virginity. Now if a man choose the way of the world,
namely marriage, he is not indeed to blame; yet he will not receive such great
gifts as the other. For he will receive, since he too brings forth fruit,
namely thirtyfold[2]. But if a man embrace the holy and unearthly way, even
though, as compared with the former, it be rugged and hard to accomplish, yet
it has the more wonderful gifts: for it grows the perfect fruit, namely an
hundredfold. So then their unclean and evil objections had their proper
solution long since given in the divine Scriptures. Strengthen then, father,
the flocks[2a] under you, exhorting them from the Apostolic writings, guiding
them from the Evangelical, counselling them from the Psalms, and saying,
'quicken me according to Thy Word[3];' but by 'Thy Word,' is meant that we
should serve Him with a pure heart. For knowing this, the Prophet says, as if
interpreting himself, 'Make me a dean heart, O God[4],' lest filthy thoughts
trouble me. David again, 'And stablish me with Thy free spirits,' that even if
ever thoughts disturb me, a certain strong power from Thee may stablish me,
acting as a support. Giving then this and the like advice, say with regard to
those who are slow to obey the truth, I will teach Thy ways unto the wicked,'
and, confident in the Lord that you will persuade them to desist from such
wickedness, sing 'and sinners shall be converted unto Thee? And be it granted,
that they who raise malicious questions may cease from such vain labour, and
that they who doubt in their simplicity may be strengthened with a 'free
spirit;' while as many of you as surely know the truth, hold it unbroken and
unshaken in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom be to the Father glory and might,
together with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
LETTER XLIX.
Letter to Dracontius[1].
Written A.D. 354 or 355.
I AM at a loss how to write. Am I to blame
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you for your refusal? or for having regard to the trials, and hiding for fear
of the Jews[2]? In any case, however it may be, what you have done is worthy
of blame, beloved Dracontius. For it was not fitting that after receiving the
grace you should hide, nor that, being a wise man, you should furnish others
with a pretext for flight. For many are offended when they hear it; not merely
that you have done this but that you have done it having regard to the times
and to the afflictions which are weighing upon the Church. And I fear lest, in
flying for your own sake, you prove to be in peril in the sight of the Lord on
account of others. For if 'he that offendeth one of the little ones, should
rather choose that a mill stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were
drowned in the depths of the sea[2a],' what can be in store for you, if you
prove an offence to so many? For the surprising unanimity about your election
in the district[3] of Alexandria will of necessity be broken up by your
retirement and the episcopate of the district will be grasped at by many,--and
many unfit persons, as you are well aware. And many heathen who were promising
to become Christians upon your election will remain heathen, if your piety
sets at nought the grace given you.
2. What defence will you offer for such conduct? With what arguments will
you be able to wash away and efface such an impeachment? How will you heal
those who on your account are fallen and offended? Or how will you be able to
restore the broken peace? Beloved Dracontius, you have caused us grief instead
of joy, groaning instead of consolation. For we expected to have you with us
as a consolation; and now we behold you in flight, and that you will be
convicted in judgment, and when upon your trial will repent it. And 'Who shall
have pity upon thee[4],' as the Prophet says, who will turn his mind to you
for peace, when he sees the brethren for whom Christ died injured on account
of your flight? For you must know, and not be in doubt, that while before your
election you lived to yourself, after it, you live for your flock. And before
you had received the grace of the episcopate, no one knew you; but after you
became one, the laity expect you to bring them food, namely instruction from
the Scriptures. When then they expect, and suffer hunger, and you are feeding
yourself[5] only, and our Lord Jesus Christ comes and we stand before Him,
what defence will you offer when He sees His own sheep hungering? For had you
not taken the money, He would not have blamed you. But He would reasonably do
so if upon taking it you dug and buried it,--in the words which God forbid
that your piety should ever hear: 'Thou oughtest to have given my money to the
bankers, that when I came I might demand it of them[6].'
3. I beseech you, spare yourself and us. Yourself, lest you run into
peril; us, lest we be grieved because of you. Take thought of the Church, lest
many of the little ones be injured on your account, and the others be given an
occasion of withdrawing. Nay but it you feared the times and acted as you did
from timidity, your mind is not manly; for in such a case you ought to
manifest zeal for Christ, and rather meet circumstances boldly, and use the
language of blessed Paul: 'in all these things we are more than
conquerors[7];' and the more so in that we ought to serve not the time, but
the Lord[8] But if the organising of the Churches is distasteful to you, and
you do not think the ministry of the episcopate has its reward, why, then you
have brought yourself to despise the Saviour that ordered these things. I
beseech you, dismiss such ideas, nor tolerate those who advise you in such a
sense, for this is not worthy of Dracontius. For the order the Lord has
established by the Apostles abides fair and firm; but the cowardice of the
brethren shall cease[8a].
4. For if all were of the same mind as your present advisers, how would
you have become a Christian, since there would be no bishops? Or if our
successors are to inherit this state of mind, how will the Churches be able to
hold together? Or do your advisers think that you have received nothing, that
they despise it? If so surely they are wrong. For it is time for them to think
that the grace of the Font is nothing, if some are found to despise it. But
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you have received it, beloved Dracontius; do not tolerate your advisers nor
deceive yourself. For this will be required of you by the God who gave it.
Have you not heard the Apostle say, 'Neglect not the gift that is in thee[9]?
or have you not read how he accepts the man that had doubled his money, while
he condemned the one that had hidden it? But may it come to pass that you may
quickly return, in order that you too may be one of those who are praised. Or
tell me, whom do your advisers wish you to imitate? For we ought to walk by
the standard of the saints and the fathers, and imitate them, and to be sure
that if we depart from them we put ourselves also out of their fellowship.
Whom then do they wish you to imitate? The one who hesitated, and while
wishing to follow, delayed it and took counsel because of his family[1], or
blessed Paul, who, the moment the stewardship was entrusted to him,
'straightway conferred not with flesh and blood[2]?' For although he said, 'I
am not worthy to be called an Apostle[3],' yet, knowing what be had received,
and being not ignorant of the giver, he wrote, 'For woe is me if I preach not
the gospel[4].' But, as it was 'woe to me' if he did not preach, so, in
teaching and preaching the gospel, he had his converts as his joy and
crown[5]. This explains why the saint[6] was zealous to preach as far as
Illyricum, and not to shrink from proceeding to Rome[7], or even going as far
as the Spains[8], in order that the more he laboured, he might receive so much
the greater reward for his labour. He boasted then that he had fought the good
fight, and was confident that he should receive the great crown[1]. Therefore,
beloved Dracontius, whom are you imitating in your present action? Paul, or
men unlike him? For my part, I pray that you, and myself, may prove, an
imitator of all the saints.
5. Or possibly there are some who advise you to hide, because you have
given your word upon oath not to accept the office it elected. For I hear that
they are buzzing in your ears to this effect, and consider that they are thus
acting conscientiously. But if they were truly conscientious, they would above
all have feared God, Who imposed this ministry upon you. Or if they had read
the divine Scriptures, they would not have advised you contrary to them. For
it is time for them to blame Jeremiah also, and to impeach the great Moses, in
that they did not listen to their advice, but fearing God fulfilled their
ministry, and prophesying were made perfect. For they also when they had
received their mission and the grace of Prophecy, refused. But afterwards they
feared, and did not set at nought Him that sent them. Whether then you be of
stammering utterance, and slow of tongue yet fear God that made you, or if you
call yourself too young to preach, yet reverence Him Who knew you before you
were made. Or if you have given your word (now their word was to the saints as
an oath), yet read Jeremiah, how he too had said, 'I will not name the Name of
the LordS' yet afterwards he feared the fire kindled within him, and did not
do as he had said, nor hid himself as if bound by an oath, but reverenced Him
that had entrusted to him his office, and fulfilled the prophetic call. Or are
you not aware, beloved, that Jonah also fled, but met with the fate that befel
him, after which he returned and prophesied?
6. Do not then entertain counsels opposite to this. For the Lord knows our
case better than we ourselves, and He knows to whom He is eatrusting His
Churches. For even if a man be not worthy, yet let him not look at his former
life, but let him carry out his ministry, lest, in addition to his life he
incur also the curse of negligence. I ask you, beloved Dracontius, whether
knowing this, and being a wise man, you are not pricked in your soul? Do you
not feel anxious lest any of those entrusted to you should perish? Do you not
burn, as with a fire in your conscience? Are you not in fear of the day of
judgment, in which none of your present advisers will be there to aid you? For
each shall give account of those entrusted to his hands. For how did his
excuse benefit the man who hid the money? Or how did it benefit Adam to say,
The woman beguiled me[3]?' Beloved Dracontius, even if you are really weak,
yet you ought to take up the charge, lest, the Church being unoccupied, the
enemies injure it, taking advantage of your flight. You should gird yourself
up, so as not to leave us alone in the struggle; you should labour with us, in
order to receive the reward also along with all.
7. Make haste then, beloved, and tarry no longer, nor suffer those who
would prevent you: but remember Him that has given, and come hither to us who
love you, who give you Scriptural advice, in order that you may both be
installed by ourselves, and, as you minister in the churches make remembrance
of us. For you are not the only one who has been elected from among monks, nor
the only one to have presided over a monastery, or to have been beloved by
monks. But you know that not only was Serapion a monk, and presided
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over that number of monks; you were not unaware of how many monks Apollos was
father; you know Agathon, and are not ignorant of Ariston. You remember
Ammonius who went abroad[3a] with Serapion. Perhaps you have also heard of
Muitus[3aa] in the upper Thebaid, and can learn about Paul[3b] at Latopolis,
and many others. And yet these, when elected, did not gainsay; but taking
Elisha as an example, and knowing the story of Elijah, and having learnt all
about the disciples and apostles, they grappled with the charge, and did not
despise the ministry, and were not inferior to themselves, but rather look for
the reward of their labour, advancing themselves and guiding others onward.
For how many have they turned away from the idols? How many have they caused
to cease from their familiarity with demons by their warning? How many
servants have they brought to the Lord so as to cause those who saw such
wonders to marvel at the sight? Or is it not a great wonder to make a damsel
live as a virgin, and a young man live in continence, and an idolater come to
know Christ?
8. Let not monks then prevent you, as though you alone had been elected
from among monks; nor do you make excuses, to the effect that you will
deteriorate. For you may even grow better if you imitate Paul, and follow up
the actions of the Saints. For you know that men like those, when appointed
stewards of the mysteries, all the more pressed forward to the mark of their
high calling[4]. When did Paul meet martyrdom and expect to receive his crown,
if not after being sent to teach? When did Peter make his confession if not
when he was preaching the Gospel, and had become a fisher of men[5]? When was
Elijah taken up, if not after completing his prophetic career? When did Elisha
gain a double share of the Spirit, if not after leaving all to follow Elijah?
Or why did the Saviour choose disciples, if not to send them out as apostles?
9. So take these as an example, beloved Dracontius, and do not say, or
believe those who say, that the bishop's office is an occasion of sin, nor
that it gives rise to temptations to sin. For it is possible for you also as a
bishop to hunger and thirst 6, as Paul did. You can drink no wine, like
Timothy 7, and fast constantly too, like Paul[8], in order that thus fasting
after his example you may feast others with your words, and while thirsting
for lack of drink, water others by teaching. Let not your advisers, then,
allege these things. For we know both bishops who fast, and monks who eat. We
know bishops who drink no wine, as well as monks who do. We know bishops who
work 9 wonders, as well as monks who do not. Many also of the bishops have not
even married, while monks have been fathers of children; just as conversely
we know bishops who are fathers of children and monks 'of the completest
kind[2].' And again, we know clergy who suffer hunger, and monks who fast. For
it is possible in the latter way, and not forbidden in the former. But let a
man, wherever he is, strive earnestly; for the crown is given not according to
position, but according to action.
10. Do not then suffer those who give contrary advice. But rather hasten
and delay not; the more so as the holy festival is approaching; so that the
laity may not keep the feast without you, and you bring great danger upon
yourself. For who will in your absence preach them the Easter sermon? Who will
announce to them the great day of the Resurrection, if you art in hiding? Who
will counsel them, if you are in flight, to keep the feast fittingly? Ah, how
many will be the better if you appear, how many be injured if you fly! And who
will think well of you for this? and why do they advise you not to take up the
bishop's office, when they themselves wish to have presbyters[3]? For if you
are bad, let them not associate with you. But if they know that you are good,
let them not envy the others. For if, as they say, teaching and government is
an occasion of sin, let them not be taught themselves, nor have presbyters,
lest they deteriorate, both they and those who teach them. But do not attend
to these human sayings, nor suffer those who give such advice, as I have often
already said. But rather make haste and turn to the Lord, in order that,
taking thought for his sheep, you may remember us also. But to this end I have
bidden our beloved Hierax, the presbyter, and Maximus the reader go, and bid
you by word of mouth also, that you may be able thus to learn both with what
feelings I have written, and the danger that results from gainsaying the
ordinance of the Church.
561
LETTER L.
First Letter to Lucifer[1].
To our lord, and most beloved brother the Bishop and Confessor Lucifer.
Athanasius greeting in the Lord.
Being well in body by God's favour, we have now sent our most beloved
deacon Eutyches, that your most pious holiness, as is much desired by us, may
be pleased to inform us of the safety of yourself and those with you. For we
believe it is by the life of you Confessors and servants of God that the state
of the Catholic Church is renewed; and that what heretics have assayed to rend
in pieces, our Lord Jesus Christ by your means restores whole.
For although the forerunners of Antichrist have by the power of this world
done everything to put out the lantern of truth, yet the Deity by your
confession shews its light all the clearer, so that none can fail to see their
deceit. Heretofore perhaps they were able to dissimulate: now they are called
Antichrists. For who can but execrate them, and fly from their communion like
a taint, or the poison of a serpent? The whole Church everywhere is mourning,
every city groans, aged bishops are suffering in exile, and heretics
dissembling, who while denying Christ have made themselves publicans, sitting
in the Churches and exacting revenue[2]. O new kind of men and of persecution
which the devil has devised, namely to use such cruelty, and even ministers as
the agents of evil. But although they act thus, and have gone all lengths in
pride and blasphemy, yet your confession, your piety and wisdom, will be the
very greatest comfort and solace to the brotherhood. For it has been reported
to us that your holiness has written to Constantius Augustus; and we wonder
more and more that dwelling as it were among scorpions you yet preserve
freedom of spirit, in order, by advice or teaching or correction, to bring
those in error to the light of truth. I ask then, and all conlessors join me
in asking, that you will be good enough to send us a copy; so that all may
perceive, not by hearsay only but by letters, the valour of your spirit, and
the confidence and firmness of your faith. Those who are with me salute your
holiness. I salute all those who are with you. May the deity ever keep i you
safe and sound and mindful of us, most beloved lord, and true man of God.
Upon receiving this letter, blessed Lucifer sent the books which he had
addressed to Constantius; and when he had read them Athanasius sent the
following letter:
LETTER LI.
Second Letter to Lucifer.
To the most glorious lord and deservedly much-desired fellow-Bishop
Lucifer, Athanasius greeting in the Lord.
Although I believe that tidings have reached your holiness also of the
persecution which the enemies of Christ have just now attempted to raise,
seeking our blood, yet our own most beloved messengers can tell your piety
about it. For to such a length did they dare to carry their madness by means
of the soldiers, that they not only banished the Clergy of the city, but also
went out to the Hermits, and laid their fatal hands upon Solitaries. Hence I
also withdrew far away, lest those who entertained me should suffer trouble at
their hands. For whom do Arians spare, who have spared not even their own
souls? Or how can they give up their infamous actions while they persist in
denying Christ our Lord the only Son of God? This is the root of their
wickedness; on this foundation of sand they build up the perversity of their
ways, as we find it written in the thirteenth Psalm, 'The fool said in his
heart there is no God;' and presently follows, 'Corrupt are they and become
abominable in their works[2a].' Hence the Jews who denied the Son of God,
deserved to be called 'a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed
of evil doers, children without law[3].' Why 'without law?'--because you have
deserted the Lord. And so the most blessed Paul, when he had begun not only to
believe in the Son of God, but also to preach His deity, wrote, 'I know
nothing against myself[4].' Accordingly we too, according to your confession
of faith, desire to hold the Apostolic tradi-
562
tion, and to live according to the commands of the divine law, that we may be
found along with you in that band in which now Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles
and Martyrs are rejoicing. So then, though the Arian madness, aided by
external power, was so active that our brethren on account of their fury could
not even see the open air with freedom, yet by God's favour according to your
prayers, I have been able though with trouble and danger, to see the brother
who is wont to bring me necessaries and the letters of your holiness, along
with those of others. And so we have received the books of your most wise and
religious soul, in which we have seen the image of an Apostle, the confidence
of a Prophet, the teaching of truth, the doctrine of true faith, the way of
heaven, the glory of martyrdom, the triumphs against the Arian heresy, the
unimpaired tradition of our Fathers, the right rule of the Church's order. O
truly Lucifer, who according to your name bring the light of truth, and have
set it on a candlestick to give light to all. For who, except the Arians, does
not clearly see from your teaching the true faith and the taint of the Arians.
Forcibly and admirably, like light from darkness, you have separated the truth
from the subtility and dishonesty of heretics, defended the Catholic Church,
proved that the arguments of the Arians are nothing but a kind of
hallucination, and taught that the diabolical gnashings of the teeth are to be
despised. How good and welcome are your exhortations to martyrdom; how highly
to be desired have you shewn death to be on behalf of Christ the Son of the
living God[5]. What love you have shewn for the world to come and for the
heavenly life. You seem to be a true temple of the Saviour, Who dwells in you
and utters these exact words through you, and has given such grace to your
discourses. Beloved as you were before among all, now such passionate
affection for you is settled in the minds of all, that they call you the
Elijah of our times; and no wonder. For if they who seem to please God are
called Sons of God, much more proper is it to give that name to the associates
of the Prophets, namely the Confessors, and especially to you. Believe me,
Lucifer, it is not you only who has uttered this, but the Holy Spirit with
you. Whence comes so great a memory for the Scriptures? Whence an unimpaired
sense and understanding of them? Whence has such an order of discourse been
framed? Whence did you get such exhortations to the way of heaven, whence such
confidence against the devil, and such proofs against heretics, unless the
Holy Spirit had been lodged in you? Rejoice there; fore to see that you are
already there where also are your predecessors the martyrs, that is, among the
band of angels. We also rejoice, having you as an example of valour, and
patience, and liberty. For I blush to say anything of what you have written
about my names[5a], lest I should appear a flatterer. But I know and believe
that the Lord Himself, Who has revealed all knowledge to your holy and
religious spirit, will reward you for this labour also with a reward in the
kingdom of the heavens. Since then you are such a man, we ask the Lord in
prayer that you may pray for us, that in His mercy He may now deign to look
down upon the Catholic Church, and deliver all His servants from the hands of
persecutors; in order that all they too who have fallen on account of temporal
fear may at length be enabled to raise themselves and return to the way of
righteousness, led away from which they are wandering, poor people, not
knowing in what a pit they are. In particular I ask, if I have said anything
amiss, you would be good enough to overlook it, for from so great a fountain
my unskilfulness has not been able to draw what it might have done. But as to
our brethren, I ask you again to overlook my not having been able to see them.
For truth itself is my witness that I wished anti longed to compass this, and
was greatly grieved at being unable. For my eyes ceased not from tears, nor my
spirit from groaning, because we are not permitted even to see the brethren.
But God is my witness, that on account of their persecution I have not been
able to see even the parents whom I have[6]. For what is there that the Arians
leave undone? They watch the roads, observe those who enter and leave the
city, search the vessels, go round the deserts, ransack houses, harass the
brethren, cause unrest to everybody. But thanks be to God, in so doing they
are more and more incurring the execration of all, and coming to be truly
known for what your holiness has called them: slaves of Antichrist. And, poor
wretches, hated as they are, they persist in their malice, until they shall be
condemned to the death of their ancestor Pharaoh. Those with me salute your
piety. Pray salute those who are with you. May God's divine grace preserve
you, mindful of us and ever blessed, worthily called man of God, servant of
Christ, partner of the Apostles, comfort of the brotherhood, master of truth,
and in all things most longed for.
563
LETTER LII.
First Letter to Monks(1).
(Written 358--360).
1. To those in every place(2) who are living a monastic life, who are
established in the faith of God, and sanctified in Christ, and who say,
'Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee(2a),' brethren dearly beloved
and longed for, heartiest greeting in the Lord.
1. In compliance with your affectionate request, which you have frequently
urged upon me, I have written a short account of the sufferings which
ourselves and the Church have undergone, refuting, according to my ability,
the accursed heresy of the Arian madmen, and proving how entirely it is alien
from the Truth. And I thought it needful to represent to your Piety what pains
the writing of these things has cost me, in order that you may understand
thereby how truly the blessed Apostle has said, 'O the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God(3);' and may kindly bear with a weak
man such as I am by nature. For the more I desired to write, and endeavoured
to force myself to understand the Divinity of the Word, so much the more did
the knowledge thereof withdraw itself from me and in proportion as I thought
that I apprehended it, in so much I perceived myself to fail of doing so.
Moreover also I was unable to express in writing even what I seemed to myself
to understand; and that which I wrote was unequal to the imperfect shadow of
the truth which existed in my conception.
2. Considering therefore how it is written in the Book of Ecclesiastes, 'I
said, I will be wise, but it was far from me; That which is far off, and
exceeding deep, who shall find it out(4)?' and what is said in the Psalms,
'The knowledge of Thee is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain
unto it(5);' and that Solomon says, 'It is the glory of God to conceal a
thing(6);' I frequently designed to stop and to cease writing; believe me, I
did. But lest I should be found to disappoint you, or by my silence to lead
into impiety those who have made enquiry of you, and are given to disputation,
I constrained myself to write briefly, what I have now sent(6a) to your piety.
For although a perfect apprehension of the truth is at present far removed
from us by reason of the infirmity of the flesh, yet it is possible, as the
Preacher himself has said, to perceive the madness of the impious, and having
found it, to say that it is 'more bitter than death(7).' Wherefore for this
reason, as perceiving this and able to find it out, I have written, knowing
that to the faithful the detection of impiety is a sufficient information
wherein piety consists. For although it be impossible to comprehend what God
is, yet it is possible to say what He is not(8). And we know that He not as
man; and that it is not lawful to conceive of any originated nature as
existing in Him. So also respecting the Son of God, although we are by nature
very far from being able to comprehend Him; yet is it possible and easy to
condemn the assertions of the heretics concerning Him, and to say, that the
Son of God is not such; nor is it lawful even to conceive in our minds such
things as they speak, concerning His Godhead; much less to utter them with the
lips.
3. Accordingly I have written as well as I was able; and you, dearly
beloved, receive these communications not as containing a perfect exposition
of the Godhead of the Word, but as being merely a refutation of the impiety of
the enemies of Christ, and as containing and affording to those who desire
suggestions for arriving at a pious and sound faith in Christ. And if in
anything they are defective (and I think they are defective in all respects),
pardon it with a pure conscience, and only receive favourably the boldness of
my good intentions in support of godliness. For an utter condemnation of the
heresy of the Arians, it is sufficient for you to know the judgment given by
the Lord in the death of Arius, of which you have already been informed by
others. 'For what the Holy God hath purposed, who shall scatter(1)?' and whom
the Lord condemned who shall justify(2)? After such a sign given, who do not
now acknowledge, that the heresy is hated of God, however it may have men for
its patrons? Now when you have read this account, pray for me, and exhort one
another so to do. And immediately send it back to me, and suffer no one
whatever to take a copy of it, nor transcribe it for yourselves(3). But like
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good money-changers(4) be satisfied with the reading; but read it repeatedly
if you desire to do so. For it is not safe that the writings of us babblers
and private persons should fall into the hands of them that shall come after.
Salute one another in love, and also all that come unto you in piety and
faith, For 'if any man' as the Apostle has said, 'love not the Lord, let him
be anathema. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you(5). Amen.'
LETTER LIII.
Second letter(1) to Monks.
Athanasius, Archbishop(2) of Alexandria, to the Solitaries.
Athanasius to those who practise a solitary life, and are settled in faith
in God, most beloved brethren, greeting in the Lord.
I thank the Lord who hath given to you to believe in Him, that ye too may
have with the saints eternal life. But because there are certain persons who
hold with Arius and go about the monasteries with no other object save that
under colour of visiting you, and returning from us they may deceive the
simple; whereas there are certain who, while they affirm that they do not hold
with Arius, yet compromise themselves and worship with his party; I have been
compelled, at the instance of certain most sincere brethren, to write at once
in order that keeping faithfully and without guile the pious faith which God's
grace works in you, you may not give occasion of scandal to the brethren. For
when any sees you, the faithful in Christ, associate and communicate with such
people, [or worshipping along with them], certainly they will think it a
matter of indifference and will fall into the mire of irreligion. Lest, then,
this should happen, be pleased, beloved, to shun those who hold the impiety
[of Arius], and moreover to avoid those who, while they pretend not to hold
with Arius, yet worship with the impious. And we are specially bound to fly
from the communion of men whose opinions we hold in execration. [If then any
come to you, and, as blessed John(3) says, brings with him right doctrine, say
to him, All hail, and receive such an one as a brother.] But if any pretend
that he confesses the right faith, but appear to communicate with those
others, exhort him to abstain from such communion, and if he promise to do so,
treat him as a brother, but if he persist in a contentious spirit, him avoid.
[I might greatly lengthen my letter, adding from the divine Scriptures the
outline of this teaching. But since, being wise men, you can anticipate those
who write, and rather, being intent upon self-denial, are fit to instruct
others also, I have dictated a short letter, as from one loving friend to
others, in the confidence] that living as you do you will preserve a pure and
sincere faith, and that those persons, seeing that you do not join with them
in worship, will derive benefit, fearing lest they be accounted as impious,
and as those who hold with them.
LETTER LIV.
To Serapion, concerning the death of Arius.
Athanasius to Serapion(1), a brother and fellow-minister, health in the Lord.
I have read the letters of your piety, in which you have requested me to
make known to you the events of my times relating to myself, and to give an
account of that most impious heresy of the Arians, in consequence of which I
have endured these sufferings, and
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also of the manner of the death of Arius. With two out of your three demands I
have reapily undertaken to comply, and have sent to your Godliness what I
wrote to the Monks; from which you will be able to learn my own history as
well as that of the heresy. But with respect to the other matter, I mean the
death, I debated with myself for a long time, fearing lest any one should
suppose that I was exulting in the death of that man. But yet, since a
disputation which has taken place amongst you concerning the heresy, has
issued in this question, whether Arius died after previously communicating
with the Church; I therefore was necessarily desirous of giving an account of
his death, as thinking that the question would thus be set at rest,
considering also that by making this known I should at the same time silence
those who are fond of contention. For I conceive that when the wonderful
circumstances connected with his death become known, even those who before
questioned it will no longer venture to doubt that the Arian heresy is hateful
in the sight of God.
2. I was not at Constantinople when he died, but Macarius the Presbyter
was, and I heard the account of it from him. Arius had been invited by the
Emperor Constantine, through the interest of Eusebius and his fellows; and
when he entered the presence the Emperor enquired of him, whether he held the
Faith of the Catholic Church? And he declared upon oath that he held the right
Faith, and gave in an account of his Faith in writing, suppressing the points
for which he had been cast out of the Church by the Bishop Alexander, and
speciously alleging expressions out of the Scriptures. When therefore he swore
that he did not profess the opinions for which Alexander had excommunicated
him, [the Emperor] dismissed him, saying(2), 'If thy Faith be right, thou hast
done well to swear; but if thy Faith be impious, and thou hast sworn, God
judge of thee according to thy oath.' When he thus came forth from the
presence of the Emperor, Eusebius and his fellows, with their accustomed
violence, desired to bring him into the Church. But Alexander, the Bishop of
Constantinople of blessed memory, resisted them, saying that the inventor of
the heresy ought not to be admitted to communion; whereupon Eusebius and his
fellows threatened, declaring, 'As we have caused him to be invited by the
Emperor, in opposition to your wishes, so to-morrow, though it be contrary to
your desire, Arius shall have communion with us in this Church.' It was the
Sabbath when they said this.
3. When the Bishop Alexander heard this, he was greatly distressed, and
entering into the church, he stretched forth his hands unto God, and bewailed
himself; and casting himself upon his face in the chancel, he prayed, lying
upon the pavement. Macarius also was present, and prayed with him, and heard
his words. And he besought these two things, saying, 'If Arius is brought to
communion to-morrow, let me Thy servant depart, and destroy not the pious
with the impious; but if Thou wilt spare Thy Church (and I know that Thou wilt
spare), look upon the words of Eusebius and his fellows, and give not thine
inheritance to destruction and reproach(3), and take off Arius, test if he
enter into the Church, the heresy also may seem to enter with him, and
henceforward impiety be accounted for piety.' When the Bishop had thus prayed,
he retired in great anxiety; and a wonderful and extraordinary circumstance
took place. While Eusebius and his fellows threatened, the Bishop prayed; but
Arius, who had great confidence in Eusebius and his fellows, and talked very
wildly, urged by the necessities of nature withdrew, and suddenly, in the
language of Scripture, 'falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst(4),'
and immediately expired as he lay, and was deprived both of communion and of
his life together.
4. Such has been the end of Arius: and Eusebius and his fellows,
overwhelmed with shame, buried their accomplice, while the blessed Alexander,
amidst the rejoicings of the Church, celebrated the Communion with piety and
orthodoxy, praying with all the brethren, and greatly glorifying God, not as
exulting in his death (God forbid!), for 'it is appointed unto all men once to
die(5),' but because this thing had been shewn forth in a manner transcending
human judgments. For the Lord Himself judging between the threats of Eusebius
and his fellows, and the prayer of Alexander, condemned the Arian heresy,
shewing it to be unworthy of communion with the Church, and making manifest to
all, that although it receive the support of the Emperor and of all mankind,
yet it was condemned by the Church herself. So the antichristian gang of the
Arian madmen has been shewn to be unpleasing to God and impious; and many of
those who before were deceived by it changed their opinions. For none other
than the Lord Himself who was blasphemed by them condemned the heresy which
rose up against Him, and again shewed that howsoever the Emperor Constantius
may now use violence to the Bishops in behalf of it, yet it is excluded
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from the communion of the Church, and alien from the kingdom of heaven.
Wherefore also let the question which has arisen among you be henceforth set
at rest; (for this was the agreement made among you), and let no one join
himself to the heresy, but let even those who have been deceived repent. For
who shall receive what the Lord condemned? And will not he who takes up the
support of that which He has made excommunicate, be guilty of great impiety,
and manifestly an enemy of Christ?
5. Now this is sufficient to confound the contentious; read it therefore
to those who before raised this question, as well as what was briefly
addressed to the Monks against the heresy, in order that they may be led
thereby more strongly to condemn the impiety and wickedness of the Arian
madmen. Do not however consent to give a copy of these to any one, neither
transcribe them for yourself (I have signified the same to the Monks also);
but as a sincere friend, if anything is wanting in what I have written, add
it, and immediately send them back to me. For you will be able to learn from
the letter which I have written to the Brethren, what pains it has cost me to
write it, and also to perceive that it is not safe for the writings of a
private person to be published (especially if they relate to the highest and
chief doctrines), for this reason;--lest what is imperfectly expressed through
infirmity or the obscurity of language, do hurt to the reader. For the
majority of men do not consider the faith, or the aim of the writer, but
either through envy or a spirit of contention, receive what is written as
themselves choose, according to an opinion which they have previously formed,
and misinterpret it to suit their pleasure. But the Lord grant that the Truth
and a sound(6) faith in our Lord Jesus Christ may prevail among all, and
especially among those to whom you read this. Amen.
LETTER LV.
Letter to Rufinianus.
To our lord, son, and most desired fellow-minister Rufinianus(1).
Athanasius greeting in the Lord.
You write what is proper for a beloved son to write to a father:
accordingly, I embraced you when you came near me in writing, most desired
Rufinianus. And I, though I might write to you as a son both in the opening
and the middle and the close, refrained, lest my commendation and testimony
should be made known by writing. For you are my letter, as it is written(2),
known and read in the heart. That you then are in such case, believe, yea
believe. I address you, and invite you to write. For by doing so you afford me
the highest gratification. But since in an honourable and church-like spirit,
such as becomes your piety, you ask me about those who were drawn away by
necessity but not corrupted by error, and wish me to write what resolution has
been come to about them, whether in synods or elsewhere; know, most desired
Lord, that to begin with(3), when violence was ceased, a synod(4) has been
held, bishops from foreign parts being present; while others have been held by
our fellow-ministers resident in Greece, as well as by those in Spain and
Gaul(5): and the same decision was come to here and everywhere, namely, in the
case of those who had fallen and been leaders of impiety, to pardon them upon
their repentance, but not to give them the position of clergy: but in the case
of men not deliberate in impiety, but drawn away by necessity and violence,
that they should not only receive pardon, but should occupy the position of
clergy: the more so, in that they offered a plausible defence, and what had
happened seemed due to a certain special purpose(6). For they assured us that
they had not gone over to impiety; but lest certain most impious persons
should be elected and ruin the Churches they elected rather to acquiesce in
the violence and to bear the burden, than to lose the people. But in saying
this, they appeared to us to say what was plausible; for they alleged in
excuse Aaron the brother of Moses, who in the wilderness acquiesced in the
people's transgression; and that he had had as his excuse the danger of the
people returning to Egypt and abiding in idolatry. For there was reason in the
view, that if they remained
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in the wilderness they might cease from their impiety: but if they went into
Egypt they would become ruined and increase the impiety in their midst. For
this reason, then, they have been allowed to rank as clergy, those who had
been deceived and suffered violence being pardoned. I give this information to
your piety in the confidence that you will both accept(7) what has been
resolved upon, and not charge those who assembled, as I have said, with
remissness. But be good enough to read it to the clergy and laity under you,
that they may be informed, and may not blame you for being thus minded about
such persons. For it would not be fitting for me to write, when your piety is
able to do so, and to announce our mind with regard to them, and carry out all
that remains to be done. Thanks to the Lord that filled you s with all
utterance and with all knowledge. Let then those that repent openly
anathematise by name the error of Eudoxius and Euzoius. For they blasphemed
still, and wrote that He was a creature, ringleaders of the Arian heresy. But
let them confess the faith confessed by the fathers at Nic'a, and that they
put no other synod before that one. Greet the brotherhood with you. That with
us greets you in the Lord.
LETTER LVI.
To the Emperor Jovian.
COPY of a letter of the Emperor Jovian, sent to Athanasius, the most holy
Archbishop of Alexandria.
To the most religious and friend of God, Athanasius, Jovian.
Admiring exceedingly the achievements of your most honourable life, and of
your likeness to the God of all, and of your affection toward our Saviour
Christ, we accept you, most honoured bishop. And inasmuch as you have not
flinched from all labour, nor from the fear of your persecutors, and,
regarding dangers and threats of the sword as dung, holding the rudder of the
orthodox faith which is dear to you, are contending even until now for the
truth, and continue to exhibit yourself as a pattern to all the people of the
faithful, and an example of virtue:--our imperial Majesty recalls you, and
desires that you should return to the office of the teaching of salvation.
Return then to the holy Churches, and tend the people of God, and send up to
God with zeal your prayers for our clemency. For we know that by your
supplication we, and all who hold with us [the Christian faith], shall have
great assistance from the supreme God.
56. Letter to of Athanasius to Jovian(1) concerning the Faith.
1. A DESIRE to learn and a yearning for heavenly things is suitable to a
religious Emperor; for thus you will truly have 'your heart ' also ' in the
hand of God(2).' Since then your Piety desired(3) to learn from us the faith
of the Catholic Church, giving thanks for these things to the Lord, we
counselled above all things to remind your Piety of the faith confessed by the
Fathers at Nic'a. For this certain set at nought, while plotting against us in
many ways, because we would not comply with the Arian heresy, and they have
become authors of heresy and schisms in the Catholic Church. For the true and
pious faith in the Lord has become manifest to all, being both 'known and
read(4)' from the Divine Scriptures. For in it both the saints were made
perfect and suffered martyrdom, and now are departed in the Lord; and the
faith would have abode inviolate always had not the wickedness of certain
heretics presumed to tamper with it. For a certain Arius and those with him
attempted to corrupt it, and to introduce impiety in its place, affirming that
the Son of God was from nought, and a creature, and a thing made and
changeable. But with these words they deceived many, so that even 'they that
seemed to be somewhat were carried away(5),' with their blasphemy. And yet our
holy Fathers, as we said before, came promptly together at the Synod at Nic'a,
and anathematised them, and confessed in writing the faith of the Catholic
Church, so that, this being everywhere preached, the heresy kindled by the
heretics might be quenched. This faith then was everywhere in every Church
sincerely known and preached. But since now certain who wish to renew the
Arian heresy have presumed to set at nought this faith confessed at Nic'a by
the Fathers, and while pretending to confess it, do in fact deny it,
explaining away the 'Coessential(6),' and blaspheming of their own accord(7)
against the Holy Spirit, in affirming that It is a creature, and came into
being as a
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thing made by the Son, we hasten as of bounden duty, in view of the injury
resulting to the people from such blasphemy, to hand to your Piety the faith
confessed at Nic'a; in order that thy religiousness may know what has been
written with all accuracy, and how far wrong they are who teach contrary to
it.
2. For know, most religious Augustus, that these things have been preached
from time immemorial, and this faith the Fathers who met at Nic'a confessed;
and to it have assented all the Churches in every quarter, both those in
Spain, and Britain, and the Gauls, and all Italy and Dalmatia, Dacia and
Moesia, Macedonia and all Greece, and in all Africa and Sardinia, and Cyprus
and Crete, as well as Pamphylia, Lycia and Isauria, and those in Egypt and the
Libyas, Pontus and Cappadocia, and those near at hand to us(8), and the
Churches in the East, except a few who hold with Arius. For of all those above
mentioned we have both learnt the opinion by experience, and we have letters.
And you know, O most religious Augustus, that even if some few speak against
this faith, they cannot create a demurrer(9), inasmuch as the whole world(10)
holds the Apostolic faith. For they having long been infected by the Arian
heresy, now the more obstinately oppose the truth. And that your Piety may
know, although you know already, yet we hasten to append the faith confessed
by the Bishops at Nic'a. The faith then confessed at Nic'a by the Fathers is
as follows :--
3. We believe(11), &c., &c.
4. By this faith, Augustus, all must needs abide, as Divine and Apostolic,
and none must unsettle it by plausibilities, and contentions about words,
which is what the Arian madmen have done, saying that the Son of God is from
nought, and that once there was when He was not, and that He is created, and
made and changeable. For for this cause as we said before, the Synod at Nic'a
anathematised such I heresy, but confessed the faith of the truth. I For they
have not merely said that the Son is like(12) the Father, lest He should be
believed merely like God, instead of Very God from God; but they wrote
'Coessential,' which was peculiar to a genuine and true Son, truly and
naturally from the Father. Nor yet did they make the Holy Spirit alien from
the Father and the Son, but rather glorified Him together with the Father and
the Son, in the one faith of the Holy Triad, because there is in the Holy
Triad also one Godhead.
APPENDIX TO LETTER LVI.
Petition made at Antioch to Jovian the Emperor on the part of Lucius(1)
and Bernicianus, and certain other Arians against Athanasius, Bishop of
Alexandria.
First Petition which they made as the Emperor was departing to Camp, at
the Roman Gate.
May it please your Might and your Majesty and your Piety to hear us. The
Emperor: 'Who are you and where from?' The Arians: 'Christians, my Lord.'
Emperor: 'Where from, and from what city?' The Arians: 'Alexandria.'--Emperor:
'What do you want?' The Arians: 'May it please your Might and your Majesty,
give us a Bishop.' Emperor: 'I ordered the former one, whom you had before,
Athanasius, to occupy the See.' The Arians: 'May it please your Might: he has
been many years both in banishment, and under accusation.' Suddenly a soldier
answered in indignation: 'May it please your Majesty, enquire of them who they
are and where from, for these are the leavings and refuse of Cappadocia, the
remains of that unholy George who desolated the city and the world.' The
Emperor on hearing this set spurs to his horse, and departed to the Camp.
Second Petition of the Arians.
'We have accusations and clear proofs against Athanasius, in that ten and
twenty years ago he was deprived by the ever memorable Constantine and
Constantius, and incurred banishment under the most religious and
philosophical and blessed Julian.' Emperor: 'Accusations ten, twenty, and
thirty years old are now obsolete. Don't speak to me about Athanasius, for I
know why he was accused, and how he was banished.'
Third Petition of the Arians.
'And now again, we have certain other accusations against Athanasius.'
Emperor: 'The rights of the case will not appear by menus of crowded numbers,
and clamours, but choose two from yourselves, and from the party of the
majority other two, for I cannot answer each one severally.' Those from the
majority: 'These are the leavings from the unholy George who desolated our
province, and who would not allow a counsellor to dwell in the cities.' The
Arians.' 'May it please you, any true you will except Athanasius.' Emperor: 'I
told you that the case of Athanasius was already settled,' (and then angrily)
'feri, feri(2)!' The Arians: 'May it please you, if you send Athanasius, our
city is ruined, and no one assembles with him.' Emperor: 'Yet I took pains,
and ascertained that he holds right opinions and is orthodox, and teaches
aright.' The Arians: 'With his month he utters what is right, but in his soul
he harbours guile.' Emperor: 'That will do, you have testified of him, that he
utters what is right and teaches aright, but if he teaches and speaks aright
with his tongue, but harbours evil thoughts in his soul, it concerns him
before God. For we are men, and hear what is said; but what is in the heart
God knows.' The Arians: 'Authorise our holding communion together.' Emperor:
'Why, who prevents you?' The Arians: 'May it please you, he proclaims us as
sectarians and dogmatisers.'Emperor:'It is his duty,and that of those who
teach aright.'The Arians: 'May it please your Might; we cannot bear this man,
and he has taken
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away the lands of the Churches.' Emperor: 'Oh then, it is on account of
property you are come here, and not on account of the faith'--then he
added--'go away, and keep the peace.' Once more he added to the Arians: 'Go
away to the Church, to-morrow you have a Communion, and after the dismissal,
there are Bishops here, and here is Nemesinus[3], each one of you shall sign
as he believes: Athanasius is here too; whoever does not know the word of
faith, let him learn from Athanasius. You have to-morrow and the day after,
for I am going out to Camp.' And a certain lawyer[4] belonging to the Cynics
petitioned the Emperor: 'May it please your Majesty, on account of Bishop
Athanasius, the Receiver-General[5] seized my houses.' Emperor: 'If the
Receiver-General seized your houses what has that to do with Athanasius?'
Another lawyer, Patalas, said: 'I have a complaint against Athanasius.'
Emperor: 'And what have you to do with Christians, being a heathen?' But
certain of the majority of them of Antioch took Lucius and brought him to the
Emperor, saying: 'May it please your Might and your Majesty, look whom they
wanted to make a Bishop!'
Another petition made at the porch of the palace[6] on the part of
Lucius;--'May it please your Might, listen to me.' The Emperor stopped and
said: 'I ask you, Lucius, how did you come here, by sea or by land?' Lucius;
'May it please you, by sea.' Emperor: 'Well, Lucius, may the God of the world,
and the radiant sun, and moon, be angry with those men that made the voyage
with you, for not casting you into the sea; and may that ship never again have
fair winds, nor find a haven with her passengers when in a storm,' And through
Euzoius[7] the unbelieving Arians asked Probatius and his fellows, the
successors of Eusebius[8] and Bardio as eunuchs, that they might be granted an
audience. The Emperor learned this, and tortured the eunuchs and said: 'If any
one wants to make a petition against Christians let this be his fate.' And so
the Emperor dismissed them.
LETTER LVII.
First Letter to Orsisius[1].
'AND having spent a few days there, he saith to the Abbat Theodorus: Since
the Passover is nigh, visit the brethren after your manner; and as the Lord
shall dispose me, I will do. And he embraced him, and sent him away, having
written a letter by him to the Abbat Orsisius and the brethren, to the
following effect:'--
I have seen your fellow-worker and father of the brethren, Theodorus, and
in him the master of our father Pachomius. And I rejoiced to see the sons of
the Church, and they made me glad by their presence. But the Lord is their
recompenser. And as Theodorus was about to leave me for you, he said to me:
Remember me. And I said to him: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right
hand be forgotten, yea let my tongue cleave to my throat if I remember thee
not[2].
LETTER LVIII.
Second Letter to Orsisius.
'BUT the most holy Archbishop Athanasius, when he heard about our father
Theodorus, was grieved, and sent this letter to the Abbat Orsisius and the
brethren to console them for his decease, as follows:'--
Athanasius to Orsisius, Abbat, father of monks, and to all with him who
practise the solitary life, and are settled in faith in God, beloved brethren
most longed for in the Lord, greeting.
I have heard about the decease of the blessed Theodorus[3], and the
tidings caused me great anxiety, knowing as I did his value to you. Now if it
had not been Theodorus, I should have used many words to you, with tears,
considering what follows after death. But since it is Theodorus whom you and I
have known, what need I say in my letter save 'Blessed is' Theodorus, 'who
hath not walked in the council of the ungodly[4]? ' But if 'he is blessed that
feareth the Lord[5],' we may now confidently call him blessed, having the firm
assurance that he has reached as it were a haven, and has a life without care.
Would that the same had also befallen each one of us; would that each of us in
his running might thus arrive; would that each of us, on his voyage, might
moor his own bark there in the stormless haven, so that, at rest with the
fathers, he might say, 'here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein[6].'
Wherefore, brethren beloved and most longed-for, weep not for Theodorus, for
he 'is not dead, but sleepeth[7].'
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Let none weep when he remembers him, but imitate his life. For one must not
grieve over one that is gone to the place where grief is not. This I write to
you all in common; but especially to you, beloved and most longed for
Orsisius, in order that now that he is fallen asleep, you may take up the
whole charge, and take his place among the brethren. For while he survived,
you two were as one, and when one was away, the work of both was carried on:
and when both were there you were as one, discoursing to the beloved ones what
made for their good. Thus act, then, and so doing write and tell me of the
safety of yourself and of the brotherhood. And I exhort you all to pray
together that the Lord may grant further peace to the Churches. For we now
kept festival with joy, both Easter and Pentecost, and we rejoice in the
benefits of the Lord. I write to you all. Greet all who fear the Lord. Those
with me greet you. I pray that you may be well in the Lord, beloved and
much-longed-for brethren.
LETTER LIX.
To Epictetus.
To my Lord, beloved brother, and most-longed-for fellow-minister
Epictetus[1], Athanasius greeting in the Lord. I thought that all vain talk of
all heretics, many as they may be, had been stopped by the Synod which was
held at Nicaea. For the Faith there confessed by the Fathers according to the
divine Scriptures is enough by itself at once to overthrow all impiety, and to
establish the religious belief in Christ. For this reason at the present time,
at the assembling of diverse synods, both in Gaul and Spain, and great
Rome[2], all who came together, as though moved by one spirit, unanimously
anathematised those who still were secretly holding with Arius, namely
Auxentius of Milan, Ursacius, Valens, and Gaius of Pannonia. And they wrote
everywhere, that, whereas the above-said were devising the names of synods to
cite on their side, no synod should be cited in the Catholic Church save only
that which was held at Nicaea, which was a monument of victory over all
heresy, but especially the Arian, which was the main reason of the synod
assembling when it did. How then, after all this, are some attempting to raise
doubts or questions? If they belong to the Arians, this is not to be wondered
at, that they find fault with what was drawn up against themselves, just as
the Gentiles when they hear that 'the idols of the heathen are silver and
gold, the work of men's hands[3],' think the doctrine of the divine Cross
folly. But if those who desire to reopen everything by raising questions
belong to those who think they believe aright, and love what the fathers have
declared, they are simply doing what the prophet describes, giving their
neighbour turbid confusion to drink[4], and fighting about words to no good
purpose, save to the subversion of the simple.
2. I write this after reading the memoranda submitted by your piety, which
I could wish had not been written at all, so that not even any record of these
things should go down to posterity. For who ever yet heard the like? Who ever
taught or learned it? For 'from Sion shall come forth the law of God, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem[5];' but whence came forth this? What lower
region has vomited the statement that the Body born of Mary is coessential
with the Godhead of the Word? or that the Word has been changed into flesh,
bones, hair, and the whole body, and altered from its own nature? Or who ever
heard in a Church, or even from Christians, that the Lord wore a body
putatively, not in nature; or who ever went so far in impiety as to say and
hold, that this Godhead, which is coessential with the Father, was circumcised
and became imperfect instead of perfect; and that what hung upon the tree was
not the body, but the very creative Essence and Wisdom? Or who that hears that
the Word transformed for Himself a passible body, not of Mary, but of His own
Essence, could call him who said this a Christian? Or who devised this
abominable impiety, for it to enter even his imagina-
571
tion, and for him to say that to pronounce the Lord's Body to be of Mary is to
hold a Tetrad instead of a Triad in the Godhead? Those who think thus, saying
that the Body of the Saviour which He put on from Mary, is of the Essence of
the Triad. Or whence again have certain vomited an impiety as great as those
already mentioned; saying namely, that the body is not newer than the Godhead
of the Word, but was coeternal with it always, since it was compounded of the
Essence of Wisdom. Or how did men called Christians venture even to doubt
whether the Lord, Who proceeded from Mary, while Son of God by Essence and
Nature, is of the seed of David according to the flesh[6], and of the flesh of
the Holy Mary? Or who have been so venturesome as to say that Christ Who
suffered in the flesh and was crucified is not Lord, Saviour, God, and Son of
the Father[7]? Or how can they wish to be called Christians who say that the
Word has descended upon a holy man as upon one of the prophets, and has not
Himself become man, taking the body from Mary; but that Christ is one person,
while the Word of God, Who before Mary and before the ages was Son of the
Father, is another? Or how can they be Christians who say that the Son is one,
and the Word of God another?
3. Such were the contents of the memoranda; diverse statements, but one in
their sense and in their meaning; tending to impiety. It was for these things
that men who make their boast in the confession of the fathers drawn up at
Nicaea were disputing and quarrelling with one another. But I marvel that your
piety suffered it, and that you did not stop those who said such things, and
propound to them the right faith, so that upon hearing it they might hold
their peace, or if they opposed it might be counted as heretics. For the
statements are not fit for Christians to make or to hear, on the contrary they
are in every way alien from the Apostolic teaching. For this reason, as I said
above, I have caused what they say to be boldly inserted in my letter, so that
one who merely hears may perceive the shame and impiety therein contained. And
although it would be right to denounce and expose in full the folly of those
who have had such ideas, yet it would be a good thing to close my letter here
and write no more. For what is so manifestly shewn to be evil, it is not
necessary to waste time in exposing further, lest contentious persons think
the matter doubtful. it is enough merely to answer such things as follows: we
are content with the fact that this is not the teaching of the Catholic
Church, nor did the fathers hold this. But lest the 'inventors of evil
things[3]' make entire silence on our part a pretext for shamelessness, it
will be well to mention a few points from Holy Scripture, in case they may
even thus be put to shame, and cease from these foul devices.
4. Whence did it occur to you, sirs, to say that the Body is of one
Essence with the Godhead of the Word? For it is well to begin at this point,
in order that by shewing this opinion to be unsound, all the others too may be
proved to be the same. Now from the divine Scriptures we discover nothing of
the kind. For they say that God came in a human body. But the fathers who also
assembled at Nicaea say that, not the body, but the Son Himself is coessential
with the Father, and that while He is of the Essence of the Father, the body,
as they admitted according to the Scriptures, is of Mary. Either then deny the
Synod of Nicaea, and as heretics bring in your doctrine from the side; or, if
you wish to be children of the fathers, do not hold the contrary of what they
wrote. For here again you may see how monstrous it is: If the Word is
coessential with the body which is of earthly nature, while the Word is, by
your own confession, coessential with the Father, it will follow that even the
Father Himself is coessential with the body produced from the earth. And why
any longer blame the Arians for calling the Son a creature, when you go off to
another form of impiety, saying that the Word was changed into flesh and bones
and hair and muscles and all the body, and was altered from its own nature?
For it is time for you to say openly that He was born of earth; for from earth
is the nature of the bones and of all the body. What then is this great folly
of yours, that you fight even with one another? For in saying that the Word is
coessential with the Body, you distinguish the one from the other[9], while in
saying that He has been changed into flesh, you imagine a change of the Word
Himself. And who will tolerate you any longer if you so much as utter these
opinions? For you have gone further m impiety than any heresy. For if the Word
is coessential with the Body, the commemoration and the work of Mary are
superfluous[10], inasmuch as the body could have existed before Mary, just as
the Word also is eternal: if, that is, it is as you say co-essential with the
Body. Or what need was there even of the Word coming among us, to put on what
was coessential with Himself,
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or to change His own nature and become a body? For the Deity does not take
hold[11] of itself, so as to put on what is of its own Essence, any more than
the Word sinned, in that it ransoms the sins of others, in order that changing
into a body it should offer itself a sacrifice for itself, and ransom itself.
5. But this is not so, far be the thought. For he 'takes hold of the seed
of Abraham[11],' as the apostle said; whence it behoved Him to be made like
His brethren in all things, and to take a Body like us. This is why Mary is
truly presupposed, in order that He may take it from her, and offer it for us
as His own. And this Isaiah pointed to in his prophecy, in the words: 'Behold
the Virgin[12],' while Gabriel is sent to her--not simply to a virgin, but 'to
a virgin betrothed to a man[13],' in order that by means of the betrothed man
he might shew that Mary was really a human being. And for this reason
Scripture also mentions her bringing forth, and tells of her wrapping Him in
swaddling clothes; and therefore, too, the paps which He sucked were called
blessed[1]. And He was offered as a sacrifice, in that He Who was born had
opened the womb[2]. Now all these things are proofs that the Virgin brought
forth. And Gabriel preached the Gospel to her without uncertainty, saying not
merely 'what is born in thee,' lest the body should be thought to be
extraneously induced upon her, but 'of thee,' that what was born might be
believed to be naturally from her, inasmuch as Nature clearly shews that it is
impossible for a virgin to produce milk unless she has brought forth, and
impossible for a body to be nourished with milk and wrapped in swaddling
clothes unless it has previously been naturally brought forth. This is the
meaning of His being circumcised on the eighth day: of Symeon taking Him in
his arms, of His becoming a young child, and growing when He was twelve years
old, and of His coming to His thirtieth year. For it was not, as some suppose,
the very Essence of the Word that was changed, and was circumcised, because it
is incapable of alteration or change. For the Saviour Himself says, 'Behold,
behold, it is I, and I change not[3],' while Paul writes: 'Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever[4].' But in the Body which was
circumcised, and carried, and ate and drank, and was weary, and was nailed on
the tree and suffered, there was the impassible and incorporeal Word of God.
This Body it was that was laid in a grave, when the Word had left it, yet was
not parted from it, to preach, as Peter says, also to the spirits in
prison[5].
6. And this above all shews the foolishness of those who say that the Word
was changed into bones and flesh. For if this had been so, there were no need
of a tomb. For the Body would have gone by itself to preach to the spirits in
Hades. But as it was, He Himself went to preach, while the Body Joseph wrapped
in a linen cloth, and laid it away at Golgotha[6]. And so it is shewn to all
that the Body was not the Word, but Body of the Word. And it was this that
Thomas handled when it had risen from the dead, and saw in it the print of the
nails, which the Word Himself had undergone, seeing them fixed in His own
Body, and though able to prevent it, did not do so. On the contrary, the
incorporeal Word made His own the properties of the Body, as being His own
Body. Why, when the Body was struck by the attendant, as suffering Himself He
asked, 'Why smitest thou Me[7]?' And being by nature intangible, the Word yet
said, 'I gave My back to the stripes, and My cheeks to blows, and hid not My
face from shame and spitting[8].' For what the human Body of the Word
suffered, this the Word, dwelling in the body, ascribed to Himself, in order
that we might be enabled to be partakers of the Godhead of the Word[9]. And
verily it is strange that He it was Who suffered and yet suffered not.
Suffered, because His own Body suffered, and He was in it, which thus
suffered; suffered not, because the Word, being by Nature God, is impassible.
And while He, the incorporeal, was in the passible Body, the Body had in it
the impassible Word, which was destroying the infirmities inherent in the
Body. But this He did, and so it was, in order that Himself taking what was
ours and offering it as a sacrifice, He might do away with it, and conversely
might invest us with what was His, and cause the Apostle to say: 'This
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality[1].'
7. Now this did not come to pass putatively, as some have supposed: far be
the thought: but the Saviour having in very truth become Man, the salvation of
the whole man was brought about. For if the Word were in the Body putatively,
as they say, and by putative is meant imaginary, it follows that both the
salvation and the resurrection of man is apparent only, as the most impious
Manichaeus held. But truly our salvation is not merely apparent, nor does it
extend to the body only, but the whole man, body and soul alike, has truly
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obtained salvation in the Word Himself. That then which was born of Mary was
according to the divine Scriptures human by nature, and the Body of the Lord
was a true one; but it was this, because it was the same as our body, for Mary
was our sister inasmuch as we all are from Adam. And no one can doubt of this
when he remembers what Luke wrote. For after He had risen from the dead, when
some thought that they did not see the Lord in the body derived from Mary, but
were beholding a spirit instead, He said, 'See My hands and My feet, and the
prints of the nails, that it is I Myself: handle Me and see; for a spirit hath
not flesh and bones as ye see Me to have. And when He had said thus, He shewed
them His hands and His feet[2].' Whence they can be refuted who have ventured
to say that the Lord was transformed into flesh and bones. For He did not say,
'As ye see Me to be flesh and bone,' but 'as ye see Me to have,' in order that
it might not be thought that the Word Himself was changed into these things,
but that He might be believed to have them after His resurrection as well as
before His death.
8. These things being thus demonstrated, it is superfluous to touch upon
the other points, or to enter upon any discussion relating to them, since the
body in which the Word was is not coessential with the Godhead, but was truly
born of Mary, while the Word Himself was not, changed into bones and flesh,
but came in the flesh. For what John said, 'The Word was made flesh[3],' has
this meaning, as we may see by a similar passage; for it is written in Paul:
'Christ has become a curse for us[4].' And just as He has not Himself become
a curse, but is said to have done so because He took upon Him the curse on our
behalf, so also He has become flesh not by being changed into flesh, but
because He assumed on our behalf living flesh, and has become Man. For to say
'the Word became flesh,' is equivalent to saying 'the Word has become man;'
according to what is said in Joel: 'I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all
flesh[5];' for the promise did not extend to the irrational animals, but is
for men, on whose account the Lord is become Man. As then this is the sense of
the above text, they all will reasonably condemn themselves who have thought
that the flesh derived from Mary existed before her, and that the Word, prior
to her, had a human soul, and existed in it always even before His coming. And
they too will cease who have said that the Flesh was not accessible to death,
but belonged to the immortal Nature. For if it did not die, how could Paul
deliver to the Corinthians 'that Christ died for our sins, according to the
Scriptures[6],' or how did He rise at all if He did not also die? Again, they
will blush deeply who have even entertained the possibility of a Tetrad
instead of a Triad resulting, if it were said that the Body was derived from
Mary. For if (they argue) we say the Body is of one Essence with the Word, the
Triad remains a Triad; for then the Word imports no foreign element into it;
but if we admit that the Body derived from Mary is human, it follows, since I
the Body is foreign in Essence, and the Word is in it, that the addition of
the Body causes a Tetrad instead of a Triad.
9. When they argue thus, they fail to perceive the contradiction in which
they involve themselves. For even though they say that the Body is not from
Mary, but is coessential with the Word, yet none the less (the very point they
dissemble, to avoid being credited with their real opinion) this on their own
premises can be proved to involve a Tetrad. For as the Son, according to the
Fathers, is coessential with the Father, but is not the Father Himself, but is
called coessential, as Son with Father, so the Body, which they call
coessential with the Word, is not the Word Himself, but a distinct entity. But
if so, on their own shewing, their Triad will be a Tetrad[7]. For the true,
really perfect and indivisible Triad is not accessible to addition as is the
Triad imagined by these persons. And how do these remain Christians who
imagine another God in addition to the true one? For, once again, in their
other fallacy one can see how great is their folly. For if they think because
it is contained and stated in the Scriptures, that the Body of the Saviour is
human and derived from Mary, that a Tetrad is substituted for a Triad, as
though the Body created an addition, they go very far wrong, so much so as to
make the creature equal to the Creator, and suppose that the Godhead can
receive an addition. And they have failed to perceive that the Word is become
Flesh, not by reason of an addition to the Godhead, but in order that the
flesh may rise again. Nor did the Word proceed from Mary that He might be
bettered, but that He might ransom the human race. How then can they think
that the Body, ransomed and quickened by the Word, made an addition in respect
of Godhead to the Word that had quickened it? For on the contrary, a great
addition has accrued to the human Body itself from the fellowship and
574
union of the Word with it. For instead of mortal it is become immortal; and,
though an animal[8] body, it is become spiritual, and though made from earth
it entered the heavenly gates. The Triad, then, although the Word took a body
from Mary, is a Triad, being inaccessible to addition or diminution; but it is
always perfect, and in the Triad one Godhead is recognised, and so in the
Church one God is preached, the Father of the Word.
10. For this reason they also will henceforth keep silence, who once said
that He who proceeded from Mary is not very Christ, or Lord, or God. For if He
were not God in the Body, how came He, upon proceeding from Mary, straightway
to be called 'Emmanuel, which is being interpreted God with us[9]?' Why again,
if the Word was not in the flesh, did Paul write to the Romans 'of whom is
Christ after the flesh, Who is above all God blessed for ever. Amen[1]?' Let
them therefore confess, even they who previously denied that the Crucified was
God, that they have erred; for the divine Scriptures bid them, and especially
Thomas, who, after seeing upon Him the print of the nails, cried out 'My Lord
and my God[2]!' For the Son, being God, and Lord of glory[3], was in the Body
which was ingloriously nailed and dishonoured; but the Body, while it
suffered, being pierced on the tree, and water and blood flowed from its side,
yet because it was a temple of the Word was filled full of the Godhead. For
this reason it was that the sun, seeing its creator suffering in His outraged
body, withdrew its rays and darkened the earth. But the body itself being of
mortal nature, beyond its own nature rose again by reason of the Word which
was in it; and it has ceased from natural corruption, and, having put on the
Word which is above man, has become incorruptible.
11. But with regard to the imagination of some, who say that the Word came
upon one particular man, the Son of Mary, just as it came upon each of the
Prophets, it is superfluous to discuss it, since their madness carries its own
condemnation manifestly with it. For if He came thus, why was that man born of
a virgin, and not like others of a man and woman? For in this way each of the
saints also was begotten. Or why, if the Word came thus, is not the death of
each one said to have taken place on our behalf, but only this man's death? Or
why, if the Word sojourned among us in the case of each one of the prophets,
is it said only in the case of Him born of Mary that He sojourned here 'once
at the consummation of the ages[4]?' Or why, if He came as He had come in the
saints of former times, did the Son of Mary alone, while all the rest had died
without rising as yet, rise again on the third day? Or why, if the Word had
come in like manner as He had done in the other cases, is the Son of Mary
alone called Emmanuel, as though a Body filled full of the Godhead were born
of her? For Emmanuel is interpreted 'God with us.' Or why, if He came thus, is
it not said that when each of the saints ate, drank, laboured, and died, that
He (the Word) ate, drank, laboured, and died, but only in the case of the Son
of Mary. For what that Body suffered is said to have been suffered by the
Word. And while we are merely told of the others that they were born, and
begotten, it is said in the case of the Son of Mary alone that 'The Word was
made Flesh.'
12. This proves that while to all the others the Word came, in order that
they might prophesy, from Mary the Word Himself took flesh, and proceeded
forth as man; being by nature and essence the Word of God, but after the flesh
man of the seed of David, and made of the flesh of Mary, as Paul said[5]. Him
the Father pointed out both in Jordan and on the Mount, saying, 'This is My
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased[6].' Him the Arians denied, but we
recognising worship, not dividing the Son and the Word, but knowing that the
Son is the Word Himself, by Whom all things are made, and by Whom we were
redeemed. And for this reason we wonder how any contention at all has arisen
among you about things so clear. But thanks to the Lord, much as we were
grieved at reading your memoranda, we were equally glad at their conclusion.
For they departed with concord, and peacefully agreed in the confession of the
pious and orthodox faith. This fact has induced me, after much previous
consideration, to write these few words; for I am anxious lest by my silence
this matter should cause pain rather than joy to those whose concord occasions
joy to ourselves. I therefore ask your piety in the first place, and secondly
those who hear, to take my letter in good part, and if anything is lacking in
it in respect of piety, to set that right, and inform me. But if it is
written, as from one unpractised in speech, below the subject and imperfectly,
let all allow for my feebleness in speaking. Greet all the brethren with you.
All those with us greet you; may you live in good health in the Lord, beloved
and truly longed for.
575
LETTER LX.
To Adelphius[1], Bishop and Confessor: against
the Arians.
WE have read what your piety has written to us, and genuinely approve your
piety toward Christ. And above all we glorify God, Who has given you such
grace as not only to have right opinions, but also, so far as that is
possible, not to be ignorant of the devices[1a] of the devil. But we marvel at
the perversity of the heretics, seeing that they have fallen into such a pit
of impiety that they no longer retain even their senses, but have their
understanding corrupted on all sides. But this attempt is a plot of the devil,
and an imitation of the disobedient Jews. For as the latter, when refuted on
all sides, kept devising excuses to their own hurt, if only they could deny
the Lord and bring upon themselves what was prophesied against them, in like
manner these men, seeing themselves proscribed on all hands, and perceiving
that their heresy has become abominable to all, prove themselves ' inventors
of evil things[2],' in order that, not ceasing their fightings against the
truth, they may remain consistent and genuine adversaries of Christ. For
whence has this new mischief of theirs sprung forth? How have they even
ventured to utter this new blasphemy against the Saviour? But the impious man,
it seems, is a worthless object, and truly 'reprobate concerning the
Faith[3].' For formerly, while denying the Godhead of the only-begotten Son of
God, they pretended at any rate to acknowledge His coming in the Flesh. But
now, gradually going from bad to worse, they have fallen from this opinion of
theirs, and become Godless on all hands, so as neither to acknowledge Him as
God, nor to believe that He has become man. For if they believed this they
would not have uttered such things as your piety has reported against them.
2. You, however, beloved and most truly longed-for, have done what
befitted the tradition of the Church and your piety toward the Lord, in
refuting, admonishing, and rebuking such men. But since, instigated by their
father the devil, 'they knew not nor understood,' as it is written, 'but go on
still in darkness[4],' let them learn from your piety that this error of
theirs belongs to Valentinus and Marcion, and to Manichaeus, of whom some
substituted [the idea of] Appearance for Reality, while the others, dividing
what is indivisible, denied the truth that 'the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt
among us[5].' Why then, as they hold with those people, do they not also take
up the heritage of their names? For it is reasonable, as they hold their
error, to have their names as well. and for the future to be called
Valentinians, Marcionists, and Manichaeans. Perhaps even thus, being put to
shame by the ill savour of the names, they may be enabled to perceive into
what a depth of impiety they have fallen. And it would be within our rights
not to answer them at all, according to the apostolic advice[6]: ' A man that
is heretical, after a first and second admonition refuse, knowing that such an
one is perverted, and sinneth, being self-condemned ;' the more so, in that
the Prophet says about such men: ' The tool shall utter foolishness, and his
heart shall imagine vain things[7].' But since, like their leader, they too go
about like lions seeking whom among the simple they shall devour[8], we are
compelled to write in reply to your piety, that the brethren being once again
instructed by your admonition may still further reprobate the vain teaching of
those men.
3. We do not worship a creature. Far be the thought. For such an error
belongs to heathens and Arians. But we worship the Lord of Creation,
Incarnate, the Word of God. For if the flesh also is in itself a part of the
created world, yet it has become God's body. And we neither divide the body,
being such, from the Word, and worship it by itself[9], nor when we wish to
worship the Word do we set Him far apart from the Flesh, but knowing, as we
said above, that ' the Word was made flesh,' we recognise Him as God also,
after having come in the flesh. Who, accordingly, is so senseless as to say to
the Lord: ' Leave the Body that I may worship Thee; or so impious as to join
the senseless Jews in saying, on account of the Body, 'Why dost Thou, being a
man, make Thyself God[10]?' But the leper was not one of this sort, for he
worshipped God in the Body, and recognised that He was God, saying, 'Lord, if
Thou wilt Thou canst make me clean[1].' Neither by reason of the Flesh did
576
he think the Word of God a creature: nor because the Word was the maker of all
creation did he despise the Flesh which He had put on. But he worshipped the
Creator of the universe as dwelling in a created temple, and was cleansed. So
also the woman with an issue of blood, who believed, and only touched the hem
of His garment, was healed(2) , and the sea with its foaming waves heard the
incarnate Word, and ceased its storm(3), while the man blind from birth was
healed by the fleshly spitting of the Word(4). And, what is greater and more
startling (for perhaps this even offended those most impious men), even when
the Lord was hanging upon the actual cross (for it was His Body and the Word
was in it), the sun was darkened and the earth shook, the rocks were rent, and
the vail of the temple rent, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.
4. These things then happened, and no one doubted, as the Arians now
venture to doubt, whether one is to believe the incarnate Word; but even from
beholding the man, they recognised that He was their maker, and when they
heard a human voice, they did not, because it was human, say that the Word was
a creature. On the contrary, they trembled, and recognised nothing less than
that it was being uttered from a holy Temple. How then can the impious fail to
fear lest 'as they refused to have God in their knowledge, they may be given
up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting(5)?' For
Creation does not worship a creature. Nor again did she on account of His
Flesh refuse to worship her Lord. But she beheld her maker in the Body, and
'in the Name of Jesus every knee' bowed, yea and 'shall bow, of things in
heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and every tongue shall
confess,' whether the Arians approve or no, 'that Jesus is Lord, to the Glory
of God the Father(6).' For the Flesh did not diminish the glory of the Word;
far be the thought: on the contrary, it was glorified by Him. Nor, because the
Son that was in the form of God took upon Him the form of a servant(7) was He
deprived of His Godhead. On the contrary, He is thus become the Deliverer of
all flesh and of all creation. And if God sent His Son brought forth from a
woman, the fact causes us no shame but contrariwise glory and great grace. For
He has become Man, that He might deify us in Himself, and He has been born of
a woman, and begotten of a Virgin, in order to transfer to Himself our erring
generation(8), and that we may become henceforth a holy race, and 'partakers
of the Divine Nature,' as blessed Peter wrote(9). And 'what the law could not
do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh(1).'
5. Seeing then that Flesh was taken by the Word to deliver all men, raise
all from the dead, and make redemption for sins, must not they appear
ungrateful, and be worthy of all hatred, who make light of the Flesh, as well
as those who on account of it charge the Son of God with being a thing created
or made? For they as good as cry to God and say: 'Send not Thine Only-begotten
Son in the Flesh, cause Him not to take flesh of a virgin, lest He redeem us
from death and sin. We do not wish Him to come in the body, lest He should
undergo death on our behalf: we do not desire the Word to be made flesh, lest
in it He should become our Mediator to gain access to thee, and we so inhabit
the heavenly mansions. Let the gates of the heavens be shut lest Thy Word
consecrate for us the road thither through the veil, namely His Flesh(2).'
These are their utterances, vented with diabolical daring, by the error they
have devised. For they who do not wish to worship the Word made flesh, are
ungrateful for His becoming man. And they who divide the Word from the Flesh
do not hold that one redemption from sin has taken place, or one destruction
of death. But where at all will these impious men find the Flesh which the
Saviour took, apart from Him, that they should even venture to say 'we do not
worship the Lord with the Flesh, but we separate the Body, and worship Him
alone.' Why, the blessed Stephen saw in the heavens the Lord standing on
[God's] right hand(3), while the Angels said to the disciples, 'He shall so
come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven(4):' and the Lord
Himself says, addressing the Father, 'I will that where I am, they also may be
with Me(5).' And surely if the Flesh is inseparable from the Word, does it not
follow that these men must either lay aside their error, and for the future
worship the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, or, if they do not
worship or serve the Word Who came in the Flesh, be cast out on all sides, and
count no longer as Christians but either as heathens, or among the Jews.
6. Such then, as we have above described, is the madness and daring of
those men. But our faith is right, and starts from the teaching
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of the Apostles and tradition of the fathers, being confirmed both by the New
Testament and the Old. For the Prophets say: 'Send out Thy Word and Thy
Truth(6),' and ' Behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they
shall call His name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted God with us(7).' But
what does that mean, if not that God has come in the Flesh? While the
Apostolic tradition teaches in the words of blessed Peter, 'Forasmuch then as
Christ suffered for us in the Flesh;' and in what Paul writes, 'Looking for
the blessed hope and appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who
gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
Himself a people for His own possession, and zealous of good works(8).' How
then has He given Himself, if He had not worn flesh? For flesh He offered, and
gave Himself for us, in order that undergoing death in it, 'He might bring to
nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil(9).' Hence also we
always give thanks in the name of Jesus Christ, and we do not set at nought
the grace which came to us through Him. For the coming of the Saviour in the
flesh has been the ransom and salvation of all creation. So then, beloved and
most longed-for, let what I have said put in mind those who love the Lord,
while as to those who have imitated the behaviour of Judas, and deserted the
Lord to join Caiaphas, let them by these things be taught better, if maybe
they are willing, if maybe they are ashamed. And let them know that in
worshipping the Lord in the flesh we do not worship a creature, but, as we
said above, the Creator Who has put on the created body.
7. But we should like your piety to ask them this. When Israel was ordered
to go up to Jerusalem to worship at the temple of the Lord, where was the ark,
'and above it the Cherubim of glory overshadowing the Mercy-seat(1),' did they
do well or the opposite? If they did ill, how came it that they who despised
this law were liable to punishment? for it is written that if a man make light
of it and go not up, he shall perish from among the people(2). But if they did
well, and in this proved well-pleasing to God, are not the Arians, abominable
and most shameful of any heresy, many times worthy of destruction, in that
while they approve the former People for the honour paid by them to the
Temple, they will not worship the Lord Who is in the flesh as in a temple? And
yet the former temple was constructed of stones and gold, as a shadow. But
when the reality came, the type ceased from thenceforth, and there did not
remain, according to the Lord's utterance, one stone upon another that was not
broken downs. And they did not, when they saw the temple of stones, suppose
that the Lord who spoke in the temple was a creature; nor did they set the
Temple at nought and retire far off to worship. But they came to it according
to the Law, and worshipped the God who uttered His oracles from the Temple.
Since then this was so, how can it be other than right to worship the Body of
the Lord, all-holy and all-reverend as it is, announced as it was by the
archangel Gabriel, formed by the Holy Spirit, and made the Vesture of the
Word? It was at any rate a bodily hand that the Word stretched out to raise
her that was sick of a fever(4): a human voice that He uttered to raise
Lazarus from the dead(5); and, once again, stretching out His hands upon the
Cross, He overthrew the prince of the power of the air, that now works(6) in
the sons of disobedience, and made the way clear for us into the heavens.
8. Therefore he that dishonours the Temple dishonours the Lord in the
Temple; and he that separates the Word from the Body sets at nought the grace.
given to us in Him. And let not the most impious Arian madmen suppose that,
since the Body is created, the Word also is a creature, nor let them, because
the Word is not a creature, disparage His Body. For their error is matter for
wonder, in that they at once confuse and disturb everything, and devise
pretexts only in order to number the Creator among the creatures.
But let them listen. If the Word were a creature, He would not assume the
created body to quicken it. For what help can creatures derive from a creature
that itself needs salvation? But since the Word being Creator has Himself made
the creatures, therefore also at the consummation of the ages(7) He put on the
creature, that He as creator might once more consecrate it, and be able to
recover it. But a creature could never be saved by a creature, any more than
the creatures were created by a creature, if the Word was not creator.
Accordingly let them not lie against the divine Scriptures nor give offence to
simple brethren; but if they are willing let them change their mind in their
turn, and no longer worship the creature instead of God, Who made all things.
But if they wish to abide by their impieties, let them alone take their fill
of them, and let them gnash their teeth like their
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father the devil, because the Faith of the Catholic Church knows that the Word
of God is creator and maker of all things; and we know that while 'in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God(8),' now that He has become
also man for our salvation we worship Him, not as though He had come in the
body equalising Himself with it, but as Master, assuming the form of the
servant, and Maker and Creator coming in a creature in order that, in it
delivering all things, He might bring the world nigh to the Father, and make
all things to be at peace, things in heaven and things on the earth. For thus
also we recognise His Godhead, even the Father's, and worship His Incarnate
Presence, even if the Arian madmen burst themselves in sunder.
Greet all that love the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you may be well,
and remember us to the Lord, beloved and truly most longed-for. If need be
this is to be read to Hieracas(9) the presbyter.
LETTER LXI.
Letter to Maximus. (Written about 371 A.D.)
To our beloved and most truly longed-for son, Maximus(1), philosopher,
Athanasius greeting in the Lord.
Having read the letter now come from you, I approve your piety: but,
marvelling at the rashness of those 'who understand neither what they say nor
whereof they confidently affirm(2),' I had really decided to say nothing. For
to reply upon matters which are so plain and which are clearer than light, is
simply to give an excuse for shamelessness to such lawless men. And this we
have learned from the Saviour. For when Pilate had washed his hands, and
acquiesced in the false accusation of the Jews of that day, the Lord answered
him no more, but rather warned his wife in a dream, so that He that was being
judged might be believed to be God not in word, but in power. While after
vouchsafing Caiaphas no reply to his folly, He Himself by his promises brought
all over to knowledge. Accordingly for some time I delayed, and have
reluctantly yielded to your zeal for the truth, in view of the
argumentativeness of men without shame. And I have dictated nothing beyond
what your letter contains, in order that the adversary may from henceforth be
convinced on the points to which he has objected, and may 'keep his tongue
from evil and his lips that they speak no guile(3a).' And would that they
would no longer join the Jews who passed by of old in reproaching Him that
hung upon the Tree: 'If thou be the Son of God save Thyself(4).' But if even
after this they will not give in, yet do you remember the apostolic
injunction, and 'a man that is heretical after a first and second admonition
refuse, knowing that such an one is perverted and sinneth being
self-condemned(5).' For if they are Gentiles, or of the Judaisers, who are
thus daring, let them, as Jews, think the Cross of Christ a stumbling-block,
or as Gentiles, foolishness(6). But if they pretend to be Christians let them
learn that the crucified Christ is at once Lord of Glory, and the Power of God
and Wisdom of God(7).'
2. But if they are in doubt whether He is God at all, let them reverence
Thomas, who handled the Crucified and pronounced Him Lord and God(8). Or let
them fear the Lord Himself, who said, after washing the feet of the disciples:
'Ye call Me Lord and Master(9), and ye say well, for so I am.' But in the same
body in which He was when he washed their feet, He also carried up our sins to
the Tree(1). And He was witnessed to as Master of Creation, in that the Sun
withdrew his beams and the earth trembled and the rocks were rent, and the
executioners recognised that the Crucified was truly Son of God. For the Body
they beheld was not that of some man, but of God, being in which, even when
being crucified, He raised the dead. Accordingly it is no good venture of
theirs to say that the Word of God came into a certain holy man; for this was
true of each of the prophets and of the other saints, and on that assumption
He would clearly be born and die in the case of each one of them. But this is
not so, far be the thought. But once for all 'at the consummation of the
ages(2), to put away sin' 'the Word was made flesh(3) and proceeded forth from
Mary the Virgin, Man after our likeness, as also He said to the Jews,
'Wherefore seek ye to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth(4)?' And we
are deified not by partaking of the body of some
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man, but by receiving the Body of the Word Himself.
3. And at this also I am much surprised, how they have ventured to
entertain such an idea as that the Word became man in consequence of His
Nature. For if this were so, the commemoration of Mary would be
superfluous.(5) For neither does Nature know of a Virgin bearing apart from a
man. Whence by the good pleasure of the Father, being true God, and Word and
Wisdom of the Father by nature, He became man in the body for our salvation,
in order that having somewhat to offer(6) for us He might save us all, 'as
many as through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage.(7)'
For it was not some man that gave Himself up for us; since every man is under
sentence of death, according to what was said to all in Adam, 'earth thou art
and unto earth thou shall return.(8)' Nor yet was it any other of the
creatures, since every creature is liable to change. But the Word Himself
offered His own Body on our behalf that our faith and hope might not be in
man, but that we might have our faith in God the Word Himself. Why, even now
that He is become man we behold His Glory, 'glory as of one only-begotten of
His Father--full of grace and truth.(9)' For what He endured by means of the
Body, He magnified as God. And while He hungered in the flesh, as God He fed
the hungry. And if anyone is offended by reason of the bodily conditions, let
him believe by reason of what God works. For humanly He enquires where Lazarus
is laid, but raises him up divinely. Let none then laugh, calling Him a child,
and citing His age, His growth, His eating, drinking and suffering, lest while
denying what is proper for the body, he deny utterly also His sojourn among
us. And just as He has not become Man in consequence of His nature, in like
manner it was consistent that when He had taken a body He should exhibit what
was proper to it, lest the imaginary theory of Manichaeus should prevail.
Again it was consistent that when He went about in the body, He should not
hide what belonged to the Godhead, lest he of Samosata should find an excuse
to call Him man, as distinct in person from God the Word.
4. Let then the unbelievers perceive this, and learn that while as a Babe
He lay in a manger, He subjected the Magi and was worshipped by them; and
while as a Child He came down to Egypt, He brought to nought the hand-made
objects of its idolatry(1): and crucified in the flesh, He raised the dead
long since turned to corruption. And it has been made plain to all that not
for His own sake but for ours He underwent all things, that we by His
sufferings might put on freedom from suffering and incorruption(2), and abide
unto life eternal.
5. This then I have concisely dictated, following, as I said above, the
lines of your own letter, without working out any point any further but only
mentioning what relates to the Holy Cross, in order that the despisers may be
taught better upon the points where they were offended, and may worship the
Crucified. But do you thoroughly persuade the unbelievers; perhaps somehow
they may come from ignorance to knowledge, and believe aright. And even though
what your own letter contains is sufficient, yet it is as well to have added
what I have for the sake of reminder in view of contentious persons; not so
much in order that being refuted in their venturesome statements they may be
put to shame, as that being reminded they may not forget the truth. For let
what was confessed by the Fathers at Nicaea prevail. For it is correct, and
enough to overthrow every heresy however impious, and especially that of the
Arians which speaks against the Word of God, and as a logical consequence
profanes His Holy Spirit. Greet all who hold aright. All that are with us
greet you.
LETTER LXII.
To John and Antiochus.(1)
Athanasius to John and Antiochus, our beloved sons and fellow-presbyters
in the Lord, greeting.
I was glad to receive your letter just now, the more so as you wrote from
Jerusalem. I thank you for informing me about the brethren that there
assembled, and about those who wish, on account of disputed points, to disturb
the simple. But about these things let the Apostle charge them not to give
heed to those who contend about words, and seek nothing else than to tell and
hear some new thing(2). But do you, having your foundation sure, even
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Jesus Christ our Lord, and the confession of the fathers concerning the faith,
avoid those who wish to say anything more or less than that, and rather aim at
the profit of the brethren, that they may fear God and keep His commandments,
in order that both by the teaching of the fathers, and by the keeping of the
commandments, they may be able to appear well-pleasing to the Lord in the day
of judgment. But I have been utterly astonished at the boldness of those who
venture to speak against our beloved Basil the bishop, a true servant of God.
For from such vain talk they can be convicted of not loving even the
confession of the fathers.
Greet the brethren. They that are with me greet you. I pray that ye may be
well in the Lord, beloved and much-desired sons.
LETTER LXIII.
Letter to the Presbyter Palladius(1).
To our beloved son Palladius, presbyter, Athanasius the Bishop greeting in
the Lord.
I was glad to receive also the letter written by you alone, the more so
that you breathe orthodoxy in it, as is your wont. And having learnt not for
the first time, but long ago, the reason of your staying at present with our
beloved Innocent(2), I am pleased with your piety. Since then you are acting
as you are, write and let me know how are the brethren there, and what the
enemies of the truth think about us. But whereas you have also told me of the
monks at Caesarea, and I have learned from our beloved Dianius(3) that they
are vexed, and are opposing our beloved bishop Basil, I am glad you have
informed me, and I have pointed out. to them what is fitting, namely that as
children they should obey their father, and not oppose what he approves. For
if he were suspected as touching the truth, they would do well to combat him.
But if they are confident, as we all are, that he is a glory to the Church,
contending rather on behalf of the truth and teaching those who require it, it
is not right to combat such an one, but rather to accept with thanks his good
conscience. For from what the beloved Dianius has related, they appear to be
vexed without cause. For he, as I am confident, to the weak becomes weak to
gain the weak(5). But let our beloved friends look at the scope of his truth,
and at his special purpose(6), and glorify the Lord Who has given such a
bishop to Cappadocia as any district must pray to have. And do you, beloved,
be good enough to point out to them the duty of obeying, as I write. For this
is at once calculated to render them well disposed toward their father, and
will preserve peace to the churches. I pray that you may be well in the Lord,
beloved son.
LETTER LXIV.
To Diodorus (fragment).
To my lord, son, and most beloved fellow-minister Diodorus [bishop of
Tyre](1), Athanasius greeting in the Lord.
I thank my Lord, Who is everywhere establishing His doctrine, and chiefly
so by means of His own sons, such as actual fact shews you to be. For before
your Reverence wrote, we knew how great grace has been brought to pass in Tyre
by means of your perseverance. And we rejoice with you that by your means Tyre
also has learned the right word of piety. And I indeed took an opportunity of
writing to you, longed-for and beloved: but I marvel at your not having
replied to my letter. Be not then slow to write at once, knowing that you give
me refreshment, as a son to his father, and make me exceeding glad, as a
herald of truth. And enter upon no controversy with the heretics, but overcome
their argumentativeness with silence, their ill-will with courtesy. For thus
your speech shall be 'with grace, seasoned with salt(2),' while they [will be
judged] by the conscience of all. ...