The Festal Epistles

The Festal Epistles

continued

Letter 6.

1 Easter-day, XII. Pharmuthi; VII. Id. April: XVII. Moon; Easter-day Era Dioclet. 50; Coss. Optatus Patricius, Anicius on April 7. Paulinus; Prefect; Philagrius, the Cappadocian; VII. Indict. Now again, my beloved, has God also 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 also at this time calls us to the feast, saying by Moses, Observe the mouth of new fruitsᶜ, and keep the Passover to the Lord thy God: and by the prophet, Keep thy feasts, O Judah; pay to the Lord thy vows. 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 that 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 keep the feast which is celebrated here, doubtless we shall receive the perfect joy which is in heaven; as 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

2 There appears to be an error in the Syriac text: we must read in place of This Philagrius was a violent persecutor of the Church, taking part with the Arians. He was an apostate from the true faith. Conf. Hist. Arian. ad Monachos, p. 276. §. 9. and p. 277. §. 12. An elegant comparison between Athan. and Philagrius is however drawn out by Greg. Nazianzen, tom. i. p. 401. ed. Par. 1778. Conf. note to title of Letter x. ᶜ Conf. note o, to Letter i. p. 12. eat it, until it is fulfilled with you in the kingdom of God. Now we eat it when, having entertained in our minds the occasion of the feast, and acknowledging the Deliverer, we are properly attracted to 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. 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 incarnate, that we should no longer live in the flesh, but in spirit should worship God, who is a Spirit?

3 He who is not so disposed, though employing the days, does not keep the feast, but, like an unthankful person, finds fault with the grace; and though he may esteem the days before others, 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 lest I have laboured among you in vain. For 11. the feast is not on account of the days; but we observe it, because in them the Lord suffered in our stead, for our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed. 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. To the Jews forsooth when they thought they celebrated 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. The Passover was named after Is. 1, 14.

4 15. &c. 19. 20. 65. 28. 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. 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 preferred the cure of the leprosy to Him Who had 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 face 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? And there was more given to this one than to the rest; for being cleansed from his leprosy, he heard from the Lord, Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath saved thee. For he who giveth 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.

5 Although testimony was borne by Caiaphas against our Redeemer, and He was set at nought by the Jews, and was condemned by Pilate in those days, yet very exalted and most mighty was the voice of the Father which came to Him; I have glorified, and will glorify again. For those things which He suffered on our account have passed away; but those concerning Him as our Saviour remain for ever. The Syriac would seem to remove the note of interrogation from and to give the meaning 'how is it that those nine did not return to give glory to God, while this stranger did?' is thus to be taken as in Luke iv. ᶜ Conf. Athan. Expos. in Psalmos. (Ps. lxvii. 35.) —. The ideas of 'praising' or 'glorifying,' and 'giving thanks,' are closely connected, and are sometimes expressed by the same word, e. g. Heb. Gr. '. Conf.

6 Ps. l. 23. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth V.e. Suicer in voe ' says, significat laudare, celebrare, glorificare, gratias agere; idque—per synecdochen generis Hebraicam: nam qui aliquem celebrant, illi confitentur, vel potius profitentur res praelare ab eo gestas, vel beneficia ab eo accepta. Christ, while on earth, suffered as man, but was glorified as God, the Father bearing testimony of Him. His sufferings for us have ceased, but the glory of them shall endure eternally. Conf. Phil. ii. 7—11. 7 On this account, my brethren, when we remember these things, 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. 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, and the day of salvation hath dawned, even the death of our Redeemer. For even for our sakes the Word came down, and being incorruptible, put on a corruptible body for the salvation of all of us. On this subject Paul speaks plainly, saying, This corruptible must put on incorruption. 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? This does not mean that the descent of the Lord was of no advantage; for it gained the whole world;

8 but rather that after He had thus suffered, sinners would prefer to be without it, to profiting 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. 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 serrant! oughtest thou not to have put my money into the bank? then on my return, 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, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. For it is not His will that the grace we have received should be unprofitable; but He requires us, as a duty, to render Him of His fruits, as the blessed Paul saith; The fruit of the Spirit is lore, joy, and peace.

9 Therefore, being right-minded, and owing no man any thing, but rather giving every thing to every man, he was a teacher of the like propriety of purpose, saying, Render to all their dues. He was like those sent by the householder to receive the fruits of the vineyard from the husbandmen; for he also exhorted all men to render a return"; but Israel despised, and rendered not. Their inclinations were not good; nay, moreover, they killed those that were sent; so that there was no reverence shewn the Lord of the vineyard", but He was even slain by them. Notwithstanding, 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; and the fig-tree died fruitless, so that even the disciples wondered when it withered away. Then was fulfilled that which was also 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. For the whole service of the law has been removed 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 every where. And they eat unlea-

10 " The comparison here made, as well as the order of the words in the Syriac text, requires the translation here given. Larsow renders the passage, 'he was studious to render a return to all men.' But though I can might take this signification, it would not suit here. Those who were sent to the husbandmen exhorted them to make a proper return of the fruits; St. Paul, who was sent as a preacher of the Gospel to all the world, exhorted all men to a perform- ance of their Christian duties. The same word is employed before in this letter; 'The apostle exhorts all men to this,' p. 52. I can is the expression in p. 4, where we read 'urging us to note.' Conf. 'De Passione et Cruce Domini,' p. 62. After quoting the verse of Scripture, 'Render to all their dues, &c.' there follows;… 11 vened bread without fulfilling 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 judgments are inflicted on them by God; so that they introduce days of grief and not of gladness. Now the cause of this to them was their slaying of the Lord, and their not reverencing the Only-Begotten. At this time also, 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 also 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 also 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 brought the shadow to nought, causing it to wither; but preserving the root, so that we might [not] be grafted upon it: they too, if they remain not in unbelief, may attain to be grafted into their own olive tree. When therefore the Lord had cursed these because of their negligence, He removed from them the new moons, the true lamb, and that which is truly the Passover. But to us it came: there came too the solemn day, in which it is incumbent upon us to call to the feast with a trumpet, and separate ourselves to the Lord with thanks Matt. 26, 58.

12 17. 13. giving, considering it as our own festival. 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 afflictions, and said, My soul is sorrowful unto death. For the heathen, and all those men who are destitute of our faith, keep feasts according to their own wills, and have no peace, since they sin against God. But the saints, as those who 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 also is common to them, Rejoice, ye righteous, in the Lord—so that they also may be gathered together, to sing that common and festal Psalm, Come, let us rejoice, not in ourselves, but, in the Lord. For thus, the patriarch Abraham rejoiced not to see his own day, but that of the Lord; and when he thus longed for it, he saw it, and was glad. And when he was tried, by faith he sacrificed Isaac, and offered up his only-begotten 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, which was offered up instead as a sacrifice to God. The patriarch was tried then, 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; but He took away the sin of the world.

13 especially the first Letter of this series. In both, allusion is made to Eccles. chap. iii. where it is stated that there is a time for every thing; the command given to Moses, Numb. x. 1. is quoted in both; and the figure of the Christian trumpet is also contained equally in both. The Passover is no longer to be a feast of the Jews: it is to be celebrated by Christians as a festival of the Lord. Vid. page 45 and note g. See note to Letter ii. p. 18. where add that Jeroboam is called by Athan.: Synopsis Sac. Script. p. 135. The latter part of the translation Whom (i. e. Isaac) he had received by a promise. The Syriac here is more exact to the Greek, He (i. e. Abraham) who had received the promises. The Syriac, here rendered by 'ram,' is though we might have expected. It is the same word that is used directly after, in the quotation from Isaiah, and rendered 'lamb.' Difference between the sacrifice of Christ, and that of Isaac. 51

14 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; and should refer all such things as these to the son of Abraham. For the sacrifice was not properly the establishment of Isaac, but of Abraham who also offered, and by that he 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. 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 hath brought us from affliction and sighing to the rest and gladness of this feast, a joy which reacheth even to heaven.

15 For not we alone are affected by this, but because of it, even the heavens rejoice with us, and the whole church together of the first-born, written in heaven, is made glad, as the prophet proclaims, saying, Rejoice, ye heavens, for the Lord hath comforted Israel. Shout, ye foundations of the earth. Cry out with joy, ye mountains, ye high places, and all the trees which are in them, because the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and Israel hath been glorified. And again; “ I use the word 'establishment' for want of one that would better express the meaning. The Syriae is which is the rendering of the Greek in Heb. ix. 10,. The sacrifice of Isaac was not only to serve as a type of the death of Christ; but the particular circumstances attending it, were designed for the instruction of Abraham, and his establishment in the Christian faith. Cont. The phylact on the passage in Heb. —. The original Greek was probably,

16 1 2 Is. 19, 13. I 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. The whole creation keeps a feast, my brethren, and every thing that hath breath praises the Lord, as the Psalmist [says], both on account of the destruction of the enemies, and our salvation. And very right is it; for if there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, what should there not be over the abolition of sin, and the resurrection of the dead? Or what kind of a feast and gladness must there be in heaven: how must all its hosts joy and exult, as they rejoice and watch in our assemblies, both those held from time to time, 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, no longer possessed of life, being bound hand and foot, so that we may mock at him; Where is thy victory, O Death? where is thy sting, O Grave? Let us then sing unto the Lord a victorious song of praise.

17 Who then will conduct 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? To such a state, 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. But such a feast as this is not for an impure person, neither is the approach to it for sinners; but it is for the virtuous and diligent; and such as have the same end in view as 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. 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. But the deceitful, and he 31. that is not pure of heart, and possesses nothing that is pure, (as the Proverb saith, To a deceitful man there is nothing good, shall assuredly, being a stranger, and of a different 13.

18 race from the saints, be accounted unworthy to eat the Passover, for a foreigner shall not eat of it. Thus Judas, Exol. 12, when he thought he kept the Passover, because he plotted 43. deceit against the Saviour, was estranged from the city which is above, and from the apostolic company. For the law commanded the Passover to be eaten with due observance; but he, while eating it, was sifted of the devil, who had entered his soul. 19 Wherefore let us not be affected as those who keep the feast on earth, but as celebrating it in heaven with the angels. Let us glorify the Lord, by temperance, by righteousness, and those other virtues. And let us rejoice, not in ourselves, but in the Lord, that we also 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 he said, In the morning I will 3. stand before Thos, and Thos will look upon me; in the morning Thos will hear my voice. 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 when a testimony is borne to us by these things, and we keep the feast by them, we may be able to enter into the joy of our Lord in the kingdom of heaven. But as Israel, when going up to Jerusalem, was first purified in the wilderness, being trained to forget the customs of Egypt: as the [divine] word has graciously prescribed to us the holy fast of forty days; let us first be purified and purged, so that when we depart hence, having been careful of fasting, we may be able to ascend to the upper chamber with the Lord, to sup with Him; and may be partakers of the joy which is in heaven. In no other manner shall we be able to go up to Jerusalem, and to eat the Passover, but as we apply ourselves to the fast of forty days.

20 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 previous first days of the week, and the Saturdays, then we 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 of the Saturday, immediately after which there rises upon us the first day of the holy week, 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, we shall have fulfilled, through all the season, the feast of Easter, by Jesus Christ 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.

21 Here endeth the sixth Festal Letter of the holy and God-clad Athanasius.

Letter 7.

1 Easter-day IV. Pharmathi; III. Kal. April; XX. Moon; Er. Dioclet. 51; Coss. Julius Constantinus, the brother of Easter-day Augustus, Rufinus Albinus; Prafeet, the same Philagrius; on March VIII. Indiet. THE blessed Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he always bore in his body the death 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 also David participated, saying in the Psalms, For thy sake we 22. die all the day; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 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 careful in the practice of virtue, having mortified his members which are upon the earth, and crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts: but he lives in the Spirit, and is conformed to the Spirit. He is always mindful of God, and forgets Him not, and never does the deeds of death. On this account, in order that we may bear in our body the death of Jesus, he immediately adds, when describing such fellowship, we having the same spirit of faith, as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak. He adds also, speaking of the grace that arises from knowledge; For He that raised

2 The twentieth Letter, as far as it is extant, bears a great resemblance with this. In both, the comparison between natural and spiritual food is enlarged upon, and several of the same quotasup Jesus, will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us before Him with you. When, by such faith and knowledge, the saints have attained to this true life, they also receive, doubtless, the joy which is in heaven: for which the wicked not caring, are deservedly deprived of the blessedness arising from it. (LXX. vers.) Mat. 25, 11. 25. 13. 3 For, let the wicked be taken away, so that he shall not see the glory of the Lord. For although, when they shall hear the universal publication of the promise, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, they shall rise and shall reach even to heaven, knocking and saying, Open to us; 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. They indeed humble themselves, (we may say of the wicked) but not by a discipline opposed to sin: for they do not, like the saints, bear death in their body. They rather bury the soul in sins and follies, drawing near to the dead, and satifying it with dead nourishment; like young eagles which, from high places, fly upon the carcasses of the dead, and which the law prohibited, commanding figuratively. Thou shalt not eat the eagle, nor any other bird that feedeth on a dead carcase; 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. And the kind of fruit those have who thus love pleasure, 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. Yea, even while they live, they shall be ashamed, because they consider their belly their Lord: and, when dead, they shall be tormented, as those who have made a beast 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. And the divine saying declared before respecting them: The death

4 The commonly received railing of the Greek in this place is which the Eeshua version agrees: have (Vas. 6am. 10am.) which Athan, appears to have adopted, Genl. Eph. ii. 6. Vas. 6am. 10am. Some Mos. however, 1 Cor. 12am. 10am. 10am. contrasted with the state of the good here and hereafter. 57 of sinners is evil, and those who hate the righteous commit sin. For bitter is the worm, and grievous the darkness, which wicked men inherit. But the saints, and the real followers of virtue, mortify their members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, wicked passions, evil concupiscence; 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. These, having become dead to the world, and renounced the merchandise of the world, meet with an honourable death such as this: for, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. They are also able, preserving the Apostolic likeness, to say, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lireth in me. 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, meditating on those things which are above, as he who was a lever of such a habitation said, While we walk on earth, our dwelling is in heaven.

5 Those, therefore, who thus live, and participate in such virtue, are alone able to give glory to God, which may be set down as the peculiar duty of a feast and a holiday. For the feast is not an indulgence in food, nor splendor of clothing, nor days of leisure, but it is an understanding directed to God, and the offering of thanksgiving by a song Ps. 115, 17. 18. Ecclus. 16, 9. 28. Vs 118, 17. of praise to Him. Now this appertains 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 to hell; but we who live will bless the Lord, from henceforth even for ever. As also it was with Hezekiah, who was delivered from death, and therefore praised God, saying, Those who are in hell cannot praise Thee; the dead cannot bless Thee; but the living shall bless Thee, as I also do. For to praise and bless God belongs to those only who live in Christ, and by such means 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, according to the declaration of him who was sent to proclaim such

6 a feast; Our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed. 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, Wherefore dost thou talk of My laws? And the gentle Spirit rebukes them, saying, Praise is not comely in the month of a sinner. Neither hath sin any place in common with the praise of God; but the sinner has a mouth speaking perverse things, as the Proverb saith, The month of the wicked answereth evil things. For how is it possible for us to praise God with an impure mouth? since things which are contrary to each other cannot exist in the same person. For what communion is there of righteousness with iniquity? or, what fellowship is there between light and darkness? So exclaims Paul, a minister of the Gospel.

7 Thus it is that sinners, and all those who are aliens from the Catholic Church, heretics, and schismatics, since they are excluded from the praise of the saints, cannot properly even continue observers of the feast. But the righteous man, although he appears dying to the world, uses plainness of speech, saying, I shall not die, but live, and narrate all Thy marvellous deeds. For even God is not ashamed to be called the God of those who truly mortify their members Conf. Letter vi. p. 46, note i. 8 which are upon the earth, 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 also the Lord exclaims, I am the bread of life. The Jews, being unsound in their perception, and having the senses of the mind unexercised to virtue, and not alive to seek after such bread, murmured against Him, because He said, I am the bread which came down from heaven, and giveth life unto men. For sin has her own peculiar bread, [bread] of her death; wherefore, calling to those who are lovers of pleasure and lack understanding, she saith, Touch with delight secret bread, and sweet waters which are stolen; for he who merely touches them knows not that the earth-born perish with her. For even when the sinner looks for gratification, he finds not the result of its meat 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. 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. Thus, then, he eats and is delighted for a little time; afterwards he spurneth it when he hath removed his soul afar. For the fool knoweth not that those who are far from God shall perish.

9 Moreover, in accordance with this, the prophetic admonition says, by way of restraint, What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Gilhon? And what hast thou to do in the way of Asshur, to drink the waters of the rivers? But 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. She also calls them to herself, For wisdom hath builded her house, and supported it on seven pillars; Conf. Col. in 5. Larson renders this passage erroneously, as I conceive. ᶜ He quickens through His living word every one, gives to him fear, and to the saints, life. The Sykes is literally translated, as given away, and the context seems to require that Christ should be here set forth as food and life, or, the food of life—the bread of life.

10 This quotation is from Prov. ix. 18. The words are found in the LXX. version, though not in the original H. prov. 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. And what expectation is there in return for these things? Forsake fully that ye may live, and seek understanding that ye may abide. For the bread of Wisdom is also 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. For when Israel ate of the manna, which was truly pleasant and wonderful, he died: and it was not the case that he who ate of that lived for ever, but all that multitude died in the wilderness. The Lord thus 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. Now wicked men hunger for bread like this, for sickly 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.

11 15. 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 stay the righteous soul with famine. It is also promised 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. Well then do the saints and those who love the life which is in Christ raise themselves to a longing after such food as this. And one earnestly implores, while the want of the true believer is supplied by Christ. 61 saying, Is 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 2. 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.

12 Since these things are so, my brethren, let us mortify our Cel. 3. 5. members which are on the earth, 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 thirst, let him [come] to Me and drink, immediately added 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. And further, He always 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 a profane woman, destitute of the word. And He did it right only, my brethren: for it was not of advantage that she should prefer her supplication before faith, but that she should corroborate her prayer by her faith: For he 6. that cometh to God, must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him;

13 and that without faith it is impossible for a man to please Him. This Paul teaches, Now that he was up to that time an unbeliever, one of the profane, He shows, saying, It is not meet to take the children's Med. 15. 26. bread, and to cast it to dogs. She then, being convinced by the power of the word, and having changed her profane state, also acquired faith: for the Lord no longer treated her as a dog, but conversed with her as with a human being, saying, O woman, great is thy faith? As therefore she believed, He forthwith granted to her the fruit of faith, and said, Be it N. 15. 25. 14 The word 12b 201 probably to be supposed in the M— to thee as thou desirest. And her daughter was healed in the self-same hour. For the righteous man, when fed by faith and knowledge, and performance of divine words, has his soul always in health. Wherefore it is commanded to receive to ourselves him who is weak in the faith, 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, according to the words of that godlike man. The Apostle also enjoins 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. And not only here, my brethren, is this bread the food of the righteous; neither are the saints on the 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. And to all He is every thing, and He spareth all according to His lovingkindness. Already hath the Lord given us angels' food, 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.

15 What kind of a banquet is it, my brethren, and how great? For... leg.... Conf. Letter i. p. 8. For the angels are no otherwise sustained than by be- holding at all times the face of the Father, and of the Saviour Who is in heaven. Conf. Ps. lxxviii. 25. 26. And gave them food from heaven. So man did eat angels' food. S. Athan. on the passage (Expos. in Psalmos, p. 908.) says, that God not only fed the bodies of the Israelites with manna, but also their souls with a certain reasonable and heavenly virtue,. Referring to 1 Cor. x. 3. he says,. 16 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? For, blessed is he who shall eat bread in Thy kingdom. For he who has been adjudged worthy of this heavenly calling, and by this calling has been sanctified, if he grow negligent in it, although washed, becomes defiled: counting the blood of the corenant by which he was sanctified a profane thing, and despising the Spirit of grace, he hears the words, Friend, how 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. Judas, to wit, though he came to the supper, inasmuch as he thought lightly of it, went out from the presence of the Lord, and having abandoned his Life, hanged himself. But the disciples who continued with the Redeemer, partook also of 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 contract 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!

17 and shall then 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;—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 receives him as a dead man alive again; and deems him worthy of the divine feast, and gives him his former and precious garmentᶜ. So that, on this account, there is singing and gladness in the paternal home. For this is the work of the lovingkindness and grace of the father, that not only should he make him alive from the dead, but that he should also render his grace illustrious through the Spirit. Therefore, instead of cor-

18 15. Heb.10.29. Mat.22,12. Mat.22,14. 17. ruption, he clothes him with an incorruptible garment; instead of hunger, he kills the fatted calf; that he should not henceforth travel afar off, [the father] busies himself on his return, providing shoes for his feet; and, what is most wonderful, putting a divine signet-ring upon his hand; whilst by all these things He begets him afreshᶜ 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. 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, but consider our whole course as a feast, and continue near and not far off, saying to Him, Thou hast the words of eternal life, and whither shall we go? Let those of us who are far off return, confessing our iniquities and possessing nothing before men, but by the spirit mortifying the deeds of the body. For thus, having beforehand 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, but

19 In the Syr. Ms. there is an error through the transposition of letters, being written instead of. Syr. So we find quoted in Castell s. v. Ablutio que denuo fit. ᶜ The word appears to be applied in this place to the Passion week, ( — ). So wread (Athan. op. tom. i. p. 256.)... The Greeks usually designated the days of the week, not after the preceding, but the following Sunday. Thus after the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, (Latinis Dominica Septua gesimæ), those days that follow immediately, viz. the second third, fourth ferier, &c. were by the Greeks termed &c. until the following Sunday, which was termed (Latinis, Dominica Sexagesimæ), while the whole week was called. Vid. Suicer. Thes. in voc. and the notes of Valesius on Euseb. Orat. in laud. Constant. ch. ix. With us, Easter-week includes the six days following Easter-Sunday; with the Greeks, the was applied to the preceding six days, as here.

20 Athan. frequently speaks in these Epistles of the Easter-festival as designed to bring us nearer to Christ. Our whole life is to be a continual spiritual feast of praise and thanksgiving to God, whereby we are to be prepared for Christ's presence in heaven. Vid. supra, p. 57. and Letter v. sub init. entering with the Lord, like those who were wise and loved the bridegroom; and, shewing the death of Jesus in our 10 bodies, we shall receive life and the kingdom from Him. We begin the fast of forty days on the twenty-third of Mecheir (Feb. 17.), and the holy fast of the blessed feast on the twenty-eighth of Phamenoth (Mar. 21.); and having joined to these, six days after them, in fastings and watchings, as each one is able, let us cease on the third of the month Pharmuthi (Mar. 19.), on the evening of the seventh day. Also that day which is holy and blessed in every thing, which possesses the name of Christ, the Lord's day 1, 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 through Christ, by Whom to Him and with Him be glory and dominion by the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.

21 All the brethren who are with me salute you: salute one another with a holy kiss. Here endeth the seventh Festal Letter of holy Athanasius the Patriarch. There is no eighth or ninth, for he did not send them, for the reason I have before mentioned 2. 2 See the Index. Athan, left Egypt in this year to attend the synod at Tyre; thence repaired to the Emperor Constantine to plead his cause before him. Failing of success in this, he retired, as an exile, to Treviri, in Gaul. I have changed the order of the last two sentences from that in which they are written in the Syr. Ms. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Letter 10.

1 Easter-day on Mar. 26. Coss. Ursus and Polemins; Præf. the same Theodorus, of Heliopolis; and after him, of the Catholics, for the second year, Philagrius; Indict. XI.; Easter-day, VII. Kal. Ap. XXX. Phamenoth; Moon 18½; Æra Dioclet. 54. 2 ALTHOUGH I have been 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, 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 kept in restraint 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 also been on the watch against us, 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 kept 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, knowing the fear imposed on them by the adversaries. Still, I exhorted them to be mindful of the apostolic boldness of speechᶠ, 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. 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 incumbent on me, I have not kept back from discharging the duty, since I was jealous of incurring the imputation implied in the Apostolic counsel; Render to every man his due.

3 While I then committed all my affairs to God, I considered it as a duty to celebrate the feast with you, not taking into account the distance between us. For although place divides us, yet the Lord, the Giver of the feast, and actions. The death of Constantine, in the year 337, changed the aspect of the affairs of the Church. Athanasius was again taken into favour, and permitted to return to Alexandria, Constantine the younger, who succeeded to the government of Gaul, furnishing a letter to the people of Alexandria, and declaring that it had been the intention of his father, had he lived, to act in the same manner. According to the Index, S. Athan. returned from Gaul on the twenty-seventh of the month Arbyr, answering to the twenty-fifth of November. The Egyptian year (be it remembered) commenced on the twenty-ninth of August. Assembled at the Council of Nice.

4 We frequently meet with the expression towards the end of the Paschal discourses of S. Cyril. Conf. Letter iii. p. 22, and note 5. V 2 Matt. 18, 20. Who is Himself our feast, Who is also the Bestower of the Spirit, brings us together in mind, in harmony, and in the bond of peace. For when we mind and think the same things, and offer up the same prayers on behalf of each other, no place can divide us; but the Lord gathers and unites us together. For if He has promised, that when two or three are gathered together in His name, He is in the midst of them, 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.

5 I have thus borne affliction like this, and all those trials which I mentioned, my brethren, when I wrote to you. And that we may give you pain in nothing, I would now 𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁 'and who is our feast' 𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁 (or, 𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁) 𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁 'Christ our Passover.' Larson has missed the point of these words. also (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 inwardly 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, and I will not cease to bless Thee with harp all the days of my life, before the house of the Lord. And those three blessed men who were tried in Babylon, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, when they were in safety and the fire became to them as dew, praised and gave thanks, singing a song unto God. 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, God hath shewn to be easy of accomplishment, by bringing us to you. For God does not give us as a prey to those who seek

6 * Perhaps for we should read. to swallow up not so much us, as the Church, and by wickedness to overwhelm faith and godliness. They indeed imagined such things; but God, who is good, multiplied His loving-kindness towards us, not only when He vouchsafed to us by His Word the common salvation of us all; but also now, 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 5. 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 through Christ. 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 hath no beginning, but is eternal. It does not, then, possess one method only of healing; but, being rich, it 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

7 Wis. 7, 27. 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. To those then who have not yet attained to the perfect way—as a lamb—there is I milk, and this was administered by Paul: I have fed you with milk, not with meat. To those who have advanced from the full stature of childhood, but still are weak as regards perfection, the food is according to their capacity, being again administered by Paul; Let him that is weak eat herbs. But as soon as ever a man begins to walk in the The conjunction O, seems wanting in the Syriac. The Syriac seems to require this rendering. Or it may be, 'quickened us in Christ.' The Peschito (Sos lumen) agrees better with the original;.

8 All the various attributes and perfections of the Deity, as exhibited in the person of Christ, work together for the salvation of man. By His gospel, He instructs them; by His power, He upholds and strengthens them; and by His wisdom, He guides them. Conf. Letter i. p. 3. The sense in the last few lines, and in those that follow, is clear, though the construction appears somewhat obscure. Milk, herbs, and meat, are severally mentioned in connection with the different advances made in the Christian course. The translation of Prof. Larson is unsatisfactory, and, as I think, erroneous. 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. Further also, 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, as the Saviour teaches—that Sower of grace, and Bestower of the Spirit. And this is no doubtful matter, nor one that receives 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 rich. Nor are virgins alone signified by such a field; nor monks alone, but also honourable matrimony and the abstinence of each one. For in sowing, He did not compel the will beyond the power. Nor is the grace confined to the perfect alone; 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.

9 Therefore also He hath prepared many mansions 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 devil 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 also the Gospel rebukes Satan, saying, Get thee behind Me, Satan. 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. So also the Spirit 34. 1 In the Syriac text, as published by Mr. Cureton, as well as in the German translation by Prof. Larson, there is a hiatus here, the next two or three pages, as far as the words "He wept," being wanting. Two more leaves were afterwards discovered among the fragments in the British Museum by the learned Editor, and to his courtesy I am indebted for the knowledge of their existence. One of them belongs to this part; the

10 other to the eleventh Letter. The Syriac text of both of them will be found in the Appendix. 2 Vide note i to page 68. 3 In the Ms. 120:1000 (virtue) is written by mistake for 120:1000 (produce). 4 L. 1000 Vid. Cast. Lex. Syr. p. 660. not. Mich. Ps. 100, 4. 20. 11 before cried in the Psalms, saying, Enter into His gates with psalms. For by means of 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, when he had slain his brother, went out, as far as his will was concerned, from the face of God; while the Psalmist enters, saying, And I will go in to the altar of God, even to the God that delighteth my youth. But of the Devil the Scripture beareth witness, that the Devil went out from before God, and smote Job with sore boils. For this is the characteristic of those who go out from before God—to smite and to enter among 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 plainness 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, Paul urges that we should the rather take to ourselves. For virtue is philanthropic, just as in men of an opposite character, sin is misanthropic. In this manner Saul, in that he was a sinner, persecuted David; whereas David, though he altogether possessed the opportunity, did not kill Saul. Esau too persecuted Jacob, while Jacob sought to overcome his wickedness by meekness. And those eleven sold Joseph; but Joseph, in his loving-kindness, had pity on them.

12 But what need we many words? Our Lord and Saviour, when He was persecuted by the Pharisees, wept for their destruction. He was treated injuriously, but He threatened not; not when He was afflicted, not even when He was killed. But He suffered anguish for the sake of those who presumptuously did such things. They, however, contemptuously cast from them life, and light, and grace. All these were theirs through that Saviour Who suffered in our stead. It was in truth for such 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 thought upon the prophecy of Moses, they would not have hanged Him Who was their life. And if they had examined with their understanding the things which were written, they would not studiously have fulfilled the prophecies which were against themselves, so as for their city to be now desolate, grace taken from them, and they also 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. Also by Isaiah the prophet; I have begotten and brought up children, and they have rejected Me. And, further, they are no longer called the people of God, and a holy nation, but rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah;

13 having exceeded in this even the iniquity of the Sodomites, as the prophet also saith, Sodom is justified before thee. For the Sodomites acted injuriously against angels, but these against the Lord, and God, and King of all, and dared to slay the Lord of angels; not knowing that Christ, Who was slain by them, is living, while those Jews who had conspired against the Lord died, having rejoiced a very little in these temporal things, and falling 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 righteous man 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,

14 Syr. The sense 'fulfilled' not 'spoken' is required here, Larson gives the latter. The two words and were anciently confounded together, and that not merely by the Syriac copyists. Vid. Castell. Lex. Syriac. p. 500. not. Mich. rejoicing for a little while, afterwards passes a sorrowful life; like Esau, who had temporal food, but afterwards was there condemned. 15 One may say that a distinction like this may be compared to 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 taskmastersh, when they came out of Egypt, passed through the sea unharmed, and walked in the wilderness as an inhabited place. For although, according to the mode of living customary among men, the place was desert; yet, through the gracious gift of the law, and also through their intercourse with angels, it was no longer desolate, but inhabited, yea, and more than inhabited. As also Elishah, when he thought he was alone in the wilderness, was with companies of angels; so, in this case, though the people were first afflicted, and in the wilderness, yet those who remained faithfulk afterwards entered the land of promise. In the same manner those also who suffer temporal afflictions here, after having remained stedfast, go forth to a place of comfort; while those who here persecute are trodden under foot, and have no good end. For even the rich man, according to the accurate description of the Gospel, having lived in pleasure here for a little while, suffered hunger there; and having drunk largely here, he was there parched with thirst. 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

16 19. 1 The reference is apparently to the history of Elisha as recorded in 2 Kings vi. 13—17, though the mention of the wilderness agrees better with the history of Elijah, as found in 1 Kings xix. 4—8. I cannot, however, agree with Prof. Larsow, who states that for Elisha we ought to read Elijah. Lord who came down and said, I am the bread which came down from heaven, and giveth life to mankind. Johu 6, 51. 17 Oh! my dearly beloved, if we shall gain comfort from afflictions; if rest from labours; if health after sickness; if after death there is immortality; it does not become us to be much distressed by the temporal ills that afflict mankind. It is not right to be greatly moved because of the trials which befall us. It is not right to fear if the host 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 have not previously been labours and sorrows? Or how can experience be afforded of fortitude, when there has not first been an assault from enemies? Or how can a spectacle of fortitude be exhibited, when contumely and injustice have not preceded? Or how can long-suffering be expected, when opposition on the part of Antichrists has not first existed? And, finally, how can a man hope to witness virtue, when the iniquity of the very wicked has not previously displayed itself? Thus even our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ comes before us [as an example], 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 smitters, and His checks to buffetings, and turned not His face from spitting; and, at last, was willingly led to death, that we might behold in Him the image of all that is virtuous and immortal; and all of us, conducting ourselves after these examples, might truly tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy.

18 Thus, too, Paul, while he conducted himself after the example of the Lord, also exhorted us, saying, Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. In this way, he prevailed against all the host 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. For the enemy presents himself to us in afflictions, and trials, and labours, doing every thing, and striving eagerly to cast us down. But the man who is in Christ, setting himself against those that oppose, and revisiting wrath by long-suffering, contumely by meekness, and vice by virtue, obtains the victory, and exclaims, I can do all things through Christ, Who strengtheneth me; and, In all these things we are conquerors through Christ Who loved us. This is the grace of the Lord, and these are the Lord's corrective measures towards the children of men. For He suffered to procure freedom from suffering for those who suffer in Him; and 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. Lastly, 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.

19 P A passage very similar to the above, in which Christ is proposed as an example to us in His sufferings, occurs in the treatise 'de Passione et Cruce Domini,' p. 73. §. 19. Q The order of the words here is that found in some Mss. of the Greek Text. Now because they did not thus consider these matters, the Ario-maniacs, being opposers of Christ, and heretics, smite Him who is their Helper, with their tongue, and blaspheme Him who set [them] free; and, referring all things to their wrong source, have become heterodox concerning the Redeemer. *Because of His coming down, which was on behalf of man, they have denied His essential It may be remarked here, 1st, The treatise from which this is quoted is placed amongst the. Indeed, the learned editor of Athanasius hesitated whether to include it among the spurious works. In his prelived remarks he says, 'animus fuerat eam inter spuriu ab egare: quia tamen in antiquaribus colubibus, et in Athanasius collectienibus reperitur, co nomin in er subla eam re ensemus.' We have had more than one opportunity, beside the present, of abduing parallel passages from the same treatise in illustration. These observations will lead us to the conclusion, (the authenticity of the Festal Letters being placed beyond a doubt), either that one of the writers transferred, not only the ideas, but the very words of the other into his writings; or else, that the treatise 'de Passione, &c.' emanated from the same mind which in beted the Letters. Perhaps an accurate consideration of the question will decide us in favour of the latter opinion. 20th, We may remark, that the Syriac [scribble] 'unbegotten' lives, if need were, the Benedictine reading in opposition

20 to that of some Mes. (For the distinction, between &c. see the remarks of the Benedictine editors Athan. op. tom. i. p. 163.) 34th, The connexion of the sentence in the Syriac, as well as the text of the Greek, would suggest a suspicion that a line has been omitted after the words, 'He went down to corruption, that corruption,' and that we should read, 'He went down to corruption, that corruption might put on incorruption; He clothed Himself with mortality, that mortality might put on immortality.' Compare with the whole passage, S. Cyril. Hum. P. ch. xx. p. 259. The same ideas are also expressed in S. Athan. de Incarn. t. i. p. 695, without, however, the same correspondence of words and phrases. The Syriac here is [scribble] 'Arius and Manetes.' The same words are found twice in the next Letter. There seems little doubt that the translator mistook the Greek word a term applied to the Arians in other places by Athan. used also by Epiphanius.

21 Godhead; and seeing that He came from the Virgin, they have questioned His being truly the Son of God; and, considering Him as become incarnate in time, they have denied His eternity; and, looking upon Him as having suffered for us, they have renounced their faith in Him as the incorruptible Son from the incorruptible Father. And, finally, because He was burdened for our sakes, they deny the things which concern His essential eternity; partaking of the deed of the unthankful, who rejected the Saviour, and offering Him insult instead of acknowledging His grace. To them may these words properly be addressed: Oh! unthankful opponent of Christ, altogether wicked, and the slayer of his Lord, mentally blind, and a Jew in his conscience, 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;—then wouldst thou have known that the Lord did not descend on His own account, but for us; and, for this reason, thou wouldst the more have admired His loving-kindness. And hadst thou considered what the Father is, and what the Son, thou wouldst not have blasphemed the Son, as [being come] of a mutable nature. And hadst thou understood His work of loving-kindness towards us, thou wouldst not have alienated the Son from the Father, nor have looked upon Him as a stranger, Who reconciled us to His Father. I know these are hard sayings, not truly to those who oppose Christᶜ, but also to the Schismatics; for they are united together, as men of kindred feelings. For they have learned to rend the seamless coat of God: they think it not strange to divide the indivisible Son from the Father.

22 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. This is the Lord, Who is manifested in the Father, and in Him 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 offering and sacrifice. This is He Who once, in old time, brought the people 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, having been typified in the lamb; but Who afterwards was slain for us, for Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed. This is He Who delivered us from the snare of the hunters;—I mean, that He cast out the opposers of Christᶠ, and the Schismatics, —and again rescued us His Church. And because we were then victims of deceit, He hath now delivered us by His own self.

23 What then is our duty, my brethren, on account of these Syr. One of the erroneous assertions of the Arians, as given by S. Alexander in his Encyclic Epistle, (Athan. op. tom. i. p. 385.) is the following:. ᶜ i. e. the Arians. Vid. note z. p. 78. Syr. The words translated 'rend' and 'seamless' are cognate in the Syriac, and answer to and its derivatives. The Arians are thence called. Vid. I. Damascen. de haressib. ᶠ i. e. the Arians. The connexion seems to require that a passive sense should be given to as is here done. 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. Let us keep the feast in that way which He hath consecratedh to us for salvation—the holy day of Easter—so that we may celebrate the feast 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, singing a song of praise for their victory.

24 Esther 3, 9. So also the people in the time of Esther, because they were delivered from a deadly decree, kept a feast to the Lordi; reckoning it a feast, returning thanks to the Lord, and praising Him for having changed their condition. Therefore let us also, performing our vows to the Lord, and confessing our sins, keep the feast to the Lord, in conversation, moral conduct, and manner of lifek; praising our Lord, Who hath chastened us a little, but hath not utterly failed and forsaken us, nor altogether kept silence from us. For if, having also brought us out of the crafty and famous Egypt of the opposers of Christl, 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 opposers 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, the one with the other, according to the tradition and commandment of the fathers.

25 We begin the fast of forty days, on the nineteenth of the month Mecheir (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 being mindful of you. And I pray that ye may have health in the Lord, my beloved brethren, whom we love above all.

26 Here endeth the tenth Letter of holy Athanasius. Conf. Epist. ii. ad Orsinium tom. i. also Phil. iv. 1.—my brethren, dearly p. 694. beloved and longed for—stand fast in (1.) the Lord, my dearly beloved. G