The end of the heads of the Festal Letters of holy Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria.
[3823] The Gods' correspond to the Concurrentes,' i.e. to the days of the week upon which Mar. 24 occurs in the year in question. (See Table, and Ideler, 2. 261), and so to the Sunday letters,' which follow the gods' in inverse order, a' corresponding to years when there were 6 gods,' b to 5, &c., f to 1, g to 7.
[3824] The meaning of these words is doubtful. Larslow renders them the answers from abroad.'
[3825] Read and.'
[3826] i.e. the year beginning Aug. 30, 327 (328 being leap-year). The Diocletian' era, or era of the martyrs,' was that used by the Egyptian Christians. It is incorrectly described in D.C.A. s.v. Era; see Ideler, ut supr.
[3827] Read xix (April 14). The corruption is easy in Syriac.
[3828] April 17.
[3829] The heading to Ep. 3 gives Florentius.
[3830] This ought to have been placed under iv; but see p. 512, note 7.
[3831] Read vii.
[3832] Vid. Ep. Fest. v. n. 2.
[3833] The headings of Letters 6, 7, give Philagrius.
[3834] Read iv, as below, No. xii.
[3835] i.e. Julius C.; the Syr. has Constantinus, by an error.
[3836] July 11, 335.
[3837] Oct. 30, 335.
[3838] Read Mechir,' Feb. 5, 336 (Gwatkin, p. 137, the correction is due to Sievers).
[3839] Read iii.
[3840] xviii½,' heading of Letter 10.
[3841] Superseded by Philagrius (see heading, and Prolegg. ch. ii. §6 (1) note).
[3842] May 22, 337.
[3843] Nov. 23, 337.
[3844] July 27, 338, supr. p. 214.
[3845] The Syriac has erroneously Constantius I., Constans II.
[3846] Mar. 18, 339.
[3847] Read iv. as above, No. vii.
[3848] Read iv. as above, No. vii.
[3849] i.e. made a separate province.' This had been known (Gothofr. in Cod. Th. xii. i. 34) to fall between 325 and 342; and Augustamnica is not mentioned as a province in 338-9, supr. p. 101.
[3850] This and the similar notice at the end of xiv are incorrect. The Index may have been written for a collection which lacked Letters 13, 14.
[3851] The Syriac has xvi, which is an error.
[3852] The summons for the Council was issued in this year,' i.e. before August, 343, but the proceedings fall in the autumn and winter, i.e. in the next Egyptian year, and the sequel (about Ursac. and Valens) refers to what took place about 347.
[3853] Easter, i.e. Apr. 15, 344, at Nish, or Nissa, in Servia.
[3854] The Syriac in this place has xxiv. But we find xxi in the heading to the Letter itself.
[3855] The Syriac has Constantinus.
[3856] June 26 of the previous year (345).
[3857] Oct. 21, 346.
[3858] Text iv.'
[3859] The text is imperfect and apparently very corrupt; xix Moon' fits Pharm. 28 (Apr. 23), which was the true Easter, and probably observed at Alexandria, while the Romans, refusing to go beyond Apr. 21, kept Easter on Pham. 30 (Mar. 26), on which day the Moon was really xxi days old. See Table D, and Letter 18. Letter 21 is lost.
[3860] In the previous year, Mar. 15, 351.
[3861] Cf. Letters 49, 54.
[3862] Text corrupt.
[3863] Text iv.'
[3864] Feb. 8-9, 356.
[3865] But see Letter 29, note 1.
[3866] Oct. 2, 358.
[3867] Text xix.'
[3868] Or Pausanias. This name is written vaguely in the Syriac, varying in all the three places in which it occurs.
[3869] Nov. 23, 361.
[3870] Text xv.'
[3871] Prolegg. ch. v. §3, h.
[3872] May 5, 365.
[3873] Oct. 5, 365.
[3874] Feb. i. 366.
[3875] July 21, 365; so also Chron. Pasch. and Amm. Marc. xxvi. 10, specially mentioning Alexandria.
[3876] Text xvi.'
[3877] Sep. 24, 367; cf. Hist. Aceph.
[3878] Text xxvii.'
[3879] Sept. 22, 368.
[3880] Text iv.'
[3881] Aug. 7, 370.
[3882] The Syr. has and not one,' which must be incorrect.
[3883] [May 2, 373.]
I. Festal Letters.
Letter I.--For 329. Easter-day xi Pharmuthi; viii Id. April; Ær. Dioclet. 45; Coss. Constantinus Aug. VIII. Constantinus Cæs. IV; Præfect. 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 [3884] , causing His divine beams to rise upon us, proclaims beforehand the time of the feast, in which, obeying Him, we ought to celebrate it, lest 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 [3885] '--that knowing both the one and the other, he might do things befitting the season, and avoid the blame of unseasonableness. For thus the God of all, after the manner of wise Solomon [3886] , 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 [3887] ,' 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 [3888] ;' so that although very many were praying for Him, and saying, O that the salvation of God were come out of Sion [3889] !'--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 [3890] !' 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 [3891] .'
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 [3892] .' 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 [3893] ' (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 [3894] .' Since this sentence enjoins upon us to blow both on the new moons, and on the solemn [3895] 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 [3896] ;'--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 [3897] .' For' (said He) if ye shall go out to battle in your land against your enemies that rise up against you [3898] ' (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 [3899] .' 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 [3900] ; 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 [3901] .' 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 [3902] , 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 [3903] .' If thou wouldest listen to a trumpet much greater than all these, hear our Saviour saying; In that last and great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink [3904] .' 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 [3905] .' 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 [3906] . And therefore the blessed Paul accuses those who dishonour God; Transgressors of the law dishonour God [3907] .' 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 [3908] , only because he exalted himself against the publican. In the same manner the Word blamed 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 [3909] .' 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 [3910] , 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 [3911] .'