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 [3912] .' Such was the case with our Lord, who said, My meat is to do the will of My Father which is in heaven [3913] .' 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 Æthiopia [3914] .' 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 [3915] ;' 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 [3916] 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 all 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 Judæa and the city existed, there were a type, and a lamb, and a shadow, since the law thus commanded [3917] : These things shall not be done in another city; but in the land of Judæa, and in no place without [the land of Judæa]. 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 altar and temple built, and in no other city were they permitted 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 [3918] ;' 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 [3919] .' 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 Judæa, 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 [3920] .' 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 [3921] ;'--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 [3922] ;' 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 [3923] , 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 [3924] ;' 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 [3925] , 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] [3926] .
10. We [3927] 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 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 [3928] ;' 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 [3929] , 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.
[3884] Mal. iv. 2.
[3885] 2 Tim. iv. 2. The due celebration of the feast is spoken of as producing a permanent beneficial effect on the Christian. Cf. Letter 4.
[3886] Eccl. iii. 7. Cf. S. Cyril. Homil. Pasch. V.
[3887] 1 Cor. i. 24.
[3888] Wisd. vii. 27.
[3889] Ps. xiv. 7.
[3890] Cant. viii. 1.
[3891] Isa. xlix. 8.
[3892] 2 Cor. vi. 2.
[3893] Exod. xxiii. 14.
[3894] Ps. lxxxi. 3, cf. Num. x. 8.
[3895] Or appointed, and so passim.
[3896] Num. x. 1, 2.
[3897] Heb. ix. 10.
[3898] Numb. x. 9.
[3899] Ib. x. 10.
[3900] Exod. xix. 16.
[3901] Eph. vi. 12.
[3902] Cf. 1 Cor. vii. 2, 5.
[3903] Ib. v. 7, 8.
[3904] John vii. 37.
[3905] Joel ii. 15.
[3906] Ps. xvi. 3.
[3907] Rom. ii. 23.
[3908] Luke xviii. 12.
[3909] Is. lviii. 5.
[3910] Levit. xxiii. 26, sq.
[3911] Ib. xxiii. 29.
[3912] 1 Tim. iv. 6.
[3913] John iv. 34.
[3914] Ps. lxxiv. 14, LXX.
[3915] John vi. 53.
[3916] The word in the Syriac is priestly.' But in this and in other places, it appears to be for the Greek Ieros. Cf. ta hiera grammata. 2 Tim. iii. 15.
[3917] Deut. xii. 11, 13, 14.
[3918] Nah. i. 15.
[3919] Nah. i. 15; ii. 1, LXX.
[3920] John xx. 22.
[3921] 2 Cor. iii. 17.
[3922] Is. liii. 7.
[3923] Ps. xxiii. 4.
[3924] Phil. iv. 5.
[3925] Luke xii. 40; 1 Cor. v. 8; Ephes. iv. 22-24.
[3926] Alluding to Deut. xvi. 1, LXX.
[3927] We should not have much difficulty in fixing upon many of the phrases and expressions used by S. Athan. towards the close of his Epistles, by referring to the concluding sentences in the Paschal Letters of S. Cyril, who seems herein to have closely imitated his illustrious predecessor in the Patriarchate. The Syriac translator must frequently have had before him the following expressions: archomenoi tes hagias tessarakostes--episunaptontes--sunaptontes exes--periluontes tas nesteias--katapauontes tas nesteias--hespera bathei& 139; sabbatou--te epiphoskouse kuriake.