Letter XX.--(For 348.) Coss. Philippus, Salia; Præfect the same Nestorius; Indict. vi; Easter-day iii Non. Apr., viii Pharmuthi; Æra Dioclet. 64; Moon 18.
Let us now keep the feast, my brethren, for as our Lord then gave notice to His disciples, so He now tells us beforehand, that after some days is the Passover [4504] ,' in which the Jews indeed betrayed the Lord, but we celebrate His death as a feast, rejoicing because we then obtained rest from our afflictions. We are diligent in assembling ourselves together, for we were scattered in time past and were lost, and are found. We were far off, and are brought nigh, we were strangers, and have become His, Who suffered for us, and was nailed on the cross, Who bore our sins, as the prophet [4505] saith, and was afflicted for us, that He might put away from all of us grief, and sorrow, and sighing. When we thirst, He satisfies us on the feast-day itself; standing and crying, If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink [4506] .' For such is the love of the saints at all times, that they never once leave off, but offer the uninterrupted, constant sacrifice to the Lord, and continually thirst, and ask of Him to drink [4507] ; as David sang, My God, my God, early will I seek Thee, my soul thirsteth for Thee; many times my heart and flesh longeth for Thee in a barren land, without a path, and without water. Thus was I seen by Thee in the sanctuary [4508] .' And Isaiah the prophet says, From the night my spirit seeketh Thee early, O God, because Thy commandments are light [4509] .' And another says, My soul fainteth for the longing it hath for Thy judgments at all times.' And again he says, For Thy judgments I have hoped, and Thy law will I keep at all times [4510] .' Another boldly cries out, saying, Mine eye is ever towards the Lord.' And with him one says, The meditation of my heart is before Thee at all times.' And Paul further advises, At all times give thanks; pray without ceasing [4511] .' Those who are thus continually engaged, are waiting entirely on the Lord, and say, Let us follow on to know the Lord: we shall find Him ready as the morning, and He will come to us as the early and the latter rain for the earth [4512] .' For not only does He satisfy them in the morning; neither does He give them only as much to drink as they ask; but He gives them abundantly according to the multitude of His lovingkindness, vouchsafing to them at all times the grace of the Spirit. And what it is they thirst for He immediately adds, saying, He that believeth on Me.' For, as cold waters are pleasant to those who are thirsty [4513] ,' according to the proverb, so to those who believe in the Lord, the coming of the Spirit is better than all refreshment and delight.
2. It becomes us then in these days of the Passover, to rise early with the saints, and approach the Lord with all our soul, with purity of body, with confession and godly faith in Him; so that when we have here first drunk, and are filled with these divine waters which [flow] from Him, we may be able to sit at table with the saints in heaven, and may share in the one voice of gladness which is there. From this sinners, because it wearied them, are rightly cast out, and hear the words, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment [4514] ?' Sinners indeed thirst, but not for the grace of the Spirit; but being inflamed with wickedness, they are wholly set on fire by pleasures, as saith the Proverb, All day long he desires evil desires.' But the Prophet cries against them, saying, Wo unto those who rise up early, and follow strong drink; who continue until the evening, for wine inflameth them [4515] .' And since they run wild in wantonness, they dare to thirst for the destruction of others. Having first drunk of lying and unfaithful waters, those things have come upon them, which are stated by the Prophet; My wound,' saith he, is grievous, whence shall I be healed; it hath surely been to me like deceitful waters, in which there is no trust [4516] .' Secondly, while they drink with their companions, they lead astray and disturb the right mind, and turn away the simple from it. And what does he cry? Wo unto him who causeth his neighbour to drink turbid destruction, and maketh him drunk, that he may look upon his caverns [4517] .' But those who dissemble, and steal away the truth, quench their hearts. Having first drunk of these things, they go on to say those things which the whore saith in the Proverbs, Lay hold with delight on hidden bread, and sweet stolen waters [4518] .' They lay snares secretly, because they have not the freedom of virtue, nor the boldness of Wisdom [4519] , who praises herself in the gates, and employs freedom of speech in the broad ways, preaching on high walls. For this reason, they are bidden to lay hold with delight [4520] ,' because, having the choice between faith and pleasures, they steal the sweetness of truth, and disguise their own bitter waters [to escape] from the blame of their wickedness, which would have been speedy and public. On this account, the wolf puts on the skin of the sheep, sepulchres deceive by their whitened exteriors [4521] . Satan, that is [4522] ...
[4504] Matt. xxvi. 2.
[4505] Isa. liii. 4.
[4506] John vii. 37.
[4507] Cf. Letter vii. 5-7. The striking similarity between the seventh and the twentieth Letters has been already noticed.
[4508] Ps. lxiii. 1, 2, LXX.
[4509] Is. xxvi. 9.
[4510] Ps. cxix. 20, 43, 44.
[4511] Ib. xxv. 15; xix. 14; 1 Thess. v. 17.
[4512] Hos. vi. 3.
[4513] John vii. 38; Prov. xxv. 25.
[4514] Matt. xxii. 12.
[4515] Prov. xxi. 26; Is. v. 11.
[4516] Jer. xv. 18.
[4517] Hab. ii. 15, LXX.
[4518] Prov. ix. 17.
[4519] Ib. viii. 2.
[4520] Cf. Letter vii. §5.
[4521] Matt. vii. 15; xxiii. 27.
[4522] The Syriac ms. (which is imperfect) ends here. The fragments that follow are derived from different sources, mention whereof is made in the notes.
From Letter XXII [4523] .--(For 350.)
Where our Lord Jesus Christ, who took upon Him to die for all, stretched forth His hands, not somewhere on the earth beneath, but in the air itself, in order that the Salvation effected by the Cross might be shewn to be for all men everywhere: destroying the devil who was working in the air: and that He might consecrate our road up to Heaven, and make it free.
[4523] The above fragments are from Cosmos Indicopleustes: the Greek in Migne xxvi. 1432, sqq.
From Letter XXIV [4524] .--(For 352.)
And at that time when they went forth and crossed over Egypt, their enemies were the sport of the sea; but now, when we pass over from earth to Heaven, Satan himself henceforth falls like lightning from Heaven.
[4524] The above fragments are from Cosmas Indicopleustes: the Greek in Migne xxvi. 1432, sqq.
From Letter XXVII.--(For 355.) From the twenty-seventh Festal Letter of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and Confessor; of which the commencement is, Again the season of the day of the living Passover [4525] .'
For who is our joy and boast, but our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who suffered for us, and by Himself made known to us the Father? For He is no other than He Who of old time spoke by the Prophets; but now He saith to every man, I Who speak am near [4526] .' Right well is this word spoken, for He does not at one time speak, at another keep silence; but continually and at all times, from the beginning without ceasing, He raises up every man, and speaks to every man in his heart.
[4525] The fragment here given of the twenty-seventh Letter, as well as fragments of the twenty-ninth and forty-fourth, are from Syriac translations, discovered by Mr. Cureton as quoted by Severus Patriarch of Antioch, in his work against Johannes Grammaticus contained in the Syriac collection of the British Museum (Cod. Add. 12, 157, fol. 202), and published by him with the preceding Letters. Their style would argue them to be part of the same translation.
[4526] John iv. 26.
From Letter XXVIII [4527] .--(For 356.)
...In order that while He might become a sacrifice for us all, we, nourished up in the words of truth, and partaking of His living doctrine, might be able with the saints to receive also the joy of Heaven. For thither, as He called the disciples to the upper chamber, so does the Word call us with them to the divine and incorruptible banquet; having suffered for us here, but there, preparing the heavenly tabernacles for those who most readily hearken to the summons, and unceasingly, and [gazing] at the goal, pursue the prize of their high calling; where for them who come to the banquet, and strive with those who hinder them, there is laid up both a crown, and incorruptible joy. For even though, humanly speaking, the labour of such a journey is great, yet the Saviour Himself has rendered even it light and kindly.
[4527] From Cosmas, see Migne xxvi. p. 1433.
Another Fragment.
But let us, brethren, who have received the vineyard from the Saviour, and are invited to the heavenly banquet, inasmuch as the Feast is now drawing nigh, take the branches of the palm [4528] trees, and proving conquerors of sin, let us too like those, who on that occasion went to meet the Saviour, make ourselves ready by our conduct, both to meet Him when He comes, and to go in with Him and partake of the immortal food, and from thenceforth live eternally in the heavens.
[4528] John xii. 13.
From Letter XXIX [4529] .--(For 357.) From the twenty-ninth Letter, of which the beginning is, Sufficient for this present time is that which we have already written.'
The Lord proved the disciples [4530] , when He was asleep on the pillow, at which time a miracle was wrought, which is especially calculated to put even the wicked to shame. For when He arose, and rebuked the sea, and silenced the storm, He plainly shewed two things; that the storm of the sea was not from the winds, but from fear of its Lord Who walked upon it, and that the Lord Who rebuked it was not a creature, but rather its Creator, since a creature is not obedient to another creature. For although the Red Sea was divided before by Moses [4531] , yet it was not Moses who did it, for it came to pass, not because he spoke, but because God commanded. And if the sun stood still in Gibeon [4532] , and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, yet this was the work, not of the son of Nun, but of the Lord, Who heard his prayer. He it was Who both rebuked the sea, and on the cross caused the sun to be darkened [4533] .
[4529] If these fragments are authentic, the statement in the Index, that this year no letter could be sent, is an error.
[4530] Mark iv. 37-41
[4531] Exod. xiv. 21.
[4532] Josh. x. 12.
[4533] Matt. xxvii. 45.
Another Fragment [4534] .
And whereas what is human comes to an end, what is divine does not. For which reason also when we are dead, and when our nature is tired out, he raises us up, and leads us up [though] born of earth to heaven.
[4534] From Cosmas; Migne xxvi. 1436.
Another Fragment [4535] .
Here begins a letter of S. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, to his children. May God comfort you. I know moreover that not only this thing saddens you, but also the fact that while others have obtained the churches by violence, you are meanwhile cast out from your places. For they hold the places, but you the Apostolic Faith. They are, it is true, in the places, but outside of the true Faith; while you are outside the places indeed, but the Faith, within you. Let us consider whether is the greater, the place or the Faith. Clearly the true Faith. Who then has lost more, or who possesses more? He who holds the place, or he who holds the Faith? Good indeed is the place, when the Apostolic Faith is preached there, holy is it if the Holy One dwell there. (After a little:) But ye are blessed, who by faith are in the Church, dwell upon the foundations of the faith, and have full satisfaction, even the highest degree of faith which remains among you unshaken. For it has come down to you from Apostolic tradition, and frequently has accursed envy wished to unsettle it, but has not been able. On the contrary, they have rather been cut off by their attempts to do so. For this is it that is written, Thou art the Son of the Living God [4536] ,' Peter confessing it by revelation of the Father, and being told, Blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to thee,' but My Father Who is in heaven,' and the rest. No one therefore will ever prevail against your Faith, most beloved brethren. For if ever God shall give back the churches (for we think He will) yet without [4537] such restoration of the churches the Faith is sufficient for us. And lest, speaking without the Scriptures, I should [seem to] speak too strongly, it is well to bring you to the testimony of Scriptures, for recollect that the Temple indeed was at Jerusalem; the Temple was not deserted, aliens had invaded it, whence also the Temple being at Jerusalem, those exiles went down to Babylon by the judgment of God, who was proving, or rather correcting them; while manifesting to them in their ignorance punishment [by means] of blood-thirsty enemies [4538] . And aliens indeed had held the Place, but knew not the Lord of the Place, while in that He neither gave answer nor spoke, they were deserted by the truth. What profit then is the Place to them?