Holiday (Easter) messages

“Festive (Easter) Epistles” by St. Athanasius the Great are pastoral letters written after the feast of Epiphany to the Churches and monasteries of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. Only fragments of the 22nd, 24th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 39th, 40th, 42nd, 43rd, 44th and 45th epistles have been preserved in Greek. There has long been a custom, confirmed by the Council of Nicea, according to which the Alexandrian bishops wrote Easter messages announcing the beginning of Lent and the date of Easter celebration. These messages contained an appeal to the flock on certain pressing issues, pastoral exhortations, greetings, etc. Easter messages are also important in that they illuminate that side of the pastoral ministry of St. Athanasius, which occupies little space in his other works, namely moral instruction. These are real sermons in the form of district epistles, where all the duties of the Christian life are set out in brief exhortations. Of greatest interest is the 39th message (367) about the canon of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. In it the 27 books of the current New Testament are firmly established for the first time as the only canonical ones. The appendix contains books of the second order, intended for edification - the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, Esther, Judith, Tobit, as well as the “Teaching of the 12 Apostles” and “The Shepherd”. [Tables of contents of the festive messages of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria] Indications of the months of each year, days, indictions, consulates and prefectures in Alexandria, as well as all epacts and all [days of the week] called by the names of the gods 1; with an explanation of the reasons why the message was not written, and why [Athanasius’s] appeals were from a foreign land; - extracted from the holiday messages of Bishop Athanasius. The celebratory messages of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, which he sent annually to individual cities, to all the dioceses subordinate to him, that is, from Pentapolis and lower Libya to the Mala and Great Oases, Egypt and Augustamniki, together with the seven nomes of the upper and middle Thebaid; - from the forty-fourth year of the era of Diocletian, in which Easter was 19 Farmufa 2, on the 18th day of the Kalends of May 3, - the age of the moon 4 18. After Alexander, his predecessor, died 22 Farmufa 5, he (Athanasius) assumed the department after Easter 14 Paina 6, in the first year of the indiction, in the consulate of Iannuarius and Justa, during the reign of Zenia, under the diocese of Egypt Ital, - epacta 7 25, seventh day 1 8. In the next (329) year: Easter Sunday 11 Farmufa, on the 8th day of the Ides of April, - age of the moon 21, - in the eighth consulate of Constantine Augustus and in the fourth of Constantius Caesar, in the reign of the same Zenia, eparch of Egypt; in the second year of the indiction, - epakta 6, seventh day 2. - This first (holiday message) year he was dedicated after Easter, - (a message) different from the one that Alexander composed and sent before his death; This was in the forty-fifth year of the era of Diocletian. In the next (330) year of the Kalends of May, - age of the moon 15, - in the consulate of Gallician, in the reign of Symmachus, under the eparch Magninian the Cappadocian of Egypt, in the third year of the indiction, - epact 17, seventh day 3. - This year (Athanasius) made a detour along the Thebaid. In the next (331) year 18, - on the 3rd day of the Ides of April, in the consulate of Annius Bassa and Aulavius, in the reign of Eugenius, under the eparch of Egypt Italus; - epakta 28, - in the fourth year of indiction. – This message was sent by (Athanasius) on his way, returning from the Court; for this year he traveled to the Court of Constantine, the great King, who at that time commanded him to come; since his enemies accused him of having been appointed bishop while very young; when he appeared, he was given an honorable reception and returned from there when the Lent had already reached the middle. In the next (332) year of the moon 20, on the 4th day of the April nones, - epact 9, septenary day 6, - in the consulate of Pakatsian and Gilarian, in the administration of Egypt of the same Eparch Eugene, in the fifth year of indiction. – This year (Athanasius) toured Pentapolis and was in Ammoniac. Next year (333) May 10. cal. April 22., - age of the moon 15 9, - on the 17th day of the May calends, - epact 20, seventh day 7, - in the consulate of Dalmatius and Zenophilus, in the administration of Egypt by the Paterna of the eparch, in the sixth year of indiction. In the next (334) year 17, - on the 7th day of the Ides of April, in the seventh year of the indiction, - epact 1, seventh day 1, - into the consulate of Optatus and Paulinus, into the administration of Egypt of the same eparch Patern. – This year (Athanasius) made a tour of the lower lands and was invited to the council. When the treachery of his opponents had already begun to operate in Caesarea in Palestine, and he noticed their malicious intent, he refused to go there... In the next (335) year of the moon 20, - on the 3rd day of the April calends, in the eighth year of the indiction, - epact 12, septenary day 2, - in the consulate of Constantine and Albinus, in the administration of Egypt of the same diocesan patern. In the next (336) year: Easter Sunday 23 Farmufa, - age of the moon 20, - on the 14th day of the Kalends of May, in the ninth year of the indiction, - epact 23, seventh day 4, in the consulate of Nepocyanus and Facundus, in the administration of Egypt by Philagrios the Cappadocian, eparch. - This year (Athanasius) went to the council of his enemies, gathered in Tire; from here (from Alexandria) 17 Epiphas departed 10. And as soon as the plan drawn up against him became completely clear, he withdrew from there and fled to Constantinople, using only one ship. When he arrived there on 2 Atira 11, then, after eight days, he was seen by Emperor Constantine; and although this encouraged him; however, his enemies so frightened the Emperor with various slander that he (Athanasius) was immediately sent into exile and 10 Atira retired to Gaul to Constance Caesar, son of Augustus; Therefore, he did not write a holiday message. In the next (337) year: Easter Sunday 8 Farmufa, - age of the moon 16, - on the 4th 12th day of the April nons, in the tenth year of the indiction, - epact 4, weekday 5, - in the consulate of Felician and Titian, in the reign of Philagrios, eparch of Egypt. - (This year Athanasius) lived in Trier of Gaul; why couldn’t I write a holiday message... In the next (338) year: Easter Sunday 30 of Phamenoth, on the 7th day of the Kalends of April, - age of the moon 19, - in the eleventh year of the indiction, - epact 15, seventh day 7, - in the consulate of Ursus and Polemius, during the reign of Theodore, of Iliopolis, eparch of Egypt. - When Constantine died this year on 27 Pacho, 13 and Athanasius received forgiveness, he returned with glory from Gaul 27 Atira 14. A lot of remarkable things happened this year. Anthony the Great, the hermit, 15 came to Alexandria and, having stayed here only two days, performed many miracles and, having healed many, left 3 Mesoria 16. In the next (339) year: Easter Sunday 20 Farmufa, - age of the moon 20, - on the 17th day of the Kalends of May, - Epakt 26, seventh day 7, - in the twelfth year of indiction; during the first consulate of Constantius and the second of Constance, during the reign of Philagrios the Cappadocian, eparch of Egypt. – This year there was a lot of unrest again. (Athanasius) began to be persecuted on the night of 22 Phamenoth 17, and the next day he withdrew from the church of Theona, baptizing many. After four days, Gregory the Cappadocian entered the city as bishop. In the next (340) year: Easter Sunday 14 Farmufa 18, - age of the moon 15, - on the 3rd day of the Kalends of April, - epact 7, seventh day 2, - in the thirteenth year of the indiction, in the consulate of Akindinus and Proclus, in the reign of the same Philagrios, eparch of Egypt. – Gregory consolidated his power after many cruelties; therefore (Athanasius) did not write a holiday message. The Arians proclaimed Easter Sunday on the 27th of Phamenoth; and when they were ridiculed for such an error, then halfway through Lent they changed their minds and celebrated Easter Sunday with us - 14 Farmuea 19, as stated above. (Athanasius) announced it to the presbyters of Alexandria through a short message, since, due to the flight and persecution, he could not send the usual message. In the next (341) year: Easter Sunday 24 Farmufa, - age of the moon 16, - on the 13th day of the Kalends of May, - Epakt 18, seventh day 3, - in the fourteenth year of indiction; to the consulate of Marcellinus and Probinus, to the administration of Egypt by the eparch Longinus, from Nicaea. – Augustamnika was divided because Gregory, living in the city, showed his cruelty; on the occasion of illness, and this time the bishop also did not write a holiday message. In the next (342) year: Easter Sunday 16 Farmufa, - age of the moon 16 20, - on the third day of the Ides of April, - Epakta 29 21, seventh day 4, - in the fifteenth year of indiction; to the third consulate of Constantius and the second of Constance, to the administration of Egypt by the eparch Longinus, who was from Nicaea. - Since Gregory was in the city, - seriously ill - the bishop could not write the message. In the next (343) year: Easter Sunday 1 Farmufa, - age of the moon 15 22, - on the 6th day of the April calendars, - Epakt 11, seventh day 5, - in the first year of indiction; in the consulate of Placidus and Romulus, during the reign of the same Longinus from Nicaea, eparch of Egypt. – This year there was a cathedral in Sardika. The Arians, having arrived there, retired to Philippopolis. Philagry advised them this. They were condemned everywhere and were even excommunicated by the Roman Church. Ursacius and Valens wrote a letter of repentance to Bishop Athanasius and suffered disgrace. In Sardica they came to an agreement regarding the celebration of Easter. A period of fifteen years was determined, after which the Romans and Alexandrians would announce this (holiday) everywhere according to custom. (Athanasius) again wrote a holiday message. In the next (344) year: Easter Sunday 20 Farmufa, - age of the moon 19 23, - on the 17th day of the Kalends of May, - epakta 21 24, seventh day 6 25, - in the second year of the indiction, in the consulate of Leontius and Sallust, in the reign of Palladius, under the eparch of Egypt Italus. – When (Athanasius) returned from the cathedral, he spent some time in Nessus 26 and celebrated Easter there. He announced the day of the Easter festival to the Alexandrian presbyters, but in the provinces he could not make an announcement. In the next (345) year: Easter Sunday 12 Farmufa, - age of the moon 18 27, - on the 7th day of the Ides of April, - epakta 2 28, seventh day 1, - in the third year of indiction; to the consulate of Amantius and Albinus, during the reign of Nestorius, from Gaza, eparch of Egypt. - since (Athanasius) retired to Aquileia, he celebrated Easter there this year and briefly announced the day of this Easter to the presbyters of Alexandria, but there was no province. In the next (346) year: Easter Sunday 4 Farmufa 29, - age of the moon 24 30, - on the 3rd day of the April calendar, - Epakt 14, seventh day 2, - in the fourth year of indiction; in the fourth consulate of Constantius on August 31 and the third - of Constance Augustus, during the reign of the same Nestorius from Gaza, eparch of Egypt. – When Gregory died on 2 Epiphas 32, (Athanasius) returned from Rome and Italy and entered the city and the church. He was awarded a magnificent meeting, since the people and all his subordinates 24 Paofa 33 came out to meet him a hundred miles away; and in subsequent times he was held in high esteem. He had previously sent the celebratory message for this year to the elders in brief words. In the next (347) year: Easter Sunday 17 Farmufa, - age of the moon 15 34, - the day before the Ides of April, - Epakt 25, seventh day 3, - in the fifth year of indiction; in the consulate of Rufinus and Eusebius, during the reign of the same Nestorius, from Gaza, eparch of Egypt. – This year’s message (Athanasius) was written while living here in Alexandria, when he announced the definition of the celebration, which he could not do before. In the next (348) year: Easter Sunday 8 Farmufa, - age of the moon 18, - on the 3rd day of the nons of April, - epakta 6, seventh day 4 35, - in the sixth year of indiction; in the consulate of Philip and Salia, during the reign of the same Nestorius, from Gaza, eparch of Egypt. – And he wrote this (message) when he lived in Alexandria. In the next (349) year: Easter Sunday 30 Phamenoth, - age of the moon 19, - on the 7th day of the April calendars, - epact 17, seventh day 6, - in the seventh year of indiction; (but the Romans objected to this, saying that they have a tradition from the Apostle Peter - not to cross 26 Farmufa, as well as 30 Phamenoth, - the age of the moon is 21... 7th day of the April calendar) 36 ; in the consulate of Limenius and Catullinus, during the reign of the same Nestorius of Gaza, eparch of Egypt. – And he wrote this (message) when he lived in Alexandria. In the next (350) year: Easter Sunday 13 Farmufa, - age of the moon 19 37, hour 2, - on the 6th day of the Ides of April, - Epakt 28, seventh day 7, - in the eighth year of indiction; in the consulate of Sergius and Nigrian, during the reign of the same Nestorius of Gaza, eparch of Egypt. - This year Constance was killed by Magnentius, and Constantius became sovereign; He wrote about this to the bishop (Athanasius) so that he would not be afraid on the occasion of Constance’s death, but would rely on him in the same way as on him when he was alive. In the next (351) year: Easter Sunday 5 Farmufa, - age of the moon 18, - the day before the Kalends of April, - Epakta 9, seventh day 1, - in the ninth year of indiction; to the consulate that followed Sergiev and Nigrianov, to the reign of the same Nestorius from Gaza, eparch of Egypt. In the next (352) year: Easter Sunday 24 Farmufa, - age of the moon 18, - on the 13th day of the May calendar, - Epakt 20, seventh day 3, - in the tenth year of indiction; in the consulate of Constantius Augustus and the first of Constantius Caesar, during the reign of the same Nestorius, eparch of Egypt. - Gall was proclaimed Caesar and changed his name to the name of Constantius. In the next (353) year: Easter Sunday 16 Farmufa, - age of the moon 21, - on the 3rd day of the Ides of April, - Epakt 1, seventh day 4, - in the eleventh year of indiction; in the sixth consulate of Constantius Augustus and the second of Constantius Caesar, under the administration of Egypt by the eparch Sebastian from Thrace. - This year Serapion, Bishop of Tmuite, Triadelphus of Nikiot, Peter and Astricius - presbyters and others (with them) were sent to Emperor Constantius; and since they were afraid of violence from the Arians, they returned back without success. This year Montanus, the court silenciary, came to the bishop; but since excitement arose, he returned without reaching his goal. In the next (354) year: Easter Sunday 4 Farmufa 38, - age of the moon 17, - on the 6th day of the April calends, - Epakt 12, seventh day 5, - in the twelfth year of indiction; in the seventh year of the consulate of Constantius Augustus and the second of Constantius Caesar; into the administration of Egypt by the same eparch Sebastian from Thrace. In the next (355) year: Easter Sunday 21 Farmufa, - age of the moon 18, - on the 16th day of the Kalends of May, - Epakta 23, seventh day 6, - in the thirteenth year of indiction; to the consulate of Arbethion and Lollian, to the administration of Egypt by the venerable eparch Maximus of Nicaea. – This year Diogenes, the Emperor’s notary, came and wanted to deprive the bishop of his freedom; but he also returned back without success, with nothing. In the next (356) year: Easter Sunday 12 Farmufa, - age of the moon 17 39, - on the 7th day of the Ides of April, - epakt 4, seventh day 1, - in the fourteenth year of indiction; in the eighth consulate of Constantius Augustus and the first of Julian Caesar, during the administration of Egypt, the same venerable eparch Maximus of Nicaea, who was succeeded by Cataphronius of Byblos. - This year the duk 40 Sirian 13 Mehira 41 brought the church into great unrest and on the night of the 14th Mehira with his troops invaded the church of Theona. However, he could not capture him (Athanasius) as he miraculously escaped In the next (357) year: Easter Sunday 27 Phamenof, - age of the moon 17 42, on the 10th day of the April calends, - epact 15, seventh day 2, - in the fifteenth year of indiction; in the ninth year of the consulate of Constantius Augustus and the second of Julian Caesar, under the administration of Egypt by the same eparch Cataphronius of Byblos, who was succeeded by Parnassus. - Then George entered (the city) 30 Mehira 43 and carried out a lot of violence. But Bishop Athanasius was on the run and was being sought throughout the city in great alarm; because for this reason many were exposed to danger; for this reason the holiday message was not written. In the next (358) year: Easter Sunday 17 Farmufa, the day before the Ides of April, - age of the moon 17, epact 26, seventh day 3, - in the first year of indiction; to the consulate of Tatian and Cerealis, to the administration of Egypt by the same eparch Parnassius from Corinth. – Bishop Athanasius was hiding in the city of Alexandria; George left the city 5 Paofa 44, pursued by a crowd of people; therefore, this year the bishop could not compose a holiday message. In the next (359) year: Easter Sunday 19 45 Farmufa, the day before the Nons of April, - age of the moon 20, epact 7, seventh day 4, - in the second year of the indiction, in the consulate of Eusebius and Hypatius; during the reign of the same Parnassus, who was succeeded for three months by Italian Italus, and by this Favstinus from Chalcedon. “And the bishop didn’t write this year.” In the next (360) year: Easter Sunday 28 Farmufa, on the 9th day of the May calendar, - age of the moon, 21 46, epact 18, seventh day 6, - in the third year of indiction; in the tenth year of the consulate of Constantius Augustus and the third of Julian Caesar; during the administration of Egypt by the same eparch Favstinus from Chalcedon. - This eparch and Artemy Duke, looking for Bishop Athanasius, invaded one private house - the small cell of the virgin Eudaimonia and cruelly tortured (her); therefore I did not write again (Athanasius). In the next (361) year: Easter Sunday 13 Farmufa, on the 6th day of the Ides of April, - the moon rises 17, epakt 29 47, seventh day 7, - in the fourth year of indiction; to the consulate of Taurus and Florence; into the administration of Egypt by the same eparch Faustinus, who was succeeded by Gerontius from Armenia. And this year (the bishop) could not write a letter. In the same year Constantius died; and when Julian became sovereign, the persecution against the Orthodox stopped. The decrees of the Emperor Julian were distributed everywhere to the effect that Orthodox Christians belonging to the Church who were persecuted during the reign of Constantius should receive forgiveness. In the next (362) year: Easter Sunday 15 48 Farmufa, the day before the April calends, - age of the moon 25 49, epakta 10 50, seventh day 1, - in the fifth year of indiction; to the consulate of Mamertine and Nevitta; under the rule of the same Gerontius, who was succeeded by Olympus from Tarsus. - This year, in the month of Mehire 51, Bishop Athanasius, after fleeing, entered the church by decree of Julian Augustus, who declared forgiveness to all bishops and clergy who were in flight, as mentioned earlier. For this (year) wrote (Athanasius)... In the next (363) year: Easter Sunday 25 Farmufa, on the 12th day of the Kalends of May, - age of the moon 20 52, epact 21 53, septenary day 2, - in the sixth year of the indiction, in the fourth year of the consulate of Julian Augustus and Sallust, during the administration of Egypt by the same eparch of Olympus. – When Pythiodorus of Thebes, the famous philosopher, 27 Paophas 54 delivered Julian’s decree against the bishop and read it publicly, with many threats, he immediately left the city and retired to Thebaid. When Julian, after eight months 55, died, and his death became known, (Athanasius) secretly came to Alexandria during the night. And after that he 8 Thofa 56 boarded a ship near eastern Hierapolis and arrived to the Emperor Jovian, by whom he was honorably escorted 57 . He sent a festive message for this year at a time when he was persecuted to the Thebaid, from Memphis to the whole country; it was published according to accepted custom. In the next (364) year: Easter Sunday 9 Farmufa, the day before the Nons of April, - age of the moon 16, epact 3, seventh day 4, - in the seventh year of indiction; during the consulate of Jovian Augustus and Veronian, during the reign of the eparch Hierius from Damascus, who was succeeded by Maximus of Raphia, and by this Flavian of Illyria. – This year the bishop returned to the city of Alexandria and to the church 25 Mehira 58. And he sent a festive message from Antioch, as usual, to all bishops in all dioceses. In the next (365) year: Easter Sunday 1 Farmufa, on the 5th 59th day of the April calendars, - age of the moon 19, epact 14, seventh day 5, - in the eighth year of indiction; in the first year of the consulate of Valentinian and Valens Augustus; during the reign of the same Flavian from Illyria. “We have captured Caesarion; when the bishop again began to be pursued by enemies, he retired to a settlement near the new canal. But after several days, the notary Brazidas came to him with the eparch and promoted his entry into the church. On 27 Epith 60 there was an earthquake. The sea emerged from its limits on the eastern side, depriving many of their lives and causing significant devastation. In the next (366) year: Easter Sunday 21 Farmufa, on the 16th day of the May calendar, - age of the moon 20, epakta 25, seventh day 6, in the ninth year of indiction; in the first year of the consulate of Gratian, son of Augustus, and Daglaif. – When the pagans rebelled on 27 Epipha, Caesarion burned down. As a result, many citizens suffered great disaster; those found guilty are condemned and expelled. Then Procleianus the Macedonian became ruler. In the next (367) year: Easter Sunday 16 61 Farmufa, on the April calendar, - age of the moon 16, epact 6, seventh day 7, - in the tenth year of indiction; to the consulate of Lupicinus and Jovinus, to the administration of the same Procleianus, who was succeeded by Tatian Lucius. – This year Lucius tried to take possession of the church 26 Thofa 62; he hid at night in a house near the holy of holies of the church; and when Bishop Tatian and Duke Trajan escorted him out, he left the city and was thus miraculously saved, since the crowds of people sought to kill him. This year he wrote (Athanasius), compiling a canon of the Divine Scriptures. In the next (368) year: Easter Sunday 25 Farmufa, on the 12th day of the May calends, - age of the moon 16, epact 17, seventh day 2, - in the eleventh year of indiction; in the second year of the consulate of Valentinian and Valens Augustus, during the reign of the same eparch Tatian. - (Athanasius) began on the 6th day of the month Pacho 63 to restore Caesarion again; when he was awarded an Imperial decree through the Duke of Trajan, who found the arsonists and immediately ordered the removal of the rubbish after the destruction and fire, and then in the same month the construction to be resumed. In the next (369) year: Easter Sunday 27 64 Farmufa, the day before the Ides of April, - age of the moon 15 65, epakta 28, seventh day 3, - in the twelfth year of indiction; in the first year of the consulate of Valentinian, son of Augustus, and Victor, during the reign of the same Tatian. - The bishop began to build a church in Mendidia, named after him, - 25 Thofa, at the beginning of the eighty-fifth year of the Diocletian era 66. In the next (370) year: Easter Sunday 2 Farmufa, on the 4th 67th day of the April calendars, - age of the moon 15, epact 9, seventh day 4, - in the thirteenth year of indiction; during the third consulate of Valentinian and Valens Augustus, during the reign of the same Tatian, who was succeeded by Olympius Palladius of Samosata. - The bishop graduated from the church named after him when the eighty-sixth year of the Diocletian era was completed; in the same year, 14 Mesoria 68, renewal (sanctification) was also carried out. In the next (371) year: Easter Sunday 22 Farmufa, on the 15th day of the May calends, - age of the moon 16, epact 20, seventh day 5, - in the fourteenth year of indiction; in the second year of the consulate of Gratian Augustus and Probus; during the reign of the same Palladius, who was succeeded in the rank of eparch of Egypt by Aelius Palladius from Palestine, nicknamed the Barber. In the next (372) year: Easter Sunday 13 Farmufa, on the 6th day of the Ides of April, - age of the moon 19 69, epacta 1, seventh day 0 70, - in the fifteenth year of indiction; to the consulate of Modest and Arintheus, to the administration of Egypt by the same Aelius Palladius, nicknamed the Barber. In the next (373) year: Easter Sunday 5 Farmufa, the day before the Kalends of April, - age of the moon 21, epact 12, seventh day 1, - in the first year of indiction; in the fourth year of the consulate of Valentinian and Valens, in the administration of Egypt by the same eparch Aelius Palladius. – When this year was drawing to a close, Athanasius miraculously died 7 Pachon 71. The Κεϕάλαια, that is, the Table of Contents of the festive messages of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, has ended. The first holiday message of Bishop Athanasius, according to which Easter Sunday in the forty-fifth year of the era of Diocletian 73 was the eleventh of Farmufa, eight days before the Ides of April 74; in the eighth consulate of Constantine Augustus and the fourth of Constantine Caesar, when Septimius Zenius was prefect 75 - in the second year of the indiction; - about fasting, trumpets and holidays. 1) Come, beloved! The proper time calls us to celebrate. Again, the Sun of Truth, illuminating us with His Divine rays, foretells us in advance the time of celebration, during which we, submissive to Him, must celebrate so that joy does not pass us by, although time is transitory. For knowing the right time is most important when practicing virtue; just as Blessed Paul, instructing his disciple to know the proper time, instructs him in these words: “Be present in time and without time” (2 Tim. 4:2); so that he, knowing both, would do what is appropriate for his time, and would refrain from untimely reproach. Likewise, the God of all, according to the figurative saying of the wise Solomon, distributed everything according to times and seasons (Eccl. 3:1), so that the salvation of people would spread everywhere at the right time. In the same way, the Wisdom of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, descending into the souls of the saints not untimely, but in good time, prepares them to be friends of God and prophets (Wisdom 7:27). So, when very many prayed about this and said: “Who will give the salvation of Israel from Zion” (Psalm 52:7)? – The bride, as it is written in the Song of Songs, prayed like this: “Who will give you my mother’s breasts to my brother” (Song 8:1)? that is, so that you become like people and take upon yourself instead of us human sorrows. 2) Therefore, the Lord of all, who created times and seasons, knows better than us “even about us,” like a good doctor who knows the time when to rejoice over those who have received healing thanks to his own obedience; again, not untimely, but well-timed, he sends down what he says: “I listened to you in a pleasant time, and in the day of salvation I helped you” (Is. 49:8). Likewise, blessed Paul, giving us instructions regarding this time, writes the following: “Behold, now is the time acceptable, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2)! In good time, God called the sons of Israel through Moses to sacred celebrations, saying: “Three times in the summer you will celebrate My holiday” (Ex. 23:14); Of which festivals, beloved, one is the one that is now before us, to which the sacred trumpets call us and which we are encouraged to celebrate; so the holy Psalmist commands this with these words: “Blow the trumpet in the new moon, on the day of your holiday” (Psalm 80:4). This word gives us a twofold command - to sound the trumpet both on new moons and on solemn days; it also makes the day of celebration the day on which, in the middle of the month, the moonlight reaches fullness - that day that once had educational significance, like the day of trumpets; and they, as I said earlier, sometimes called for celebration, sometimes for fasting and warfare. But this trumpet sound was not unknown (and this had nothing to do with the future), but this trumpet sound was understandable - so that everyone would begin the festival they had announced. And this is not something you should learn from me, but from the Divine Scriptures - when God revealed Himself to Moses and spoke to him, as it is written in the book of Numbers: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Make for yourself two trumpets of silver: I have made forged ones, and they will be for you to assemble a congregation” (Num. 10, 1-2). Excellent for those who now love Him! - so that it could be known that this was established while Moses was, while the shadow existed; since the use of trumpets in general was established only “until the time of correction” (Heb. 9, 10). For He says: “If you go out to fight in your land against the adversary who opposes you” (hence, this could only be done in their country, but not outside of it); and then: “And sound the trumpet and signify it with trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord, and you will be delivered from your enemies” (Num. 10:9). Not only did they blow trumpets during battles, but the law also established a holiday trumpet. Listen again to what he says, adding: “And in the days of your gladness, and in your feast days, and in your new moons, you shall sound the trumpets” (Num. 10:10). But let no one think that this word is simple and of little significance when he hears the Law giving the command regarding the trumpets; This word is great and terrible! And since this trumpet, more than any other sound and any instrument, can excite and fill with fear, Israel, who was then still a child, was brought to knowledge by it through a type. But so that this should not be revered as something human at all, but as some most excellent and superhuman sign; this sound was similar to the one to which they listened at the time of grief, in order to remember the Law given to them then and to keep it. 3) This Law was wonderful, even being a shadow it was beautiful! And if not so, then he would not arouse fear and would not contribute to the good behavior of those who hear him; and this should have much more meaning in relation to those who once saw it; but at that time it was educational and took place as if in the shadows. And we, changing our understanding and henceforth moving away from the hay, approach the truth and look at the sacred trumpets of our Savior, loudly calling us sometimes to battle, as Blessed Paul says: “Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, and against the authorities, and against the rulers of the world of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6, 12). Sometimes he loudly calls for chastity, devotion and unanimity in married life; deigning to virgins what is appropriate for virginity, to those who love abstinent life - what is appropriate to abstinence; for those who are married, it approves of what is characteristic of the marital state, distributing to each the appropriate advantages and honorary rewards. At other times he calls for fasting and celebration. Listen again to him, proclaiming as if with a trumpet voice: “Our Easter was devoured for us. In the same way, let us celebrate, not with the brew of alcohol, nor with the brew of malice and wickedness” (1 Cor. 5:7-8). And if anyone wants to hear the most excellent of all trumpets, listen to our Savior, who says: “On the last day of the great feast Jesus stood and cried, saying: If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37)! For it was not fitting for the Savior to call us simply to a celebration, but He calls us to a most excellent celebration, if only we have prepared ourselves for what we must hear, and have made ourselves capable of recognizing the sound of every kind of trumpet. 4) And as I said before, there are different signs, then listen to the Prophet, proclaiming with the trumpet, so to speak, in type; and then, turning to the truth, prepare yourself for the sign of the trumpet. For he says: “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify the fast” (Joel 2:15)! This trumpet is protective and it diligently commands that when we fast, we sanctify the fast, according to what is said: not all of those who call on God sanctify the name of God 76; but some of these dishonor Him. Not Him, however - let it not be! - but your own thoughts regarding Him; for He is holy, and His delight is upon the saints. Therefore, blessed Paul counts this as sin to those who despise God: “by transgressing the law of God you are dishonored” (Rom. 2:23). So, in contrast to those who desecrate fasting, he says here: sanctify fasting! But many, being zealous in relation to fasting, defile themselves with the thoughts of their hearts, now committing dishonest acts against their brothers, now plotting their destruction. Thus, he says nothing more than that there are many who exalt themselves above their neighbors and dispel even greater evil. Just like that Pharisee (Luke 18:12), although he fasted twice during the week, boasting about fasting did not benefit him solely because he exalted himself over the tax collector. In the same way, the Logos, reproaching the sons of Israel for such a fast, wanted through the Prophet Isaiah to admonish them, saying: “I have not chosen this fast, and the day that a man should humble his soul: even if you wear a cloak like your sickle, and wear sackcloth and ashes, then you will call the fast pleasant” (Is. 58:5). How can we show an example of such a post? How should we behave when we fast? and what should the post itself be like? - Again, listen to God, who gives Moses the command and says, as it is written in the book of Leviticus: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: And on the tenth day of the seventh month of this day of atonement, you shall be called holy: and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer burnt offerings to the Lord” (Lev. 23:26-27). Then, in order for the Law to make regulations about this, He further says: “Every soul that does not submit on that day will be required of its people” (Lev. 23:29). 5) Look, my brothers! how much fasting can be done and how the Law commands us to fast. For he demands not only to fast with the flesh, but also with the soul. And the soul humbles itself when it does not allow itself to be captured through the teachings of corruption, but is nourished by the virtues that befit it. And virtues and vices constitute the nourishment of the soul, whether it eats food of one kind or another or turns where it wishes: both are available to it; for if she is inclined towards doing good, then she is nourished through virtues - justice, temperance, patience; as Paul also says, who fed on the word of truth; and also our Lord, feeding on the same thing, said: “My food is that I may do the will of My Father who is in heaven” (John 4:34). – And if the soul does not feed on this, but bends down, then it feeds on nothing other than sin. And the Holy Spirit calls the devil this way when he talks about sinners and their food: “Thou hast given him meat to the Ethiopian people” (Psalm 73:14). Such is the trash of sinners. And as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, being the heavenly bread, is the food of the saints, according to His word: “Eat My Body and drink My Blood”; then the devil is the food of the unclean and of those who do not do the works of light, but do the works of darkness. Therefore, for the sake of removal and aversion from vices, He commanded them to feed on the food of virtue, such as: humility, enduring humiliation without arrogance, knowledge of God. For such fasting not only brings peace to souls; but, being holy, he himself prepares saints and raises them up from the earth. 6) Perhaps it will seem surprising what I now want to say, and should be counted among the greatest miracles (although it does not deviate from the truth, so that you can be convinced of this from the holy Scriptures 77), namely, that when the great Moses fasted, he was in communion with God and received the Law. When the great and holy Elijah fasted, and he was awarded the Divine vision and was finally exalted like Him, Who ascended to heaven. Also, Daniel, although he was still young, was awarded the revelation of the secret and alone learned what was hidden for the king and at the same time became a participant in the Divine vision. But one should not be incredulous because the duration of the fast and its long period are so wonderful; the word is sufficient to nourish those who listen to Him, and serve them instead of all food. The same is true for the angels in no other way than by constantly looking in heaven at the Face of the Father and Savior. That is why Moses also fasted, as soon as he talked with God, physically; and he was nourished by the Divine word. And when he went down to the people and God ascended from him, then immediately he felt hunger, like people; for no longer than forty days, during which he talked with God, he remained in fasting. In general, each of the saints became a participant in this most excellent food. 7) Therefore, also, we, beloved, if we feed our soul with Divine food - the word of God and according to Divine will, and in relation to what is external, we observe bodily abstinence, as befits we will celebrate this great and saving holiday. True, the foolish Jews also partook of this Divine food, looking at it as a prototype - in the form of a lamb on the holiday of Passover; but since they did not understand the foreshadowing, they eat exactly the same lamb to this day, being mistaken and being at a distance from both their city and the truth. For as long as Judah and the city existed, the type also existed, the lamb and the shadow; for the Law commanded this: this should not happen in any other city, but in the land of Judea; outside of it in no other place (Deut. 12, 11, 13–14). Here the Law commanded them to offer burnt offerings and slaughter; for there was no other altar except the one in Jerusalem. And since in this only city there was an altar and a church was created there; then they were not allowed to make those sacrifices in any other city, so that when the city came to an end, then what concerned the shadow would be abolished. 8) Look: now, after the coming of our Savior, the city has reached its end, and the entire Judean country is devastated; so regarding this we do not need any external evidence; but with our own eyes we can verify what happened. Accordingly, it is necessary that the shadow also be abolished, and you do not need to learn about this from me; for this is already preceded by the sacred voice of the Prophet, loudly exclaiming: “Behold, the feet of him who brings good news are on the mountains, and who proclaims peace” (Nahum. 1:15). And what is signified by what he proclaims, if not what he tells them further: “Celebrate thy feasts of Judas, repay thy vows, before no one shall pass through thee for a promise: having passed away, and been cast out. Come up and breathe into your face, take away from insult” (Nahum. 1, 15, 2:1). And who, one can say to the Jews, is the one who ascended so that the praise of the shadow would cease? And one should not listen to this with indifference: “having passed away... come up and breathe into your face" ; for nothing was yet perfect before “he sighed in his face”; but everything reached perfection immediately as he ascended. But who is He, as I asked you before, Jews? Maybe this is Moses? But this would be wrong; for at that time the people had not yet entered the country in which it was only entrusted to them to fulfill the Divine commands. Or is it Samuel? or another one of the prophets? But this would also be wrong; for until that time those institutions still existed in Judea, and the city itself still stood; from which it necessarily follows that while he stood, those were also carried out. So, beloved, not one of them was the One who ascended. Now, if you wish to hear true words and abstain from Jewish fables; then look at our Savior, Who “looked up and breathed into His face” and said to His disciples: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22)! For as soon as this was accomplished, everything was completed; then the altar was rent, and the veil of the church was torn; and - since the city had not yet been destroyed - first the abomination of desolation was in the midst of the church, and then both the city itself and everything that had fallen into decay had to come to its end. 9) And since we have now already crossed the time of the canopy, we have nothing more to fulfill in it, but must rather turn to the Lord; “But the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17), as we hear from the sacred trumpet; when we no longer slaughter a fleshly lamb, but the true Lamb that was slain, our Lord Jesus Christ, who “was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent” (Isa. 53:7); we are made pure by His honest blood, “which speaks better than Abel” (Heb. 12:24); “Having put on our feet in preparation for the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15), we took into our hands the rod and club of the Lord, in which that righteous man found peace, who said: “Thy rod and Thy club, they comfort me” (Psalm 22:4); in a word, when we show readiness for everything and have no distressing worries about anything; for, as blessed Paul says, “The Lord is near” (Phil. 4:5) and as our Savior says: “Do not forget the hour, the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 24:44). 10) “In the same way let us celebrate, not with the leaven of alcohol, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but without the leaven of purity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8); “putting off the old man” with his deeds and “putting on the new man created according to God” (Eph. 4:22, 24); in humility and purity of conscience, studying the Law day and night. And when we all put aside hypocrisy and ill-will, remove pride and lies from ourselves, then we will be able to achieve love for God and our neighbor; so that, having been renewed and having received the new wine - the Holy Spirit, we could celebrate the month of these new fruits (Deut. 16:1) solemnly, as it should be. We begin Holy Lent on the fifth day of Farmufa 78; to it we then add the sixfold number of holy and great days, as a reflection of the creation of this world; we stop fasting and celebrate in the world, the tenth of the same Farmufa 79, the day of Holy Saturday, until the bright day of resurrection rises and shines for us - the eleventh of the same month 80. From here we count all seven weeks in order; we celebrate St. Penticostia, which for the Jews was once, as a prototype, the festival of weeks; when (Deut. 16:10; cf. Deut. 15:1 - about the Sabbath year) they calculated and remitted debts, and this day was their day of liberation from everything that happened. We celebrate the great day of resurrection, as a sign of the future age, for which here we receive a deposit in order to receive the future eternal life. And when we have completely moved away from here, we will celebrate with Christ Himself a most excellent holiday, following the example of the saints, exclaiming and uttering the following words: “I will go to the place of the wondrous settlement, even to the house of God, in the voice of joy and confession, the noise of the celebration” (Psalm 41:5); so that “sickness and sorrow and sighing will be removed, and joy and rejoicing will be found on our heads” (Is. 35:10). Oh, if only we could achieve, like them, to be among the elect! 11) If now we remember about the poor, we never forget about hospitality, and most of all, if we love God with all our souls, with all our strength and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves; then we will receive “whom eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and has not risen in the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9), - His Only Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, through whom to the One Father in the Holy Spirit be honor and power forever and ever, amen! Greet each other with a holy kiss! All the brothers who are with me greet you! End of the first festive message of St. Athanasius Second Feast Epistle (330), St. Athanasius, according to whom Easter Sunday in the year 46 of the 81 era of Diocletian was 24 Farmufa, 13 days before the Kalends of May 82; in the consulate of Gallician and Valerius Symmachus, when Magninian was prefect, in the third year of the indiction. 1) Easter and rejoicing again, my brothers! For again the Lord is bringing this time closer to us; so that we, as usual, feeding on His words, can properly celebrate this festival. But we will also take part in the joy that is in heaven - together with the saints; after all, they have long announced such a celebration, and for us in their deeds, even about Christ, they served as an example. For they not only took upon themselves the work of preaching the Gospel; but if we think about it, we will see that the power of God, according to what is written (Rom. 1:16), was visible in them; This is how Paul writes to the Corinthians: “be like me” (1 Cor. 4:16)! The word of the Apostle edifies us all; for what he writes in his epistle to each individual, the same to all together, he always commands everywhere; for he is the instructor of all nations in faith and piety; and all the saints in general had the same right to teach with authority, just as Solomon in Proverbs uses such a right, saying: “Listen, children, to the chastisement of the Father, and listen and understand the thoughts. I give you a good gift: do not forsake my law. The son was both obedient to the Father and beloved before the face of his mother” (Prov. 4, 1-3). A good teacher will, of course, be a pious father, who, if he himself has been guided correctly in something, will try to instruct others in the same way; so what if he heard the words of reproach: “When you teach others, teach yourself not” (Rom. 2:21)? - then he would not be brought to shame; but on the contrary, like that good servant, by saving himself, he gains others; and when the gift of grace entrusted to him deepens, he can hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful for a little, I will make you ruler over many: enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:21). 2) The same could be done in a proper way by us; if we not only at all times, but especially on holidays, were not only listeners, but also executors of the commands of our Savior; so that we, imitating the saints in this life, together with them can achieve the eternal, but truly abiding joy of our Lord, which is in heaven and which those who live badly deprive themselves of. They will face a fate corresponding to their behavior in life: illness and sadness, and the sighing that accompanies torment. Similar to these, it seems, are those who do not imitate the example of the lives of the saints, and also do not have the right understanding, which was possessed from the beginning by a person gifted with reason and representing, as it were, the likeness of God; to their shame, they are likened and attached to senseless cattle; so that for unnatural lust they are called misogynistic horses (Jer. 5:8); Because of their wickedness and flattering tricks and sinfulness, which entails death, they are called, as John says, a generation of vipers (Matthew 3:7). Thus, when they, like those (demons), fell and in the form of serpents crawled on the earth, like them they did not enjoy anything except what was accessible to the sensual gaze; then consider this (sensual) to be a true good; Delighting in this, they did not honor God, but above all served their own lusts. 3) But despite this, the humane Logos 83, who came in order to find what was lost, kept them from such foolishness, loudly exclaiming: “Do not be like a horse and a horse that has no understanding: you will bind their jaws with a bridle and bridle” (Psalm 31:9); and since they neglected this and became like evil (spirits), the Prophet in the Spirit speaks like this: you have become to Me like Phoenician merchants (see Isa. 23: 1-8). And the Spirit, taking vengeance for this, cries out against them: “Lord, in Thy city, make low their image” (Psalm 72:20). For, although they pretend, like madmen, they stumble in their plans so much that, due to their vain verbosity, they equate even the Wisdom of God with themselves and believe that it is the same as their own deeds. Therefore, they, “professing to be wise, became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the corruptible image of man and birds and four-footed creatures and creeping things: for this reason God gave them over to unskilled minds to do unspeakable things” (Rom. 1:22–23, 28). They did not heed the prophetic voice that warned them: “To whom will you liken the Lord, and to what likeness will you liken Him” (Is. 40:18)? nor to David, who in his prayer hymn spoke of them like this: “Let those who do I, and all who trust in her, be like them” (Psalm 134:18). since they are blind to the truth, they look at the stone as if it were God and walk in darkness, as if deprived of sensitivity, or, as the Prophet exclaims: they listen and do not understand, they look and do not recognize; for their hearts have become hardened, and they can hardly hear with their ears (Isa. 6:9-10). 4) Such people remain even until now in excommunication from the celebration; by pretending and inventing names of festivals, they establish days of mourning rather than joy; “For the wicked shall not rejoice, saith the Lord” (Isa. 48:22) and joy and gladness will be taken away from their lips, as Wisdom says (Jer. 25:10). Such, then, are the festivals of the godless. And the understanding servants of the Lord, who have truly put on the man created according to God, have become capable of perceiving the words of the Gospel and consider the commandment addressed to Timothy as universally binding, which reads: “be faithful in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). In such a praiseworthy manner they celebrate the festive celebration; so that even unbelievers, seeing their comfortable living, will involuntarily say: “Truly the Lord is in their midst!” For just as he who receives the Apostle receives Him who sent him, so he who imitates the believers usually turns his thoughts to the Lord Himself; and Paul, since he was His imitator, adds: “as I also did unto Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). This is confirmed by the example of our Savior Himself, and this is precisely the greatness of His Divinity, (being) in which He, addressing His disciples, said: “Learn from Me that I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Also, when He poured water into the laver, girded himself with a towel, and washed the feet of His disciples, He said to them: “Do you know what I have done to you? You speak to Me, the Teacher and the Lord: and you speak well, for I am. If I have washed your noses, Lord and Teacher, you must also wash each other’s noses. I have given you an image, yea, just as I created for you, you also create” (John 13:5, 12–15). 5) Oh, how is it possible, my brothers, not to consider our Savior’s love for mankind marvelous! With what force and with what trumpet should one blow if one wanted to extol the outpourings of His grace! We are not only created in His likeness, but from Him we can also receive the image of heavenly life; so that, as He began, we (patiently) bring it to the end, so that when we suffer, we do not threaten, when we are slandered, we do not slander each other, but bless those who curse and commit ourselves to God, who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:23). For those who will accept such a thought and will honor the Gospel as a model for themselves, they will be the accomplices of Christ and imitators of the life of the Apostle. For this they will receive the praise they deserve from him, with which he praised the Corinthians: “I praise you, brethren, because you remember all my things” (1 Cor. 11:2) Then, since there are some who, using his sayings, want to adapt them to their corrupted ears and dare to transform them, like the champions of Hymenaeus and Alexander (and these were preceded by the Sadducees), who, according to him, having fallen from the faith, mocked even the mystery of the resurrection; then for this reason he immediately adds: “And as I gave you the traditions, keep them.” For it is true that we should not look at anything else as much as at what that mentor gave us. 6) For they are evil not only in their hypocrisy in outward behavior, as walking, according to the word of the Lord, in sheep's clothing and like watered-down tombs, but moreover, they even put Divine verbs into their mouths, being at the same time full of evil thoughts. And in exactly the same way, the one who from time immemorial became the inventor of evil manifested himself - the serpent, the devil, who, when he spoke to Eve, first hid himself under a guise, and then deceived her (Eve); behind it and along with it all the inventors of godless heresies hide their real appearance. Although they read the Holy Scriptures, they do not pay the least attention to the form in which they are delivered by the saints (men) and since they take them for human traditions, they fall into error, misunderstanding them and not knowing their power. Therefore, Paul, in justice, praises the Corinthians, who were attentive to his tradition; and the Lord more justly accused the Jews, saying: “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition” (Matthew 15:3)? for they distorted the commands that they received from God at their own discretion, preferably following human traditions. For the sake of which, a little later, blessed Paul again instructs the Galatians, who dared to commit such a crime, on the path of truth, writing to them: “If anyone preaches more good news to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:9). 7) For the words of the saints have no resemblance to the dreams emanating from human superstition, the saints, as ministers of truth, preach the Kingdom of Heaven, and those who strive for the opposite have nothing higher in mind except to please the belly and place their ultimate goal in their insignificant existence, saying: “Let us pit and drink, or in the morning we will die.” (1 Cor. 15:32). Therefore, blessed Luke rejects human inventions, and he accepts the traditions of the saints, saying at the beginning of the Gospel: “before many people began to tell the story of the things known to us. As you have given us, who were from the very beginning the witnesses and servants of the Word, to the Word, I have also deigned to follow the above, all testily, in order to write to you, sovereign Theophilus, so that you understand about them, you have learned to affirm these words” (Luke 1, 1-4). And what each individual received from this saint is transmitted invariably, in accordance with the reliability of the teaching about the mysteries (faith). That we should be their disciples, this is what this word requires; and they must be our teachers, and only with them, necessarily, must we agree; for only they have a true teaching worthy of all acceptance. They themselves were disciples not because they heard it through others; but because they were self-seers and ministers of the Word and betrayed what they themselves heard from Him. They narrated the great miracles that were performed by our Savior, they proclaimed His eternal Divinity, depicted His birth from a Virgin according to the flesh, and foreshadowed the sacred holiday of Easter in these words: “For our Passover was devoured for us by Christ” (1 Cor. 5:7); so that each of us individually, and all of us together, as well as all communities on the whole earth, may remember Christ, risen from the dead, who was of the seed of David, according to the gospel (of the Apostle), as it is written (2 Tim. 2:8). And this, as Paul taught when preaching to the Corinthians - I mean His resurrection - should in no way be foolishness for us; for through this He achieved victory over death, that is, He overthrew the devil, and resurrected us together with Him, loosening the bonds of death and giving blessing instead of an oath, joy instead of sorrow, Easter celebration instead of lamentation. We rejoice in this sacred joy of the Easter celebration, which should always be in our hearts at all times, praying, as Paul commands, without ceasing and giving thanks for everything; and never, moreover, forgetting to foretell the time of it (Easter), as they accepted it according to tradition from our Fathers. We are writing about this again; again, firmly preserving the Apostolic Tradition, in earnest prayer we will remember each other and, celebrating Easter at the same time with the whole community, we will truly confess the Lord with one mouth. For if we accept Him 84 as a gift of grace and imitate the lives of the saints, we can, as the Psalmist says, praise the Lord at all times; and if we properly celebrate Easter in this way, then we can become partakers of heavenly joy. 8) Now we begin the Pentecost on the thirteenth day of the month of Phamenoth 85; After we have completed the days of fasting in order, we begin the Holy Week. Easter on the eighteenth day of the month Farmuf 86 and, having stopped fasting on the twenty-third of the same Farmuf 87 and then celebrating Sunday (Easter) on the twenty-fourth day 88, to these days we add the seven weeks of the great Pentecost, together rejoicing and rejoicing in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom may the Father in the Holy Spirit be honor and power forever centuries, amen. The brothers who are with me greet you! Greet each other with a holy kiss! End of the second festive message of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria Third Feast Epistle (331), St. Athanasius, according to which Easter Sunday in the forty-seventh year of the 89 era of Diocletian was the sixteenth of Farmufa, on the third day of the Ides of April 90, in the consulate of Annius Bassa and Aulavius, when Florence was prefect, in the fourth year of the indiction. 1) Again, my beloved brethren, the day of the holiday is approaching us, which more than any other is appropriate (to devote) to prayer; and since the solemn celebration of this is commanded by the Law, it would be inexcusable on our part to carry it out in silence. And although we are enslaved by our oppressors, so that for their sake we do not announce to you (openly) the day (of the holiday), nevertheless, thanks be to God, who comforts the oppressed! – we, even overcome by the malice of our accusers, do not remain silent; but, obeying the voice of truth, together with you we exclaim loudly on the day of the holiday. For the God of all commands this: tell the children of Israel that they keep the Passover (cf. Ex. 13:5); and the Holy Spirit exhorts in the Psalms: “Blow the trumpet in the new moon on the blessed day of your feast” (Psalm 80:4)! and the Prophet exclaims: “Celebrate your holidays Judah” (Nahum. 1, 15)! And I am writing this to you not as if you are ignorant, but rather as if I am well aware of this; so that you can be convinced that, although people separated us, God united us, let us remember the same festival, let us always honor the One and Same God. We do not want to celebrate the festival as those who observe the days, for we know how the Apostle admonishes such: “You observe the days, and months, and seasons, and years” (Gal. 4:10). But more for the sake of solemnity, we announce a blessed day (holiday), so that all of us, who are everywhere worshipers of God, through joint prayer may become pleasing to God. Blissful. Paul, who did not preach about distance from such joy, did not preach about days, but about the Lord; so that for His sake we celebrate Easter, saying: “Our Easter was quickly devoured for us, Christ” (1 Cor. 5:7); so that all of us, thinking about the eternal existence of the Word, can devote ourselves to His unceasing service. 2) For what else does the Easter festival represent if not a spiritual service? and what does this service consist of? only in constant prayer and praise, (sent) without coercion, which is far from the ungrateful, who inevitably deprive themselves of participation in the festive celebration, for joy and rejoicing will be taken away from their lips. Therefore, the Divine Word does not allow them to have peace; for the ungodly have no peace, says the Lord, they do works of grief and sorrow. Therefore, the Lord also did not accept the one who, according to the Gospel (Matthew 18:24), having owed ten thousand talents, received remission; for he, having received the remission of many, forgot about leniency regarding the few; so he had to suffer punishment for the first (his own debt), and justly; since he, as one who knew mercy (towards himself), had to have mercy on one of his minions. And the one who, having received the talent, wrapped it in a scarf and buried it in the ground, in all fairness, was rejected as ungrateful, and had to hear (the sentence): “You are an evil and lazy servant, knowing that I reap where I do not sow; and I collect where I have not squandered it: it is fitting for you to give my money as a trader: and when I came, I took what was mine with interest. Take the talent from him, and give to the one who has ten talents” (Matthew 25:16-28). For it was necessary that, if he took care, he would preserve (and increase) his wealth for the Master; since he knew the goodness of the Giver and the value of the gift; Of course, the One who gave was not cruel, for then he would not have given at first; but what was given was not useless and insignificant, for otherwise He would not have regretted it; but He who gave was good, and what was given was fruitful. Thus, just as the one who withholds wheat during sowing is cursed according to the Divine proverb (Proverbs 11:26), so is the one who neglects the gift of grace and stores it in a secret place as unfit for use; rejected for bad behavior and ingratitude. Therefore, the Lord praises those who have multiplied what was entrusted to them when He says: “Well done, good and faithful servant, for a little time you were faithful; I will make you ruler over many: enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:21,23). 3) Others acted very well and prudently, who acquired as much as they received, as the Divine speech shows. With a grace-filled gift from God, our will, beloved, must use effort and not weaken; so that, in the futility of our efforts, the gift of grace given to us does not completely perish, and the enemy, finding us idle and unoccupied, does not take possession of us; as it happened with the one mentioned in the Gospel (Matthew 12:43): an unclean spirit came out of him and, passing through waterless places, took with him seven other spirits more evil than himself; and, returning and finding his house unoccupied, he began to live there, and for that man the last was worse than the first; for moving away from virtue opens access to the unclean spirit. And that the gift of grace should not remain fruitless among us, this is required by the Apostolic commandment; for what the Apostle writes separately to one of his disciples, he reminds us of this through him when he says: “Do not neglect your gift” that lives “in you” (1 Tim. 4:14); For whoever tills his own field will be satisfied with bread (Prov. 12, 11); but the paths of the careless are thorny (Proverbs 15:19); but so that no one stumbles, the Holy Spirit exhorts even earlier this way: “Renew your fields, and do not sow on thorns” (Jer. 4:3). For if anyone neglects the gift of grace entrusted to him, then, indulging in the cares of life, he becomes a slave of lust; and therefore, during persecution, he becomes an apostate and generally incapable of bearing fruit; and what serves as the end of such negligence is announced by the Prophet: cursed be the man who does the works of the Lord with negligence (Jer. 48:10)! He who does something for the glory of the Lord should be zealous and zealous, even (as if) flaming; so that when he destroys all worldly sinfulness with spiritual flame, he can draw closer to God, Who, according to the saints (men), is called “the consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24). 4) Therefore, the God of all, “create His angels” spirits, “and His servants a flame of fire” (Psalm 103:4), Which Spirit is, after leaving Egypt, forbade many who did not have such a disposition to approach the mountain where He gave them the Law; and the one who was engulfed in the flame of the Spirit and did not extinguish the gift of grace within himself - He called to blessed Moses to Himself, saying: let Moses alone come! Therefore, he ascended (to the mountain) through a region of darkness, and when the mountain was smoking, he remained unharmed and even descended even more purified through the words of the Lord, which are “the silver has been kindled, the earth has been tempted” (Psalm 11:7). Blessed Paul exhorts us to this end, since he does not want to see the gift of grace given to us chilled, writing the following: “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19)! Thus we will remain fellow members of Christ if we firmly hold the pledge of the Spirit from beginning to end; for he (the Apostle) said: “Do not quench Him!” - not so that the Holy Spirit was given over to the power of men and could suffer anything from them; but that those who show themselves to be evil and ungrateful in their aspirations extinguish Him; and both they and those who have grown old in their iniquities are opponents of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit of punishment will run away from flattery; it dwells below in the body guilty of sin”; but “he will be taken away from foolish thoughts” (Wis. 1:4–5). And since they are foolish, deceitful and lovers of sin, they walk as if in darkness; being deprived of light, “who enlightens every man who comes into the world” (John 1:9). Such a fire engulfed the prophet Jeremiah when the word (of the Lord) became “like fire” in him, and he said: “I am weakened everywhere, and I cannot bear it” (Jer. 20:9). And our Lord Jesus Christ, being good and loving of mankind, came then to set it on fire on earth, for he said this: “And what will I, if it has already been set on fire” (Luke 12:49)? And He desires (to achieve) this, as evidenced by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:23, 33:11), more through the correction of a person than through his death; so that all evil would be consumed by fire in all people; so that when the soul is cleansed, it can bear fruit; and the word spoken by Him will then bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Likewise, the companions of Cleopas, initially weak in their ignorance, finally, inflamed (in heart) by the words of our Savior, bore the fruits of knowledge about Him (Luke 24:18). Likewise, blessed Paul, engulfed in the flames of this fire, did not turn away to flesh and blood, but became a preacher of the Word, proclaiming gifts of grace. But that is not what those nine lepers did, who, having been cleansed of their leprosy, did not give thanks to the Lord, their Healer. Not so Judas, who, having accepted the lot of apostolic ministry and received the title of disciple of the Lord, finally, having partaken of supper with our Savior, raised his heel against Him and became a traitor (Psalm 40:10). They will receive retribution for their madness: their hope is vain due to their ingratitude, it does not exist; for the ungrateful has no hope at all. For those who neglect the Divine Light, awaits the last fire prepared for the devil and his angels. So, this is the end of the ungrateful! On the contrary, the faithful and good servants of the Lord, who know that the Lord loves those who are grateful, never cease to send thanks and through praise show themselves grateful to the Lord; whether it be in a time of peace or in a time of calamity, they offer up songs of praise to the Lord with thanksgiving; since they value temporal things in nothing, but above all they honor God, the Lord of time (Rom. 12:11). And firstly, Job, that greatest of men, a giant (of spirit), observed this when he was rich; and when he became poor, he endured to the end and, enduring, gave thanks; just as the meek David, during his sorrow, sang: “I will bless the Lord at all times” (Psalm 33:2). And blessed Paul does not, one might say, omit to confess God with gratitude in a single epistle; in happiness he did not abandon this, but he boasted much more about tribulation, since he knew that “tribulation makes patience, but patience is skill, and skill is hope; but hope does not put one to shame” (Rom. 5:3-5). If we also want to be followers of such men, then we should never spend time without thanksgiving; and now, when precisely the time of sorrow has come for us, by the will of the heretics, we must especially praise the Lord, speaking in the words of the saints: “all this has come upon us, and we have not forgotten You” (Psalm 43:18)! For, just as the Jews, when they had to endure violence from the hordes of Edom (Psalm 136:7) and when they were oppressed by the enemies of Jerusalem, did not lose courage, but with greater zeal they sang songs of praise to God; so we, my beloved brethren, when we are forbidden to speak the word of God, should we proclaim it all the more; and when we are oppressed, sing hymns of praise because we are worthy to accept dishonor and torment for the truth. Therefore, let us give thanks when we have to suffer! So the blessed Apostle, himself giving thanks at all times, encourages us in the same way to approach God, saying: “let your requests be made to God with thanksgiving” (Phil. 4:6). And as he encourages us to never deviate from this requirement, he says: always give thanks, pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:18, 17)! For he knew well that if believers give thanks, they thereby gain strength; and if they rejoice, they can cross through the strongholds of the enemy, like those righteous people who said: “We will cut off our enemies because of You” (Psalm 43:6) and “By my God I will cross the wall” (Psalm 17:30). And if we always remain like this, now especially; then, even if many disasters befell us and many heretics rebelled against us; nevertheless, we, my beloved brethren, will celebrate with thanksgiving the sacred festival that is now approaching us, girding our thoughts according to the example of our Savior, about Whom it is written: “And He will be girded with righteousness about His loins, and with truth entwined along His sides” (Is. 11:5); with a rod in the hands of each of us - with a rod vegetated from the root of Jesse, having shod our feet with the readiness to fulfill the commandments of the Gospel (Eph. 6:15), we will be able to celebrate Easter, as Paul says, “not with leavened bread, but without leaven of purity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8), in the hope that we are thus, through righteousness in Christ, we received reconciliation; since we do not fall away from the faith and are not defiled along with heretics and all those who are alien to the truth, which will overthrow their deeds and plans. And if we rejoice in sorrow, we will be delivered from the iron furnace (Deut. 4, 20) and from (the area of) darkness; We will cross the formidable Red Sea without damage; so that, having seen the shame of the heretics, we can then sing with blessed Moses this sublime song of praise: “We will sing to the Lord, gloriously we will be glorified” (Ex. 15:1)! If, chanting in this way, we see that sin is defeated in us, then we will be able to pass through the desert; and if in St. Let us purify ourselves through prayer and abstinence, pious behavior and good deeds, then we will have the opportunity to partake of the sacred Paschal Lamb in Jerusalem. The beginning of the Lent Day falls on the fifth of Phamenoth 91. After we have cleansed ourselves and prepared ourselves during these days, as I said, we begin the holy week of the great holiday of Easter on the tenth day of Farmuf 92; and at this time, my beloved brethren, it is appropriate to pray diligently, fast and watch, so that we can, by sprinkling our thresholds with the Honest Blood, avoid the destroyer (Ex. 12: 7, 23). Then, on the fifteenth day of the month Farmufa 93, when “on the Sabbath evening” (Matthew 28:1) we hear from the angels: “Why do you seek the living with the dead? There is no here, but there is no rising” (Luke 24:5-6), we stop fasting. Following this, I mean, on the sixteenth day of the month Farmufa 94, the great day of resurrection begins for us, on which the Lord rose from the dead, giving us peace with our neighbors (Luke 24:36). When we celebrate Easter in this way, in accordance with His will, then (starting) from this day, with the bright Resurrection, we unite the seven weeks of Pentecost, in which we, if only we have been worthy to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, must unceasingly glorify the Lord, through Whom may honor and power be to the Father in the Holy Spirit forever and ever, amen! Greet each other with a holy kiss! The brothers who are with me greet you! Be healthy and remember us in the Lord! (For this) I make a prayer, my beloved and longed for brothers! End of the third festive message of St. Afanasia Fourth holiday message of Bishop. Athanasius, according to whom Easter Sunday in the forty-eighth year 95 of the era of Diocletian was the seventeenth Farmufa 96, on the fourth day of the April nones; to the consulate of Ovinius Pacatian and Maecilius Gilarian, when Eugenius was prefect - in the fifth year of the indiction. /This message (Athanasius) was sent from the Emperor’s residence with one warrior./ 1) With delay and outside the usual time, I am writing to you, beloved! however, I hope that you will forgive me for this slowness for the sake of the distance of the journey and serious illness; for, exhausted by both, I hesitated to write to you; and above all, painful sorrows were added to this. But although the journey was long and the illness was severe, I, despite this, did not forget to notify you about the Holiday and, by announcing it, according to custom, I fulfill my duty. If my message has exceeded the usual time of announcement, then even now, when the enemies are put to shame and condemned by the Church for persecuting us without reason, it seems timely for us to begin the solemn hymn again - now, when we sing a song for the death of Pharaoh: “Let us drink to the Lord, for gloriously we have been glorified: horse and rider have been cast into the sea” (Ex. 15:1). 2) Again, beloved, we joyfully move from holidays to holidays, again we resume holiday gatherings; again the sacred vigils of our spirit; Again we force ourselves to be spiritually vigilant when thinking about these treasures. We spend the (coming) days of (Lent) this way, not because we grieve, but as those enjoying spiritual food and confident that we are able to silence carnal lusts, and thereby overcome our enemies. Just as the pious Judith, having first devoted herself to fasting and prayer, overcame her enemies and killed Holofernes; and the pious Esther, when her entire family was destined for destruction and the entire people of Israel was threatened with destruction, restrained the wrath of the oppressor by nothing other than fasting and prayer to God and thus turned the death of the people into salvation, which is why these days are considered holidays in Israel. In the same way, from ancient times, those days in which the enemy perished, the intrigues against the people did not achieve their goal, and Israel were saved, are solemnly celebrated as famous festivals. Therefore, blessed Moses established the solemn holiday of Passover - a prototype of the one we celebrate - precisely because Pharaoh died and the people received freedom from slavery; but then, of course, festivals and celebrations were celebrated only privately in Judea, which had temporary significance, since the oppressors of this one people perished. 3) Now that the devil, the enemy of the whole world, has been cast down, we are called not by a temporary celebration, but by an eternal and heavenly one, and we do not announce it in a dark way, but in the truth itself we approach it. For then the celebration consisted in the fact that, by feasting on the meat of a dumb lamb and sprinkling its blood on the thresholds of houses, they turned away the destroyer; and now, when we eat from the Word of the Father and seal the entrances of our hearts with the blood of the New Testament, we acquire knowledge of the gift of grace given to us by the Redeemer, who says: “Behold, I give you power to tread on the serpent and on the scorpion and on all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). Death no longer reigns, but from now on life has taken the place of death, for the Lord says: “I am life!” why everything is filled with joy and rejoicing, as it is written: “The Lord reigns and let the earth rejoice” (Psalm 96:1). For while death reigned, when we sat on the rivers of Babylon, we wept and mourned, thinking about the bitterness of captivity (Psal. 136, 1); and now, when death and the kingdom of the devil have been destroyed, everything has been filled with joy and gladness, and henceforth it is not only in Judea that they know the Lord, but “their message went out into the whole earth” (Psalm 18:4; Rom. 10:18) and His revelation filled the whole earth. From this it clearly follows, my beloved, that we too must unanimously flock to this festival, clothing our thoughts in bright, and not in defiled, clothes; for we must put on such for our Lord Jesus, that we may celebrate the Passover with Him. But we put on Christ when we love virtue, resist vice, indulge in abstinence, and turn away from an indecent life; we love justice preferably to injustice, value moderation and strengthen ourselves in our good intentions; when we do not forget about the poor, but have open doors for everyone, we help the humble and hate arrogance. 4) Also, of course, Israel anciently began the festival, laboring, so to speak, in the hay; but then this festival was predicted as if in fortune-telling, symbolically. But we, O beloved, since the shadow has passed and the types have come to fulfillment, we no longer accept the celebration only as a type, and in order to sacrifice the Passover Lamb, we do not flock to Jerusalem below, according to the decayed definition of the Jews, so that after the lapse of time it does not turn out that we are celebrating at the wrong time, but according to the institution of the Apostles, we also want, bypassing the types, to sing a new song ( Apoc. 14, 3). As soon as they learned this and, so to speak, gathered around the (Source) of truth, they approached our Savior and said: “Where do you want will we prepare for you to eat the Passover” (Matthew 26:17)? This no longer had anything to do with Jerusalem below, and no one thought that only in it could the celebration be celebrated, but wherever God pleased. And this pleased Him everywhere, so that in all countries fragrant incense and sacrifice would be offered to Him, whereas, according to the Old Testament, in no other place except Jerusalem was it allowed to celebrate the Feast of Passover. When the temporary came to fulfillment and that which had to do with the shadow had passed, and the preaching of the Gospel was to be proclaimed everywhere, since the Apostles had already spread the concept of this festival everywhere, they turned to our Savior with a question: “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover for You?” and our Savior, raising them from the typical to the spiritual eating, convinced them to no longer eat from the flesh of the lamb, but from His own Body, saying: “Take, eat and drink, this is My Body and My Blood.” 5) If we, beloved, feed on this saving food, we will celebrate true Easter. We start it on the 1st day of Farmuf 97, we stop fasting on the sixth day of the same month 98, on Saturday evening; the bright resurrection comes for us on the 7th of the same month of Farmufa 99, from where we begin to celebrate the following days of Holy Pentecost, through this reaching the image of the future age, in order to be henceforth forever with Christ, giving praise to the almighty God in Christ Jesus, and through Him, with all the saints, crying out to the Lord: Amen! Greet each other with a holy kiss! All the brothers who are with me greet you! We sent this message from the residence of the Emperor 100 through an official; to him it was handed over to those who truly fear God, Aulavius ​​the prefect. I was at the Emperor’s residence, summoned by Emperor Constantine in order to introduce myself to him. The Meletians staying there, who persecuted us with their hatred and slandered us before the Emperor, were put to shame and expelled from there as slanderers, having been repeatedly convicted of this. And the following were expelled: Callinicus, Ision, Eudaemon and Geloi 101 Hierakammon, who, ashamed of his name, called himself Eulogius. End of the fourth festive message of St. Athanasius The fifth holiday letter (333) of the same (St. Athanasius), to the consulate of Dalmatia and Zenophilus, in the days of the Paterna diocesan, in the sixth year of the indiction, when Sunday (Easter) was on the seventeenth day of the Kalends of May 102, that is, the twentieth Farmuf; on the fifteenth day of the moon, on day 7 of the week; - in the forty-ninth year of 103 (era) of Diocletian. 1) We joyfully move, my brothers, from holidays to holidays; joyfully - from prayer to prayer and to fasting from fasting we approach, combining one celebration with another. For now the time is approaching again, which brings us with it a new beginning: the gospel of the sacred holiday of Easter, on which the Lord sacrificed Himself; and we eat from this Sacrifice, as from the bread of life, and, as if from some source, at all times we delight our souls with His Precious Blood, which we continually thirst for. At all times we are tormented by desire; and this Drink is intended for those who feel thirsty, and those who are thirsty are reminded of this by the word of our Savior, Who, out of His love for mankind, is near (us) on the day of the feast: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). It is not that He only quenches thirst when someone becomes close to Him; but at any time, whenever anyone wishes, he can boldly approach the Savior. And the grace-filled gift of the holiday is not limited to a certain time and its glorious radiance is never diminished; but at all times he is close and enlightens the souls of those who await him with love. And especially to those who are enlightened in spirit and meditate day and night on the Divine Scriptures; such was the man to whom bliss was promised, as it is written in the sacred book of Psalms: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and does not stand in the path of sinners, and does not sit in the seats of destroyers. But his will is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he will learn day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2). Neither the sun could enlighten him more, nor the moon, nor a host of other stars, but he himself shines among the highest lights of the almighty God. 2) God, my beloved, - God, who in the beginning instituted the holiday for us and deigned to grant us its annual celebration - He also determined the sacrifice of His Son for (our) redemption and, as the basis of this sacred celebration, He gave us the One about whom He proclaims every year, Who is always glorified at this hour. He leads us from the Cross through this world to what was before us, and God produces the glorious joy of redemption that comes from Him even now, bringing us to the same gathering, uniting in spirit all of us who exist everywhere, giving us the opportunity for corporate prayer and the gift of the grace of the holiday common to all. For such is the great work of His love for mankind that He gathers those who are at a distance together and brings together those who seem distant to bodily eyes through like-mindedness. 3) So, should we not, my beloved, express our gratitude for the gift of grace, as befits the time of celebration? Shouldn't we render such glory to the Creator? True, it is not possible for us now to repay God in a proper manner; but not to acknowledge with gratitude the gift of grace we have received would be a crime. Our weakness is, of course, revealed by (our) nature itself, and ingratitude is rejected by (our) feeling. Therefore, blessed Paul, marveling at the fullness of God’s grace-filled gifts, says: “And who is pleased with this” (2 Cor. 2:16)? For He gave the world freedom through the Blood of our Redeemer, He trampled hell underfoot also through the death of our Redeemer, He opened the gates of heaven, showing an unhindered path to those who ascend there through our Redeemer. Therefore, one of the saints, having recognized the gift of grace and not being able to repay for it, said: “What will I repay to the Lord for all that I have repaid” (Psalm 115:3)? For instead of death he received life, instead of slavery freedom, instead of hell the Kingdom of Heaven. Since ancient times, death reigned from Adam to Moses (Rom. 5:14), and now the Divine word has been spoken: “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). And just as those righteous people saw into this (that salvation would be accomplished), they also said: “If the Lord had not helped me, my soul would have entered hell” (Psalm 93:17); and behind all this, prompted by a feeling of gratitude and recognizing the importance of the gift of grace, he (the Psalmist) writes on behalf of everyone like this: “I will accept the cup of salvation, and I will call on the name of the Lord; honorable before the Lord is the death of His saints” (Psalm 115:4,6). And about the cup the Lord said: “Can you drink the cup that Az Imam drinks?” and when the disciples confirmed this, then the Lord said: “For I have drunk my cup, but it is not for me to sit on my right hand and on my left, but for it it is prepared” (Matthew 20:22-23). 3) Why, my beloved, can we feel a gift of grace if we are found incapable of retribution? Because we have the power to strive for this; for, although nature is not able to repay with anything, since everything is unworthy of the Word; however, we can express gratitude by continuing in piety. And when can we most remain in piety? Then only if we believe in God, who gives us everything according to His love for mankind. Thus, even though we are confident that we keep the law and fulfill the commandments, we cannot be considered to have fulfilled the duty of gratitude if in fact we break the law and do something that is worthy of hatred; for God loves the grateful. (We remain in piety then) when we commit our souls to the Lord, following the example of the saints; when we finally decide to live no longer for ourselves, but for the Lord, who endured death for us, as blessed Paul did, who said: “I have been crucified with Christ: but I live not for anyone, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:19-20). 4) But true life, my brethren, consists in our rejecting corruptible things and remaining in that which is from our Redeemer. Time requires us, especially now, not only to express this in words, but also to become like the saints in deeds; and we become like them when we confess the One who suffered death; when we no longer live for ourselves, but Christ dwells in us; when we strive in every possible way to repay the Lord for His good deeds. And when we repay, we give nothing of our own, but only what we first received from Him; and this, without a doubt, can serve as proof of His mercy, that He demands what He himself has given as if it were ours. He Himself testifies to this, saying: sacrifices to Me are My gifts; that is, what you bring to Me belongs to you only to the extent that you could receive from Me. And God’s gifts are as follows: perfect virtue and a truly reverent feeling towards Him; we must sacrifice them to the Lord; for what He has given for our sanctification, we ought to glorify Him by remaining in godliness. This is how we approach the holy fasts that He established for our teaching, and through them we find the path to God. But such are not the pagans and foolish Jews, nor the heretics and apostates of the present time. For the pagans see the purpose of the holiday in gluttony; the Jews, wandering in the region of types and shadows, consider this festival to be the same type, the same shadow; finally, the apostates wander in dispersion in various places and in the vanity of their thoughts. We, my brothers, are superior to the pagans in that we celebrate the holiday in purity of spirit and purity of body; Jews - in that we no longer adhere to either the type or the shadow; but we are enlightened by the light of truth and look at the Sun of righteousness; finally, apostates in that we do not rend the robe of Christ, but “in one house” (Ex. 12:46), in the Catholic Church we taste the Paschal of the Lord, who, having given His holy laws, led us to virtue and for (close) communion with it instituted a festival: for the Paschal celebration is truly a departure from vice to virtue and a transition from death to life. This can be learned from the first prototype; for then the Jews were eagerly preparing for the exodus from Egypt to Jerusalem, but now we are passing from death to life; then they went over from Pharaoh to the side of Moses, now we ascend from the devil to the Redeemer, and just as at that time the remembrance of the prototype of salvation was created annually, exactly the same thing is happening today; for when we renew the memory of our redemption, we fast, since we remember death in order to be able to live; we are awake - not from sorrow, but in anticipation of the Master returning from marriage - so that, at His appearance, we can mutually find each other and immediately proclaim victory over death. 5) Oh, if from now on we, my beloved, could, as the Word demands this, at all times, and now especially, act in such a way and lead our lives in such a way that we never forget about the wondrous deeds of God and do not retreat from fellowship with virtue, as the Apostolic word convinces: remember “the Lord Jesus Christ risen from the dead” (2 Tim. 2:8); not so that the remembrance (of Him) is postponed for a long time, but so that we constantly have Him in our thoughts. And since we, due to the negligence of many, have been putting it off from day to day, let us begin this at least in these days. This time is intended as a reminder, as a sign (of what is to come), in order to depict to the righteous the reward of the heavenly city, and to remind those who neglect this of their guilt. So, let us remain at all other times in virtuous living, lamenting, as we should, what we have left in negligence; for the life of one who could be clean from filth does not last even one hour on earth, as the glorious giant (of the spirit) Job claims (Job 14:4-5). And turning to what lies ahead in the future, let us pray that we do not unworthily taste the Paschal Lamb and expose ourselves to responsibility. For to those who celebrate the festival in purity, the Paschal Lamb is heavenly food; those who triumph in desecration and contempt, He subjects to punishment and shame; for it is written: whoever eats or drinks unworthily will be guilty of the death of our Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 11:27). Therefore, let us not immediately (without preparation) begin to establish a festive celebration; but, as those who wish to approach the Divine Lamb and touch the heavenly food, let us wash (our) hands, cleanse our body and thoughts, and protect us from all wickedness; not giving in to immoderation and lusts, but remaining altogether with our Lord and His Divine teachings, so that, having become pure in everything, we might also be partakers of the Word. 6) We start St. fasting 104 on the fourteenth of Farmuf 105 on the evening of the week and ending it on the nineteenth of the same month Farmuf 106; a bright resurrection dawns on us on the twentieth of the same month Farmufa 107; with this day we connect the seven weeks of Pentecost, (spending them) in prayer and peace with our neighbors, in mutual love and all-reconciling goodwill. So we will become heirs of the Heavenly Kingdom through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom may the Father have honor and power forever and ever, amen! The brothers who are with me greet you! Greet each other with a holy kiss! End of the fifth festive message of St. Afanasia The sixth holiday letter (334) of the same (St. Athanasius), according to which Sunday (Easter) was the twelfth of Farmufa, on the seventh day of the Ides of April 108, on the seventeenth of the moon, in the fiftieth 109 (year of the era) of Diocletian, - in the consulate of Optata Patricius and Anicius Paulinus, in the days of Philagrius the Cappadocian - eparch - in the seventh year of indiction. 1) And again, my beloved, God has brought us to the time of the Feast, and, according to His love for mankind, we are ready to form a festive meeting. For God, who brought Israel out of Egypt, calls us now to celebration, saying through Moses: “keep the month of new” (fruits), “and keep the Passover to the Lord your God” (Deut. 16:1); and through the Prophet: “Celebrate your feasts of Judah, repay your vows to the Lord” (Nahum. 1:15). And if God has now deigned to call us to the celebration, then we should not hesitate, my brothers, we should not waste time; but with joy and zeal we must hasten to Him, so that from now on, having joyfully laid a (good) beginning, we may also receive the pledge of participation in the heavenly triumph. If we celebrate the festival here diligently, then, of course, we will be rewarded with complete heavenly joy, according to the word of the Lord: “I have longed to eat this Passover with you, and first I will not even accept torment; For I tell you that from now on I will not eat from her until they die 110 in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15-16). And we partake of it when, perceiving with our inner eye the essence of the Holiday and recognizing the Savior, we surrender ourselves, according to our duty, to His mercy, so that we, as Paul says, may celebrate Easter “not with the leaven of evil, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but without the leaven of purity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8). For the Lord suffered death in these days, so that we would no longer indulge in the works of death; He gave His life so that we could save ours from the insidious wiles of the devil and - what is most wondrous - “The Word became flesh”, so that we no longer lived according to the flesh, but living in the Spirit, could render (worthy) worship to God, Who is the Spirit. Whoever does not do this in this regard, but only observes the days, cannot even celebrate Easter, for, as an ungrateful person, he places the blame on grace: he has the days in honor, but does not serve the Lord, Who in these days accomplished the work of redemption. In any case, he must, even if he imagines himself celebrating Easter, heed the word of the Apostolic rebuke (addressed) against him: “You look at the days, and the months, and the times, and the years. I am afraid for you, for I labored in vain in you” (Gal. 4:10-11). 2) The holiday is not for the sake of days, but for the sake of the Lord; We honor Him, who in these days suffered for us, for a great triumph, “for our Passover was quickly devoured for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). Likewise, Moses, teaching Israel that the Feast should be revered not for the celebration of the day, but for the Lord, says: “The Passover is the Lord’s” (Ex. 12:11). It was for the Jews, although they assumed that they were keeping the Passover, since they rebelled against the Lord, this was a useless celebration, although they did not forget about the name of the Lord, and even testified about Him, however, this was the Passover not of the Lord, but of the Jews; (from the Jews it received this name, my brothers); since they rejected the Lord of Easter, and the Lord, turning His Face away from them for such their wisdom, says: “Your new moon and Saturdays... My soul hates” (Is. 1:14). 3) And at the present time the Lord again reproaches those who celebrate Passover in the same way as they (the Jews); the same with lepers who received cleansing (Luke 17:12); Having loved one of them as grateful, He became angry with the others as ungrateful; since they did not know the Helper, but they preferred healing from leprosy to the Healer. For one of them, seeing his healing, gave glory to God with a loud voice and, falling on his face at the feet of Jesus, gave thanks to Him; and it was a Samaritan. And when Jesus asked: “Are you not cleansed for ten? where is nine? How come the one who returned did not find himself able to give glory to God, except this foreigner” (Luke 17:17-18)? then, therefore, this one was more pleasing to Him than the others; Therefore, having received cleansing from leprosy, he heard this from the Lord: “Arise and go, your faith will save you” (Luke 17:19). For the one who thanks and the one who glorifies both form, as it were, one couple, since they glorify the Helper for their patience in suffering, as the Apostle encourages everyone to do this, saying: “Glorify God in your bodies” (1 Cor 6:20), and the Prophet commands this: give glory to God (Jer. 13:16). Although Caiaphas pronounced judgment on our Savior, although He was mocked by the Jews and in these days was condemned by Pilate; nevertheless, the voice of the Father that came to Him is much more excellent and significant: “and I glorified” (Him), “and again I will glorify” (John 12:28). 4) For what He endured for our sake is temporary; and that He became our Redeemer, this will endure forever. So, my beloved, having considered this, we should no longer indulge in gluttony, but must glorify the Lord - above all else, glorify Him who died for us, as Paul says: “If we are foolish, O God, if we are chaste, it is for you” (2 Cor. 5:13). And if it really is so that one died for all, then all died for Him; and He died for all, so that we who live should no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who died for us and rose again (2 Cor. 5:14-15). For we must no longer live for ourselves, but as servants of the Lord, so that we do not receive the gift of grace in vain, especially since “now is the time acceptable” (2 Cor. 6:2), and the death of our Redeemer is the day of salvation (ours). And if for our sake the Word humbled Himself and, not subject to corruption, for the sake of the redemption of us all, put on a corruptible body, of which Paul has firm confidence, who said: “It is fitting for this corruptible to put on incorruptibility” (1 Cor. 15, 53); and if the Lord offered Himself as a sacrifice in order to abolish death with His Blood, then it is not in vain that in some place He reproaches those who in vain became partakers of His shed Blood and did not find delight in the Flesh of the Word, so saying: “What profit is there in My blood, if I never descend into corruption” (Psalm 29:10)? This is not because the humiliation of the Lord was useless, for (through it) He acquired the whole world; but since He endured such suffering, those who continue to sin should all the more have to (reflect on the choice): whether to suffer deprivation or receive benefit; for He counts our salvation as His own gain and gain, as well as vice versa: He considers our destruction to be His own deprivation. 5) Thus, in the Gospel, He praises those who increased the gift: the one who multiplied five talents to ten and the one who multiplied two to four, as such, who made an acquisition and received benefit; and the one who buried the talent (in the ground), He rejects as having suffered loss, with these words: “You wicked servant, ... it is fitting for you to give My money as a trader; and I came and took what was mine with interest. Take the talent from him, and give to the one who has ten talents.” To everyone “for whoever has it everywhere, more will be given and he will have abundance; From the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And cast the unspeakable servant into utter darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:26-30). For He does not want the gift of grace that we have received to remain without increase, but we must also diligently take care of fruit-bearing, as blessed Paul says: “But spiritual fruit is love, joy, peace” (Gal. 5:22); since he (the Apostle) had a good conscience, did not harm anyone in any way, but was everything to everyone, he became a teacher of such a good mood, saying this: “render to everyone what is due” (Rom. 13:7). He became like those who were sent by the Master of the House in order to receive the fruits of the vineyard from the tenants (Matthew 21:33-39); he also tried hard to do justice to everyone; but Israel neglected the duty of retribution, not having a good conscience; he killed the messengers and even had no fear of the Lord of the vineyard, for He too was put to death by them (the sons of Israel). When He appeared and found no fruit in them, He cursed them through the fig tree, saying: “Let there be no more fruit from you forever” (Matthew 21:19)! and the fig tree withered and became barren, so that the disciples were amazed that it was withered. 6) Then what the Prophet said was fulfilled: “And I will destroy from them the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom, and the voice of the bride, the fragrance of the world, and the light of the lamp. And this whole land will be desolate” (Jer. 25:10-11); for they have destroyed all legal service, henceforth they remain forever without the Holiday and do not celebrate Easter. Why? They have no (defined) place, but wander everywhere in dispersion and eat unleavened bread contrary to the Law, since they cannot first slaughter a lamb, as they were commanded to eat unleavened bread. Most of all, they violate the Law in everything and cause the punishment of the Divine judgment, since they institute days of sorrow instead of joy. The reason was that they put the Lord to death and did not fear the Only Begotten at all. The wicked heretics and senseless apostates are now suffering the same thing beyond all measure; those because they put the Word to death; these, because they tear (His) robe; and they are excommunicated from the Feast, because they do not live their lives in the spirit of piety and knowledge, but are jealous of the life of the thief Barabbas, whom the Jews interceded in place of the Redeemer. And therefore the Lord gave them over to a curse in the form of a fig tree... However, He spared them so much out of His love for mankind that He did not destroy the root at the same time; for He did not curse the root, but only deigned that no one should henceforth eat the fruit from it. Having done this, He destroyed, it is true, the shadow, since He condemned (the fig tree) to be withered; but He preserved the root, not so that we could be grafted into it; but so that they (the Jews), if they do not continue in their stubborn unbelief, can again be grafted into their own olive tree (Rom. 11:17 et al.). And now the Lord has condemned them for their negligence. 7) The festival of the new moon, the true lamb, and what was the true Passover passed for them, and this passed to us. That solemn day has also passed to us, on which we must announce the celebration by means of the sound of a trumpet, on which (day) we must excommunicate ourselves to the Lord with thanksgiving and look to Him as the basis of our triumph. For our duty is not to ourselves, but to the Lord, to celebrate Easter, to rejoice not in ourselves, but in the Lord, who bore our illnesses and said: “My soul is sorrowful unto death” (Matthew 26:38). Pagans and all people alien to our faith celebrate the festival to please themselves; but they have no peace because they sin against the Lord. And the saints who live for the Lord glorify Him solemnly, saying: I will rejoice in Your salvation, and let my soul rejoice in the Lord (Psalm 34:9). They also have a commandment that applies to all of them together: “The righteous rejoice in the Lord” (Psalm 32:1), so that they can form an assembly and together sing a solemn praise: let us rejoice not for ourselves, but for the Lord! 8) So Patriarch Abraham rejoiced not because he saw his day, but (the day) of the Lord (John 8:56); and thus, having hope, when he saw it (the day of the Lord), he rejoiced; and when he was tempted, he offered Isaac by faith (Heb. 11:17); he sacrificed his only begotten son, who (about him) received the promise; and, giving his son as a sacrifice, he offered worship to the Son of God; and when he was forbidden to slay Isaac, he saw Christ in the form of a lamb, giving Himself as a sacrifice to God. For the Patriarch, through Isaac, was only tempted, and (in reality) it was not he (Isaac) who was sacrificed, but the One about whom it was prophetically proclaimed in Isaiah that He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and like a dumb sheep before its shearers (Isa. 53:7), - He Who bears (on Himself) the sin of the world (John 1:29). Therefore, Abraham was forbidden to lay his hand on the boy, so that the Jews, if they wanted from the sacrifice of Isaac, would take a reason (for unbelief in Christ), the prophetic Words about our Redeemer, both in general, and especially those that were spoken through the Psalmist: “Thou didst not desire sacrifice and offering, but thou hast completed the body” (Psalm 39:7 ) and all those like them could not be attributed to the son of Abraham. 9) For the sacrifice did not consist in the righteousness of Isaac, but of Abraham, who offered it (the sacrifice), being thereby tempted. Therefore, God accepted the good will of the one who offered the sacrifice, but did not allow the one doomed to the sacrifice to be slain; for the death of Isaac could not free the world; but only the death of our Redeemer, by Whose plague we were all healed (Isa. 53:5). For He raised up those who fell, He healed the sick, He satisfied those who were hungry, He filled those who were deprived with abundance, and - what is most wondrous - He raised us all from the dead; since He abolished death, and raised us from disasters and sorrow to the peace and joy of this festival - a joy that will continue in heaven. Not only do we treat this with reverence, but for this reason heaven also rejoices with us and the whole Church of the “firstborn who are written in heaven” rejoices together (Heb. 12:23); and the Prophet proclaims this thus: “rejoice the heavens, for the God of Israel hath mercy: blow the trumpet of the foundations of the earth, let the mountains cry for joy, the hills, and all the trees that are upon them: for the God of Jacob has delivered, and Israel will be glorified” (Is. 44:23). And again: “rejoice heavens” and be glad, “let the mountains burst forth with joy, ... for God has had mercy on His people, and comforts His humble people” (Isaiah 49:13). 10) All creation, my brothers, solemnly celebrates and every breath, according to the Psalmist, praises the Lord (Psalm 150:6), for the sake of the overthrow of enemies and our deliverance, and - not in vain; for if there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents; then shouldn't it be much greater because of the destruction of sin and the resurrection of the dead? Oh, what a celebration! how great is the joy in heaven! How all the (heavenly) powers rejoice and rejoice when in our assemblies there is a voice of joy and sacred vigils - which, of course, at all times (befits us), and even more so takes place during the Easter festival. After all, they (the inhabitants of heaven) see how those who have sinned repent, having turned away their faces, turn them again, and those who were previously in lusts and debauchery now humble ourselves by fasting and sobriety, and finally to the fact that the devil lies, devoid of strength, lifeless, bound hand and foot, so that we mock him, saying, death, where is your victory? hell, where is your sting? - and we sing songs of praise to the Lord for the victory. 11) Who will lead us to that Angelic army? Who, having achieved the grace of the heavenly festival and the triumph of the Angels, could say with the Prophet in this way: “For I will go to the place of the wondrous settlement, even to the house of God, in the voice of joy and confession, the noise of the celebration” (Psalm 41:5)? And to this we are also encouraged by those saints who say: “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob” (Isa. 2:3). However, such a celebration is not for the unclean, and sinners have no access to it at all, but only the virtuous and diligent and living according to the example of the saints. For “who will ascend to the mountain of the Lord? or who will stand in His holy place? He is innocent in hand and pure in heart, who does not take his soul in vain, and does not swear by his sincere flattery. This one, when he rises, will receive a blessing from the Lord” (Psalm 23:3-5), as the Psalmist adds. But it is clear that this blessing is the one that the Lord grants to those who stand at His right hand when He says: “Come, blessed ones, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34)! But he who is deceitful and unclean in heart will not inherit anything pure, as the book of Proverbs says: “Nothing is good for the wicked son” (Proverbs 13:13). In general, since he is alien to saints of a different kind, he will be considered unworthy of eating the Paschal Lamb, for no foreigner should eat from him (Ex. 12:43). So Judas, when he intended to celebrate the Easter supper, because he intended wickedness against the Savior, was expelled from the upper room and from the host of the Apostles; for the Law commanded that the Passover lamb be eaten with due diligence; he (Judas), as soon as he ate from it, was possessed by the devil, who entered his soul. 12) Therefore, we must not act as if we were celebrating the Easter festival on earth, but as if we were celebrating it with the Angels in heaven; we must praise the Lord in purity, righteousness and other virtues, we must not triumph for ourselves, but in the Lord, so that we may become joint heirs with the saints. So let us celebrate like Moses; to watch like David, who, rising seven times, even at midnight, gave thanks to God for the sake of His righteous judgments (Psalm 119, 164, 62); (we must) wake up in the morning, as he says: early I will appear before You, and You will look at me; early You hear my voice 111; (we must) fast like Daniel, pray, as Paul commands, without ceasing, learning to know the proper time for prayer - all of us, and especially those who are in an honest marriage - so that, by thus struggling and thus celebrating, we may enter into the joy of our Lord in (His) Heavenly Kingdom. But how Israel, when he wanted to march to Jerusalem, was purified in the desert, taught in order to forget about Egyptian customs; and since the Word willed that the holy Pentecost should be established for us; then we must first take care of our purity and integrity; so that, starting with this and giving ourselves over to abstinence, we could in the same way ascend with the Lord into the heavenly upper room, partake of the supper with Him and become partakers of heavenly bliss. For there is no other way to reach Jerusalem and partake of the Paschal Lamb, unless we first begin the forty-day Fast. 13) So, we begin the Pentecost from the beginning of the month of Phamenoth 112 and, continuing it until 5 Farmuth 113, we then find the rest of the early Sunday and Saturday days. And then we begin the holy days of Easter on the sixth Farmuf 114 and stop fasting on the eleventh of the same month 115 in the late evening, after which the bright day of resurrection shines for us - the twelfth Farmuf 116, the blessed radiance of which continuously spreads throughout the seven weeks of the Holy Week. Pentecost, on the days of which we, having stopped fasting, must unceasingly complete the triumph of the Easter festival in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom may the Father be honor and power forever and ever, Amen! All the brothers who are with me greet you! Greet each other with a holy kiss. End of the sixth festive message of the holy and God-bearing Athanasius The seventh holiday letter (335) of the same (St. Athanasius), according to which Sunday (Easter) was the fourth of Farmufa, on the third day of the April calends 117, - the age of the moon was 20, - in the fifty-first year (of the era) of Diocletian 118, in the consulate of Julius Constantius, brother of Augustus 119, and Rufinus Albinus; in the days of the same eparch Philagrios, in the eighth year of the indiction. 1) Blessed Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he always carries in his body the deadness of (the Lord) Jesus (2 Cor. 4:10); – he wrote not because he was the only one (he was); but so that they (the Corinthians), as well as we, may be glorified in the same thing and in this be his imitators, my brethren. And this praise is not anything extraordinary - at any time, for all of us. David appropriates it to himself in the Psalms, when he says: “For your sake we are killed all day long, being counted as sheep of the slaughter” (Psalm 43:23). But it is fitting that the same should be done on our part, especially on the days of Easter, when the death of our Redeemer is solemnly commemorated. And whoever wants to be an imitator of His death must shine with deeds of virtue, putting to death “the evils of the earth,” crucifying the flesh with passions and lusts, living in the spirit, according to the spirit and acting (Gal. 5:24-25); at all times he must remember God, never forget about Him, never do what belongs to death. Therefore, so that we too may bear the death of (the Lord) Jesus on our body, he immediately adds, indicating at the same time the way to such communion (with the Lord): “having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written: having believed, having spoken the same; and we believe, and we speak the same” (2 Cor. 4:13). And also about the gift of grace that comes from firm faith, he adds, saying: He who raised up Jesus will raise us up with Jesus and will place us with you before Him (2 Cor. 4:14). 2) With such hope and such conviction, the saints deepen this true life; for, in any case, they will also receive heavenly joy, which the wicked neglect, inevitably depriving themselves of the bliss that comes from it; For the wicked will be rejected, so that he will not see the glory of the Lord. And at least they heard the voice of promise addressed to everyone: “Arise from sleep, and rise from the dead” (Eph. 5:14)! even if they were resurrected and even reached heaven, they could knock and say: “Open to us!” yet, nevertheless, the Lord would reproach them, as such, who were far from knowing Him, saying: “We do not know you” (Luke 13:25, 27). And the Holy Spirit loudly exclaims against them: “let sinners return to hell, all the nations who forget God” (Psalm 9:18). And we say to the atheists that they must be overthrown - not (only) for the sake of their subjection to sin - as they do not, like the saints, bear the deadness (of the Lord) on their bodies; but also because they bury their very soul in sins and crimes, retiring to the dead and feeding it (the soul) with dead food, like the chicks of birds of prey that descend from a height onto the corpses of those who are truly dead. The Law already warned them against (using) them, giving a command that had educational significance: not only the bird of prey and everything that devours carrion, but also everyone who eats any carrion, let them be unclean (Deut. 14:21). And since they destroy the soul in (their) lusts, they say nothing more than: “We will drink and die in the morning” (Is. 22:13)! And what self-interest do those who are so devoted to the pleasures of sensuality have? He (the Prophet) immediately adds about this, saying: “And this essence is revealed in the ear of the Lord of hosts, for that sin will not be forgiven you until you die” (Is. 22:14). For during their lifetime they will be put to shame, because they honor their own belly instead of God; and when they die, they will have to endure torment for boasting about such a death. Therefore, Paul testifies to this as follows: “Fashion is the belly, and the belly is meat; God will bring to naught both this and this” (1 Cor. 6:13). And the Divine Word announced about them even earlier: “the death of sinners is cruel, and those who hate the righteous will sin” (Psalm 33:22). For the worm is tormenting and darkness is heavy - this is the inheritance of the wicked. 3) And how saints and truly devoted to virtues mortify their evils, “even on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust” (Col. 3:5), therefore remaining in purity and immaculateness; and they place their hope in the promise of our Redeemer, Who says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, that they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8); then a blessed death awaits them, as those who died for the world and rejected the cares of life, for “the death of His saints is honorable before the Lord” (Psalm 115:6). They, as imitators of the example of the Apostle, can say this: “You have been crucified with Christ; No one lives, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:19–20); and life in Christ is true life. Although they died to the world, they still live as if in heaven, turning their gaze to what is above; as he who loved such abodes says: while we live on earth, we have our dwelling in heaven (Phil. 3:20). But only those who live like this and have achieved such perfection can glorify God, and this should be considered a real holiday, a true triumph. No care for one's breasts, no pomp of clothing (1 Tim. 2, 9), nor the vain observation of days; but the thought addressed to God, and the grateful sacrifice offered to Him through glorifying Him, constitutes this celebration. And this is available only to the saints who live in Christ, for it is written: “The dead will not praise you, Lord, nor will all those who descend into hell, but we who are alive will bless the Lord, from now and forever” (Psalm 113:25-26). Just like Hezekiah, after being delivered from death, he praised God for this: “For those in hell will not praise You, nor will those who are dead bless You; ...while they live they will bless Thee, as I did” (Is. 38:18–19); for those who live only in Christ have access to the praise and glorification of God, through which they achieve (true) celebration; for Easter is not a pagan holiday and not a holiday of those who still remain Jews in the flesh; but those who know the truth in Christ; like the one who, having been sent to announce this festival, exclaims: “Our Passover for us, Christ was devoured” (1 Cor. 5:7). 4) Therefore, when the wicked flock in crowds to celebrate Easter in the company of the saints, and during the celebration they glorify God, God rejects them (doxology), saying to the sinner: “What kind of justifications have you told me” (Psalm 49:16)? and the Holy Spirit meekly removes them, saying: “praise is not sweet in the mouth of a sinner” (Sir. 15:9); no sin takes place when God is glorified, for the sinner has a mouth that speaks perverse things, according to the words of the book of Proverbs: “The lips of the wicked speak evil” (Prov. 15:28). Is it possible to praise God with unclean lips? This is impossible, because in this way the contradiction is revealed 120. “What has righteousness to do with lawlessness?” - “or some kind of communication between light and darkness?” - exclaims Paul, the minister of the Gospel (2 Cor. 6:14). Therefore, sinners and all aliens to the Catholic Church, heretics and apostates, since they are excluded from participating in the glorification of the saints, in justice, remain excommunicated from the holiday; and the righteous, even if it seems that he has died for the world, has unashamed hope when he says: “I will not die, but I will live, and I will tell” all Your wonders (Psalm 117:17). And God Himself does not hesitate to call the God of those who actually killed “the evils of the earth,” but are alive in Christ. For God is the God of the living, and not of the dead; through His living Word He gives life to everyone, gives food and life to the saints, just as the Lord exclaims about this: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), regarding which the Jews, since they became sick through eating such food, as they did not have skill and experience in virtue and did not have an attraction to such food; They were indignant that He said: I am the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to people (John 6:33). 5) Sin also has its own food, leading to death, so that it calls out to the lustful and insane in this way: “touch the sweetness of the hidden bread, and drink the sweet water of the tabha”; whoever tastes of this, he only “does not know that her earth-born 121 perish” (Prov. 9, 17-18). And although the sinner desires to have pleasure from this, yet after (such) food he will not find a prosperous end, as the Wisdom of God again says: “The bread of lies is sweet to man; but then his mouth will be filled with stones” (Prov. 20:17); and: “Honey drips from the lips of a harlot’s wife, which delights your throat for a while; But you will find something bitterer than gall, and a cunning thing worse than a two-edged sword” (Prov. 5:3-4). And when he feeds in this way and receives only short-term pleasure, he will soon be given over to torment, because he neglects his own soul and does not want to know, foolishly, that those who move away from God perish. Again, in agreement with this, the prophetic admonition deviates from this when it says: “What is the way of Egypt to you? “You should drink the water of Geon, and what is the way of the Assyrians to you, so that you may drink the water of the river” (Jer. 2:18)? And the wisdom of God, who loved people, loudly warns against this: “jump back, do not hesitate in her place, direct your eye lower to her; So you will pass through strange water, and you will pass over a strange river” (Proverbs 9:18). She calls to herself like this: “wisdom built for itself a house, and established seven pillars; You have sacrificed your sacrificial offering, and dissolved the wine in your cups, and prepared your meal. He sent his servants, convening with a high sermon to the cup, saying: whoever is mad, let him turn aside to me; and to those who require intelligence, he says: Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine that I have dissolved for you” (Proverbs 9:1-5). And what kind of reward can they expect for this? Leave foolishness so that you may live; and seek understanding, so that you may do what is right (Prov. 9:6) The bread of wisdom brings the fruits of life, as the Lord says: “I am the bread of life that came down from heaven; If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51). For, although Israel ate manna, this truly pleasant and wonderful food. he died, and none of those who fed on it could live forever. And that this whole host died in the desert, the Lord affirms in these words: “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the desert and died; This is the bread that comes down from heaven, even if no one dies from it” (John 6:48-50). 6) The wicked now suffer deprivation of such bread; “For the souls of husbands will hunger for their like wives” (Prov. 18:8). And only the saint, insofar as he prepares himself for this, is filled with satiety and can say: “I will appear before Thy face in righteousness; I will be satisfied, never to be revealed to Your glory” (Psalm 16:15). Whoever once becomes a partaker of the Divine bread will always be tormented by desire, and for the one who hungers for it, it will become an incessant, eternal gift, just as Wisdom gives the following promise: “The Lord will not kill a righteous soul with famine” (Proverbs 10:3). The same is promised in the Psalms: “I will bless his catch, I will satisfy his poor’s bread” (Psalm 131:15). But let us also listen to our Redeemer Himself, who says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Therefore, it is quite understandable that the saints and those who have loved life in Christ feel within themselves the hunger for such fast food; and that saint (the Psalmist) prays like this: “In the same way that the trees desire the springs of water, my soul desires thee, God; my soul thirsts for the mighty living God; when will I come and appear before the face of God” (Psalm 41:2–3)? and he says: “O God, my God, to You in the morning: my soul has thirsted for You, since my flesh is a multitude of You, in a land that is empty and impenetrable and without water. Thus I appeared to You in the Holy One, to see Your power and Your glory” (Psalm 63:2-3). 7) And if this is so, my brethren, then we must put to death “the evils that are on the earth” and eat from the heavenly Bread in faith and love for God, since we know that without faith it is not possible to become a partaker of this Bread. For our Redeemer, when He called everyone to Himself and said: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37), he immediately added about faith, without which no one can partake of this waste, saying: “Believe in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow out of his belly” (John 7, 38). Therefore, He fed the disciples who had faith at all times from His words and revived them by the proximity of His Divinity. But the Canaanite wife, since she was still an unbeliever, (at first) He did not deign to give any answer, although she had a need to receive food from Him; and He did not do so out of contempt - let it not be! - for the Lord was philanthropic and good, that is why he came to the countries of Tire and Sidon; but because of her lack of faith and the lack of understanding of her behavior. And so He acted quite justly, my brethren; for this could not be useful for her while she preferred her request to faith; on the contrary, in faith only her petition could have its justification. For he who comes to God must first become a believer, and only “He is a rewarder of those who seek Him: without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6) - Paul teaches about this. since she did not yet have faith until that time, He gives her admonition according to her position, saying: “It is not good for a child to take away bread and damage it for a dog” (Matthew 15:26). And she, as soon as she was amazed by the power of the word and changed her understanding, acquired faith; for the Lord no longer speaks to her as to a dog, but as to a man - like this: “O woman, great is your faith!” just as, since she believed, He immediately gives her the fruit of faith and says: “Be it as you wish; and she was destroyed from that hour” (Matthew 15:28). 8) The righteous, nourished by faith and knowledge and deeds (corresponding to) Divine words, has a sound soul at all times. Therefore, he (Paul) commands to receive to himself those who are weak in faith and to feed him, if not with bread, then at least with vegetables: “if you are exhausted with potions (yes) eat” (Rom. 14: 1-2). So the Corinthians could not immediately become partakers of this bread, since they were still babies and, like babies, they drank milk; for everyone who needs milk, according to the same Divine man, “is unskilled in the word of righteousness” (Heb. 5:13). The Apostle commands his beloved (spiritual) son Timothy in his first letter to feed on the words of faith and follow good teaching (1 Tim. 4:6); and in the second he says: “Have the manner of sound words, which you heard from Me, in faith and love, even in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:13). And not only here, my brethren, does this bread constitute the food of the righteous, and not only do the saints who struggle on earth feed on this Bread and Blood, but in heaven we will also eat (similar) food; for the Lord is the food of the highest spirits and Angels, He is the source of bliss of all heavenly powers, He is everything to everyone, and He has mercy on everyone according to His love for mankind. The Lord has already given us Angel food, but He also promises it to (all) those who, in the face of temptation, remain faithful to Him to the end, saying this: “And I command you, as My Father commanded Me the kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom: and you will sit on thrones, judging the two ten tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28-30). What a feast, my brothers! how great is the peace and joy of those who partake of the heavenly table! They do not enjoy the food that is cast out, but the food that creates eternal life. Who will be worthy of this host? Who is so blessed as to be worthy of an invitation to the Divine Supper? Verily, blessed is he who eats a meal in Your Kingdom! For whoever is recognized as worthy of the heavenly city will find salvation in this city. 9) And whoever considers Bread to be nothing, even if he washes himself, will remain unclean; because he considers the Blood of the covenant, by which he was sanctified, to be ordinary and insults the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29); he will have to hear: “friend, why did you come in without a wedding garment” (Matthew 22:12)? The Supper of the saints is immaculate and pure: “for many are the callings, but few are the chosen” (Matthew 22:14). Judas, for example, having come to supper, withdrew from the Face of the Lord, because he trampled the Bread; and as he left his life, he hanged himself. And the disciples, who remained with the Redeemer all the time, became partakers of the bliss of the supper. That young man who went “to a far country” and squandered his property in debauchery, when he feels drawn to the Divine meal, will come to his senses and say: “However, as my father’s hired servants run out of bread, I perish with famine!” and then he will get up, go to his father and, admitting his sin, will say: “I have sinned in heaven and before you, and your son is no longer worthy to be called; make me as one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:13, 17–19). And when he makes such a confession, he will receive more than he asks for. For his father will not accept him as a mercenary, nor will he look upon him as a stranger; but like a son he kisses him, he revives him, who was once dead; will honor him with the Divine meal; will give him his former glorious clothing, so that there will be joy and rejoicing in his father’s house about this. 10) For such is the work of love for mankind and such is the goodness of the Father, that He not only raises from the dead, but also enlightens with the grace of the Holy Spirit. For instead of corruption He clothes him with a robe of incorruptibility; to eliminate famine He slaughters a fatted calf; in order for him to no longer go “to a distant country”, He surrounds him with cares, upon his return, giving him shoes on his feet, and - what is most wonderful - He places the sign of Divine betrothal on his hand; through all this, reviving him as an image of the glory of Christ. Such are the grace-filled gifts of the Father, with which the Lord glorifies and nourishes those who remain patient with Him, as well as those who, returning to Him, do repentance; His promise about this is this: “I am the bread of life; He who comes to Me will never be thirsty, and if you believe in Me, you will never be thirsty again” (John 6:35). And we will become partakers of great gifts, if only we are always committed to our Redeemer; if we do not only observe these six days of the Easter festival, we will observe ourselves in purity, but we will also look at our entire life as a holiday; if we remain close (to Him) and do not move away, saying to Him like this: “the words of the life of the eternal imashi: to whom are we going” (John 6:68)? We, who were (once) in a distant land, will now return, confessing our iniquities, not holding anything against anyone and destroying in the spirit the deeds of the flesh. If here we feed our soul in this way in advance, then we will be worthy of participating in the heavenly and Divine meal together with the Angels; and when we knock, we will not be rejected like the five foolish virgins; but we will be able to enter with the Lord, like the wise virgins whom the Bridegroom loved; By showing the death of Jesus on our bodies, we will receive from Him life and the Kingdom of Heaven. We begin Lent on the twenty-third (day) of the month of Mehira 123, and the holy fast of the blessed feast (Easter) - on the twenty-eighth of Phamenoth 124; and, adding to this the next six days of fasting and vigil, according to the strength of each, on the third (day) of the month Farmufa 125, on Saturday evening, we stop fasting; so that the holy day, bringing with it bliss to all, named after Christ, that is, called Lordly 126, comes for us (on the fourth day of Farmufa 127; adding to this the celebration of Holy Pentecost, we will always render worship to the Father in Christ, through Whom and with Whom be honor and power to Him in the Holy Spirit in forever and ever, Amen! All the brothers who are with me greet you! Greet each other into the world with a holy kiss! End of the seventh holiday message of St. Athanasius, Patriarch The eighth and ninth holiday messages are missing, because he (St. Athanasius) did not write for the reason mentioned above. Tenth Feast Epistle of Saint Athanasius In the consulate of Ursus and Polemius, in the days of the same Theodore eparch 128 from Iliopolis; after him, Philagry from the Orthodox (party) was eparch for two years; - in the eleventh year of the indiction, when Sunday (Easter) was on the seventh day of the April calends 129, that is, the thirtieth of Phamenoph, - the age of the moon was 181/2 130, - in the fifty-fourth year (of the era) of Diocletian 131. 1) Although all this time, my brethren, I have been at a distance from you, I could not forget about the custom preserved by you, handed down from the Fathers, so much so that I remain silent and do not announce the time of the annual holy holiday of Easter, as well as its most solemn day. For, although I was struck by disasters, as you, of course, heard about it, and cruel trials burdened me, to which was added the distance of the distance, namely, the enemies of the truth, in their persecution, tracked us down in order to intercept some of our writings and thereby accuse us and increase the pain of our wounds; but we were not at all afraid, even from the ends of the earth, to write to you and announce our saving holiday of Easter; since the Lord has now strengthened and comforted us in our sorrows, although we are still in a straitened position amid so many disasters and dangers. And I wrote to the Alexandrian presbyters in the hope that this message would reach you through them, although I knew well what fear was instilled in them by the enemies; but contrary to this, I urged them to remember the boldness of the Apostle and says: nothing can separate us from the love of Christ: neither sorrow, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor danger, nor sword (Rom. 8:35)! And since now I am preparing to celebrate (Easter) in this way, I wish that you, my beloved, could also celebrate this celebration; and since I know well that notification of the holiday is my duty, I did not hesitate to fulfill what was due (on my part), fearing to become guilty in relation to the Apostolic Instruction, which reads: “Render unto all what is due” (Rom. 13:7). 2) And since from now on I surrendered everything that concerned me to the will of God, I was concerned with celebrating the holiday together with you, for I in no way think that I am far from you. Although space separates us, the Lord, the Founder of the festival, unites us in like-mindedness, unanimity and in a union of peace. For if we feel and think the same thing, we send up the same prayers for each other, then no distance can separate us: the Lord Himself gathers and unites us. If the Lord promised, where two or three are gathered in His name, to be among them (Matthew 18:20), then it is clear that the Lord unites those who make up assemblies in different places, since He is in the midst of them, and accepts the prayer of everyone, as if they were close (one to the other) and hears everyone when they all at the same time loudly exclaim Amen. I have endured such calamities and all these trials, my brethren, as I already mentioned when I wrote to you; and in order not to sadden you, now I just wanted to briefly remind you of this..... 3) So, it is not appropriate for anyone, especially in prosperity, to forget about the sorrows caused by suffering; so that such a person, as ungrateful and forgetful, does not find himself outside the Divine host; for at other times no one feels such a disposition to doxology as after suffering sorrows; and such gratitude is never offered as after peace from former misfortunes and temptations; So Hezekiah, when the Assyrians were defeated, glorified the Lord and offered thanks, saying: “O Lord, my salvation, and I will not cease blessing Thee with song all the days of my life right to the house of God” (Is. 38:20). Those three holy men who suffered temptation in Babylon, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, as soon as they received weakening, and the fire became dew for them, they gave praise and thanksgiving and proclaimed a song of praise to God. As they (acted), so did I; With this in mind I am writing to you, my brothers! For what was never impossible with men, God made possible; and what they considered impossible. The Lord clearly brought it to pass; for He brings us to you, and does not deliver us up as a prey to those who were striving to devour us. They cannot completely suppress us with their malice, as well as the Church and pious faith! 4) Although they counted on this, God, since He is good, generously poured out the gifts of His love for mankind on us: not only when He gave us all common salvation through His Word; but even now, when enemies are pursuing us and trying to capture us; just as blessed Paul in one place, proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, says: “Now God, who is rich in mercy, for His abundant love with which He loved us, and made us alive as dead sinners in Christ” (Eph. 2:4.5). For the power of men and all creatures is weak and insufficient, but that Power, which is above men and non-created nature, is abundant and immeasurable and has no end; She is eternal. Therefore, She possesses the gift of mercy not just of any kind; but since She is rich, She also realizes our salvation in many different ways through Her Word, which, being limitless, does not move away from us either; but, being diverse and full of abundance, it changes according to the state of the soul of each. For He (Christ) is the Word and the Power and the Wisdom of God, just as Solomon also affirms regarding wisdom: “the only thing that exists is capable of all things, and abiding in itself, renews all things, and by generation passes into the souls of the saints, makes friends of God and the prophets” (Wisdom 7:27). It is for some, since they have not yet entered the path of perfection, that Christ is like a lamb fed on milk, which is offered by the hand of Paul: “You have drunk milk, not meat” (1 Cor. 3:2); for others who have passed the age of childhood, and He appears in adolescence, and as for those more capable of improvement, He, according to their condition, is that food that is again offered by Paul: the one who is weak, “potions and food” (Rom. 14:2). And as soon as a person begins to walk along the most perfect path, he no longer feeds on milk and dairy products, which were previously mentioned; but from now on he needs bread, for which he serves (God) the Word, and His Flesh (serves him) as food. For it is written: “But those who are perfect eat solid food; those who have sense are trained by long learning” (Heb. 5:14). And when (the seed) - the word is scattered, then in this human life the harvest of fruits is unequal, but varied in abundance, for it (the seed) brings a hundredfold... 5) He wept, for if they had understood what is written in the songs of praise (Psalms), they would not have come out in vain and so boldly against the Redeemer, since the Holy Spirit said: “The nations reeled in all directions, and the people learned in vain” (Ps. 2:1)? If they had kept in mind the prophecy of Moses, they would not have hung their lives on the cross (Deut. 28:66); if they had wisely discussed what was written, they would not have boldly, as now, spoken about the prophecies written about them, such as: their city will be desolate, mercy will be taken away from them; and also: they will be outside the law and will no longer be called sons, but strangers. Thus, the Holy Spirit had already loudly cried out in the Psalms: “the strange sons of the liar Mi” (Ps. 17:45); and through the prophet Isaiah: “they gave birth to sons and were exalted, but they rejected Me” (Is. 1:2), they will no longer be called the people of God and the holy tribe, but the princes of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah (Is. 1:9); have they already surpassed the wickedness of the Sodomites, as the Prophet again says: Sodom is justified more than you? 132 For the Sodomites sinned against the Angels, and these even dared to put to death the Lord and God, the almighty King and Ruler of the Angels; because they did not know that Christ, whom they had put to death, was alive; and those Jews, who acted so godlessly against the Lord, died, having only enjoyed this vanity for a short time and thereby deprived of eternity; for in this too they were mistaken, that it is not temporary luxury, but the hope of eternal life that has the guarantee of immortality. Through many sorrows, disasters and sufferings the righteous man marches to the Kingdom of Heaven; and when he comes to the place from where “sickness and grief and sighing have fled” (Is. 35:10), then he will find joy, like Job, who here endured temptation, and there became a friend of the Lord. He who loves luxury enjoys only a short time, and then leads a life of sorrow; like Esau, who here received temporary food, was rejected there. 6) The exit of the sons of Israel and the Egyptians from Egypt represents, one might say, an example that explains this difference. Namely, the Egyptians, who only enjoyed the oppression of Israel for a short time, as soon as they left (Egypt), they all fell into the abyss; and the people of God, who also suffered beatings and were oppressed only for a short time due to the cruelty of the guards (Ex. 3:7), upon leaving Egypt, crossed the Red Sea without difficulty and walked through the desert as if through an inhabited land. For, although the desert, according to the usual misconception of man, is a place abandoned; however, through the grace-filled gift of the Law, as well as through cohabitation with the Angels, it is no longer a forgotten land, but much more justly an inhabited land; like Elisha, (for example), who believed that he was alone in the desert, cohabited with a host of Angels. In this way, after the people were oppressed and lived in the desert, now, having become believers, they headed to the Promised Land, which they patiently strove to achieve. In the same way, those who are temporarily oppressed here then move towards blissful pleasure, since they endured to the end; and those who are pursuing us here will be defeated and will not have a good end; like the rich man who lived here, according to the false testimony of the Gospel, for a short time in joy, and then became hungry, and after the abundance of drinks here suffered the greatest thirst. Lazarus, who in this temporary life had to suffer, was comforted in heaven, and after suffering here a shortage of ordinary bread made from wheat flour, there he had something superior to manna to satisfy him - the Lord, who came down and said: “I am the bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:41) and I give life to men. 7) Oh, beloved! if disaster is followed by consolation, suffering is followed by tranquility, illness is followed by recovery, death is followed by immortality, then one should not be discouraged by what temporarily befalls people; one should not be sad because of upcoming temptations; it is not proper to be afraid when a nonentity fighting with Christ openly rebels against piety; but much more, under such circumstances, we must please God and consider this necessary for (acquiring) experience and for exercising in a virtuous life. How would it be possible to notice patience when there would have been no difficulties or sorrows before? How could one know firmness if no enemy attack occurred? How can courage be seen if there was no reproach and injustice before? or how can longsuffering be known if there were no oppression on the part of the opponents of Christ? and in general, how can one recognize virtue with one’s own eyes if vice had not previously revealed itself in the face of the vicious? This is how our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ suffered, because He, wanting to show people an example of suffering, endured this “whoever is reproached against him is not reproached, the suffering is not forgiven” (1 Peter 2:23); but He turned His ribs for blows and His cheeks for strangling, did not turn His Face away from spitting, and generally deigned to be led to death, so that we could joyfully look at Him as an image of complete perfection and immortality. 8) And if each of us behaves according to these examples, we will actually have the opportunity to “tread on the serpent and the scorpion, and all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). So Paul, as one who himself followed the example of the Lord, encourages us to do the same, saying: “Be imitators of me, as I was of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Thus he acquired strength against the entire army of the devil, writing the following: “We have learned that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present, nor future, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, even in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:38, 39). For in disasters, trials and sorrows the enemy approaches us, subjecting us to temptation and trying to destroy everything. And a person who lives in Christ, when he fights with opponents and contrasts rage with meekness, humility, dishonor and vice with virtue, wins the final victory, saying: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13) and: “In all these we overcome for the sake of those who love us” Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:37). This is the gracious gift of the Lord, these are the means of correction coming from the Lord for people! For He suffered so that the man who suffered in Him might be prepared for insensibility towards suffering; He descended to raise us up, He subjected Himself to the test of fertility, so that we might love Him uncreated; He humbled Himself to the point of corruption, so that what is corruptible could put on immortality; He became weak for our sakes, that we might arise in strength; He descended to death in order to give us immortality and make the dead alive; in a word, He became man, so that we, who had become mortal men, would come to life, and death would no longer have dominion over us; for “death” is “to him who does not possess” us (Rom. 6:9), says the Apostolic Word. 9) And since now these Arionists, Christ-fighters and heretics have not understood this, they arm themselves with their tongues against the Savior, blaspheme the Liberator and invent completely incongruous things against the Redeemer. It is precisely because of Him that they are humiliated, for the sake of the former people, they reject His Divinity in essence; seeing His descent from the Virgin, they doubt that He is truly the Son of God; seeing that He became man in time, they deny His eternity; reflecting on what He endured for our sake, they do not believe that He is the immutable Son of the immutable Father; and in general, since He suffered for our sake, they reject what is inherent in His actual eternal existence. And since they attract retribution for their ingratitude, despising the Savior and instead of being grateful for mercy, they even more revile Him, then it would be quite fair to say to each of them: O ungrateful one. a fighter against Christ, godless beyond measure, a murderer of his Master, blind in the eyes of his soul and a Jew in his way of thinking! if only you understood the Scripture and listened to the saints, some of whom say: “Illuminate Your face and we will be saved” (Ps. 79:4), and others: “Send forth Your light and Your truth” (Ps. 42:3); then you would know that the Lord descended not for His own sake, but for our sake, and you would even more marvel at His love for mankind; if you had thought about what the Father is and what the Son is, then you would in no case say in reproach to Him that the Son came from change; and if you had understood the work of His love for mankind, perfect for our good, then you would not have alienated the Son from the Father, and you would not have considered the One who reconciled us to His Father to be alien (to Him). 10) I know well that this confuses not only those who oppose Christ, but also apostates; for for the future, considering themselves brothers, they united with each other and, since they have learned to tear apart the unsewn robe of the Lord, they do not consider it inappropriate to separate the inseparable Son from the Father. I know that when this is said, they, together with the devil inciting them, will gnash their teeth at us, confused by the proclamation of true praise to our Redeemer. But the Lord, who shames the devil at all times, does this now, saying: “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me” (John 14:11). He is the Lord, seen in the Father, and in Him the Father is also seen; He, being the true Son of the Father, finally became man for our sake, in order to give Himself up for us as a sacrifice to the Father and to redeem us through His sacrifice and offering (Eph. 5:2). He is the One who in ancient times brought the people out of Egypt, and finally, all of us, or, better to say, the entire human race, redeemed us from death and raised us up from hell. He is the One who from time immemorial was sacrificed like a lamb, and was symbolically represented in the lamb, and finally offered Himself as a sacrifice for us; “For our Passover was devoured for us, Christ” (1 Cor. 5:7). He is the One who freed us from the snares of hunters - I mean Christ-fighters and apostates - and saved us again for His Church. 11) Although we were once unfaithful, He has now saved us through Himself. So, my brethren, what can we reward for this, if not to praise and give thanks to God, the almighty King, and to proclaim what is written in the Book of Praises, saying this: “Blessed is the Lord, who did not let us into the snare of their teeth” (Ps. 123:6). Let us celebrate (Easter Day) as the way that He has again given us for salvation, so that we can also celebrate in heaven with the Angels. For in the same way, in ancient times, the Jewish people celebrated a festival when they were brought out of sorrow to calm, singing a solemn victory hymn. In the same way, the people at the time of Esther, having been delivered from the mortal danger that threatened them, celebrated a feast to the Lord, looking to Him precisely as the foundation of the celebration, giving Him thanks and glorifying Him in confession; for He brought the people out of that state (death) into this (life). Therefore, we too, paying our vows to the Lord and confessing our sins, will celebrate Easter to the Lord with purity of life, good behavior and good deeds, glorifying our Lord, who only punishes for a short time, but will not leave us completely and will not forsake us, and will not turn away from us in complete silence. When He now brought us out of Christ-fighting Egypt, which is well known for its lies, then through many trials and tribulations, as if through a desert, He brought us to His holy Church, so that we could now again, as usual, write to you and receive messages from you. Therefore, I pray to you all the more earnestly, so that when I glorify God with thanksgiving, you too may confess Him with me and for me, giving thanks; since this is the Apostolic custom, which the anti-Christians and heretics reject and want to turn into nothing; but the Lord does not allow this; rather, He renews and supports it, - He Who is presented by the Apostles as a model, so that we can all celebrate Easter together and celebrate the festival together at the same time, according to the tradition and testament of the Fathers. 12) So we begin the Pentecost on the nineteenth day of the month of Mehira 133, and the holy Fast of Easter on the twenty-fourth day of the month of Phamenoth 134; we permit Fasting on the twenty-ninth (day) of the same month of Phamenoth 135, late on Saturday evening; then we celebrate the day of resurrection, which shines for us on the thirtieth day of the same Phamenoth 136, and we celebrate, starting from here, all seven weeks of Pentecost in order. Having previously given ourselves over to thinking about this, as it should be, we will have the opportunity to become participants in eternal blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom may the Father be honored and powerful forever and ever, amen! Greet each other with a holy kiss, remembering us in your holy prayers. All the brothers who are with me greet you, keeping your memory at all times. That you may be healthy in our Lord, this is what I pray for, beloved and honored brethren! End of the tenth holiday message of St. Afanasia. Eleventh Feast Epistle of Saint Athanasius In the second consulate of Constantius Augustus and in the first of Constance, in the days of Philagrius the eparch, the Cappadocian, in the second year of his reign; in the twentieth (year) of indiction; when Sunday (Easter) was on the seventeenth day of the Kalends of May 137, that is, on the twentieth day of Farmuf; the era of Diocletian in the fifty-fifth year 138. 1) Blessed Paul, since he was filled with every virtue, was called (by the Lord Himself) as a faithful one (Gal. 1:15); for he did not know anything about himself (bad - 1 Cor. 4:4); but he strove more for that which was virtuous and praiseworthy, or that pertained to love and piety; and thus he was caught up even to the heavenly abodes and transferred to paradise, so that he, as having surpassed human life, would be exalted above men. And when he came down, he announced to everyone that “we understand in part, and we prophesy in part... now I understand in part, but then I know as I was known” (1 Cor. 13:9,12). In justice, he was recognized by the saints who are in heaven, as their fellow citizen; in relation to the future and the perfect, what we now learned from him was only “in part”, but in relation to what he was caught up to and what was revealed to him by the Lord, he himself was perfect, as he also says: “if we are perfect, let us be wise in these things” (Phil. 3:15). Just as the Gospel of Christ is the fulfillment and perfection of the ministry given to the Israelites through the Law; and the future will be the perfection of the present; for then the promises will come to fulfillment and believers will receive what they now expect, without seeing, as Paul says about this: “for whoever sees a thing, even if we do not hope for it,” 139 “we see, we hope, we wait with patience” (Rom. 8:24, 25). And when this blessed man was such, and he was entrusted with the gift of the grace of the apostleship, he wrote with benevolence that all people should be like him (Gal. 4:12); This virtue is love for mankind. And the assembly (of saints) in the Kingdom of Heaven is numerous: for thousands upon thousands serve the Lord there. Of course, one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven only by a narrow and cramped path, but whoever enters there will see an immeasurable breadth and space, sublime above everything, as depicted by those who became spectators and heirs of such things: You have laid sorrows before us (Ps. 65:11); and then, after sorrows, they say again: “thou hast brought us into rest” (Ps. 65:12) and again: “thou hast enlarged us in sorrow” (Ps. 4:2). Truly, my brethren, here the life of the saints is full of oppression; for they either endure sorrows, languishing with the desire for the future, like that (husband) who says: “Woe is me, for my coming continues” (Ps. 119:5), or they are sick and work for the salvation of others; So Paul writes to the Corinthians the following: “let not my God come again and humble me among you, and let me mourn for many who have sinned before and did not repent of uncleanness and fornication and the sins that I have committed” (2 Cor. 12:21); So Samuel mourned the death of Saul, and Jeremiah mourned the captivity of the people. And when, after grief, after such sadness and sighing, they move from this world, then Divine joy, bliss and rejoicing embrace them, from which illness, sadness and sighing flee. 9) Once we, my brothers, are strengthened in this, then we will never deviate from the path of virtue: and that we must be such, the Apostle convinces us of this in these words: “Be imitators of me, as I was of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). But to this end he exhorts not only the Corinthians, since he was not only their apostle; but it is better to say, since he was a teacher of (all) peoples in faith and piety, through this he convinces all of us; and in general, what he wrote to someone individually also has meaning as a command common to everyone. When he wrote to some in this way, he wanted to make a suggestion to some, as in the epistle to the Romans, Ephesians and Philemon; He reproaches others and is angry with them, as with the Corinthians and Galatians; and to others he gives instruction, like the Colossians and Thessalonians; He expresses his affection to the Philippians and rejoices for them; He teaches the Jews that for them the Law should be only a shadow; and he taught his chosen children Timothy and Titus (orally) when they were near him, and when they were at a distance, he reminded them of this (through messages); in short, he was everything to everyone. And since this man was perfect, he gave his instructions according to the need of each; so that by all means he might save at least some, and therefore his word would not be fruitless; but planted everywhere, it bears fruit even to this day. 3) Why, my beloved, let’s pay attention to the Apostle’s thought! - not at the beginning of the epistle, but at the end and in the middle of them, he gives exhortations and instructions (I hope - may this be accomplished through your prayers! - that I will not tell any lies against the thoughts of the holy man)? Since he was fully knowledgeable about Divine things and understood the power of Divine teaching, he considered it obligatory at the beginning (of the epistle) to proclaim the word about Christ and (to reveal) the secret about Him, and then lay out the way moral correction; so that when they know the Lord, they may joyfully do what He commands. For if the one who guides us in keeping the commandments remains unknown, then no one can achieve their fulfillment with joy. The same method was also used by the servant of God, the righteous Moses, who, announcing the words of Divine legislation, first announced what concerns the knowledge of God, namely: “Hear to Israel: The Lord is your God, “There is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4)! And then, when he presented to the people the image of Him (God) and instructed the people regarding Him in Whom they were to believe; and when they directed their thoughts to the One who is the true God, only then did the Lawgiver announce that by which a person becomes pleasing to God, saying: “Thou shalt not commit adultery, do not steal” (Ex. 20:14) and other commandments. And according to the Apostolic teaching, “it is fitting for one who comes to God to believe, for He is, and He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb. 9:6). And He (God) is sought through good deeds, as the Prophet says about this: “Seek the Lord, and whenever you find Him, call upon him: when he comes near to you, let the wicked leave his ways, and the wicked man his counsel” (Is. 55:6.7). 4) And if anyone is not tempted by the testimony of the Shepherd, then it is also useful to cite the beginning of his book, where he says: “first of all, believe that there is one God, who created and ordered everything and called into existence from non-existence.” For this reason, the blessed Evangelists, who have handed down the words of the Lord for everlasting remembrance, write at the beginning of the Gospels what concerns our Redeemer, so that after they have first depicted the Lord as the Creator (of all things), what they narrate about His deeds may arouse faith. How could they earn trust by telling about a man who was blind from his mother’s womb and about other blind men who received their sight, about the dead who were raised, about the turning of water into wine, about lepers who received cleansing; if they had not portrayed Him as the culprit (of this), writing: “in the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1) or, as Matthew: He who was born of the seed of David, He is Immanuel and the Son of the Living God, from whom the Jews, together with the Arians, turn away their faces, and we, having come to know Him, worship Him? That is why the Apostle, instructing others through his epistles in an appropriate manner, reminds his son (Timothy) with particular clarity not to neglect what he was taught from him, and commands him thus: “Remember Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my gospel” (2 Tim. 2:8). And when he tells him that they should keep this in mind at all times, he also writes to him the following: “learn from these, abide in these” (1 Tim. 4:15)! For constant meditation and keeping in memory Divine words strengthens the fear of God, making love for Him irresistible and insurmountable, just as he boldly said, who understood this about himself and about those who think according to him: “Who will separate us from the love of God” (Rom. 8:35)? For those…….. a parable similar to this parable: “but the wicked one is burdened with the captivity of his sins” (Prov. 5:22). 5) The Jews, although they knew this, nevertheless intended to act dishonorably with the Lord, thus forgetting that they were incurring Divine wrath upon themselves; and therefore, with sorrow, the Divine definition cries out for them: “the heathen reeled, and the people learned in vain” (Ps. 2.1)? for the intention of the Jews was in vain, since they imposed a death sentence on the (Source of) Life and plotted madness against the Mind of the Father. For whoever, seeing their dispersion and the desolation of their city, will sin if he says: “Woe to their souls, having already conceived evil counsel against themselves, they said: Let us bind the Righteous One, for it is indecent for us to eat” (Isa. 3:9, 10), and, of course, quite rightly, my brethren! For, since they were mistaken regarding the (meaning) of Scripture, they did not understand that “he who digs a hole for the sincere will fall into shame” (Prov. 26:27) and that “he who destroys a fence will be bitten by the serpent” (Eccl. 10:8); and if they had not turned their faces away from the Lord, they would have feared what had previously been written in the Divine Book of Praises: “The heathens have made coal in the destruction, having created what they have done, in this net, having hidden it, their foot is stuck” (Ps. 9:16). The Lord makes it clear when He carries out His judgment that the sinner will be caught by the works of His hands. True, they did not ignore these words, as well as the following: “let the net come” to them, “and the catch that lies south”, “let it embrace” them (Ps. 34:8); but they did not understand them, and if not so, “not that they had crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8). 6) Therefore, the righteous and faithful servants of the Lord, since they have been taught the Kingdom of Heaven, bring out (from their treasury) new and old (Matthew 13:52); and they meditate on the words of the Lord when they dwell in dwellings, when they lie down and when they rise, and when they travel; They (always) abide in good hope because of the promise of the Holy Spirit, who says: “Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, and doth not stand in the way of sinners, and sitt not in the seats of the destroyers. But his will is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he will learn day and night” (Ps. 1:1,2). As they stand firmly in faith, rejoice in hope, rejoice in spirit, they can say with perfect boldness: “My mouth speaks wisdom, and the teaching of my heart understanding” (Ps. 48:4), and also: “We have learned in all Your works, in the creation we have learned Your hand” (Ps. 142:5) and: “If commemoration of Thee on my bed, in the morning I learned from Thee” (Ps. 63:7). Then, when their boldness is strengthened, they say: “I will take the teaching of my heart before You” (Ps. 18:15). What will be the end of this? He immediately adds, saying: “The Lord is my Helper and my Deliverer!” For those who walk their path with such caution and prepare their hearts for the Lord in this way will not be opposed by any enemy; and therefore their heart is so protected by trust in the Lord, as it is written: “those who trust in the Lord, like Mount Zion, will not move in the living age in Jerusalem” (Ps. 125:1). For if sometimes the treacherous one dares (to speak out) against them in order to cause division in the well-ordered host of saints and to arouse discord among the brothers; even then they have the Lord on their side, not only in the sense that He acts as an avenger for them; but also in the fact that it gives them freedom when they have already suffered defeat; for this is the promise of God: “The Lord will fight for you” (Ex. 14:14)! If then disaster and temptations from outside (found) befall them, and they take the Apostolic words as a rule - to be courageous in disaster, to be diligent in prayer and to oppose the teaching in the Law to everything that happens; then they will then be pleasing to God and can say in the words of Scripture: “sorrows and needs have found me; Your commandments are my teaching” (Ps. 119:143). 7) And since good deeds are carried out not only through actual execution, but also through preliminary reflection, he adds to this: “Previously prepare my eyes to learn Your words in the morning” (Ps. 119:148). For the thoughts of the spirit of those who are sound must precede the action of the body; otherwise, our Savior, when he wanted to teach this, would not have started with inner thoughts, saying this: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery” (Matthew 5:28), and: everyone who is angry with his brother becomes guilty of murder (Matthew 5:22). For by the absence of anger the fatal blow is also prevented; and if lust in advance is destroyed, then there remains no possibility for adultery. So, my beloved, meditation on the Law and constant communication with virtue are necessary so that the righteous does not lack in any respect, but is prepared for every good deed. Through this we have the promise of eternal life, as Paul writes to Timothy, who calls diligent meditation training, saying: “Train yourselves for godliness. Bodily training is useful in small ways: but godliness is useful for everything, having the promise of this life and the future” (1 Tim. 4, 7, 8). 8) The virtue of this man is worthy of admiration, my brothers! For through Timothy he commands the same to everyone, so that no one should worry about anything in piety, but that first of all and above all else he should value faith in God. For what mercy can one expect who acts wickedly, even if he appears to keep the commandments? It is much more likely (one might expect) that the atheist is unable to fulfill even a (small) part of the Law; for as are his thoughts, so must his deeds necessarily be, just as the Holy Spirit reproaches them in this way: “The fool says in his heart: there is no God” (Ps. 13:1). Then, since the Word wants to discover the connection between actions and thoughts, It says: “corrupt and disgusted in your undertakings.” Therefore, the one who acts godlessly (every time) strictly corrupts himself in his own body, whether he steals, commits adultery, despises, gets drunk or does the like. For this, the prophet Jeremiah accuses Israel, crying out like this: “Whoever gives me the last habitat in the desert, and I will leave my people and go away from them; yet they all commit fornication, a congregation of criminals, and have clung their tongues like a bow: lies and unbelief have taken hold on the earth, for from the wicked they have come forth into evil, and they have not known Me” (Jer. 9:2,3). So, because of their malice and deceit and because in their actions they move from one evil to another, he condemned their way of acting; and since they did not know the Lord and were in unbelief, he accuses them of atheism. 9) For there is a close relationship between faith and piety; whoever believes in Him (in God) is pious; and whoever is pious has all the more faith. He who persists in wickedness inevitably deviates from the faith; and whoever falls away from piety also falls away from the true faith. And that this is so, states Paul, who teaches his disciple the following advice: “But put away evil vanities: otherwise they will advance into wickedness; and their word is like gangrene and fat will come forth; from them are Hymenaeus and Philetus” (2 Tim. 2:16, 17). And in what respect they acted godlessly, he explains as follows: “those who err in the truth say that the resurrection has already taken place” (2 Tim. 2:18). And again the Apostle, wanting to clearly establish piety as a companion to faith, says: “And all who want to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). And so that no one deviates from piety during persecution, he advises to keep the faith, adding: “Abide in the same things that you have been taught, and the essence that has been entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 3:14). And just as if one brother receives support from another, they mutually create a stronghold for each other; so equally faith and piety, flowing from the same source, reach perfection through each other; and whoever has communication with the first must receive support from the other. And when he (the Apostle) demands that his disciple exercise himself in piety; then finally he inspires him to also fight the fight of faith, saying: “fight the good fight of faith, eating for eternal life” (1 Tim. 6:12). For if someone abstains from godless idolatry in advance and openly confesses Him who is truly God, then by faith itself he fights against those who are hostile to him. 10) Since both, I mean faith and piety, have one hope: eternal life. “Strive,” he says (1 Tim. 6:12) and “train yourself to godliness:” it has “the promise of the present life and the life to come” (1 Tim. 4:78). Therefore, the Arionists, who have now broken away from the Church, are Christ-fighters! – they dug a ditch of unbelief into which they themselves fell; and as they succeed in wickedness, they pervert the faith of the simple, disparaging the Son of God and saying that He is a creature and made from something that is not. But just as at that time from the (delusion) of the followers of Philetus and Hymenaeus, so now the Apostle warns everyone against such wickedness, saying: “The sure foundation of God stands, having this seal: the Lord knows His beings, and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (2 Tim. 2:19)! For it is commendable to refrain from wickedness and lawless acts in order to be able to celebrate Easter in a fitting manner; for he who defiles himself with the abominations of the godless cannot offer the Easter sacrifice to the Lord our God. Therefore, the people who were once in Egypt said: we cannot make the Passover sacrifice to the Lord our God in Egypt. And God also deigned for everyone to withdraw from the work of Pharaoh and from the iron furnace, so that, freed from evil and rejecting all foreign knowledge, they could perceive the knowledge of God and the image of virtuous living. Namely, He says: remove yourself from them and separate yourself and do not touch the unclean (Isa. 52:11; 2 Cor. 6:17). And no other way can anyone move away from sin and begin the deeds of virtue, except through reflection on such deeds and close communication with the deeds of piety; only then will he acquire the firmness of faith, which to Paul, after the feat he accomplished, brought him the “crown of righteousness,” which, however, not only to him, but to everyone like him, “the righteous Judge will reward” (2 Tim. 4, 7, 8). 11) Such reflection and such pious exercise are available to the saints now, as at all times; if we have reached the same state, then it will be possible for us to celebrate Easter with them, as determined by Divine will. For what else (represents) the Easter festival, if not the constant worship of God, if not the knowledge of piety and from the heart, without coercion, outgoing unanimous prayer? And since Paul wants us to be like that, he gives the following command: “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)! So, not in separation, but in close unity and in a general meeting, we must all celebrate Easter together, as the Prophet demands, saying: let us rejoice in the Lord, let us rejoice in the Lord our Savior (Isa. 25:9)! And who could be so slow, or who could be so disobedient to the Divine voice, so that he, leaving everything, would not rush to a general festive meeting, in which more than one community (participates)? For it is not just any place that celebrates the festival, but “their message went out into the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Ps. 18:5); and the sacrifice is not offered in one place, but among all the nations incense is sent up to God and a pure sacrifice is offered up. So, when in the same way from everyone who exists in the universe, praise and prayer are sent up to Him, the merciful and good Father, when the entire Catholic Church, existing everywhere, in joy and gladness, at the same time and in the same way performs the service of God, when everyone in the general assembly sends up praise and exclaims Amen, is there not a great triumph, my brothers? Who then will not completely surrender himself to God, praying to Him with all sincerity? Even the walls of Jericho, that is, the combined efforts of enemy activity, are now crumbling; and the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit is poured out on everyone in abundance, so that everyone, feeling the descent of the Holy Spirit, can say: we are filled with Your mercy in the morning, and we rejoice and rejoice in our days. 12) And if this is so, then let us rejoice together with the saints, and let none of us shirk this duty; Let us regard as nothing the disasters and temptations that especially now befall us from the Eusebians who hate us; and now they try to harm us and bring grievous guilts upon us because of the godliness protected by God; but as faithful servants of God, you know that our salvation comes in times of disaster - and the Lord first gave the following promise about this: “Blessed are you when they revile you, and destroy you, and say all kinds of evil things against you who lie, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11–12). There is again a saying of the Savior that disasters do not befall everyone, but especially those who truly fear Him 140. Therefore, no matter how much our enemies oppress us, we will go out into the open; let them revile us, we will form meetings; and no matter how much they try to turn us away from pious faith, we will proclaim it with firm hope, saying: “all this has come upon us, and has not been forgotten by You” (Ps. 43:18). We do not want to be atheists like the Arionists (heretics), who say: “You are from the non-existent, Logos”; but what is eternal with the Father, then, of course, comes from Him. 13) Let us also, my brothers, celebrate Easter, celebrating a festival with which no sorrow or sorrow is incompatible, and we will not associate with apostates, due to the temporary trials that befall us for the sake of the purity of (our) faith; but let us do what promotes joy and spiritual joy; so that our hearts would not be saddened like the heart of Cain, but so that we, as good and faithful servants of the Lord, could hear: “enter into the joy of your Lord!” We do not institute days of sorrow and grief, as soon as the time of the Easter holiday is announced; but filled with joy and gladness we celebrate Easter. We celebrate the holiday of Passover, not paying attention to the slander of the Jews; - and it is better to remain silent about the teaching of the Arians, who separate the Son from the Source of the Divinity and classify Him among the creatures; - but looking at the teaching coming from the Lord. For the deceit of the Jews and the inexplicable atheism of the Arians does not suggest anything other than sorrow; since those from the beginning put the Lord to death, and these even reject that passage (of the Scriptures): He who was sacrificed by the Jews 141 has conquered death, arguing that He is not the Creator, but a creature. For if He had been a creature, He would have been taken by death, and if He was not overcome by death, as Scripture testifies (Rom. 6:9; Acts 2:24), then He is not a creature, but the Lord of creation and the foundation of this feast of immortality. 14) For the Lord of death (Rom. 14:9) wanted to destroy death; but what the Lord wanted, he did, so that we all passed from death to life. But the intention of the Jews and those who were similar to them turned out to be in vain; for what happened was not what they expected; but from their enterprise something contrary happened to them, and He who lives in heaven laughs at them and the Lord curses at them (Ps. 2:4). That is why our Redeemer, when he was led to death, turned with a reproach to the weeping women accompanying Him, saying: “Do not weep for Me” (Luke 23, 27, 28)! For through this He wanted to show that the death of the Lord does not lead to sorrow, but to joy, and that He who died for us is alive; for He is not from the non-existent, but from the Father. And it is truly worthy of joy that we see victory over death, that is, our incorruption through the (resurrected) Body of the Lord; for if He rose in glory, then it is clear that the resurrection of us all will be realized; and if His Body remained incorruptible, then there can be no doubt about our incorruptibility. For if by one man, as Paul says (Rom. 5:12) - and truly this is so - sin has passed on to all people; then we will all be resurrected through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; “It is fitting for this corruptible thing,” he says, “to put on incorruptibility, and for this dead thing to put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53). And this is accomplished during suffering, just as our Lord died for us, “for our Passover was devoured for us, Christ” (1 Cor. 5:7). Since He offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, everyone should feed from Him and partake of this food with joy and zeal; for He is gracious if He is given to everyone (as food); and if He is in each (of us), then, therefore, He is the source flowing out eternal life. 15) So we begin the Pentecost on the ninth day of the month of Phamenoth 142, and when we serve the Lord in integrity on these days, having purified ourselves, then we begin the sacred holiday of Easter on the fourteenth Farmuth 143; then continuing the fast until Saturday, we stop it on the seventeenth 144 of the same month, late in the evening; and then the light of the Lord rises for us and the bright resurrection shines forth, in which our Lord rose; and we should rejoice and rejoice in joy and good deeds in the remaining seven weeks; after which comes Pentecost, when we give glory to God and exclaim: “This is the day that the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad,” in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, through whom be honor and dominion to Him and the Father forever and ever, amen! Greet each other with a holy kiss! All the brothers who are with me greet you! That you may remain healthy in the Lord, this is my prayer, beloved brethren! End of the eleventh epistle of Saint Athanasius. 1) Thanks to the Divine Providence for what it gifts us with at all times! And now it graciously allows us to reach the holiday (Easter). So, having composed, as usual, a message regarding the Easter holiday, my beloved, I am sending it to you, so that, with your assistance, all the brothers will know about the day of joy. And since the Meletians, as soon as they came from Syria, boasted of the achievement of what does not belong to them - I mean that they are also included in the Catholic Church - for this reason I am sending you a copy of the message of our fellow servants who are from Palestine, so that when it reaches you, you can learn about the deceit of the hypocrites, which is stated in it. Precisely because they, as I just said, boasted; then I considered it necessary to write to the bishops of Syria, and the Palestinians immediately sent us an answer, agreeing with the decision regarding them, as you will see from the copy. And since you do not need to compare the messages of all the bishops in order, I sent you only one, which is completely similar to the others, so that from it (one) you can learn the verdict of all. I know that they will flare up with irreconcilable hatred against everyone because they have been reproached for their forgeries. I also considered it a matter of extraordinary importance and urgentness to remind you of your regularity - I write about this to each individual - so that you would announce to the brethren about the Day of Lent and instill in them the conviction of the need for fasting so that, when the whole world is fasting, we alone, living in Egypt, will not be mocked for not observing fast, but, on the contrary, on these days we indulge in fun. For if we do not fast because the epistle has not yet been read (in the assembly), then it is necessary to remove this pretext and encourage us to read the epistle before Lent, so that no one has reason to complain that he did not fast (out of ignorance); and if it has already been read, then you can give them instructions regarding fasting. But, beloved, be that as it may, convince them of this and teach them to fast for forty days; for it would be shameful when everyone does this, but those in Egypt, instead of abstinence, indulge in joy. And since I was concerned that some were scorning us for this, I was forced to write to you in a similar way. If you received this message and, having read it, convinced them, then write back to me, beloved! so that I, having received notification of this, could rejoice. 2) I also considered it necessary to bring to your attention that in place of the deceased bishops the following have been appointed: in Tanis instead of Ilios - Theodore, in Arsenoitida Silvanus instead of Kalosiris, in Paralos - Nemesion instead of Nun, in Bucolia - Heraclius, in Tentira Andronikos instead of his father Saprio, in Thebes Philo instead of Philo, in Maximianopolis Hermines instead of Atras, in in lower Apollo Sarapion instead of Pluto, in Aphrodite Seren instead of Theodore, in Rhinocorura - Solomon, in Staphma - Aravion; and in Marmarica: in the eastern Gariatis Andragathus instead of Hierax, in the southern Gariatis Kyanite instead of Nikon, so that you can write to them and receive canonical messages from them. Greet each other with a holy kiss, all the brothers who are with me greet you! This letter was written by Athanasius from Rome. The twelfth message is not found. Thirteenth Feast Epistle of Saint Athanasius In the consulate of Marcellinus and Probinus, in the days of Longinus the eparch, in the fourteenth year of the indiction; - Sunday (Easter) was then on the thirteenth day of the Kalends of May 145, that is, the twenty-fourth Farmuf, from Diocletian in the fifty-seventh year 146. 1) And now, my beloved brethren, I do not consider it burdensome for myself to announce to you the saving holiday of Easter, as is customary every year. For, although those who oppose Christ oppress you and us with disasters and sorrows, despite this, I am writing to you even from Rome, since unity in faith is a consolation sent to us by God. Although, of course, I celebrate Easter with the brethren here (in Rome); but with you I celebrate it in spirit, with my desire; for collectively we send up our prayers to God, who, in His mercy, gave us the opportunity not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer now for Him (Phil. 1:29). Although we are in oppression, yet He stirs us up, who are at a distance from you. to the Scriptures, so that we may have consolation, even though through the messages, and together strive for true good. Indeed, many tribulations and cruel persecutions that have befallen the Church are opposed to us; for people with a meaning perverted by heresy, untested in the faith, rebel against the truth and cruelly persecute the Church; some of the brothers were beaten, others were tormented by torture, and - what is most difficult of all - their insolence even extended to the bishops; but, despite everything, we must not forget about the Holiday, and remember it even more so; and we must not in any way neglect to remember it, even for a short time. The unbelievers seem to have no holidays at all, since they spend their whole lives in feasting and madness; and thus the festivities celebrated among them serve rather as a reason for sorrow than for joy. And for us, while we live here (on earth), they contribute to a smooth transition to that life. And this is the time for us; and we are awarded that eternal life for our exploits and loyalty; so that if we show ourselves to be diligent and faithful servants of Christ, then we can become joint heirs with the saints; as Job says: “Is not man’s life on earth a temptation” (Job 7:1)? And they are tempted in this life only through painful and distressing calamities, for the sake of which everyone will receive a due reward from God, who says through the Prophet: “I am the Lord who searches the hearts and tempts the wombs, to reward each according to his way” (Jer. 17:10). 2) And not only when someone is tested, He knows in advance what is determined for everyone; for He knows everything before it happens, but since He is good and loving of mankind, He rewards everyone with what they deserve according to their deeds, so that everyone can exclaim: “righteous is the judgment of God!” just as the same Prophet says: The Lord “tempteth the righteous, knower of the womb” (Jer. 20:12). Therefore, He tempts each of us again and again, so that the virtue of those who do not know, as a result of which the temptation befell them, becomes obvious, as it was said to Job: “Do you think that I have created you differently” 147 “and should I appear truthful” (Job 40:3)? Or so that they, having begun to reflect on their deeds, could recognize their quality and then either begin to lament their wickedness or become even more strengthened in faith. So blessed Paul, having endured disasters and persecution, hunger and thirst, overcame everything in Christ Jesus, who loved us; while suffering, he felt, of course, the weakness of his body; but, being filled with faith and hope, he was strong in spiritual strength, and his strength in weakness was perfected to the fullest. 3) And other saints, having the same trust in God, accepted temptations through disasters with joy; This is how Job says: “Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21)! and the Psalmist: “Test me, Lord, and try me, kindle my bowels and my heart” (Ps. 25:2). So, since strength must be tested, He reproaches the foolish. Since the saints knew that purification and benefit flow from the Divine fire, no harm could come to them through such temptations; on the contrary, they were strengthened through them and did not receive any damage from (unfortunate) accidents, but appeared through them in greater glory, like gold coming out of the fire (1 Peter 1:7); So one of those who were tempted after one temptation says: “Thou hast tempted my heart, thou hast visited me at night; You have tempted me, and iniquity is not found in me: for let not my mouth speak of the deeds of men” (Ps. 16:3,4). Those who do not follow the Law in their actions, who know nothing more than to eat, drink and die, see danger in temptations, as a result of which they easily fall into error, so that, remaining untested in faith, they are given over to a perverse way of thinking and do what is impermissible. Therefore, blessed Paul, encouraging us to such deeds - he himself first discovered firmness in performing them - says: “I am well pleased in troubles and in weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:10), and then: “train yourself to godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7). As he knew about the persecution of those who preferred to live in piety, he wanted his disciples to first learn to overcome the burdens they imposed on themselves for the sake of piety; so that when temptations come and in view of imminent disasters, they, being, like him, tested in them, will be able to endure them without difficulty; for whatever one accustoms oneself to, at least in thought, it is easy to find innermost joy in it, as if as a result of habit. Therefore, the holy martyrs, having become intimately acquainted with the calamities in advance, marched unswervingly towards their perfection in Christ, considering the reproach of the body as nothing and looking only at the tranquility of the blessed life awaiting them. 4) All those who “named their names on the lands” (Ps. 48:12), and in their thoughts had “wood, hay, reeds” (1 Cor. 3:12); were excluded from participation in the Kingdom of Heaven because they shunned disasters. For if they knew that “tribulation makes patience perfect, patience is a skill, and skill is hope; but hope does not put to shame” (Rom. 5:3-5); then they would strive to become like Paul, who said: “I mortify my body and make it into slavery, lest by preaching to others I myself should be enslaved” (1 Cor. 9:27). They could, of course, easily endure the tribulations that come from time to time for testing, if they had listened to the Prophetic reminder, which says: “It is good for a man if he bears Your yoke” in his youth. He will sit on one and be silent, as if he had been lifted up by Thy yoke. “He will give his cheek to the one who beats him, he will be filled with reproaches. For the Lord will not forever reject you. For the humble will have mercy according to the abundance of His mercy” (Lamentations 3, 27, 28, 30–32). All beatings, shame and reproach from enemies can in no way compare with the fullness of God’s mercy; for liberation from them follows quickly, since they are temporary; and God has mercy at all times, pouring out his mercy on those who do not faint in spirit. Therefore, we should not look at the perishable, my beloved brethren, but look at the eternal. For, although disasters exist, they have an end; let there be reproach and persecution, but they are nothing in comparison with the hope that remains for us; for all this present is insignificant in comparison with the future, and the disasters of this time cannot be compared with the hope of the future; for what could be compared with the Kingdom of Heaven or what could be compared with eternal life? Or what does it mean that we must renounce completely here in order to become heirs there? Yes, we will be heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ! 5) We must not look at disasters and temptations, my beloved, but at what we believe is being kept for us for the sake of persecution. We are also convinced of this by the example of Patriarch Issachar, about whom Scripture speaks: “Issachar desired good things, resting in the midst of the borders; and seeing the rest as good, and the land as fat, he laid down his frames for labor, and he became a husband of the farmer” (Gen. 49: 14, 15). Just as he was burned with Divine desire like the bride in the Song of Songs, so he reaped the reward that comes from the holy Scriptures; for his spirit was not directed towards the old heritage alone, but towards participation in both; and so he. as if he had grown wings, he already saw blissful peace in heaven; and if this earth is full of such beautiful creations, then how much more should the heavenly abodes be filled with them: for that world is always new, never grows old. Of course, this earth is perishable, as the Lord says (cf. 1 Cor. 7:31; 1 John 2:17); and the world to come, as it has to receive the saints, will not be transitory. And when the patriarch Issachar looked at this, he, too, joyfully boasted of his disasters and hardships, bending his shoulders to bear the burden; He did not resist those who struck blows and did not lose heart from the reproaches, but as a courageous man, overcoming everything victoriously and cultivating his land with all the more zeal, he found pleasure in this. The Word scattered the seed, and he diligently cultivated the land to bring forth perfect fruit, a hundredfold. 6) Why is this, my beloved? Only so that when our enemies place the burden of disasters on us, we too can boast about them; so that when we are persecuted, we do not weaken; but we strove much more for the crown of the city on high in Christ Jesus our Lord; so that when we are reviled, we do not lose heart, but turn our cheeks to the one who strikes and bow our necks. But friends of lusts and lovers of enmity are tempted, as the holy Apostle James says, being carried away and enticed by their own lusts (James 1:14); But we, my brethren, since we know that we suffer for the truth - let those who deny the Lord beat and persecute us - let us count it great joy when, according to James, various temptations befall us, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience (James 1:2). Let us also celebrate Easter, my brothers, rejoicing; for we know that our redemption is determined by the time of suffering; for our Savior did not redeem us by being idle, but by suffering for us, He abolished death. Therefore, He told us about this even earlier: “You will be in a world of sorrow” (John 16:33). But He did not say this to everyone, but to those who serve Him sincerely and with faith, since He previously knew that those who truly honor Him must endure persecution. But wicked people and seducers (of others) become more and more successful in evil, deceiving and being deceived. 7) And when, like those dream-readers and false prophets who volunteered to perform miracles, these madmen, drunk not with wine, but with their own malice, promise the distribution of sacred titles and still boast of their audacity; then don't believe them; on the contrary, since we are faced with temptations, let us humble ourselves so as not to be destroyed by them. For just as God, when he warned the people through Moses, said: “If a prophet arises in you, or a visionary of dreams, and gives you a sign or a miracle, and a sign or a miracle comes, saying to you, saying: Let us go and serve another god whom you do not know; Do not listen to the words of that prophet, or the one who sees that dream: for the Lord your God tempts you to lead you away, if you love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Deut. 13:1-3); then we, tempted in this way, will not retreat from love for God; but now, my beloved, let us celebrate Easter, not establishing a day of sorrow, but of joy for Christ, from whom we are daily fed. It is Him, remembering that He offered Himself as a sacrifice on the days of Easter, we will solemnly glorify Him, for as the Passover lamb He offered Himself as a sacrifice; Let us glorify Him who of old brought the people out of Egypt, and now has abolished death; The One who has power over death, who even now puts the devil to shame and can give help to the oppressed and those who cry to God day and night. 8) We begin Lent on the thirteenth of Phamenof 148, Holy Easter Week on the eighteenth Farmuth 149, and we break the fast on Saturday on the twenty-third 150; so that the great day of resurrection rises (for us) on the twenty-fourth of the same month Farmufa 151; from where we begin to count the days of Pentecost; and always calling with the praise of Christ, we will receive freedom from our enemies in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom may the Father have honor and power forever and ever, amen! Greet each other with a holy kiss! Everyone who is here with me greets you! Be healthy in our Lord, this is what I pray for, beloved brethren! And this (epistle) was written by (Athanasius) from Rome. End of the thirteenth message. Fourteenth Feast Epistle of Saint Athanasius In the third consulate of Constantius Augustus and the second of Constance, when Longinus was eparch, in the fifteenth year of the indiction; - Sunday (Easter) was on the third day of the Ides of April 152, that is, the sixteenth of Farmuf, from Diocletian in the fifty-eighth year 153 “.” 1) The joy of our celebration, my brothers, is with us at every hour and without delay for all those who have prepared for the celebration of Easter. Close to us is the Word, who has willed everything for us, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His always valid promise, deigns to create an abode with each of us and together thus cries out: “Behold, I am with you all the days... of the ages” (Matthew 28:20). For as He is for us the shepherd and the high priest, the way and the door and everything in everything, then again He reveals Himself to us as a festival and triumph, for, according to the blessed Apostle, “Our Passover was quickly devoured for us, Christ” (1 Cor. 5:7). He was expected by the Psalmist and enlightened his prayerful thoughts when he said: “My joy, deliver me from those who have passed me by” (Ps. 31:7)! Truly He is joy, He is true triumph, liberation from evil; but one can approach Him only if one pursues a completely pious life and disposes one’s thoughts to reverent obedience to God. And the saints rejoiced about the holiday throughout their lives; one served God with prayer, like the pious David, who got up in the night not once, but seven times; another glorified Him in songs of praise, like the great Moses, who sang a song of victory against Pharaoh and his guards; others performed their worship in unceasing joy, like the great Samuel and blessed Elijah, who, having completed their lives, now celebrate Easter in heaven, rejoicing that after the hay teaching that was previously available to them, they learned the truth from the types. 2) And we, preparing to celebrate Easter again, what kind of sin-cleansing sprinkling will we use? And who again, when we rush to this festive celebration, will be our leader in this? None other, my beloved - and you will say the same with me - than our Lord Jesus Christ, Who says this: “I am the way” (John 14:6). He is the One who, in the words of Blessed John, “takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29) and cleanses our souls; just as the prophet Jeremiah in one place says: “stand on the way, and see, and ask... and see which is the good way..., and through it you will find “cleansing for your souls” (Jer. 6:16). From ancient times, only the blood of goats and the ashes of a heifer served to cleanse the flesh, with which those who were unclean were sprinkled; and now everyone is cleansed through the gracious gift of God the Word in the same way. But in order to be able to follow Him now, we must, as if on the eve of the heavenly Jerusalem, already in advance, from now on, think about the eternal Feast; like the holy Apostles, having together followed the Redeemer, their leader, they are now teachers of the same readiness, since they say: “We have left all things, and died after You” (Matthew 19:27). And following the Lord (is carried out) and celebrating Him is accomplished not only in words, but also through deeds. Every given law and every institution is implemented differently 154. For the great Moses, when he established the sacred laws, demanded from the people a promise to fulfill them, so that they, having made such a promise, could be reproached as liars if they did not keep them; and regarding the celebration of the Easter holiday, no such question is raised, nor an answer is required, but the word itself must be immediately followed by the action; It is He (the Lord through Moses) who says: and let the children of Israel keep the Passover, demanding that immediately after the command the deed should follow the word, and then the words would facilitate the deed. 3) Therefore, I believe that your love for edification deserves approval, as I have often noticed in other messages; and since now this is first of all necessary, I still want to remember this with you. The divine institution requires that we approach the Easter holiday not with negligence and imprudence, but with observance of the mysteries and traditions and commandments established in the law, which we are taught from (Old Testament) History: no one who is a foreigner, or bought with silver, or uncircumcised, should eat the Passover (Ex. 12, 43, 44), and not in every house should it be devoured; but with haste, as the Law commands, this should be done; since we then groaned and mourned from the work of Pharaoh and the violence of the taskmasters. And since in ancient times the sons of Israel acted in this way, they were honored to receive the type, and this was for the sake of the present celebration; Now we celebrate the festival not for the sake of the prototype; just as God the Word, when he wanted to celebrate this holiday, said to His disciples: “I have longed to eat this Passover with you, but first I will not even accept torment” (Luke 22:15). Yes, the (Old Testament) narrative is worthy of surprise, even if this was precisely the essence; if someone looked at the Israelites, as they then, as if having prepared for a feast and joy, with staffs, shoes and (taking) unleavened bread, they went out (Ex. 12, 11, 39); although all this was only a representative indication of the (true) holiday, as if through a shadow. And now the Truth is close to us, the invisible image of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, that true light, which serves as our scepter, instead of a staff; Which, instead of unleavened bread, is the Bread that came down from heaven; Who, instead of shoes, armed us with readiness for the gospel, and briefly, through all this, brought us to His Father. And if we are pressed by enemies (with their) persecution. He again encourages us instead of Moses and much more effectively than could be through the words of this (the latter), saying this: “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome” the evil one (John 16:33). And then, after we crossed the Red Sea, we are again burdened by the heat of the sun and the bitterness of the water arouses disgust in us; but the Lord is seen by us from here too, making us partakers of His sweetness and His source of living water, when He says: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). 4) What should we expect now? Shouldn't we immediately begin the celebration with great joy and zeal? For we have hope that the One who calls us is Jesus, the One who is all things for our sake, who brings about our redemption in so many different ways; Although He was hungry and thirsty for our sake, He feeds and waters us with His gracious gifts of redemption. This is His glory, this is the miracle of His Divinity, that He replaced our suffering with His good deeds. For He, being Life, died that He might quicken us; being the Word, He became flesh. in order to teach the flesh through the word; and since He is the Source of life, He wanted to quench our thirst and for this purpose call us to celebration in these words: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” Anciently, Moses announced the beginning of the holiday: “Let this month be the beginning of months for you” (Ex. 12:2); and the Lord, who came after the fulfillment of the times (Gal. 4:4), announced this on another day - not in order to destroy the Law - let it not be! - but to keep the Law and be a doer thereof; for Christ is the fulfillment of the Law for everyone who truly believes, just as Blessed Paul says about this: “Do we then destroy the Law by faith? let it not be; but we establish the law” (Rom. 3:31). This astonished the servants sent by the Jews, so that they, surprised, said to the Pharisees: “Never has a man spoken like this” (John 7:46). What was it that surprised those servants? Or what was the reason that people should have been surprised? Nothing else than the boldness and power of our Redeemer over everything. Since ancient times, when Prophets and lawyers expounded the Holy Scriptures, they saw that what they expounded did not apply to themselves, but to others to whom they were written. It was Moses who said: The Lord will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers, like me; listen to Him in everything. what He commands (Deut. 18:15); and Isaiah: “Behold, the Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and” you will call “His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14); and thus others prophesied differently about the Lord in other ways. But the Lord Himself does not speak these words as a prophecy about anyone else, but refers them all to Himself, saying: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me -” not to anyone else, but to Me! For as soon as anyone hears about my coming, let him not quench the thirst of others, but only of Me. 5) Therefore, we must approach the holiday not as the ancient shadows - they have already come to fruition - and not as we rush to ordinary festivals, but as the festival of the Lord, Who Himself is (our) festival; not considering the Easter celebration for pleasure and comfort for the belly, but for the visible triumph of virtue. The festivals of the pagans are full of luxury and all sorts of abomination, and they think of celebrating festivals when they indulge in idleness; and then, while celebrating, they do something that leads to their own destruction; our holidays, on the contrary, lead to confirmation in virtue and consist in the assimilation of (the rules of) moderation, as the prophetic word in one place testifies to this: “The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast will be joy and gladness for the house of Judah, and good holidays” (Zechariah 8:19). And as we now face the accomplishment of this, that day is approaching and the prophetic word: celebrate your holiday! warns (us) in advance, then let everyone strive diligently for this joyful announcement; and like those who fight in the lists for the sake of a reward, we too will try to surpass each other in purity of fasting, vigilance in prayer, exercise in reading the Scriptures, giving alms to the poor and reconciliation with our enemies; Let us try to unite those who are scattered, put a barrier to arrogance and again return to humility, reconciling with everyone and disposing all brothers towards love. Likewise, blessed Paul often spent time in fasting and vigil, and for his brothers he was ready to undergo destruction himself (Rom. 9:3); So the pious David, having humbled himself by fasting, boldly said this: “Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hand, if I have repaid those who repay evil; let me fall away from my lean enemies” (Ps. 7:4,5). If we do this, then we will not only defeat death, but also receive the guarantee of the Kingdom of Heaven. 6) We begin the holy holiday of Easter on the tenth Farmuf 155, break the holy Fast on the fifteenth of the same month Farmuf 156, on Saturday evening and celebrate Holy Easter on the sixteenth (day) of the same month 157; here we add St. Pentecost, as if hastening from one feast to another and glorifying the Holy Spirit, as already existing near us - in Christ Jesus, through whom and with whom may the Father have honor and power forever and ever, amen. The fifteenth and sixteenth (holiday messages) are not found. Seventeenth Feast Epistle of Saint Athanasius In the consulate of Amantius and Albinus, in the days of Nestorius the eparch of Gaza, in the third (year) of the indiction, when Sunday (Easter) was on the seventh day of the Ides of April 158, that is, the twelfth Farmuf; - on the nineteenth day of the moon, the era of Diocletian in the sixty-first year 159. Athanasius to the presbyters and deacons of Alexandria and brothers beloved in Christ - rejoice! According to custom, I inform you, my beloved, regarding the Easter; so that you may make this known in the most distant dioceses, as usual. After this upcoming holiday - I mean the one that will come on the twentieth (day) of the month Farmufa 160 - the next Easter Sunday falls on the seventh day of the Ides of April, and according to the Alexandrian reckoning - on the twelfth Farmuf. So declare in those dioceses: Easter Sunday will be on the seventh day of the Ides of April, according to the Alexandrian reckoning - the twelfth of Farmuth. - Be healthy in Christ - this is what I pray for, my beloved brethren. Eighteenth Feast Epistle of Saint Athanasius In the fourth consulate of Constantius Augustus and in the third of Constance, in the days of the same eparch Nestorius, in the fourth year of the indiction; when Sunday (Easter) was on the third day of the Kalends of April 161, that is, the fourth Farmuf; on the twenty-first day of the moon, in the sixty-second year of the 162nd era of Diocletian. Athanasius To the elders and deacons of Alexandria, the brethren and beloved in the Lord - rejoice! 1) You did well, beloved and longed-for brethren, that, according to custom, you made an announcement about the Sunday of the holy feast of Easter in those dioceses, from which I see and recognize your diligence. Through other messages I informed you that, after the current year has passed, you should again make an announcement for the next year; and now I have found it necessary to write to you about the same thing, so that you, having been notified of this, can write without delay yourself. After the past Easter holiday was celebrated on the twelfth Farmufa, on the seventh day of the Ides of April, for the future Easter Sunday falls on the third day of the April calendars, and according to the Alexandrian reckoning - on the fourth Farmuf. 2) So, after Easter has been celebrated, again, according to the previous custom, make the following known in those dioceses: Easter Sunday falls on the third day of the Kalends of April, (according to the Alexandrian reckoning, this is the fourth Pharmufa), and let no one doubt about the day and let no one argue against this with the statement that it would be more fitting to celebrate Easter on the twenty-seventh day of the month of Phamenoth. For at the holy council there was a discussion about this, and everyone determined the day (of celebrating Easter), which falls on the third day of the April calendars, that is, on the fourth of the month Farmufa. Since the end of the week preceding this day is fulfilled, therefore, no dispute can arise; and we all, on the contrary, must agree; the same thing was written to the Romans. So, announce the day as you yourself were informed of it, that is, the third day of the April calendars, according to the Alexandrian reckoning - the fourth Farmufa. Be healthy in the Lord! For this I pray, O beloved and longed-for brethren. Nineteenth Feast Epistle of Saint Athanasius During the consulate of Rufinus and Eusebius, during the days of the same eparch Nestorius, in the fifth year of the indiction; when Sunday (Easter) was the day before the Ides of April 163, that is, the seventeenth Farmuf, on the fifteenth day of the moon, from Diocletian in the sixty-third year 164. 1) Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! - such a beginning befits this message; and now even more so - because it (the beginning) consists of words of Apostolic thanksgiving to the Lord (Eph. 1:3) - for the fact that He brought us from afar and again gave us the opportunity to fearlessly send you, according to custom, holiday messages. For the time of celebration, my brethren, and the festival itself is near; – not such that it was announced through trumpets, as is known from history (Old Testament); but the Savior Himself, who suffered for us and rose again, was proclaimed and celebrated, as Paul proclaims: “For our Passover was devoured for us, Christ” (1 Cor. 5:7). And this is our holiday, not strangers! But the Jews no longer have an Easter celebration, for the time of the canopy has ended, the old has ceased, and henceforth the “month of new things” begins, in which it is fitting for everyone to celebrate who listens to the One who says: “Keep the month of new (fruits), and let the Passover be made to the Lord your God” (Deut. 16:1). Of course, the pagans also imagine themselves celebrating holidays, and the Jews hide behind their hypocrisy. The festivals of the pagans, who care only about bread, He rejects; and He turns His face away from the feasts of the Jews, which are outside their borders, saying: “Your new moon, and your Sabbaths” ... “My soul hates” (Is. 1:14). 2) And actions that, being illegal, were at least committed with good will, even if they were recognized as pious; are useless and, even more so, expose those who are occupied with them with hypocrisy. Therefore, those who offer such sacrifices, despite their hypocrisy, must hear from the Father: your sacrifices are unpleasant (to Me) and your offerings do not please Me; even when you bring sevendal, it is in vain; and smoking (yours) is disgusting to Me 165. For God does not need anything, and since there is nothing unclean in Him, He is satiated with them (the sacrifices of the Jews), as in Isaiah He Himself testifies to this: “I am complete” (Is. 1:11). But the Law regarding sacrifices was given for the guidance of the people and for the representative image of the future; for Paul says to the Galatians: “before faith comes, be careful under the law to be closed to the willful faith that will be revealed” in us. “The same law guides us into Christ, that by faith we may be justified” (Gal. 3:23,24). But the Jews did not see this and did not understand it - because, walking during the day as in darkness, they, however, strove for our Truth, which was hidden in the Law; but they did not dig Her up, they treated the Holy Scriptures with double-mindedness and did not submit to the Holy Spirit. When Moses laid the veil (on his face), then they looked at him; and as soon as he laid aside the veil, they turned their gaze away from him; and they did not understand what they read, but invented one thing instead of another. Therefore, the Prophet loudly exclaims against them: lies and unbelief have prevailed over them! and the Lord already at that time spoke about them: “The sons of strangers have lied to Me, the sons of strangers have promised” (Ps. 17:45, 46); and now with what meekness He reproaches them, saying: “If they believed quickly in Moses, they quickly believed in Me, for that is written about Me” (John 5:46). And they, being in unbelief, continue to act treacherously in relation to the Law, namely: saying what pleases them, they do not understand it as it is written. Further, since they, by their hypocrisy, even before the open book are hypocrites and remain in their opinion, then He, through Isaiah, in anger speaks against them: “Who is it that took this delight out of your hands” (Is. 1:12)? and through Jeremiah, although they wanted to find justification, He threatens: “Gather your burnt offerings with your sacrifices, and eat away the meat; for you did not speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that you brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Jer. 7:21.22). They did not act as they should, and did not care about fulfilling the Law; but they found much more pleasure, as the Prophet reproaches them, in such days when they could offend their servants, when they met for judgment and litigation, when they inflicted violence on the weak, doing all this for their own pleasure. Therefore, they remain excommunicated from the holiday to the end, although even now they still want to show how they eat meat outside the (appointed) place and time. For, instead of the lawful lamb, they learned to sacrifice to Baal; instead of true unleavened bread, they “gather wood, and their fathers kindle a fire, and their wives knead flour, that they may make unleavened bread for the host of heaven, and pour out drink offerings to a strange god, that they may provoke Me to anger” (Jer. 7:18), says the Lord. They receive retribution for such acts; so, although they imagine themselves as celebrating the Passover, joy and gladness are taken away from their lips, as Jeremiah spoke about this: “And I will abolish from the cities of Judah, and from the ways of Jerusalem, the voice of those who rejoice, and the voice of those who rejoice, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride” (Jer. 7:34). Therefore, “he who slaughters” an ox is the same as someone who kills a man, and who sacrifices a lamb is the same as someone who strangles a dog; the one who brings semidal is the same as the one who brings pig’s blood; burning incense (in memory) is the same as one praying to an idol” (Is. 66: 3, 4). But God can never have His good pleasure in this, and the Divine word does not require anything like this from them; they themselves chose, He says, those paths and such abominations that their souls favor. 3) But what can this mean, my brothers? After all, the prophetic word is worthy for us to test it, and especially in view of the supporters of heresy, who directed their thoughts against the Law. For the Lord, through Moses, gave regulations regarding sacrifices, and a whole book, called the book of Leviticus, is full of regulations about them, so that the one who offers the sacrifice may be approved, and the one who neglects them, as disobedient to the command, will be subject to censure. And through the prophets He says: Who demands this at your hands? I did not tell your fathers about the slaughter victims, nor did I give them commands regarding burnt offerings 166 . From this it may seem that the Holy Scripture does not agree with itself, or that God, who gave these commandments, is untrue. But can there really be no agreement? - it won’t happen! – The author of the truth is not deceitful, for “it is impossible to lie to God” (Heb. 6:18), as Paul states; but it is better to say that everything is true for those who think right and for those who with faith accept the precepts of the Law. At the same time, it seems to me - and may God help me through your prayer! – that this objection is not far from the truth. Namely, initially there was no definition or law regarding slaughter victims, and there was also no command from God, who gave the Law, about burnt offerings; but for this reason, sacrifices were introduced in order to have a symbolic sign for them and to be prototypes; for the “canopy of good things to come” (Heb. 10:1) was closely connected with the Law, and only “until the time of correction” (Heb. 9:10) were these prototypes established. 4) Therefore, not all of the Law concerned victims; but in the Law there was only one collection of instructions regarding sacrifices 167, through which it (the Law) convinces in advance to refrain from idolatry and to strive for closeness to God; and through which he prophetically proclaims also the present time. Therefore, God, neither at the beginning, when He brought the people out of Egypt, nor at the time when they (the Jews) came to Mount Sinai, did not give them instructions regarding slaughter victims and burnt offerings - for God is not a man, so that He needed to take care of this in advance - but His command (was that) they should learn to know Him as the true God, and His Word should not be considered lower than false gods, who do not exist in reality and have nothing more than an empty appearance. So He wanted to be known by them when He brought them out of Egypt and commanded them to cross the Red Sea. And when they wished to serve Baal and zealously tried to make sacrifices to those who do not exist; when they forgot about the miracles performed for them in Egypt, and thought about returning there; only then, after the giving of the Law, was the prescription of sacrifices raised to the level of the Law; so that they would turn their thoughts, never occupied with non-existent (gods), to the One who is the true God, and would not continue to be carried away by sacrifices, but would rather turn their gaze away from idols and obey only what God commands. For, having said: “there were no words ... and no commandments ... about burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Jer. 7:22), He immediately added: “but (only) this word commanded them, saying: Hear My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people, and walk in all My ways, which I commanded you” (Jer. 7:23). When they were thus instructed through types and taught to honor no one except the Lord; then they could see how long the shadow would last, so as not to forget about the coming time, when neither a bull from oxen, nor a lamb from sheep, nor a goat from goats would serve as a sacrifice to God; but everything will be done simply and spiritually through constant prayer and pious behavior, with reverence and in words. As David sings: may my obedience be acceptable to him! and: “Let my prayer be corrected like an incense before You, the lifting of my hand, an evening sacrifice” (Ps. 140:2). And the Holy Spirit, Who is in him (David), commands this: devour the sacrifice of praise to God, and repay to the Most High your vows (Ps. 49:14); “Eat the sacrifice of righteousness and trust in the Lord!” The great Samuel reproaches Saul no less impressively: isn’t obedience (to the voice of the Lord) better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22)? For through this the Law is fulfilled and God is pleased, as He says: “The sacrifice of praise will glorify Me” (Ps. 49:23). And then let everyone know what this saying means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos. 6, 6), and that God does not favor what is contrary to this. 5) But they were careless and did not care about achieving true knowledge; for if they had understood the teaching revealed by God, then “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8). And what end now awaits them, the Prophet loudly cries out about this in advance in this way: “woe to their souls, for they have plotted evil counsel..., reeksha: we will bind the Righteous One, for we do not need to eat” (Isa. 3:9.10). And the reason for their misunderstanding is nothing other than delusion; So about this the Lord, reproaching them, says: “You are deceived, not knowing the Scriptures” (Matthew 22:29). Then, when they should have, after reproof, come to understanding, they turned out to be even more stubborn when they said: “We are disciples of Moses” and “we know that Moses was God” (John 9:28, 29), treating those words with even greater distrust and denouncing themselves. For if they had believed the one who heard this, they would not have rejected the Lord, who spoke through Moses when he approached Him. But the believer mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles was not like that; for when he heard: “Do you understand even as you mean” (Acts 8:30)? He was not ashamed to admit his ignorance, but asked for guidance; why, as soon as he was taught, he was given the grace of the Holy Spirit. And these (Jews), because they persisted in their ignorance, were overtaken by death, as it is said in Proverbs: the wicked dies in his sins (Prov. 5, 22, 23). 6) And such are also those who have given themselves over to heresy; they, as those who have departed from right understanding, vainly try to appropriate the bearing deity to themselves by tricks; for the wicked says in his heart: “There is no God!” - corrupted and disgusted in my endeavors” (Ps. 13:1); and if their understanding is unreasonable, then their actions are wicked, as He (Christ) says: “As much as you can say good, you are evil.” (Matthew 12:34)? They were evil because they thought wickedly. And how can those who strive for violence practice acts of justice? How can one love who intends to hate? How can one have love whose thoughts are turned to mammon? How can one be chaste who looks at a woman with lust? “From the heart come evil thoughts, fornication, adultery, murder” (Matthew 15:19); from which the wicked, carried away and enticed by carnal lusts, is wrecked, like a ship from the waves of the sea. And this is also written: All the flesh of the wicked suffers great ruin: for when they make fellowship with foolishness (Prov. 14:16), then they are shaken by a storm and perish, just as Solomon speaks about this in Proverbs: the wicked and the foolish perish together and leave their property to someone else 168. And they must endure this because they have nothing in themselves that could correspond to the guidance of reason. For, if there is understanding, then the Word, the Pilot of (our) souls, directs the ship, and this guidance is carried out quite reasonably; those who are deprived of such guidance fall away like leaves. Doesn’t he finally perish, like Hymenaeus and Philetus, who thought wickedly regarding the resurrection and, rejecting faith in it, suffered shipwreck in faith (2 Tim. 2:17; 1 Tim. 1:19, 20)? Also, Judas, having become a traitor, fell away from the Helmsman and died along with the Jews. But the prudent disciples, who remained with the Lord, although the sea was troubled and the ship was ready to sink in the waves - for there was a storm and a contrary wind - nevertheless did not fall away (from faith in Him); but rather awakened from sleep the Word, who was traveling with them on the ship; and suddenly the sea calmed down, at the command of their Lord, and they were saved and all became preachers and teachers. Recounting the glorious deeds of our Redeemer, they instructed us to be like them in this respect; for for our sake and for our benefit they (the works of Christ) were written down, so that from miracles we could know the Lord who performed them, and His disciples were treated as teachers of the faith. 7) And for us, my brethren, the world is like a sea, as it is written: “This sea is great and spacious... There ships sail, and this serpent created it to curse at it” (Ps. 103, 25, 26). We sail on it at will, as if carried by the wind; for everyone reaches where his will leads him: or he comes to sweet peace when the Word rules the ship; or, if he is overcome by lust, he is shipwrecked and in danger of losing his life in the midst of storms. For just as there is storm and turbulence at sea, so there are many disasters and temptations in the world. An unbeliever, when disaster or persecution occurs, falls into temptation, says the Lord (Mark 4:17); for, since he is not firm in faith and looks only at perishable things, he lacks the strength to withstand the difficulties arising from disasters; but like a house built by a foolish man on sand (Matthew 7:26, 27), he too, as lacking insight, must fall from the pressure of temptations, like from the wind. And the righteous, since they have “senses trained by long study” (Heb. 5:14), since they are firm in faith and heed the Word, they do not weaken when tempted, but endure to the end, as befits believers, even if at times a wave of the greatest temptations rises against them; - they awaken the Lord, who is among them, receive salvation, and through water and through fire, heading to a place of peace, properly celebrate Easter, sending up prayers of gratitude to God who saved them. When they are tempted, they are known as Abraham; or, if they suffer disasters, they show their loyalty, like Job; or, when they are oppressed and treated treacherously, they remain steadfast, like Joseph; or, when they are persecuted, they do not show impatience, but with God (theirs), as it is written, they overcome the wall of malice (Ps. 17:30). “Whoever stirs up divisions and strife among the brethren has departed from the truth. – Blessed Paul also showed himself to be like this, finding delight in weaknesses, being complacent in reproach, in needs, in persecutions, in oppressions for Christ (2 Cor. 12:9, 10); wanting us all to be in good spirits, and saying this: “rejoice always... in everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:16,18)! And what would be most appropriate for the Easter holiday if not turning away from evil, immaculate living and unceasing prayer offered to God with thanksgiving? 8) Therefore, we, my brothers, should, in anticipation of the triumph of eternal joy in heaven, now celebrate the holiday of Easter, always rejoicing, constantly praying and thanking the Lord for everything. Yes, and I want to celebrate Easter, thanking God both for other wonderful deeds He has done, and for the manifestation of His mercy, which has now been poured out on us; because He, while punishing, instructs us, but does not betray us to death; for being from afar. as if from the end of the earth, he brought us back and reunited us with you. Just as I myself now have the desire to celebrate Easter, I also took care to announce to you the great holiday of Easter; so that we, following Him (after Christ), also to Jerusalem - not being separated, but as if to one house, so that we too might taste the Passover Lamb - not boiled in water (Ex. 12:9), since then we would turn the word of God into water; and also without destroying His bones (Ex. 12:46), through which we would distort what is written in the Gospel (John 19:33, 36); but (we will taste) as if baked on fire, with bitter herbs (Exod. 12:8), and, burning in spirit, let us complete the time of fasting and the night of vigil with kneeling, in repentance and thanksgiving. 9) Let us begin the Pentecost on the sixth day of Phamenoth 169, and when we spend it in a befitting manner in abstinence and prayer, then we will be able to reach the holy day. For whoever considers the observance of the forty-day Fast to be of little importance, who enters, so to speak, into the Holy of Holies imprudently and in uncleanness, will not celebrate the Easter festival. Therefore, let us mutually warn each other and strive not to leave anything neglected, but also to spend all these days in fasting; so that, by adding fasting to fasting, we can properly celebrate the holiday of Easter. 10) So, the Lent begins, as said above, on the sixth day of Phamenof, the great week of the passions of the eleventh Farmuf 170, after Lent, which we end on the sixteenth of the same month 171 on the late evening of Saturday, then we celebrate Easter, when the day of resurrection comes - the seventeenth of the same month Farmuf 172, and to this we add in order seven Holy Weeks of Pentecost, rejoicing and praising God, that through this He also in advance announced in advance the joy and endless peace that is prepared in heaven for us who truly believe in Christ Jesus our Lord; and through Him and with Him may there be honor to His Father and power with the Holy Spirit forever and ever, amen! Greet each other with a holy kiss! The brothers who are with me greet you! I considered it necessary to bring to your attention also what concerns the installation of those bishops who have been appointed to replace our deceased colleagues, so that you know to whom to write and from whom to receive reply messages. So, it is determined: in Siena, instead of Nilammon, the same name (to him) Nilammon; in Latona instead of Ammonius - Masis; in Kopton instead of Theodore - Psenosiris; in Panos, since Artemidorus, due to old age and weakness of strength, asked for this, Arius was appointed under him; in Gypsel - Arseny, after he was again acquired for the Church; in Lycon, instead of Plusian, Eudaemon; in Antinous, instead of Ammonius and Tyrannius - Arion; in Oxyrhynchus, instead of Pelagius, Theodore; in Nilopolis, instead of Theona, Amatas and Isaac, after their mutual reconciliation; in Arsenoitida, instead of Silvanus, there is Andrey; in Prosopontis instead of Serapammon - Triadelphus; in Diocfak, which is on the seashore, instead of Serapammon - Theodore; in Saiton instead of Nemesion - Paphnutius; in Xois, instead of Anubion, Theodore, and with him Isidore, after he was again acquired for the Church; in Sephroitida instead of Potammon - Opion; in Klysma, instead of Jacob, Typhonas, and with him Paul, after he was again acquired for the Church. Twentieth Feast Epistle of Saint Athanasius In the consulate of Philip and Salia, in the days of the same eparch Nestorius, in the sixth year of the indiction, when Sunday (Easter) was on the third day of the nons of April 173, that is, the eighth Farmuth, the era of Diocletinus in the sixty-fourth year 174, on the eighteenth day of the moon. 1) And now we will celebrate Easter, my brothers! Just as our Lord once told His disciples, so He now announces to us in advance: in a few days there will be Passover, on which the Jews put the Lord to death, and we celebrate His death, rejoicing that after grief we receive peace, that, having been scattered until that time, we immediately gather together; that, having previously been lost, we are found again, having previously been at a distance, now we have become close, that, having previously been strangers to the One who suffered for us and was nailed to the cross, we henceforth belong to Him - to Him, who bore our sins, as the Prophet says (Isa. 53:4), and for our sake endured sorrows, in order to remove sickness, sorrow and sighing from all of us. When we thirst, He quenches us on this very holiday, standing and proclaiming: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). For this is what always shows the love of the saints for Him, that they never hesitate, but without compulsion they bring a constant sacrifice to the Lord and always thirst and ask Him for drink; David sang like this: “O God, my God, to You in the morning: my soul has thirsted for You, since my flesh is abundant in You, in a land that is empty and impenetrable and without water. Thus I appeared to You in holy things” (Ps. 62:2,3). The Prophet Isaiah says: “By night my spirit grows dark toward You, O God, before is the light of Your commandment” (Is. 26:9); someone else says: “My soul loves to desire Your destiny at all times” (Ps. 119:20); and he says again: “I trusted in your destiny, and I will keep your law” (Ps. 119, 43, 44). And he also exclaims with boldness like this: “I will lift up my eyes to the Lord” (Ps. 24:15), and at the same time he says: “I will lift up the teaching of my heart before You” (Ps. 18:15); Paul again gives advice: always give thanks, pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:18, 17). Those who always edify themselves in this way can have firm trust in the Lord, saying: “Let us marry and lead away the Lord, for the morning is ready to find Him, and for us to come like the early and late rain of the earth” (Hos. 6:3). But it is not only in the morning that He pours out on them, and not only then does He give them drink as soon as they ask for it; but abundantly, out of His great love for mankind, He grants them the grace of the Spirit at all times. And whence comes what they thirst for, He immediately adds about this, saying: “Believe in Me” (John 7:38). For just as cold water is pleasant to a thirsty person, according to the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 25:26), so is the coming of the Spirit to those who believe in the Lord - it is much more pleasant than any other pleasure and pleasure. 2) It is also fitting for us, especially on the days of Easter, to celebrate morning together with the saints and with all our souls, in purity of body, approach the Lord with thanksgiving and reverent faith in Him; so that if from now on we begin to drink this Divine drink that comes from Him, we will be completely drunk, and in heaven we will be able to sit down to a meal with the saints and take part in the same celebration and the same joy; to which the sinner has no attraction and will rightly be cast out, having heard the following: “friend, how did he come in who did not have a wedding garment” (Matthew 22:12)? Of course, sinners also thirst, but not for the grace of the Spirit; since they are incited by the evil one, they will be completely consumed by passions, as it is said in Proverbs: all day long they delight in evil lusts (Prov. 21:26)! And the Prophet cries out against them, saying: “Woe to those who rise in the morning, and strong drink to those who persecute those who wait for the evening: for I will burn the wine” (Is. 5, 11I); Indulging in debauchery themselves, they begin to crave the death of others. And as the first drink the water of lies and unbelief, the Prophet gives them a sign: “My ulcer is hard,” he says, “how will I be healed? I shall be like lying water, not having faithfulness” (Jer. 15:18). And the latter, because they drink with their accomplices, distort and damage the understanding of the truth and turn the simple-minded away from it. And why does (the Prophet) proclaim: “Woe to him who intoxicates his companion with muddy corruption, and to him who is intoxicated, let him look to their caves” (Hab. 2:15)? And they, being hypocritical and concealing the truth, are calm in their hearts, quenching their thirst in advance (from the source of lies) and repeating what the prodigal wife says in Proverbs: “touch the sweetness of the hidden bread, and drink the sweet water of theft” (Proverbs 9:17). They set up an ambush in hidden places, because they do not have that freedom of virtue and that boldness of wisdom that is sung in the outcome; They do not have that boldness that lifts up the voice at the crossroads and cries loudly from the heights of the walls (Prov. 8, 3); Therefore, they are commanded to taste pleasantly, because their desire is turned to deception and passion, when they steal the sweetness of truth and, moreover, in such a way that they try to hide their own bitter water through the fault of their malice, which is so easily revealed. For this reason, the wolf puts on sheep's clothing; but the painted coffins on the outside are misleading. So is Satan... Excerpt from the twenty-second feast message of St. Athanasius Our Lord Jesus Christ, who raised death for all, not somewhere on earth below, but in the air itself, stretched out his hands; so that it becomes clear that through the Cross you have achieved the salvation of everyone, everywhere (in existence), and that He, having overthrown the argument that has special power in the aerial region, again opens for us access to heaven and makes it free. Excerpt from the twenty-fourth feast message of St. Athanasius And when they went out at that time, leaving Egypt, their enemies became the playground of the sea; and now, as we march from earth to heaven, Satan himself finally falls from heaven like lightning. Excerpt from the twenty-seventh feast message of St. Athanasius Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and Confessor, whose beginning is this: “The day of Easter resurrection is coming again.” What else is our joy and our glory if not our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who suffered for us and through this made us known to the Father. No one else, but He, Who had previously proclaimed through the Prophets, and now says to everyone: I, the Speaker, am near! Excellent saying! For it is not that He speaks at one time and remains silent at another, but always, at all times from the very beginning, He lives in everyone unceasingly and speaks in everyone’s heart. Excerpt from the twenty-eighth feast message of St. Athanasius He became a sacrifice for everyone, and we, nourished by the words of Truth and becoming partakers of His life-giving teaching, can, together with the saints, achieve heavenly joy. For the Logos calls us there to the Divine and truly imperishable feast with the same (words) as he called the disciples to the upper room (supper). Here those who suffered for us, there He prepares heavenly abodes for those who most readily obeyed the invitation and unceasingly pursued the honor of the high calling, without deviating from the goal; There, those who go to the supper and fight against those who cause them to stumble will be given a crown and endless joy. And although the work of this procession is great for people, the Lord Himself made it easy and convenient. We, brother, who have received the heliport from the Savior and are called to the heavenly feast, since the Feast is already approaching, will take “the palm of the dates” (John 12:13) and having become conquerors of sin, like those who once went out to meet the Savior, having prepared ourselves by our very deeds, we will also meet the Coming One; so that, having ascended with Him, they become partakers of the heavenly broth and henceforth spend an endless life in heaven. Excerpt from the twenty-ninth feast message of St. Athanasius And just as human things are transitory, but the goodness of God does not cease; then He awakens us who have died, and in the weakness of our own nature, and raises those who are from the earth to heaven. And also from the twenty-ninth epistle, which begins as follows: “regarding the time ahead, what we have written before is sufficient.” And the Lord tested the disciples when he slept (at the stern) at the head (Mark 4:38). And if this in itself was a miracle, then even more so it had the power to shame the atheists. For by the fact that He stood up, rebuked the sea and calmed the storm, He proved both: that the waves of the sea did not come from the winds, but from the fear of their Lord walking on the sea; and that the Lord, who forbade the sea, was not created, but He is the Creator of it (the sea), for the creature would not have shown obedience to the creature. If the Red Sea was divided before Moses; then this happened not because Moses, who did it, said something, but because God commanded it. And if the sun stood still over Gibeon and the moon over the valley of Aijalon, then this was not the work of the son of Joshua, but of the Lord, who heard his prayer. It was He who forbade the sea and caused the sun to be eclipsed over the cross. Excerpt from the thirty-ninth feast message of St. Athanasius About how many and what Scriptures are accepted by the Church, about the Easter holiday of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, which defines the canon of Divine Scriptures accepted by the Church. Because some dare to compile books for themselves, called secret books, which the Greeks call apocryphal, and mix them with the Scriptures spoken in the Spirit, regarding which the Fathers established how they were preserved before them and betrayed by those who were originally visionaries and servants of the Word; then it was decided for me, at the request of the faithful brothers, with a guarantee for the truth of what I had been taught before, to draw up a canonical definition of which Divine Scriptures were betrayed and entrusted to the holy Church; - let all those who are mistaken be able to expose those who have led them astray; and those who have remained pure will again rejoice at the mention of them. So, the books of the Old Testament exist in the number of twenty-two; for, as I have heard, the Hebrews use the same number of letters; and each of them (the holy books) occupies the following place in order and has the following name. The first is Genesis, then Exodus, then the Book of Leviticus, then Numbers, after that Deuteronomy; these are followed by: Joshua the son of Nun, then (the book of) Judges, and after that Ruth; then after this - the book of Kings - four parts: the first and second are taken as one book, and the third and fourth also as one; and then the book of Chronicles - the first and second, taken as one book; then Esdras the first and second, equally (constituting) one book. And after these there is one book of Psalms, then the Proverbs of Solomon - one book, and also Ecclesiastes - one book, then the Song of Songs - one book; and after these (follows) one more book of Job, and then twelve Prophets, counted as one book; then Isaiah one book, then Jeremiah with Baruch, Lamentations and the Epistle - one book; after this Ezekiel is one (book), and also Daniel is one book. Hitherto the composition of the Old Testament. But one cannot ignore the mention of (the books of) the New (Testament); they are as follows: 4 Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and then the Acts of the Apostles and seven epistles, which are: one James, two Peters, then John 3, and after them one Jude; after these, there are fourteen epistles of Paul, arranged in the following order: the first is to the Romans, then two to the Corinthians, and after these one to the Galatians, and then one to the Ephesians, and one more to the Philippians, and also one to the Colossians; then after these - two to the Thessalonians, then one to the Hebrews and two more to Timothy, one to Titus and the last to Philemon; and also the Revelation of John. These are the sources of salvation, those who thirst for them are quenched by the words of the animals that are in them; they only proclaim instruction in piety. Let no one add to them, nor take away from them. For our Lord, preaching to the Sadducees, said: “You are deceived by not knowing” the Scriptures (Matthew 22:29); and He reproached the Jews and said: “Test the Scriptures... they are the ones that testify about Me” (John 5:39). But in addition to this, I consider it necessary to write the following: there are other scriptures besides these - which are not canonically defined - (scriptures) assigned by the Fathers for reading to those who wish to begin the catechumen and study of piety; they are the following: the Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom of the son of Sirach, and Esther, and Judith, and Tobiah, and the so-called Teaching of the Apostles, and the Shepherd. However, my beloved, when those (books) are defined canonically, and these must be read; There is no mention anywhere of the secret books, which the Greeks call apocryphal; but this is an invention of heretics who write them for themselves, whenever they want, according to their own will; they treat them with respect and, adding a large number of years to them, use them as if they were ancient: this is the reason for them to mislead the simple-minded. Excerpt from the fortieth feast message of St. Athanasius “But you have been with Me in My adversity, and I bequeath to you, as My Father bequeathed to Me, the Kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom” (Luke 22:28-30). So, those who are called through the Gospel to the great and heavenly supper in that upper room marked; let us cleanse ourselves, as the Apostle commanded, “from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, creating holiness in the passion of God” (2 Cor. 7:1); so that both from the inside and from the outside, being blameless - outwardly clothed with chastity and righteousness, but inwardly understanding the word of truth in the right spirit - we could hear: “enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:21)! Excerpt from the forty-second feast message of St. Athanasius For we, from among those who were called, are now called by Wisdom (together), in accordance with the Gospel Proverb, to this great and peaceful supper, which is sufficient for all creation, namely, for Easter, to Christ who was slain as a sacrifice. “For our Passover... Christ was devoured” (1 Cor. 5:7). And a little later those who adorn themselves in this way will hear: “Enter into the joy of your Lord!” Excerpt from the forty-third feast message of St. Athanasius Our calling (to which Easter also belongs) is from above, and our residence is in heaven, according to Paul: “We are not imams of the city that abides here, but we seek the one to come” (Heb. 13:14), and directing our gaze there, we celebrate the festival in the proper way. And again, after some retreat: the sky is truly high and is at an infinite distance from us; for it is said: “heaven is the heaven of the Lord” (Ps. 113:24). But for this reason one should not hesitate or be afraid, no matter how inaccessible the path to it may be; but the greater the readiness should be revealed. For it is not so that we should burn bricks on fire and look for tar to replace lime, just as those who once moved from the East and found a plain in the land of Shinar set to work. For their tongues were confused, and the enterprise was upset. And for us, the Lord “renewed the sunrise” there with His own Blood and made it easy. And again: and, having called us, not only reassured us regarding the remoteness of heaven, but even, having come Himself, opened this once closed door. For it was truly concluded from the time He expelled Adam from the paradise of sweetness and placed cherubim and a flaming sword turning to guard the path of the tree of life. Now it is open. And having appeared Himself, with greater mercy and love for mankind, He brought with Him into paradise the thief who confessed Him; and having ascended into heaven as the forerunner for us, He opened the doors for everyone. And again: Paul, striving for the goal - the honor of a high calling, was caught up through this “to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2); when, having seen the things above, he then descended, he proclaimed to us, preaching the gospel, what is written to the Hebrews: “Do not approach,” he says, “to the tangible mountain and the burning fire, and the cloud and darkness, and the storm and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of the verb... But approach Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, etc. Angels, the triumph and the church of the firstborn in heaven written" (Heb. 12, 18-19, 22-23). And who wouldn’t want to enjoy this heavenly cohabitation? And who would not consider it a blessing to be written with such people, so as to hear with them: “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34)? Excerpt from the forty-fourth feast message of St. Athanasius Whose beginning is this: “all that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did for us and for us”... And when the servants of the high priests and scribes saw this and heard from Jesus: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37); then they learned that this was not a simple man like them, but the One who gave drink to the saints; and that He is the One who was foreknown by the prophet Isaiah, since He is truly the radiance of light and the Word of God. And thus He poured out paradise of old, like a stream from a spring, and now He gives the same gracious gift of the Spirit to everyone, saying: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Believe in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow out of his belly” (John 7:37,38). No man could say this, but only the Living God, Who truly gives life and the Holy Spirit. Excerpt from the forty-fifth feast message of St. Athanasius Let us all offer up our sacrifices, not forgetting our fellowship with the poor; and we will enter the sanctuary, according to what is written, where Jesus entered as our forerunner, “having found eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12). From him... This is a great miracle, that we, who were strangers, are called our own; and those who were once strangers receive the title of fellow citizens of the saints and children of the heavenly Jerusalem, the image of which was the one that Solomon built. For if Moses arranged everything according to what was shown on the mountain; it is clear that the service performed in the tabernacle was an image of the heavenly mysteries, to which He wanted to lead us, He prepared for us a new and abiding path. And if everything old was an image of the new, then the image of heavenly joy and the current festival, making a procession to which with psalms and spiritual songs, marked the beginning of Lent. Along with indicating the age of the moon by Easter Day and by March 22, for each year the day of the week on which March 24 falls is indicated by a number; a number of these numbers correspond to the order of the birthday in the circle of the sun. Here and below, the age of the moon is shown for Easter. Epakta Alexandriana, that is, the age of the moon by March 22. 2 Atira 52 of the Diocletian era October 30, 335 AD. The year of the Diocletian era begins on August 29 or 30. The Syriac מדברנא can also be conveyed through the “abbot”. Instead of 15 it should be 16. The city in Mysia is the birthplace of Constantus the Great. This year Easter should have been celebrated on the 27th of Phamenoth, April 10th. cal. March 23. Here the text should be corrected, according to Larsov, as follows: “Next year: Easter Sunday 28 Farmufa, - Age of the moon 19, - on the ninth day of the Kalends of May, - Epakta 17, septenary day 6, year of the seventh indiction; (The Romans objected to this, saying that they had a tradition from the Apostle Peter - not to cross the 26th Farmufa, and celebrated the festival on the 30th of Phamenoth, at the age of the moon 21, on the 7th day of the April calendars). F. Larsow. Die Fest-Briefe des Heiligen Athanasius Bischofs von Alexandria. 1852. S. 50, XXI u. Berechnete Oster-Tabelle (S. 47). 13 and 14 Mekhir of the Diocletian era - 8 and 9 February 356 30 Mehira 73 Diocletian era February 24, 357 5 Paophas 74 Diocletian era 2 October 357 There are 362 years between January 26 and February 24. 27 Paophas 79 Diocletian era 24 October 362 25 Mehira 80 Diocletian era February 20, 364 27 Epiphas 81 of the Diocletian era July 21, 365 26 Phofa 83 Diocletian era 23 September 366 That is, September 22, 368. 14 Mesoria 86 Diocletian era 7 August 370 The same day (Saturday) is also designated by the number 7. 7 Pacho 89 Diocles. era May 2, 373 AD. Corresponds to the Greek name "eparch". _כתבא _כניא – Levitical books. Monday before Easter – March 31st. Christ the Passover Lamb. It should be 7 Farmuf - April 2. This time the Emperor and the Court were in Psammathia, a suburb of Nicomedia. April 15; in fact, Easter this year should be one week later, that is, 27 Farmufa on the tenth day of the May calendar - April 22. In Syria after דנתמלא - “(until it) is completed” added עמ_כוי with you. That is, the brother of the Emperor (Constantine the Great). Between words and inner mood. A woman who is reckless and personifies madness. In Syria “let him come” is omitted; in the twentieth message (according to the edited Kureton countries. 15–16, מה) this text is given in full. 2 Tim. 3, 12; In. 15, 18–21. D. b. 19 Farmufa April 14. First in words, and then in deeds. April 15, 344 - in 60 of the era of Diocletian. March 30; this year Easter should have been celebrated on the 27th of Phamenoth, April 10th. cal. March 23.