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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/27707-8.txt b/27707-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d9c331 --- /dev/null +++ b/27707-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2703 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Saint Athanasius, by F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Saint Athanasius + The Father of Orthodoxy + +Author: F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes + +Release Date: January 5, 2009 [EBook #27707] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SAINT ATHANASIUS *** + + + + +Produced by David McClamrock + + + + + +SAINT ATHANASIUS +c. 297-373 + +THE FATHER OF ORTHODOXY + +By F.A. [Francis Alice] Forbes + + + +"Jesus said to them: Amen, Amen I say to you, before Abraham was +made, I am." +--John 8:58 + +"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the +Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. . . . And the +Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." +--John 1:14 + + + +Nihil Obstat: J.N. Strassmaier, S.J. + Censor Deputatus + +Imprimatur: Edmund Canon Surmont + Vicar General + Westminster + August 5, 1919 + + + +Originally published in 1919 by R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd., London, as +part of the series _Standard-bearers of the Faith: A Series of Lives +of the Saints for Young and Old_. + + + +"Born of the Father before all ages, God of God, Light of Light, +true God of true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the +Father . . . " +--From the Nicene Creed + + + +CONTENTS + +1. A Foreshadowing + +2. Arius the Heresiarch + +3. The Great Council + +4. The Calm Before the Storm + +5. False Witnesses + +6. A Royal-Hearted Exile + +7. The Day of Rejoicing + +8. The Invisible Patriarch + +9. A Short-Lived Peace + +10. The Last Exile + +11. The Truce of God + + + + +SAINT ATHANASIUS + +"I and the Father are one." +--Words of Our Lord (John 10:30) + + + + +Chapter 1 +A FORESHADOWING + +THE Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt was expecting company. He stood at +the window of his palace looking down the long road, that at the first +sign of his guests' arrival he might go forth and welcome them. Before +him, like a white pearl in the blue waters of the Mediterranean, lay +the city of Alexandria--"the beautiful," as men loved to call it. +Across the harbor the marble tower of the great lighthouse soared up +into the clear Eastern sky, white as the white cliffs of the Island of +Pharos from which it sprang. It was noonday, and the sunshine lay like +a veil of gold over all. + +The Patriarch's thoughts were wandering in the past. He had been +celebrating the anniversary of his holy predecessor Peter, the +previous Bishop, who had won the crown of martyrdom during the +terrible persecution of the Christians not so many years before. +Several of the clergy present had come from afar to assist at the +festival, and these were to be his expected guests. + +The time of suffering was past and over, and yet it seemed to +Alexander as if it had all happened yesterday and might happen again +tomorrow. There stood the great palace of the Caesars, where the pagan +emperor had sat in judgment upon the lambs of Christ's flock; there +the famous temple of Serapis, where the Christians had been dragged to +offer incense to the gods; there the amphitheater where they had been +torn to pieces by beasts and slain with the sword for confessing the +Name of Christ. And all through those dark days, firm and steadfast as +the lighthouse on the cliffs of Pharos, had stood the Patriarch Peter, +a tower of strength and comfort to his persecuted children. + +A hundred Bishops and more had looked to him as their head, for the +See of Alexandria in the East was second only to that of Rome in the +West, and the burden of responsibility was heavy. But, thanks to the +example of its chief, the Church in Egypt had borne the trial bravely, +and if some had quailed before the torture and the rack and had fallen +away, by far the greater number had been true. Even the unheroic +souls, who had loved their lives better than their God, had not been +lost beyond hope, for they had come back during the lulls in the +storm, begging to be absolved from their sin. And Peter, mindful of +his Master's words that he should not quench the smoking flax nor +break the bruised reed, received them back, after they had done +penance, into the fold of Christ with mercy and compassion. + +There were some who had not scrupled to protest against such mercy. +"Were these apostates," cried Meletius, Bishop of Lykopolis, "to be +made equal to those who had borne the burden and the heat of the day?" +And he had rebelled against the decision of the Patriarch and made a +schism in the Church. Even the martyrdom of the holy Peter had not +brought him back to his allegiance: the Meletians were rebels still, +to the crying scandal of Christians and pagans alike. + +They were a hard people to govern, these Alexandrians--subtle, +passionate and unstable, ready to follow any preacher of novelties. +Alexander half envied Peter his martyr's crown as he stood musing over +the past. + +What was delaying his guests? he wondered, as he looked down the long +road, where there was as yet no sign of them. + +On the shore, at a little distance, a group of boys were playing, +their bare legs and white tunics flashing hither and thither as they +ran. One of them, a tall slim lad, whose aureole of ruddy hair seemed +to catch every wandering sunbeam, was evidently directing the game, +for all seemed to look to him for orders. "A leader of men," smiled +the Patriarch to himself, as a vigorous wave of the boy's hand brought +all his companions round him. + +They were building some kind of a platform now, on to which he of the +ruddy locks was promptly hoisted, while the others appeared to be +forming a procession. + +"A church ceremony," murmured the Patriarch to himself, remembering +his own boyhood days. Presently a little boy advanced solemnly and +presented some kind of a vessel to the youthful bishop, who, with a +magnificent gesture, beckoned to the procession to approach. Then, as +the foremost boy advanced and knelt at his feet, he raised the vessel +and poured some of its contents over his head. + +"The baptism of the catechumens!" exclaimed the Patriarch; "but this +looks a good deal too much like earnest!" + +Hastily calling a servant, he bade him go down to the shore and bring +up the band of boys who were playing there. Summoned thus hastily to +appear before authority, they approached with some uneasiness, and +there was a certain amount of scuffling among them which resulted in +the appearance of the would-be bishop in the forefront of the +group--and where should a bishop be if not at the head of his flock? + +"What were you doing down there on the shore?" asked the Patriarch. + +The boy's clear eyes looked at him with interest, but without a +vestige of fear. + +"We were playing," he said. "It was the baptism of the catechumens. I +was the bishop, and they"--pointing to his companions--were the +catechumens." + +"Are you a Christian?" asked Alexander. + +"Yes," answered the boy proudly. + +"And these?" + +"Catechumens." + +"What did you do?" + +"I poured the water on them and said the words." + +"What words?" + +The boy repeated the formula in perfect Greek. + +"Did you pour the water as you said the words?" + +"Yes." + +The Patriarch's face was troubled. + +"It is a dangerous game to play at," he said. "What would you say if I +told you that you had really baptized them?" + +The boy looked at him in amazement. + +"But I am not a bishop," he said. + +The Patriarch could not help smiling. + +"Although the bishop usually does baptize the catechumens," he said, +"it is not necessary that it should be a bishop, not even necessary +that it should be a priest." + +The boy-bishop looked grave, his companions frightened, the Patriarch +thoughtful. + +"What is your name?" he asked suddenly, laying his hand on the ruddy +locks. + +"Athanasius," answered the boy. + +"What would you like to be?" he asked. + +"A priest," was the prompt answer. + +"A bishop perhaps?" asked Alexander with a smile; "you think it is an +easy and a glorious life?" + +The boy's eyes looked straight into the Patriarch's. + +"The blessed Peter was a martyr," he answered. + +"You need much learning to be a priest." + +"I love learning," said the boy. + +Alexander noted the broad, intelligent brow, the keen eyes and the +clear-cut face before him. His heart went out to this frank and +fearless lad who loved the martyrs. + +"Come to me this evening, and we will talk of this," he said, for his +guests were at last to be seen approaching, and his duty lay with +them. + +That evening the boy and the Patriarch had much to say to each other +as they walked under the palm trees in the garden of the episcopal +palace. Alexander learned how Athanasius had been brought up in the +Christian Faith under the shadow of the great persecution, among those +who counted it the highest honor to shed their blood for Christ. He +had been well taught in the famous Greek schools of Alexandria and was +full of enthusiasm for the great Greek philosophers and poets. Strong +of will, noble of heart and keen of intellect, the boy was born to +something great--of that the Patriarch felt assured. The Church had +need of such men in these troublous times, when the dangers of heresy +had succeeded to those of persecution. + +Alexander at once resolved to take Athanasius into his household and +to bring him up as his own son, an inspiration for which he was often +to thank God in the years to come. The boy soon grew to love the +gentle and holy Patriarch, who could act with such strength and +decision when it was needful for the good of the Church. He was +constantly in touch with men of every rank and country, for Alexandria +was a city where people of all nations and of all creeds met. Pagans, +Jews and Christians lived side by side in their various quarters; +there even existed a set of philosophers who tried to make a religion +for themselves out of an amalgamation of several others. + +Athanasius was still very young when he began to act as secretary to +the Patriarch, accompanying him on all his journeys throughout his +vast diocese; and he himself tells us how he stayed for a time among +the monks in the desert of Egypt and how his young soul was set on +fire by the holiness of their lives. + +Neither science nor logic nor philosophy offered any difficulty to the +brilliant young scholar, whose knowledge of Scripture and of theology +was to astonish the men of his time. Alexander himself as he grew +older leaned more and more on Athanasius, consulting him, young as he +was, on the most important matters. So the years rolled on, and the +boy grew into manhood, "gentle and strong," as we are told by one who +knew him, "high in prowess, humble in spirit, full of sympathy, +angelic in mind and face." That he would make his mark on the world of +his time, few who knew him doubted; but of the dauntless +soldier-spirit that slumbered behind that gentle mien, of the +steadfast will that no human power could shake, they knew but little. +God's moment had not yet come. + + + + +Chapter 2 +ARIUS THE HERESIARCH + +THE night before the martyrdom of the Patriarch Peter, as he had lain +in prison praying and waiting for that dawn which was to be his last +on earth, there had come to him a few of his faithful clergy. They had +braved many dangers to look once more upon the face of their beloved +Bishop and to obtain his blessing and his last instructions; they had +come also to plead for one who had asked their help. + +But a short time before, a certain man called Arius had been +excommunicated by the Patriarch for having joined the schism of +Meletius. He it was who that very day had visited them, beseeching +them with tears to use their influence with Peter to obtain his +pardon. The clerics knew the tenderness of their Bishop's heart and +his readiness to forgive the erring; they were therefore greatly +surprised when their petition met with a stern refusal. + +"Never," said Peter. "Arius is separated from the glory of the Son of +God both in this world and in the next." + +Then, as Achillas and Alexander, his dearest and most intimate +friends, had drawn him apart to ask the reason for such unusual +severity-- + +"This night," he said, "as I prayed, Our Lord appeared to me in glory, +but His robe was rent from top to bottom. 'Who has treated Thee thus, +my Lord!' I cried, 'and rent Thy garments?' + +"'It is Arius,' He replied, 'who has torn My robe, and tomorrow they +will come to you to intercede for him. Therefore I have warned you to +keep him from the fold. But you shall die for Me tomorrow.'" + +Then Achillas and Alexander, and they that were with them, prayed once +more with their Bishop, and he blessed them and bade them depart in +peace. And when the morning came, the promise of Christ was fulfilled, +and His faithfu1 servant received the martyr's crown. + +Achillas succeeded Peter as Patriarch, and in course of time, yielding +to the entreaties of Arius and deceived by his apparent good faith, he +received him back into the fold and gave him charge of one of the +largest churches in Alexandria in a district called Baukalis. + +Tall and striking in appearance, with a certain eloquence and a great +pretense of holiness, Arius soon became a popular preacher. He had +even hoped, it was said, to succeed Achillas as Patriarch; and when, +on the death of Achillas, Alexander was elected to take his place, +Arius' anger and envy knew no bounds. Since he could find no fault +with the conduct of the new Patriarch, whom everyone acknowledged to +be blameless and holy, he proceeded to find fault with his doctrine. +"In teaching that Christ was the Eternal Son of God," said the priest +of Baukalis, "Alexander and his clergy made a great mistake. Since +Christ was the creation of God the Father, how could He Himself be +God?" + +It was a heresy that struck at the very roots of Christianity. +Alexander remembered, too late, the warning of Peter. Gentle and +peaceful by nature, he tried at first to win Arius by kindness. "Let +him explain his difficulty," he said, "and discuss the question with +theologians"; but all such suggestions were met with pride and +obstinacy. Arius at last sent a haughty statement of his opinions, +which were condemned by nearly all the Bishops of Egypt. He was +therefore deposed and forbidden to preach, but he was not the man to +take his defeat humbly. + +Hastening to Caesarea in Palestine, where he had influential friends, +he gave himself out as "the very famous, the much suffering for God's +glory, who, taught of God, has acquired wisdom and knowledge." Many +were seduced by his insidious persuasions, among them Eusebius, the +Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, who, thoroughly taken in by the +deceits and false holiness of the heretic, wrote a letter to Alexander +in his favor. + +The Patriarch replied by a detailed account of Arius' teaching and his +trial, giving the reasons why the Synod had thought fit to depose him. +This letter had an effect on the clergy and Bishops of Palestine which +Arius was quick enough to see. He therefore retired into Syria, where +he made great friends with another Eusebius, the clever and crafty +Bishop of Nicomedia, who had gained an unfortunate influence over the +Emperor. + +It was now nearly twelve years since Constantine, himself a pagan, +though the son of St. Helena, had prayed to the God of the Christians +to give him the victory over his enemies. His prayers had been heard. +In the brightness of the noonday sky there appeared a sign which +outshone the sun in splendor--the image of the Cross of Christ. "In +this sign thou shalt conquer" was traced in fiery letters across it, +and the Emperor and all his army saw and believed. + +With the Cross as standard, Constantine marched against his enemies +and defeated them. From that day forth he became a catechumen and the +protector and friend of the Christians. His first act was to publish +an edict, the Edict of Milan, which gave them full liberty to practice +their religion, build churches and preach. Thus the Church came forth +at last from the dark night of persecution, but her life on earth is +ever a warfare against the powers of evil, and other dangers lay +ahead. + +The Emperor began by making humane laws. He abolished the punishment +of crucifixion out of reverence for the Son of God, who had died upon +the Cross, put a stop to the cruel games of the arena and bettered the +condition of the slaves. + +Constantine's nature was really a noble one, but there was much in him +still of the pagan and the barbarian. Unfortunately for himself and +for the world, he fell under the influence of Eusebius, Bishop of +Nicomedia. + +This man, who was said to have apostatized during the persecution of +Maxentius and who had intruded himself, no one quite knew how, into +the See of Nicomedia, had begun by winning the good graces of +Constantia, the Emperor's sister. During the time when Constantia's +husband, Licinius, was at war with her brother, Eusebius was his +staunch friend, upholding him in his rebellion against the Emperor; +but on the defeat of Licinius, the Bishop at once transferred his +friendship to the conqueror, Constantine. Bishop Eusebius resembled +Arius in his want of reverence and of honesty, and had taken Arius' +side against the Patriarch, Alexander, praising openly the teaching of +Arius and declaring that his only wish was that all men should share +his opinions. He had even dared to write in Arius' favor to the +Patriarch, declaring insolently that he had been unjustly deposed. + +Alexander was growing old, but the Faith was in peril; it was a moment +for vigorous action. Moreover, at his side, like a faithful watchdog, +stood his secretary, the young deacon Athanasius. Circular letters +were sent to Pope St. Sylvester and to all the Bishops warning them of +the new danger that was threatening the Church. "Since Eusebius has +placed himself at the head of these apostates," wrote Alexander, "it +is necessary that it should be made known to all the faithful, lest +they should be deceived by their hypocrisy." + +Eusebius and Arius were both astonished and disgusted at the firm +attitude of the Patriarch. Athanasius was at the bottom of it, they +declared, and they vowed an undying hatred against him. The Emperor +Constantine, who happened at this moment to be visiting Nicomedia, +where he had spent a great part of his youth, heard Eusebius' version +of the story. It was only a question of words, said the wily Bishop; +what was really distressing about it was the spite and the venom with +which the Patriarch of Alexandria had pursued an innocent and holy man +for having dared to differ from him in opinion. Arius was then +presented to the Emperor as a faithful and unjustly persecuted priest, +a part which he knew how to play to perfection. + +It was well known to Eusebius that the great desire of Constantine was +to preserve and maintain peace in his empire. If this quarrel were +allowed to go on, said the Bishop, there would soon be strife +throughout the whole of the East, for there was much bitterness +already. On the other hand, Constantine was known to all Christians as +the protector and generous benefactor of the Church. Would it not be +well for him, suggested Eusebius, to use his influence for good and to +write to Alexander, bidding him lay aside this most unchristian +dispute and make peace with Arius and his followers? The Emperor, as +Eusebius had hoped, took alarm at the prospect of disunion in his +dominions. A catechumen himself, and knowing but little of the great +truths of Christianity, he was easily deceived by Eusebius' story and +hastened to take his advice. + +It was a scandalous thing, he wrote, that the peace of the Church +should be disturbed for such a trivial matter. Let Alexander and Arius +forgive one another; let them each keep their own opinion if they +chose, but in concord and in quiet. He ended by begging both to give +him peace by making peace among themselves and by putting an end to +all such quarrels. + +The letter was entrusted to Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, a confessor of +the Faith, venerated throughout the Church for his wisdom and +holiness. He was to deliver it personally to the Patriarch of +Alexandria. + +Now, Hosius was a Bishop of the Western Church and had heard but vague +rumors of the doings of Arius and his followers in the East. His first +interview with the Patriarch of Alexandria opened his eyes to the +importance of the matter. It was no question of a war of words or a +difference of opinion--Christianity itself was at stake; the Emperor +must be warned, and warned at once. A letter was therefore written by +the two Bishops, assisted probably by Athanasius, in which the Emperor +was earnestly begged to take steps to summon a universal Council of +the Church to decide the question. It was dispatched to him by a +trusty messenger and in due time reached his hands. + +Constantine, who was really anxious to do what was right, appealed to +the Pope, St. Sylvester, to unite with him in summoning a Council. To +the Bishops who were too poor to undertake a long journey with the +usual attendance of clergy, the Emperor offered the necessary means. +He undertook also to house and provide for the members of the Council +as long as it lasted. The town of Nicea in Bithynia, about twenty +miles from Nicomedia, was chosen as the meeting place. It was hoped by +all devout Christians that peace and unity in the Church would be the +result. + + + + +Chapter 3 +THE GREAT COUNCIL + +IN the early summer of the year 325 the Council of Nicea met. Three +hundred eighteen Bishops were present, besides a multitude of priests, +deacons and acolytes. It was like the Day of Pentecost, said the +people: "men of all nations and of all tongues." + +Many bore the glorious marks of the sufferings they had endured for +Christ; others were wasted with long years of prison. There were the +hermit Bishops of Egypt, Paphnutius and Potamon, who had each lost an +eye for the Faith; Paul of Neo-Caesarea, whose muscles had been burned +with red-hot irons and whose paralyzed hands bore witness to the fact; +Cecilian of Carthage, intrepid and faithful guardian of his flock; +James of Nisibis, who had lived for years in the desert in caves and +mountains; Spyridion, the shepherd Bishop of Cyprus, and the great St. +Nicholas of Myra, both famed for their miracles. + +Among the Bishops of the West were Theophilus the Goth, golden-haired +and ruddy, who had won thousands to the Faith; and Hosius the +Spaniard, known as "the holy," who had been named by the Pope as his +representative; together with the two Papal Legates, Vito and Vincent. +Among those of the Eastern Church were the venerable St. Macarius, +Bishop of Jerusalem, and St. Amphion, who had been put to the torture +in the reign of Diocletian. + +Last but not least came the aged Patriarch of Alexandria, the chief +prelate of the Eastern Church, who had brought with him as his +assistant the young deacon Athanasius. + +Of the 318 Bishops present, seventeen, headed by Eusebius of +Nicomedia, were in sympathy with Arius. They were but a small number, +it is true, yet Eusebius was the adviser of Constantine and the friend +of his sister Constantia. He relied on his influence with the Emperor +and his well-known powers of persuasion. + +* * * * * + +The day has come for the opening of the Council. The Bishops and +clergy are assembled in a great hall which has been prepared for this +purpose. In the center, upon a splendid throne, lies a copy of the +Four Gospels, symbol of the presence of Christ in the midst of His +Church. At the upper end a small gilt throne has been erected for the +Emperor, while the Bishops and the clergy sit on seats and benches +running the whole way around the hall. + +A quick whisper suddenly breaks the silence: "The Emperor!" and the +whole assembly rises to its feet. Few of those present have seen the +man whose name is on every lip, a Caesar and a Christian! + +Alone and unattended, with bent head and humble mien, the Emperor +crosses the threshold. A man of noble presence and of royal dignity, +he wears the robe of Imperial purple blazing with gold and precious +stones; the Imperial crown is on his head. There are some there who +have seen that Imperial purple before, but under what different +circumstances--"Hail, Caesar; those about to die salute thee!" + +He advances slowly and with faltering footsteps between the ranks of +Bishops standing to do him honor. Constantine the Great, the conqueror +of the Roman world, trembles in the presence of these intrepid +Confessors of the Faith who bear upon them the marks of the conflict. +In the midst of that august assembly he, the catechumen, is as a +little child. He will not even take his seat upon the throne prepared +for him until the Bishops urge him to do so. + +The Emperor speaks to them with deference and courtesy. It is not for +him, he says, to dictate to them, for here he is but fellow servant +with them of a glorious Lord and Master. They had met to preserve +peace and concord in the Church and to put an end to all causes of +strife. Let them do what they can to that end. + +There are two men in that assembly on whom all eyes are bent. One of +them is about sixty years of age, tall, thin and poorly clad, as one +who leads an austere life. A wild shock of hair overshadows his face, +which is of a deathly pallor; his eyes are usually downcast, owing to +a weakness of sight. He has a curious way of writhing when he speaks, +which his enemies compare to the wriggling of a snake. He is given to +fits of frenzy and wild excitement, but has withal, when he chooses, a +most winning and earnest manner, fascinating to men and women +alike--Arius the heresiarch. + +The other, seated on a low seat beside the Patriarch of Alexandria, is +slight, fair and young; only his broad brow and keen, earnest eyes +betray something of the spirit within; he shows no excitement. Serene +and watchful, silent yet quick in his movements, he is like a young +St. Michael leaning on his sword, ready to strike for the truth when +the moment shall come--Athanasius the deacon. + +The heresiarch is called upon to explain his doctrines. His discourse +is long and eloquent. He uses to the utmost his powers of fascination. +He tries to hide the full meaning of his words under beautiful +expressions, but his meaning is clear to all--"Jesus Christ is not +God." + +The Fathers and Confessors of the Faith, stricken with horror at the +blasphemy, cry out and stop their ears. The indignation is universal. +Eusebius and his party are in consternation. Arius has been too +outspoken. He has stated his opinions too crudely; such frankness will +not do here; he is no longer among the ignorant. Eusebius himself +rises to speak and, with the insinuating and charming manner for which +he is famous, tries to gloss over what Arius has said. + +The Son of God is infinitely holy, he says, the holiest of all the +creations of the Father and far above them all. Very, very close to +the Father Himself, so close that He is very nearly God. As a matter +of fact, he declares, the Arians believe all that the Church teaches. + +A letter is produced and read by one of the prelates; it was written +by Eusebius himself to a friend. Full of heresy, it shows most clearly +the double-dealing of the Arian Bishop and his party. The indignation +breaks out afresh, and the letter is torn to shreds in the presence of +the Council. Even Eusebius is abashed, but there are others to take +his place. The Arians continue the argument. + +Silent and watchful at his post sits the young man who is destined to +be the champion of the Faith through all the troublous years to come. +He has not spoken yet, but now Alexander makes him a sign. The sword +flashes from its scabbard; woe to those on whom its blows shall fall! +In a few words, sharp and clear as diamonds, Athanasius tears to +pieces the veils in which the Arians had shrouded their true meaning. +"Who has deceived you, O senseless," he asks, "to call the Creator a +creature?" + +He is the champion of Christ, the champion of the truth. The Bishops +marvel at his words, which are as of one inspired; they thank God who +has raised up so strong a bulwark against error. Alexander's eyes are +aglow; it is for this that he has lived; he knew how it would be. His +long life's work is nearly at an end; he can go now in peace. +Athanasius is at his post. + +But it is time to put an end to the discussion; Arius and his opinions +are abhorred by everyone. A profession of Faith is drawn up by Hosius, +the representative of Pope St. Sylvester, and presented for all to +sign. It establishes forever the Godhead of Christ. To this day it is +the profession of Faith of the whole Catholic world--the Nicene Creed. + +"Born of the Father before all ages, God of God, Light of Light, +true God of true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the +Father . . ." + +The Emperor has listened earnestly to the discussion, following it as +well as he can with his limited knowledge of doctrine. He approves the +profession of Faith with his whole heart; let it be presented to all +to sign. + +But first--one moment--this heresy must be stamped out once and +forever or there will be trouble in the days to come. An addition must +be made before the signatures are affixed. It runs thus: "And if any +say, 'There was a time when God was not; or if any hold that the Son +is not of the same substance with the Father, or is . . . like a +created being,' the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church condemns him, as it +condemns forever Arius and his writings." + +The text is then presented to the Bishops to sign. All are content but +the seventeen Arians. The Emperor expresses his entire satisfaction +with the decisions of the Council; he will uphold the law of the +Church with the law of the State, he declares, and those who rebel +will be punished. + +The ranks of the Arians begin to waver; several Bishops sign the +Creed; soon there are only five left--Eusebius at their head. + +The Emperor speaks of banishment. + +The argument is a powerful one. Eusebius wavers. He receives a message +from Constantia bidding him give way; resistance is useless. He signs +the profession in company with Theognis of Nicea, his friend. + +Arius, with several of his supporters, is then condemned to +banishment, and his writings are to be burned publicly. The minds of +all are at rest. Several other matters of less importance are settled +satisfactorily. The Council is at an end. + +But Constantine has not finished with the Bishops. Today begins the +twentieth year of his reign, a day kept with great rejoicing by the +Roman Emperors. A banquet has been prepared at the palace; he claims +the honor of entertaining the Confessors and Fathers of the Faith. + +Times have changed indeed. The soldiers of the Imperial Guard salute +with drawn swords the guests of the Emperor as they pass between them +into the palace--that Imperial Guard who in other days, which many +there remember, had dragged the Christians to torture and to death. + +The Emperor receives them with veneration, kissing devoutly the scars +of those who have suffered for the Faith. The banquet over, he begs +their prayers and loads them with gifts, giving to each of the Bishops +a letter to the governor of his province ordering a distribution of +wheat to the churches for the use of the poor. + +The hearts of all are full of joy and thankfulness. Taking leave of +the Emperor, they return, each man to his own country. The Council of +Nicea is over. + +But there were two in whose hearts there was neither joy nor peace nor +thankfulness; they were Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nicea. +Were they to return to their sees and confess themselves beaten? It +would be a bitter homecoming. The officials of the palace were well +known to Eusebius. He bribed the librarian to let him see once more +the famous document that had just been signed by so many Bishops. +Then, seizing a moment when the guardian's back was turned, the two +Arians deleted their names from the profession of Faith and, returning +home, continued to teach the doctrines which the Church had condemned. +They counted on the protection of Constantia and her influence with +the Emperor, but they were mistaken. + +Three months after the Council of Nicea, Eusebius and Theognis were +deposed by Alexander and the Bishops of Egypt, who elected Catholic +prelates in their stead. The Emperor supported the decision of the +Church, pronouncing a sentence of banishment on the rebels. "Eusebius +has deceived me shamefully," he wrote to the faithful in Nicomedia. + +Who could foresee that the Emperor, whose eyes were at last opened to +the perfidy of his friend, would before long allow himself to be +deceived more shamefully still by the very man whose dishonesty he had +proved? + + + + +Chapter 4 +THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM + +WITH the enemies of the Church in exile, for a time there was peace. +The heathen came flocking from every side to embrace the Faith. Pagan +temples were overthrown and Christian churches were erected in their +place. The Emperor himself built no less than eight in Rome, under the +direction of Pope St. Sylvester, and furnished them with all that was +required for the worship of God. + +But Constantine was a stranger in the capital of his kingdom; he had +spent his youth at the court of Nicomedia, and looked upon the East as +his home. Rome, moreover, had tragic associations for him. It was +there that he had caused his young son Crispus, falsely accused of +treason by his stepmother Fausta, to be put to death. The young Caesar +had been brave and upright and a favorite with all. Too late did his +father learn that he was innocent. Fausta paid the penalty for her +evil deed, but her death could not give life to the innocent victim. + +Constantine resolved, therefore, to build himself an Imperial city in +the land which he loved, far from the scene of the tragedy. He laid +its foundations in Byzantium and gave it the name of Constantinople, +or the city of Constantine. Everything was done to make the new +capital the most magnificent city in the world. Works of art were +brought from afar, the most skillful artists and builders were +assembled from all the cities of Europe and of the East, enormous sums +of money were spent, Christian churches were built; but Constantine +could not give to his Imperial city what was wanting to himself--a +pure and steadfast faith. Constantinople was destined to be the home +of every heresy. + +In the meantime the holy Patriarch Alexander had gone to his rest. As +he lay on his deathbed he called for his beloved Athanasius, but there +was no reply. Athanasius had fled from the city, fearing from certain +words of the old man that he would be chosen to succeed him. + +"Athanasius!" called the Patriarch once more. + +There was one present who bore the same name, a not uncommon one in +the East; they brought him to the bedside of the dying Bishop, but his +eyes looked past him into space. + +"Athanasius!" he called once more, "you think you can escape, but it +shall not be so." And with these words he died. + +The same thought had been in the hearts of all. Athanasius was known +for his zeal and learning, his mortified life and his ardent love of +God. He was young, it was true, but he was wiser than many older men. +When the Bishops of the Church assembled to elect their new Patriarch, +the whole Catholic population surrounded the church, holding up their +hands to Heaven and crying, "Give us Athanasius!" The Bishops asked +nothing better. Athanasius was thus elected, as St. Gregory tells us, +by the suffrages of the whole people and by the choice of the Bishops +of the Church. + +It was a heavy burden to be laid on the shoulders of a young man +scarcely thirty years of age. There were trials and combats ahead +before which, if Athanasius had seen them, even his bold and undaunted +spirit might have quailed. But the will of God, once made known to +him, was accepted bravely. He would bear the burden with all the +courage of his strong heart until the time came to lay it down. + +The first few years of Athanasius' rule were years of peace during +which he devoted himself to the work he loved, the conversion of the +pagans and the visitation of his huge diocese, the Patriarchate of +Alexander. He traveled from city to city confirming and strengthening +the Church and making friends with the holy men over whom he had been +called to rule. + +One day, when he had been but a few months Patriarch, a message was +brought to him from a stranger who wished to speak with him. His name +was Frumentius, and he had traveled from a distant country. Athanasius +was presiding at a meeting of Bishops. "Let him be brought in," he +said, "and let him tell us what he desires." The stranger was a man of +noble bearing and gentle manners. He had a wondrous tale to tell. He +and his brother Ędesius, left orphans at an early age, had been +adopted by an uncle who was a learned man and a philosopher. Desiring +greatly to undertake a voyage to Abyssinia to study the geography of +the country and unwilling to interrupt the education of his two young +charges, he took them with him, that they might continue their studies +under his care. His work finished, he set sail for home with the two +boys, but the boat, having put into a port for provisions, was set +upon by savages, and everyone on board was killed. + +Now, it happened that the boys had landed and were reading together +under a tree on the shore. The savages had pity on their youth and, +instead of killing them, carried them off and presented them to their +King as slaves. The boys, who were intelligent and lovable, soon +gained the affections of their barbarian master. Arrived at manhood, +they were given positions of trust in the kingdom and loaded with +every honor. Frumentius, the elder, was especially beloved by the +King, over whom he gained a great influence for good. But the King +fell sick and, being near to death, called his wife, to whom he had +left the guardianship of his young son. "Let Frumentius help you in +the government," he said; "he is wiser and more faithful than any in +the kingdom." + +The Queen Mother accordingly appointed Frumentius as the tutor of the +young King, and Governor of the State, while his brother Ędesius was +given a less important position. Frumentius, whose earnest desire was +to see the land that he governed Christian, summoned all the Christian +merchants who came to trade in the country and, giving them presents, +begged them to build houses of prayer and to do their utmost to win +the barbarians to the Faith. There were many conversions, and by the +time the young King had reached his majority, several Christian +communities were scattered throughout the State. + +His task being now at an end, Frumentius asked leave to return to his +own land with his brother Ędesius. They had a hard task to persuade +the King and the Queen Mother to let them go, but at last they +prevailed. + +Frumentius, whose heart was yearning over the country to which he owed +so much, had come straight to the Patriarch of Alexandria to beg of +him that he would send a Bishop to preside over the growing number of +churches in Abyssinia and to preach the Faith in the districts where +it was not yet known. + +The Patriarch and the Bishops had followed the story with the greatest +interest. When Frumentius ceased speaking, there was a moment of +silence, broken suddenly by Athanasius himself. + +"Who is more worthy of such a ministry," he cried, "than the man who +stands before us?" + +The suggestion was approved by all. Frumentius was ordained by the +Patriarch, who gave him his blessing and bade him return to his +mission. He was honored as a Saint in Abyssinia, where he labored +zealously all his life for Christ. Ędesius, his brother, became a +priest also and helped in the good work. + +Athanasius, as we have already seen, had spent a part of his youth +with the monks of the desert. It was his proudest boast that he had +acted as acolyte to the great St. Antony. He resolved, therefore, to +visit the district known as the Thebaid, where St. Pachomius, the +father of monasticism in the East, had founded many monasteries and +drawn up a rule for the monks. + +Pachomius had been one of a body of young soldiers seized against +their will and forced to fight in the wars between Constantine and +Maxentius. It happened one day during a journey that they landed at +Thebes in Egypt, where they were treated with harshness and cruelty. +Hungry, poorly clad and miserable, the young soldiers were lamenting +their ill fortune when a party of strangers approached them from the +town, welcoming them as friends and brothers and giving them food, +garments and all that they so badly needed. + +"Who are these good men?" asked Pachomius of a bystander. + +"They are Christians," was the answer. "They are kind to everyone, but +especially to strangers." + +"What is a Christian?" persisted the young soldier. + +"A man who believes in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, and does +good to all," was the reply. + +Pachomius reflected for a few minutes and then withdrew a little way +from his companions. "Almighty God, who have made Heaven and earth," +he cried, lifting his hands to Heaven, "if You will hear my prayer and +give me a knowledge of Your Holy Name, and deliver me from the +position in which I am, I promise You that I will consecrate myself to +Your service forever." + +Not long after, Pachomius was set free and, seeking out a Christian +priest, received Baptism and instruction. Then, going at once to the +cell of an old hermit called Palemon, famous for his holy and +mortified life, he knocked at the door of his hut. + +"Who are you, and what do you want?" asked the old man, opening his +door a few inches. + +"I am called Pachomius, and I want to be a monk," was the answer. + +"You cannot be a monk here," said Palemon. "It is a hard thing to be a +true monk, and there few who persevere." + +"Perhaps so," replied Pachomius; "but all people are not alike." + +"I have already told you," repeated the old man, "that you cannot be a +monk here. Go elsewhere and try; if you persevere you can come back." + +"I would rather stay with you," said Pachomius. + +"You do not know what you are asking," answered Palemon. "I live on +bread and salt; I pray and do penance the greater part of the +night--sometimes the whole night through." + +Pachomius shivered, for he was a sound sleeper, but he replied +sturdily enough: + +"I hope in Jesus Christ that, helped by your prayers, I shall +persevere." + +Palemon could resist him no longer. He took the young man to live with +him and found him a humble and faithful disciple. After some years, +the two hermits went together to the desert of the Thebaid and began +the work to which God had called Pachomius, for Palemon died soon +after. + +Many monasteries were founded, and men flocked to the desert to give +themselves to God. They slept on the bare ground, fasted continually +and cultivated the barren earth or made baskets and mats of the coarse +reeds that grew in the marshes, selling them for the profit of the +poor. Twice during the night the weird blast of the horn that summoned +them to prayer broke the vast silence of the desert. + +Hearing of the arrival of Athanasius, Pachomius came down from his +lonely monastery of Tabenna, surrounded by his monks; but he hid +himself among them from humility, or from the fear that Athanasius +would do him too much honor. The Saint, however, detected the Saint, +and they were soon firm friends. To the Patriarch, the monks of Egypt +represented all that was best and strongest in the national spirit. On +these men he knew he could rely, and his hopes were not disappointed. +The solitaries of the desert, to a man, would be faithful to +Athanasius during the years of trial that followed. + +Indeed, wherever Athanasius went throughout his vast diocese, the +hearts of all loyal and noble men went out to him instinctively. He +was a precious gift of God to Egypt--a precious gift of God to the +whole Catholic Church. + + + + +Chapter 5 +FALSE WITNESSES + +THE storm of persecution which was to fall with such fury upon St. +Athanasius was already gathering. + +Constantia, the Emperor's favorite sister, who had always been +strongly in favor of the Arians, became very ill. The priest who +attended her on her deathbed, a friend and tool of Eusebius of +Nicomedia, induced her to persuade Constantine, who visited her +continually during her illness, that Arius and his friends had been +unjustly condemned and that the judgment of God would fall on him and +his empire in consequence. Constantine, always easily influenced by +his immediate surroundings, began to waver. Constantia soon died, but +the Arian priest continued the work that had been so successfully +begun. Arius believed all that the Church believed, he pleaded; let +him at least be allowed to come into the presence of the Emperor; let +him have a chance to prove his innocence. + +Although Constantine had heard with his own ears the blasphemies of +the heresiarch, although he had approved so heartily of the decision +of the Council which condemned him and had enforced it with the power +of the State, he gave way before the persuasions of this stranger. + +"If Arius can assure me that he believes the profession of Faith set +forth by the Council of Nicea," he said, "he may return." + +The good news was instantly made known to the heretic and his friends, +and Arius hastened to Constantinople, where he was admitted into the +Emperor's presence. + +"Is it true that you believe what the Church teaches?" asked +Constantine. + +"I take my solemn oath that I believe what I hold in my hand," replied +Arius, unfolding the Nicene Creed. + +In the hollow of his palm was concealed a statement of his own false +doctrines, but this the Emperor could not know. He professed himself +satisfied, and thus the seed was sown which was to bring forth bitter +fruit during centuries to come. + +With Arius recalled, there was no longer any reason why Eusebius and +Theognis, who declared that they shared his opinions, should remain in +banishment. Once in Constantinople, Eusebius regained all his old +influence over the Emperor. + +From that day forth, the Constantine of the heavenly vision, the +Constantine of the Council of Nicea, noble, wise and humble, +disappears from the pages of history, and a man changeable, capricious +and uncertain takes his place. + +The first act of Eusebius and Theognis was to drive out the Catholic +Bishops who had been elected to replace them in their sees; the second +was to look about them to see who was likely to stand in their way. +Eustathius, the Bishop of Antioch, an intrepid defender of the Faith, +must be gotten rid of at once, they decided, and they proceeded to plot +his ruin. + +They started for Jerusalem to visit--or at least, so they said--the +beautiful Church of the Holy Cross which the Emperor had just built. +On their way home, they announced that they would stay for a short +time at Antioch, and they invited all the Bishops who were likely to +be friendly to meet them there in council. They were received with the +greatest courtesy by Eustathius, who did all that he could to make +their visit pleasant. They had, however, bribed an abandoned wretch of +the town to enter while the council was sitting and accuse Eustathius +before all present of a scandalous crime. + +Affecting to be greatly grieved and horrified at the accusation, they +deposed Eustathius and elected an Arian in his place, silencing those +who opposed their unjust and unlawful conduct by declaring that they +acted by command of the Emperor. Constantine was then appealed to, but +in vain. The Arians were all-powerful. + +The next obstacle to be removed was Athanasius, but Eusebius was +clever enough to realize that this would be no easy task. Athanasius +was not only the chief Bishop of the Eastern Church, but one who had +defeated the Arians several times before on their own ground. + +He began by writing a letter to the Patriarch in which he informed him +that Constantine, having learned that the views of Arius were quite +correct, had been pleased to recall him from banishment. It was only +just and fair, therefore, that Athanasius should receive him into +communion; Eusebius, indeed, had reason to know that the Emperor would +be greatly displeased if he refused to do so. + +Athanasius' reply to this threatening message was short and decided. +Neither threats nor persecution, he said, would induce him to go +against the decrees of the Council of Nicea. Arius had been condemned +by the universal Catholic Church; by that decision all true Catholics +must stand. + +Eusebius was not at all discouraged. He wrote to the Emperor and told +him how lightly the Patriarch had treated his wishes. "Athanasius is +much too young for such a responsible position," he wrote, "and is of +a quarrelsome and obstinate temper. He is the last man in the world to +fill a post which, if peace is to be kept in the Church, requires the +greatest tact and charity." Perhaps, he suggested, if the Emperor +himself were to write to him, he might be made to see the matter in a +different light. A threat of banishment is always a powerful argument. + +On receiving this letter, the Emperor--to his shame, be it said--wrote +to the Patriarch as follows: "Being informed of my pleasure, admit all +who wish to communion with the Church. If I hear of your standing in +the way of any who seek it, I will send at once those who will depose +you from your see." + +The reply of the Patriarch was firm and courageous. "It is impossible," +he answered, "for the Catholic Church to hold communion with those who +deny the Divinity of the Son of God and who are therefore fighting +against Him." + +Eusebius was absent when the letter arrived, and the changeable +Constantine was favorably impressed by its noble and fearless tone; +the matter was therefore dropped. + +Eusebius, still determined on the Patriarch's ruin, looked about him +for a tool. He found the Meletians always troublesome and ready to +join in a plot against those in authority. Three of them, appearing +suddenly at Nicomedia where Constantine was then staying, accused +Athanasius of having usurped the Royal power by levying an unlawful +tax upon the people. Unfortunately for the success of this little +plot, there were present at Court at that moment two priests of +Alexandria who were able to prove to the Emperor that the Patriarch +was completely innocent. Constantine even wrote a letter to Athanasius +telling him of the false charge brought against him, severely blaming +those who had made it and inviting him to come himself to Nicomedia. + +This was not at all what Eusebius wanted. He could not prevent the +arrival of Athanasius; he therefore set to work once more to prejudice +Constantine against him before he came. The Meletians were pressed +into service again, and accused the Patriarch of treason. He had sent +a purse of gold, they said, to a certain rebel, who had stirred up a +rising against the Emperor. But when Athanasius appeared at Nicomedia, +he was able to prove that the story was a falsehood; and, to the +disgust of Eusebius and his party, he returned to Alexandria bearing a +letter from the Emperor fully establishing his innocence and the +perfidy of his accusers. + +Rumors of what was passing had even reached St. Antony in his desert +solitude, and the old man, on hearing of all that his friend and +disciple had had to suffer, came down from his mountain cave to praise +him for his courage and to speak to the people. + +"Have nothing to do with the Arians," he said; "you are Christians, +and they say that the Son of God is a creature." Crowds came flocking +to see the old man, for all had heard of his miracles and of his +holiness. He blessed them all and exhorted them to hold fast to the +true faith of Christ, so steadfastly upheld by their Patriarch, after +which, having done the work he had come to do, he returned to his +solitude. + +The Arians were still plotting. Some time before, when Athanasius had +been visiting that part of his diocese called the Mareotis, he had +heard that a certain Ischyras, who gave himself out as a priest +although he had never been validly ordained, was causing scandal. He +celebrated, so people said, or pretended to celebrate, the Holy +Mysteries in a little cottage in the village where he lived, in the +presence of his own relations and a few ignorant peasants. Athanasius +sent one of his priests, called Macarius, to inquire into the matter +and to bring the impostor back with him. + +Macarius, on his arrival, found Ischyras ill in bed and unable to +undertake the journey. He therefore warned one of his relations that +the sick man had been forbidden by the Patriarch to continue his +so-called ministry, and departed. Ischyras, on his recovery, joined +himself to the Meletians, who, urged on by the Arians, were moving +heaven and earth to find a fresh charge against Athanasius. On hearing +his story, they compelled him by threats and by violence to swear that +Macarius had burst in upon him while he was giving Holy Communion in +the church, had overturned the altar, broken the chalice, trampled the +sacred Host underfoot and burned the holy books. They reported that +all this had been done by order of the Patriarch. + +Once more Athanasius had to defend himself, and once more he +triumphantly cleared himself of the accusation brought against him. + +In the first place, as he proved to the Emperor, there was no church +in the village where Ischyras lived. In the second, the man himself +had been ill in bed. In the third, even if he had been up and well, he +could not have consecrated, since he had never been validly ordained. +Ischyras himself, not long after, escaping from the hands of the +Meletians, swore in the presence of thirteen witnesses that he had +been induced by threats to bear witness to the lie. + +But the failure of this plot was only the signal for hatching another. +A certain Meletian Bishop called Arsenius, whom Athanasius had deposed +for refusing to obey the decrees of the Council of Nicea, was induced +to hide himself away in the desert. The Meletians then gave out that +he had been murdered by order of the Patriarch, who kept his withered +hand for purposes of magic. A wooden box was even produced containing +a hand which was said to be that of the dead man. + +Constantine seems to have believed the story, for he summoned +Athanasius to come to Antioch to stand his trial, at which Eusebius +and Theognis of Nicea were to preside. Athanasius did nothing of the +sort. He sent trusty men into the desert to make a diligent search for +the missing Arsenius, who, after some difficulty, was found. The fact +was made known to the Emperor, who wrote once more to the persecuted +Patriarch, affirming his innocence and threatening the Meletians with +severe punishment if they invented any more calumnies against him. +Arsenius himself, having repented of his part in the matter, asked +pardon of Athanasius and promised obedience for the future. + + + + +Chapter 6 +A ROYAL-HEARTED EXILE + +ATHANASIUS had prevailed once more over his enemies, but Eusebius was +always at the Emperor's side and knew how to play upon his weakness. +Was it possible, he asked, that so many and such various charges could +be brought up against a man if he were innocent? Athanasius was clever +and had many friends, he continued, who were ready to swear that black +was white for his sake. Let him be forced to appear alone before his +accusers, and the Emperor would soon find out the truth. As a matter +of fact, such charges could only be dealt with by a council; let one +be held at once, and let Athanasius be summoned to attend. + +Constantine fell into the trap. A council was summoned, and letters +were sent to Alexandria. Athanasius, however, clearly saw that he +could expect no justice in the midst of his enemies, and for a long +time refused to leave his see. In the meantime the place of meeting +had been changed from Caesarea to Tyre, and Athanasius was accused by +Eusebius of having obstinately resisted the Emperor's orders. His +reasons, they added, were plain to all; conscious of his guilt, he +dared not face the assembly. The Emperor threatened to send and bring +him by force if he did not come. Further resistance was useless, so he +set out for Tyre. + +It was a strange Council. Of the sixty Bishops present, nearly all +were Arians and open enemies of Athanasius. The Meletians were also +present. Jailers were at the doors instead of deacons. The priest +Macarius, to whose innocence Constantine himself had testified, was +brought in guarded by soldiers and loaded with chains. Athanasius +himself was obliged to stand as a criminal before his judges. A few of +the Egyptian Bishops who were present loudly protested against such +behavior, but their protests were insultingly set aside. + +The old charges were brought up one by one. Athanasius was accused of +being violent and cruel in conduct, a perpetual center of strife. To +this he answered that the trial was not a fair one, considering that +nearly all who were present were his enemies. + +The affair of Ischyras was then brought up, but nothing could be +proved. + +Lastly, a Meletian Bishop told, with thrilling and tragic details, the +story of the cruel murder of Arsenius. + +"Here is the very hand of the murdered man," he concluded, producing +and opening the famous box. A cry of well-feigned horror burst from +the Arians. + +"Did any of you know Arsenius?" asked Athanasius calmly. Several rose +to their feet. "Then, behold my witness," said the Patriarch, signing +to a priest who stood near the door. + +A man was brought in whose face and figure were hidden in a long +cloak, which Athanasius drew slowly away. It was Arsenius himself who +stood before them! + +"Here is one hand," continued the Patriarch, drawing it out from the +cloak, "and here is the other. I presume that to no man God has given +more. Perhaps those who maintain that that severed hand is the hand of +Arsenius can show us where it was affixed." + +There was a moment of general confusion, during which the Meletian who +had so graphically told the story of Arsenius' murder concluded that +prudence was the better part of valor and hastily disappeared from the +assembly. But the Arians were never at a loss. It was by magic, they +declared, that Athanasius had caused the dead man to appear in their +midst. + +It was useless to continue the argument against such persistent +injustice. Athanasius left the Council abruptly and set out for +Constantinople to place himself, a stern and accusing figure, in the +Emperor's way as he rode out from his palace. + +Constantine, recognizing who it was, tried to pass in silence, but +Athanasius stood firm. + +"The Lord judge between me and you," he said solemnly, "if you take +the part of my enemies against me." + +The Emperor halted. "What do you wish?" he asked. + +"Let me be tried by a lawful council, or let me meet my accusers face +to face in your presence," said Athanasius. + +"It shall be done," replied Constantine. + +The Arians, meanwhile, had declared Athanasius guilty of all the +charges brought against him and had deposed him from his see. They +were congratulating themselves on the success of their enterprise when +they received an alarming letter from the Emperor accusing them of +concealing the truth and bidding them come at once to Constantinople. +Several of them, seized with fear, returned to their homes; a few +others, who were bolder, headed by Eusebius and Theognis of Nicea, set +out for the Imperial city. They made their plans on the way. Once +arrived, instead of bringing up the old charges, they accused +Athanasius of having prevented the sailing of the grain vessels from +Alexandria to Constantinople in order to cause a famine. It was a +clever trick. Constantine was extremely touchy about the prosperity of +his new city and had just condemned to death a friend of his own for +the same crime. He turned on Athanasius in anger. + +"How could I, a poor man and a Bishop, do such a thing?" asked the +Patriarch. + +"You are rich enough and powerful enough for anything," retorted +Eusebius bitterly. + +As for Constantine, he declared that he would uphold the decisions of +the Council. Athanasius deserved to lose his life, but he would show +indulgence. He therefore banished him to Treves in Gaul, and the +Arians triumphed. + +There was mourning and lamentation in Alexandria and throughout all +Egypt when the tidings came. Many appeals were made for justice, but +in vain. Even St. Antony, though he wrote to Constantine, could not +move him. One thing alone the Emperor would not do in spite of all the +persuasions of the Arians--appoint a successor to the absent +Patriarch. Athanasius, indeed, continued to govern the diocese from +his distant exile, writing continually to his Bishops and clergy, +exhorting them to stand fast in the Faith and reminding them that the +road to consolation lay through affliction. + +Eusebius, in the meantime, was trying to force Alexander, the aged +Bishop of Constantinople, to admit Arius to communion. Although ninety +years old, he stood firm, and neither threats nor persuasions could +move him. The Emperor was at last induced to fix a day on which +Alexander was to receive the heretic or be driven from his see. + +The Bishop appealed to Heaven. He ordered a seven days' fast +throughout his diocese, during which the faithful were to pray that +God would prevent such a sacrilege. On the eve of the appointed day, +the aged prelate, having heard that Arius had arrived in the town, +prostrated himself on his face before the altar. "Lord," he prayed, +"if Arius must be received to communion in this church tomorrow, take +me, I beseech Thee, from this world. But if Thou hast pity on Thy +Church, suffer not, I pray Thee, that such a thing should be." + +Arius at that very moment was being escorted in triumph around the +city by his followers. Suddenly the heresiarch turned pale and +trembled. He did not feel well, he said; he would rejoin them +presently. The time passed, and he did not return. At last they went +to look for him. It was but a dead body which they found, a sight +before which even they turned pale. Arius had been overtaken by a +sudden and horrible death. + +The fate of the heresiarch made a great impression on the Emperor, who +had himself but a short time to live. During his last illness he was +haunted by the thought of Athanasius. His eldest son, Constantine II, +who held his court at Treves, was a firm friend of the exiled Bishop; +the dying Emperor sent him a secret message to restore Athanasius to +his see. He then received Baptism at the hands of Eusebius of +Nicomedia, and died a few days later. + +Constantine's empire was divided between his three sons, Constantine, +Constans and Constantius. The two former, who were staunch friends of +Athanasius, would die within twelve years of their father. Then +Constantius, who had inherited all the weakness and none of the good +qualities of Constantine the Great, and was, moreover, the tool of the +Arians and the bitter enemy of those who were true to Athanasius, +would be left master of the whole Roman Empire. One of the first acts +of Constantine II was to bring Athanasius back to Alexandria. He had +been absent for over two years, and the rejoicings attending his +return were great. They were not to last long, however, for Egypt and +the East made up that part of the Empire which had been left to +Constantius, who was completely in the toils of Eusebius. + +Now, Eusebius had long been coveting the see of Constantinople; he +therefore proceeded, with the Emperor's assistance, to depose the +rightful Bishop and to install himself in his place. He was, as he +thought, in a position to carry all things before him, when +Athanasius, firm and undaunted as ever, appearing suddenly on the +scene, upset all his plans. Both Constantine and Constans were +Athanasius' friends, and Constantius was not strong enough to resist +them. + +Eusebius determined to take a bold step--he would appeal to the Pope, +and he promptly set to work to compose a letter which was a +masterpiece of deceit. + +"Athanasius has been deposed by a Council of the Church," he wrote. +"His return was therefore unlawful." An account of all the charges +brought against the Patriarch at the Council of Tyre followed. "Ink +does not stain the soul," observed Eusebius lightly, as lie after lie +took shape upon the paper. + +The letter was sent to Rome by three trusty friends, but Pope Julius +was not so easily deceived. He knew more about the matter than the +Arians thought--so much, indeed, that the chief of the three envoys +left suddenly during the night, fearful of what might come to light on +the morrow. The two others, losing their heads completely, agreed to +meet Athanasius at a synod at which the Pope himself should preside. + +Eusebius was beside himself when he heard of this arrangement. To +appear in some Western town, with no Emperor to back him up, and to +urge against Athanasius, in the presence of the Pope, charges which he +knew to be false, was a program which did not appeal to him at all. +Taking the law into his own hands, he called a council of his friends +and elected an Arian called Gregory in Athanasius' place. + +Even if the Patriarch had been rightly deposed, the Egyptian Bishops +alone could have elected his successor; but Eusebius and his party had +long since ceased to care for right or justice. Theodore, the Governor +of Egypt, was known to be a good Catholic and friendly to Athanasius. +He was therefore removed, and an apostate called Philagrius, notorious +for his violence and cruelty, was put in his place. The first act of +this man was to publish an edict stating that Gregory was the +Patriarch of Alexandria and that Athanasius was to be treated as an +enemy. With armed troops he then took possession of the city churches, +while Gregory, with a strong escort of soldiers, made his entrance +into the town. All who resisted were imprisoned, scourged or slain. To +prevent further bloodshed, Athanasius left Alexandria and set out for +Rome. The first news that he heard on reaching Italy was that his +friend and patron Constantine II was dead. + + + + +Chapter 7 +THE DAY OF REJOICING + +IT was an evil day for Alexandria. Most of the Egyptian Bishops +refused to acknowledge Gregory and were instantly arrested. Some were +banished, some tortured, some imprisoned. St. Potamon, who had +narrowly missed martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian, was +scourged with rods until he died. The many cruelties of the usurper +made him so hateful to the Alexandrians that, after four years of +tyranny, he was killed by the mob in a sudden outbreak of fury. + +Athanasius, in the meantime, had made his way to Rome, where he was +received by St. Julius I as a champion of the Faith. The case should +be tried in his own presence, the Pope declared; but it was impossible +to get the Arians to Rome. Excuse followed excuse, pretext followed +pretext. Eusebius, the head of the Arian party, died at last in his +usurped see, but his spirit survived in his followers. They drew up a +creed of their own and sent it to the Pope, who rejected it at the +Council of Milan. The Nicene Creed was the confession of Faith of the +Catholic Church, he said. But the Nicene Creed, which proved so fully +the divinity of Christ, was just what the Arians would not accept. + +A fresh Council was called at Sardica, at which they were at last +induced to be present. But when Athanasius was proved innocent, and +the Bishops whom the Arians had banished appeared to bear witness to +the violence and cruelty with which they had been treated, the Arians +abruptly left the Council and returned to Philippopolis. Here they +formed a council of their own, in which they not only excommunicated +Athanasius, but had the impudence to "excommunicate" Pope Julius +himself. + +The Council of Sardica, at which were present the orthodox Bishops of +Italy, Spain, Gaul, Africa, Greece, Palestine and Egypt, was very well +able to get on without them. The innocence of Athanasius was finally +established, the Arians and their creed condemned. A circular letter +was then written to all the Churches, informing them of what had +passed, and legates were dispatched to the two Emperors, Constans and +Constantius. + +Constantius dared not resist. Urged by his brother, who did his best +to show the conduct of the Arians in its true light and threatened him +with civil war if he persisted in upholding them, he sent letters to +Alexandria ordering that Athanasius should be honorably received. +Gregory had met his death a short time before, so there was no +obstacle to Athanasius' return. + +The Alexandrians, in the meantime, had received a letter from Pope +Julius in praise of their Patriarch. "If precious metals," he wrote, +"such as gold and silver, are tried in the fire, what can we say of so +great a man, who has been through so many perils and afflictions, and +who returns to you having been declared innocent by the judgment of +the whole Synod? Receive, therefore, beloved, with all joy and glory +to God, your Bishop Athanasius." + +Never had Alexandria seen such rejoicings. The people thronged forth +from the city to meet their exiled Patriarch, singing hymns of +rejoicing, waving branches of trees and throwing rich carpets upon the +road along which he was to pass. Every little hill was crowded with +people thirsting for a sight of that beloved face and figure. It was +six years since they had seen him, and what had they not suffered +during his absence? + +As for Athanasius, his one thought, as usual, was to establish his +people in the Faith. Those who had been led astray by the Arians were +pardoned and received with the greatest charity. The weak ones who had +given in through fear were strengthened with tender forbearance. Those +who had been Athanasius' enemies were greeted as friends on their +first sign of repentance. For the time, the Arians were defeated; they +could do nothing. Constans was too strong for them. + +The present moment was the Patriarch's, and he determined to use it to +the full. The Bishops of Egypt gathered around him; widows and orphans +were provided for, the poor housed and fed and the faithful warned +against false doctrines. The churches were not large enough to hold +the crowds that flocked to them. It was a time of peace which God +vouchsafed to His people to strengthen them for the coming storm. + +New Bishops were consecrated, men of holy life who could be trusted. +Even the monks in their distant monasteries received inspiring letters +from their Patriarch, stirring them up to realize the ideals of the +spiritual life and to pray for the peace of the Church. For in the +midst of all his labors Athanasius still found time to write--letters +against the Arians, treatises in defense of the Faith and on the +religious life, brilliant, strong and convincing. It was necessary to +be vigilant, for the Arians were everywhere trying to seduce men by +their false doctrines, teaching that Christ was not God. Letters from +Athanasius were a powerful weapon in defense of the truth. + +So the years passed in incessant prayer and labor, until the whole of +Egypt was strong and steadfast in the Faith. "The Saints of the fourth +century were giants," says a modern writer, "but he of Alexandria was +the greatest of them all." + +The time was coming in which his work was to be tried as gold in the +fire. Constans was killed in battle, leaving Constantius master of the +whole empire. It was a moment for misgivings; but for some time the +new Emperor seemed favorably disposed, even going so far as to assure +Athanasius of his friendship. It was a friendship which might well be +mistrusted. + +Pope Julius had also died and had been succeeded by Liberius. One of +the first acts of Constantius was to write to the new Pope, offering +him handsome presents and urging him to condemn Athanasius. Letters +from the Arians containing all the old charges followed, but in vain. +Liberius refused with indignation both presents and requests. + +A fresh persecution broke out. Athanasius, it is true, was not +molested, but his enemies were only waiting for a pretext to attack +him. This pretext they soon found. + +At Easter of the year 354, the churches of Alexandria were so crowded +with worshippers that there was scarcely room to breathe. It was +proposed to Athanasius that he should hold the Easter services in a +large church that had been lately built but was not yet dedicated. +Athanasius hesitated to do this without leave, as it was built on the +Emperor's property, but he was at last persuaded by the people to +yield. The Patriarch Alexander had done the very same thing, they +urged, in the Church of St. Theonas on just such an occasion; in a +case of necessity it was certainly lawful. But they had counted +without the Arians, who instantly accused Athanasius of having usurped +the royal authority. + +The Patriarch, in his famous "Apology to Constantius," stated the +reasons for his act, but it was useless; other false charges were +scraped up against him, and his doom was sealed. In the spring of the +next year, Constantius, who was now master of both the East and the +West, succeeded by force of persecution in inducing the members of a +large council, which he had had summoned at Arles in France, to +condemn Athanasius as guilty. The Emperor himself was present with his +troops and threatened with drawn sword those who resisted his will. +The Bishops who refused to sign were scourged, tortured or exiled; the +Pope was banished to Berea, where he was treated with harshness and +cruelty. + +In the winter of the next year, a General called Syrianus came to +Alexandria with a large army. He was an Arian, and the people +suspected a plot. Athanasius asked him if he brought any message from +the Emperor; Syrianus replied that he had none. He was then reminded +that Constantius had promised to leave Alexandria in peace. To this he +agreed, but gave no reason for his presence. Things went on as usual +for three weeks, when the blow that all had been expecting fell. + +It was midnight, and the Bishop was holding a vigil service in the +Church of St. Theonas, when suddenly shouts and cries broke the +silence of the night. Syrianus with five thousand men had surrounded +the building, determined to take the Patriarch, alive or dead. + +In the dim light of the sanctuary Athanasius sat on the Bishop's +throne, calm and unmoved in the midst of the tumult. "Read the 135th +Psalm," he said to one of the deacons, "and when it is finished, all +will leave the church." The words rang out through the building with +their message of hope and confidence and were answered by the people: + +"Praise the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever. + +"Praise ye the God of gods: for His mercy endureth forever." + +Those who were nearest the Bishop pressed him to escape. "The +shepherd's place is with his flock," he answered firmly. + +Hardly was the Psalm ended when the soldiers rushed in with drawn +swords. Many of the people fled; others were trampled underfoot or +slain. + +Athanasius sat still, his hands folded in prayer. Again they urged him +to flee. "Not until all have left the church," he replied. + +In desperation, the clergy and monks ended by taking the matter into +their own hands. Seizing Athanasius in their arms, they bore him out +of the church, passing right through the midst of the soldiers, who +were searching everywhere for the Patriarch. It seemed, indeed, as +Athanasius himself said later, as if God had covered their eyes. + +Into the darkness of the winter's night he fled, an exile and a +fugitive once more. + + + + +Chapter 8 +THE INVISIBLE PATRIARCH + +IT was indeed the hour of darkness, and it seemed as if the powers of +evil were let loose upon the world. The Arians, with the Emperor on +their side, were carrying everything before them. Nearly all the +Bishops who had upheld the Nicene faith were in exile or in prison. + +St. Antony, over a hundred years old, was on his deathbed. His monks, +crowding around the dying Saint, groaned over the evil days that had +befallen the Church. + +"Fear not," replied the old man, "for this power is of the earth and +cannot last. As for the sufferings of the Church, was it not so from +the beginning, and will it not be so until the end? Did not the Master +Himself say, 'They have persecuted Me, they will persecute you also'? +Did not the 'perils from false brethren' begin even in the lifetime of +those who had been the companions of Christ? And yet, did not the +Master Himself promise that, although she must live in the midst of +persecution, He would be with His Church forever and that the gates of +Hell should not prevail against her?" + +With these words of hope and comfort on his lips, St. Antony passed to +his reward, and they laid him in his lonely desert grave. His coat of +sheepskin, given him by Athanasius long years before, he sent with his +dying blessing to the Patriarch, who cherished it as his most precious +possession. + +The Alexandrians had not given in without a struggle. They had +protested openly against the violence of Syrianus, proclaiming +throughout the city that Athanasius was their true Patriarch and that +they would never acknowledge another. It was of no use; a new reign of +terror began in which all who refused to accept the Arian creed were +treated as criminals. Men and women were seized and scourged; some +were slain. Athanasius was denounced as a "runaway, an evildoer, a +cheat and an impostor, deserving of death." Letters came from the +Emperor ordering all the churches in the city to be given up to the +Arians and requiring the people to receive without objections the new +Patriarch whom he would shortly send them. + +As time went on, things grew worse. The churches were invaded; altars, +vestments and books were burned and incense thrown on the flames. An +ox was sacrificed in the sanctuary; priests, monks and nuns were +seized and tortured; the houses of the faithful were broken into and +robbed. Bishops were driven into exile and their sees filled by +Arians, those who were ready to give the most money being generally +chosen. Some of them were even pagans; the people were ready to bear +any suffering rather than hold communion with them. + +When the Emperor Constantius considered that the resistance of the +Alexandrians had been sufficiently broken, he addressed them in a +conciliatory letter. + +Now that the impostor had been driven out, he said, he was about to +send them a Patriarch above praise. They would find in the venerable +George of Cappadocia the wisest of teachers, one who was fit in every +way to lead them to the kingdom of Heaven and to raise their hearts +from earthly to heavenly things. + +The "venerable" George was not unknown to them by repute, at least. He +had begun his career as seller of pork to the Roman army. It was a +position in which a clever man might have made a comfortable fortune. +But George was not a clever man, and he was in too great a hurry to +get rich. Such impudent dishonesty as his could not pass unnoticed; a +precipitate flight alone saved him from a State prison. He was said to +have been ordained a priest by the Arians before he was even a +Christian. In that case he was no priest, but a useful tool in their +hands, for he was capable of anything. + +Ignorant and unlettered, he had studied neither theology nor the +Scriptures; he was, moreover, a man of bad life, heartless, cruel and +greedy. His aim both as Patriarch and as pork-butcher was to make +money--as much and as quickly as possible. This was the "wise teacher +who was to raise them from the things of earth to those of Heaven." +The faithful, with true instinct, prepared for the worst. + +They had not long to wait. Even Gregory had been humane compared with +George of Cappadocia. Monasteries were burned down; Bishops, priests, +virgins, widows--all, in fact, who were faithful to the Church--were +insulted, tortured or slain. Many died in consequence of the treatment +they had received; others were forced into compliance. The troops of +the Emperor, with an Arian at their head, were there to do George's +bidding. + +The new Patriarch, undisturbed by the sufferings of his victims, was +busy enriching himself. Gradually he got control of all the trades in +the city; he even made himself chief undertaker and passed a law by +which those who dared to bury their dead in a coffin not of his +providing could be severely punished. That his coffins cost a small +fortune was only to be expected. At the end of two years he had +exhausted the patience of the Alexandrians, pagans and Christians +alike. There was a popular rising, in which the Patriarch, not having +the qualities of a hero, fled for his life. For the next three years +he wandered about in the East, lending a hand to every Arian scheme. + +In the meantime, where was Athanasius? No one knew or, at least, so it +seemed. He had vanished into the darkness of the night. He was +invisible, but his voice could not be silenced, and it was a voice +that moved the world. Treatise after treatise in defense of the true +Faith; letter after letter to the Bishops of Egypt, to his friends and +to the faithful--was carried far and wide by the hands of trusty +messengers. The Arians had the Roman Emperor on their side, but the +pen of Athanasius was more powerful than the armies of Constantius. + +"God will comfort you," he wrote to his people in Alexandria on +hearing that the churches were in the hands of the Arians. "If they +have the temples, you have the Faith of the Apostles. If they are in +the place, they are far from the Faith; but you, even if you are cast +out from the churches, possess the Faith in your hearts. Which is the +greater, the place or the Faith? The place is good only when the Faith +of the Apostles is taught there; it is holy only when it is the home +of holiness." + +Rumor said that Athanasius was in hiding in the Thebaid among the +monks. The Arians searched the desert foot by foot to find him, but in +vain. The monks themselves might have thrown some light upon the +matter, but they were silent men, given to prayer and labor; they did +not seem to understand what was asked of them, even when questioned +with a dagger at their throats. + +Silent but faithful, their sentinels were everywhere, watching for the +enemy's approach. Athanasius was always warned in time and led by +trusty guides to another and a safer place. Sometimes it was only by a +hair's breadth that he escaped, but for six years he eluded his +enemies. There was not one of the monks who would not gladly have laid +down his life for him. He lived among them as one of themselves, and +they learned more from him of the religious life than they could +teach. As mortified as the holiest among them, always serene and +forgetful of self in the midst of hardships and danger, forced +sometimes to hide for months in the mountain caves where his only food +was what the faithful could bring him, his one thought was the Church. +The Arians had made Constantius their spiritual head. They had given +him that title of "Eternal" which they had denied to the Son of God. +Their Bishops and teachers were everywhere; but Athanasius, like +Antony, leaned strongly on Christ's promise. + +It would have been madness to return openly to Alexandria while +Constantius lived, but several times during those dreadful years +Athanasius visited the city in secret and at the risk of his life. In +hiding, with a price on his head, he was as formidable an enemy to the +Arians as he would have been at Alexandria. His spirit was abroad +among the people, encouraging them to persevere, cheering them when +downcast, comforting and consoling them in suffering. Though absent, +he was their Father and their Bishop still. His voice reached even to +distant Gaul, where it encouraged St. Hilary of Poitiers and others, +who were striving, even as he was, against heresy. + +The Arians were behaving in their usual way--"always slippery, always +shuffling," as one who knew them asserted.* At one council, having +been accused of denying the Divinity of Christ, they had said: "Let +anyone who says that Jesus Christ is a creature like unto other +creatures be anathema" (accursed). At another which followed it +closely--for the Arians and Constantius held a council every few +months to gain their ends--they openly stated that Jesus Christ was +not God, but a creature. Someone present who had been at the previous +council reminded them of the statement they had made on that occasion. +"We never meant that Jesus Christ was not a creature," they retorted, +"only that he was a different kind of creature from the others!" + +* The Arians, seeing that their original doctrines were offensive to +all Catholic consciences, had now taken up the position known as +"Semi-Arian." The Son was like the Father, they declared, though not +of one substance with Him. + +In the meantime, as things had quieted down a little in Alexandria, +George of Cappadocia resolved to return and see if he could not make a +little more money. He was received in an ominous silence, for he was +held in abhorrence almost as much by the pagans as by the Christians. +A few days later the news reached the city that Constantius was dead +and that his nephew Julian had succeeded him as Emperor. + +The moment of reckoning had come. George was seized by the pagan +population and literally torn to pieces; his body was burned and its +ashes scattered to the winds. Thus perished Constantius' "prelate +above all praise," and it was not likely that the new Emperor would +take much trouble to avenge his death. + +Julian, known as "the Apostate," had been a pupil of Eusebius of +Nicomedia and a model of youthful piety; but the Christianity of which +Eusebius was a living example had struck but shallow roots. Later he +went to Athens, where St. Basil and St. Gregory, the two great doctors +of the Church, were his fellow students. "What a viper the Roman +Empire is cherishing in its bosom!" exclaimed Gregory, no mean judge +of character, "but God grant that I prove a false prophet." + +No sooner was Julian crowned Emperor than he threw off the mask and +openly declared himself a pagan. The temples of the gods were now +rebuilt, sacrifices were offered, and wealth and honors were given to +all the Christians who would apostatize. + +An edict was published allowing the people to practice whatever +religion they chose and recalling everybody who had been banished +during the reign of Constantius. This seemed generous, but Julian did +not believe in persecution; its results in the past had only been to +strengthen the Christians in their faith. His methods were different. +Privileges were granted to the pagans which were denied to the Church; +the Galileans, as Julian called the Christians, were ridiculed, and +paganism was praised as the only religion worthy of educated men. + +The results were not what the Emperor had expected, and he complained +bitterly that there were so few who responded to his efforts to +enlighten them. As for the Church, she knew at least what she had to +expect; an open enemy is less dangerous than a false friend. + + + + +Chapter 9 +A SHORT-LIVED PEACE + +ATHANASIUS was quick to take advantage of the decree which allowed the +banished Bishops to return to their sees. On the way to Alexandria he +stopped to talk over matters with other noble exiles who, like +himself, had suffered for the Truth. Many of the faithful had been +compelled by force or induced by threats or persuasion to accept the +creed of the Arians; what was to be done in order that these weak ones +might be brought back to the Faith? + +Athanasius and those who with him had been ready to give their lives +for the Truth being, like all brave and noble men, gentle and +compassionate, they resolved to make it as easy as possible. They +announced that absolution would be given freely to all who accepted +the Creed of Nicea. Those who had fallen away were mostly good men and +true believers who had yielded in a moment of weakness or of fear, or +who had been deceived by the protestations of the Arians. They had +been thoroughly miserable, but now the proclamation of Athanasius set +them free from what had seemed like a bad dream. The Pope himself +expressed his approval of Athanasius' forbearance, and the Bishops of +the West hastened to follow his example. + +In other places, Antioch and Constantinople especially, Arianism had +taken deeper root. These were the strongholds of heresy, where the +spirit of Eusebius of Nicomedia still prevailed. Men of his stamp were +not likely to be ready to enter into communion with that Athanasius +whom they had looked upon for years as their mortal enemy, nor was it +to be expected that they would allow the true Faith to prevail without +a struggle. It was thanks to Athanasius and his untiring efforts that +Egypt and Alexandria were still, in the main, true to the Catholic +Church. + +We can imagine the joy with which the Alexandrians received their +exiled Patriarch after his six years' absence. They had been worthy of +their Bishop, for they too had made a brave fight for the Faith. Blood +had been shed for Christ, and much had been suffered by the Catholics; +they could face their Patriarch without shame. Many pagans who had +watched the behavior of the Christians under persecution now came +forward and asked to join the Church, among them some Greek ladies of +noble family whom Athanasius himself instructed and baptized. + +News of this reached the ears of the Emperor Julian, who was already +furious at the influence that this Christian Bishop of Alexandria was +exercising throughout the whole empire. He had hoped that Athanasius' +return from exile would have been a cause for division among the +people, instead of which it had been the signal for everyone to make +peace with his neighbor. Never, he foresaw, as long as the voice of +this undaunted champion of the Catholic Church was ringing in the ears +of his subjects, would paganism triumph. + +There were others who saw the matter in the same light. These were the +magicians, diviners, fortune-tellers, all the servants of idolatry who +had risen up at Julian's bidding and were swarming in Alexandria as +everywhere else. The presence of Athanasius in their midst, they +complained to the Emperor, was the ruin of their trade. Even their +charms would not work as long as he was near them. There would soon +not be a pagan left in the city if he were allowed to remain. + +The Patriarch had been barely eight months in Alexandria when the +Governor of Egypt received a message from his royal master. "Nothing +that I could hear of would give me greater pleasure," he wrote, "than +the news that you have driven that miscreant out of the country." + +Soon after, the Alexandrians themselves were addressed. "We have +allowed the Galileans," wrote Julian, "to return to their country, but +not to their churches. Nevertheless, we hear that Athanasius, with his +accustomed boldness, has replaced himself on what they call his +'episcopal throne.' We therefore order him to leave the town at once +or take the consequences." + +The Governor of Egypt, who knew the affection of the Alexandrians for +their Patriarch, dared not take any steps against him; the citizens in +the meantime had addressed a letter to the Emperor, begging him to +reconsider the matter and to leave Athanasius in his see. This only +served to anger Julian the more. + +"I am painfully surprised that you Alexandrians," he wrote, "who have +the great god Serapis and Isis his Queen for your patrons, should ask +permission to keep such a man in your midst. I can only hope that +those of the citizens who are wiser have not been consulted and that +this is the action of a few. I blush to think that any of you could +call himself a Galilean. I order Athanasius to leave not only +Alexandria, but Egypt." + +The Governor also received a curt message. + +"If the enemy of the gods, Athanasius, remains in Egypt after the +kalends of December," it ran, "you and your troops shall pay a hundred +pounds in gold. The gods are despised and I am insulted." + +Julian, however, had not much confidence in the Governor, or in the +Alexandrians either. In order to make things doubly sure, messengers +of his own were sent to Alexandria with orders to put the Patriarch to +death. + +The people were inconsolable, but Athanasius comforted them. "This +time it is only a passing cloud," he said; "it will soon be over." +Then, recommending his flock to the most trusted of his clergy, he +left the city, an exile once more. It was not a moment too soon. +Scarcely had he vanished when the messengers of Julian arrived. + +"Where is Athanasius?" they asked; but a grim silence was the only +answer. + +The Patriarch, in the meantime, had reached the Nile; on the banks of +the river a boat was waiting; he entered it, and they rowed swiftly +upstream toward the Thebaid. + +It was a dangerous moment, but the faithful were watching. A message +was brought to the fugitives that soldiers of the Emperor who had +orders to seize and kill the Saint had learned his whereabouts and had +sworn to overtake him. They implored him to land and take refuge in +the desert. + +"No," said Athanasius; "turn the boat's head and row toward +Alexandria." They thought he was mad, but dared not disobey his +orders. + +"He who is for us is greater than he who is against us," he said, +smiling at their terrified faces. Presently the Imperial boat came in +sight, rowing hard in pursuit of the fugitive. + +"Have you seen Athanasius? Is he far off?" they shouted, as the little +boat drew near. + +"He is quite close," answered the Patriarch calmly; "press on." + +The crew bent to their oars, the skiff was soon out of sight, but +needless to say they did not find their prey. As for Athanasius, he +continued his journey to Alexandria, where he landed once more, +remaining there for a few days in hiding before he set out for the +deserts of the Thebaid. + +"The enemy of the gods" had been gotten rid of--for a time, at least, +but Julian had still to wait for the triumph of paganism. The gods +themselves seemed to be against him. Never had a year been so unlucky +as that which followed the banishment of Athanasius. There were +earthquakes everywhere; Nicea and Nicomedia were reduced to ruins and +Constantinople severely damaged. An extraordinary tidal wave swept +over the lower part of the city of Alexandria, leaving shells and +seaweed on the roofs of the houses. Famine and plague followed, and it +was remarked that the famine seemed to dog the steps of the Emperor +wherever he went. People dreaded his arrival in their city; at +Antioch, where he stayed for a considerable time, the sufferings were +terrible. Julian ordered sacrifices to the gods. So many white oxen +were slain that it was said that soon there would be none left in the +empire; but still things did not improve. + +Julian had begun by being tolerant, but disappointment was making him +savage. It was all the fault of the Galileans, he declared. He ordered +the Christian soldiers in his army to tear the Cross from +Constantine's sacred standard, and he put them to death when they +refused. Many Christian churches were closed, and the sacred vessels +of the altar seized and profaned. Those who dared resist were +imprisoned or slain. Wine that had been offered to the gods was thrown +into the public wells and fountains, and all the food that was sold in +the markets was defiled in the same way. Two of his officers who +complained of this profanation were put to death--not for their +religion, Julian hastened to explain, but for their insolence. + +The Emperor posed as a philosopher. His long, dirty nails and ragged, +uncombed hair and beard were intended to impress his subjects with the +wisdom of a man so absorbed in learning that he was above such things +as cleanliness. Unfortunately, they had just the opposite effect, and +the people made fun of him. They laughed at his sacrifices, where he +was often to be seen tearing open with his own hands the bleeding +victim to see if he could read inside the signs of success or failure. +They laughed at his writings in praise of the gods, where he +represented himself as receiving compliments from them all. They +laughed at his short stature, at his narrow shoulders and at the huge +steps he took in walking, as if, they said, he had been the near +relation of one of Homer's giants. + +Julian revenged himself upon them in his writings satires in which +Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, was especially held up to +ridicule. The Galileans were at the bottom of this as of all other +contradictions, he declared, and continued to vent his spleen upon the +Christians. It was the last stand of ancient paganism before it died +out forever. + + + + +Chapter 10 +THE LAST EXILE + +IT was not safe for Athanasius to remain long in the neighborhood of +Alexandria, for the pagans were now having it all their own way. Two +of the bravest and most faithful of his clergy had been seized and +exiled, and Julian's troops were searching everywhere for the +Patriarch. Athanasius made his way to the Thebaid, where he was +received with all the old enthusiasm. Under cover of the night, he +came up the river to Hermopolis, intending to stay there for some time +to preach to the people. The banks of the river were crowded with +bishops, monks and clergy who had come out to welcome their Father. + +Athanasius landed and, mounted on an ass led by Theodore, Abbot of +Tabenna, proceeded to the town escorted by a vast throng of people +carrying torches and singing hymns of praise. Here he dismounted, and +the monks asked him for his blessing. + +"Blessed indeed and worthy of all praise are these men who carry +always the cross of the Lord," he replied. + +After having stayed for some time at Hermopolis, he went with the +Abbot Theodore to his monastery of Tabenna, where he was already +beloved by all. He took the keenest interest in everything that +related to the religious life, even to the work of the humblest +brother. "It is these men, devoted to humility and obedience," he +would often say, "who are our fathers, rather than we theirs." + +Round about him lay the great cities of ancient Egypt--"Thebes of the +Hundred Gates" and Memphis, the old capital of the kingdom--cities of +the dead whose glories had already passed away. The glory that these +men had come to seek in their humble monasteries was one which is +eternal. The things of this world were small and fleeting to those who +lived in the thought of eternity. + +It was a country full of holy memories. On the banks of that Nile that +flowed so tranquilly among the ancient cities of Egypt, Moses himself +had stood lifting hands of prayer for the deliverance of his people. +Later, the Salvation of the world Himself had come to dwell for a time +beside it, sowing the seeds that were now bringing forth so great a +harvest. + +It was midsummer, and Athanasius was at Arsinoe when the news came +that the enemy was on his track once more. The Abbot Theodore, who was +visiting the Patriarch, persuaded him to embark in his covered boat +and to return with him to Tabenna. Tide and wind were against them; +the monks had to land and tow the boat; progress was slow, and the +soldiers of Julian were not far off. Athanasius was absorbed in +prayer, preparing for the martyr's death that, this time at least, +seemed very near. + +"Fear not," said one of the monks called Ammon, "for God is our +protection." + +"I have no fear," answered Athanasius; "for many long years I have +suffered persecution, and never has it disturbed the peace of my soul. +It is a joy to suffer, and the greatest of all joys is to give one's +life for Christ." + +There was a silence during which all gave themselves to prayer. As the +Abbot Theodore besought God to save their Patriarch, it was suddenly +made known to him by a divine revelation that at that very moment the +Emperor Julian had met his death in battle against the Persians, and +that he had been succeeded by Jovian, a Christian and a Catholic. At +once he told the good news to Athanasius, advising him to go without +delay to the new Emperor and ask to be restored to his see. + +In the meantime they had arrived in safety at Tabenna, where the monks +had assembled with joy on hearing of Athanasius' approach. Great was +their sorrow when they learned that he had only come to bid them +farewell. They gathered around him weeping, begging that he would +remember them in his prayers. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem," cried +Athanasius in the words of the Psalmist, "let my right hand be +forgotten." The Emperor Jovian had been an officer in the Roman Army, +where his cheerful good nature had so endeared him to the soldiers +that he was proclaimed Emperor immediately on Julian's death. There +was no need to plead for justice with such a man; scarcely had +Athanasius arrived in Alexandria when he received a cordial letter +from the Emperor himself. + +"Jovian--to Athanasius, the faithful servant of God," it ran. "As we +are full of admiration for the holiness of your life and your zeal in +the service of Christ our Saviour, we take you from this day forth +under our royal protection. We are aware of the courage which makes +you count as nothing the heaviest labors, the greatest dangers, the +sufferings of persecution and the fear of death. You have fought +faithfully for the Truth and edified the whole Christian world, which +looks to you as a model of every virtue. It is therefore our desire +that you should return to your See and teach the doctrine of +salvation. Come back to your people, feed the flock of Christ and pray +for our person, for it is through your prayers that we hope for the +blessing of God." + +Another letter followed shortly afterward from the Emperor, asking +Athanasius to tell him plainly what was the true faith of the Catholic +Church and inviting him to visit him at Antioch. + +The faith of Nicea was alone to be believed and held, replied the +Patriarch; it was that of the whole Catholic world, with the exception +of a few men who still held the doctrines of Arius. Nevertheless, he +thought it prudent to accept the Emperor's invitation and set out +shortly afterward for Antioch. It was well that he did so, for the +Arians were already on the spot. They had brought with them a man +called Lucius in the hope that they would be able to induce Jovian to +name him Patriarch of Alexandria in place of Athanasius. + +"We are Alexandrians," they declared, "and we beseech your Majesty to +give us a Bishop." + +"I have already ordered Athanasius to return to his See," was the +reply. + +"We have proofs against him," they said; "he was condemned and +banished by Constantine and Constantius of blessed memory." + +"All that was ten or twenty years ago," answered the Emperor; "it is +too late to rake it up again now. Besides, I know all about it by whom +he was accused and how he was banished. You need say no more." + +The Arians persisted. "Give us whomever you like as Patriarch," they +said, "as long as it is not Athanasius. No one in the town will hold +communion with him." + +"I have heard a very different story," said Jovian; "his teaching is +greatly appreciated." + +"His teaching is well enough," they retorted, "but his heart is full +of malice." + +"For his heart he must answer to God, who alone knows what is in it," +replied the Emperor; "it is enough for me if his teaching is good." + +The Arians at last lost patience. "He calls us heretics!" they +exclaimed indignantly. + +"That is his duty and the duty of all those who guard the flock of +Christ" was the only reply they got. + +The Emperor received Athanasius with the deepest respect and listened +eagerly to all he had to say on the subject of the true Faith. + +After a short stay in Antioch, the Patriarch returned to Alexandria, +where he related to the people the success of his enterprise and spoke +much in praise of the new Emperor. Their joy was not destined to be +lasting. Jovian had been but a few months on the throne when he died +suddenly on his way from Antioch to Constantinople. He was succeeded +by Valentinian, who, unfortunately for the peace of the Church, chose +his brother Valens to help him in the government, taking the West for +his own share of the Empire and leaving the East to his brother. + +Valens, who was both weak and cruel, had an Arian wife and declared at +once in favor of the Arians. The East was once more to be the scene of +strife and persecution. The Emperor, who had not yet been baptized, +received the Sacrament at the hands of Eudoxius, the Arian Bishop of +Constantinople, a worthy successor of Eusebius, who, in the middle of +the ceremony, made Valens take an oath that he would remain faithful +to the Arians and pursue the Catholics with every rigor. + +The Emperor thus won over, the Arians began to persecute and slander +those who were faithful to the Church; several were even put to death. +The Catholics, in desperation, resolved at last to send an embassy to +Valens to ask for justice, eighty priests and clerics being chosen to +make the petition. + +The Emperor, who pretended to listen patiently to their complaints, +had given secret orders to Modestus, the Prefect of the Pretorian +Guard, to put them all to death. Modestus was as cruel as his master; +but even in Nicomedia, where Arius and Eusebius had been so active in +preaching heresy, the bulk of the people remained true to the Faith of +Nicea. Such a wholesale slaughter of innocent ecclesiastics would be +almost certain to cause a rising; the thing must be done secretly. + +Summoning the doomed men to appear before him, Modestus informed them +that the Emperor had sentenced them to banishment. Glad to suffer +something for the Faith, they received the news with joy and were +promptly embarked on a ship which was supposedly to carry them to the +country of their exile. The crew, however, had received their orders +from Modestus. They set the ship on fire and escaped in the only boat, +leaving the eighty martyrs to perish in the flames. After this, it was +evidently useless to appeal to Valens for justice. + +The Governors of the different provinces soon received orders to drive +out all the Bishops banished by Constantius who had returned during +the reign of Julian. The people of Alexandria, however, protested that +Athanasius had not returned in the reign of Julian but had been +personally recalled by Jovian. The Governor of Egypt dared not insist, +for the citizens had gathered in force, determined to defend their +Bishop; but he warned the Emperor of the Catholic spirit of the +Alexandrians. + +A few days later, Athanasius left the city to stay for a short time in +a country house in the neighborhood. It was a providential thing that +he did so. That very night the Governor, with a body of armed troops, +broke into the church where the Patriarch was usually to be found at +prayer. They searched everywhere and were much astonished to find that +their prey had escaped them. Athanasius, in the meantime, warned by +friends, had concealed himself in his father's tomb, a fairly large +vault, where a man might remain for some time in hiding. The secret +was well kept by the faithful, who brought food to the Patriarch +during the night and kept him informed of all that was passing in the +city. For four long months he remained in concealment: at the end of +which time the Governor, fearing an outbreak among the people--for the +whole of Egypt was in a ferment--persuaded Valens to let him return in +peace to his see. + + + + +Chapter 11 +THE TRUCE OF GOD + +ATHANASIUS was back once more in the midst of his people. This time +they were determined to keep him at any cost, as they gave the Arians +to understand a year later when Lucius, the man who had been +recommended to Jovian as a suitable Patriarch, ventured to make his +appearance in Alexandria. No sooner did the people hear of his arrival +than they surrounded the house where he was lodging, and it would have +gone ill with him had not the Governor, with an armed troop, rescued +him and hurried him out of Egypt. The roar against him that arose from +the multitude as he was escorted by a strong guard out of the city +completely cured him of any desire to return, and Athanasius was left +in peace for the remaining years of his life. + +He had grown old, and his strength was failing, but his soul, still +young and vigorous, was undaunted and heroic as ever. The seven last +years of his rule at Alexandria were no more years of rest than those +which had gone before. He was one of the few bishops still living who +had been present at the Council of Nicea. The whole Catholic world, +West as well as East, venerated him as a Confessor of the Faith and +looked to him for advice and help. + +His pen was still busy. One of his first acts on his return to +Alexandria was to write the life of St. Antony of the Desert, a last +tribute of love and gratitude to the memory of his dear old friend. +The book was eagerly read; we are told in the Confessions of St. +Augustine how two young officers of the Imperial army, finding it on +the table of a certain hermitage near Milan and reading it, were so +inspired by enthusiasm for the religious life that they embraced it +then and there. + +In the other parts of the Eastern empire Valens and the Arians were +still at work, and persecution was raging as of old. Many of the +persecuted Bishops looked to Athanasius for the comfort and +encouragement which they never sought in vain. He was always ready to +forget the past and to make advances even to those who had been his +bitterest enemies. Let them only accept the Creed of Nicea, he said, +and he would admit them to communion. + +There was a splendid chivalry about the man who could so generously +hold out the right hand of fellowship to those who had never ceased to +plot his ruin. The triumph of truth and the salvation of souls was his +first, and indeed his only thought; everything else could be safely +forgotten. Unfortunately, it was not so with the leaders of the +Arians, and they refused to respond to his appeal. There were, +however, among them good men who had been deceived into signing false +creeds and who were beginning to see things in their true light. Many +of these were received back into the Church and became true and firm +friends of the Patriarch, who was always more ready to see the good in +his fellowmen than the evil. + +God had not given to everyone the clear instinct and the wide learning +of an Athanasius. It was sometimes really difficult to see where the +truth lay, for the Arians always tried to conceal their real doctrines +from those who would have shrunk from them in horror. Their old trick +of declaring that they believed all that the Church believed had led +many astray. For misled men such as these, honest and true of heart, +Athanasius had the greatest compassion and sympathy; they could always +count on his help. + +He carried the same large-mindedness into the affairs of his +government. A certain Bishop of Libya having grown too old to carry +out his duties to the people's satisfaction, they asked that he should +be replaced by a younger and more capable prelate. But they had not +the patience to wait till the affair was settled. Siderius, a young +Christian officer stationed in the province, had won the hearts of all +by his virtue and wisdom; he, and none other, they resolved, should +take the place of the old man. A Bishop called Philo was accordingly +persuaded to consecrate Siderius, a thing he had no right to do, as +the Patriarch had not been consulted; neither were there two other +Bishops present, as was required for a lawful consecration. + +The news of this irregular proceeding came in due time to the ears of +Athanasius, who sent someone to inquire into the matter. Finding, +however, that Siderius was worthy in every way of the position in +which he had been placed, he ratified the choice of the people and +showed much favor to the young Bishop. + +Yet a few years later he was ready to brave the Emperor's anger by +excommunicating the Governor of Libya, a man whose cruelty and evil +deeds had made him hateful to all. As the man was a native of +Cappadocia, Athanasius wrote to St. Basil, the Archbishop of Caesarea +in Cappadocia, to tell him what he had done. St. Basil replied that he +had published the excommunication throughout his diocese and forbidden +anyone to hold communion with the unhappy man. He asked Athanasius to +pray for him and his people, for the Arians were hard at work among +them. + +Valens, in the meantime, had decided that the whole empire must be +Arian and was trying to obtain his end by force. Arian prelates +arrived in Caesarea, and Modestus, Prefect of the Pretorian Guard, +informed the Archbishop that he must admit them to communion under +pain of banishment. St. Basil, having resisted the order, was brought +up before the Prefect's tribunal. + +"Why will you not accept the Emperor's religion?" asked the latter. +"Do you think it is a small thing to be of our communion?" + +"Although you are Prefects and powerful people," answered the +Archbishop, "you are not to be more respected than God." + +"Do you not know that I have power to drive you into exile, even to +take your life?" cried Modestus in a rage. + +"I am God's pilgrim," was the answer; "all countries are the same to +me, and death is a good gift when it brings me to Him for whom I live +and work." + +"No one has ever spoken so boldly to me before," replied Modestus, +astonished. + +"You have probably never met a Christian Bishop before," said Basil, +"or he would certainly have answered you as I have done. In all other +things we are meek and obedient, but when it is a question of God's +worship, we look to Him alone. Threats are of no use, for suffering in +His service is our greatest delight." + +"Would you not like to have the Emperor in your congregation?" asked +Modestus. "It would be so easy. You have only to strike that word +'consubstantial' out of your creed." + +"Gladly would I see the Emperor in my church," said Basil; "it is a +great thing to save a soul; but as for changing my creed, I would not +alter a letter for the whole world." + +The persecution continued, and Basil addressed himself once more to +Athanasius, asking for prayers and guidance. "We are persuaded," he +wrote, "that your leadership is our sole remaining comfort in our +distress. By the power of our prayers, by the wisdom of your counsels, +you are able to carry us through this fearful storm, as all are sure +who have in any way made trial of your goodness. Wherefore cease not +to pray for our souls and to stir us up by letters; if you only knew +how these benefit us, you would never let pass an opportunity of +writing. If it were given to me, through your prayers, once to see +you, to profit by your gifts and to add to the history of my life a +meeting with such a great and apostolic soul, surely I should consider +that the loving mercy of God has given me a compensation for all the +ills with which my life has been afflicted." + +In 366 Pope Liberius died and was succeeded by Pope St. Damasus, a man +of strong character and holy life. Two years later, in a council of +the Church, it was decreed that no Bishop should be consecrated unless +he held the Creed of Nicea. Athanasius was overwhelmed with joy on +hearing this decision. The triumph of the cause for which he had +fought so valiantly was now assured. + +Athanasius' life was drawing to an end. Five years later, after having +governed his diocese for forty-eight years--years of labor, endurance +and suffering--he passed peacefully into the presence of that Lord for +whose sake he had counted all his tribulations as joy. + + + +From his earliest youth Athanasius had stood forth as the champion of +Truth and defender of the Faith--a gallant warrior who had not laid +down his arms until the day of his death. Where a weaker man would +have lost courage, he had stood firm; suffering had only served to +temper his spirit, as steel is tempered by the fire. Among men who +were capable of every compromise he had remained loyal and true, and +few have been more loved or hated than he. To his own people he was +not only their Bishop, but a Saint, an ascetic, a martyr in all but +deed; above all, he was an intensely lovable personality, whose very +greatness of soul only made him more compassionate. To the outside +world he was a guiding light, a beacon pointing straight to God and +Heaven. He was a living example of the truth that a man may be +large-minded and yet strong; that he may hate error, yet love the +erring--stand like a rock against heresy, yet be full of compassion +for heretics. + +Scarcely was Athanasius dead when he was honored as a Saint. Six years +after his death, St. Gregory Nazianzen speaks of him in one breath +with the patriarchs, prophets and martyrs who had fought for the Faith +and won the crown of glory. His influence is with us to this day, his +memory lingers in the words of that Nicene Creed which was his war +cry; for it is largely owing to his valor that we possess it still. +And through all his works breathes the same spirit--the spirit that +nerved him to fight and suffer--an intense love and devotion to Him +who was the Lord and Master of his life--Jesus Christ, the same +yesterday, today and forever. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Saint Athanasius, by F.A. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/27707-8.zip b/27707-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f85e4ab --- /dev/null +++ b/27707-8.zip diff --git a/27707.txt b/27707.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3ff0af --- /dev/null +++ b/27707.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2703 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Saint Athanasius, by F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Saint Athanasius + The Father of Orthodoxy + +Author: F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes + +Release Date: January 5, 2009 [EBook #27707] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SAINT ATHANASIUS *** + + + + +Produced by David McClamrock + + + + + +SAINT ATHANASIUS +c. 297-373 + +THE FATHER OF ORTHODOXY + +By F.A. [Francis Alice] Forbes + + + +"Jesus said to them: Amen, Amen I say to you, before Abraham was +made, I am." +--John 8:58 + +"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the +Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. . . . And the +Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." +--John 1:14 + + + +Nihil Obstat: J.N. Strassmaier, S.J. + Censor Deputatus + +Imprimatur: Edmund Canon Surmont + Vicar General + Westminster + August 5, 1919 + + + +Originally published in 1919 by R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd., London, as +part of the series _Standard-bearers of the Faith: A Series of Lives +of the Saints for Young and Old_. + + + +"Born of the Father before all ages, God of God, Light of Light, +true God of true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the +Father . . . " +--From the Nicene Creed + + + +CONTENTS + +1. A Foreshadowing + +2. Arius the Heresiarch + +3. The Great Council + +4. The Calm Before the Storm + +5. False Witnesses + +6. A Royal-Hearted Exile + +7. The Day of Rejoicing + +8. The Invisible Patriarch + +9. A Short-Lived Peace + +10. The Last Exile + +11. The Truce of God + + + + +SAINT ATHANASIUS + +"I and the Father are one." +--Words of Our Lord (John 10:30) + + + + +Chapter 1 +A FORESHADOWING + +THE Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt was expecting company. He stood at +the window of his palace looking down the long road, that at the first +sign of his guests' arrival he might go forth and welcome them. Before +him, like a white pearl in the blue waters of the Mediterranean, lay +the city of Alexandria--"the beautiful," as men loved to call it. +Across the harbor the marble tower of the great lighthouse soared up +into the clear Eastern sky, white as the white cliffs of the Island of +Pharos from which it sprang. It was noonday, and the sunshine lay like +a veil of gold over all. + +The Patriarch's thoughts were wandering in the past. He had been +celebrating the anniversary of his holy predecessor Peter, the +previous Bishop, who had won the crown of martyrdom during the +terrible persecution of the Christians not so many years before. +Several of the clergy present had come from afar to assist at the +festival, and these were to be his expected guests. + +The time of suffering was past and over, and yet it seemed to +Alexander as if it had all happened yesterday and might happen again +tomorrow. There stood the great palace of the Caesars, where the pagan +emperor had sat in judgment upon the lambs of Christ's flock; there +the famous temple of Serapis, where the Christians had been dragged to +offer incense to the gods; there the amphitheater where they had been +torn to pieces by beasts and slain with the sword for confessing the +Name of Christ. And all through those dark days, firm and steadfast as +the lighthouse on the cliffs of Pharos, had stood the Patriarch Peter, +a tower of strength and comfort to his persecuted children. + +A hundred Bishops and more had looked to him as their head, for the +See of Alexandria in the East was second only to that of Rome in the +West, and the burden of responsibility was heavy. But, thanks to the +example of its chief, the Church in Egypt had borne the trial bravely, +and if some had quailed before the torture and the rack and had fallen +away, by far the greater number had been true. Even the unheroic +souls, who had loved their lives better than their God, had not been +lost beyond hope, for they had come back during the lulls in the +storm, begging to be absolved from their sin. And Peter, mindful of +his Master's words that he should not quench the smoking flax nor +break the bruised reed, received them back, after they had done +penance, into the fold of Christ with mercy and compassion. + +There were some who had not scrupled to protest against such mercy. +"Were these apostates," cried Meletius, Bishop of Lykopolis, "to be +made equal to those who had borne the burden and the heat of the day?" +And he had rebelled against the decision of the Patriarch and made a +schism in the Church. Even the martyrdom of the holy Peter had not +brought him back to his allegiance: the Meletians were rebels still, +to the crying scandal of Christians and pagans alike. + +They were a hard people to govern, these Alexandrians--subtle, +passionate and unstable, ready to follow any preacher of novelties. +Alexander half envied Peter his martyr's crown as he stood musing over +the past. + +What was delaying his guests? he wondered, as he looked down the long +road, where there was as yet no sign of them. + +On the shore, at a little distance, a group of boys were playing, +their bare legs and white tunics flashing hither and thither as they +ran. One of them, a tall slim lad, whose aureole of ruddy hair seemed +to catch every wandering sunbeam, was evidently directing the game, +for all seemed to look to him for orders. "A leader of men," smiled +the Patriarch to himself, as a vigorous wave of the boy's hand brought +all his companions round him. + +They were building some kind of a platform now, on to which he of the +ruddy locks was promptly hoisted, while the others appeared to be +forming a procession. + +"A church ceremony," murmured the Patriarch to himself, remembering +his own boyhood days. Presently a little boy advanced solemnly and +presented some kind of a vessel to the youthful bishop, who, with a +magnificent gesture, beckoned to the procession to approach. Then, as +the foremost boy advanced and knelt at his feet, he raised the vessel +and poured some of its contents over his head. + +"The baptism of the catechumens!" exclaimed the Patriarch; "but this +looks a good deal too much like earnest!" + +Hastily calling a servant, he bade him go down to the shore and bring +up the band of boys who were playing there. Summoned thus hastily to +appear before authority, they approached with some uneasiness, and +there was a certain amount of scuffling among them which resulted in +the appearance of the would-be bishop in the forefront of the +group--and where should a bishop be if not at the head of his flock? + +"What were you doing down there on the shore?" asked the Patriarch. + +The boy's clear eyes looked at him with interest, but without a +vestige of fear. + +"We were playing," he said. "It was the baptism of the catechumens. I +was the bishop, and they"--pointing to his companions--were the +catechumens." + +"Are you a Christian?" asked Alexander. + +"Yes," answered the boy proudly. + +"And these?" + +"Catechumens." + +"What did you do?" + +"I poured the water on them and said the words." + +"What words?" + +The boy repeated the formula in perfect Greek. + +"Did you pour the water as you said the words?" + +"Yes." + +The Patriarch's face was troubled. + +"It is a dangerous game to play at," he said. "What would you say if I +told you that you had really baptized them?" + +The boy looked at him in amazement. + +"But I am not a bishop," he said. + +The Patriarch could not help smiling. + +"Although the bishop usually does baptize the catechumens," he said, +"it is not necessary that it should be a bishop, not even necessary +that it should be a priest." + +The boy-bishop looked grave, his companions frightened, the Patriarch +thoughtful. + +"What is your name?" he asked suddenly, laying his hand on the ruddy +locks. + +"Athanasius," answered the boy. + +"What would you like to be?" he asked. + +"A priest," was the prompt answer. + +"A bishop perhaps?" asked Alexander with a smile; "you think it is an +easy and a glorious life?" + +The boy's eyes looked straight into the Patriarch's. + +"The blessed Peter was a martyr," he answered. + +"You need much learning to be a priest." + +"I love learning," said the boy. + +Alexander noted the broad, intelligent brow, the keen eyes and the +clear-cut face before him. His heart went out to this frank and +fearless lad who loved the martyrs. + +"Come to me this evening, and we will talk of this," he said, for his +guests were at last to be seen approaching, and his duty lay with +them. + +That evening the boy and the Patriarch had much to say to each other +as they walked under the palm trees in the garden of the episcopal +palace. Alexander learned how Athanasius had been brought up in the +Christian Faith under the shadow of the great persecution, among those +who counted it the highest honor to shed their blood for Christ. He +had been well taught in the famous Greek schools of Alexandria and was +full of enthusiasm for the great Greek philosophers and poets. Strong +of will, noble of heart and keen of intellect, the boy was born to +something great--of that the Patriarch felt assured. The Church had +need of such men in these troublous times, when the dangers of heresy +had succeeded to those of persecution. + +Alexander at once resolved to take Athanasius into his household and +to bring him up as his own son, an inspiration for which he was often +to thank God in the years to come. The boy soon grew to love the +gentle and holy Patriarch, who could act with such strength and +decision when it was needful for the good of the Church. He was +constantly in touch with men of every rank and country, for Alexandria +was a city where people of all nations and of all creeds met. Pagans, +Jews and Christians lived side by side in their various quarters; +there even existed a set of philosophers who tried to make a religion +for themselves out of an amalgamation of several others. + +Athanasius was still very young when he began to act as secretary to +the Patriarch, accompanying him on all his journeys throughout his +vast diocese; and he himself tells us how he stayed for a time among +the monks in the desert of Egypt and how his young soul was set on +fire by the holiness of their lives. + +Neither science nor logic nor philosophy offered any difficulty to the +brilliant young scholar, whose knowledge of Scripture and of theology +was to astonish the men of his time. Alexander himself as he grew +older leaned more and more on Athanasius, consulting him, young as he +was, on the most important matters. So the years rolled on, and the +boy grew into manhood, "gentle and strong," as we are told by one who +knew him, "high in prowess, humble in spirit, full of sympathy, +angelic in mind and face." That he would make his mark on the world of +his time, few who knew him doubted; but of the dauntless +soldier-spirit that slumbered behind that gentle mien, of the +steadfast will that no human power could shake, they knew but little. +God's moment had not yet come. + + + + +Chapter 2 +ARIUS THE HERESIARCH + +THE night before the martyrdom of the Patriarch Peter, as he had lain +in prison praying and waiting for that dawn which was to be his last +on earth, there had come to him a few of his faithful clergy. They had +braved many dangers to look once more upon the face of their beloved +Bishop and to obtain his blessing and his last instructions; they had +come also to plead for one who had asked their help. + +But a short time before, a certain man called Arius had been +excommunicated by the Patriarch for having joined the schism of +Meletius. He it was who that very day had visited them, beseeching +them with tears to use their influence with Peter to obtain his +pardon. The clerics knew the tenderness of their Bishop's heart and +his readiness to forgive the erring; they were therefore greatly +surprised when their petition met with a stern refusal. + +"Never," said Peter. "Arius is separated from the glory of the Son of +God both in this world and in the next." + +Then, as Achillas and Alexander, his dearest and most intimate +friends, had drawn him apart to ask the reason for such unusual +severity-- + +"This night," he said, "as I prayed, Our Lord appeared to me in glory, +but His robe was rent from top to bottom. 'Who has treated Thee thus, +my Lord!' I cried, 'and rent Thy garments?' + +"'It is Arius,' He replied, 'who has torn My robe, and tomorrow they +will come to you to intercede for him. Therefore I have warned you to +keep him from the fold. But you shall die for Me tomorrow.'" + +Then Achillas and Alexander, and they that were with them, prayed once +more with their Bishop, and he blessed them and bade them depart in +peace. And when the morning came, the promise of Christ was fulfilled, +and His faithfu1 servant received the martyr's crown. + +Achillas succeeded Peter as Patriarch, and in course of time, yielding +to the entreaties of Arius and deceived by his apparent good faith, he +received him back into the fold and gave him charge of one of the +largest churches in Alexandria in a district called Baukalis. + +Tall and striking in appearance, with a certain eloquence and a great +pretense of holiness, Arius soon became a popular preacher. He had +even hoped, it was said, to succeed Achillas as Patriarch; and when, +on the death of Achillas, Alexander was elected to take his place, +Arius' anger and envy knew no bounds. Since he could find no fault +with the conduct of the new Patriarch, whom everyone acknowledged to +be blameless and holy, he proceeded to find fault with his doctrine. +"In teaching that Christ was the Eternal Son of God," said the priest +of Baukalis, "Alexander and his clergy made a great mistake. Since +Christ was the creation of God the Father, how could He Himself be +God?" + +It was a heresy that struck at the very roots of Christianity. +Alexander remembered, too late, the warning of Peter. Gentle and +peaceful by nature, he tried at first to win Arius by kindness. "Let +him explain his difficulty," he said, "and discuss the question with +theologians"; but all such suggestions were met with pride and +obstinacy. Arius at last sent a haughty statement of his opinions, +which were condemned by nearly all the Bishops of Egypt. He was +therefore deposed and forbidden to preach, but he was not the man to +take his defeat humbly. + +Hastening to Caesarea in Palestine, where he had influential friends, +he gave himself out as "the very famous, the much suffering for God's +glory, who, taught of God, has acquired wisdom and knowledge." Many +were seduced by his insidious persuasions, among them Eusebius, the +Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, who, thoroughly taken in by the +deceits and false holiness of the heretic, wrote a letter to Alexander +in his favor. + +The Patriarch replied by a detailed account of Arius' teaching and his +trial, giving the reasons why the Synod had thought fit to depose him. +This letter had an effect on the clergy and Bishops of Palestine which +Arius was quick enough to see. He therefore retired into Syria, where +he made great friends with another Eusebius, the clever and crafty +Bishop of Nicomedia, who had gained an unfortunate influence over the +Emperor. + +It was now nearly twelve years since Constantine, himself a pagan, +though the son of St. Helena, had prayed to the God of the Christians +to give him the victory over his enemies. His prayers had been heard. +In the brightness of the noonday sky there appeared a sign which +outshone the sun in splendor--the image of the Cross of Christ. "In +this sign thou shalt conquer" was traced in fiery letters across it, +and the Emperor and all his army saw and believed. + +With the Cross as standard, Constantine marched against his enemies +and defeated them. From that day forth he became a catechumen and the +protector and friend of the Christians. His first act was to publish +an edict, the Edict of Milan, which gave them full liberty to practice +their religion, build churches and preach. Thus the Church came forth +at last from the dark night of persecution, but her life on earth is +ever a warfare against the powers of evil, and other dangers lay +ahead. + +The Emperor began by making humane laws. He abolished the punishment +of crucifixion out of reverence for the Son of God, who had died upon +the Cross, put a stop to the cruel games of the arena and bettered the +condition of the slaves. + +Constantine's nature was really a noble one, but there was much in him +still of the pagan and the barbarian. Unfortunately for himself and +for the world, he fell under the influence of Eusebius, Bishop of +Nicomedia. + +This man, who was said to have apostatized during the persecution of +Maxentius and who had intruded himself, no one quite knew how, into +the See of Nicomedia, had begun by winning the good graces of +Constantia, the Emperor's sister. During the time when Constantia's +husband, Licinius, was at war with her brother, Eusebius was his +staunch friend, upholding him in his rebellion against the Emperor; +but on the defeat of Licinius, the Bishop at once transferred his +friendship to the conqueror, Constantine. Bishop Eusebius resembled +Arius in his want of reverence and of honesty, and had taken Arius' +side against the Patriarch, Alexander, praising openly the teaching of +Arius and declaring that his only wish was that all men should share +his opinions. He had even dared to write in Arius' favor to the +Patriarch, declaring insolently that he had been unjustly deposed. + +Alexander was growing old, but the Faith was in peril; it was a moment +for vigorous action. Moreover, at his side, like a faithful watchdog, +stood his secretary, the young deacon Athanasius. Circular letters +were sent to Pope St. Sylvester and to all the Bishops warning them of +the new danger that was threatening the Church. "Since Eusebius has +placed himself at the head of these apostates," wrote Alexander, "it +is necessary that it should be made known to all the faithful, lest +they should be deceived by their hypocrisy." + +Eusebius and Arius were both astonished and disgusted at the firm +attitude of the Patriarch. Athanasius was at the bottom of it, they +declared, and they vowed an undying hatred against him. The Emperor +Constantine, who happened at this moment to be visiting Nicomedia, +where he had spent a great part of his youth, heard Eusebius' version +of the story. It was only a question of words, said the wily Bishop; +what was really distressing about it was the spite and the venom with +which the Patriarch of Alexandria had pursued an innocent and holy man +for having dared to differ from him in opinion. Arius was then +presented to the Emperor as a faithful and unjustly persecuted priest, +a part which he knew how to play to perfection. + +It was well known to Eusebius that the great desire of Constantine was +to preserve and maintain peace in his empire. If this quarrel were +allowed to go on, said the Bishop, there would soon be strife +throughout the whole of the East, for there was much bitterness +already. On the other hand, Constantine was known to all Christians as +the protector and generous benefactor of the Church. Would it not be +well for him, suggested Eusebius, to use his influence for good and to +write to Alexander, bidding him lay aside this most unchristian +dispute and make peace with Arius and his followers? The Emperor, as +Eusebius had hoped, took alarm at the prospect of disunion in his +dominions. A catechumen himself, and knowing but little of the great +truths of Christianity, he was easily deceived by Eusebius' story and +hastened to take his advice. + +It was a scandalous thing, he wrote, that the peace of the Church +should be disturbed for such a trivial matter. Let Alexander and Arius +forgive one another; let them each keep their own opinion if they +chose, but in concord and in quiet. He ended by begging both to give +him peace by making peace among themselves and by putting an end to +all such quarrels. + +The letter was entrusted to Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, a confessor of +the Faith, venerated throughout the Church for his wisdom and +holiness. He was to deliver it personally to the Patriarch of +Alexandria. + +Now, Hosius was a Bishop of the Western Church and had heard but vague +rumors of the doings of Arius and his followers in the East. His first +interview with the Patriarch of Alexandria opened his eyes to the +importance of the matter. It was no question of a war of words or a +difference of opinion--Christianity itself was at stake; the Emperor +must be warned, and warned at once. A letter was therefore written by +the two Bishops, assisted probably by Athanasius, in which the Emperor +was earnestly begged to take steps to summon a universal Council of +the Church to decide the question. It was dispatched to him by a +trusty messenger and in due time reached his hands. + +Constantine, who was really anxious to do what was right, appealed to +the Pope, St. Sylvester, to unite with him in summoning a Council. To +the Bishops who were too poor to undertake a long journey with the +usual attendance of clergy, the Emperor offered the necessary means. +He undertook also to house and provide for the members of the Council +as long as it lasted. The town of Nicea in Bithynia, about twenty +miles from Nicomedia, was chosen as the meeting place. It was hoped by +all devout Christians that peace and unity in the Church would be the +result. + + + + +Chapter 3 +THE GREAT COUNCIL + +IN the early summer of the year 325 the Council of Nicea met. Three +hundred eighteen Bishops were present, besides a multitude of priests, +deacons and acolytes. It was like the Day of Pentecost, said the +people: "men of all nations and of all tongues." + +Many bore the glorious marks of the sufferings they had endured for +Christ; others were wasted with long years of prison. There were the +hermit Bishops of Egypt, Paphnutius and Potamon, who had each lost an +eye for the Faith; Paul of Neo-Caesarea, whose muscles had been burned +with red-hot irons and whose paralyzed hands bore witness to the fact; +Cecilian of Carthage, intrepid and faithful guardian of his flock; +James of Nisibis, who had lived for years in the desert in caves and +mountains; Spyridion, the shepherd Bishop of Cyprus, and the great St. +Nicholas of Myra, both famed for their miracles. + +Among the Bishops of the West were Theophilus the Goth, golden-haired +and ruddy, who had won thousands to the Faith; and Hosius the +Spaniard, known as "the holy," who had been named by the Pope as his +representative; together with the two Papal Legates, Vito and Vincent. +Among those of the Eastern Church were the venerable St. Macarius, +Bishop of Jerusalem, and St. Amphion, who had been put to the torture +in the reign of Diocletian. + +Last but not least came the aged Patriarch of Alexandria, the chief +prelate of the Eastern Church, who had brought with him as his +assistant the young deacon Athanasius. + +Of the 318 Bishops present, seventeen, headed by Eusebius of +Nicomedia, were in sympathy with Arius. They were but a small number, +it is true, yet Eusebius was the adviser of Constantine and the friend +of his sister Constantia. He relied on his influence with the Emperor +and his well-known powers of persuasion. + +* * * * * + +The day has come for the opening of the Council. The Bishops and +clergy are assembled in a great hall which has been prepared for this +purpose. In the center, upon a splendid throne, lies a copy of the +Four Gospels, symbol of the presence of Christ in the midst of His +Church. At the upper end a small gilt throne has been erected for the +Emperor, while the Bishops and the clergy sit on seats and benches +running the whole way around the hall. + +A quick whisper suddenly breaks the silence: "The Emperor!" and the +whole assembly rises to its feet. Few of those present have seen the +man whose name is on every lip, a Caesar and a Christian! + +Alone and unattended, with bent head and humble mien, the Emperor +crosses the threshold. A man of noble presence and of royal dignity, +he wears the robe of Imperial purple blazing with gold and precious +stones; the Imperial crown is on his head. There are some there who +have seen that Imperial purple before, but under what different +circumstances--"Hail, Caesar; those about to die salute thee!" + +He advances slowly and with faltering footsteps between the ranks of +Bishops standing to do him honor. Constantine the Great, the conqueror +of the Roman world, trembles in the presence of these intrepid +Confessors of the Faith who bear upon them the marks of the conflict. +In the midst of that august assembly he, the catechumen, is as a +little child. He will not even take his seat upon the throne prepared +for him until the Bishops urge him to do so. + +The Emperor speaks to them with deference and courtesy. It is not for +him, he says, to dictate to them, for here he is but fellow servant +with them of a glorious Lord and Master. They had met to preserve +peace and concord in the Church and to put an end to all causes of +strife. Let them do what they can to that end. + +There are two men in that assembly on whom all eyes are bent. One of +them is about sixty years of age, tall, thin and poorly clad, as one +who leads an austere life. A wild shock of hair overshadows his face, +which is of a deathly pallor; his eyes are usually downcast, owing to +a weakness of sight. He has a curious way of writhing when he speaks, +which his enemies compare to the wriggling of a snake. He is given to +fits of frenzy and wild excitement, but has withal, when he chooses, a +most winning and earnest manner, fascinating to men and women +alike--Arius the heresiarch. + +The other, seated on a low seat beside the Patriarch of Alexandria, is +slight, fair and young; only his broad brow and keen, earnest eyes +betray something of the spirit within; he shows no excitement. Serene +and watchful, silent yet quick in his movements, he is like a young +St. Michael leaning on his sword, ready to strike for the truth when +the moment shall come--Athanasius the deacon. + +The heresiarch is called upon to explain his doctrines. His discourse +is long and eloquent. He uses to the utmost his powers of fascination. +He tries to hide the full meaning of his words under beautiful +expressions, but his meaning is clear to all--"Jesus Christ is not +God." + +The Fathers and Confessors of the Faith, stricken with horror at the +blasphemy, cry out and stop their ears. The indignation is universal. +Eusebius and his party are in consternation. Arius has been too +outspoken. He has stated his opinions too crudely; such frankness will +not do here; he is no longer among the ignorant. Eusebius himself +rises to speak and, with the insinuating and charming manner for which +he is famous, tries to gloss over what Arius has said. + +The Son of God is infinitely holy, he says, the holiest of all the +creations of the Father and far above them all. Very, very close to +the Father Himself, so close that He is very nearly God. As a matter +of fact, he declares, the Arians believe all that the Church teaches. + +A letter is produced and read by one of the prelates; it was written +by Eusebius himself to a friend. Full of heresy, it shows most clearly +the double-dealing of the Arian Bishop and his party. The indignation +breaks out afresh, and the letter is torn to shreds in the presence of +the Council. Even Eusebius is abashed, but there are others to take +his place. The Arians continue the argument. + +Silent and watchful at his post sits the young man who is destined to +be the champion of the Faith through all the troublous years to come. +He has not spoken yet, but now Alexander makes him a sign. The sword +flashes from its scabbard; woe to those on whom its blows shall fall! +In a few words, sharp and clear as diamonds, Athanasius tears to +pieces the veils in which the Arians had shrouded their true meaning. +"Who has deceived you, O senseless," he asks, "to call the Creator a +creature?" + +He is the champion of Christ, the champion of the truth. The Bishops +marvel at his words, which are as of one inspired; they thank God who +has raised up so strong a bulwark against error. Alexander's eyes are +aglow; it is for this that he has lived; he knew how it would be. His +long life's work is nearly at an end; he can go now in peace. +Athanasius is at his post. + +But it is time to put an end to the discussion; Arius and his opinions +are abhorred by everyone. A profession of Faith is drawn up by Hosius, +the representative of Pope St. Sylvester, and presented for all to +sign. It establishes forever the Godhead of Christ. To this day it is +the profession of Faith of the whole Catholic world--the Nicene Creed. + +"Born of the Father before all ages, God of God, Light of Light, +true God of true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the +Father . . ." + +The Emperor has listened earnestly to the discussion, following it as +well as he can with his limited knowledge of doctrine. He approves the +profession of Faith with his whole heart; let it be presented to all +to sign. + +But first--one moment--this heresy must be stamped out once and +forever or there will be trouble in the days to come. An addition must +be made before the signatures are affixed. It runs thus: "And if any +say, 'There was a time when God was not; or if any hold that the Son +is not of the same substance with the Father, or is . . . like a +created being,' the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church condemns him, as it +condemns forever Arius and his writings." + +The text is then presented to the Bishops to sign. All are content but +the seventeen Arians. The Emperor expresses his entire satisfaction +with the decisions of the Council; he will uphold the law of the +Church with the law of the State, he declares, and those who rebel +will be punished. + +The ranks of the Arians begin to waver; several Bishops sign the +Creed; soon there are only five left--Eusebius at their head. + +The Emperor speaks of banishment. + +The argument is a powerful one. Eusebius wavers. He receives a message +from Constantia bidding him give way; resistance is useless. He signs +the profession in company with Theognis of Nicea, his friend. + +Arius, with several of his supporters, is then condemned to +banishment, and his writings are to be burned publicly. The minds of +all are at rest. Several other matters of less importance are settled +satisfactorily. The Council is at an end. + +But Constantine has not finished with the Bishops. Today begins the +twentieth year of his reign, a day kept with great rejoicing by the +Roman Emperors. A banquet has been prepared at the palace; he claims +the honor of entertaining the Confessors and Fathers of the Faith. + +Times have changed indeed. The soldiers of the Imperial Guard salute +with drawn swords the guests of the Emperor as they pass between them +into the palace--that Imperial Guard who in other days, which many +there remember, had dragged the Christians to torture and to death. + +The Emperor receives them with veneration, kissing devoutly the scars +of those who have suffered for the Faith. The banquet over, he begs +their prayers and loads them with gifts, giving to each of the Bishops +a letter to the governor of his province ordering a distribution of +wheat to the churches for the use of the poor. + +The hearts of all are full of joy and thankfulness. Taking leave of +the Emperor, they return, each man to his own country. The Council of +Nicea is over. + +But there were two in whose hearts there was neither joy nor peace nor +thankfulness; they were Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nicea. +Were they to return to their sees and confess themselves beaten? It +would be a bitter homecoming. The officials of the palace were well +known to Eusebius. He bribed the librarian to let him see once more +the famous document that had just been signed by so many Bishops. +Then, seizing a moment when the guardian's back was turned, the two +Arians deleted their names from the profession of Faith and, returning +home, continued to teach the doctrines which the Church had condemned. +They counted on the protection of Constantia and her influence with +the Emperor, but they were mistaken. + +Three months after the Council of Nicea, Eusebius and Theognis were +deposed by Alexander and the Bishops of Egypt, who elected Catholic +prelates in their stead. The Emperor supported the decision of the +Church, pronouncing a sentence of banishment on the rebels. "Eusebius +has deceived me shamefully," he wrote to the faithful in Nicomedia. + +Who could foresee that the Emperor, whose eyes were at last opened to +the perfidy of his friend, would before long allow himself to be +deceived more shamefully still by the very man whose dishonesty he had +proved? + + + + +Chapter 4 +THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM + +WITH the enemies of the Church in exile, for a time there was peace. +The heathen came flocking from every side to embrace the Faith. Pagan +temples were overthrown and Christian churches were erected in their +place. The Emperor himself built no less than eight in Rome, under the +direction of Pope St. Sylvester, and furnished them with all that was +required for the worship of God. + +But Constantine was a stranger in the capital of his kingdom; he had +spent his youth at the court of Nicomedia, and looked upon the East as +his home. Rome, moreover, had tragic associations for him. It was +there that he had caused his young son Crispus, falsely accused of +treason by his stepmother Fausta, to be put to death. The young Caesar +had been brave and upright and a favorite with all. Too late did his +father learn that he was innocent. Fausta paid the penalty for her +evil deed, but her death could not give life to the innocent victim. + +Constantine resolved, therefore, to build himself an Imperial city in +the land which he loved, far from the scene of the tragedy. He laid +its foundations in Byzantium and gave it the name of Constantinople, +or the city of Constantine. Everything was done to make the new +capital the most magnificent city in the world. Works of art were +brought from afar, the most skillful artists and builders were +assembled from all the cities of Europe and of the East, enormous sums +of money were spent, Christian churches were built; but Constantine +could not give to his Imperial city what was wanting to himself--a +pure and steadfast faith. Constantinople was destined to be the home +of every heresy. + +In the meantime the holy Patriarch Alexander had gone to his rest. As +he lay on his deathbed he called for his beloved Athanasius, but there +was no reply. Athanasius had fled from the city, fearing from certain +words of the old man that he would be chosen to succeed him. + +"Athanasius!" called the Patriarch once more. + +There was one present who bore the same name, a not uncommon one in +the East; they brought him to the bedside of the dying Bishop, but his +eyes looked past him into space. + +"Athanasius!" he called once more, "you think you can escape, but it +shall not be so." And with these words he died. + +The same thought had been in the hearts of all. Athanasius was known +for his zeal and learning, his mortified life and his ardent love of +God. He was young, it was true, but he was wiser than many older men. +When the Bishops of the Church assembled to elect their new Patriarch, +the whole Catholic population surrounded the church, holding up their +hands to Heaven and crying, "Give us Athanasius!" The Bishops asked +nothing better. Athanasius was thus elected, as St. Gregory tells us, +by the suffrages of the whole people and by the choice of the Bishops +of the Church. + +It was a heavy burden to be laid on the shoulders of a young man +scarcely thirty years of age. There were trials and combats ahead +before which, if Athanasius had seen them, even his bold and undaunted +spirit might have quailed. But the will of God, once made known to +him, was accepted bravely. He would bear the burden with all the +courage of his strong heart until the time came to lay it down. + +The first few years of Athanasius' rule were years of peace during +which he devoted himself to the work he loved, the conversion of the +pagans and the visitation of his huge diocese, the Patriarchate of +Alexander. He traveled from city to city confirming and strengthening +the Church and making friends with the holy men over whom he had been +called to rule. + +One day, when he had been but a few months Patriarch, a message was +brought to him from a stranger who wished to speak with him. His name +was Frumentius, and he had traveled from a distant country. Athanasius +was presiding at a meeting of Bishops. "Let him be brought in," he +said, "and let him tell us what he desires." The stranger was a man of +noble bearing and gentle manners. He had a wondrous tale to tell. He +and his brother AEdesius, left orphans at an early age, had been +adopted by an uncle who was a learned man and a philosopher. Desiring +greatly to undertake a voyage to Abyssinia to study the geography of +the country and unwilling to interrupt the education of his two young +charges, he took them with him, that they might continue their studies +under his care. His work finished, he set sail for home with the two +boys, but the boat, having put into a port for provisions, was set +upon by savages, and everyone on board was killed. + +Now, it happened that the boys had landed and were reading together +under a tree on the shore. The savages had pity on their youth and, +instead of killing them, carried them off and presented them to their +King as slaves. The boys, who were intelligent and lovable, soon +gained the affections of their barbarian master. Arrived at manhood, +they were given positions of trust in the kingdom and loaded with +every honor. Frumentius, the elder, was especially beloved by the +King, over whom he gained a great influence for good. But the King +fell sick and, being near to death, called his wife, to whom he had +left the guardianship of his young son. "Let Frumentius help you in +the government," he said; "he is wiser and more faithful than any in +the kingdom." + +The Queen Mother accordingly appointed Frumentius as the tutor of the +young King, and Governor of the State, while his brother AEdesius was +given a less important position. Frumentius, whose earnest desire was +to see the land that he governed Christian, summoned all the Christian +merchants who came to trade in the country and, giving them presents, +begged them to build houses of prayer and to do their utmost to win +the barbarians to the Faith. There were many conversions, and by the +time the young King had reached his majority, several Christian +communities were scattered throughout the State. + +His task being now at an end, Frumentius asked leave to return to his +own land with his brother AEdesius. They had a hard task to persuade +the King and the Queen Mother to let them go, but at last they +prevailed. + +Frumentius, whose heart was yearning over the country to which he owed +so much, had come straight to the Patriarch of Alexandria to beg of +him that he would send a Bishop to preside over the growing number of +churches in Abyssinia and to preach the Faith in the districts where +it was not yet known. + +The Patriarch and the Bishops had followed the story with the greatest +interest. When Frumentius ceased speaking, there was a moment of +silence, broken suddenly by Athanasius himself. + +"Who is more worthy of such a ministry," he cried, "than the man who +stands before us?" + +The suggestion was approved by all. Frumentius was ordained by the +Patriarch, who gave him his blessing and bade him return to his +mission. He was honored as a Saint in Abyssinia, where he labored +zealously all his life for Christ. AEdesius, his brother, became a +priest also and helped in the good work. + +Athanasius, as we have already seen, had spent a part of his youth +with the monks of the desert. It was his proudest boast that he had +acted as acolyte to the great St. Antony. He resolved, therefore, to +visit the district known as the Thebaid, where St. Pachomius, the +father of monasticism in the East, had founded many monasteries and +drawn up a rule for the monks. + +Pachomius had been one of a body of young soldiers seized against +their will and forced to fight in the wars between Constantine and +Maxentius. It happened one day during a journey that they landed at +Thebes in Egypt, where they were treated with harshness and cruelty. +Hungry, poorly clad and miserable, the young soldiers were lamenting +their ill fortune when a party of strangers approached them from the +town, welcoming them as friends and brothers and giving them food, +garments and all that they so badly needed. + +"Who are these good men?" asked Pachomius of a bystander. + +"They are Christians," was the answer. "They are kind to everyone, but +especially to strangers." + +"What is a Christian?" persisted the young soldier. + +"A man who believes in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, and does +good to all," was the reply. + +Pachomius reflected for a few minutes and then withdrew a little way +from his companions. "Almighty God, who have made Heaven and earth," +he cried, lifting his hands to Heaven, "if You will hear my prayer and +give me a knowledge of Your Holy Name, and deliver me from the +position in which I am, I promise You that I will consecrate myself to +Your service forever." + +Not long after, Pachomius was set free and, seeking out a Christian +priest, received Baptism and instruction. Then, going at once to the +cell of an old hermit called Palemon, famous for his holy and +mortified life, he knocked at the door of his hut. + +"Who are you, and what do you want?" asked the old man, opening his +door a few inches. + +"I am called Pachomius, and I want to be a monk," was the answer. + +"You cannot be a monk here," said Palemon. "It is a hard thing to be a +true monk, and there few who persevere." + +"Perhaps so," replied Pachomius; "but all people are not alike." + +"I have already told you," repeated the old man, "that you cannot be a +monk here. Go elsewhere and try; if you persevere you can come back." + +"I would rather stay with you," said Pachomius. + +"You do not know what you are asking," answered Palemon. "I live on +bread and salt; I pray and do penance the greater part of the +night--sometimes the whole night through." + +Pachomius shivered, for he was a sound sleeper, but he replied +sturdily enough: + +"I hope in Jesus Christ that, helped by your prayers, I shall +persevere." + +Palemon could resist him no longer. He took the young man to live with +him and found him a humble and faithful disciple. After some years, +the two hermits went together to the desert of the Thebaid and began +the work to which God had called Pachomius, for Palemon died soon +after. + +Many monasteries were founded, and men flocked to the desert to give +themselves to God. They slept on the bare ground, fasted continually +and cultivated the barren earth or made baskets and mats of the coarse +reeds that grew in the marshes, selling them for the profit of the +poor. Twice during the night the weird blast of the horn that summoned +them to prayer broke the vast silence of the desert. + +Hearing of the arrival of Athanasius, Pachomius came down from his +lonely monastery of Tabenna, surrounded by his monks; but he hid +himself among them from humility, or from the fear that Athanasius +would do him too much honor. The Saint, however, detected the Saint, +and they were soon firm friends. To the Patriarch, the monks of Egypt +represented all that was best and strongest in the national spirit. On +these men he knew he could rely, and his hopes were not disappointed. +The solitaries of the desert, to a man, would be faithful to +Athanasius during the years of trial that followed. + +Indeed, wherever Athanasius went throughout his vast diocese, the +hearts of all loyal and noble men went out to him instinctively. He +was a precious gift of God to Egypt--a precious gift of God to the +whole Catholic Church. + + + + +Chapter 5 +FALSE WITNESSES + +THE storm of persecution which was to fall with such fury upon St. +Athanasius was already gathering. + +Constantia, the Emperor's favorite sister, who had always been +strongly in favor of the Arians, became very ill. The priest who +attended her on her deathbed, a friend and tool of Eusebius of +Nicomedia, induced her to persuade Constantine, who visited her +continually during her illness, that Arius and his friends had been +unjustly condemned and that the judgment of God would fall on him and +his empire in consequence. Constantine, always easily influenced by +his immediate surroundings, began to waver. Constantia soon died, but +the Arian priest continued the work that had been so successfully +begun. Arius believed all that the Church believed, he pleaded; let +him at least be allowed to come into the presence of the Emperor; let +him have a chance to prove his innocence. + +Although Constantine had heard with his own ears the blasphemies of +the heresiarch, although he had approved so heartily of the decision +of the Council which condemned him and had enforced it with the power +of the State, he gave way before the persuasions of this stranger. + +"If Arius can assure me that he believes the profession of Faith set +forth by the Council of Nicea," he said, "he may return." + +The good news was instantly made known to the heretic and his friends, +and Arius hastened to Constantinople, where he was admitted into the +Emperor's presence. + +"Is it true that you believe what the Church teaches?" asked +Constantine. + +"I take my solemn oath that I believe what I hold in my hand," replied +Arius, unfolding the Nicene Creed. + +In the hollow of his palm was concealed a statement of his own false +doctrines, but this the Emperor could not know. He professed himself +satisfied, and thus the seed was sown which was to bring forth bitter +fruit during centuries to come. + +With Arius recalled, there was no longer any reason why Eusebius and +Theognis, who declared that they shared his opinions, should remain in +banishment. Once in Constantinople, Eusebius regained all his old +influence over the Emperor. + +From that day forth, the Constantine of the heavenly vision, the +Constantine of the Council of Nicea, noble, wise and humble, +disappears from the pages of history, and a man changeable, capricious +and uncertain takes his place. + +The first act of Eusebius and Theognis was to drive out the Catholic +Bishops who had been elected to replace them in their sees; the second +was to look about them to see who was likely to stand in their way. +Eustathius, the Bishop of Antioch, an intrepid defender of the Faith, +must be gotten rid of at once, they decided, and they proceeded to plot +his ruin. + +They started for Jerusalem to visit--or at least, so they said--the +beautiful Church of the Holy Cross which the Emperor had just built. +On their way home, they announced that they would stay for a short +time at Antioch, and they invited all the Bishops who were likely to +be friendly to meet them there in council. They were received with the +greatest courtesy by Eustathius, who did all that he could to make +their visit pleasant. They had, however, bribed an abandoned wretch of +the town to enter while the council was sitting and accuse Eustathius +before all present of a scandalous crime. + +Affecting to be greatly grieved and horrified at the accusation, they +deposed Eustathius and elected an Arian in his place, silencing those +who opposed their unjust and unlawful conduct by declaring that they +acted by command of the Emperor. Constantine was then appealed to, but +in vain. The Arians were all-powerful. + +The next obstacle to be removed was Athanasius, but Eusebius was +clever enough to realize that this would be no easy task. Athanasius +was not only the chief Bishop of the Eastern Church, but one who had +defeated the Arians several times before on their own ground. + +He began by writing a letter to the Patriarch in which he informed him +that Constantine, having learned that the views of Arius were quite +correct, had been pleased to recall him from banishment. It was only +just and fair, therefore, that Athanasius should receive him into +communion; Eusebius, indeed, had reason to know that the Emperor would +be greatly displeased if he refused to do so. + +Athanasius' reply to this threatening message was short and decided. +Neither threats nor persecution, he said, would induce him to go +against the decrees of the Council of Nicea. Arius had been condemned +by the universal Catholic Church; by that decision all true Catholics +must stand. + +Eusebius was not at all discouraged. He wrote to the Emperor and told +him how lightly the Patriarch had treated his wishes. "Athanasius is +much too young for such a responsible position," he wrote, "and is of +a quarrelsome and obstinate temper. He is the last man in the world to +fill a post which, if peace is to be kept in the Church, requires the +greatest tact and charity." Perhaps, he suggested, if the Emperor +himself were to write to him, he might be made to see the matter in a +different light. A threat of banishment is always a powerful argument. + +On receiving this letter, the Emperor--to his shame, be it said--wrote +to the Patriarch as follows: "Being informed of my pleasure, admit all +who wish to communion with the Church. If I hear of your standing in +the way of any who seek it, I will send at once those who will depose +you from your see." + +The reply of the Patriarch was firm and courageous. "It is impossible," +he answered, "for the Catholic Church to hold communion with those who +deny the Divinity of the Son of God and who are therefore fighting +against Him." + +Eusebius was absent when the letter arrived, and the changeable +Constantine was favorably impressed by its noble and fearless tone; +the matter was therefore dropped. + +Eusebius, still determined on the Patriarch's ruin, looked about him +for a tool. He found the Meletians always troublesome and ready to +join in a plot against those in authority. Three of them, appearing +suddenly at Nicomedia where Constantine was then staying, accused +Athanasius of having usurped the Royal power by levying an unlawful +tax upon the people. Unfortunately for the success of this little +plot, there were present at Court at that moment two priests of +Alexandria who were able to prove to the Emperor that the Patriarch +was completely innocent. Constantine even wrote a letter to Athanasius +telling him of the false charge brought against him, severely blaming +those who had made it and inviting him to come himself to Nicomedia. + +This was not at all what Eusebius wanted. He could not prevent the +arrival of Athanasius; he therefore set to work once more to prejudice +Constantine against him before he came. The Meletians were pressed +into service again, and accused the Patriarch of treason. He had sent +a purse of gold, they said, to a certain rebel, who had stirred up a +rising against the Emperor. But when Athanasius appeared at Nicomedia, +he was able to prove that the story was a falsehood; and, to the +disgust of Eusebius and his party, he returned to Alexandria bearing a +letter from the Emperor fully establishing his innocence and the +perfidy of his accusers. + +Rumors of what was passing had even reached St. Antony in his desert +solitude, and the old man, on hearing of all that his friend and +disciple had had to suffer, came down from his mountain cave to praise +him for his courage and to speak to the people. + +"Have nothing to do with the Arians," he said; "you are Christians, +and they say that the Son of God is a creature." Crowds came flocking +to see the old man, for all had heard of his miracles and of his +holiness. He blessed them all and exhorted them to hold fast to the +true faith of Christ, so steadfastly upheld by their Patriarch, after +which, having done the work he had come to do, he returned to his +solitude. + +The Arians were still plotting. Some time before, when Athanasius had +been visiting that part of his diocese called the Mareotis, he had +heard that a certain Ischyras, who gave himself out as a priest +although he had never been validly ordained, was causing scandal. He +celebrated, so people said, or pretended to celebrate, the Holy +Mysteries in a little cottage in the village where he lived, in the +presence of his own relations and a few ignorant peasants. Athanasius +sent one of his priests, called Macarius, to inquire into the matter +and to bring the impostor back with him. + +Macarius, on his arrival, found Ischyras ill in bed and unable to +undertake the journey. He therefore warned one of his relations that +the sick man had been forbidden by the Patriarch to continue his +so-called ministry, and departed. Ischyras, on his recovery, joined +himself to the Meletians, who, urged on by the Arians, were moving +heaven and earth to find a fresh charge against Athanasius. On hearing +his story, they compelled him by threats and by violence to swear that +Macarius had burst in upon him while he was giving Holy Communion in +the church, had overturned the altar, broken the chalice, trampled the +sacred Host underfoot and burned the holy books. They reported that +all this had been done by order of the Patriarch. + +Once more Athanasius had to defend himself, and once more he +triumphantly cleared himself of the accusation brought against him. + +In the first place, as he proved to the Emperor, there was no church +in the village where Ischyras lived. In the second, the man himself +had been ill in bed. In the third, even if he had been up and well, he +could not have consecrated, since he had never been validly ordained. +Ischyras himself, not long after, escaping from the hands of the +Meletians, swore in the presence of thirteen witnesses that he had +been induced by threats to bear witness to the lie. + +But the failure of this plot was only the signal for hatching another. +A certain Meletian Bishop called Arsenius, whom Athanasius had deposed +for refusing to obey the decrees of the Council of Nicea, was induced +to hide himself away in the desert. The Meletians then gave out that +he had been murdered by order of the Patriarch, who kept his withered +hand for purposes of magic. A wooden box was even produced containing +a hand which was said to be that of the dead man. + +Constantine seems to have believed the story, for he summoned +Athanasius to come to Antioch to stand his trial, at which Eusebius +and Theognis of Nicea were to preside. Athanasius did nothing of the +sort. He sent trusty men into the desert to make a diligent search for +the missing Arsenius, who, after some difficulty, was found. The fact +was made known to the Emperor, who wrote once more to the persecuted +Patriarch, affirming his innocence and threatening the Meletians with +severe punishment if they invented any more calumnies against him. +Arsenius himself, having repented of his part in the matter, asked +pardon of Athanasius and promised obedience for the future. + + + + +Chapter 6 +A ROYAL-HEARTED EXILE + +ATHANASIUS had prevailed once more over his enemies, but Eusebius was +always at the Emperor's side and knew how to play upon his weakness. +Was it possible, he asked, that so many and such various charges could +be brought up against a man if he were innocent? Athanasius was clever +and had many friends, he continued, who were ready to swear that black +was white for his sake. Let him be forced to appear alone before his +accusers, and the Emperor would soon find out the truth. As a matter +of fact, such charges could only be dealt with by a council; let one +be held at once, and let Athanasius be summoned to attend. + +Constantine fell into the trap. A council was summoned, and letters +were sent to Alexandria. Athanasius, however, clearly saw that he +could expect no justice in the midst of his enemies, and for a long +time refused to leave his see. In the meantime the place of meeting +had been changed from Caesarea to Tyre, and Athanasius was accused by +Eusebius of having obstinately resisted the Emperor's orders. His +reasons, they added, were plain to all; conscious of his guilt, he +dared not face the assembly. The Emperor threatened to send and bring +him by force if he did not come. Further resistance was useless, so he +set out for Tyre. + +It was a strange Council. Of the sixty Bishops present, nearly all +were Arians and open enemies of Athanasius. The Meletians were also +present. Jailers were at the doors instead of deacons. The priest +Macarius, to whose innocence Constantine himself had testified, was +brought in guarded by soldiers and loaded with chains. Athanasius +himself was obliged to stand as a criminal before his judges. A few of +the Egyptian Bishops who were present loudly protested against such +behavior, but their protests were insultingly set aside. + +The old charges were brought up one by one. Athanasius was accused of +being violent and cruel in conduct, a perpetual center of strife. To +this he answered that the trial was not a fair one, considering that +nearly all who were present were his enemies. + +The affair of Ischyras was then brought up, but nothing could be +proved. + +Lastly, a Meletian Bishop told, with thrilling and tragic details, the +story of the cruel murder of Arsenius. + +"Here is the very hand of the murdered man," he concluded, producing +and opening the famous box. A cry of well-feigned horror burst from +the Arians. + +"Did any of you know Arsenius?" asked Athanasius calmly. Several rose +to their feet. "Then, behold my witness," said the Patriarch, signing +to a priest who stood near the door. + +A man was brought in whose face and figure were hidden in a long +cloak, which Athanasius drew slowly away. It was Arsenius himself who +stood before them! + +"Here is one hand," continued the Patriarch, drawing it out from the +cloak, "and here is the other. I presume that to no man God has given +more. Perhaps those who maintain that that severed hand is the hand of +Arsenius can show us where it was affixed." + +There was a moment of general confusion, during which the Meletian who +had so graphically told the story of Arsenius' murder concluded that +prudence was the better part of valor and hastily disappeared from the +assembly. But the Arians were never at a loss. It was by magic, they +declared, that Athanasius had caused the dead man to appear in their +midst. + +It was useless to continue the argument against such persistent +injustice. Athanasius left the Council abruptly and set out for +Constantinople to place himself, a stern and accusing figure, in the +Emperor's way as he rode out from his palace. + +Constantine, recognizing who it was, tried to pass in silence, but +Athanasius stood firm. + +"The Lord judge between me and you," he said solemnly, "if you take +the part of my enemies against me." + +The Emperor halted. "What do you wish?" he asked. + +"Let me be tried by a lawful council, or let me meet my accusers face +to face in your presence," said Athanasius. + +"It shall be done," replied Constantine. + +The Arians, meanwhile, had declared Athanasius guilty of all the +charges brought against him and had deposed him from his see. They +were congratulating themselves on the success of their enterprise when +they received an alarming letter from the Emperor accusing them of +concealing the truth and bidding them come at once to Constantinople. +Several of them, seized with fear, returned to their homes; a few +others, who were bolder, headed by Eusebius and Theognis of Nicea, set +out for the Imperial city. They made their plans on the way. Once +arrived, instead of bringing up the old charges, they accused +Athanasius of having prevented the sailing of the grain vessels from +Alexandria to Constantinople in order to cause a famine. It was a +clever trick. Constantine was extremely touchy about the prosperity of +his new city and had just condemned to death a friend of his own for +the same crime. He turned on Athanasius in anger. + +"How could I, a poor man and a Bishop, do such a thing?" asked the +Patriarch. + +"You are rich enough and powerful enough for anything," retorted +Eusebius bitterly. + +As for Constantine, he declared that he would uphold the decisions of +the Council. Athanasius deserved to lose his life, but he would show +indulgence. He therefore banished him to Treves in Gaul, and the +Arians triumphed. + +There was mourning and lamentation in Alexandria and throughout all +Egypt when the tidings came. Many appeals were made for justice, but +in vain. Even St. Antony, though he wrote to Constantine, could not +move him. One thing alone the Emperor would not do in spite of all the +persuasions of the Arians--appoint a successor to the absent +Patriarch. Athanasius, indeed, continued to govern the diocese from +his distant exile, writing continually to his Bishops and clergy, +exhorting them to stand fast in the Faith and reminding them that the +road to consolation lay through affliction. + +Eusebius, in the meantime, was trying to force Alexander, the aged +Bishop of Constantinople, to admit Arius to communion. Although ninety +years old, he stood firm, and neither threats nor persuasions could +move him. The Emperor was at last induced to fix a day on which +Alexander was to receive the heretic or be driven from his see. + +The Bishop appealed to Heaven. He ordered a seven days' fast +throughout his diocese, during which the faithful were to pray that +God would prevent such a sacrilege. On the eve of the appointed day, +the aged prelate, having heard that Arius had arrived in the town, +prostrated himself on his face before the altar. "Lord," he prayed, +"if Arius must be received to communion in this church tomorrow, take +me, I beseech Thee, from this world. But if Thou hast pity on Thy +Church, suffer not, I pray Thee, that such a thing should be." + +Arius at that very moment was being escorted in triumph around the +city by his followers. Suddenly the heresiarch turned pale and +trembled. He did not feel well, he said; he would rejoin them +presently. The time passed, and he did not return. At last they went +to look for him. It was but a dead body which they found, a sight +before which even they turned pale. Arius had been overtaken by a +sudden and horrible death. + +The fate of the heresiarch made a great impression on the Emperor, who +had himself but a short time to live. During his last illness he was +haunted by the thought of Athanasius. His eldest son, Constantine II, +who held his court at Treves, was a firm friend of the exiled Bishop; +the dying Emperor sent him a secret message to restore Athanasius to +his see. He then received Baptism at the hands of Eusebius of +Nicomedia, and died a few days later. + +Constantine's empire was divided between his three sons, Constantine, +Constans and Constantius. The two former, who were staunch friends of +Athanasius, would die within twelve years of their father. Then +Constantius, who had inherited all the weakness and none of the good +qualities of Constantine the Great, and was, moreover, the tool of the +Arians and the bitter enemy of those who were true to Athanasius, +would be left master of the whole Roman Empire. One of the first acts +of Constantine II was to bring Athanasius back to Alexandria. He had +been absent for over two years, and the rejoicings attending his +return were great. They were not to last long, however, for Egypt and +the East made up that part of the Empire which had been left to +Constantius, who was completely in the toils of Eusebius. + +Now, Eusebius had long been coveting the see of Constantinople; he +therefore proceeded, with the Emperor's assistance, to depose the +rightful Bishop and to install himself in his place. He was, as he +thought, in a position to carry all things before him, when +Athanasius, firm and undaunted as ever, appearing suddenly on the +scene, upset all his plans. Both Constantine and Constans were +Athanasius' friends, and Constantius was not strong enough to resist +them. + +Eusebius determined to take a bold step--he would appeal to the Pope, +and he promptly set to work to compose a letter which was a +masterpiece of deceit. + +"Athanasius has been deposed by a Council of the Church," he wrote. +"His return was therefore unlawful." An account of all the charges +brought against the Patriarch at the Council of Tyre followed. "Ink +does not stain the soul," observed Eusebius lightly, as lie after lie +took shape upon the paper. + +The letter was sent to Rome by three trusty friends, but Pope Julius +was not so easily deceived. He knew more about the matter than the +Arians thought--so much, indeed, that the chief of the three envoys +left suddenly during the night, fearful of what might come to light on +the morrow. The two others, losing their heads completely, agreed to +meet Athanasius at a synod at which the Pope himself should preside. + +Eusebius was beside himself when he heard of this arrangement. To +appear in some Western town, with no Emperor to back him up, and to +urge against Athanasius, in the presence of the Pope, charges which he +knew to be false, was a program which did not appeal to him at all. +Taking the law into his own hands, he called a council of his friends +and elected an Arian called Gregory in Athanasius' place. + +Even if the Patriarch had been rightly deposed, the Egyptian Bishops +alone could have elected his successor; but Eusebius and his party had +long since ceased to care for right or justice. Theodore, the Governor +of Egypt, was known to be a good Catholic and friendly to Athanasius. +He was therefore removed, and an apostate called Philagrius, notorious +for his violence and cruelty, was put in his place. The first act of +this man was to publish an edict stating that Gregory was the +Patriarch of Alexandria and that Athanasius was to be treated as an +enemy. With armed troops he then took possession of the city churches, +while Gregory, with a strong escort of soldiers, made his entrance +into the town. All who resisted were imprisoned, scourged or slain. To +prevent further bloodshed, Athanasius left Alexandria and set out for +Rome. The first news that he heard on reaching Italy was that his +friend and patron Constantine II was dead. + + + + +Chapter 7 +THE DAY OF REJOICING + +IT was an evil day for Alexandria. Most of the Egyptian Bishops +refused to acknowledge Gregory and were instantly arrested. Some were +banished, some tortured, some imprisoned. St. Potamon, who had +narrowly missed martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian, was +scourged with rods until he died. The many cruelties of the usurper +made him so hateful to the Alexandrians that, after four years of +tyranny, he was killed by the mob in a sudden outbreak of fury. + +Athanasius, in the meantime, had made his way to Rome, where he was +received by St. Julius I as a champion of the Faith. The case should +be tried in his own presence, the Pope declared; but it was impossible +to get the Arians to Rome. Excuse followed excuse, pretext followed +pretext. Eusebius, the head of the Arian party, died at last in his +usurped see, but his spirit survived in his followers. They drew up a +creed of their own and sent it to the Pope, who rejected it at the +Council of Milan. The Nicene Creed was the confession of Faith of the +Catholic Church, he said. But the Nicene Creed, which proved so fully +the divinity of Christ, was just what the Arians would not accept. + +A fresh Council was called at Sardica, at which they were at last +induced to be present. But when Athanasius was proved innocent, and +the Bishops whom the Arians had banished appeared to bear witness to +the violence and cruelty with which they had been treated, the Arians +abruptly left the Council and returned to Philippopolis. Here they +formed a council of their own, in which they not only excommunicated +Athanasius, but had the impudence to "excommunicate" Pope Julius +himself. + +The Council of Sardica, at which were present the orthodox Bishops of +Italy, Spain, Gaul, Africa, Greece, Palestine and Egypt, was very well +able to get on without them. The innocence of Athanasius was finally +established, the Arians and their creed condemned. A circular letter +was then written to all the Churches, informing them of what had +passed, and legates were dispatched to the two Emperors, Constans and +Constantius. + +Constantius dared not resist. Urged by his brother, who did his best +to show the conduct of the Arians in its true light and threatened him +with civil war if he persisted in upholding them, he sent letters to +Alexandria ordering that Athanasius should be honorably received. +Gregory had met his death a short time before, so there was no +obstacle to Athanasius' return. + +The Alexandrians, in the meantime, had received a letter from Pope +Julius in praise of their Patriarch. "If precious metals," he wrote, +"such as gold and silver, are tried in the fire, what can we say of so +great a man, who has been through so many perils and afflictions, and +who returns to you having been declared innocent by the judgment of +the whole Synod? Receive, therefore, beloved, with all joy and glory +to God, your Bishop Athanasius." + +Never had Alexandria seen such rejoicings. The people thronged forth +from the city to meet their exiled Patriarch, singing hymns of +rejoicing, waving branches of trees and throwing rich carpets upon the +road along which he was to pass. Every little hill was crowded with +people thirsting for a sight of that beloved face and figure. It was +six years since they had seen him, and what had they not suffered +during his absence? + +As for Athanasius, his one thought, as usual, was to establish his +people in the Faith. Those who had been led astray by the Arians were +pardoned and received with the greatest charity. The weak ones who had +given in through fear were strengthened with tender forbearance. Those +who had been Athanasius' enemies were greeted as friends on their +first sign of repentance. For the time, the Arians were defeated; they +could do nothing. Constans was too strong for them. + +The present moment was the Patriarch's, and he determined to use it to +the full. The Bishops of Egypt gathered around him; widows and orphans +were provided for, the poor housed and fed and the faithful warned +against false doctrines. The churches were not large enough to hold +the crowds that flocked to them. It was a time of peace which God +vouchsafed to His people to strengthen them for the coming storm. + +New Bishops were consecrated, men of holy life who could be trusted. +Even the monks in their distant monasteries received inspiring letters +from their Patriarch, stirring them up to realize the ideals of the +spiritual life and to pray for the peace of the Church. For in the +midst of all his labors Athanasius still found time to write--letters +against the Arians, treatises in defense of the Faith and on the +religious life, brilliant, strong and convincing. It was necessary to +be vigilant, for the Arians were everywhere trying to seduce men by +their false doctrines, teaching that Christ was not God. Letters from +Athanasius were a powerful weapon in defense of the truth. + +So the years passed in incessant prayer and labor, until the whole of +Egypt was strong and steadfast in the Faith. "The Saints of the fourth +century were giants," says a modern writer, "but he of Alexandria was +the greatest of them all." + +The time was coming in which his work was to be tried as gold in the +fire. Constans was killed in battle, leaving Constantius master of the +whole empire. It was a moment for misgivings; but for some time the +new Emperor seemed favorably disposed, even going so far as to assure +Athanasius of his friendship. It was a friendship which might well be +mistrusted. + +Pope Julius had also died and had been succeeded by Liberius. One of +the first acts of Constantius was to write to the new Pope, offering +him handsome presents and urging him to condemn Athanasius. Letters +from the Arians containing all the old charges followed, but in vain. +Liberius refused with indignation both presents and requests. + +A fresh persecution broke out. Athanasius, it is true, was not +molested, but his enemies were only waiting for a pretext to attack +him. This pretext they soon found. + +At Easter of the year 354, the churches of Alexandria were so crowded +with worshippers that there was scarcely room to breathe. It was +proposed to Athanasius that he should hold the Easter services in a +large church that had been lately built but was not yet dedicated. +Athanasius hesitated to do this without leave, as it was built on the +Emperor's property, but he was at last persuaded by the people to +yield. The Patriarch Alexander had done the very same thing, they +urged, in the Church of St. Theonas on just such an occasion; in a +case of necessity it was certainly lawful. But they had counted +without the Arians, who instantly accused Athanasius of having usurped +the royal authority. + +The Patriarch, in his famous "Apology to Constantius," stated the +reasons for his act, but it was useless; other false charges were +scraped up against him, and his doom was sealed. In the spring of the +next year, Constantius, who was now master of both the East and the +West, succeeded by force of persecution in inducing the members of a +large council, which he had had summoned at Arles in France, to +condemn Athanasius as guilty. The Emperor himself was present with his +troops and threatened with drawn sword those who resisted his will. +The Bishops who refused to sign were scourged, tortured or exiled; the +Pope was banished to Berea, where he was treated with harshness and +cruelty. + +In the winter of the next year, a General called Syrianus came to +Alexandria with a large army. He was an Arian, and the people +suspected a plot. Athanasius asked him if he brought any message from +the Emperor; Syrianus replied that he had none. He was then reminded +that Constantius had promised to leave Alexandria in peace. To this he +agreed, but gave no reason for his presence. Things went on as usual +for three weeks, when the blow that all had been expecting fell. + +It was midnight, and the Bishop was holding a vigil service in the +Church of St. Theonas, when suddenly shouts and cries broke the +silence of the night. Syrianus with five thousand men had surrounded +the building, determined to take the Patriarch, alive or dead. + +In the dim light of the sanctuary Athanasius sat on the Bishop's +throne, calm and unmoved in the midst of the tumult. "Read the 135th +Psalm," he said to one of the deacons, "and when it is finished, all +will leave the church." The words rang out through the building with +their message of hope and confidence and were answered by the people: + +"Praise the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever. + +"Praise ye the God of gods: for His mercy endureth forever." + +Those who were nearest the Bishop pressed him to escape. "The +shepherd's place is with his flock," he answered firmly. + +Hardly was the Psalm ended when the soldiers rushed in with drawn +swords. Many of the people fled; others were trampled underfoot or +slain. + +Athanasius sat still, his hands folded in prayer. Again they urged him +to flee. "Not until all have left the church," he replied. + +In desperation, the clergy and monks ended by taking the matter into +their own hands. Seizing Athanasius in their arms, they bore him out +of the church, passing right through the midst of the soldiers, who +were searching everywhere for the Patriarch. It seemed, indeed, as +Athanasius himself said later, as if God had covered their eyes. + +Into the darkness of the winter's night he fled, an exile and a +fugitive once more. + + + + +Chapter 8 +THE INVISIBLE PATRIARCH + +IT was indeed the hour of darkness, and it seemed as if the powers of +evil were let loose upon the world. The Arians, with the Emperor on +their side, were carrying everything before them. Nearly all the +Bishops who had upheld the Nicene faith were in exile or in prison. + +St. Antony, over a hundred years old, was on his deathbed. His monks, +crowding around the dying Saint, groaned over the evil days that had +befallen the Church. + +"Fear not," replied the old man, "for this power is of the earth and +cannot last. As for the sufferings of the Church, was it not so from +the beginning, and will it not be so until the end? Did not the Master +Himself say, 'They have persecuted Me, they will persecute you also'? +Did not the 'perils from false brethren' begin even in the lifetime of +those who had been the companions of Christ? And yet, did not the +Master Himself promise that, although she must live in the midst of +persecution, He would be with His Church forever and that the gates of +Hell should not prevail against her?" + +With these words of hope and comfort on his lips, St. Antony passed to +his reward, and they laid him in his lonely desert grave. His coat of +sheepskin, given him by Athanasius long years before, he sent with his +dying blessing to the Patriarch, who cherished it as his most precious +possession. + +The Alexandrians had not given in without a struggle. They had +protested openly against the violence of Syrianus, proclaiming +throughout the city that Athanasius was their true Patriarch and that +they would never acknowledge another. It was of no use; a new reign of +terror began in which all who refused to accept the Arian creed were +treated as criminals. Men and women were seized and scourged; some +were slain. Athanasius was denounced as a "runaway, an evildoer, a +cheat and an impostor, deserving of death." Letters came from the +Emperor ordering all the churches in the city to be given up to the +Arians and requiring the people to receive without objections the new +Patriarch whom he would shortly send them. + +As time went on, things grew worse. The churches were invaded; altars, +vestments and books were burned and incense thrown on the flames. An +ox was sacrificed in the sanctuary; priests, monks and nuns were +seized and tortured; the houses of the faithful were broken into and +robbed. Bishops were driven into exile and their sees filled by +Arians, those who were ready to give the most money being generally +chosen. Some of them were even pagans; the people were ready to bear +any suffering rather than hold communion with them. + +When the Emperor Constantius considered that the resistance of the +Alexandrians had been sufficiently broken, he addressed them in a +conciliatory letter. + +Now that the impostor had been driven out, he said, he was about to +send them a Patriarch above praise. They would find in the venerable +George of Cappadocia the wisest of teachers, one who was fit in every +way to lead them to the kingdom of Heaven and to raise their hearts +from earthly to heavenly things. + +The "venerable" George was not unknown to them by repute, at least. He +had begun his career as seller of pork to the Roman army. It was a +position in which a clever man might have made a comfortable fortune. +But George was not a clever man, and he was in too great a hurry to +get rich. Such impudent dishonesty as his could not pass unnoticed; a +precipitate flight alone saved him from a State prison. He was said to +have been ordained a priest by the Arians before he was even a +Christian. In that case he was no priest, but a useful tool in their +hands, for he was capable of anything. + +Ignorant and unlettered, he had studied neither theology nor the +Scriptures; he was, moreover, a man of bad life, heartless, cruel and +greedy. His aim both as Patriarch and as pork-butcher was to make +money--as much and as quickly as possible. This was the "wise teacher +who was to raise them from the things of earth to those of Heaven." +The faithful, with true instinct, prepared for the worst. + +They had not long to wait. Even Gregory had been humane compared with +George of Cappadocia. Monasteries were burned down; Bishops, priests, +virgins, widows--all, in fact, who were faithful to the Church--were +insulted, tortured or slain. Many died in consequence of the treatment +they had received; others were forced into compliance. The troops of +the Emperor, with an Arian at their head, were there to do George's +bidding. + +The new Patriarch, undisturbed by the sufferings of his victims, was +busy enriching himself. Gradually he got control of all the trades in +the city; he even made himself chief undertaker and passed a law by +which those who dared to bury their dead in a coffin not of his +providing could be severely punished. That his coffins cost a small +fortune was only to be expected. At the end of two years he had +exhausted the patience of the Alexandrians, pagans and Christians +alike. There was a popular rising, in which the Patriarch, not having +the qualities of a hero, fled for his life. For the next three years +he wandered about in the East, lending a hand to every Arian scheme. + +In the meantime, where was Athanasius? No one knew or, at least, so it +seemed. He had vanished into the darkness of the night. He was +invisible, but his voice could not be silenced, and it was a voice +that moved the world. Treatise after treatise in defense of the true +Faith; letter after letter to the Bishops of Egypt, to his friends and +to the faithful--was carried far and wide by the hands of trusty +messengers. The Arians had the Roman Emperor on their side, but the +pen of Athanasius was more powerful than the armies of Constantius. + +"God will comfort you," he wrote to his people in Alexandria on +hearing that the churches were in the hands of the Arians. "If they +have the temples, you have the Faith of the Apostles. If they are in +the place, they are far from the Faith; but you, even if you are cast +out from the churches, possess the Faith in your hearts. Which is the +greater, the place or the Faith? The place is good only when the Faith +of the Apostles is taught there; it is holy only when it is the home +of holiness." + +Rumor said that Athanasius was in hiding in the Thebaid among the +monks. The Arians searched the desert foot by foot to find him, but in +vain. The monks themselves might have thrown some light upon the +matter, but they were silent men, given to prayer and labor; they did +not seem to understand what was asked of them, even when questioned +with a dagger at their throats. + +Silent but faithful, their sentinels were everywhere, watching for the +enemy's approach. Athanasius was always warned in time and led by +trusty guides to another and a safer place. Sometimes it was only by a +hair's breadth that he escaped, but for six years he eluded his +enemies. There was not one of the monks who would not gladly have laid +down his life for him. He lived among them as one of themselves, and +they learned more from him of the religious life than they could +teach. As mortified as the holiest among them, always serene and +forgetful of self in the midst of hardships and danger, forced +sometimes to hide for months in the mountain caves where his only food +was what the faithful could bring him, his one thought was the Church. +The Arians had made Constantius their spiritual head. They had given +him that title of "Eternal" which they had denied to the Son of God. +Their Bishops and teachers were everywhere; but Athanasius, like +Antony, leaned strongly on Christ's promise. + +It would have been madness to return openly to Alexandria while +Constantius lived, but several times during those dreadful years +Athanasius visited the city in secret and at the risk of his life. In +hiding, with a price on his head, he was as formidable an enemy to the +Arians as he would have been at Alexandria. His spirit was abroad +among the people, encouraging them to persevere, cheering them when +downcast, comforting and consoling them in suffering. Though absent, +he was their Father and their Bishop still. His voice reached even to +distant Gaul, where it encouraged St. Hilary of Poitiers and others, +who were striving, even as he was, against heresy. + +The Arians were behaving in their usual way--"always slippery, always +shuffling," as one who knew them asserted.* At one council, having +been accused of denying the Divinity of Christ, they had said: "Let +anyone who says that Jesus Christ is a creature like unto other +creatures be anathema" (accursed). At another which followed it +closely--for the Arians and Constantius held a council every few +months to gain their ends--they openly stated that Jesus Christ was +not God, but a creature. Someone present who had been at the previous +council reminded them of the statement they had made on that occasion. +"We never meant that Jesus Christ was not a creature," they retorted, +"only that he was a different kind of creature from the others!" + +* The Arians, seeing that their original doctrines were offensive to +all Catholic consciences, had now taken up the position known as +"Semi-Arian." The Son was like the Father, they declared, though not +of one substance with Him. + +In the meantime, as things had quieted down a little in Alexandria, +George of Cappadocia resolved to return and see if he could not make a +little more money. He was received in an ominous silence, for he was +held in abhorrence almost as much by the pagans as by the Christians. +A few days later the news reached the city that Constantius was dead +and that his nephew Julian had succeeded him as Emperor. + +The moment of reckoning had come. George was seized by the pagan +population and literally torn to pieces; his body was burned and its +ashes scattered to the winds. Thus perished Constantius' "prelate +above all praise," and it was not likely that the new Emperor would +take much trouble to avenge his death. + +Julian, known as "the Apostate," had been a pupil of Eusebius of +Nicomedia and a model of youthful piety; but the Christianity of which +Eusebius was a living example had struck but shallow roots. Later he +went to Athens, where St. Basil and St. Gregory, the two great doctors +of the Church, were his fellow students. "What a viper the Roman +Empire is cherishing in its bosom!" exclaimed Gregory, no mean judge +of character, "but God grant that I prove a false prophet." + +No sooner was Julian crowned Emperor than he threw off the mask and +openly declared himself a pagan. The temples of the gods were now +rebuilt, sacrifices were offered, and wealth and honors were given to +all the Christians who would apostatize. + +An edict was published allowing the people to practice whatever +religion they chose and recalling everybody who had been banished +during the reign of Constantius. This seemed generous, but Julian did +not believe in persecution; its results in the past had only been to +strengthen the Christians in their faith. His methods were different. +Privileges were granted to the pagans which were denied to the Church; +the Galileans, as Julian called the Christians, were ridiculed, and +paganism was praised as the only religion worthy of educated men. + +The results were not what the Emperor had expected, and he complained +bitterly that there were so few who responded to his efforts to +enlighten them. As for the Church, she knew at least what she had to +expect; an open enemy is less dangerous than a false friend. + + + + +Chapter 9 +A SHORT-LIVED PEACE + +ATHANASIUS was quick to take advantage of the decree which allowed the +banished Bishops to return to their sees. On the way to Alexandria he +stopped to talk over matters with other noble exiles who, like +himself, had suffered for the Truth. Many of the faithful had been +compelled by force or induced by threats or persuasion to accept the +creed of the Arians; what was to be done in order that these weak ones +might be brought back to the Faith? + +Athanasius and those who with him had been ready to give their lives +for the Truth being, like all brave and noble men, gentle and +compassionate, they resolved to make it as easy as possible. They +announced that absolution would be given freely to all who accepted +the Creed of Nicea. Those who had fallen away were mostly good men and +true believers who had yielded in a moment of weakness or of fear, or +who had been deceived by the protestations of the Arians. They had +been thoroughly miserable, but now the proclamation of Athanasius set +them free from what had seemed like a bad dream. The Pope himself +expressed his approval of Athanasius' forbearance, and the Bishops of +the West hastened to follow his example. + +In other places, Antioch and Constantinople especially, Arianism had +taken deeper root. These were the strongholds of heresy, where the +spirit of Eusebius of Nicomedia still prevailed. Men of his stamp were +not likely to be ready to enter into communion with that Athanasius +whom they had looked upon for years as their mortal enemy, nor was it +to be expected that they would allow the true Faith to prevail without +a struggle. It was thanks to Athanasius and his untiring efforts that +Egypt and Alexandria were still, in the main, true to the Catholic +Church. + +We can imagine the joy with which the Alexandrians received their +exiled Patriarch after his six years' absence. They had been worthy of +their Bishop, for they too had made a brave fight for the Faith. Blood +had been shed for Christ, and much had been suffered by the Catholics; +they could face their Patriarch without shame. Many pagans who had +watched the behavior of the Christians under persecution now came +forward and asked to join the Church, among them some Greek ladies of +noble family whom Athanasius himself instructed and baptized. + +News of this reached the ears of the Emperor Julian, who was already +furious at the influence that this Christian Bishop of Alexandria was +exercising throughout the whole empire. He had hoped that Athanasius' +return from exile would have been a cause for division among the +people, instead of which it had been the signal for everyone to make +peace with his neighbor. Never, he foresaw, as long as the voice of +this undaunted champion of the Catholic Church was ringing in the ears +of his subjects, would paganism triumph. + +There were others who saw the matter in the same light. These were the +magicians, diviners, fortune-tellers, all the servants of idolatry who +had risen up at Julian's bidding and were swarming in Alexandria as +everywhere else. The presence of Athanasius in their midst, they +complained to the Emperor, was the ruin of their trade. Even their +charms would not work as long as he was near them. There would soon +not be a pagan left in the city if he were allowed to remain. + +The Patriarch had been barely eight months in Alexandria when the +Governor of Egypt received a message from his royal master. "Nothing +that I could hear of would give me greater pleasure," he wrote, "than +the news that you have driven that miscreant out of the country." + +Soon after, the Alexandrians themselves were addressed. "We have +allowed the Galileans," wrote Julian, "to return to their country, but +not to their churches. Nevertheless, we hear that Athanasius, with his +accustomed boldness, has replaced himself on what they call his +'episcopal throne.' We therefore order him to leave the town at once +or take the consequences." + +The Governor of Egypt, who knew the affection of the Alexandrians for +their Patriarch, dared not take any steps against him; the citizens in +the meantime had addressed a letter to the Emperor, begging him to +reconsider the matter and to leave Athanasius in his see. This only +served to anger Julian the more. + +"I am painfully surprised that you Alexandrians," he wrote, "who have +the great god Serapis and Isis his Queen for your patrons, should ask +permission to keep such a man in your midst. I can only hope that +those of the citizens who are wiser have not been consulted and that +this is the action of a few. I blush to think that any of you could +call himself a Galilean. I order Athanasius to leave not only +Alexandria, but Egypt." + +The Governor also received a curt message. + +"If the enemy of the gods, Athanasius, remains in Egypt after the +kalends of December," it ran, "you and your troops shall pay a hundred +pounds in gold. The gods are despised and I am insulted." + +Julian, however, had not much confidence in the Governor, or in the +Alexandrians either. In order to make things doubly sure, messengers +of his own were sent to Alexandria with orders to put the Patriarch to +death. + +The people were inconsolable, but Athanasius comforted them. "This +time it is only a passing cloud," he said; "it will soon be over." +Then, recommending his flock to the most trusted of his clergy, he +left the city, an exile once more. It was not a moment too soon. +Scarcely had he vanished when the messengers of Julian arrived. + +"Where is Athanasius?" they asked; but a grim silence was the only +answer. + +The Patriarch, in the meantime, had reached the Nile; on the banks of +the river a boat was waiting; he entered it, and they rowed swiftly +upstream toward the Thebaid. + +It was a dangerous moment, but the faithful were watching. A message +was brought to the fugitives that soldiers of the Emperor who had +orders to seize and kill the Saint had learned his whereabouts and had +sworn to overtake him. They implored him to land and take refuge in +the desert. + +"No," said Athanasius; "turn the boat's head and row toward +Alexandria." They thought he was mad, but dared not disobey his +orders. + +"He who is for us is greater than he who is against us," he said, +smiling at their terrified faces. Presently the Imperial boat came in +sight, rowing hard in pursuit of the fugitive. + +"Have you seen Athanasius? Is he far off?" they shouted, as the little +boat drew near. + +"He is quite close," answered the Patriarch calmly; "press on." + +The crew bent to their oars, the skiff was soon out of sight, but +needless to say they did not find their prey. As for Athanasius, he +continued his journey to Alexandria, where he landed once more, +remaining there for a few days in hiding before he set out for the +deserts of the Thebaid. + +"The enemy of the gods" had been gotten rid of--for a time, at least, +but Julian had still to wait for the triumph of paganism. The gods +themselves seemed to be against him. Never had a year been so unlucky +as that which followed the banishment of Athanasius. There were +earthquakes everywhere; Nicea and Nicomedia were reduced to ruins and +Constantinople severely damaged. An extraordinary tidal wave swept +over the lower part of the city of Alexandria, leaving shells and +seaweed on the roofs of the houses. Famine and plague followed, and it +was remarked that the famine seemed to dog the steps of the Emperor +wherever he went. People dreaded his arrival in their city; at +Antioch, where he stayed for a considerable time, the sufferings were +terrible. Julian ordered sacrifices to the gods. So many white oxen +were slain that it was said that soon there would be none left in the +empire; but still things did not improve. + +Julian had begun by being tolerant, but disappointment was making him +savage. It was all the fault of the Galileans, he declared. He ordered +the Christian soldiers in his army to tear the Cross from +Constantine's sacred standard, and he put them to death when they +refused. Many Christian churches were closed, and the sacred vessels +of the altar seized and profaned. Those who dared resist were +imprisoned or slain. Wine that had been offered to the gods was thrown +into the public wells and fountains, and all the food that was sold in +the markets was defiled in the same way. Two of his officers who +complained of this profanation were put to death--not for their +religion, Julian hastened to explain, but for their insolence. + +The Emperor posed as a philosopher. His long, dirty nails and ragged, +uncombed hair and beard were intended to impress his subjects with the +wisdom of a man so absorbed in learning that he was above such things +as cleanliness. Unfortunately, they had just the opposite effect, and +the people made fun of him. They laughed at his sacrifices, where he +was often to be seen tearing open with his own hands the bleeding +victim to see if he could read inside the signs of success or failure. +They laughed at his writings in praise of the gods, where he +represented himself as receiving compliments from them all. They +laughed at his short stature, at his narrow shoulders and at the huge +steps he took in walking, as if, they said, he had been the near +relation of one of Homer's giants. + +Julian revenged himself upon them in his writings satires in which +Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, was especially held up to +ridicule. The Galileans were at the bottom of this as of all other +contradictions, he declared, and continued to vent his spleen upon the +Christians. It was the last stand of ancient paganism before it died +out forever. + + + + +Chapter 10 +THE LAST EXILE + +IT was not safe for Athanasius to remain long in the neighborhood of +Alexandria, for the pagans were now having it all their own way. Two +of the bravest and most faithful of his clergy had been seized and +exiled, and Julian's troops were searching everywhere for the +Patriarch. Athanasius made his way to the Thebaid, where he was +received with all the old enthusiasm. Under cover of the night, he +came up the river to Hermopolis, intending to stay there for some time +to preach to the people. The banks of the river were crowded with +bishops, monks and clergy who had come out to welcome their Father. + +Athanasius landed and, mounted on an ass led by Theodore, Abbot of +Tabenna, proceeded to the town escorted by a vast throng of people +carrying torches and singing hymns of praise. Here he dismounted, and +the monks asked him for his blessing. + +"Blessed indeed and worthy of all praise are these men who carry +always the cross of the Lord," he replied. + +After having stayed for some time at Hermopolis, he went with the +Abbot Theodore to his monastery of Tabenna, where he was already +beloved by all. He took the keenest interest in everything that +related to the religious life, even to the work of the humblest +brother. "It is these men, devoted to humility and obedience," he +would often say, "who are our fathers, rather than we theirs." + +Round about him lay the great cities of ancient Egypt--"Thebes of the +Hundred Gates" and Memphis, the old capital of the kingdom--cities of +the dead whose glories had already passed away. The glory that these +men had come to seek in their humble monasteries was one which is +eternal. The things of this world were small and fleeting to those who +lived in the thought of eternity. + +It was a country full of holy memories. On the banks of that Nile that +flowed so tranquilly among the ancient cities of Egypt, Moses himself +had stood lifting hands of prayer for the deliverance of his people. +Later, the Salvation of the world Himself had come to dwell for a time +beside it, sowing the seeds that were now bringing forth so great a +harvest. + +It was midsummer, and Athanasius was at Arsinoe when the news came +that the enemy was on his track once more. The Abbot Theodore, who was +visiting the Patriarch, persuaded him to embark in his covered boat +and to return with him to Tabenna. Tide and wind were against them; +the monks had to land and tow the boat; progress was slow, and the +soldiers of Julian were not far off. Athanasius was absorbed in +prayer, preparing for the martyr's death that, this time at least, +seemed very near. + +"Fear not," said one of the monks called Ammon, "for God is our +protection." + +"I have no fear," answered Athanasius; "for many long years I have +suffered persecution, and never has it disturbed the peace of my soul. +It is a joy to suffer, and the greatest of all joys is to give one's +life for Christ." + +There was a silence during which all gave themselves to prayer. As the +Abbot Theodore besought God to save their Patriarch, it was suddenly +made known to him by a divine revelation that at that very moment the +Emperor Julian had met his death in battle against the Persians, and +that he had been succeeded by Jovian, a Christian and a Catholic. At +once he told the good news to Athanasius, advising him to go without +delay to the new Emperor and ask to be restored to his see. + +In the meantime they had arrived in safety at Tabenna, where the monks +had assembled with joy on hearing of Athanasius' approach. Great was +their sorrow when they learned that he had only come to bid them +farewell. They gathered around him weeping, begging that he would +remember them in his prayers. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem," cried +Athanasius in the words of the Psalmist, "let my right hand be +forgotten." The Emperor Jovian had been an officer in the Roman Army, +where his cheerful good nature had so endeared him to the soldiers +that he was proclaimed Emperor immediately on Julian's death. There +was no need to plead for justice with such a man; scarcely had +Athanasius arrived in Alexandria when he received a cordial letter +from the Emperor himself. + +"Jovian--to Athanasius, the faithful servant of God," it ran. "As we +are full of admiration for the holiness of your life and your zeal in +the service of Christ our Saviour, we take you from this day forth +under our royal protection. We are aware of the courage which makes +you count as nothing the heaviest labors, the greatest dangers, the +sufferings of persecution and the fear of death. You have fought +faithfully for the Truth and edified the whole Christian world, which +looks to you as a model of every virtue. It is therefore our desire +that you should return to your See and teach the doctrine of +salvation. Come back to your people, feed the flock of Christ and pray +for our person, for it is through your prayers that we hope for the +blessing of God." + +Another letter followed shortly afterward from the Emperor, asking +Athanasius to tell him plainly what was the true faith of the Catholic +Church and inviting him to visit him at Antioch. + +The faith of Nicea was alone to be believed and held, replied the +Patriarch; it was that of the whole Catholic world, with the exception +of a few men who still held the doctrines of Arius. Nevertheless, he +thought it prudent to accept the Emperor's invitation and set out +shortly afterward for Antioch. It was well that he did so, for the +Arians were already on the spot. They had brought with them a man +called Lucius in the hope that they would be able to induce Jovian to +name him Patriarch of Alexandria in place of Athanasius. + +"We are Alexandrians," they declared, "and we beseech your Majesty to +give us a Bishop." + +"I have already ordered Athanasius to return to his See," was the +reply. + +"We have proofs against him," they said; "he was condemned and +banished by Constantine and Constantius of blessed memory." + +"All that was ten or twenty years ago," answered the Emperor; "it is +too late to rake it up again now. Besides, I know all about it by whom +he was accused and how he was banished. You need say no more." + +The Arians persisted. "Give us whomever you like as Patriarch," they +said, "as long as it is not Athanasius. No one in the town will hold +communion with him." + +"I have heard a very different story," said Jovian; "his teaching is +greatly appreciated." + +"His teaching is well enough," they retorted, "but his heart is full +of malice." + +"For his heart he must answer to God, who alone knows what is in it," +replied the Emperor; "it is enough for me if his teaching is good." + +The Arians at last lost patience. "He calls us heretics!" they +exclaimed indignantly. + +"That is his duty and the duty of all those who guard the flock of +Christ" was the only reply they got. + +The Emperor received Athanasius with the deepest respect and listened +eagerly to all he had to say on the subject of the true Faith. + +After a short stay in Antioch, the Patriarch returned to Alexandria, +where he related to the people the success of his enterprise and spoke +much in praise of the new Emperor. Their joy was not destined to be +lasting. Jovian had been but a few months on the throne when he died +suddenly on his way from Antioch to Constantinople. He was succeeded +by Valentinian, who, unfortunately for the peace of the Church, chose +his brother Valens to help him in the government, taking the West for +his own share of the Empire and leaving the East to his brother. + +Valens, who was both weak and cruel, had an Arian wife and declared at +once in favor of the Arians. The East was once more to be the scene of +strife and persecution. The Emperor, who had not yet been baptized, +received the Sacrament at the hands of Eudoxius, the Arian Bishop of +Constantinople, a worthy successor of Eusebius, who, in the middle of +the ceremony, made Valens take an oath that he would remain faithful +to the Arians and pursue the Catholics with every rigor. + +The Emperor thus won over, the Arians began to persecute and slander +those who were faithful to the Church; several were even put to death. +The Catholics, in desperation, resolved at last to send an embassy to +Valens to ask for justice, eighty priests and clerics being chosen to +make the petition. + +The Emperor, who pretended to listen patiently to their complaints, +had given secret orders to Modestus, the Prefect of the Pretorian +Guard, to put them all to death. Modestus was as cruel as his master; +but even in Nicomedia, where Arius and Eusebius had been so active in +preaching heresy, the bulk of the people remained true to the Faith of +Nicea. Such a wholesale slaughter of innocent ecclesiastics would be +almost certain to cause a rising; the thing must be done secretly. + +Summoning the doomed men to appear before him, Modestus informed them +that the Emperor had sentenced them to banishment. Glad to suffer +something for the Faith, they received the news with joy and were +promptly embarked on a ship which was supposedly to carry them to the +country of their exile. The crew, however, had received their orders +from Modestus. They set the ship on fire and escaped in the only boat, +leaving the eighty martyrs to perish in the flames. After this, it was +evidently useless to appeal to Valens for justice. + +The Governors of the different provinces soon received orders to drive +out all the Bishops banished by Constantius who had returned during +the reign of Julian. The people of Alexandria, however, protested that +Athanasius had not returned in the reign of Julian but had been +personally recalled by Jovian. The Governor of Egypt dared not insist, +for the citizens had gathered in force, determined to defend their +Bishop; but he warned the Emperor of the Catholic spirit of the +Alexandrians. + +A few days later, Athanasius left the city to stay for a short time in +a country house in the neighborhood. It was a providential thing that +he did so. That very night the Governor, with a body of armed troops, +broke into the church where the Patriarch was usually to be found at +prayer. They searched everywhere and were much astonished to find that +their prey had escaped them. Athanasius, in the meantime, warned by +friends, had concealed himself in his father's tomb, a fairly large +vault, where a man might remain for some time in hiding. The secret +was well kept by the faithful, who brought food to the Patriarch +during the night and kept him informed of all that was passing in the +city. For four long months he remained in concealment: at the end of +which time the Governor, fearing an outbreak among the people--for the +whole of Egypt was in a ferment--persuaded Valens to let him return in +peace to his see. + + + + +Chapter 11 +THE TRUCE OF GOD + +ATHANASIUS was back once more in the midst of his people. This time +they were determined to keep him at any cost, as they gave the Arians +to understand a year later when Lucius, the man who had been +recommended to Jovian as a suitable Patriarch, ventured to make his +appearance in Alexandria. No sooner did the people hear of his arrival +than they surrounded the house where he was lodging, and it would have +gone ill with him had not the Governor, with an armed troop, rescued +him and hurried him out of Egypt. The roar against him that arose from +the multitude as he was escorted by a strong guard out of the city +completely cured him of any desire to return, and Athanasius was left +in peace for the remaining years of his life. + +He had grown old, and his strength was failing, but his soul, still +young and vigorous, was undaunted and heroic as ever. The seven last +years of his rule at Alexandria were no more years of rest than those +which had gone before. He was one of the few bishops still living who +had been present at the Council of Nicea. The whole Catholic world, +West as well as East, venerated him as a Confessor of the Faith and +looked to him for advice and help. + +His pen was still busy. One of his first acts on his return to +Alexandria was to write the life of St. Antony of the Desert, a last +tribute of love and gratitude to the memory of his dear old friend. +The book was eagerly read; we are told in the Confessions of St. +Augustine how two young officers of the Imperial army, finding it on +the table of a certain hermitage near Milan and reading it, were so +inspired by enthusiasm for the religious life that they embraced it +then and there. + +In the other parts of the Eastern empire Valens and the Arians were +still at work, and persecution was raging as of old. Many of the +persecuted Bishops looked to Athanasius for the comfort and +encouragement which they never sought in vain. He was always ready to +forget the past and to make advances even to those who had been his +bitterest enemies. Let them only accept the Creed of Nicea, he said, +and he would admit them to communion. + +There was a splendid chivalry about the man who could so generously +hold out the right hand of fellowship to those who had never ceased to +plot his ruin. The triumph of truth and the salvation of souls was his +first, and indeed his only thought; everything else could be safely +forgotten. Unfortunately, it was not so with the leaders of the +Arians, and they refused to respond to his appeal. There were, +however, among them good men who had been deceived into signing false +creeds and who were beginning to see things in their true light. Many +of these were received back into the Church and became true and firm +friends of the Patriarch, who was always more ready to see the good in +his fellowmen than the evil. + +God had not given to everyone the clear instinct and the wide learning +of an Athanasius. It was sometimes really difficult to see where the +truth lay, for the Arians always tried to conceal their real doctrines +from those who would have shrunk from them in horror. Their old trick +of declaring that they believed all that the Church believed had led +many astray. For misled men such as these, honest and true of heart, +Athanasius had the greatest compassion and sympathy; they could always +count on his help. + +He carried the same large-mindedness into the affairs of his +government. A certain Bishop of Libya having grown too old to carry +out his duties to the people's satisfaction, they asked that he should +be replaced by a younger and more capable prelate. But they had not +the patience to wait till the affair was settled. Siderius, a young +Christian officer stationed in the province, had won the hearts of all +by his virtue and wisdom; he, and none other, they resolved, should +take the place of the old man. A Bishop called Philo was accordingly +persuaded to consecrate Siderius, a thing he had no right to do, as +the Patriarch had not been consulted; neither were there two other +Bishops present, as was required for a lawful consecration. + +The news of this irregular proceeding came in due time to the ears of +Athanasius, who sent someone to inquire into the matter. Finding, +however, that Siderius was worthy in every way of the position in +which he had been placed, he ratified the choice of the people and +showed much favor to the young Bishop. + +Yet a few years later he was ready to brave the Emperor's anger by +excommunicating the Governor of Libya, a man whose cruelty and evil +deeds had made him hateful to all. As the man was a native of +Cappadocia, Athanasius wrote to St. Basil, the Archbishop of Caesarea +in Cappadocia, to tell him what he had done. St. Basil replied that he +had published the excommunication throughout his diocese and forbidden +anyone to hold communion with the unhappy man. He asked Athanasius to +pray for him and his people, for the Arians were hard at work among +them. + +Valens, in the meantime, had decided that the whole empire must be +Arian and was trying to obtain his end by force. Arian prelates +arrived in Caesarea, and Modestus, Prefect of the Pretorian Guard, +informed the Archbishop that he must admit them to communion under +pain of banishment. St. Basil, having resisted the order, was brought +up before the Prefect's tribunal. + +"Why will you not accept the Emperor's religion?" asked the latter. +"Do you think it is a small thing to be of our communion?" + +"Although you are Prefects and powerful people," answered the +Archbishop, "you are not to be more respected than God." + +"Do you not know that I have power to drive you into exile, even to +take your life?" cried Modestus in a rage. + +"I am God's pilgrim," was the answer; "all countries are the same to +me, and death is a good gift when it brings me to Him for whom I live +and work." + +"No one has ever spoken so boldly to me before," replied Modestus, +astonished. + +"You have probably never met a Christian Bishop before," said Basil, +"or he would certainly have answered you as I have done. In all other +things we are meek and obedient, but when it is a question of God's +worship, we look to Him alone. Threats are of no use, for suffering in +His service is our greatest delight." + +"Would you not like to have the Emperor in your congregation?" asked +Modestus. "It would be so easy. You have only to strike that word +'consubstantial' out of your creed." + +"Gladly would I see the Emperor in my church," said Basil; "it is a +great thing to save a soul; but as for changing my creed, I would not +alter a letter for the whole world." + +The persecution continued, and Basil addressed himself once more to +Athanasius, asking for prayers and guidance. "We are persuaded," he +wrote, "that your leadership is our sole remaining comfort in our +distress. By the power of our prayers, by the wisdom of your counsels, +you are able to carry us through this fearful storm, as all are sure +who have in any way made trial of your goodness. Wherefore cease not +to pray for our souls and to stir us up by letters; if you only knew +how these benefit us, you would never let pass an opportunity of +writing. If it were given to me, through your prayers, once to see +you, to profit by your gifts and to add to the history of my life a +meeting with such a great and apostolic soul, surely I should consider +that the loving mercy of God has given me a compensation for all the +ills with which my life has been afflicted." + +In 366 Pope Liberius died and was succeeded by Pope St. Damasus, a man +of strong character and holy life. Two years later, in a council of +the Church, it was decreed that no Bishop should be consecrated unless +he held the Creed of Nicea. Athanasius was overwhelmed with joy on +hearing this decision. The triumph of the cause for which he had +fought so valiantly was now assured. + +Athanasius' life was drawing to an end. Five years later, after having +governed his diocese for forty-eight years--years of labor, endurance +and suffering--he passed peacefully into the presence of that Lord for +whose sake he had counted all his tribulations as joy. + + + +From his earliest youth Athanasius had stood forth as the champion of +Truth and defender of the Faith--a gallant warrior who had not laid +down his arms until the day of his death. Where a weaker man would +have lost courage, he had stood firm; suffering had only served to +temper his spirit, as steel is tempered by the fire. Among men who +were capable of every compromise he had remained loyal and true, and +few have been more loved or hated than he. To his own people he was +not only their Bishop, but a Saint, an ascetic, a martyr in all but +deed; above all, he was an intensely lovable personality, whose very +greatness of soul only made him more compassionate. To the outside +world he was a guiding light, a beacon pointing straight to God and +Heaven. He was a living example of the truth that a man may be +large-minded and yet strong; that he may hate error, yet love the +erring--stand like a rock against heresy, yet be full of compassion +for heretics. + +Scarcely was Athanasius dead when he was honored as a Saint. Six years +after his death, St. Gregory Nazianzen speaks of him in one breath +with the patriarchs, prophets and martyrs who had fought for the Faith +and won the crown of glory. His influence is with us to this day, his +memory lingers in the words of that Nicene Creed which was his war +cry; for it is largely owing to his valor that we possess it still. +And through all his works breathes the same spirit--the spirit that +nerved him to fight and suffer--an intense love and devotion to Him +who was the Lord and Master of his life--Jesus Christ, the same +yesterday, today and forever. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Saint Athanasius, by F.A. 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