ria et magnitudo in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. To God the Almighty be glory and greatness unto the ages of ages. Amen.
TO THE HOLY FATHER ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, TO ANTIOCHUS THE GOVERNOR
ALet us consider, O man blessed of God, above all, through all, and before all, how we walk and what counsel we take concerning ourselves; knowing that many invisible witnesses of our deeds and thoughts are present to us—witnesses who not only see what falls under the gaze, but also peer into our very souls and discern what lies hidden in the heart. For truly, many from the number of angelic powers are present to us on every side, recording with all precision in heaven, for our conviction on the terrible day of judgment, what is said and done by us, and even what is contemplated down to the slightest thought; when all the creation of visible things, shaken by an unspeakable impulse, shall be driven to its own consummation. B Heaven and earth shall pass away at the root, and the elements in the midst shall be dissolved, consumed by fire. Then the Ancient of days shall sit; books shall be opened, in which the writings of our works, words, and thoughts are kept faithfully and uncorruptedly. Thousands of thousands minister to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before Him, and the threat of fire runs everywhere, encompassing all things round about, and melting the mountains like wax; for a river of fire flowed before Him. When Tartarus—a vast and unspeakable abyss—and the outer darkness and the never-sleeping worm shall be shown to be present, then a great terror shall stand over those awaiting the outcome. C And the angels, ministers of wrath, flashing with fire, looking with fiery gaze, and breathing fire, shall stand ready for every vengeance for every transgression. To these, with trembling, all creation shall approach, both earthly and heavenly; that is to say, the angels, and the powers higher than the angels, and all who are in the heavens, waiting for the manifestation of the terrible divine counsel. In their presence, our works shall be read, and a disclosure of hidden things shall occur, so that all may thus know the sins of others just as each knows his own, reading the book of his own conscience. "I will reprove thee," He says, "and set thy sins before thy face" (Ps. XLIX, 21); and again, "Their counsels shall compass them about" (Ps. VII, 8). D And behold, a man and his work, and a Judge who cannot be deceived, having before Him the magnificent power of the heavenly orders, sitting on high above all, shining with all justice, who shall render to each accurately and justly according to his desert: to those indeed who are on the right hand—which is the station of the meek and gentle soul—granting the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world; but those who
because they lack good works are set on the left hand, He drives away with wrath into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. A
2. Who will endure that incredible spectacle of the worm? Who will be able to bear the density and weight of that outer darkness? Who will withstand the roaring Tartarus and the abyss resounding with it from the depths? Who will not shudder at the fierce and grim appearance of the angels assigned to this task, and their gloomy countenance turning to foulness? Who will not dread that which is the gravest of all evils, the turning away of the face of God, who is by nature good, kind, and merciful? The entire creation will together turn away and loathe those who, out of an adverse and malignant mind, have entangled themselves in such great evils; being justly indignant against them, because they see themselves appearing as such before Him who is by nature alone God and the most loving of men. Who will endure the immense shame of conscience that will be present at the manifestation of secret things? Who will be able to tolerate that unceasing weeping and those bitter tears, the gnashing of teeth, and the lamentations of those who will be tortured in torments, or the pains arising from negligence, situated in the midst of their heart, which will burn them justly and deservedly? Who can recount the anxiety of the mind, for the reason that there is no hope of future change, or end to the impending punishment, nor is any turning to a good life expected hereafter? For that last tribunal is the only one that is truly dreadful, and more just than it is terrible; and it is terrible because it is just, B and because by its own just reckoning it embraces all the ages within itself. Who, if he considers the wailings and groans poured forth from the midst of their hearts, and clinging to the very marrow, and biting the viscera sharply, will be able to refrain from tears? Who could bear such lamentations and weeping without falling into sadness, if he weighs what words of repentance they bring forth, both those which each of the tormented addresses to himself, and all to one another? For then indeed each one becomes aware of his own transgressions, when things appear naked as they are in themselves, and free from every impediment of any deceit whatever. C
3. Just is thy judgment, O Lord; for you called us, and we did not obey; you spoke words to us, and we did not heed; rather, we made your counsels void. Justly has destruction, ruin, tempest, affliction, and siege come upon us. And now we call upon you, and you do not hear; and we seek mercy from you, and we do not find it. For we who hated wisdom and did not choose the word of the Lord, nor wished to apply our mind to the counsels of God, reap such fruits as these from our own seed, and are filled with our own madness. For the deceit of life has blinded us, nor D
A have we known the mysteries of God, nor have we hoped at all that there exists a reward for holiness; and for this reason we have been filled with the paths of iniquity. We walked through inaccessible paths, that is, inaccessible to divine visitation, but the way of the Lord we did not know. And what is that wealth which has been gathered by us with arrogance? All those things passed away like a shadow, and as a message passing by, and as a ship passing through surging water, in whose passing there is not to be found a trace, nor a path of its keel in the waves. Or as a bird flying through the air, no sign of its path is found. All those things passed away, leaving to us this fire, as an inheritance remaining for all ages. Just is thy judgment, O God; for we shall never hereafter cease saying these things. We were called, and we did not obey; we were admonished, and we did not pay attention. Concerning these things we were taught every day B of the evils, and we despised those things which were told us; the words about these matters did not grieve us then even in the least; for if they had, the things themselves would not have grieved us so severely; the things that now occupy our life were thought by us to be trifles. This we continually sing: O the neglect! O the deceit! O the evil counsels! O the wicked transactions! O the wonder of the just judgment and sentence of God concerning these things! How for each kind of our sins He rendered to us a fitting torment! For because of wretched and shameful fleshly pleasure, we have been justly condemned to possess this fearful Gehenna; we have been condemned to dwell in this gloom and darkness. Since we loved all shameful things, and having despised all divine goods alike, we preferred the horse-races and the theaters C and the hunts, in which the crowds of demons danced, and every divine oversight and knowledge of angels were absent. Where the venerable [nature] of joy was insulted in many ways; and the evil and abominable [nature] of intemperance was held in honor. Justly are we now deprived of light, because we did not behold the creation for the glory of the God who made it during our transient life; but we defiled our eyes and ears and tongue, and145781919 rather the soul which was made according to the image of God, with all spectacles and listenings and words hated by God, and we corrupted them with mutual jealousies, and we have been cast into this Tartarus, being sorely worn by the freezing and the abyss against them. Since we preferred - arrogance to the humility which procures D high and divine things, and we rejected the narrow and constrained [path] of virtue because of the exceeding decadence and disposition of the flesh.
4. Where now is our arrogance, and where is the disposition of the arrogant toward all, and the sluggish and dissolute decadence of the flesh? O the thoughtlessness! Instead of unbridled laughter and the wanton clatter of the cheeks, this heavy gnashing of teeth exists. Because we did not wish to practice the learning of divine and saving words, but preferred the immoderation of drunkenness to the divine praise given through words, we are now sorely tormented by the terrible and empty thirst of the tongue. It is indeed worthy...
A of the hatred toward our brothers, and of envy and deceit, and of hypocrisy (from which and by which envy arises), of reproach and slander, and of rancor, and of falsehood, and of perjury, that we reap the fruit—this undying worm, which consumes the depth of our soul insatiably. Since we corrupted the straightness of love and made it twisted and crooked, we have on our own created for ourselves this evil, self-willed worm, and have dug for ourselves a worse twist by means of falsehood, because of which we have not been united with God, who is straight and upright. For He Himself said through the holy prophet David: "A crooked heart has not cleaved to me." Therefore, we receive worthy rewards for what we have done, or rather, we receive the wages due to the disposition of our own intent: for the fire of pleasure, the fire of Gehenna; for the darkness of ignorance and of temporary fallacy, eternal darkness; and the avenging worm that never dies—for that worm which, through hatred and falsehood, rendered the heart crooked and twisted, and for the lascivious clamor of the cheeks, the clamor of that burning heat and the gnashing of teeth; for the elation of vain pride, and for that outpouring, a swallowing up, an immense abyss, and the straits of the place. In short, to speak in one word, for each of our voluntarily committed evils, we justly pay the penalty that is appropriate, even if unwillingly.
5. O our misery! Alas for us wretches, who do not extinguish the fire of the flesh through fasting, watchfulness, and the meditation of the divine oracles—things which are good and easy extinguishers of fire, so that we might not now be roasted by this fire. Why did we B not accustom ourselves to see, and to hear, and to speak according to nature, so that we might not now dwell in this gloom and in the deepest silence, but might instead enjoy—together with the saints—the light, and the Word, and the wisdom of God, beholding, hearing, and singing the divine glory? Or why did we not kill the worm of spontaneous hatred through love, and why did we not wipe out falsehood through truth? For even now we would have been free from this burning worm, and from the rest of the things that now constrain our most wretched life. Just is the judgment of God. We do not find what we sought, nor is the gate of the kingdom of heaven opened to us. For because we did not knock at the gate of good things through our deeds, we do not receive the possession of eternal good things. Because we did not ask through prayer for the grace of knowledge (for there was in us no love for divine things; but binding our mind to earthly things, we corrupted our whole life), those things have all passed away like smoke, disappearing and gone, C but the word of retribution for these crimes remains for eternity, and will never pass away.
6. And when they have learned from their own evils, as if from a pattern, what is the power of divine justice, they will discuss it with one another, repenting. But as for me, who am a wretch, upon what works can I rely to hope that I might be snatched from that dreadful condemnation? Being void of every virtue and every knowledge, I fear lest, having my hands and feet bound, I be cast into a land of darkness and gloom, in