ADMONITIO IN ENCOMIUM IN SANCTUM ANDREAM
This Encomium now comes to light for the first time from the papers of the most learned and most friendly Toinard, which were transmitted to him from Spain by the most excellent Lord Gaspar de Mendoza y Segovia, Marquess of Mondejar, and which he has most kindly shared with us. That this piece does not belong to Athanasius will be clear to anyone even slightly acquainted with Athanasian oratory. For it lacks that dignity, judgment, and gravity which shine forth in the genuine works of Athanasius. This sermon exists in the Colbertine codex 847, and is attributed to Basil of Seleucia, whose style it surely reflects more than the Athanasian. The codex is about seven hundred years old.
OF OUR HOLY FATHER ATHANASIUS, ENCOMIUM TO THE HOLY APOSTLE ANDREW.
S. P. N. ATHANASIUS, ENCOMIUM TO THE HOLY APOSTLE ANDREW.
1. A Viewing this brilliant flock of the Spirit, and cast into the calm and truly waveless sea, I am reminded of the apostolic net which was cast in, and of the Lord’s voice crying out: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matth. iv, 19). O energetic voice! O words verified by the deeds themselves! O true promise, growing day by day! Whose is this abundant catch of men? Who has gathered this illustrious assembly, if not the illustrious one among the apostles, Andrew? He who spread the nets of his tongue and his memory, so that, having filled this holy ship with the rudders of the apostolate, he might steer the vessel toward heaven. And what are the first fruits of the catch? What are the first offerings of his labors? They who adorn the precinct of the priesthood with virtues. They who were the first to be cast into these apostolic B arms, and who hunted down those wandering outside for their salvation. But while this great Andrew has provided the occasions for our present celebration, the entire choir of the apostles is held in equal esteem. For those whom grace has joined, no place separates. And just as if one were to wish to praise a crown adorned with precious stones, whatever part he might grasp with his praises, he admires the whole together with the part; or just as if someone seeing a golden chain, whichever part he touches, he moves the whole: so too does the discourse concerning any one of the apostles advance through him to embrace them all, according to the word of the divine Paul: “If one member rejoices, all the members rejoice with it” (I Cor. XII, 26). For what harmony of members did nature weave together, as the grace of the Spirit C joined the choir of the apostles? For there is truly one grace, which
enlisted the apostles for the King’s service. A
2. Come then, let us admire them one by one. Andrew, who is namesake to apostolic courage, was the first to register the Master as his teacher: he is the beginning of the apostolic choir, he who was sharp-sighted for the Lord’s coming, who exchanged John’s discipline for the doctrine of Christ, and who is the seal of the Baptist’s words. B For he was the most illustrious of John’s disciples, seeking the truth of the Light in the lamp’s glow, just as one becomes accustomed to the brilliance of Christ through the dimmer rays. But John, meanwhile, standing in the waters of the Jordan, was baptizing the flocks of the Jews, preparing for them in the water a remedy and relief for the commandments of Moses—namely, repentance—and blunting the edge of the Mosaic sword with those currents. For those to whom the transgression of the Law had brought forth death, the Baptist snatched away beforehand and sent them forward with repentance. For since He who was to abolish death was not yet present, through the delay obtained by baptism, death was softened, instructed in a certain involuntary philanthropy through repentance. C But when the Lord arrived, hidden by the wisdom of the Economy and concealing the lightning of His majesty in a mortal garment, John, recognizing Him, immediately transformed the teacher into a satellite, and with a gesture of his hand became a herald of Him who was present: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” * This, he says, is He who delivers from death. This is He who takes away sin. I, however, have been sent as a groomsman, not as the bridegroom. I have come as a satellite, not as the Master.
3. Pricked by these words, the most illustrious apostle Andrew, having left his master, ran to Him who was being proclaimed; and having received the standard of the Word, he becomes swifter than John’s tongue. D Approaching the Master, he reveals his longing by his very demeanor, taking along with him the evangelist John as a companion in his race; and both of them, having left the lamp behind, hasten to the Sun. Andrew is the first planting of the apostles: he opened the gates of Christ’s discipline; he was the first to harvest the fruits of the prophetic agriculture, and, outstripping the hope of all, he was the first to embrace Him whom everyone was expecting. He was the first to show that the commandments of the law were measured by a certain period of time. He was the first to restrain the tongue of Moses, not suffering it to speak after Christ: not that he sought to treat the teacher of the Jews with contumely, but because he held the One who sent him in greater honor than the one who was sent; indeed, he was seen to be the first to honor Moses, since he was the first to recognize Him whom Moses had predicted: “A prophet,” he says, “shall the Lord your God raise up for you from your brothers, like me; hear him.” He rejects the law by being obedient to the Law. He heard Moses saying: “Hear Him.” He heard John crying out: “Behold the Lamb of God;” and, having had Him pointed out, he approached Him of his own accord. Moreover, when he recognized that...
A he was the prophet foretold by prophecy, he took his brother by the hand to find Him. To Peter, who was unaware, he revealed the treasure: “We have found the Messiah,” 54 whom we desired, whose coming we hoped for, let us hasten to see Him. We have found Him whom the blaring prophetic trumpets ordered us to await; time brought Him whom grace proclaimed, whom love hoped to see with its eyes. For, he says, he found his own brother Simon, and shares with him the treasure of this vision. He leads Peter by the hand to the Master. O wondrous miracle! Andrew is not yet a disciple, and he is already established as a guide of men. He began to learn by teaching; he seizes the dignity of the apostolate. “We have found the Messiah.” O how many sleepless nights spent by the streams of the Jordan, and now we have found Him for whom we longed! Peter was in no way slow after those words, for he was Andrew’s B brother; and with a fervent spirit, having opened wide his ears, he hastened.
4. Taking Peter, Andrew leads him to the Master, having made him a partner of his nature and a comrade in discipleship. This was Andrew’s first achievement. He increased the number of the apostles; he brought Peter, so that Christ might find the leader of the disciples. Thus, even in those things where Peter is later found to be esteemed, he has the seeds of that esteem from Andrew. But a balanced exchange of praises occurs from one to the other. For they appropriate one another’s goods, and take pride in one another’s virtues. How much joy, then, did Peter bring to all, immediately answering the Master’s questions and breaking the silence of the disciples, who were blushing? “Who do men say that I am?” 55 And as if his own tongue were that of those who were being questioned, or as if all were speaking in him, he alone spoke for all: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” 56 with one voice proclaiming both the Dispenser and the dispensation. C O harmony of words! For with the same words with which Andrew led Peter by the hand, the Father, breathing into Peter from above, confirmed them. He had said: “We have found the Messiah.” The Father added, saying: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It is as if He were commanding Peter: Speak, O Peter, the words of Andrew when you are asked; show yourself more ready than your teacher to give an answer. He did not lie to you when he said: “We have found the Messiah.” You, translating the Hebrew tongue into Greek, cry out: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Do you see with how many ornaments Andrew is adorned, right at the very beginning of his discipleship?
5. But when the Savior, leaving the cities, traveled about the desert, the races of men went with Him, not enduring separation from Him even for a short time. D There was a desert and a lack of food, and the belly was not satisfied. But the Savior, seizing upon that ancient miracle of the desert, brought the same to life once more, making the desert a witness to wonders; and those who were in
he renewed it; and again he made the desert a witness to the miracles wrought long ago in the desert; he brought forth the disciples as hosts, and invited the crowds to that simple feast. The company of the apostles, however, was troubled by such want, and looking at one another, not considering what was to come, they wavered with human reasoning. One of the disciples proposed one thing, and another another, whereby they might indicate the present scarcity. But Andrew, showing the worthlessness and paucity of what was at hand, gave an occasion for a miracle to the Savior, though he knew it not. For what says he? "There are only five loaves and a few small fishes." What then the Savior? "Bring them hither to me." And the confession of the scarcity of food became the cause of a great abundance of good things.
B 6. But even after the Lord himself had completed his commemoration on earth, and having spent sufficient time with the disciples, was taken up into the heavens, the apostles, having divided the world among themselves, and being separated in body, one directed the streams of grace to one place, another to another.
Then indeed this blessed Andrew, having filled both Greece and the lands of the barbarians with grace, and having brought the nations to faith by his miracles, having struck them with awe and shame, was sent to the most combative region of unbelief—I mean Achaia. There, having inscribed many in heaven, he himself, for the sake of the faith, was handed over to be crucified; and by the manner of his death he imitated the Lord, that by the communion of the passion he might show the magnitude of his love. The cross, therefore, is fixed in the midst of Greece, and Andrew is suspended, preaching him who was crucified by the cross, and confirming the truth of the nails with nails, and testifying to the passion by his own passion. Having found this as the end of his mortal life, he found death to be the second beginning of immortality, manifesting the power of his teaching more effectively through his passion. For those whom he did not persuade by preaching, these, having been slain, he converted, striking them with shame; and those whom he did not draw with speech, he caught as in a net by his passion. For, divided between heaven and earth, with his body placed upon the earth but his soul having obtained heaven, he looks upon the flocks of men, showing favor to those on earth with healings and miracles. From that husbandry the present ears of grain have sprouted; from his doctrine the clusters of faith have blossomed. And you, C teachers of piety, have met together; you who are merchants of the kingdom of heaven have come to him who is wondered at in the heavens. For that is the voice of Christ, through the blessed Paul: "If we endure, we shall also reign with him." To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.