the trees thickened with leaves, and the meadows bearing the honey of the work of the wise and tireless bee above the flowers, and the herb rejoicing, and every plant grown with a cheerful face. Hence it is also milk-white, because just as a mother nurses the infant with milk, so it too causes all things to grow by its fatness and dew. Being in the heaven, it signifies the cycles of years, the completions of months, the changes of seasons and times, and the appropriate time for the true and firm Pascha, as Wisdom says: “From the moon is the sign of the feast day”; and because it is a luminary, waxing and waning, its name is month [men]. A The Book of Genesis narrates it thus: “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night: and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.” I have felt compelled to set all these things before your piety, so that I might show from the very facts and the divinely inspired Scriptures that the moon is not the cause of insanity, but rather the wicked and deceitful devil. B For he ranks among the evil craftsmen; and since he cannot in any other way attach the likeness of divinity to created things, or compel men to the fiction of idols, he observes the new moon; and when it reaches the fifth day, he then causes the epileptic to cry out, to foam, and to throw himself into fire or water, so that his parents or brothers or kinsmen may be compelled to worship the moon, thinking that she has sent the demon to the youth. Whence also the Greeks call her queen of heaven, though she is a servant of the night and a handmaid of human nature, C and not a mistress or a ruler. For this reason also Jesus, the successor of Moses, commanded them, saying: “Sun, stand thou still over Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon, until I avenge myself upon the five kings of the Amorites.” Therefore, if a man commands the moon, how is it possible that he should be harmed or subjugated by these luminaries themselves? Away then with the machinations of the apostate dragon, and with Greek error and superstition. D And Luke says: “For you have taken away the key of knowledge,” that is, the faith in Christ, as it prepares the road to the knowledge of the truth and of His teaching. Which key they have taken away from those who were to enter by it.
MONITUM IN EXCERPTA COMMENTARIORUM IN LUCAM
We long hesitated as to whether Athanasius had published Commentaries on Luke or not. For although the Catenae on Luke presented some of his fragments, it was not easy to say whether they had been taken from Commentaries or hewn here and there from other works obliterated by the injustice of time by the authors of the Catenae. But these having been brought to lightRegarding the remains of the Commentaries, there is scarcely room for doubt: the same thing which we said concerning the Commentaries on Matthew. For the very sequence argues for an interpreter of the Gospels whose sole scope is to explain them; he is not a writer quoting the sayings of the Gospel merely on occasion, which we judge would be obvious to any sagacious person. In our Athanasian edition, we have brought forward some fragments on Luke; but while doing so, we encountered many others which, whether from manuscript codices or from a published Catena on Luke, now emerge at least three times more copious. Furthermore, these reveal Athanasius to be their true author, both because the style is clearly Athanasian, and because of those things that are brought forward against the Arians—who were causing disturbances as these things were being written, and who were assaulting the divinity of the Word. These points harmonize so well with Athanasius’s skirmishes against the Arians in their diction and method of refutation that it is like one egg to another. Toward the end, it indeed contains a clear testimony concerning the expiation of lesser errors in the life to come: where he clearly says that the deceased who, out of sloth or procrastination, have omitted something, can be aided by the help of friends; otherwise, those who have behaved wickedly and have not performed penance in this life cannot.
FROM THE COMMENTARIES OF SAINT ATHANASIUS ON LUKE
B “And behold, you shall be silent, and will not be able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass; because you have not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time” (Luke 1, 20). The angel justly does not spare Zacharias for not believing, because he had as an example other barren women who had previously given birth, as the Holy Scriptures teach. “Therefore also that which shall be born of you, holy, shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1, 33). The angel does not simply say to the Virgin, “that which shall be born,” lest a body be thought to have been introduced to her from without; but he added, “of you,” so that it might be believed that what was to be born would proceed naturally from her. And it was to be called “holy,” not as if the Son of God were to dwell in it and to be sanctified by participation, but because, as the Son of God, he would be holy in reality and according to nature, and would be one. “And behold, Elisabeth your kinswoman” (Luke 1, 58). The angel called Elisabeth the kinswoman of the most holy Virgin, whether because they traced their origin from one and the same forefather, Jacob, or because, before the Law was given, Aaron, who was of the tribe of Levi, took Elisabeth to wife—she being the daughter of Aminadab, the sister of Naasson, and descended from the tribe of Judah (Exod. vi, 25). For here the royal tribe of Judah, from which the most holy Virgin sprang, was joined to the priestly tribe of Levi, from which Elisabeth was. Wherefore, in a thoroughly admirable way, the wisdom of the most holy Spirit arranged that even this wife of Zacharias should be called Elisabeth, just as that wife of Aaron also was, so that even from the name we might clearly learn C of the kinship between the Virgin and Elisabeth, the mother of the forerunner, and that the Elisabeth of the precursor was derived from that other Elisabeth.
When the most holy Virgin said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word” (Luke 1, 58), she declared this: “I am a tablet,” she says, “on which the Scribe wishes to write what pleases Him. Let Him write, let Him do what the Lord of the universe wills.” The angel, having received this confession of faith from the most holy Virgin, departed from her.
“My soul magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1, 46). For just as to bring glory to God does not signify to add praise to Him—
A nor does it signify to add holiness to the Lord to sanctify Him—so too, for one to magnify God does not indicate the addition of magnitude to Him, but rather that he who magnifies Him receives in himself a participation in that magnitude. Hence it is said: “My soul magnifies the Lord.” These things will not seem strange to one who understands clearly that God does not receive, but rather provides, good things.
B “For He has looked upon the humility of His handmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1, 48). But what kind of thing is virginity? For if one wishes to practice other virtues, he is guided by the law; but virginity, surpassing the law and directing its course toward a more excellent goal of life, is a mark of the age to come and an image of angelic purity. There is much, to be sure, that one could say about it; but that I may not delay over what is already manifest, I shall say one thing instead of all, so as to declare the excellence of this virtue. For God the Word, the Lord of all, when the Father willed to raise up and renew all things, willed that the mother of the body He was to bear should be none other than a virgin, and so it happened; and thus the Lord journeyed to us as a man, so that just as all things came into being through Him, so also might virginity arise from Him, and through Him this grace be given back to men, and remain and grow. How great, then, is this boast of virgins, and how great the evidence of His divinity, one may learn from this: If the parents of the holy martyrs are esteemed for the courage of their sons; and if Sarah rejoices in having brought forth Isaac, and they are blessed who have seed in Sion and kin in Jerusalem, as the prophet says—how much more must one estimate the glory C of the holy and divinely-fashioned Virgin Mary, who is and is called the mother of the Word according to the birth of the flesh? For indeed, as the army of angels celebrated this divine birth, so also did the woman lift up her voice and say: “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which You sucked” (Luke 11, 27). And Mary herself, the Mother of God and ever-virgin, knowing what had come to pass in her, said: “From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1, 48). And that which came to pass in Mary brings glory to all virgins. For they hang as virginal branches from that very root.
D “And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: ‘Because every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord,’ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” (Luke 2, 22-24). He who did not put on flesh, as other men do, so as to come into being and exist, but rather that He might sanctify the flesh, having become
man. But if anyone should take A the phrase “to present him to the Lord” as referring to the Lord Himself, he strays from what is reasonable. For when was the Lord ever hidden from the eyes of the Father, such that He could not be seen by Him? Or what place exists outside His dominion, such that, being there, He would not be present to the Father, unless He were brought to Jerusalem and into the temple? And why, indeed, would they offer typical sacrifices, when He Himself is the Truth? May it not be, then, that these things were written not for His sake, but for ours? For just as He, being God, becomes man by nature without change, not for His own sake, and is circumcised in the flesh, and baptized, and so forth, but for our sake—so that we, being men, might become gods by adoption through grace, and be circumcised spiritually, not legally, and wash away the filth of sin through baptism, and be crucified to the world, and rise again unto God—so too does this passage about their purification, and “to present him to the Lord,” and concerning the typical sacrifices, happen and stand written not for His sake, but for ours. It is B so that we might learn to purify and present ourselves to God, offering to Him mystically and spiritually a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now the turtledove is a symbol of temperance and quiet: for the creature is fond of solitude and is most continent; so much so that if either the male or female dies, neither of them will pair with another. The young of the doves, however, are a type of innocence and gentleness. As many, therefore, as purify themselves through continence from carnal pleasures and desires, and through innocence and gentleness restrain themselves from anger and fury, truly bringing beautiful sacrifices, are manifest to the sight of God and present themselves to the heavenly Jerusalem. For nothing is so dear to God as innocence and continence. Indeed, He desires us to be so continent that we should not even look at a woman with desire. Regarding innocence, He says: “Unless you are converted and become as little children,” C not referring to physical stature, but signifying, through the children, the innocence of the young. Furthermore, He sets Himself forth as an example of gentleness and humility, saying: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” And if someone should say, “Why did He command that these mentioned animals be offered in pairs, and that some should be perfect, while others should be young?” I respond that, since man consists of two parts—that is, from soul and body—God seeks from us a twofold continence and gentleness. For if I abstain from carnal pleasures with my body, but in my soul am moved toward the desire for them, I am not continent, but an adulterer. For, He says, “He who looks in order to desire, has already committed adultery in his heart.” D And again, he who in outward appearance seems to be gentle, but in his soul is moved toward anger, is not innocent, but a hypocrite and wrathful, having for his hidden malice the covering of that appearance which seems to be innocence; a class of men to which the prophet alludes with these words: “They blessed with their mouth, and cursed with their heart.” And again: “They who speak peace with their neighbor, but evil...
in their hearts.” By ordering that perfect animals be offered, while at others, fledglings, he signifies that we ought to be perfect in prudence and temperance, but infants in malice, as the Apostle says. A But let us see of whom, where, and when it is said, that “every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord,” and what is the riddle of the Law.
*The rest is missing.*
B In that: *“Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word, in peace.”* Let us therefore despise death; for although we fear it, we shall nonetheless die at the times predetermined for us by Providence. It is better to await it with virtue as that which is demanded, than simply to surrender it ingloriously. For he who dies in godliness does not truly die; but he who is summoned only by the passage of time, as one who has lived for himself, is under a necessity to render an account of his time, and if he does not, to hear: *“You received your good things in your life, but now you are tormented here.”* We must therefore act manfully, as the Apostle commanded, so as to mortify already the members which are on the earth, and to prepare our works for our departure, so that if the end of time arrives, or we are called by the Savior, we too may say: *“Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord.”* C But if the Lord himself comes, may he find us watching and not rebuke us as sleeping with these words: *“So, could you not watch one hour?”* For the sleep of the soul is negligence and the forgetfulness of death.
*What follows is in ibid., p. 1010, in the larger sermon on the Faith, which you have above.*
D *“And in the synagogue was a man having a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying: ‘Let us alone; what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’”* Now the demon who said, “We know you,” did not truly know him, but feigned it with words. Yet although he spoke the truth—for he was indeed speaking the truth, “You are the Holy One of God”—the Lord restrained him and forbade him to speak, lest together with the truth he disseminate his own malice, and that he might accustom us never to pay heed to such as them, even if they seem to speak the truth. For it is indecorous, when we are instructed by the divine Scriptures and the liberty of the Savior, to be taught by the devil, who did not keep his own station, but thought one thing instead of another and, though he produces the sayings of the Scriptures, he is restrained by him who says: *“But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my statutes?”* The faithful, therefore, can learn the truth from the Father’s own voice saying, *“This is my beloved Son,”* and from the angels worshiping him, as well as from the saints who...
wrote about him, that he alone is the Son and the Word of God. The Arians, however, since they do not possess a pure mind, nor are they able to listen to divine and theological men, let them at least learn from demons like unto themselves, that they did not cry out as if there were many, but knowing him to be the only one, they said: *“You are the Holy One of God, and the Son of God.”* For indeed, he who suggested the heresy to them did not say, “You are a Holy One of God,” as if there were others, but, *“You are the Holy One of God,”* as if he alone existed. The addition of the article is therefore appropriate; for there is one who is holy by nature, by participation in whom others become holy. Thus, even the architects of lies themselves, compelled by the very clarity of the truth, often bear witness to the truth, even unwillingly; since the demons were not performing the office of the evangelists, but, being unable to gaze upon the light of the truth, B they cried out: *“We know who you are, the Holy One of God.”*
Jesus, however, after hearing these things, answered him, saying: *“Do not fear; only believe, and she will be saved.”* The Lord first demands faith from those who call upon him; as he says to the blind man: *“Do you believe that I am able to do this for you?”* And concerning the epileptic he says, *“If you believe, it happens.”* The Savior demands this, not because he stands in need of the help of others—for he himself is the Lord and bestower of faith—but so that he may not appear to be a respecter of persons, and that it may not be thought that he grants his favor to those who believe, while humans would not receive benefits without faith, and would lose them through unbelief. For when he confers grace, he wishes the grace to remain; and when he heals, he wishes the healing never to fail. C Therefore, he confirmed the paralytic, saying: *“You have become healthy; sin no more.”* And just as if any doctor, upon coming to those laboring under an illness, were to ask first whether they wished to be cured, so that, if he were to apply a remedy while the sick resisted, the care would become useless; with exactly the same procedure, the Lord inquired of those to be healed, and granted it to those who believed, so that they might be able to retain the grace through faith: for faith is the mark of the choice of the soul. Therefore, he says even now: *“Only believe, and she will be saved.”*
(31) *And it came to pass, as they were walking in the way, someone said to him: “I will follow you wherever you go, Lord.” And Jesus said to him: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the sky have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”* Therefore, the Lord, seeing this scribe who promised that he would follow him, crying out with his word to be sure, but not being free in his mind, D instead being dragged away by other matters, overwhelmed him with a rebuke; and he neither repelled the man by turning away from him, nor, as if ignorant, was he led astray by his words; but...
A even as one who knew, he reproved him, and as one teaching, he corrected him. For he was teaching by saying almost this: that no one can follow the Word while resting in irrational things, nor can the friend of irrational things receive the Word, nor can he who dreams of irrational things partake of the notion of the Word. Indeed, from that audacity, the mark of rashness and lack of instruction can be perceived. For if he had known the power of the Word, he would not have conceived for himself a false impression of the spiritual Word at all, nor would he—being a man—have dared to equate himself with the incomprehensible power of the Savior, saying: "I will follow you wherever you go." For although it is possible for human nature—simple as it is—to follow the Savior to hear his teaching, and this can happen according to his benevolence; yet to be extended and to run together with him everywhere, that is both impossible and bold for one who promises it. For we cannot be with him as he rests in the bosom of the Father—for how could we, being of a different nature?—nor can we run alongside him wherever he is. For he is uncontained, but we are containable; and he is in everything and outside of everything, but we have our constitution measured within the universe; and the Lord, indeed, moves all things everywhere in an immovable and unchangeable manner, and administers the whole; but we humans, passing from the place from which we are moved, are left wanting by the abandonment of place, unable to be equated with the unchangeable presence of his divinity everywhere. But the Lord corrects him regarding both points, and both rebukes the unreadiness of his purpose and teaches the greatness of his divinity, saying: "Foxes have holes," and the rest. And it is equivalent B to saying this: that all created things happen to be containable and are separated by places, but the Word of God has an uncontainable power; so that from such a saying, "I will follow you wherever you go," you must refrain. But if you wish to be instructed, stand apart from irrational things, and apply yourself to the Reason or Word: for it is impossible that he who lives in irrationality should become a disciple of the Word or Reason.
"To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole was leavened." Consider this, therefore, whoever is in doubt about the things that have been said: that every person who has acquired a small leaven of virtue, but has not yet managed to make it into bread—but while wishing it, has not been able to do so, because of sluggishness or carelessness or cowardice, or from delaying from day to day—if he is caught and reaped beyond his expectation, this man will not be forgotten by the just Judge; but He will raise up his own after his death; and He will direct their minds, and draw their hearts, and bend their souls, and they, moved, will hasten to his aid and assistance. Whence also, when the Lord has touched the hearts D
shall supplement the deficiencies of the departed. But he who has led a wicked life, tangled throughout in thorns, and full of impure matter, who has never entered into his own conscience, but without fear and indifferently has lain in the stench of pleasures, performing all the desires of the flesh, and taking no thought at all for the soul, but only affected by the sense of corporeal things—when he is subsequently cut off and departs from this life, no one at all will hold out a hand to him; and it will go with him in such a way that he will not be helped by wife, or children, or brothers, or kinsfolk, or friends at all, because God does not even hold him in any measure. B
FRAGMENT ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS (33)
"Now concerning the things whereof you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman." There exists also, in addition to all these things, an interpretation by Saint Athanasius in the book on honorable marriage. Furthermore, the matter may be explained in this way. When Paul wrote to the lascivious and carnal men, he made use of their love for their own flesh to persuade them to cast off fornication, saying this: "The remaining sins harm the soul and bring damage upon it alone; but he who commits fornication harms both his soul and his body—corrupting and weakening it, and taking away the psychic and vital tone." As if he said: "Spare at least your body, which you care for and cherish, and for which you have the greatest concern."
ADMONITION—SPURIOUS
AWe have borrowed the following two short works from an eleventh-century parchment manuscript of the library of the RR. PP. of St. Basil in Rome: both are of the same stamp, and of a later age, as you may perceive from the corrupted usage of the Greek language. The first, however, has subjoined some scholia of an unskilled Greekling, which it seemed good to include. For these, since they are very brief, can cause no one weariness.
OF SAINT ATHANASIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, ON THE SAYING OF THE APOSTLE PAUL: "I know such a man" (caught up to the third heaven),
etc.I will declare to you what I heard with my own ears when I was still a youth, from ancient men, adorned with wisdom and prudence and blossoming with virtue, who had grown old in ascetic labors. For when they gathered together and spoke of spiritual virtues, questions were brought into the midst: "Why is it that the great Apostle, alone among all the saints, was caught up to the third heaven, and having been snatched into paradise, heard there ineffable words?" And one of them, answering, said: "I have heard from older Fathers that a certain embassy and petition was made by those holy Fathers of a more remote age to God and the Lord and Governor of all, on behalf of the Apostle Paul, that they might see such a man as had not been seen since the beginning of time. For from the whole earth, from the nations and D