St Athanasius the Great DEFENCE AGAINST THE ARIANS, Complete

Translated by Cardinal Newman.

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Page 34

But perhaps you were prevented by the time fixed upon for the Council, for you complain in your letter that the interval before the day we appointed [552] was too short. But this, beloved, is a mere excuse. Had the day forestalled any when on the journey, the interval allowed would then have been proved to be too short. But when persons do not wish to come, and detain even my Presbyters up to the month of January [553] , it is the mere excuse of those who have no confidence in their cause; otherwise, as I said before, they would have come, not regarding the length of the journey, not considering the shortness of the time, but trusting to the justice and reasonableness of their cause. But perhaps they did not come on account of the aspect of the times [554] , for again you declare in your letter, that we ought to have considered the present circumstances of the East, and not to have urged you to come. Now if as you say you did not come because the times were such, you ought to have considered such times beforehand, and not to have become the authors of schism, and of mourning and lamentation in the Churches. But as the matter stands, men, who have been the cause of these things, shew that it is not the times that are to blame, but the determination of those who will not meet a Council.

[552] prothesmia

[553] a.d. 340.

[554] The Persian war. Hist. Arian. S:11.

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