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Translated by Cardinal Newman.
St Athanasius the Great Resources Online and in Print
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This Part: 128 Pages
Page 89
Letter V.--For 333. Easter-day [4050] , Coss. Dalmatius and Zenophilus; Praefect, Paternus [4051] ; vi Indict.; xvii Kal. Maii, xx Pharmuthi; xv Moon; vii Gods; AEra Dioclet. 49.
We duly proceed, my brethren, from feasts to feasts, duly from prayers to prayers, we advance from fasts to fasts, and join holy-days to holy-days. Again the time has arrived which brings to us a new beginning [4052] , even the announcement of the blessed Passover, in which the Lord was sacrificed. We eat, as it were, the food of life, and constantly thirsting we delight our souls at all times, as from a fountain, in His precious blood. For we continually and ardently desire; He stands ready for those who thirst; and for those who thirst there is the word of our Saviour, which, in His loving-kindness, He uttered on the day of the feast; 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink [4053] .' Nor was it then alone when any one drew near to Him, that He cured his thirst; but whenever any one seeks, there is free access for him to the Saviour. For the grace of the feast is not limited to one time, nor does its splendid brilliancy decline; but it is always near, enlightening the minds of those who earnestly desire it [4054] . For therein is constant virtue, for those who are illuminated in their minds, and meditate on the divine Scriptures day and night, like the man to whom a blessing is given, as it is written in the sacred Psalms; 'Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of corrupters. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night [4055] .' For it is not the sun, or the moon, or the host of those other stars which illumines him, but he glitters with the high effulgence of God over all.
[4050] See supr. Table D, and note. The full moon ('Moon xiv') was really on Pharm. 20, but seems to have been calculated to fall on the previous day.
[4051] The Syriac seems to represent 'Paterius,' not 'Paternus' as Larsow writes it. A former praefect of Egypt was called Paterius, according to Gelas. Cyz. in Hard. Conc. i. 459.
[4052] Cf. Rev. iii. 14, c. Apoll. i. 20.
[4053] John vii. 37. The Syriac is rather obscure here.
[4054] Vid. note 2, to Letter 1.
[4055] Ps. i. 1, 2.
Reference address : https://elpenor.org/athanasius/letters.asp?pg=89
