Athanasius Becomes Bishop of Alexandria

A little after this, Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, died, and Athanasius was set over that church. Rufinus relates that when Athanasius was quite a boy he played a sacred game with others of his own age: an imitation of the priesthood and of the order of the clergy. In this game Athanasius was given the bishop’s chair, and each of the other boys played the part of either a presbyter or a deacon. The children were playing this game on the day when the memory of Peter, the martyr and bishop, was being celebrated. [a]

Just then Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, happened to pass by. He watched the game they were playing, sent for the children, and asked them what part each had been given, thinking that what they had done might be a sign of something to come. Then he ordered that the children be taken to the church and given an education, Athanasius above all. Later, when Athanasius came of age, Alexander ordained him deacon, and brought him to Nicaea to help him in the debates there when the synod met. Rufinus gives this account of Athanasius in his own writings, and it is not unlikely that it happened, for many things of this kind have often occurred. On this matter, what has been said will be enough.