The Charge about the Hand of Arsenius

When their first attempt failed, the Melitians secretly put together other charges against Athanasius. On the one hand they accused him of breaking a sacred chalice; on the other, of having killed a certain Arsenius, cut off his arm, and kept it for magic. It is said that this Arsenius was one of the clergy, but that he had committed some crime and fled into hiding, for fear of being convicted and punished by his bishop. Out of this the enemies of Athanasius built their most serious attack. They searched diligently for Arsenius and found him. They treated him with great kindness, promised to secure for him every favor and safety, and took him secretly to Patrines, a presbyter of a monastery, who was one of their confederates and shared their interests. After hiding him carefully in this way, they busily spread the report in the marketplaces and public gatherings that he had been killed by Athanasius. They also bribed John, a monk, to back up the accusation. [a]

This evil report spread everywhere and even reached the emperor’s ears. Athanasius feared that it would be hard to defend his case before judges whose minds were prejudiced by such false rumors, so he turned to stratagems like those of his opponents. He did everything in his power to keep the truth from being buried under their attacks; but the multitude could not be convinced, because Arsenius did not appear. Reflecting, therefore, that the suspicion resting on him could not be removed except by proving that Arsenius, who was said to be dead, was still alive, he sent a most trustworthy deacon to look for him. The deacon went to Thebes and learned from the statements of some monks where Arsenius was living. But when he came to Patrines, with whom he had been hidden, he found that Arsenius was not there, for at the first news of the deacon’s arrival he had been taken away to Lower Egypt. The deacon arrested Patrines and brought him to Alexandria, together with Elias, one of his associates, who was said to be the man who had moved Arsenius elsewhere. He handed them both over to the commander of the forces in Egypt, and they confessed that Arsenius was still alive, that he had been secretly hidden in their house, and that he was now living in Egypt.

Athanasius saw to it that all these facts were reported to Constantine. The emperor wrote back to him, bidding him attend to the proper performance of his priestly duties and to the keeping of order and piety among the people, and not to be disturbed by the schemes of the Melitians; for it was clear that envy alone was the cause of the false charges circulated against him and of the disturbance in the churches. The emperor added that in future no room should be given to such reports, and that unless the slanderers kept the peace, he would certainly subject them to the full rigor of the laws of the state and let justice take its course; for they had not only plotted unjustly against the innocent, but had also shamefully abused the good order and piety of the church. Such was the tenor of the emperor’s letter to Athanasius, and he further ordered that it be read aloud in public, so that everyone might know his intentions. The Melitians were alarmed at these threats and grew quieter for a while, because they viewed the ruler’s threat with anxiety. The churches throughout Egypt enjoyed deep peace, and under the leadership of this great priest the church grew daily in numbers through the conversion of multitudes of pagans and of other heretics.