The First Festal Letter, for Easter 329

Come, my beloved, the season calls us to keep the feast. Again “the Sun of Righteousness,” making his divine beams rise upon us, proclaims beforehand the time of the feast, in which we ought to celebrate it in obedience to him, so that when the time has passed by, our gladness does not pass us by as well. For discerning the time is one of the most pressing duties laid on us for the practice of virtue. That is why the blessed Paul, instructing his disciple, teaches him to observe the time, saying, “Stand ready in season and out of season,” so that, knowing both the one and the other, he might do what fits the season and avoid the blame of acting out of season. For in this way the God of all, after the manner of wise Solomon, distributes everything in time and season, so that in due time the salvation of men should be spread abroad everywhere. So “the Wisdom of God,” our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, not out of season but in season, “passed into holy souls, fashioning the friends of God and the prophets.” Very many were praying for him and saying, “Oh, that the salvation of God would come out of Zion!” The Bride too, as it is written in the Song of Songs, was praying and saying, “Oh, that you were my sister’s son, who nursed at my mother’s breasts!”—oh, that you were like the children of men, and would take human passions on yourself for our sake! Nevertheless the God of all, the Maker of times and seasons, who knows our affairs better than we do, does not send him out of season but in season; just as, like a good physician, he urges obedience in season, the only season in which we can be healed. So he says, “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

That is why the blessed Paul, urging us to note this season, wrote, “Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation.” At set seasons, too, he called the children of Israel to the Levitical feasts through Moses, saying, “Three times a year you shall keep a feast to me.” One of these, my beloved, is the one now at hand. The trumpets of the priests sounded and urged its keeping, as the holy psalmist commanded: “Blow the trumpet at the new moon, on the solemn day of your feast.” Since this sentence tells us to blow the trumpet both at the new moons and on the solemn days, he made a solemn day of the one on which the light of the moon is made complete at the full. That was then a type, as this of the trumpets is. At one time, as has been said, the trumpets called people to the feasts; at another, to fasting and to war. And this was not done without solemnity, or by chance; this sound of the trumpets was appointed so that everyone would come to what was proclaimed. And this should be learned not merely from me, but from the divine Scriptures, when God was revealed to Moses and said, as it is written in the book of Numbers, “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Make yourself two trumpets; you shall make them of silver, and they shall be for you to call the congregation”—very fittingly for those here who love him. So we may know that these things had to do with the time of Moses—indeed, were to be kept as long as the shadow lasted, the whole being appointed for use “until the time of reform.” “For,” he said, “if you go out to battle in your land against your enemies who rise up against you”—for things such as these refer to the land, and no further—“then you shall proclaim with the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before the Lord, and be delivered from your enemies.” They blew the trumpet not only in wars; under the law there was a festal trumpet too. Hear him again as he goes on to say, “And in the day of your gladness, and at your feasts and your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets.” And let no one think it a light and contemptible matter when he hears the law give commands about trumpets; it is a wonderful and fearful thing. For beyond any other voice or instrument, the trumpet rouses and terrifies. So Israel was taught by these means, because he was then only a child. But so that the proclamation would not be thought merely human, since it was more than human, its sounds resembled those that sounded when they trembled before the mountain; and they were reminded of the law that was given them then, and kept it. [g]

For the law was admirable, and the shadow was excellent; otherwise it would not have produced fear and inspired reverence in those who heard, especially in those who at that time not only heard but saw these things. Now these things were types, done as in a shadow. But let us pass on to the meaning, and from now on, leaving the figure at a distance, come to the truth and look at the priestly trumpets of our Savior, which cry out and call us. At one time they call us to war, as the blessed Paul says: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this dark world, against wicked spirits in heaven.” At another time the call is to virginity, and self-denial, and harmony in marriage, saying: to virgins, the things of virgins; to those who love the way of abstinence, the things of abstinence; and to those who are married, the things of an honorable marriage. So it assigns to each its own virtues and an honorable reward. Sometimes the call is to fasting, and sometimes to a feast. Hear the same apostle again blowing the trumpet and proclaiming, “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness.” If you want to listen to a trumpet far greater than all these, hear our Savior: “On that last and great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” For it was fitting for the Savior not simply to call us to a feast, but to “the great feast”—if only we will be ready to hear, and to conform to the proclamation of every trumpet. [l]

For since, as I said before, there are various proclamations, listen, as in a figure, to the prophet blowing the trumpet; and then, having turned to the truth, be ready for the trumpet’s announcement. For he says, “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast.” This is a trumpet of warning, and it commands with great earnestness that when we fast, we should make the fast holy. For not all who call on God make God holy, since there are some who defile him—yet not him, for that is impossible, but their own mind about him; for he is holy, and takes pleasure in the saints. And so the blessed Paul accuses those who dishonor God: “Transgressors of the law dishonor God.” So, to make a separation from those who pollute the fast, he says here, “sanctify a fast.” For many, crowding to the fast, pollute themselves in the thoughts of their hearts, sometimes by doing evil against their brothers, sometimes by daring to cheat. And, to mention nothing else, there are many who exalt themselves above their neighbors, and so cause great harm. For the boast of fasting did the Pharisee no good, although he fasted twice a week, simply because he exalted himself against the tax collector. In the same way the Word blamed the children of Israel for a fast like this, exhorting them through Isaiah the prophet, and saying, “This is not the fast and the day that I have chosen, that a man should humble his soul; not even if you bow down your neck like a hook, and spread sackcloth and ashes under you; not even so shall you call the fast acceptable.” So that we may be able to show what kind of people we should be when we fast, and what kind of fast it should be, listen again to God commanding Moses, as it is written in Leviticus: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, On the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement. It shall be a convocation and a holy day for you; and you shall humble your souls, and offer whole burnt offerings to the Lord.” And afterward, so that the law might be made definite on this point, he goes on to say, “Every soul that does not humble itself shall be cut off from the people.” [n]

See, my brothers and sisters, how much a fast can do, and in what way the law commands us to fast. We must fast not only with the body but with the soul. Now the soul is humbled when it does not follow wicked opinions, but feeds on fitting virtues. For virtues and vices are the food of the soul, and it can eat either of these two foods, and lean toward either of the two, according to its own will. If it is bent toward virtue, it will be nourished by virtues—by righteousness, by self-control, by gentleness, by courage—as Paul says: “Being nourished by the word of truth.” So it was with our Lord, who said, “My food is to do the will of my Father who is in heaven.” But if it is not so with the soul, and it leans downward, then it is nourished by nothing but sin. For so the Holy Spirit, describing sinners and their food, referred to the devil when he said, “I have given him to be food for the people of Ethiopia.” For this is the food of sinners. And as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, being heavenly bread, is the food of the saints, according to the words, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood,” so the devil is the food of the impure, and of those who do nothing that belongs to the light, but work the deeds of darkness. So, to draw them away and turn them from vices, he commands them to be nourished with the food of virtue: humility of mind, lowliness to endure humiliations, the acknowledgment of God. For a fast like this not only obtains pardon for souls; kept holy, it prepares the saints, and raises them above the earth. [q]

And indeed what I am about to say is wonderful; it is among the most miraculous of things, yet not far from the truth, as you can learn from the sacred writings. That great man Moses, while fasting, spoke with God and received the law. The great and holy Elijah, while fasting, was counted worthy of divine visions, and at last was taken up like him who ascended into heaven. And Daniel, while fasting, though a very young man, was entrusted with the mystery; he alone understood the secret things of the king, and was counted worthy of divine visions. But because the length of these men’s fasts was wonderful, and the days drawn out, let no one lightly fall into unbelief. Rather let him believe and know that the contemplation of God, and the word that comes from him, are enough to nourish those who hear, and take the place of all food for them. For the angels are sustained in no other way than by beholding at all times the face of the Father, and of the Savior who is in heaven. So Moses, as long as he talked with God, fasted indeed in body, but was nourished by divine words. When he came down among men, and God had gone up from him, he was hungry like other men. For it is not said that he fasted longer than forty days, the days in which he was speaking with God. And in general, each of the saints has been counted worthy of a like nourishment, beyond the ordinary. [t]

So, my beloved, with our souls nourished with divine food, with the Word, and according to the will of God, and fasting in the body from outward things, let us keep this great and saving feast as is fitting. Even the ignorant Jews received this divine food, through the type, when they ate a lamb at the Passover. But not understanding the type, they eat the lamb even to this day, erring in that they are outside the city and the truth. As long as Judea and the city existed, there were a type, and a lamb, and a shadow, since the law commanded this: these things shall not be done in another city, but in the land of Judea, and in no place outside the land of Judea. Besides this, the law commanded them to offer whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, there being no altar other than the one in Jerusalem. For this reason an altar and a temple were built in that city alone, and in no other city were they allowed to perform these rites, so that when that city came to an end, the things that were figures might also be done away. [u]

Now notice: since the coming of our Savior, that city has come to an end, and all the land of the Jews has been laid waste. So from the testimony of these things—and we need no further proof, being assured of the fact by our own eyes—the shadow must of necessity come to an end. And these things should not be learned from me; the sacred voice of the prophet foretold them, crying, “Look, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news and proclaims peace!” And what is the message he proclaimed, but what he goes on to say to them: “Keep your feasts, O Judah; pay your vows to the Lord. For they shall no longer go to what is old; it is finished; it is taken away. He has gone up who breathed upon the face, and delivered you from affliction.” Now who is he who went up? one might ask the Jews, so that even their boast in the shadow may be done away. Nor is it idle to listen to the words, “It is finished; he has gone up who breathed.” For nothing was finished before he who breathed went up; but as soon as he went up, it was finished. Who was he, then, O Jews, as I asked before? If Moses, the claim would be false, for the people had not yet come into the land, the only place where they were commanded to perform these rites. If Samuel, or any other of the prophets, even then the truth would be twisted; for until then these things were done in Judea, and the city was standing, and while it stood, these things had to be performed. So it was none of these, my beloved, who went up. But if you want to hear the truth of the matter, and be kept from Jewish fables, see our Savior, who went up, and “breathed upon the face, and said to his disciples, Receive the Holy Spirit.” For as soon as these things were done, everything was finished: the altar was broken, and the veil of the temple was torn; and although the city was not yet laid waste, the abomination was ready to sit in the middle of the temple, and the city and those ancient ordinances were ready to receive their final end. [v]

We have passed beyond that time of shadows, then, and no longer perform rites under it, but have turned, as it were, to the Lord; “for the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” We hear the sacred trumpet; we no longer slay a material lamb, but that true Lamb who was slain, our Lord Jesus Christ, “who was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and was silent as a lamb before her shearers.” We are purified by his precious blood, which speaks better things than the blood of Abel. Our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel. We hold in our hands the rod and staff of the Lord, by which that saint was comforted who said, “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” In short, we are prepared in every respect, and anxious about nothing, because, as the blessed Paul says, “The Lord is at hand,” and as our Savior says, “In an hour when we do not expect it, the Lord comes.” So “let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Putting off the old man and his deeds, let us put on the new man, which is created in God,” in humility of mind and a pure conscience, in meditating on the law by night and by day. And casting away all hypocrisy and fraud, putting far from us all pride and deceit, let us take on love toward God and toward our neighbor, so that, being new creatures, and receiving the new wine, the Holy Spirit, we may rightly keep the feast, the month of these new fruits. [x]

We begin the holy fast on the 5th of Pharmuthi (the 31st of March); and, adding to it according to the number of those six holy and great days which are the symbol of the creation of this world, let us rest and cease from fasting on the 10th of the same Pharmuthi (the 5th of April), on the holy Sabbath of the week. And when the first day of the holy week dawns and rises upon us, on the 11th of the same month (the 6th of April), from which we again count all the seven weeks one by one, let us keep the feast on the holy day of Pentecost. This was at one time, for the Jews, in type, the feast of weeks, at which they granted forgiveness and the settlement of debts; and indeed that day was one of deliverance in every respect. Let us keep the feast on the first day of the great week, as a symbol of the world to come, in which we receive a pledge here that we shall have everlasting life hereafter. Then, having passed from here, we shall keep a perfect feast with Christ, while we cry out and say, like the saints, “I will pass to the place of the wonderful tabernacle, to the house of God, with the voice of gladness and thanksgiving, the shouting of those who rejoice”—where pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away, and gladness and joy will have come upon our heads! May we be found worthy to share in these things. [aa]

Let us remember the poor, and not forget kindness to strangers. Above all, let us love God with all our soul, and might, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. So may we receive those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him, through his only Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; through whom, to the Father alone, by the Holy Spirit, be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Greet one another with a kiss. All the brothers who are with me greet you. Here ends the first Festal Letter of holy Athanasius. [ac]