The Fifth Festal Letter, for Easter 333

We go on, my brothers and sisters, as is fitting, from feast to feast; as is fitting, from prayers to prayers; we advance from fasts to fasts, and join holy days to holy days. Again the time has come that brings us a new beginning: the announcement of the blessed Passover, in which the Lord was sacrificed. We eat, as it were, the food of life, and, always thirsting, we delight our souls at all times in his precious blood, as from a fountain. For we desire continually and ardently. He stands ready for those who thirst, and for those who thirst there is the word our Savior spoke, in his love for humankind, on the day of the feast: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Nor was it only then, when someone came near him, that he cured their thirst. Whenever anyone seeks, the way to the Savior is open to him. For the grace of the feast is not limited to one time, nor does its splendid brightness fade. It is always near, enlightening the minds of those who earnestly desire it. For in it there is constant virtue for those whose minds are enlightened and who 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 has 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 he meditates day and night.” For it is not the sun, or the moon, or the host of the other stars that gives him light. He shines with the lofty radiance of God, who is over all. [a]

For it is God, my beloved, the same God who first established the feast for us, who grants us to celebrate it year by year. He both brought about the slaying of his Son for salvation and gave us this reason for the holy feast, to which every year bears witness, as often as the feast is proclaimed at this season. The feast also leads us on from the cross, through this world, to what lies before us. And even now God brings out of it the joy of glorious salvation. He brings us into the same assembly and unites all of us in spirit in every place, appointing us common prayers and a common grace that flows from the feast. For this is the marvel of his love for humankind: that he gathers into the same place those who are far apart, and makes those who seem far off in body to be near together in unity of spirit.

Why then, my beloved, do we not acknowledge the grace as the feast deserves? Why do we not make a return to our Benefactor? It is indeed impossible to make God an adequate return. Still, it is a wicked thing for us who receive the gracious gift not to acknowledge it. Our nature itself shows that we are unable to repay, but our own will rebukes our ingratitude. That is why the blessed Paul, marveling at the greatness of God’s gift, said, “And who is sufficient for these things?” For he set the world free by the blood of the Savior. Then again, by the Savior’s death he caused the grave to be trampled down, and opened a way to the heavenly gates, free of obstacles, for those who are going up. That is why one of the saints, while he acknowledged the grace but was unable to repay it, said, “What shall I give back to the Lord for all he has done for me?” For instead of death he had received life; instead of slavery, freedom; and instead of the grave, the kingdom of heaven. For in the old days “death reigned from Adam to Moses,” but now the divine voice has said, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” And the saints, knowing this, said, “If the Lord had not helped me, my soul would almost have dwelt in hell.” Besides all this, though he was powerless to make a return, he still acknowledged the gift, and wrote at last, “I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. Precious in his sight is the death of his saints.” [f]

As for the cup, the Lord said, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” And when the disciples said they were, the Lord said, “You will indeed drink my cup; but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” So, my beloved, let us be aware of the gift, even though we are found unable to repay it. As far as we are able, let us meet the occasion. For although our nature cannot, with things unworthy of the Word, give back a recompense for such benefits, let us still give him thanks while we persevere in piety. And how can we better remain in piety than by acknowledging God, who in his love for humankind has given us such benefits? (For in this way we will keep the law obediently and observe its commands. And we will not, as ungrateful people, be counted lawbreakers, or do the things that ought to be hated, for the Lord loves the thankful.) We remain in it, too, when we offer ourselves to the Lord as the saints did, when we sign ourselves over to him entirely, living from now on not for ourselves but for the Lord who died for us. So the blessed Paul did, when he said, “I am crucified with Christ; yet I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me.”

Now our life, my brothers and sisters, truly consists in denying all bodily things and holding firm to those of our Savior alone. So the present season requires of us not only that we say such words, but also that we imitate the deeds of the saints. And we imitate them when we acknowledge him who died, and no longer live for ourselves, but Christ from now on lives in us; when we make a return to the Lord to the utmost of our power. Yet when we make a return, we give nothing of our own, only the things we first received from him. This is especially his grace: that he should ask of us, as though they were ours, his own gifts. He bears witness to this when he says, “My offerings are my own gifts.” That is: the things you give me are yours, since you received them from me, but they are the gifts of God. So let us offer the Lord every virtue, and that true holiness which is in him, and in piety let us keep the feast to him with the things he has made holy for us. Let us take up the holy fasts in this way, as things he has prescribed, and as the means by which we find the way to God. But let us not be like the pagans, or the ignorant Jews, or the heretics and schismatics of the present time. For the pagans think the feast is fulfilled in plenty of food. The Jews, straying in the type and shadow, think it is still that. The schismatics keep it in separate places and with empty imaginings. But let us, my brothers and sisters, rise above the pagans by keeping the feast with sincerity of soul and purity of body; above the Jews by no longer receiving the type and the shadow, but as those who have been gloriously enlightened with the light of truth and who look on the Sun of Righteousness; above the schismatics by not tearing the coat of Christ. In one house, the catholic church, let us eat the Passover of the Lord, who by laying down his holy laws guided us toward virtue and counseled the abstinence of this feast. For the Passover is indeed abstinence from evil for the exercise of virtue, and a departure from death to life. This can be learned even from the type of the old days. For then they toiled hard to pass from Egypt to Jerusalem, but now we depart from death to life. They then passed from Pharaoh to Moses, but now we rise from the devil to the Savior. And as at that time the type of deliverance bore witness every year, so now we commemorate our salvation. We fast, meditating on death, so that we may be able to live. And we keep watch, not as mourners, but as those who wait for the Lord when he returns from the wedding, so that we may vie with one another in the triumph, hurrying to announce the sign of victory over death. [h]

If only, my beloved, as the word requires, we might govern ourselves here at all times and completely, and so live that we never forget the noble acts of God nor depart from the practice of virtue! As the apostle’s voice also urges, “Remember Jesus Christ, that he rose from the dead.” Not that any limited season of remembrance was appointed, for at all times he should be in our thoughts. But because of the laziness of many, we put it off from day to day. Let us, then, begin in these days. For this purpose a time of remembrance is granted: to show the saints the reward of their calling, and to urge on the careless while it rebukes them. So in all the days that remain, let us persevere in virtuous conduct, repenting as we ought of everything we have neglected, whatever it may be. For no one is free from defilement, though his life on earth may have lasted only one hour, as Job, that man of surpassing endurance, testifies. But “stretching forward to the things that are to come,” let us pray that we may not eat the Passover unworthily, so that we are not exposed to danger. For to those who keep the feast in purity, the Passover is heavenly food; but to those who observe it profanely and with contempt, it is a danger and a disgrace. For it is written, “Whoever eats and drinks unworthily is guilty of the death of our Lord.” So let us not merely go on to perform the festal rites, but let us be prepared to draw near to the divine Lamb and to touch heavenly food. Let us cleanse our hands; let us purify the body. Let us keep our whole mind free from deceit, not giving ourselves up to excess and to lusts, but occupying ourselves entirely with our Lord and with divine teachings, so that, being wholly pure, we may be able to share in the Word. [k]

We begin the holy fast on the 14th of Pharmuthi, the 9th of April, on the first evening of the week. We end it on the 19th of the same month, Pharmuthi, the 14th of April, and the first day of the holy week dawns on us on the 20th of the same month, Pharmuthi, the 15th of April. To it we join the seven weeks of Pentecost, with prayers, and fellowship with our neighbor, and love for one another, and that peaceable will which is above all. For so we will be heirs of the kingdom of heaven, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom be glory and dominion to the Father forever and ever. Amen. All the brothers who are with me greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Here ends the fifth Festal Letter of holy Athanasius. [l]