Life of St Athanasius the Great and Account of Arianism

By Archibald Robertson.

St Athanasius the Great Resources Online and in Print

76 Pages (Part II)

Page 44

Beyond this he does not define the relation of the outward and visible in the Eucharist to the spiritual and inward. The reality of the Eucharistic gift is insisted on as strongly as its spirituality in such passages as ad Max. (Letter 61) 2 sub fin., and the comment on Matt. vii. 6 (Migne xxvii. 1380), 'See to it, therefore, Deacon, that thou do not administer to the unworthy the purple of the sinless body,' and the protest of the Egyptian bishops (Apol. c. Ar. 5) that their churches 'are adorned only by the blood of Christ and by the pious worship of Him.' The Holy Table is expressly stated to have been made of wood (Hist. Ar. 56), and was situated (Apol. Fug.) in a space called the hierateion. The Eucharist was celebrated in most places every Sunday, but not on week-days (Apol. c. Ar. 11). But in Alexandria we hear of it being celebrated on a Friday on one occasion, and this was apparently a normal one (Apol. Fug. 24, Apol. Const. 25). To celebrate the Eucharist was the office of the bishop or presbyter (Apol. c. Ar. 11). Ischyras (supr. p. xxxviii.) was held by Athanasius to be a layman only, and therefore incapable of offering the Eucharist. The sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist is not touched upon, except in the somewhat strange fragment (Migne xxvi. 1259) from an Oratio de defunctis, which contains the words he de ge anaimaktos thusia exilasmos. He insists on the finality of the sacrifice of the Cross, Orat. ii. 9, hai men gar kata nomon...ouk eichon to piston, kath' hemeran parerchomenai; & 211; de tou Soteros thusia hapax genomene teteleioke to pan. On repentance and the confession of sins there is little to quote. He strongly asserts the efficacy of repentance, and explains Heb. vi. 4, of the unique cleansing and restoring power of baptism (Serap. iv. 13, as cited above.) A catena on Jeremiah preserves a fragment [supra, ch. iii. S:1 (38)], which compares the ministry of the priest in baptism to that in confession: houtos kai ho exomologoumenos en metanoia dia tou hi& 153;reos lambanei ten aphesin chariti Christou. Of compulsory confession, or even of this ordinance as an ordinary element of the Christian life, we read nothing.

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