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| On the overthrow of Petrus and the introduction of Lucius the Arian.
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Chapter XVIII.—On the overthrow
of Petrus and the introduction of Lucius the Arian.
No sooner had they seated him on the episcopal throne than the
governor of the province assembled a mob of Greeks and Jews, surrounded
the walls of the church,729
| 729 The
church Theonas, where Syrianus nearly seized Athanasius in
356. | and bade Peter
come forth, threatening him with exile if he refused. He thus acted on
the plea that he was fulfilling the emperor’s good pleasure by
bringing those of opposite sentiments into trouble, but the truth was
that he was carried away by his impious passion. For he was addicted to
the service of the idols, and looked upon the storms which beset the
Church as a season of brilliant festivity. The admirable Peter,
however, when he beheld the unforeseen conflict, secretly withdrew, and
embarked in a vessel bound for Rome.
After a few days Euzoius came
from Antioch with Lucius, and handed over the churches to him. This was
he of whose impiety and lawlessness Samosata had already had experience. But the
people nurtured in the teaching of Athanasius, when they now saw how
different was the spiritual food offered them, held aloof from the
assemblies of the Church.
Lucius, who employed idolators
as his attendants, went on scourging some, imprisoning others; some he
drove to take to flight, others’ homes he rifled in rude and
cruel fashion. But all this is better set forth in the letter of the
admirable Peter. After recounting an instance of the impious conduct of
Lucius I shall insert the letter in this work.
Certain men in Egypt, of angelic
life and conversation, fled from the disquiet of the state and chose to
live in solitude in the wilderness. There they made the sandy and
barren soil bear fruit; for a fruit right sweet and fair to God was the
virtue by whose law they lived. Among many who took the lead in this
mode of life was the far-famed Antonius, most excellent master in the
school of mortification, who made the desert a training place of virtue
for his hermits. He after all his great and glorious labours had
reached the haven where the winds of trouble blow no more, and then his
followers were persecuted by the wretched and unhappy Lucius. All the
leaders of those divine companies, the famous Macarius, his namesake,
Isidorus, and the rest730
| 730 There are traces of some confusion about the saints and solitaries
of this name at this period. “There were two hermits or monks of
this name both of the 4th c., both living in Egypt, whose character and
deeds are almost indistinguishable.” “One of them is said
to have been the disciple of Anthony, and the master of
Evagrius.” “The name of Macarius, like a double star,
shines as a central light in the monkish history, and is enshrined
alike in the Roman martyrologies, and in the legends of the Greek
church. Macarius is a favourite saint in Russia.” (Canon
Fremantle, Dict. Christ. Biog. iii. 774.) cf. Soc. iv. 23. In iv. 24
Soc. describes both the Macarii as banished to the island “which
had not a single Christian inhabitant.” Sozomen (vi. 20) has the
same story.
There was an Isidorus,
bishop of Cyrus in 378, mentioned by Theodoretus in his Religious
History (1143), and an Isidorus, bishop of Athribis in Egypt. cf. Dict.
Christ. Biog. s.v. But the Isidorus of the text appears to have been a
monk. | were dragged out
of their caves and despatched to a certain island inhabited by impious
men, and never blessed with any teacher of piety. When the ship drew
near to the shore of the island the demon reverenced by its inhabitants
departed from the image which had been his time-old home, and filled
with frenzy the daughter of the priest. She was driven in her inspired
fury to the shore where the rowers were bringing the ship to land.
Making the tongue of the girl his instrument, the demon shouted out
through her the words uttered at Philippi by the woman possessed with
the spirit of Python,731
| 731 Acts xvi. 16, where the
reading πνεῦμα
πύθωνα recommended on the overwhelming authority of אABCD is
adopted by the R.V., and rendered in the margin “a spirit, a
python.” In the text it is τὸ πνεῦμα
τοῦ
πύθωνος | and was heard by
all, both men and women, saying, “Alas for your power, ye
servants of the Christ; everywhere we have been driven forth by you
from town and hamlet, from hill and height, from wastes where no men
dwell; in yon islet we had hoped to live out of the reach of your
shafts, but our hope was vain; hither you have been sent by your
persecutors, not to be harmed by them, but to drive us out. We are
quitting the island, for we are being wounded by the piercing rays of
your virtue.” With these words, and words like these, they dashed
the damsel to the ground, and themselves all fled together. But that
divine company prayed over the girl and raised her up, and delivered
her to her father made whole and in her right mind.
The spectators of the miracle
flung themselves at the feet of the new comers and implored to be
allowed to participate in the means of salvation. They destroyed the
idol’s grove, and, illuminated by the bright rays of instruction,
received the grace of holy baptism. On these events becoming known in
Alexandria all the people met together, reviling Lucius, and saying
that wrath from God would fall upon them, were not that divine company
of saints to be set free. Then Lucius, apprehensive of a tumult in the
city, suffered the holy hermits to go back to their dens. Let this
suffice to give a specimen of his impious iniquity. The sinful deeds he
dared to do will be more clearly set forth by the letter of the
admirable Peter. I hesitate to insert it at full length, and so will
only quote some extracts from it. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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