Exhortatio Ad Monachos [Eius Opera Prodierunt Sub Nomine Athanasii]

The anonymous author. His works have come down under the name of St. Athanasius. From the works of St. Athanasius, vol. III. A note that the two following ascetical opuscula are spurious. For many centuries now the two following ascetical exhortations, to monks and to the spouses of Christ, have come down under the name of Athanasius. For in the collection of Rules, which was compiled in the eighth century by Benedict of Aniane, both appear inscribed with the name of Athanasius; yet neither admits anything of Athanasius except the name. For it is clearer than daylight that they were composed by a Latin writer, and indeed one most skilled in elegant Latin, as that age understood it. Furthermore, the second is preserved in its entirety in the Acts of the Council of Aachen, and is ascribed to Athanasius. Whence perhaps one may suspect that it, and likewise the first, which is written in much the same style, was, for the sake of commendation, marked with the name of Athanasius by its author. Both opuscula, moreover, were published in the Appendix to the Codex Regularum, under the editorship of Lucas Holstenius, at Paris in the year 1663.

Exhortation to the Monks. And if it is permitted to glory in Christ at all, you have been initiated with such principles that your beginning is perfection, and, flying over the intervening steps to the true fruit of living, having seized the very summit, you hold the highest point of discipline, so that anyone ought to desire and imitate you rather than believe he can be instructed. Yet to me the license of this prerogative has been ascribed by paternal affection, and the demand of your request is to be embraced by me. You, while you hear me, have made me shameless by your love, not only willingly but eagerly. I lead those who go before, and, stretched beyond the measure of my ability, I am compelled to lead those whom I wish to follow. I shall therefore proceed along the path of your life, so that, like one who is being initiated into the first elements of letters by means of drawn outlines, I shall trace with a following stylus the shadowy marks of the prefigurations, as you approach the hoped-for rewards of the blessed institute which are to be followed. First, the care of abstinence, of fasting, of patience, the assiduity of praying and of reading, or, if anyone is still without experience of letters, the desire of listening with a eagerness to learn. For these are the first playthings, as it were, of infants in the cradle in the knowledge of God, by which a man, admonished, begins to wish to enter the path of his divine origin, while he becomes accustomed to being able.

And indeed, in handing down these teachings, I do not speak of the indiscriminate faith of the common people, that a mere avowal of almighty God and an instilled doctrine of singular innocence suffice to make one content with pardon alone. Although our Lord, as we read (Rom. 7:6), wishes all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, yet because all cannot be capable of preeminent grace: For not all (Gen. 21; Gal. 4) who are from Israel are Israelites (for Ishmael is excluded from the fellowship of his brother’s inheritance, and the contending Jacob and Esau broke forth from the confines of the same womb), or content with a well of living water, let us prepare ourselves as a holocaust of our own, a victim of voluntary offering, desiring and preparing foods, and granting to those foremost ones, for the measure of pardon, this sentence: Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving (1 Tim. 4:4). We, striving for the reward of glory with that labor, it is good not to eat meat nor to drink wine. And again: Everyone who contends in the contest abstains from all things (1 Cor. 9:25). And they, indeed, to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one.

Abstinence, indeed, is the nurse of continence, by which the unmarried or the married woman more easily endures the reins of passibility, if she is not goaded by the spurs of delights, than I either desire or command those who strive for the highest to cultivate it, lest they think it a crime in others to have married, knowing that it is written: "It is good to marry, it is better not to marry" (1 Cor. 7:37). For those who believe this to be unlawful diminish the reward of their own labor. To guard against unlawful things is the yoke of necessity; to overcome permitted things is the gift of free will. To abstain from evils is the reward of discipline; to surpass good things is the freedom of merit, not the limit of command. That is granted within the bounds of law; this is reserved for the increments of grace. As for fasts, let there be no fixed measure for those who are willing, but let them be extended as far as ability allows, with the effort of the one laboring, which, apart from the Lord's Day, are always solemn, if they are voluntary. With these, the most blessed Moses, preparing himself, rendered himself worthy of the addresses of God. With these, the aforementioned threats of Jonah against the Ninevites were turned back again into a placid sentence. With these, the people of Bethulia, hemmed in by the Assyrian siege and terrified by the very great force they had experienced up to their surrender, merited to be avenged from the cruel threats of Holofernes by the steadfast hand of a woman. With these, Mordecai hung up the cruel pride of Haman, by the conversion of the punishment prepared for himself on the wood he had accepted. With these, our Savior Jesus, instructed in the flesh of the man he had assumed, blunted the persuasions of the tempting devil.

Which, even if he could have expelled otherwise, he wished to form the peoples to be taught by this imitation. Indeed, prayers must be so frequently insisted upon that scarcely any interval of time interrupts them. For it is written: "Insist upon prayers, watching in them" (Matt. 7:18). And again: "Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matt. 6:19). Through these, a sleeping friend is awakened; and although deep sleep has seized the entire household, an importunate demander extorts that loaves be taken out and handed to him. These, if possible, only the intermission of reading should interrupt: the care of which matter is to be placed in the canonical monuments: not that we ought to condemn apocrypha, especially unknown ones, but that we think the series of the canon, digested for the knowledge of God, can suffice. For if they agree, they are superfluous; if they disagree, they are to be avoided. Without the study of reading, no one will be able to be attentive to the Lord. First, because works of this kind draw one away from other acts of fleeting occupation, and the instilled knowledge of various examples either creates an appetite for good things or makes one cautious of evil ones. For otherwise the Apostle Peter would not admonish us, saying: "Be always ready to give an account, to all who ask you about the word of your hope and faith" (1 Pet. 3:16). And the Apostle: "We do not cease praying for you, that you may be filled with his knowledge in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col. 1:9).

And again: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly in all wisdom" (Colossians 5:16). For even in the Old Testament, the sacred word impressed upon men a similar care of holy precept. Thus David says: "Blessed is the man who has not gone forth in the counsel of the impious, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of pestilence. But his will is in the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on his law day and night" (Psalm 1:1). And to Joshua the son of Nun, God speaks: "This book shall not depart from your hands, and you shall meditate on it day and night" (Joshua 1:8). Moreover, the slippery nature of evil thoughts frequently interweaves itself with these occupations. And although diligence itself renders the mind intent upon God, yet the biting care of the world makes it anxious within itself. But if one devoted to religious labor suffers these things frequently and unseasonably, the idle man will certainly never lack them. Now, since we have set forth the parts of studies, let us heap up the increments of morals. Moreover, I think it not beyond admonition that food should be simple and clothing cheap, since these were discovered for covering the body, not for adorning it; and those for sustaining the soul rather than overwhelming it. Therefore, devoted to the actions we have shown above, let him lay aside all hatred of an enemy.

Not content with this limit alone, let him exchange enmity for love, temper anger with the rein of patience, conquer avarice with the strong command of abstinence, and especially enclose his tongue with the guard of silence, lest it grow hot with contentious quarreling, lest it fall into slander with forward speech, lest it creep into detraction with evil-speaking, lest it slip easily into swearing, lest it feign falsehood with pretense, lest it be cunning in astute deception, lest it boast in proud elation; but observing the time for silence and the time for speech, let him know that every idle word is subject to reason. For this reason, the most blessed David also demands a guard for his mouth. And the sacred page of blessed Paul establishes that speech be seasoned with salt. And the precepts of James have testified that no member is more untamable than the tongue. Therefore, let him who climbs this path be silent, gentle, kind. And because the affection of indissoluble charity is held, let him always judge another as better in equal zeal. For with this rein he restrains envy, which, often incited by the judgment of pride close to itself, while seeking the honor of giving thanks to itself, incurs the mark of wretched spite. Nor does anyone receive the first place so much if he demands it from men: for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). He, when instructing disciples about this kind of zeal, declares that one to be greatest who wishes to be least of all.

If from some people your brother is honored more than usual, do not regard them as less friendly, nor consider him as a rival of the preference shown. Rather, judge that the increase of that honor accrues around you, knowing it is written: "If one member rejoices, all the members rejoice together." For you are the body of Christ, and its members (1 Cor. 12:26). For whoever loves any one of you ascribes all dignity to God, in whom you are united. In this one, gentle silence pleases; in that one, kind affability is loved. This one is commended by untaught and innate simplicity; that one, by learned erudition. This one's patience in the constancy of fasting, that one's contempt in the virtue of abstinence, another's diligence in the assiduity of reading—each is praised according to the diversity of divine gifts. But these things, as it is written: "One and the same spirit works, distributing to each as it wills." For just as one body has many members, yet all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ. For we have all been baptized into one spirit, into one body (Ibid., 11). Each of you can assume the sum of all goods for yourselves, if no one begins to exalt himself in that in which another excels. But when you bind yourselves together with the bond of constrained charity, then do not condemn those who are outside and are still bound by worldly chains in secular activity, knowing it is written: "Do not judge, lest you be judged" (Luke 6:37).

(vi, 37). And again: Who are you to judge another's servant (Rom. 14:4)? He stands or falls by his own master. For God is able to establish him. Rather, by exhortations of kindness and alluring enticement, show the way of truth, open the cloud of error, so that each one may not begin to pull, but to follow the one who precedes. Always the harder things are to be bent, lest the bending, inclined by force, before it comes into a circle, shatter with a broken fragment. For here scandals of the people are often garrulously generated, while to the yoke of religion a censorious authority is arrogated. Let our life command, let our tongue persuade, because a pious example bears authority, and the gentle formation of character instills desire for itself. Therefore, in all your actions, shine as in a reflecting mirror. Be circumspect everywhere, be solicitous everywhere, lest envy find something, lest false rumor inflict something. Honor virtuous women truly devoted to the study of religion with a measure of reverence, so that neither harshness be inhuman nor attentiveness be remiss. Let your access to one another not be forced, but innate, which cause has made, not which superfluity has relaxed. Listen to many with many, or if at any time the company of the other sex is lacking, or the age and proven gravity of someone, or the celebrity of the place, or the reason of the time makes it honorable, because especially for you, age, hour, solitude are to be avoided.

Not that it is permissible for me to think otherwise concerning those who have once truly dedicated their hearts to God, but so that, from an abundance of caution, we may guard against everything that can be fabricated, as if it could also be believed, lest any wound to our reputation creep in from a suspicion born of an occasion. Let the very seeds of rumor perish before they are nourished by tongues. For us, it is not the truth of the deed, but even the possibility of falsehood that must be bound. For the blessed life is indeed excellent, concerning which nothing is permitted to falsehood. For I have not seized upon this judgment of mine as a harsh censor, but have assumed it as a gentle monitor of a heavenly command: for thus the Apostle says: "Being zealous for you with the zeal of God, I have betrothed you to one man, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:2), knowing that it is written: "Do not place offense or scandal before a brother" (Rom. 14:13); and again: "Be without offense to Jews and Gentiles, and to the Church of God" (1 Cor. 10:32); and again: "Let not our good be blasphemed" (Rom. 14:16); and again: "For why should our freedom be judged by an unbelieving conscience?" (1 Cor. 10:29); and again: "Let all your things be honorable" (1 Cor. 14:40); and again: "Commending ourselves to every conscience of men before God" (2 Cor. 4:2); and again: "Let us provide for good not only before God, but also before men" (Rom. 12:17); and again: "So that he who is opposed may be confounded, having nothing evil to say" (Titus 2:8).

Nor am I unaware that worldly envy always burns with malice to disparage religion, and that a biting tooth of slander, sharpened by gossip, is pressed into the wound. Let the world follow its own nature, as long as it finds nothing in our discipline to attack. Let falsehood be cast about as usual, provided that what is said cannot even seem plausible. No one should despise the wound of ill repute merely because rumor habitually fabricates; rather, one should guard against it all the more attentively, because rumor is accustomed to invent even fictions. No one is rendered secure from the fear of slander by the very frequency of slander. Nor is continued cause for concern a reason for negligence. Let the guardianship of your modesty and reverence, therefore, be safe and circumspect. Let your departure from the house be necessary and rare, prompted either by the demands of religious duty or by the need to sustain your livelihood through the practice of labor. Abstain from all gifts, except those that supply daily food and annual clothing. Know that it is written: “But having food and clothing, with these we are content” (1 Tim. 6:8); and again: “That you may walk honorably among those who are outside, and desire nothing of anyone” (1 Thess. 4:12). Nor, even for the sake of giving alms, should you presume to take anything beyond the aforementioned sustenance from anyone, knowing that it is written: “For if the will is ready, what one has is accepted, not what one does not have.

Thus that divine saying of the Gospel enriched the poor old woman, who cast only two small coins among the lavish gifts of the wealthy, with a magnificent bounty received. For what is wholly given cannot be too little. Nor has anyone given more than he who reserved nothing for himself. If these things seem too strict to anyone besides you, who has attempted to knock at the gates of God, he will relax them as his own reason allows, lest anyone be bound by a wife or hindered by children. Besides these, the narrow substance has many things that follow. Nor should he think himself repulsed, but rather admitted to the entrance of another calling, as it is written: "Let each one remain in the calling in which he was called" (1 Cor. 7:24). Yet not so that he devotes more diligent care to his patrimony than to religion, being more occupied with transitory things, recognizing that it is written: "possessing as if not possessing." If, however, a happier nature has freed someone from the fetter of posterity, if this is understood, he will have no reason for clinging to the world, unless he is ignorant of God's gifts. For why should he not dissolve by the will to live what must be broken by the law of dying, making a reward from his lot, so as to increase virtue from necessity? Indeed, he who, in his own household affairs, makes great things from small, precious things from cheap, eternal things from transitory, is alone, after he has arrived where he can be the everlasting possessor of his patrimony.

If he is not avaricious, he ought to despise temporal things; if he is avaricious, he ought to desire eternal things, knowing that it is written: Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves dig up and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not dig up nor steal (Matt. 19:20). For this is an exhortation to him who does not lack children; to him who lacks, it is a command. All these things—suitable to times, fitting to persons, filled with examples, seasoned with blandishments, with alluring speech, with the integrity of gentle exhortation—he who does them can more easily persuade. For you are not envious of any fruit of all these things, to be defrauded of anyone’s esteem. Certainly you had a strong body, sound age, untrained minds, although narrow opportunities lay open for the variety of the human race, whether the practice of trading or the pursuit of soldiering, diverse arts, countless offices in worldly affairs for increasing wealth. Finally, there was not lacking either a poor wife to prepare the pleasure of living and the allurements of offspring implanted in human senses. All these things you, indeed, rejecting in body and chaste senses, preserve the form of divine sentence in religious acts, as Scripture says: Whoever makes more of me than of house, or wife, or children, is not worthy of me (Matt. 10:27).

Therefore, looking upon your examples, let not even those who have come to this way of life with equal means despair in their own estimation of the sum of their merits. In this path of living, then, my dearest sons, be at leisure and see how sweet the Lord is. Spend your days and nights in readings and prayers, and always remember me, whom you have chosen as your teacher, though I am an abortion among all priests in both work and knowledge. Watch, stand firm in the faith, act with courage, be strengthened, let all your deeds be done in charity, and the God of peace will be with you (1 Cor. 16:15).