Ecclesiastical History — Book II
St. Jerome
- 1. Return of St. Athanasius
- 2. Declension of the Emperor Constantius from the true Faith
- 3. Second Exile of St. Athanasius.— Ordination and Death of Gregorius
- 4. Paulus, Bishop of Constantinople
- 5. The Heresy of Macedonius
- 6. Council held at Sardica
- 7. Account of the Bishops Euphratas and Vincentius, and of the plot formed in Antioch against them
- 8. Stephanus Deposed
- 9. The Second Return of Saint Athanasius
- 10. Third exile and flight of Athanasius
- 11. The evil and daring deeds done by Georgius in Alexandria.
- 12. Council of Milan
- 13. Conference between Liberius, Pope of Rome, and the Emperor Constantius.
- 14. Concerning the Banishment and Return of the Holy Liberius
- 15. Council of Ariminum.
- 16. Concerning the Synod held at Nica in Thrace, and the Confession of Faith drawn up there
- 17. Synodical Act of Damasus, Bishop of Rome, and of the Western Bishops, about the Council at Ariminum
- 18. The Letter of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, concerning the same Council.
- 19. Concerning the cunning of Leontius, Bishop of Antioch, and the boldness of Flavianus and Diodorus
- 20. Concerning the innovations of Eudoxius, of Germanicia, and the zeal of Basilius of Ancyra, and of Eustathius of Sebasteia against him
- 21. Of the Second Council of Nicæa
- 22. Of the Council held at Seleucia in Isauria
- 23. Of what befell the orthodox bishopsat Constantinople
- 24. Synodical Epistle written against Aetius
- 25. Of the causes which separated the Eunomians from the Arians
- 26. Of the siege of the city of Nisibis, and the apostolic conversation of Bishop Jacobus
- 27. Of the Council of Antioch and what was done there against the holy Meletius
- 28. About Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata
The divine Athanasius returned to Alexandria, after having remained two years and four months at Treves. Constantine, the eldest son of Constantine the Great, whose imperial sway extended over Western Gaul, wrote the following letter to the church of Alexandria.
Epistle of the Emperor Constantine, the son of Constantine the Great, to the Alexandrians.
Constantinus Cæsar to the people of the Catholic Church of Alexandria.
I think that it cannot have escaped your pious intelligence that Athanasius, the interpreter of the venerated law, was opportunely sent into Gaul, in order that, so long as the savagery of these bloodthirsty opponents was threatening peril to his sacred head, he might be saved from suffering irremediable wrongs. To avoid this imminent peril, he was snatched from the jaws of his foes, to remain in a city under my jurisdiction, where he might be abundantly supplied with every necessary. Yet the greatness of his virtue, relying on the grace of God, led him to despise all the calamities of adverse fortune. Constantine, my lord and my father, of blessed memory, intended to have reinstated him in his former bishopric, and to have restored him to your piety; but as the emperor was arrested by the hand of death before his desires were accomplished, I, being his heir, have deemed it fitting to carry into execution the purpose of this sovereign of divine memory. You will learn from your bishop himself, when you see him, with how much respect I have treated him. Nor indeed is it surprising that he should have been thus treated by me. I was moved to this line of conduct by his own great virtue, and the thought of your affectionate longing for his return. May Divine Providence watch over you, beloved brethren!
Furnished with this letter, St. Athanasius returned from exile, and was most gladly welcomed both by the rich and by the poor, by the inhabitants of cities, and by those of the provinces. The followers of the madness of Arius were the only persons who felt any vexation at his return. Eusebius, Theognis, and those of their faction resorted to their former machinations, and endeavoured to prejudice the ears of the young emperor against him.
I shall now proceed to relate in what manner Constantius swerved from the doctrines of the Apostles.