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Defence before Constantius

17.Better to pray in a building than in the desert.

Now then, I would also meet the other and only remaining objection of my accuser. He says, the building was not completed, and prayer ought not to have been made there. But the Lord said, ‘But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and shut the door ¹.’ What then will the accuser answer? or rather what will all prudent and true Christians say? Let your Majesty ask the opinion of such: for it is written of the other, ‘The foolish person will speak foolishness ²;’ but of these, ‘Ask counsel of all that are wise ³.’ When the Churches were too small, and the people so numerous as they were, and desirous to go forth into the deserts, what ought I to have done? The desert has no doors, and all who choose may pass through it, but the Lord’s house is enclosed with walls and doors, and marks the difference between the pious and the profane. Will not every wise person then, as well as your Piety, Sire, give the preference to the latter place? For they know that here prayer is lawfully offered, while a suspicion of irregularity attaches to it there. Unless indeed no place proper for it existed, and the worshippers dwelt only in the desert, as was the case with Israel; although after the tabernacle was built, they also had thenceforth a place set apart for prayer. O Christ, Lord and true King of kings, Only-begotten Son of God, Word and Wisdom of the Father, I am accused because the people prayed Thy gracious favour, and through Thee besought Thy Father, who is God over all, to save Thy servant, the most religious Constantius. But thanks be to Thy goodness, that it is for this that I am blamed, and for the keeping of Thy laws. Heavier had been the blame, and more true had been the charge, had we passed by the place which the Emperor was building, and gone forth into the desert to pray. How would the accuser then have vented his folly! With what apparent reason would he have said, ‘He despised the place which you are building; he does not approve of your undertaking; he passed it by in derision; he pointed to the desert to supply the want of P. 245 room; he prevented the people when they wished to offer up their prayers.’ This is what he wished to say, and sought an occasion of saying it; and finding none he is vexed, and so forthwith invents a charge against me. Had he been able to say this, he would have confounded me with shame; as now he injures me, copying the accuser’s ways, and watching for an occasion against those that pray. Thus has he perverted to a wicked purpose his knowledge of Daniel’s ⁴ history. But he has been deceived; for he ignorantly imagined, that Babylonian practices were in fashion with you, and knew not that you are a friend of the blessed Daniel, and worship the same God, and do not forbid, but wish all men to pray, knowing that the prayer of all is, that you may continue to reign in perpetual peace and safety.

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Apologie de Saint Athanase à l'Empereur Constance

17.

Il me reste à prévenir une autre objection. L’édifice n’était pas achevé, dit l’accusateur et il n’était pas permis d’y faire des prières. Lorsque tu pries, dit le Seigneur, entre au fond de ta demeure et ferme les portes. Maintenant que dira l’accusateur? ou plutôt que diront les sages et les vrais chrétiens? Interroge-les, ô empereur: car c’est de l’un qu’il est écrit: Le fou dira des folies, et des autres: Prends conseil de tout homme de sens. Quand les églises étaient trop étroites, quand les peuples étaient si nombreux et voulaient s’en aller au désert, que fallait-il faire? Le désert n’a point de portes et est accessible à qui veut venir; le lieu du Seigneur, au contraire, a des murs et des portes; il fait la distinction des pieux et des profanes. Tout homme sensé, ô empereur, n’en convient-il pas avec ta Piété? Ici, on le sait, il y a légitime prière; là, soupçon de désordre: excepté pourtant si, privés de sanctuaires, ceux qui prient, comme Israël, habitaient la solitude; encore Israël, en élevant le tabernacle, avait-il désormais circonscrit le lieu de prière. O maître et vrai roi des rois, Christ, Fils unique de Dieu, Verbe et Sagesse du Père, c’est parce que le peuple implora ta clémence, c’est parce que par toi il invoque ton Père, le Dieu suprême, pour le salut de ton serviteur, le très pieux Constance, qu’aujourd’hui je suis accusé. Je rends grâce à ta bonté qu’on me fasse un crime de l’observance de tes lois. Tout autre eût été l’accusation, et véritable le grief, si, laissant là l’édifice élevé par l’empereur, nous eussions cherché le désert pour prier. Comme alors l’accusateur eût donné carrière à son bavardage! Comme il eût été persuasif, en disant: il a méprisé ton lieu de prière; il est contre ton œuvre; il a ri en passant outre; il a indiqué le désert pour suppléer au manque d’espace; les peuples voulaient prier, il les en a empêchés. Voilà ce qu’il voulait dire; voilà ce qu’il cherchait; il ne supporte pas de ne rien trouver et finit par imaginer des paroles. S’il tenait ce langage, il me couvrirait de confusion, comme aujourd’hui il me fait injure, quand, à l’exemple du diable, il observe ceux qui prient. Il s’est mépris en lisant l’histoire de Daniel; il t’a cru, l’ignorant! possédé de l’esprit de Babylone, et ne savait pas que tu es l’ami du bienheureux Daniel, que tu adores le même Dieu que lui, que, loin de les empêcher, tu veux que tous prient pour ton salut et la paix de tout ton règne.