she could not arouse his interest at all in this subject, she
sought a soothsayer and asked him to help her in what she
considered a dilemma. The soothsayer suggested that she
let her son lunch with him, and with some effort she
succeeded in persuading him to do so. However, young
Athanasius lost no time in going back to his books, and
the soothsayer said to the mother, "Do not lose your time
and energy, for your son will follow the Galilean and his
life will be a sweet-smelling incense among many nations".
The mother pondered in her heart over these
words and, in a moment of illumination, came to a wise
decision. Not only, would she allow her son to follow his
inclinations so as to keep his affection, but she would
offer him to the Church as Hannah of old had offered her
son Samuel to the temple.^4 Immediately she accompanied
him to Abba Alexandros and entrusted him into his hands^5
and from that day onwards Athanasius lived with the aged
Patriarch, increasing daily "in wisdom, stature and favour
with God and with man".^6
- During those years, Providence was arming
Athanasius for the task that would be set before him.
Diligently did he study, and daily did he sit at the feet of
the Alexandrian teachers, seeking to imbibe all their
wisdom. He studied grammar, logic, oratory; Homer and
other Greek classics; Greek philosophy and Roman law.
He eagerly sought to learn the teachings of the old
Heliopolitan masters (the sages of Egypt) and unravel
their mysteries; he pondered over the Old Testament; he
ardently assimilated the teachings of both Clement and
Origen. But above all, the source of his spiritual maturity
were the few years he spent in the desert with Abba
Antoni whose spiritual wisdom and insight he fully
assimilated. The aged man of God was delighted to see