- Very few Oriental bishops attended the Milan
council; while there were over three hundred Occidentals.
As soon as they assembled, the Arians declared they must
come to an agreement on the subject of condemning
Athanasius before deliberating on any other subject. Most
of the bishops present ratified the condemnation that had
already been prepared, through fear of the Emperor
whose feelings they knew. Some of them however were
fearless, and courageously stood up and defended the
Orthodox Faith and Athanasius its great champion. They
refused to be cowed by the clamours of the Arians and the
menaces of the Emperor.
One of these was Hilarious, Bishop of Poitiers who
sent a letter of protest to Emperor Constantius, telling
him of the anger and disappointment felt by all true
Christians at his behaviour. He wrote: "We are
discovering, O ravening wolf, the skin under which you
hide. You present yourself to the bishops to give them
that same kiss by which the Lord was betrayed. You bow
the head to receive their benediction, and you trample the
Faith under your feet. You invite them to dine at your
table, and when they rise from your banquets, it is to sell
God as did Judas ... you renounce your rights in their
favour but it is to make them forget their own duties and
lose the eternal reward".^39 - Athanasius was condemned in absentia, for he did
not go to Milan to attend the Council. No order was
given to arrest or banish him, yet the Church of Egypt
was pressured and persecuted in diverse ways. When
Easter came, the people did not dare to go to Church to
celebrate it for they knew they would not be left in peace.
So they celebrated it in the cemeteries.^40 Athanasius bore
elle
(Elle)
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