them against the heretics-and thus his vigilance never
slumbered.^42
l73. But where had Athanasius gone and how did he
man- age to hide for six whole years?
Now there was in Alexandria at the time a pious,
God fearing deaconess who had consecrated herself to the
service of her people. She served quietly and charitably
and her reputation was above reproach.
When Athanasius was hurriedly carried away from
his Church on that evening of horror, he walked in the
streets of Alexandria pondering and praying. A very
strong impulse that seemed like a divine order urged him
to go to the home of that deaconess. And so he went
there. When he knocked on her door, she opened it and-
to her great astonishment found it was the blessed and
beloved Athanasius. She quickly ushered him in, and he
told her that he had been inspired by the Holy Spirit to
take refuge in her house and hide there.
Unreservedly-and with a sense of being honoured
and blessed- she gladly accepted what she felt was "a
necessity laid upon her." She continued to carry on her
daily tasks in hr regular manner so that nobody seeing her
could suspect for a moment that she was providing a
haven for the great Athanasius. But, quietly, she prepared
for him all his needs, brought tor him the books he asked
for, and carried his messages to the persons designated by
him.(43)
Meanwhile the Alexandrian Church continued to
be subjected to persecutions and terror of the cruelest
kind. Again an intruder-bishop was imposed upon it
through the wiles of the Arians backed by the might of a
volatile and changeable Emperor. The imposed, illegal
head of the church was, again, a Cappadocian by the name