It is characteristic Athanasius, who always managed to imbue the darker themes of Christian suffering and self-denial with a golden sense of light and joy. In a letter that announced the Lenten fast to the Christians of Alexandria, for instance, his focus was not on gloomy thoughts of self-denial but on entering the fast so as to relish Christ as the true feast. For Athanasius, fasting and self-denial were associated with gratitude, with looking away from the sensual pleasures that foster self-love to contemplate God and find joy in him. Even suffering fitted into this for Athanasius, who
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