Athanasius' Twelfth Festal Letter Betrays Evidence that the Meletians Kept a Shorter Fast Before Easter

I should note that Meletius the leader of the Meletians sat on the throne of St. Mark (and so was considered a Pope of Alexandria) before the return of Peter I (c. 311 CE). His followers clearly thought that Peter I was a pretender to the throne and maintained what they knew to be the original practices of Alexandrian orthodoxy before the changes instituted by the Council of Nicea.

Athanasius clearly identifies this community as preserving a shorter fast before Easter as we read:

To the Beloved Brother, and our fellow Minister Serapion.

Thanks be to Divine Providence for those things which, at all times, it vouchsafes to us; for it has vouchsafed to us now to come to the season of the festival. Having, therefore, according to custom, written the Letter respecting the festival, I have sent it to you, my beloved; that through you all the brethren may be able to know the day of rejoicing. But because some Meletians, being come from Syria, have boasted that they had received what does not belong to them, I mean, that they also were reckoned in the Catholic Church; on this account, I have sent to you a copy of one letter of our fellow- ministers who are of Palestine, that when it reaches you, you may know the fraud of the pretenders in this matter. For because they boasted, as I have said before, it was necessary for me to write to the Bishops who are in Syria, and immediately those of Palestine sent us a reply, having agreed in the judgment against them, as you may learn from this example. That you may not have to consider the letters of all the Bishops one after the other, I have sent you one, which is of like character with the rest, in order that from it you may know the purport of all of them. I know also that when they are convicted in this matter, they will incur perfect odium at the hands of all men. And thus far concerning the pretenders. But I have further deemed it highly necessary and very urgent, to make known to your modesty—for I have written this to each one— that you should proclaim the fast of forty days to the brethren, and persuade them to fast, lest, while all the world is fasting, we who are in Egypt should be derided, as the only people who do not fast, but take our pleasure in these days. For if, on account of the Letter [not] being yet read, we do not fast, we should take away this pretext, and it should be read before the fast of forty days, so that they may not make this an excuse for neglect or fasting. Also, when it is read, they may be able to learn about the fast. But O, my beloved, whether in this way or any other, persuade and teach them to fast the forty days. For it is a disgrace that when all the world does this, those alone who are in Egypt, instead of fasting, should find their pleasure. For even I being grieved because men deride us for this, have been constrained to write to you. When therefore you receive the letters, and have read them and given the exhortation, write to me in return, my beloved, that I also may rejoice upon learning it.

Does this mean that the Meletians perpetuated a 'thirty day' fast developed from Secret Mark and the presence of a baptism/'true circumcision' ritual which stood thirty days before Easter (the traditional number of days in the Jewish 'redemption of the Son' ritual which seems to have stood at the heart of various other 'heretical' Markan traditions)?

No, one cannot argue for a specific number of days associated with the Meletian pre-Easter fast. Athanasius only implies that it was shorter. Nevertheless the assumption of most scholars is that the Meletian custom was merely to venerate Holy Week with a fast.

Why do scholars assume this from the letter when the specific number of days of the Meletian fast is not explicitly stated anywhere in the text? Your guess is as good as mine.

All we can say for certain is that the new tradition which Athanasius was actively encouraging in Egypt was a forty day fast. The previous tradition was shorter. It could have been any number of days shorter. It could have been thirty, it could have been only seven.

We just don't know.

But it is interesting proof that the traditional Alexandrian observance of Easter WAS SOMETHING OTHER than a forty day fast. Given what Athanasius does say about the employment of apocryphal texts in the name of prominent Alexandrian saints - St. Mark? - it would stand to reason that the native Alexandria fast before Easter was established through an 'apocryphal gospel' like that of Secret Mark.

Or maybe it's just me and my 'wild imagination' again ...