BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH.
Saint Athanasius, a great defender of orthodox Christianity against the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ was born at Alexandria ( Egypt ) in the year 295. He received a brilliant education in this city and was known for his wisdom and deep piety. He was chosen by Bishop Alexander, the Patriarch of Alexandria, as his secretary and theological adviser when still only a Deacon. He accompanied his bishop to the council of Nicaea (Turkey) in Bithynia (Asia minor) in 325, which condemned Arius as a heretic and reaffirmed Christ’s divinity.
Alexandria had been the site where Arius first preached his doctrine that Christ was created out of nothing and was therefore a creature and not God. Bishop Alexander has condemned this teaching at a synod in 320, thus, Athanasius had long known the dangers of Arianism and he fought ceaselessly against it and as a result he had to endure much tribulation and he was several times sent into exile.
By the time he died in the year 373, he had been a bishop for forty-six years. He was venerated as one of the first “confessors,†those worthy of veneration as saints even though they had not been murdered. He had been regarded mainly as the champion of orthodoxy in the West, while the Eastern Church had laid more stress on his ascetic ad mystical writings and teachings. His emblem shows a stole draped over a triangle, symbolizing his office as bishop and his upholding of orthodox teaching on the Trinity.
St Athanasius maintains that “justice does not consist merely in not doing anything evil; for not to do good is also evil. The law may be transgressed in either way.â€
O the untiring apostle of Jesus Christ, St Athanasius! From your youth, you have already a deep piety and devotion to the things of God. And by youthful piety, you stand to challenge us all, especially the youth; that a life of piety is possible even from a youthful age. Help us by thy prayers, o dearest saint of God.