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Once Constantine legalized Christianity (313 AD), the Church's exterior threats were largely eliminated - for a time. Yet the devil never rests and the threat of interior enemies, amongst the baptized, grew. In the 4th century, the heresy of Arianism (denial of Christ's divinity) infested the Church. More than 90% of bishops betrayed Christ by accepting an Arian or Semi-Arian creed. During this crisis, God raised up a true champion: St. Athanasius the Great, Patriarch of Alexandria and Champion of Orthodoxy. It seemed almost every civil and ecclesial institution was set against him. He was only supported by a small number of clerics and simple lay folk who held fast to the Tradition handed-down from the Apostles. True believers were shunned, attacked, and forced into exile. The Arians had all the church buildings, but the faithful remnant had the faith. Arians controlled all the cities, so Catholics had to flee into rural and isolated areas. St. Athanasius faced much calumny and persecution. He was forced into exile five times and hunted down by imperial soldiers. Yet he never stopped fighting for the True Faith. There are many parallels between his time and ours; only now we suffer under Modernism, the very synthesis of all heresies. May the difficult life and heroic example of St. Athanasius encourage us to fight for the Faith during these challenging times!

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