ST. ATHANASIUS – May 2

ST. ATHANASIUS THE GREAT OF ALEXANDRIA

St. Athanasius (293-373) was the greatest patriarch of Alexandria. He is the first Church Doctor and is known as the Champion of Orthodoxy, the Sword of Nicea and True Defender of the Faith. Excluding the Apostolic Age, we Catholics today probably owe more to him than anyone else for the fact that we have the true Catholic Faith. He stood alone in the Truth Faith when nearly all the other bishops of the world fell into heresy. Rightly did St. Jerome write that it was "Athanasius Contra Mundum (Against the World)".

St. Athanasius did much to teach the world about the divinity of Christ, and taught superbly on the mystery of the Blessed Trinity and the Incarnation. He suffered five exiles, attempts on his life, constant persecution and much calumny. Nevertheless, he responded with the medicine of firmness and mercy as needed. He helped take monasticism from the East to the West and was a great forerunner to St. Benedict. To this day the Church recognizes him as one of the four greatest Fathers of the Church.

From the Roman Martyrology for May 2: At Alexandria, the birthday of St. Athanasius, bishop of that city and Doctor of the Church, most celebrated for sanctity and learning. Although almost all the world had formed a conspiracy to persecute him, he courageously defended the Catholic faith from the reign of Constantine to that of Valens, against emperors, governors, and a multitude of Arian bishops, whose perfidious attacks forced him to wander as an exile over the whole earth without finding a place of security. At length, however, he was restored to his church, and after fighting many combats, and winning many crowns by his patience, he departed for Heaven in the forty-sixth year of his priesthood, in the time of the emperors Valentinian and Valens.

FAITH FORGED IN PERSECUTION
Athanasius was born in 293 in Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. At that time it was the second most important city in all of the Roman Empire, a great cosmopolitan center of commerce, culture and learning, There was a vibrant Catholic community there, but they soon came under the most severe persecution leveled against the Church. It is known as the Great Persecution and was spearheaded by Emperor Diocletian. It was the last of the great Roman pagan persecutions against the faith, gave the Church more martyrs than the others combined, and only ended once Constantine came to power and declared the Edict of Milan (313 AD). In his youth, Athanasius saw many of his Catholic friends and leaders killed (like St. Peter, Patriarch of Alexandria) and this forged his faith like gold tested in fire. His family most likely fled into the desert for some time when the persecutions were most intense. There Athanasius received tutelage from the great Desert Monks and came to know and serve St. Antony of the Desert, the great mystic hermit who founded monasticism.

Later, Athanasius was taken under the tutelage of Patriarch St. Alexander. He excelled in his studies at the great academies of Alexandria. When he was only 19 he wrote "On the Incarnation", one of his greatest works. Upon the death of Alexander, Athanasius was unanimously elected his successor by all the Bishops of Egypt, Ethiopia, the Thebiad and North Africa. At this time, this was the second most important office in the entire Church, second only to the Pope himself.

THE FAITH OF NICEA VS. THE ARIAN HERESY
As a deacon, Athanasius participated in the First Great Ecumenical Council, at Nicea (325). He was the intellectual giant that exposed the errors of the heresiarch Arius. He was also the primary author for the Creed of Nicea which we still recite to this day every Sunday at Holy Mass. Although the Arian heresy (which denies the divinity of Christ) had been defeated in the 'ecclesial coutroom' the proponents of Arianism sought another route. Now that the Catholic Faith was no longer being persecuted, on the contrary was receiving favors from the Emperor, the Arians subtly began to focus on increasing their political clout. They influenced the Emperor and other important secular leaders, and soon began to receive appointments from the Emperor to head up important sees as bishops. In this manner they were able to oust the most orthodox bishops (some they killed others they exiled) and the bishops who were weaker they pressured into accepting their false doctrines, usually though hijacked Councils and Synods. Although this heresy originated in the East, it soon spread to the West as well and the Arians even leveled their sights on the Pope and Rome, the most important See in all of Christendom. Since the Pope would not succumb to their heresy, they imprisoned and exiled him and placed one of their own to lead the Church in Rome. After several years of imprisonment (and quite possibly torture?) the Airans were able to prevail about Pope Liberius (the real pope) to falsely excommunicate St. Athanasius and to sign an ambiguous Creed which could easily be interpreted in a heretical Arian manner. This was perhaps the darkest moment in the Church;s history since Good Friday.

Athanasius had fiercely defended orthodoxy in his diocese. However, the Arians calumniated him before the Emperor, claiming he was aiding traitors usurp the Emperor, and he was exiled to Trier (Germany). After that followed five different exiles from his homeland, amounting to over 20 years. Athanasius would each time manage to return to his See in order to strengthen the True Faith but would once again be exiled. He suffered greatly and his people suffered much as well. Their Churches were ransacked and destroyed, altars were desecrated, virgins were raped and murdered, the goods of the poor were stolen, many were sent to labor camps - it was a very difficult time to be Catholic in Egypt in those days since the persecution was so severe. Athanasius fled West during one of his exiles and spread the practice of Monasticism there. This effort was further bolstered by his most famous work, The Life of St. Antony. In some ways, with this work, he also is the Father of the Hagiography. He also spent many of his years hiding in the deserts of Egypt, where he was only befriended by the monks, most of whom kept the faith and resisted Ariansim. From these hidden recesses, he wrote many powerful works condemning heresy and explaining the true faith. He was utterly heart broken when he learned of Liberius' betrayal (even if it was under duress) because he realized then that he now stood alone in the world working for the preservation of the True Faith. (Interestingly, Liberius is the first pope in the Church's history who was not canonized.)

TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY
Divine Providence however was always caring for St. Athanasius and the Catholic Church. Eventually the Arians began to lose their political clout as new non-Arian emperors assumed the throne. Always because the previous heretic had died in a war. Without their political and military backing, the Arians lost ground. Their theological positions was clearly inferior. Many of the bishops who had been weak awakened from their 'diabolical disorientation' and returned to adhere to the Faith of Nicea. Liberius also was allowed back to Rome, but it was his successor, St. Damasus I who roundly condemned Arianism and fought off the attempts of another heretical Arian anti-pope. Athansius was very wise in promoting mercy for all those who had apostatized and this healing balm was able to return peace and unity to the Church without further schism. St. Athanasius was able to live out the remaining seven years of his life in peace, governing and ruling his See, and helping restore peace to all of Christendom. He died in 373 AD.

LEARN MORE
For those who wish to learn more about the live of St. Athanaisus, we actually have a six CD set on his life and notes which explain the history of Christianity in the Fourth Century as well as his life and work. Please contact the Foundation for further information.