Our Morning Offering – 2 May “Mary’s Month!” – Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter and the Memorial of St Athanasius (c295-373) Father and Doctor of the Church
Prayer to Mary, Mother of Grace By St Athanasius (297-373) Father and Doctor of the Church
It is becoming for you, O Mary,
to be mindful of us,
as you stand near Him
who bestowed upon you all graces,
for you are the Mother of God and our Queen.
Come to our aid for the sake of the King,
the Lord God and Master,
who was born of you.
For this reason,
you are called “full of grace.”
Be mindful of us,
most holy Virgin and bestow on us gifts
from the riches of your graces,
O Virgin full of grace.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 2 May – St Athanasius (c295-373) –Confessor, Bishop of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Church – “Father of Orthodoxy”. St Athanasius, Great Defender of the orthodox faith, throughout his life opposed the Arian heresy. By denying the Godhead of the Word, the Arians turned Christ into a mere man, only higher in grace than others in the eyes of God. St Athanasius took part in the Council of Nicea in 325 and until the end remained a champion of the faith, as it was defined by the Council. In him, the Church venerates one of her Great Fathers and Doctors. He was subjected to persecutions for upholding the true teaching concerning the person of Christ and was sent into exile from his See no less than five times. He died at Alexandria in 373 after an Episcopate of forty-six years.
St Athanasius atrue champion of orthodoxy! He did not die a martyr but his life was martyrdom in the truest sense. Athanasius was the Church’s greatest hero in the battle against Arianism. Even as a young deacon at the Council of Nicea (325), he was recognised as “Arius’ ablest enemy” and the foremost defender of the Church’s faith. After the death of his Bishop (328), “the entire Catholic congregation with one accord, as one soul and body, voiced the wish of the dying Bishop Alexander, that Athanasius should succeed him. Everyone esteemed him as a virtuous, holy man, an ascetic, a true bishop.“
There followed fifty years of constant conflict. Under five Emperors and by exile on five different occasions, he gave testimony to the truth of the Catholic position. His allegiance to the Church never wavered, his courage never weakened. As consolation in the face of horrendous calumnies and cruel persecution, Athanasius looked to the unwavering love of his Catholic people. Even time brought no mitigation in Arian hatred. For five years he hid in a deep, dry cistern to be safe from their raging wrath and their attempts to assassinate him. The place was known only to one trusted friend who secretly supplied necessary food.
That Athanasius enjoyed God’s special protection should have been obvious to all. On one occasion when the Emperor’s assassins were pursuing him, Athanasius ordered the ship on which he was fleeing to double-back and sail upstream so that he might meet and by-pass his persecutors. Not recognising the boat upon meeting in semi-darkness, they naively asked whether the ship carrying Athanasius was still far ahead. Calmly and truthfully Athanasius himself called back, “He is not far from here.” So his persecutors kept sailing on in the same direction, allowing the Saint to complete his escape.
Preserved by Divine Providence through a lifetime of trial and danger, he finally died in his own quarters at Alexandria during the reign of the Emperor Valens (373). Athanasius enriched Christian literature with many important works, some pointed toward piety and edification, others polemical and dogmatic in nature. He ruled the Church of Alexandria for forty-six years…..Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
What Did St. Athanasius Write? – Among several works, St Athanasius’ two most important apologetics-related books are On the Incarnation and Letters of St Athanasius Concerning the Holy Spirit. The first book has become a theological classic in which Athanasius explains and defends the doctrine of the Incarnation (Jesus was God in human flesh). In the second work, he both critiques the heretical view that the Holy Spirit is a mere creature and sets forth the orthodox view that the Spirit of God is a full divine person like the Father and the Son.
What Did St. Athanasius Believe? – Athanasius’ three most important ideas or arguments for historic Christianity are the following: St Athanasius affirmed Nicene orthodoxy and argued that the Son (Jesus Christ) is homoousios (of the “same substance”) with God the Father. St. Athanasius tied the Incarnation and atonement together in his theological reasoning. He is known for formulating the following theological argument: Only God can save people from sin. Jesus Christ saves people from sin. Therefore, Jesus Christ is God. At a time when the Arian heresy was at its most influential, the Bishops who sided with Arianism taunted Athanasius with the words “The world is against you Athanasius.” But Athanasius defiantly responded: “Athanasius contra mundum.” (“No. It’s Athanasius against the world.”)While Arianism insisted that the Son was a mere creature, Athanasius argued for Christ’s full deity.
Bl John Henry Newman described him as a “principal instrument, after the Apostles, by which the sacred truths of Christianity have been conveyed and secured to the world”.[Letters..]
At certain periods in Church history, it is one man who saves the Church for orthodoxy, one human instrument that Goduses to further His work. Athanasius suffered many trials while he was bishop of Alexandria. He was given the grace to remain strong against what probably seemed at times to be insurmountable opposition. Athanasius lived his office as bishop completely. He defended the true faith for his flock, regardless of the cost to himself. In today’s world we are experiencing this same call to remain true to our faith, no matter what. We should all realise how important we are to the good of others and that, without us, certain people would never hear of God or come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Upon our orthodoxy and fidelity may well depend the growth in faith of many others – what a thought! Therefore, we need to learn and know the truth as St Athanasius said “You will not see anyone who is really striving after his advancement who is not given to spiritual reading. And as to him who neglects it, the fact will soon be observed by his progress.”
“The Word who became all things for us, is close to us, our Lord Jesus Christ who promises to remain with us always. He cries out, saying: See, I am with you all the days of this age. He is himself the shepherd, the high priest, the way and the door and has become all things at once for us.”
“Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer.”
“Let us remember the poor and not forget kindness to strangers; above all, let us love God with all our soul and might and strength and our neighbour as ourselves.”
“But what is also to the point, let us note that the very tradition, teaching and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning was preached by the Apostles and preserved by the Fathers. On this the Church was founded – and if anyone departs from this, he neither is, nor any longer ought to be called, a Christian.”
St Athanasius (297-373) Father & Doctor of the Church
Christ….will give a new form to this lowly body of ours and remake it according to the pattern of his glorified body…………Phil 3:21
REFLECTION – Our human body has acquired something great through its communication with the Word. From being mortal it has been made immortal; though it was a living body it has become a spiritual one…………St Athanasius (297-373) Father and Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, help me to respect my body and not subject it to sin. Let me keep it ready to receive the fullness of the new form given by Your Son, in heaven. St Athanasius, you taught the world the truth of Christ, please pray for us, amen.
PRAYER TO MARY, MOTHER OF GRACE
By St Athanasius (297-373)
It is becoming for you, O Mary,
to be mindful of us,
as you stand near Him who bestowed upon you all graces,
for you are the Mother of God and our Queen.
Come to our aid for the sake of the King,
the Lord God and Master who was born of you.
For this reason you are called “full of grace.”
Be mindful of us, most holy Virgin and bestow on us gifts
from the riches of your graces, O Virgin full of grace.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 2 May – St Athanasius (c295-373) – Father and Doctor of the Church Bishop, Confessor, known as “Father of Orthodoxy” and Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius of Egypt, Athanasius the Great, Champion of Christ’s Divinity, Champion of Orthodoxy, Greek Doctor of the Church, Holy Hierarch, Pillar of the Church – Attributes: Bishop arguing with a pagan; bishop holding an open book; bishop standing over a defeated heretic.
Athanasius was born of Christian parents in Alexandria, Egypt, about 295. As a young man, he spent four years in prayer and solitude in the desert. There he met Anthony the hermit, who influenced him. After he left the desert, Athanasius became a priest and was appointed secretary to Alexander, bishop of Alexandria.
Meanwhile, Arius had begun preaching that Jesus was not truly God. At a church council at Nicaea in 325, Arius and his ideas were condemned and the bishops composed the Nicene Creed.
Conflict with Arius and Arianism as well as successive Roman emperors shaped Athanasius’ career. In 325, at the age of 27, Athanasius began his leading role against the Arians as a deacon and assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria during the First Council of Nicaea. Roman emperor Constantine the Great had convened the council in May–August 325 to address the Arian position that the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, is of a distinct substance from the Father. Three years after that council, Athanasius succeeded his mentor as archbishop of Alexandria. In addition to the conflict with the Arians (including powerful and influential Arian churchmen led by Eusebius of Nicomedia), he struggled against the Emperors Constantine, Constantius II, Julian the Apostate and Valens. He was known as “Athanasius Contra Mundum” (Latin for Athanasius Against the World).
Nonetheless, within a few years after his death, Gregory of Nazianzus called him the “Pillar of the Church”. His writings were well regarded by all Church fathers who followed, in both the West and the East, who noted their rich devotion to the Word-become-man, great pastoral concern and profound interest in monasticism. Athanasius is counted as one of the four great Eastern Doctors of the Church in the Roman Catholic Church – he is labeled as the “Father of Orthodoxy”.
Bl. John Henry Newman described him as a “principal instrument, after the Apostles, by which the sacred truths of Christianity have been conveyed and secured to the world”.[Letters..]
Historian Cornelius Clifford says: “His career almost personifies a crisis in the history of Christianity; and he may be said rather to have shaped the events in which he took part than to have been shaped by them.”
The greater majority of Church leaders and the emperors fell into support for Arianism, so much so that Jerome, 340–420, wrote of the period: “The whole world groaned and was amazed to find itself Arian”. He, Athanasius, even suffered an unjust excommunication from Pope Liberius (325–366) who was exiled and leant towards the Arians, until he was allowed back to the See of Rome. Athanasius stood virtually alone against the world.
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.