Life
Saint Athanasius the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria, defender of Orthodoxy and pillar of the Nicene faith, is one of the bravest and most tenacious champions for the purity of Christian teaching in the entire history of the Church. He was born around 296 in Alexandria, in a Christian family, and from childhood received excellent theological education. As a young deacon and personal secretary of Bishop Alexander he attended the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 — and that council marked his entire life.
At the Council of Nicaea, Athanasius distinguished himself as the most ardent and rigorous defender of the Orthodox teaching on the full Divinity of the Son of God, against the Arian heresy that regarded Christ as a created being, inferior to the Father. The Council accepted the Nicene Creed and formulated the key word “consubstantial” (homoousios) — by which is expressed that the Son is “of one substance” with the Father, that is, true God. Athanasius was the creator and most passionate advocate of that word.
After Alexander’s death, Athanasius was elected Archbishop of Alexandria in 328, the capital of the Egyptian church. Then began a long and painful series of exiles. Arianism, enjoying the support of emperors — Constantine, Constantius, and Valens — returned and again seized high positions. Athanasius was banished no fewer than five times from Alexandria and spent a total of seventeen years in exile, in Roman provinces, in Gaul, in Rome, and even in hiding in the Thebaid among the Egyptian desert fathers. Each time a emperor died or policy changed, Athanasius returned to his throne.
Exile did not break him — on the contrary, in banishment he wrote his key works: “On the Incarnation of the Word,” “The Life of Saint Anthony the Great” (whose personal friend he was), “Defense of the Nicene Faith,” and many others. The Life of Saint Anthony, which Athanasius wrote immediately after Anthony’s repose in 356, became the model of hagiographic literature and inspired the mass movement of desert monasticism in the West.
The phrase that has remained associated with Athanasius is: “Athanasius contra mundum” — Athanasius against the world. During the most difficult years almost the entire church hierarchy had yielded to imperial pressure and accepted Arianism or compromise formulas; Athanasius stood almost alone. When asked how he could stand alone contra mundum, he answered calmly: “If the whole world goes against Athanasius — then Athanasius goes against the whole world.” This steadfastness in truth, without fear of persecution, prison, or exile, made him the model for all defenders of the faith.
After long struggles he spent his last years in peace in Alexandria. He reposed on May 2, 373, in deep old age. The Nicene faith, for whose victory he fought his entire life, finally triumphed at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381.
The Church has glorified Athanasius with the epithet “Great” and “Apostolic”; together with Cyril of Alexandria he is especially venerated by the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches, while the entire Orthodox Ecumenical Church celebrates him on January 18 together with Saint Cyril of Alexandria.
Tropar (Tone 3)
Having lived devoutly among the hierarchs and preserved all thy flock from harm, thou didst expose the fraud of Arius. Thou art most godly, O Athanasius the Great: intercede with Christ God to grant great mercy to all.
Kontakion (Tone 2)
Having planted Orthodoxy, thou didst overcome the boldness of Arius. O apostolic and glorious father among hierarchs, entreat Christ God to grant us great mercy.