St. Athanasius, as a young boy, had the honor of going out
into the Egyptian desert, where he met the great saint Anthony of the desert,
from whom, the Franciscan Anthony of Padua received his name. The desert Fathers like Anthony, retreated to
the silence and harshness of the desert to seek intimate union with the Lord,
and People would go out into the desert to meet the desert fathers to pray with
them and receive spiritual advice. Athanasius, who would go on to become a great
bishop, wrote the definitive biography of Saint Anthony, detailing Anthony’s
holiness, and also his struggles with temptation. Like the Lord Jesus, Anthony too would
confront the devil. The devil would afflict Anthony with terrible temptations,
and when Anthony resisted those, the devil would wage war upon the desert
father by sending visions of wild beasts, scorpions, snakes, wolves, and
lions. Anthony lived mostly in seclusion
as a hermit, but in 338, Anthony left the desert to travel to Alexandria to
help refute the teachings of Arius. Although not particularly learned, Anthony
was able to confound the Arians.
Like the desert Father, Athanasius was a man of great
holiness, who stood against the error of Arius.
Athanasius faced the hostile attacks not only of the devil but his
brother bishops, priests, magistrates, emperors, and intellectuals who had
fallen into error. Bishop Athanasius was exiled from his diocese by Arian
heretics five times—spending 17 years of his life in exile. Yet, from exile, he continued to write
against the heresy and teach the true faith.
He is known in Church history as the hammer of heretics.
The Arian heresy claimed that Jesus was the greatest man
ever to live, but the title ‘Son of God’ could only to be applied to Jesus the
same way it can be applied to the great men of the Old Testament, or anyone who
seeks to do the will of God. So the
Arians denied the divinity of Christ, that Jesus was truly God and
consubstantial with the Father. Though this heresy was quickly condemned by the
patriarch of Alexandria and by the Council of Nicaea in 325, Arianism spread
like wildfire, especially among men of power, including the emperor.
As Bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius stridently defended the
doctrine of Jesus’ divinity. Many bishops and priests sided with the emperor
(who played a much larger role in Church politics than any world leader plays
today). Imagine, if all of the bishops of a country fell into heresy, and only
one remained faithful. It happened to Athanasius; it happened in England, when
Bishop John Fisher stood against Henry VIII, and it could happen again—bishops and
priests aligning with worldly philosophies instead of the truth of Christ.
There are times when it seems we are standing alone in
preaching the Catholic faith. But we are
never truly alone; when we stand up for truth, we are always in communion with
the great fathers of the Church, with the Apostles, and the Lord Himself, who
called himself Truth.
Commitment to Christ means commitment to Truth. In an age of cultural relativism and moral
error, our world needs the truth of Christ preached clearly, consistently, and
courageously. May we like the great
Saint Athanasius, have the fortitude and perseverance to defend the true faith
without counting the cost for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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