Commemorated on January
18th
Although Saint Athanasios was, according to English historian
Gibbon, more capable of ruling the Roman Empire than all of the sons of
Constantine, nevertheless for all his greatness he remained one of the most
tragic figures of the early Christian era. Of small stature and boundless
vigor, Athanasios rose to prominence in the hierarchy, yet remained at heart an
unworldly and unyielding monk. He was at the center of religious strife in a
critical period of early Christianity and was in out of favor with the emperors
perhaps in one of the stormiest career of any clergyman.
Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 297 A.D., Athanasios was
associated with the Alexandrian chancery at an early age, having been ordained
deacon in the year 319 and subsequently made a priest. His brilliance was shown
in his sermons "Against the Arians", written to answer the widely spreading
heresy of Arianism which had been condemned in 318 by a local synod. According
to Arius, an elderly priest of Alexandria, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were
three separate essences or substances, which is contrary to Orthodox teaching.
The spread of Arianism prompted Emperor Constantine to convene the First
Ecumenical Synod in Nicaea (325 A.D.), where Athanasios brilliantly opposed the
false doctrine of Arius. Nevertheless, the controversy was to last for another
two centuries. The conciliatory tone of the Synod of Nicaea was not enough to
put an end to the heresy; Arius would not comply with its decisions and thus
fled to Palestine.
At the age of thirty Athanasios was made bishop of Alexandria.
Although Arius assured the emperor that he accepted the Creed of Nicaea, the
suspicious Athanasios defied the imperial order for Arius' reinstatement. For
this he was banished, taking refuge in Treves, France, the place of his first
exile, from which he returned in 337 after Constantine's death. The same year
though, his enemies conspired to have him again banished by a synod in Antioch.
Athanasios, eluding those who would have him imprisoned, traveled to Rome to
plead his case before Pope Julius I. Although a council at Sardica favored
Athanasios, he did not return from exile until 345, after the death of the
usurper Bishop Gregory.
Once again his enemies sprang into action and at a council in
Milan in 355, Athanasios was deposed. Thus, after ten years of fruitful rule,
he took refuge with the monks of the Egyptian desert whom he greatly admired and
whom he had befriended. While with the monks he wrote the "History of the Arian
Heresy", which displays his vehemence and ironic humor.
In 361 A.D. Athanasios was again restored as bishop of
Alexandria and immediately resumed his struggle against Arianism. After a
series of lengthy and complicated discussions, councils, synods, and other
forums of debate, a creedal formula was adopted which satisfied those whose
middle view led them to be called Semi-Arians. Peace had hardly arrived when
another storm came in the form of the regeneration of paganism under the Emperor
Julian the Apostate. In the autumn of 363, Athanasios was again put to flight,
only to return a short time later, after the death of the emperor. He enjoyed a
comparative calm until he was removed by Emperor Valens during another
resurgence of paganism. Four months later, the aging bishop was recalled and
allowed to live out his life in comparative peace.
Greatly admired by the Orthodox and hated by the heretics he so
adamantly opposed, Athanasios stirred the emotions of the Christians as perhaps
no other Father of the Church. His theological doctrine in clear and
uncomplicated in the strictest Orthodox tradition, and his encouragement of
monasticism was a labor of love. He died May 2, 373.
Source: Orthodox Saints, Spiritual Profiles for Modern
Man January 1 to March 31, by George Poulos.
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