ST. ATHANASIUS UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Our Patron: Saint Athanasius

St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt and a great defender of the faith, throughout his life opposed the Arian heresy. By denying the Godhead of the Word the followers of Arian believed that Christ was only a mere man but higher in grace than others in the eyes of God. St. Athanasius took part in the Council of Nicea in the year 325 AD which was convoked by the Emperor of Rome 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 Doctors. He was subjected to persecutions for upholding the true teaching concerning the person of Christ, that He is true God and true man, and was sent into exile from his Patriarchal See no less than five times. He died at Alexandria in 373 after a leadership of forty-six years.
A 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 (a heresy that denied Christ’s divinity). Even as a young deacon at the Council of Nicea (325), he was recognized 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 Church’s position. His allegiance to the Church and its true teachings 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 from their raging wrath and their attempts to assassinate him. The place was known only to one trusted friend who secretly supplied necessary food to him.

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 recognizing 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 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 residence 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 lead the Church of Alexandria for forty-six years.

Symbols: open book; two columns; boat on the Nile; equilateral triangle; open book between two Greek columns; archbishop’s pallium; scroll with quotation from his writings.

Prayer: Heavenly God, You raised up St. Athanasius to be an outstanding defender of the truth of Christ’s divinity. By his teaching and protection may we grow in Your knowledge and love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.