Welcome to answers from an apostolic faith.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Today, my beloved, we begin a new series which allows us to be able to ask the question: Who are the heroes of orthodoxy? Now when we speak of heroes, it is very appropriate for us to begin speaking of the Patristic Fathers, those who stood firmly in their faith and defended the Orthodox faith and the Orthodox tradition until their very last breath. These are the heroes that we speak of. So today, we begin the series very appropriately in speaking of one hero who is recognized for being a true defender of orthodoxy and that is of St. Athanasius the Apostolic.
St. Athanasius of Alexandria is born in the late third century. He is born approximately in the year 298. And we see in the tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church, specifically in the synaxarium of the saints of the Coptic Church, we immediately see how he catches and rises to the attention of Bishop Alexander of Alexandria who happens to be Patriarch at that time. Now, Bishop Alexander notices that this young child who is Athanasius, there is something special about him. He notices that he knows the rites and the rituals and the prayers of the Coptic Church and he therefore takes him on as his own disciple. And as he grows as the disciple of Bishop Alexander, he is taught by some of the greatest theologians and receives a great academic life. Now, throughout this process, he does not only learn under Bishop Alexander, but we also see in the tradition of the Church that, historically, he's also a disciple of the great St. Anthony. So he is not only receiving an academic status, but he is also being discipled by the greatest of ascetics who is St. Anthony the Great himself.
Now, as a young lad, he begins to grow, and as a young man, he begins to even contribute to the theological teachings of the Church. And we see that In the year 325, which is a crucial year in the history of the Church, which is the year where the Council of Nicaea was held, that St. Athanasius was one of those people who Bishop Alexander took with him when he went to Nicaea to defend the Orthodox faith and to argue against the Arian heresy. Now we know that the contribution of this young clergy member whose name was Athanasius was crucial even at the Council of Nicaea. Tradition tells us that he contributes tremendously to the formulation of the Orthodox Creed as we know it today.
Now, even after his contribution to the Orthodox Creed, when the Arian heresy was convicted and was denied at the Council of Nicaea, upon the return to Alexandria, we know that Bishop Alexander, at this point, is slowly approaching his moment of departure. And on his death bed, he chooses St. Athanasius who, at this time, is only a young man between the ages of
28 and 30, and he says that this will be the person who will sit on the throne of St. Mark and lead and shepherd the people of Egypt. Now in humility, this young man by the name of Athanasius tries to flee and tries to run away from the honour of becoming the Bishop who leads the people of Egypt. But he is compelled by the entire congregation and the entire Church and he is taken and he is enthroned and he becomes the Patriarch and the Bishop of Alexandria.
Now, as the Bishop and the Patriarch of Alexandria, he spends forty-five years as the Shepherd of Egypt. Now throughout those many, many years, he is fought against day in and day out and he spends almost twenty years in exile, because he chooses to stand firm in his faith. And throughout this entire process while he is shepherding and being the Bishop of Alexandria, he contributes tremendously to the Orthodox faith. He contributes to the Church by writing such great works such as the biography of St. Anthony. He also writes to us two great books that are held very highly in esteem within the apostolic traditions; those are Against the Heathen and On the Incarnation. We also see that he writes many letters and in those letters, he combats many heresies, such as Arianism and the heresies against the Holy Spirit, and he contributes even with the Cappadocian Fathers of the time to be able to lead the Church to stand firm in the Orthodox faith.
Now when speaking of others that he influenced, let us see, for example, what a great hero such as St. Gregory the Theologian has to say about our Father St. Athanasius of Alexandria. St. Gregory says the following:
''When I praise Athanasius, virtue itself is my theme: for I name every virtue as often as I mention him who was possessed of all virtues. He was the true pillar of the Church. His life and conduct were the rule of bishops, and his doctrine the rule of the Orthodox faith.'' (St. Gregory Nazianzen)
How beautiful is it for us to see that a hero such as St. Gregory would speak so highly of another hero such as St. Athanasius! And this is why, in the Coptic Orthodox Church, we are honoured to say that we are the Church of St. Athanasius: we are the Church of Alexandria. Now, to us... for us to be able to elevate him in this high esteem, let us see how the Church venerates him in the doxology that is said for St Athanasius. The Church recites the following:
''O you who are strong in managing the ship, O you the distinguished fighter, who is victorious in the wars, the luminous lamp. The Leader of Orthodoxy is Athanasius the Apostolic, the instructor of the eloquent sheep, that is for Christ. Your Truthful teachings pierced the hearts of the heretics like a double edged sword by the power of the Trinity.'' (Doxology of the Coptic Orthodox Church)
This, my beloved, is St. Athanasius the Apostolic. So we ask and we pray that he may remember us before the throne of God so that we, like him, may also be able to stand firm and to defend our faith until the very last breath.
Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And to God be the glory now and forever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.