May 2 -------------- St. Athanasius
St. Anthanasius lived during one of the most nefarious times in the history of the Church . He was born in 296, when the Church was leaving the catacombs and having public worship. However, now a new scourge existed, the heresy of Arianism.
Arius and his followers affirmed that Our Lord Jesus Christ was not God. This false doctrine negated almost all the dogmas of the Catholic Church and had a tremendous influence throughout the Mediterranean Basin, dragging many of the faithful, including priests and bishops with it. Divine Providence ordained that St. Athanisius should be the Church's champion.
St. Athanisius was the Patriarch Archbishop of Alexandria who fought valiantly against Arianism. He was obliged to flee the city five different times and spent seventeen years in exile. Amidst all the persecution, St. Athanisius still continued to preach and to write sermons that could be spread throughout the Roman Empire even though there was a huge "price on his head".
The heretics were constantly trying to entangle him with lies, intrigues, and defamation. Even after Arius died, the persecutions continued. St. Athanisius fought untiringly, preserving orthodoxy among the simple people while most of the clergy, including the bishops became Arian.
Let us pray to St. Athanisius for the zeal to defend orthodoxy no matter what the cost, knowing that Our Lord promised that the gates of Hell will not prevail against His Church.
Right! Every age has its heresy. We have Indifferentism. The denial of the defined foundational dogma, Outside the Church there is No Salvation, has brought us to this low point. It is a very unpopular position with the modern clergy and new-church catholics. Even so-called conservatives make it mean exactly opposite of what it says. For us who defend the dogma, we can begin to appreciate the great love and charity St, Athanasius felt for his fellow man. The protestant deformers robbed many of the consolations of the True religion. Not on my watch!
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