Global Courant 2023-05-02 08:41:35
Of great theological and philosophical culture, he fought with his writings against the denial of Jesus in very complex times.
Defender of the true Christian doctrine against heresies, especially Arianism, Saint Athanasius served as Bishop of Alexandria for 45 years. Owner of a great culture, he also suffered exile for almost two decades.
He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in the year 295 or 297 and as a child he was impressed by the persecutions suffered by Christians at the hands of the Roman authorities. In 326 Bishop Alexander of Alexandria ordained him a priest and also his secretary.
Trained in philosophy, grammar, and theology, Athanasius was fluent in Greek and Coptic. He wrote his first books, Against the Pagans and the Incarnation of the Word, when he was very young.
Saints of May 2: Saint Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and Doctor of the Church./ Image: Biographies and Lives.
Starting in the year 323, the priest Arius of Alexandria had begun to spread his beliefs according to which Jesus Christ was not the true God. This produced a long controversy in the Church.
In this context, Bishop Alexander brought Athanasius to the Council of Nicaea. During the meeting of bishops, the young priest refuted the arguments of Arrio who, by avoiding retraction, ended up being excommunicated.
When Alexander died, and when he was less than 30 years old, Athanasius succeeded him as bishop of Alexandria, a position from which he showed himself as a staunch defender of Christian doctrine and as a staunch enemy of heretics.
Santoral of May 2: day of Saint Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and Doctor of the Church./ Image: COPE.
But the heretics, led by Eusebius of Nicomedia, convinced the Emperor Constantius, one of Constantine’s successors, that Athanasius should be banished.
In 356 thousands of soldiers surrounded the temple where he lived to arrest him. Athanasius managed to escape and found refuge in the desert, among hermit monks. There he continued writing to the faithful of Alexandria and wrote the biography of his friend Antonio Abad.
Athanasius was able to return to Alexandria in the time of Emperor Valens, but in 365 he had to leave the city again. Finally, he retook the seat under popular acclaim. He died on May 2, 373, after 45 years as bishop and 18 years in exile.
Other Saints of May 2
Santoral of May 2: San Antonino de Florencia day./ Image: Escolasticos San Antonino de Florencia. (1389-1459). At a very young age, he became superior of the Minerva convent in Rome. In 1436, in Florence, he founded the convent of San Marco and in 1446 he was consecrated archbishop of that city. Known for his reforms to the Order of Preachers, he was canonized by Clement VII in 1523.
Saint Waldebert. (?-665). Third abbot of the famous monastery of Luxeuil, in Gaul (present-day France), he implanted the Rule of Saint Benedict among the monks and obtained from Pope John IV the privilege of exemption from episcopal authority, like Lérins and Agaunum. He helped Salberga found the convent of Laon.
Santa Wiborada. (?-926). First woman to be declared a Saint by the Catholic Church, since she was canonized by Pope Clement II in 1047. Member of a noble family of German origin, when she became orphaned of her mother, she lived in solitude from 912. Four years later, the bishop San Gallo Salomón sentenced her to confine herself in a cell in St. Gallen (present-day Switzerland), next to the church of San Magno. She died at the hands of the Magyar invaders.
