ST. ATHANASIUS THE GREAT OF ALEXANDRIA (MAY 2ND)
A Famous Byzantine Greek Icon of St. Athanasius of Alexandria Edited by Bp. Joseph ( Ancient Church of the West ) In the year of our Lord AD 296, in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, a light arose in the person of St. Athanasius the Great, a champion of orthodoxy and the indefatigable defender of the faith once delivered unto the saints. Raised in the intellectual and spiritual center of the Christian world, Athanasius was schooled in Scripture, classical philosophy, and the theological riches of the Alexandrian tradition. His early years as a deacon under the bishop Alexander proved formative, as he engaged in the great theological controversies that would mark his life. When the heresy of Arianism arose, denying the full divinity of the Son of God, Athanasius emerged as the leading voice against this pernicious error. At the tender age of thirty-three, he succeeded Alexander as Bishop of Alexandria in AD 328, beginning a tumultuous episcopate marked by persecution, exile, and...
