Feast day: 2 May
Saint Athanasius of Alexandria
Sanctus Athanasius Alexandrinus
Deacon at Nicaea and then bishop of Alexandria for forty-five years, five times exiled, Athanasius almost single-handedly preserved the confession that the Son is 'consubstantial with the Father'.
- Born
- c. 296, Alexandria (Egypt)
- Died
- 2 May 373, Alexandria (Egypt)
- Canonization
- Universal cult from the time of his death; named a Doctor of the Church, and honoured as one of the four great Greek Fathers in East and West.
- Country
- Egypt
Biography
Nicaea
Born in Alexandria and formed in its catechetical tradition, Athanasius accompanied his bishop Alexander to the Council of Nicaea in 325 as a young deacon. There the term homoousios, 'of the same substance as the Father', was adopted against Arius, who taught that the Word was a creature. Athanasius made that word the cause of his life: if Christ is not God, humanity is not saved.
Five exiles
Elected bishop in 328, he faced emperors who sought religious peace by compromise, forged accusations, and hostile synods. He spent about seventeen of his forty-five episcopal years in exile: in Trier, in Rome where he introduced the West to Egyptian monasticism, and twice hidden among the monks of the desert. The phrase Athanasius contra mundum, 'Athanasius against the world', records those years.
Theologian of the Incarnation
His treatise On the Incarnation states the principle of divinisation: 'He became man that we might become God', that is, sharers in the divine life. His Life of Antony spread monasticism through the Empire and was read by Augustine on the eve of his conversion. His Festal Letter of 367 lists the twenty-seven books of the New Testament exactly as the Church now receives them. He died in peace in Alexandria in 373.
Timeline
- 325 — Deacon at the Council of Nicaea
- 328 — Bishop of Alexandria
- 335 — First exile, to Trier
- c. 357 — Writes the Life of Antony in hiding among the monks
- 367 — Festal Letter listing the New Testament canon
- 373 — Dies in Alexandria
Dates marked ~ are traditional or debated among historians.
Symbols
Open book with the Creed — His defence of the Nicene faith.
Eastern bishop's omophorion — His office as patriarch of Alexandria.
Virtues & spiritual lessons
Unbending fidelity to revealed truth, patience under calumny, and pastoral closeness to monks and poor Egyptians who hid him for years.
Importance in the Church
Without Athanasius the Nicene Creed recited every Sunday might not have survived. He also gave the Church the classic doctrine of divinisation, the model of monastic hagiography, and one of the earliest exact lists of the New Testament canon.
Quotes
“He became man that we might become God.”
On the Incarnation, 54
“You will not see anyone truly striving after his spiritual advancement who is not given to singing of psalms.”
Letter to Marcellinus on the Psalms
Writings
On the Incarnation of the Word (De Incarnatione) — Classic exposition of why God became man.
Life of Antony — The founding text of monastic biography.
Orations against the Arians — The decisive polemic for Nicene orthodoxy.
Prayers
Collect of Saint Athanasius
O God, who raised up the Bishop Saint Athanasius as an outstanding champion of your Son's divinity, mercifully grant that, rejoicing in his teaching and his protection, we may never cease to grow in knowledge and love of you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Collect of 2 May, Roman Missal.
Places
Alexandria (Egypt) — His see; the Coptic Orthodox Church venerates him as the twentieth patriarch.
Basilica of San Zaccaria, Venice — Where most of his relics rest; part was returned to Egypt in 1973.
Entries are drawn from the Roman Martyrology, the General Roman Calendar, canonization records of the Holy See, and the saints' own writings. Where a date, quotation or attribution is uncertain, it is marked as such. (63 saints)