Saint Athanasius the Apostolic, the Great Archbishop of Alexandria / contra mundum/against the world
There are 3 strong influences on his early life
Persecution of the church
St Anthony the Great
Pope ALEXANDER
Saint Athanasius the Apostolic recognized as a true defender of orthodoxy. Personally, he is close to me and my family. St. Athanasius was born in the late 3rd century (the year 298 AD.
One aspect I wanted to highlight is what brought St. Athanasius as being one of the heroes of the church, and that he fought against a heresy titled Arianism
As a young man he began to contribute to the theological teachings of the church. In the year 325 AD (a crucial year in the history of the church when the council of Nicea was held) he was one of the people who Bishop Alexander took with him to argue against the Arian heresy. The contribution of St Athanasius was crucial in that council. Tradition also tells us he contributed tremendously to the formulation of the orthodox creed as we know it today.
Saint Athanasius was a hammer wielded by God, to destroy the heresy that was set to destroy the orthodox faith.
He wrote the biography of St Anthony and two great books held in very high esteem in the apostolic traditions: ‘Against the Heathen’ and ‘On the Incarnation of the Word’.
One of the Fathers said “ If you come across something from the works of St. Athanasius, and you haven't got any paper with you to write it down on, write it on your clothing”
Our Coptic Orthodox church is honored to be the church of St Athanasius.
We ask that he may remember us before the throne of God so that, like him, we may also stand firm and defend our faith till the very last breath.
Thank you for watching, happy global Coptic 2023
So proud to be Coptic orthodox
