May 2: Athanasius of Alexandria, Bishop and Theologian, 373

The Collect of the Day

Athanasius of Alexandria

O Lord, who established your servant Athanasius, through wisdom, in your truth: Grant that we, perceiving the humanity and divinity of your Son Jesus Christ, may follow in his footsteps and ascend the way to eternal life, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Athanasius of Alexandria

O Lord, who didst establish thy servant Athanasius, through wisdom, in thy truth: Grant that we, perceiving the humanity and divinity of thy Son Jesus Christ, may follow in his footsteps and ascend the way to eternal life; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

1 John 5:1–5
Psalm 71:1–8
Matthew 10:22–32

Athanasius was born around 295 in Alexandria, and was ordained as a deacon in 319. He quickly attracted attention by his opposition to the presbyter Arius, whose teaching that the Second Person of the Trinity was a creature was gaining widespread acceptance. Alexander, the Bishop of Alexandria, took Athanasius as his secretary and adviser to the first Ecumenical Council, at Nicaea in 325, which dealt with the Arian conflict. Athanasius was successful in winning approval for the phrase in the Nicene Creed which has ever since been recognized as expressing unequivocally the full divinity of the Son: “of one Being with the Father” (homoousios).

When Alexander died in 328, Athanasius became bishop. He fearlessly defended Nicene Christology against emperors, magistrates, bishops, and theologians. Five times he was sentinto exile. He often seemed to stand alone for the orthodox faith. “Athanasius contra mundum” (Athanasius against the world) became a by-word. Yet, by the time of his last exile, his popularity among the citizens of Alexandria was so great that the emperor had to recall him to avoid insurrection in the city.

Athanasius wrote extensively, including biblical interpretation, theological exposition, sermons, and letters. His treatise, On the Incarnation of the Word of God, is a still widely read theological classic, and his work The Life of Antony became profoundly influential in the spread of the early monastic movement.

In On the Incarnation, he writes, “The Savior of us all, the Word of God, in his great love took to himself a body and moved as Man among men, meeting their senses, so to speak, halfway. He became himself an object for the senses, so that those who were seeking God in sensible things might apprehend the Father through the works which he, the Word of God, did in the body. Human and human-minded as people were, therefore, to whichever side they looked in the sensible world, they found themselves taught the truth.”

Athanasius died in Alexandria in the year 373, after devoting his final years to preaching, writing, and giving spiritual direction.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

¹In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; *let me never be ashamed.

²In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; *incline your ear to me and save me.

³Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; *you are my crag and my stronghold.

⁴Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, *from the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.

⁵For you are my hope, O Lord God, *my confidence since I was young.

⁶I have been sustained by you ever since I was born; from my mother’s womb you have been my strength; *my praise shall be always of you.

⁷I have become a portent to many; *but you are my refuge and my strength.

⁸Let my mouth be full of your praise *and your glory all the day long.

Gospel

²²and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ²⁴“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; ²⁵it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! ²⁶“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. ²⁷What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. ²⁸Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰And even the hairs of your head are all counted. ³¹So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³²“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven;