Athanasius
c. 295–373
Feast: May 2
You hold to what you know is true, even when everyone around you switches sides. That is Athanasius. At the Council of Nicaea he fights for the divinity of Christ and then defends it for the rest of his life against Arianism, which is drawing the majority to its side. The cost is steep: banished five times, hunted by emperors, again and again fleeing into desert exile among the monks. A phrase is coined just for him, “Athanasius contra mundum,” Athanasius against the whole world. He does not yield an inch, and in the end he is proved right. So here is the question: what would you hold on to, even when it costs you?
From his life
- Council of Nicaea
- defends the divinity of Christ against Arianism
- “Athanasius contra mundum”
- desert exile among the monks
The bridge to tradition
Fidelity to the teaching handed down, even when the majority wavers, he is the archetype.