Saints 2 – Athanasius of Alexandria

St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, fresco (1191), church of St. George in Kurbinovo, MacedoniaEpisode Sixteen in The Lives of the Saints, Second Series, celebrating the life and remarkable contributions to the Church Universal of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, is now on line at our Web Site and through our You Tube channel.   St. Athanasius is celebrated in the Western Church on May 2nd, the date of his death.

Regular readers of his blog will notice the familiar black, while and gold on blue in the accompanying 12th C. fresco from Macedonia.  There’s nothing like that shade of blue in western religious art.

Athanasius is also called Athanasius the Great to distinguish him from the many Eastern saints of the same name.  He’s also known as the Father of the Canon; the Father of Orthodoxy, and was recognized among the first four men named “Doctors of the Church” in the Roman Catholic tradition (with St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil of Caesarea, St. Basil the Great, and St. Gregory Nazianzen).  For five decades in the middle of the 4th C. he defended Nicene Christianity against Arians and others, even at the risk of persecution and expulsion from office.  Today, his accusers are long gone, most of their names forgotten, but Athanasius the Great remains among the most-revered figures in the Church in both the Eastern and Western traditions.

The episode runs just over 18 minutes and includes many other works of art viewers might not have seen before.

Watch the Video        Listen to the Podcast.

As always, thanks for your interest and support of the Anglican Internet Church ministry.  Glory be to God of all things!  Amen!

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Anglican Internet Church

Fr. Shibley is a retired Anglican clergyman who produces unique videos, podcasts and books explaining traditional Christian theology from an Anglican perspective. All materials are in layman's language with a minimum of technical or theological terms. All are available either free or at reasonable cost. The AIC Bookstore now includes 17 publications.

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