You're listening to the SSPX podcast. We're happy to present True Heroes, a series of

stories of the lives of the saints presented by Father Thomas Tam. If the world goes against

the truth, then I go against the world. St. Athanasius. Hello, my friends, and welcome to true heroes. Today we will

consider the life of St. Athanasius, whose life was one of constant suffering and persecution

in defense of the divinity of our Lord. The name Athanasius comes from the Greek which means immortal. A little fun fact

here in the modern Greek, it has been shortened to a variety of names including Aethon and Thanos. Yes, for you

Marvel fans out there, the name of the crazy guy from the Avengers movies and comics,

Thanos, is short for Athanasius and means immortal.

Although that didn't really work out for him, did it? He certainly was not immortal.

St. Athanasius, also known as Athanasius the Great, was a bishop and doctor of the church.

He is called the Father of Orthodoxy, the pillar of the church, and the champion of Christ's divinity. The reason for this is because he was the most dedicated opponent of the heresy of Arianism,

which was a heresy which specifically denied that Jesus is God.

Born in either 296 or 298, but not 297 in Alexandria, Egypt, to a prominent

Christian family, Athanasius received a wonderful education and Christian doctrine, Greek

literature, philosophy, and rhetoric.

He was well studied in the Hebrew scriptures and the gospel accounts and the Christian

text, which would later be recognized by the church as the canon of the New Testament.

So at this point in church history, there was no official declaration by Holy Mother Church as to which texts were legitimately inspired by the Holy Ghost. That only came a couple of centuries later.

He gave credit to the confessors during the Christian persecution under the Roman Emperor

Maximian as his teachers of theology.

As he grew up, Athanasius befriended many monks and hermits of the desert, including St. Anthony.

And he later wrote the biography of that same saint, which is a very

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