02 May - Athanasius was born at Damanhour, near Alexandria, Egypt, in 298. He came from a pagan family and was attracted to Christianity because of the good manners of the Christians with whom he lived. He was baptized by Pope Alexander, who ordained him a deacon and took him as a disciple.
He received a very solid secular education, especially literary and philosophical, in the schools of the metropolis. He entered the Christian clergy of Alexandria at a very young age and very quickly established himself by his qualities as secretary and trusted man of Bishop Alexander. He took part in the first Council of Nicaea as deacon and secretary to Bishop Alexander. Alexander appoints him as his successor before his death. Athanasius is enthroned Bishop of Alexandria on the following June 8, at the age of only thirty.
He undertook a long tour that took him to Upper Egypt as far as Syene. But tensions rise in the Church. Eusebius of Nicomedia, leader of the Aryans, returns to the imperial court. In 330, Eusebius of Nicomediation sent a message to Athanasius asking him to readmit Arius to the Church of Alexandria; Athanasius' refusal led to the issue of a letter from the emperor along the same lines. However, a delegation of Melaetian bishops complained of illegal financial exactions on the part of Athanasius. The latter is summoned by Constantine at the end of 330; the visit turns out well for Athanasius. But the Arian party does not let go: a case is mounted against Athanasius: he allegedly had Arsene, the Melaetian bishop of Hypsoele, murdered and cut off one of his hands to use it in magical rituals. The emperor Constantine sends his half-brother Flavius Dalmatius on the accusations; informed of Arsene's imposture. In 334, the bishop of Alexandria is invited to come and explain himself before a synod to be held in Caesarea, under the presidency of Eusebius of Caesarea, rather pro-Arian, Athanasius refuses to appear. Finally, it is decided that an assembly of bishops will meet in Tyre during the summer of 335. Athanasius is very firmly invited not to shirk. At this council of Tyre, the Arian people are present in force, the council adopted a resolution deposing Athanasius from his see, on February 5, 336, he must take the road to exile in Trier.
Emperor Constantine I died in Nicomedia on 22 May 337, and the news reached Trier in the first days of June. On the 17th of that month, Caesar Constantine sent a letter to the people and clergy of Alexandria in which he stated that his father's intention was to restore Athanasius to his seat, and that he himself would carry out this will. However, Constantius II, whose part of the Empire included Egypt, is more and more clearly in the camp of the Aryans: Eusebius of Nicomedia is promoted to the episcopal see of Constantinople, the official capital; he and his followers insist to the emperor that the restoration of Athanasius, imposed under the pressure of Constantin II, is unacceptable, flouting the decree of the Council of Tyre. On Sunday 18 March 339, proceeding to baptisms in the church of Saint-Théonas, Athanasius is sought by an armed troop. He manages to escape the next morning. On March 22, the new Bishop Gregory of Cappadocia entered the city under military escort. Athanasius remained in Alexandria for another four weeks, then he embarked for Rome on April 16, Easter Monday. His second period of effective episcopacy lasted only one year, four months and twenty-four days.
The intruding bishop Gregory of Cappadocia, who has been ill for a long time, is at the worst, which paves the way for a gentle arrangement. He died on 26 June 345, but already before that the Emperor of the East had contacted Athanasius to negotiate his restoration. Athanasius hesitated a lot and made himself prayed; he remained in Aquileia until early 346, receiving a new and very pressing invitation to return. Finally, he was triumphantly welcomed in Alexandria by his faithful on 21 October 346.
In 366 a pagan riot broke out in Alexandria which led to the burning of the church of the Caesareum, the largest in the city (begun under the episcopate of Gregory of Cappadocia thanks to the munificence of Constantius II). The arsonists were severely punished and reconstruction began in May 368. On 24 September 367, Lucius, a "bishop of Alexandria" elected by the Arian people in Antioch, entered the city at night. When rumours of his presence spread, a popular uproar broke out, and the bishop, who was spotted, owed his salvation only to an energetic intervention by the army. On September 26, he was escorted out of Egypt under military escort. On June 8, 368, Athanasius celebrates his forty years of episcopacy, and on September 22nd the construction of a church, inaugurated on August 7, 370, was started in the district of Mendidium, which bears his own name. The Archbishop maintained correspondence at that time, particularly with Basil of Caesarea, whom he supported, but unfortunately only the letters of the latter have been preserved. He also spent his last years refuting his former ally Apollinaire of Laodicea, who had created a schism in 371. Athanasius dies on May 2, 373, entering his seventy-fifth year (Rufin of Aquileia, II, 3), after designating his successor Peter II
At a time when dogma was not fixed (it would gradually be fixed by the various councils), his struggle against the Arian position (to the subordination of Arius, who made Christ a creature of the Father, he opposed the doctrine of consubstantiality - the Son is distinct but consubstantial with the Father) was one of the most decisive in the establishment of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. He fights not only against dissident churches, but also against the civil power of emperors. His charisma, his tenacity, his imperious, sometimes irascible character, alienated many people, but also won him unwavering support both among the people and among his peers.
