My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 18th of January, our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
our Holy Fathers among the Sants, ATHANASIOS, AND KYRIL,
Archbishops of Alexandria.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Third Tone
SHINING forth with works of Orthodoxy, ye quenched every false belief
and teaching and became torphy-bearers and conquerors. And since
ye made all things rich with true piety, greatly adorning the Church
with magnificence, Athanasios and wise Cyril, ye both have worthily
found Christ God, Who doth grant great mercy unto all.
Kontakion Hymn. Fourth Tone
GREATs high priests of piety and noble champions of the Holy Church
of Christ, keep and preserve all those who chant: O Most Compassionate
Lord, do Thou graciously save those who faithfully honor Thee.
Saints Athanasios and Kyril, the most holy Archbishops of Alexandria and our divine Fathers, were from Alexandria. The Great Athanasios lived during the years of Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337 A.D.). He attended the First Ecumentical Synod in Nicaea (325 A.D.), which put down the profane and heretic Arius. This Saint also suffered numerous exiles on account of the Arians. Saint Kyril lived during the time of Emperor Theodosios II the Younger (408-450 A.D.). He attended the Third Ecumenical Synod in Ephesus (431 A.D.), which denounced the blasphemies of Nestorios. Saint Kyril championed the Virgin Mary’s title of THEOTOKOS. Saint Athanasios addressed those questions pertaining to the Trinity, while Saint Kyril wrestled with Christological problems. Both Holy Fathers left the Church with many religious writings. Today the Church celebrates the synaxis of the two Holy Fathers. This feast was observed from ancient times by our Holy Mother Church. Saint Athanasios is individually commemorated by the Holy Church on the 2nd of Mary, which has been assigned as the day of the translation of his holy relics. Many are of the opinion that this latter date should be the main feast day, maintaining it was the day of the Saint’s repose. The shared date of the 18th of January is believed by them to be in response to the feast day of the Three HIerarchs, commemorated by the Holy Church on the 30th of January. The special feast day of Saint Kyril is commemorated by the Holy Church on the 9th of June, the day of his falling asleep in the Lord. The histories and sayings of Saints Athanasios and Kyril have been popular with many writers. Those who have written about Saint Athanasios include Saint Gregory the Theologian, Saint Symeon the Metaphrastes and other chroniclers. The biography of Saint Kyril was composed by Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite.
Saint Athanasios was born in Alexandria in 296 A.D., he had from childhood an inclination to the spiritual life. He was a Deacon with Archbishop Alexander and accompanied him to Nicaea, to the First Eceumenical Synod in 325 A.D. At this Synod, Saint Athanasios became famed for his learning, his devotion and his zeal for Orthodoxy, and contributed very greatly to the containing of the Arian heresy and strengthening of Orthodoxy. After the death of Archbishop Alexander, Saint Athanasios was chosen as Archbishop of Alexandria. He remained in his Archiepiscopal throne the whole time. He was persecuted by heretics through almost the whole of his life, particularly by the Emperors Constantius, Julian and Valens, by Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia and many others, and by the heretic Arius and his followers. He was forced to hide from his persecutors in a well, a grave, private houses and the deserts. Twice he was forced to flee to Rome. Only just before his death did he have a peaceful period as a good shepherd with his flock, which truly loved him. There are few Saints who have been so callously slandered and so criminally persecuted as Saint Athanasios. But this great soul endured all with patience for the love of Christ and at last emerged victorious from all these terrible and lengthy struggles. He often went to Saint Athony for advice and moral support, revering him as his spiritual father. He suffered great for the truth, until the Lord gave him rest in His Kingdom as His faithful servant, in the year 373 A.D.
To the question, why did the Son of God reveal Himself to the world as man and notin the shape of some other creature, the wise Saint Athanasios replied thus: "If they ask why He did not reveal Himself in the form of some greater creature: for example, the sun, the moon or stars, or as flame or space, but as man, let them know that the Lord did not come simply to reveal Himself BUT TO HEAL AND TEACH THOSE THAT SUFFER. For simply to reveal Himself and make His spectators marvel would mean to come as a show. Coming as a healer and teacher, He had not only come, but to come in such a way that the revelation should be bearable to the wretched men whom He had come to serve. No single creature has been in error in the eyes of God SAVE MAN ALONE; neither the sun nor the moon nore the sky, the stars nor water nor space has been unfaithful to its state, but, on the contrary, knowing their Creator and their King — the Logos/Word — they all live as they were created. Only human beings have turned themselves from good and changed that truth which belongs to God into deceit, as they transferred the knowledge of Him to devils and idols. What is there, therefore, unlikely in the Logo’s [Word's] (the Son of God’s) revealing Himself as man in order to save mankind?" Indeed, we ask the unbelievers of our generation: ‘In what form would you wish God to reveal Himself , if not as man?’ [Resources: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church and The Prologue from Ochrid]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 