Beautiful Egypt 157 – «The Pharaohs’ Descendant» May 22, 2016

   The previous article dealt with the biography of Pope Athanasius the Apostolic, the fourth century genius. As we look into his life and character, we study the general history of the Church: for it is one of struggle and sacrifice. He is the champion who advocated the truth and sacrificed for it, struggling with the whole world for about fifty years. He faced great tribulations. However, due to his bravery, he won the entire world’s respect. Athanasius was St. Anthony’s disciple for three years. He loved his angelic life and wrote his biography. Moreover, he transferred his monastic system to the whole world. In his tribulations, St. Anthony would always leave his cell and go to Alexandria, along with some monks, to support Athanasius, especially as he faced Arians.

   St. Anthony and his teachings had a great impact on Pope Athanasius. They made him quite strong in resisting Arian ideology and preserving the correct apostolic faith. He described St. Anthony saying, “He was kind, humble, and full of wondrous grace. Though he was not unique in appearance, he was extraordinarily pure and well-mannered.”

   In 338, Pope Athanasius was harshly resisted by Eusebius of Nicomedia who had convinced the emperor to hold a council in Antioch in order to depose the pope. No sooner had this news spread, than some assaulters attacked the church of Theonas to kill the pope. But the congregation helped him flee. Subsequently, the congregation and clergy were harshly tortured. Some were imprisoned, and others put to death. Then came Gregory of Cappadocia, and intruding bishop, to Alexandria to replace Pope Athanasius. He continued to persecute the faithful. Yet, St. Anthony intervened, sending him and some officers several messages in which he rebuked them for their deeds. Likewise, St. Pachomius, the father of coenobitism, sent two pious monks to Alexandria during the Pope’s exile to strengthen the faithful. They were called Zacchaeus and Tadros. In fact, St. Pachomius had met Pope Athanasius in one of the latter’s visits to Upper Egypt.

   Pope Athanasius was on very good terms with Pope Julius, bishop of Rome. So, he spent about eighteen months there, which was quite edifying to the West as he introduced monasticism to them and laid its foundations. Thus, the Latin ideology was filled with Pope Athanasius’ theological concepts. Historians assert that Pope Athanasius is one of the greatest theologians. Likewise he is counted one of few sages lauded by both East and West. So much so, that his impact on the West surpassed that on the East. Pope Athanasius learned Latin and mastered it so well, that he was able to talk and write to Western bishops using it. Thus, he played a significant role in introducing the life of Egyptian hermits to the Romans. In fact, he made monasticism reach Germany and the entirety of Europe. Pope Athanasius impacted the West to such an extent that his relics were moved from Alexandria to Constantinople, then to Venice, France and Spain.

   Pope Athanasius was honest throughout his memorable life. He was a unique role model. In 369, a council was held in Alexandria. It was attended by ninety bishops who emphasized the importance of the correct apostolic faith. Thus, the Egyptian champion continued to preserve the Faith and serve his congregation until his departure at the age of seventy-five. He bequeathed the generations to come the correct, undeviating Faith.

Pope Athanasius’ Writings

   During his hard life in which he endured tribulations, be they exile or persecution, he wrote lots of treatises which are on top of the Theology references in the four corners of earth. Examples are:

–          Against the Heathens

–          On the Incarnation

–          Easter Letters

–          Christological Letters about Christ’s nature

–          Letters on the Holy Spirit

There are other periodical and ecumenical epistles, like:

–          Against Arians (three treatises)

–          On Dionysus of Alexandria

–          To the Bishops of Egypt and Libya

–          On Nicaea

–          The Second Defense against Arians

–          On the Councils of Arminium and Selecuia

–          Defense before Constantine

–          The Biography of Anthony the Great

–          To the Monks

–          To Ammon

–          The exegesis: Letter to Marcellinus on the Explanation of the Psalms

–          Explications of the Bible

–          Homilies on: Christ’s Passion and Crucifixion and “Everything was delivered to Me…”

–          Coptic Letters to Virgins

–          Miscellaneous

   In the end of the eighteenth century A.D., the Church was keen on translating Pope Athanasius’ writings from Greek to Arabic, after chief Girgis al-Gohary had offered one shekel of gold (120 shekels of silver) for translating each treatise written by the saintly Pope.

   Pope Athanasius cared about the unity of the Church. The moment he felt that a conflict had broken out between the Eastern and Western Church on “wording” issues, he hurried to reconcile them, despite his old age and the accumulation of the pains of exile and hardships. It was then said that, “The two churches argued so much on wording that they almost broke up. When he saw that such issues required intervention, saintly Athanasius would never give space to false schism. So, he assembled the two teams, spoke to them gently, explaining every single matter meticulously.”

   Likewise, Pope Athanasius reconciled hermits and monks. St. Gregory of Nazianzus asserts that, “St. Athanasius was a peace maker, and an ambassador of good, just like Jesus Christ.” Moreover, he accepted the repentance of the Arians who came seeking the return to the Church with deep remorse.

Athanasius was praised as follows:

   This champion is, “a true Egyptian, a biological descendant of the Pharaohs, yet a spiritual son of the Apostles and disciple of Jesus Christ. Athanasius made Egypt proud and accomplished his great mission with so immense a success that he has always amazed the historians of the world.”

Whoever knows or reads Athanasius praises him:

St. Gregory of Nazianzus says, “As I praise Athanasius, I praise virtue.”

   St. Basil says, “This is the Church’s Samuel. He is the good judge who reconciled the past and present generations. Likewise, he is the adept physician who was capable of diagnosing the Church’s ailments and curing them.”

Abba Theodoris called him the Great Pillar

John of Damascus called him the cornerstone in God’s Church.

   “Nobody was as humble as St. Athanasius. He was kind and decent. Everybody could reach him. He was also charitable. His conversations were witty and attractive. His rebuke was never bitter. Whenever he praised anybody, he would entice him to seek perfection. Thus, he was able to strike a balance between praise and rebuke,” writes St. Gregory of Nazianzus in the Catholic Synaxarium

What a lovely story! Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center