Collect taken from the Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Collect: Almighty ever-living God, who raised up the Bishop Saint Athanasius as an outstanding champion of your Son’s divinity, mercifully grant, that, rejoicing in his teaching and his protection, we may never cease to grow in knowledge and love of you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ…
“Almighty ever-living God, who raised up the Bishop Saint Athanasius as an outstanding champion of your Son’s divinity“
– St. Athanasius fought hard before during and after the council of Nicaea to ensure that the truth about Jesus Christ was taught. God promised that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church, so we know that he will provide “champions” of the faith in those times when some hellish lie or falsehood threatens to undermine the Church’s ability to hand on the truth.
“mercifully grant, that, rejoicing in his teaching and his protection, we may never cease to grow in knowledge and love of you”
– As a Church of tradition, we rejoice in what Athanasius said and taught even 1700 years later. As a communion of saints, the Church still benefits from his heavenly intercession for our protection from evil and falsehood. We always seek to love God: as rational creatures, we cannot honestly say that we love something or someone if we do not also seek to know it ever more, so we are grateful for the teaching of the Church that enables us to know God better and therefore to love him more.
Questions & Advice: Do you really believe that Jesus Christ is fully God? Do you act like it when you enter a Church or receive the Eucharist? Do you embrace the authoritative teachings of the Church? Are you willing to defend them against false teachings? Are you will to suffer for that teaching, even from other members of the Church?
Say an extra prayer for the bishops and theologians responsible for protecting and developing the teaching of the Church; Ask God to keep them courageous and faithful. Check out the Oath of Fidelity that officials and teachers in the Church are supposed to make. If you don’t already have one, try to make a habit of studying the the faith and the history of the Church for a few minutes each day.
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| Sancte Athanasi, ora pro nobis! |