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H.H. Pope Shenouda III, 1989 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.  Being that this week is the Week of Prayer, I would like to speak to you about Prayer. Prayer according to its simplest meaning is a dialogue with God. But is it a dialogue of the tongue or that of the heart? Doubtless it is a dialogue of the heart. For this reason, the Lord Christ rebuked those who pray with their lips only, saying: “these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8).  Thus, prayer is not merely words. Nor is it merely recitations or memorized utterances. But prayer is firstly the longing for God [] as David the Prophet says: “my soul longs for you, O God, as a thirsty land longs for water” (Psalms 143:6). And he also says: “O God, you are my God, my soul thirsts for you” (Psalms 63:1). And he says again: “as the deer longs” — the male deer which gallops quickly and tires [as a result] — “as the deer longs for the fountains of water, so my soul longs for You, O God.” (Psalms 42:1) The more your soul longs for God, and speaks to Him as a result of this longing, the more you feel that you are speaking to Him from your heart and benefit from prayer. [] For prayer is not merely a longing, but it is a longing that springs forth from love. Thus prayer begins firstly in the heart as love, is then elevated to the mind as thought, and finally the tongue utters it as word. But it is in the first instance love. Love! [David] tells Him, “Oh how beloved is your name, O Lord, for it is my meditation all the day” (Psalms 119:97). Out of his love for God, the name of God is on his tongue and mind all day long in meditation. He also says to Him, “in your name I will lift up my hands; my soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods” (Psalms 63:4-5).  So prayer is satisfaction for the soul. Just as the flesh is nourished by food, so also the soul is nourished by being in the presence of God, and by conversing with God, and with the connection of the heart with our Lord. This is nourishment for the soul. If you pray and do not feel satisfied, then you are not truly praying. Prayer, as I have said, is love. Just as a droplet of water journeys until it pours into the great sea and unites with it, so also does the heart of man journey so as to unite with the heart of God and become joined to Him. And the first matter [here] is prayer. For this reason, prayer was said to be a golden bridge connecting the creature to the Creator. [] It was also said that prayer is likened to the ladder of Jacob which connected earth and heaven. Prayer was also said to be the language of the angels, or the praise of the angels.  Imagine — the Seraphim were standing before the throne of God saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth” (Isaiah 6:3), being satisfied with this love and their souls being satiated by it. This is prayer. Believe me, many claim that they converse with God while in fact they do not pray. They do not pray because they merely utter words without any feeling or emotion.  For this reason, prayer is connectedness [1] with God. [] In prayer you find a connection between yourself and God. You connect with God. As in the Divine Liturgy when we say, “stand [earnestly].” [2] You develop a connection between yourself and God such that you experience being in the presence of God. [] This is prayer. It is not mere words. You experience the presence of God and being with God, and the connection between you both.  Some think prayer to be words they utter or beautiful phrases they say. It is not so. I will give you an example. You see these lights — there are small bulbs and a large spotlight [] — imagine you have incredibly powerful lightbulbs — a bulb with the power of many volts — but it has no electric current running through it. What would be the benefit of this lightbulb to you? What is the benefit of a powerful lightbulb if the electric current is absent from it? In your prayers, you must feel this current running through your veins.  You feel pleasure in being with God [] so that even when you try to stop praying or cease from prayer, you find it difficult to do so. One stands to pray, and every time he tries to conclude the prayer, he says: “Lord let me spend some more time with You… [] a few more minutes… let me have some more time.” He is unable to leave Him! [] As it says in the Song of Songs, “I held him and would not let him go” (3:4). I can’t leave him! This is prayer.  This sort of prayer purifies the heart, [] because man, when he finds himself in the presence of God, is purified thereby. Even if a sinful thought comes to him, he is ashamed of it, saying: “My thoughts were just with God, how can I now mingle it with evil?” If any external warfare comes to him, you find him impervious to it, fortified by the inner purity which he obtains from prayer.  Deep prayer leads man to renounce the entire world, because after he finds himself in the presence of God, everything else becomes trivial in his eyes. For this reason, the Spiritual Elder [3] said: “the love of God alienated me” — that is, rendered me a stranger — “from mankind and the things of mankind.”  St. John of Assiut was once asked, “what is pure prayer?” He told them “it is death to the world,” meaning when one is praying, this world is wholly absent from his mind; because of his preoccupation with God, he no longer feels the present world.  Prayer is an honor for man — a great honor, for him to speak with God. There are many who occupy prestigious positions with whom you cannot speak. But God, out of His humility, permits you to speak with Him, even while He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and Creator of all. Thus, prayer is an honor with respect to man, and humility with respect to God. Of His humility He communicates with us. [] Do not dare to think that when you pray, you give to God anything at all — time, words. No. In prayer you receive and do not give. Just as we say to God in the Divine Liturgy, “You are not in need my worship, but rather I am in need of Your Lordship.” You need  to be found with God. You need  to speak with Him. You need  to receive from His love.  Imagine, regarding the pleasure of prayer, that David, when he prayed his psalms [] did not find the flute sufficient. We read in history that David had a large musical ensemble — a substantial chorus — one with a flute and one with a harp and another with an oud and another with stringed instruments and another with timbrels and another with cymbals and another with a trumpet — all of the musical instruments in his day, and sometimes the number would reach seventy people! And he prayed his psalms with the wondrous pleasure of music, and told them “Selah,” meaning “let us stop here and change the melody.” [] For this reason, sometimes prayer is a song sung by the soul to God. Imagine standing and singing to God! Where does this singing come from? For this reason he says, “sing to the Lord a new song” (Psalms 96:1). [] A song! One who rejoices in another — who loves another — and sings to Him. And God rejoices with this heart — this musical heart, in which one does not pluck the strings of the oud, but instead the strings of his heart, so that the words that spring from it are a beautiful song in the hearing of God.  See Miriam the Prophetess, the sister of Moses! She held the timbrel in her hand and sang to God! [] And we, do we not sing? We certainly sing! From this we see that our hymns are prayer. See the words, “Agios, Agios, Agios, Holy, Holy, Holy.” In joyful times we sing “Agios” to Him in a joyful hymn, and with melisma. And in mournful times, in the Passion Week, we sing “Agios” to Him in a mournful tone. And in Ⲕⲟⲓⲁϩⲕ we say it in a different way. And every time we say “Holy,” we say it to Him in a different way. The psalmody, is it not a prayer? But it is a song we sing to the Lord. We stand before God singing, rejoicing — one rejoicing greatly in God, and, seeing Him, sings for joy! []  For this reason we find praises — spiritual songs. The Bible says, “with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in your hearts to God” (Ephesians 5:19). [] Indeed, singing always springs forth from inner feeling. And we stand before God singing always: people rejoicing in God and singing to Him. How? When we come to read the gospel, we say it in a melody in the Church; when we come to read the Psalm, we sing it to Him. We have Psalms which, when the chanter stands to chant them, he says them with the fullness of love in his heart before God.  And the prayers and hymns of the Divine Liturgy are sung. For this reason, I am uncomfortable with those who rush through the Liturgy in a few minutes and without care for its hymns. No singing! What will God say to such people? “Is there no feeling? Do the strings of your heart not move?” In every word we say in the Liturgy, we sing. We sing before God, saying to Him: “Lord I am overjoyed in You [] and will sing to you all day and night!”  Long ago, each Psalm had its own hymn, and they said it in chant. Just like the hymns we have in the Second, Third, and Fourth ϩⲱⲥ. These are all Psalms. Here is the heart that prays.  But for one to pray with his tongue while his mind wanders in other things, where is the connection between him and God? Where is the dialogue between him and God? What is more, where is the etiquette of discussion between him and God? Do you speak to God while you are distracted, or while your senses are distracted; praying while looking here and there?  From here, prayer requires certain qualities so that it may be considered an acceptable prayer before God. There are prayers that are acceptable and those that are not.  To offer an acceptable prayer before God, the first point is to pray with understanding. While speaking, you understand the meaning of each word. You say, “Our Father who art in Heaven,” and every word is understood and has its depth, and is uttered in harmony between the tongue and the mind and the heart and the spirit and the flesh and the whole person. For this reason, you find in our hymns: “my heart and my tongue praise the Trinity” — “ⲡⲁϩⲏⲧ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡⲁⲗⲁⲥ.” []  Prayer does not only involve the tongue. Your tongue speaks, while your mind is occupied with the same words, while your heart experiences the same feeling, while your spirit calls to the Lord. And your body also participates: in kneeling with meekness, prostrating, lifting up your hands, your eyes directed upwards. In all of this, your body participates with your spirit. Thus, prayer encompasses the whole person: mind, heart, spirit, flesh, and tongue together.  For this reason, the one who prays often closes his eyes so as not to be distracted by or think about whatever is in front of him. He does not feel [] what happens around him. He leaves everything and devotes himself to God.  Prayer with understanding denotes meaning every word you say. For example, when you say to Him, “Thy kingdom come,” your mind should contemplate the meaning of the kingdom of God, how His kingdom rules over your heart, how His kingdom may spread among the people, how His kingdom may spread among those nations who do not yet know Him, how His kingdom may rule over the mind and heart and flesh and spirit, how His kingdom is the longing for the eternal kingdom. And you say the word “kingdom” as you find yourself entering into the deepest depths of this kingdom. Meaning every word; praying with understanding.  And if you pray with understanding, you will find that you also pray with concentration. [] Your mind will be occupied with the words, without deviation of thought or distraction. You will find yourself concentrating on the words and their meanings. You will pray with understanding, with concentration, and with depth, as David says, “out of the depths I have cried to You O Lord” (Psalms 130:1). Out of the depths! Out of the depths of my heart. Out of the depths of my mind. Out of the depths of my need for You. Out of the depths of my desires. Out of the depths in which I have fallen, I am lifted up to You and say: “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord” (Psalms 130.1). You are in my inner depths, and I will to also reach Your depths.  The one who prays such prayer, which is with love and understanding, will necessarily also pray fervently. Because he pours himself out before God. See Hannah, who became Samuel’s mother. The Bible says that she “prayed a prayer” (1 Samuel 1.9-10). [] What does this mean? It was not just any prayer! [] She prayed a prayer which bore all the fullness of the meaning of the word. Her lips merely moved, as her heart was ablaze for God. To the point that Eli the Priest thought her to be drunk. Because she poured herself out as an offering before God. Imagine the term “pouring” himself out; a soul being “poured” out before God. I cannot find in the Arabic language words sufficient to express how one pours himself out, but you understand it. One who pours himself out before God. His soul is wrung out and he pours it into the hearing and heart of God, telling Him, “my very self is poured out before You.”  He who pours himself out before God does not have any awareness of his surroundings. If he is conscious of his surroundings, then his mind has become distracted and he is not poured out before God. The fervency of his prayer may be evident in his language, in his eyes, in his tears — from the extent of the fervency within him — in his love. He prays! You feel that this person prays.  You may find two priests standing before the altar praying the Divine Liturgy, but you feel that one is praying and one is not. He is not praying, he is only saying  the Liturgy. You may find two chanting a spiritual song, but only one chanting it from the depths of his heart so that you feel that he truly chants it, while for the other it is mere words. Words and musical melodies without spirit. [] She “prayed a prayer.” She poured herself out before God. Hannah. I read this very expression also concerning Elijah the Prophet in the fifth chapter of the Epistle of our teacher James. He says: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed a prayer that the heavens would not rain” (James 5:17). “Prayed a prayer” means not just any words. “Prayer” here means true prayer.  One might stand for fifteen minutes speaking, and the angels would say, “why isn’t this fellow praying?” You might say, “You see him speaking!” And they would say, “these are just words. There’s no prayer. It is only words but not prayer.” But there is another sort of person — when he stands up for prayer, you find that the twenty four priests from the Book of Revelation take the golden censers in their hands and retrieve the prayer and take it up with them ( see  Revelation 8:3). If you ask one of them why, he would say, “this is a prayer, I can’t leave it. I must store it in my golden censer and lift it up to God as a fragrance of incense.” The angels sitting in heaven would smell the sweet aroma of the incense coming from earth and ask, “what is this beautiful fragrance of incense?” And they would be told, “Oh, so and so is praying.” []  For this reason, just as God rejoices in our prayer, so also do the angels. They participate with us. [] They empower us in prayer, give us spirit, and take our prayers and ascend with them. Just as it was written about Jacob’s ladder, that there were angels ascending and descending on it ( see  Genesis 28:12). Ascending with the prayers from the earth, and descending with God’s response to them. The angels are always ascending and descending with our prayers.  The angels in heaven, when they hear someone praying, say to one another: “come, we have work today!” What is that work? “We will take [the prayers] and ascend and descend and connect heaven and earth!” Hence why it is said that prayer shakes the heavens. Not the earth. The heavens. The heavenly hosts. When a saint stands for prayer, they stand for prayer with him, participating with him, feeling that he is one of them — that he is one of the earthly angels from among the heavenly humans. Just like the angels. Or is prayer mere words? Does every person who says “I am praying” truly pray? No! What does “prayed a prayer” mean? It means not just any words. I would that you understand what prayer is and how to pray.  Do you realize that if we pray for oneness with this spirit, it would be accomplished immediately? Why? Because then souls are [truly] standing before God. God — what can I say, Lord? Just as He says in the Psalms, to the soul that pours itself out before Him in prayer, “turn your eyes from me, for they have overcome me” (Song of Solomon 6:5). [4] God says, “enough, I can’t withstand it any longer. Whatever you want I will give you. Enough.” How could God tell someone, “for your eyes have overcome me?” What is this [wonder]. In language I do not know an interpretation, but in the spirit we may understand its meaning. As it was said, “God was overcome by His compassion.” [5] Out of His love. He sees before Him a person who has been transformed into an angel on earth, speaking with Him in truth.  When God encounters hundreds of people, one of whom speaks to Him with a wandering mind, and another speaks to Him and then runs away, and another speaks to Him for a short while and then says “enough, I am bored of prayer,” and then finds one steadfast and speaking to Him with all love, He says “I can’t leave this person.” So what does He do? He grants that the Holy Spirit intercede for him with unutterable expressions, so that he is no longer praying but the Holy Spirit works in him and gives him the fervency ( see  Galatians 4:6). [] Just like one who says “heat up the car so it can run.” The Holy Spirit “heats up this car,” so it can run and ascend to the heavens.  There are those who have specialized in prayer. They have become specialists in prayer. Their work is prayer, such as the monks and solitaries and hermits. And there are those on earth who give to God some of their time, and there are those who give to God the leftovers of their time, and there are those who say to God, “go away for now and when it is more convenient I will call for you again,” as the [procurator, Felix,] told Paul (Acts 24:25).  For prayer to be accepted before God, it must also be offered with humility and lowliness of heart. Humility. Our Lord gave us an example in the prayer of the Pharisee and that of the tax collector. The prayer of the tax collector was accepted because it was offered with a humble heart, but the prayer of the Pharisee was not accepted. Not every prayer is accepted; the one who humbles himself before God[, that one’s prayer is accepted]. For this reason, you find some who speak to God with an unbefitting boldness, whereas we bow our heads and prostrate on the ground and sign the cross and ask Him to “make us worthy to say ‘Our Father.’” [] “I am not worthy to stand before You. Who am I? ‘I am a worm and not a man’ (Psalms 22:6), as David says. Who am I to put myself between the angels and archangels and the Seraphim and Cherubim to speak to You? Who am I? I am but dust! ‘I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes,’ (Genesis 18:27),” as Abraham the Father of Fathers said. For this reason the one who prays with humility prays with meekness.  One might say, “I am a son, and I have my rights as a son.” What rights are you speaking of, beloved? Are we discussing rights? Tell Him, “Lord, I am unworthy of anything. ‘I am unworthy to be called Your son’ (Luke 15:19). It is true that You have called me a son out of Your love, but I have not abided as a son. I am utterly cast down. How can I speak to You?” With lowliness of heart, one prostrates, one kneels, one lifts up his hands, and begins a beginning that evidences his humility before God. It is true that God called you a son. But does His calling you a son lead you to lose your meekness or respect for Him, or to pray with a prideful heart? All of this is unfitting. Do you need more [evidence] than the Cherubim and Seraphim? They stand before God praying. How? “With two wings they cover their faces, and with two they cover their feet” (Isaiah 6:2). They stand ashamed before God, covering their faces for their inability to look toward the great glory of God. [] For this reason, when the priest prays the Reconciliation Prayer in the Divine Liturgy, he holds a handkerchief [over his eyes], and so does the deacon across from him. Why? For their inability to lift their eyes toward God; ashamed before God and the divine glory, so they cover their eyes from the glory of God. But there is another who holds the handkerchief without understanding its meaning, [saying] “well, this is what they taught us in church.” As for the person who stands before God in meekness and lowliness of heart, God does not forget his lowliness of heart. He truly prays. He recognizes before Whom he stands. He is standing before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. See Moses, after he spent some time with Him, how his face was so radiant that the people could not look to him when he came down [from the mountain]. And that only because he spent a little time with Him. John the Beloved, who leaned on His chest, when God appeared to him in the Book of Revelation, said, “I fell at his feet as one dead” (Revelation 1:17). Why? For the greatness of God.  Your love for God and favor with Him should not lead you to lose your meekness before God. Your favor [with Him] might otherwise lead you to merely say words, like the one who prays while seated at mealtime. “Why are you sitting, brother? To Whom are you speaking?” He says, “I’m sitting to eat.” Are you sitting to eat or sitting to pray? Whenever I am in a foreign country and they ask me to pray before eating, I stand and they all follow suit. They are used to praying over the meal while seated. Is there no respect when speaking to God? Stand before Him with meekness. Tell Him, “thank you Lord for granting me food for my body. Grant me also food for my spirit.” And pray from your heart.  Many in the church pray while seated, and if someone tells one to stand, he says, “stand? You forget that we’re in the twentieth century, the age of technology, which exhausts the flesh and robs us of our energy. Before, the people were strong and could stand, but now the people are tired.” Remain as you are, O tired one, and pray prayers that are as tired as you, which do not ascend to the heights. When you stand to pray while tired, God will grant you the strength and energy to stand, because as you give, so you receive, and you receive what you give and say to Him, “of Your own we have given You” (1 Chronicles 29:14). Prayer needs meekness; to stand before God meekly. But for the one who stands before God while his legs are moving, his hands are moving, his eyes are looking around, as if he is praying with a wind-up, this is not prayer. If this one stands in the army, and they tell him to stand still, he would. If one stands still before an officer or a sergeant, how much more should he do so before God? Pray with meekness, pray with concentration, pray with respect and reverence before God.  Pray also with faith. He says, “whatever you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith” (Mark 11:24). Many times one prays but does not believe that what he asks will happen. He just prays to fulfill the obligation. But without faith. We need people to pray with faith — faith that he stands before God, and that God will respond, and that God will respond with whatever is good, regardless of the outcome. [] Prayer with persistence, never tiring. This is prayer. [] Prayer before God with spirit and thought, with love and feeling, and with concentration. This is all regarding the depth of prayer.  The one who experiences the beauty and tastes the sweetness of prayer loves to pray at all times. He loves that his mind is preoccupied with God at all times. He never tires from prayer. He does not say: “I don’t have time.” How do you not have time? As I have said to some, “do you not have time? See David the Prophet. He was a king and commander in chief of the army and led the people and had a large family and difficult circumstances, but regardless, he prayed evening and morning and at noontime” ( see Psalms 55:17). And he told Him, “seven times every day I do I praise You for your righteous judgments” (Psalms 119:164). Only during the day? He also told him, “I remembered you on my bed,” (Psalms 63:6), when he came to sleep, and “in the morning watches [I sang to you]” (Psalm 5:3), [] and “my eyes stay open through the watches of the night that I might meditate on your word” (Psalms 119:148), [and] “at midnight I arise to praise You for your righteous judgments” (Psalms 119.62). And after all this, he tells Him: “O God, you are my God, early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for you…” (Psalms 63:1). After all this, your soul [still] thirsts for Him?  This is the one who wants to pray. He does not tire from prayer, he is patient, he prays with long-suffering, and whenever Satan says “enough,” he tells him, “depart from me, you have no business with me. This is between me and God.” [] — [1] Arabic: سلاه [2] lit. “stand intently/earnestly;” Arabic: نقف بإتصال [3] i.e. John of Dalyatha [4] In instances such as this, when His Holiness misremembers the source of a verse or passage, it is important to note that His Holiness, in his usual manner, delivers the majority of his homily from memory and without much, if any, reference to written materials). [5] See  Monday Ⲑⲉⲟⲧⲟⲕⲓⲁ, Fifth Part — To hear the sermon by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in its original Arabic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIrTdvbo1Jg (Starting at 45:05 in the video)

Series Introduction On an unassuming day in late May of the year 325 A.D., in the lakeside city of Nicaea, 318 [1] bishops from all across the Roman Empire came together at the invitation of the Emperor in what would become one of the most venerated and consequential events in Christian history. Their convocation, necessitated by novel — and yet, upon closer examination, not entirely original — doctrinal contentions maintained by a popular and elderly Alexandrian presbyter, Arius, along with his supporters and fellow heretics, carried the potential for either vindication of the Faith delivered by Christ “once for all to the saints,” [2] or formal acceptance by the Church of an entirely heretical doctrinal framework.  Despite the gravity of the Council of Nicaea, the first “ecumenical” [3] council in the Church’s history, and its central role in the eventual triumph of Orthodoxy over what amounted to a threatening and popularly attractive deviant dogmatic system, its historical background, doctrinal concerns, and subsequent legacy remain until today relatively obscure and unfamiliar to the average Christian. Indeed, besides perhaps limited superficial awareness of the occurrence of this council, and potentially also an association of the great Saint Athanasius with it, if even that, the ordinary believer is — and this is a disheartening and lamentable fact — woefully unaware of its monumental significance.  In our humble effort to contribute to remedying the foregoing, especially on this 1700th anniversary of the Council, by providing a serviceable introduction to its history, import, and legacy, we will begin by providing an overview of the “makings,” character, and life of Saint Athanasius the Apostolic, whose theological acumen and spiritual prodigiousness became renowned even from a young age and proved timely — even divinely-prepared — for the ecclesial contentions of his lifetime. Abba Athanasius emerges from the doctrinal battlegrounds of the Nicene era as the victorious defender of Orthodox Christianity, one may add at great personal cost [4] and not without the invaluable assistance and support of several other faithful, pious, and theologically adept believers from among both the clergy and the laity, and his unshakeable personality, deep piety, and heartfelt defense of his  Faith — rather than some theoretical set of impersonal dogmatic tenets — deserve careful attention, if only for the sake of spiritual edification and inspiration to piety and doctrinal concern. Having so introduced Athanasius, albeit in necessarily cursory fashion, we will proceed to highlight the theological, social, and ecclesial backgrounds and contexts that underpinned the subject theological dispute, along with a discussion of the catalyst behind it, Arius of Alexandria, his dogmatic ideas which later came to be collectively known as Arianism, along with its many variants, and his repeated clashes with the Alexandrian Church between 313 and 325 A.D. in the lead-up to the Council. Finally, we will dedicate the third entry of our series to a discussion of the aftermath of the Council, especially the chaotic and volatile period that lasted until approximately 381 A.D. and caused immense suffering to both the Church generally and Athanasius and his fellow supporters and defenders of Nicaea specifically.  It is our hope that by God’s grace, this limited series will serve as a helpful introductory foray into the contentious world of fourth-century Christianity, and an inspiring and convicting opportunity for readers to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation not only of Saint Athanasius and his defense of the Faith against Arianism, but also of the truly nuanced and consequential nature of theological debate and the immense sacrifice the Fathers of the Church offered, due to their unwavering faithfulness, in order to preserve and deliver the Faith they had received and which they were entrusted by the Lord to uphold, proclaim, and transmit in His Church.    The Makings and Character of Saint Athanasius the Apostolic It would doubtless be remiss, for our purposes, to commence our discussion of the Council of Nicaea and the Arian Controversy without first examining the makings and character of the man who emerged from that unenviable period as the Champion of Orthodoxy — Saint Athanasius the Apostolic. It would, without exaggeration, be impossible to either adequately capture the magnitude of the Church’s triumph over Arianism — which at one point had enamored and captivated almost the whole of Christendom — or elicit from this unfortunate period of the Church’s history perhaps any modicum of spiritual edification without properly understanding, inasmuch as we are able, the man who, against all odds and in opposition to, almost literally, the whole word, possessed the clarity of mind and soundness of understanding to be able to properly comprehend and synthesize what had been handed down in the Church from the beginning, had undergone the requisite education and training to be able to distinguish nuanced deviations from sound doctrine and respond to them clearly and forcefully, and stood firm, despite great personal loss, against a popular, attractive, and politically connected heresy. Indeed, to understand and appreciate the Nicene victory over Arianism, one must first understand and appreciate Athanasius.  Athanasius was born to a pious and wealthy Egyptian Christian family in or around 298 A.D. He was baptized in his infancy, and it was his family that planted within him the seed of truth, nourished him in the Christian life, and facilitated the earliest and most important years of his physical, spiritual, and intellectual development. While we know little about his parents from his writings, we are certain that they routinely attended the liturgical services of the Church, bringing with them little Athanasius. He routinely attended Divine Liturgies, baptisms, weddings, and all other services in the Church, and, as we will see shortly, he was incredibly attentive during these, soaking in the prayers, hymns, readings, and ecclesial atmosphere since his infancy. It was therefore his family that constituted the first formative force that influenced his life, character, and thought.  The liturgical experience, to which he was accustomed and in which he was raised, left an indelible mark on the life of our saint. It is clear from the historical data that Athanasius was quite familiar since a young age with the liturgical prayers of the Church. For instance, a famous story recorded about him by several early Christian historians tells that one day, Pope Alexander spotted young Athanasius playing with his friends by the seashore in Alexandria. As he watched them play, he recognized that they were acting out the liturgy of baptism, and so when he had called them over and investigated their play, he discovered that Athanasius, who fulfilled the role of the bishop in the act, conducted the rite precisely and with great enthusiasm and reverence. [5] But how could Athanasius do so without reference to the liturgical rubrics or texts unless he had memorized the prayer and rite of baptism, and how could he have done so if he had not already, despite his young age, attended many baptisms and paid close attention to and participated in the celebration? Athanasius did not abandon this liturgical mode of life as he grew; even after he became patriarch, he practiced the liturgical life faithfully, competently, and with great love and care. This is easily appreciated, for instance, in his recounting that, after he had already become the bishop of Alexandria, he was once in the church praying the Midnight Praises (Tasbeha), when at the time of the Second Canticle (Ϩⲱⲥ), more than five thousand guards seized upon the church to arrest him. As a faithful shepherd, Athanasius insisted that all those present first be permitted to depart unharmed; when all had departed, the guards entered the church to find it empty, with even Athanasius having managed to secretly flee. [6] All throughout his life, Athanasius was keen to observe the liturgical worship of his beloved Church, and the influence of that liturgical experience is clearly perceptible in the stories about him as well as his own writings. It suffices to read his beautiful Letter to Marcellinus  on the Psalms to see how deeply and lovingly Athanasius approached the life of prayer and what great familiarity and facility he had with the Psalter, which was, of course, a main liturgical book both in the practice of the Egyptian churches and among the monastics in his day.  Beyond liturgical worship, Athanasius was deeply influenced by the persecution that arose in his early youth. From the time that he was a young boy until his mid-teens, Athanasius lived through the so-called Diocletianic Persecution, which lasted from 303 A.D. until 313 A.D. Thus, Athanasius experienced the most severe era of early Christian persecution from when he was about five years old until he was about fifteen. He likely prayed in hiding along with his fellow believers during these years; perhaps he, like many other Christians, was forced to flee his home along with his family; and he saw at least some among his teachers, relatives, and friends martyred for the sake of Christ. [7] This experience, particularly during these formative years, left a profound mark on his spirituality, intellectual framework, and theological understanding, so much so that when writing his first great treatise, Against the Heathen  and On the Incarnation , only a few years after the persecution ended — that is, when he was only about 18 or 20 years old — Athanasius considers as among the most powerful witnesses to the truth of the resurrection of our Lord, besides the purity and chastity of young Christian men and women, which he undoubtedly practiced and saw among his friends and fellow believers in his young age, the courage and peace of the men and women who went with joy to their martyrdom. [8] Had he not seen such men and women with his own eyes, or been educated by, or perhaps even related to, some of them, he would not have been able to speak with such force and in so moving a way about them, and he might not have appreciated the convicting power of their witness or its implications when understood in light of the sound Faith of Christ. And so Athanasius, having seen martyrdom up close and personally, was able to hold fast to the truth of Christ when faced with a new form of persecution and personal suffering for His sake.  In addition to his upbringing by pious parents, liturgical practice, and experience of the Great Persecution, Athanasius was deeply influenced by his discipleship — to the renowned monastic elders of his day and to Pope Alexander himself — and especially the ascetical life with which he had through that discipleship been introduced and become quite accustomed.  He enjoyed a close personal relationship with the great Abba Antony, even being within his inner circle and “pouring water on his hands,” [9] a sign of personal trust and close discipleship. He spent so much time with Antony, in fact, that when he was asked to write the account of that saint’s life, he was able to prepare his great work, The Life of Antony , predominantly from memory, but for supportive reliance on other disciples of Antony who had perhaps spent more time with him or had been present for events in his life for which Athanasius had been absent. [10] And Abba Antony, of course, deeply respected and loved his disciple Athanasius, to the point of leaving the inner mountain and traveling to Alexandria at the request of Athanasius and the other “bishops and all the brethren” to assist them in their opposition to Arianism [11] — one of only two or three times that Antony left the desert to visit the city after undertaking the monastic life — and bequeathing to him one of the only two garments he owned at the time of his departure. [12] Besides Antony, Athanasius was also well acquainted with Abba Pachomius, seeking even to ordain him to the presbytery, which ordination Pachomius famously refused by going into hiding until Athanasius agreed not to move forward with it. [13] And certainly Athanasius was closely acquainted and associated with many great monastics in his day, visiting the monasteries in a pastoral capacity, ordaining bishops from among the monks — for the first time in Christian history — in order to assist him, given their renowned theological training and intellectual prowess, in opposing Arianism and defending the Faith of Nicaea, and even being able to take refuge among the monks of the Egyptian desert during his third and fourth (of five) exiles, receiving during those exiles news of ongoing events and communicating with his flock through loyal and skilled messengers acting within an established and effective system of monastic communication. Of course, his discipleship to the great Pope Alexander, his predecessor in the papacy, is also well known. It was that patriarch who first “discovered” Athanasius, as mentioned above, and who facilitated his theological education in the School of Alexandria, ordained him when he was still in his early twenties to the diaconate due to his rare brilliance, spiritual and academic excellence, piety of life, and sincerity in discipleship, and granted him to accompany him to the great Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., and to participate there in defending the Faith against the Arians.  In this manner, Athanasius was well-discipled — to spiritually faithful and theologically competent teachers and elders — and embodied the spirit of sound discipleship, and was therefore able to deliver the true faith and spirit of Christ to his own disciples and to the following generation of believers, both due to his personal receipt of that doctrine and spirit from those who held fast to, properly understood, and lived according to it and, as we will now see, also through his formal education and theological training.  Beyond the aforementioned factors, and in tandem with them, Athanasius was influenced by his academic and theological training and study. As previously noted, Pope Alexander ensured that the young Athanasius obtained the highest caliber of education in his day, and in the information known of Athanasius’ life prior to his encountering Pope Alexander, it is likewise clear that his own parents emphasized his education in their own right when he was a young boy. Athanasius therefore benefitted greatly from a sound, well-rounded education, and was thus well trained in Greek philosophy, rhetoric, logic, grammar, literature, Greco-Roman religion, and other disciplines. It was this training, along with his mastery of the Scriptures, that ultimately proved most useful to him, enabling him to recognize, understand, and refute Arius’ doctrinal framework and theological misunderstandings, and persuade the believers of the truth and reasonableness of Orthodoxy, with not only scriptural arguments, but also by using philosophy, reason, and other pertinent disciplines. [14] The foregoing influences, great and impactful as they were in the life of the great defender of Orthodoxy, were, it must be said, insufficient on their own to produce the spiritually, intellectually, and doctrinally imposing, albeit physically unimpressive, Athanasius. Indeed, what bound these together and produced in Athanasius the unique, inspiring, and indefatigable heart, mind and spirit he possessed throughout his life were none other than, first, a profound knowledge and mastery of the Scriptures, and, second, an extraordinary and inextinguishable love for Christ.  Athanasius was renowned for and deeply influenced by an encyclopedic knowledge of the Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers who preceded him. He memorized the Scriptures, like many of the saints from the early Church until today, and this mastery of the Scriptures was key to his ability to correct and refute the Arians, since they relied on many verses and passages from the Scriptures, but taken out of context, interpreted inconsistently and disharmoniously with the patristic tradition, and used manipulatively — eisegetically  — to further their arguments and agendas. Athanasius’ scriptural knowledge and understanding of the work of the saints and biblical interpreters who came before him — along with his faithful spirit — enabled him to properly understand the verses utilized by the Arians, correct, expose, and masterfully counter their manipulative and unfaithful usage of them, and thereby safeguard the believers from his time until today from the error of that ignominious heresy.  Meanwhile, an illimitable and deeply personal love of Christ and the Church — a palpable piety and sincere theological   humility  — was perhaps the central driving force behind Athanasius’ impassioned, lifelong commitment to and defense of the Nicene cause and the extermination of Arianism. As one scholar summarized, “[i]t was not as a theologian, but as a believing soul in need of a Saviour, that Athanasius approached the mystery of Christ.” [15] And as another beautifully expressed: “Athanasius was on fire with the love of Christ . . . His love of Christ is the key to his whole life and also to his writings.” [16] Athanasius was therefore not, as some have come to conceive of theology, an academic or speculative theologian to whom matters of doctrine were objects of mere intellectual interest and theoretical contemplation. Rather, he was, in every respect, a “great Christian pastor” [17] to whom “Christianity is not a dead system of doctrine and statements of faith, but living faith in Jesus Christ.” [18] And so, despite the great difficulties he suffered at the hands of the Arians and their political and religious supporters, “[t]he glory of God and the welfare of the Church absorbed him fully at all times.” [19] The influences in the life, understanding, and character of this great saint — of which we have here spoken in cursory fashion and with words that of necessity fall short of conveying the full sense of his nobility and splendor — must be understood collectively. They worked together in him both to render him the saint that he became, by God’s grace and his own uncompromising conviction to the life with God until the last breath, and to enable him to defend the Faith of Christ and to overcome the monstrous threat of Arianism — one that could have eliminated sound Orthodoxy from the world entirely. As one considers Abba Athanasius, the insufficiency of words in adequately conveying to the reader even a glimpse of his greatness becomes obvious. And yet, despite that inadequacy, through them one immediately recognizes in him an awe-inspiring and decisive resoluteness worthy of wholehearted imitation. [20] He was in every respect human — having his share of flaws, weaknesses, and biases, as with any other person, but with a dynamic, enthusiastic, and active personality distinguished by deep piety, singularity of purpose, clarity of thought, unmistakable loyalty, uncompromisable dignity, infectious joy, and a lighthearted sense of humor. It was this Athanasius who, by God’s grace, would rise to the occasion of refuting and resisting Arius and his fellow heretics — from whom, as will be seen, there emerged in Athanasius’ lifetime several groups divided along various theological lines — and to whom Orthodox Christianity would forever be indebted as perhaps its greatest defender.  — [1] Evagrius, Ecclesiastical History  3.31; Athanasius, Epistle to the African Bishops ; Hilarius, Contra Constantium ; Jerome, Chronicon ; Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History 10.1. [2] Jude 3. [3] That is, universal, or having representation from, and applicability to, the entire [Christian] world ( oikoumene ).  [4] See , e.g. , Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History  10.15: “But he had such struggles to undergo in the church for the integrity of the faith that the following passage seems to have been written about him too: ‘I will show him how much he will have to suffer for my name.’ For the whole world conspired to persecute him and the princes of the earth were moved, nations, kingdoms, and armies gathered against him. But he guarded that divine utterance which runs: ‘If camps are set up against me, my heart will not fear, if battle is waged against me, in him will I hope.’ But because his deeds are so outstanding that their greatness does not allow me to omit any of them, yet their number compels me to pass over very many, and thus my mind is troubled by uncertainty, unable to decide which to keep and which to pass over. We shall therefore relate a few of the pertinent matters, leaving the rest to be told by his fame, which will, however, doubtless find itself recounting the lesser things. For it will discover nothing that it could add.” [5] For the complete telling of this account, see  Socrates, Ecclesiastical History  1.15; Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History  2.17; Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History  10.15. [6] For the full account in Athanasius’ own words, see Athanasius, Apologia de Fuga 24.  [7] See   On the Incarnation  56.  [8] Id. at 28, 48, 52.  [9] See   Life of Antony , Prologue. [10] Ibid. [11] Id.  at 69-71.  [12] Id.  at 91. [13] The Bohairic Life of Pachomius  28.  [14] It suffices to read his Against the Arians  to see how well Athanasius comprehends these disciplines and capitalizes on his knowledge of them to pick apart Arius’ belief system and theological assertions. [15] Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, Athanasius: Select Works and Letters ( Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers II.IV), xv. [16] Dominic Unger, A Special Aspect of Athanasian Soteriology,” Franciscan Studies  6 (1946), 30. [17] W. Emery Barnes, “Athanasius” in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics , James Hastings, gen. ed. Volume 2, 170-171. [18] Friedrich Lauchert, Die Lehre Des Heiligen Athanasius des Grossen  (Leipzig: Gustav Fock Verlag, 1895), 12. [19] Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, Athanasius: Select Works and Letters ( Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers II.IV), lxvii. [20] It was this sublime character of Athanasius that led St. Gregory of Nazianzus to declare: “In praising Athanasius, I shall be praising virtue. To speak of him and to praise virtue are identical, because he had, or, to speak more truly, has embraced virtue in its entirety.” ( Oration  21.1). —

A translation of the First Papal Sermon of His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI, delivered at his enthronement by the late Metropolitan Anba Lucas — May 10, 1959. — Our beloved brethren, the fathers, the metropolitans and bishops, and our dear children, the priests and deacons and all the people everywhere in the See of St. Mark. Grace and blessing and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I thank my good God, the Lord of Glory, who has called me and chosen my weakness for this holy service, not worthily, but out of the abundance of His grace, for the purpose of shepherding His blessed people and for the service, that the sign of His glory may be exalted, and for the preparation of individuals as well as nations for the inheritance of eternal life. Beloved, I feel in myself the responsibility that has been placed on my shoulder, and the holy deposit that has been tied around my neck, and these talents that have been delivered to me from the Lord of the Church – these talents in which I must invest to bear fruit and multiply. But who am I? It is the grace of God that works in us and with us. Certainly, He who has called me will assist me in the apostolic service. I trust in His blessed promise: “I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break the gates of brass and cut asunder the bars of iron” (Is. 45:2). My entire trust is in the mercies of our God, who says to His Church: “‘For a brief moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ Says the Lord, your Redeemer.” (Is. 54:7-8). What does the human need more than the service of the Spirit in this age of materialism, infidelity, atheism, and deviant intellectual tendencies? What will benefit the people except that they see Christ in our lives, and smell His beautiful fragrance in us. The Church is entrusted with a dangerous mission in the moment that the world is currently going through. She must establish faith in the hearts, and spread virtue, and send peace and tranquility to every troubled soul, so that stability may ensue and joy may increase. For the message of the Lord Christ is the inauguration of a better life for the people: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). That is the pure, calm, purifying, and active life, which constitutes the good, productive citizen and the active member of the Church, who knows to be honest always to God and to country, cooperating with all with the spirit of collegiality and brotherhood. I rely on the support of God and your love, which I hold dearly, needing the spirit of the saintly fathers and [walking in] the footsteps of the past patriarchs, the successors of Saint Mark the Apostle, who fought the good fight and completed their struggle and kept the Faith and delivered to us the holy deposit. I wish that I may open to you my heart, that you may see the deep love that covers all, that is the love that pours forth from the heart of our Savior, who loved us and redeemed us by His blood. I ask all to persevere in the offering up of prayers for the sake of the peace of the Church and for my weakness, and for the sake of all servants and workers. “You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest” until He confirms and grants that His Church “may offer praise on the earth” (Is. 62:6-7). If our mission is so great and dangerous, then this matter calls for the unity of powers and efforts, that we may complete our work with joy. I am confident that our brethren the metropolitans and bishops, our blessed children the priests and deacons, the members of the general and individual lay councils, the various entities and active societies, and all servants in the vineyard of the Lord, will all work together in cooperation with us in love and loyalty, with self-sacrifice and the denial of the ego, in harmony with the leadership and the grace of the Great Shepherd of shepherds; may we disappear that He may appear with His blessed glory. I ask the Lord that He may grant us all oneness of spirit and heart and thought, that we may work together with one mind and one will, that is the will of the Holy Spirit, Who has guided the Church throughout her long glorious history. And we have one holy goal: the glory of God and the service of Truth and the highest aspirations. I do not aspire to anything and “neither is my soul haughtily raised within me” (Ps. 131:1), except that I may complete my struggle joyfully, and the service that I have taken from the Lord Jesus, knowing that you are my joy and pleasure and crown of boasting (cf. 1 Thess. 2:19). My joy is in your success, and my pleasure is in the steadfastness of your faith and the power of your hope and the increase of your love (cf. 1 Thess. 1:3). May the God of all love and peace shepherd the people of the United Arab Republic and keep the life of the President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the president of the Republic, and aid with wisdom and peace his struggle and hard work for the sake of peace and the liberty of the peoples. We also convey the sincerest greetings and our Apostolic blessings to the beloved blessed Orthodox brother, the honorable emperor Haile Selassie I, the emperor of Ethiopia, and to the honorable empress and princes, and our brothers the Metropolitan Anba Basilious, and all the bishops and priests and deacons and dear Ethiopian congregation. We implore God that He may preserve the congregations of the See of St. Mark, and grant peace and success to its governments in Africa and Asia, for the sake of the establishment and spread of the principles of love and peace in all the world, and to His greatness is due all thanks and glory and honor always and forever. Amen. — If you find this translation lacking or mistaken in any way, due to our own shortcomings and weakness and not those of our fellow workers, please let us know so we may correct it. Please pray for those who took part in this work and may this be for your edification. The link to the video is below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGlZN37UFuk

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