MEMORIAL OF SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND SAINT ANTONINUS, BISHOP: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of  Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, Bishop and Saint Antoninus, Bishop. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, for all Christians, the poor and needy and for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and all over the world. We also pray for the sick and dying, we particularly pray for those who are suffering from cancer and other terminal diseases, we hope the prayers of the Saints can bring them divine healing, comfort and strength from our Lord. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle souls of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. For vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen 🙏🏽

SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. Athanasius (296-373 A.D.), also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor or Athanasius the Apostolic. A Christian theologian, a Church Father and the great champion of the Faith against Arianism in the Council of Nicaea. He suffered persecution and was exiled for seventeen years for resisting compromise in essentials of the faith. He wrote many works on apologetics. The fourth century bishop is known as “the father of orthodoxy” for his absolute dedication to the doctrine of Christ’s divinity. St. Athanasius was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to noble Christian parents, about the year 296. His parents took great care to have their son educated, and his talents came to the attention of a local priest who was later Bishop of his native city and later canonized as St. Alexander of Alexandria. The priest and future saint tutored St. Athanasius in theology, and eventually appointed him as an assistant. Around the age of 19, St. Athanasius spent a formative period in the Egyptian desert as a disciple of St. Anthony in his monastic community. Returning to Alexandria, he was ordained a deacon in 319, and resumed his assistance to Alexander who had become a bishop. Even in this capacity he was called upon to take an active part against the rising heresy of Arius, an ambitious priest of the Alexandrian Church who denied the Divinity of Christ. This was to be the life struggle of St. Athanasius. The Catholic Church, newly recognized by the Roman Empire, was already encountering a new series of dangers from within.

In 325, St Athanasius assisted his Bishop as participant at the Council of Nicaea, and did much of the theological work which supported the condemnation of the Arian heresy and the formulation of the Nicene Creed. His influence began to be felt. Five months later Alexander died; on his deathbed he recommended St. Athanasius as his successor. In consequence of this Athanasius was unanimously elected Patriarch in 326. St. Athanasius became the Bishop of Alexandria and served in that role for 46 years. He tirelessly and courageously devoted most of his life to defeating the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. When the majority of his fellow bishops were Arian heretics, which threatened the integrity of the whole Church, St. Athansius stood firmly and almost single-handedly against their error using his philosophical knowledge, theological wisdom, rhetorical skill, and strength of spirit. Despite having the support of several popes, refusal to tolerate the Arian heresy was the cause of many trials and persecutions for St. Athanasius. He suffered great trials, scandals, and persecutions at the hands of his doctrinal enemies, and he spent seventeen of forty-six years of his episcopate in exile. After a life of virtue and suffering, this intrepid champion of the Catholic Faith, the greatest man of his time, died in peace on May 2, 373. St. Athanasius is known as one of the greatest champions of Catholic doctrine to have ever lived, earning the title, “Father of Orthodoxy.” St. Athanasius was later declared a Doctor of the Church.

“You will not see anyone who is really striving after his advancement who is not given to spiritual reading. And as to him who neglects it, the fact will soon be observed by his progress.”  ~ St. Athanasius of Alexandra

PRAYER: 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… Amen. St. Athanasius of Alexandria ~ Pray for us 🙏🏽

SAINT ANTONINUS, BISHOP: St. Antoninus was born in Florence on March 1, 1389, the only child of Niccolo Pierozzi, a lawyer, and his wife Thomassina. He was baptized Antonius or Antonio, but because of his small size and gentle nature he was called by the diminutive “Antoninus” or “Antonino” all his life. Supposedly a pious child, at age 15 Antoninus applied to Blessed John Dominic for admission to the Dominican Order. In 1404 Bl. John was at the Convent of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, but he was reforming the Dominican priories in the area and organizing a new house at Fiesole. Afraid that the frail Antoninus could not tolerate the vigorous austerities of the new monastery, Bl. John did not turn the boy down directly but told him to go home and memorize the Decretum Gratiani, or Decrees of Gratian, an enormous compilation of Church law. Determined, St. Antoninus returned in a year, the book entirely committed to memory, and was accepted. Along with Fra Angelico and Fra Benedetto (natural brothers: one the famous painter, the other a miniaturist), Antoninus spent his novitiate in Cortona, then returned to Fiesole, where he stayed until 1409. A zealous reformer like Bl. John, St. Antoninus was named vicar of the convent at Foligno in 1414, then subprior and prior of the convent at Cortona. From 1418 to 1428 he served as prior of convents in Naples, Gaeta, Siena and Fiesole, and then was named prior of the convent at Minerva in Rome in 1430. From 1433 to 1446 he was superior of the reformed Tuscan and Neapolitan congregations, in which post he restored the primitive rules of the Dominican order.

St. Antoninus was summoned by Pope Eugene IV to take part in the Council of Florence in 1438, and as prior of San Marco, welcomed many of the prelates and scholars to Florence for the sessions of the council that took place there. It was at this time also that the great library of San Marco was opened to the public. In 1446, much against his will, he was appointed archbishop of Florence but continued to live as a simple Dominican friar. Then, he became a veritable dynamo of activity: he rebuilt churches, visited parishes, preached incessantly, and brought about peace between political factions and religious orders. He was in Rome at the deathbed of Pope Eugene IV and was consulted by succeeding pontiffs in the reform of the papal curia. He was a superb theologian, his writings on moral theology and economics are considered pioneer works in the changing society of his times. Shortly before the death of Antoninus, a plague hit Florence, decimating the city, with many of his friars dying, and the people starving from famine. He sold everything to help the hungry and destitute. When a violent earthquake hit Florence, he helped to rebuild the city, housing some of the victims in his own home. He died on May 2, 1459, and Pope Pius II himself came to attend his funeral. The people of Florence, who loved Antoninus, placed his statue in the Uffizi Palace, the city’s hall of fame. St. Antoninus’s incorrupt body was moved to a new chapel at San Marco in 1559. He’s the Patron Saint of with a fever.

St. Antoninus, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏🏽