It was a dark day in the history of the Church and of the world when the Arian heresy first reared its ugly head, denying that Jesus Christ was truly God and man but instead a mere creature. St Athanasius from the very beginning, first as a young deacon and secretary to the then Patriarch of Alexandria at the Council of Nicea and then later as the Patriarch of Alexandria himself, was at the forefront in the battle against Arianism. He was on the one hand a man of deep spirituality, having spent time with some of the great fathers of the desert, most notably St Antony, whose life he wrote (amongst other spiritual classics), while on the other hand being a man of decisive action in moments of great need and crisis. He was exiled multiple times, more than once threatened with death and was actively hunted by the Arians through the deserts of Egypt. Yet he never came close to giving up in his defence and pursuit of the truth.

St Athanasius gave himself entirely to Christ and therefore to Truth and, having made the gift, he never wavered or turned to look back but instead strove valiantly to live as Christ called him and to bring all the world back to Him.