Unlike Western Christianity, which celebrates holidays in honor of church dogmas or divine attributes such as “Corpus Christi,” “Christ the King,” or “Divine Mercy,” Orthodoxy preferred to celebrate events from the history of salvation or the history of the Church. One such historical event was the Triumph of Orthodoxy, celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent. The memory of the great confessor Athanasius serves as an important reminder of this fact.
Saint Athanasius the Confessor
On March 7, the Church celebrates the memory of Saint Athanasius the Confessor. The saint was a monk, then abbot of the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul in Bithynia, near the ancient imperial capital of Nicomedia, now Izmit in Turkey. Athanasius was a fervent defender of icons.
Iconoclasm was condemned as dogmatic heresy at the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 787. But with the accession to the throne of Emperor Leo V the Armenian, who reigned from 813 to 820, it resumed with renewed vigor. Athanasius was twice subjected to public flogging and then sent into exile. While in exile, he signed, together with Theodore Studites and other great theologians and defenders of icon worship, two letters addressed to the Orthodox bishop of Rome, St. Paschal I (+824). Such letters were an extremely important expression of the fraternal communion that existed among Orthodox Christians despite persecution, as well as a sign that any heresy, no matter how global it might be, would be shattered against the rock of the Church, which is always more universal than any human universality, because it is founded on the divine universality of Jesus Christ.
The saint should be distinguished from another St. Athanasius, Athanasius Studites, who was a direct disciple of Theodore Studites. Athanasius the Confessor died in exile on February 22, 826. Because of the place where he accomplished his exploits, he is also called Athanasius the Pavlopetrios named after the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul,, or Athanasius of Bithynia.
“Champion of Orthodoxy, teacher of purity and of true worship, the enlightener of the universe and adornment of hierarchs: all-wise father Athanasius, your teachings have gleamed with light upon all things. Intercede before Christ God to save our souls” says the troparion to the saint, which is sung in the eighth tone. Iconoclasm, or more precisely its second period, continued until 843, when the Orthodox Empress Theodora restored icon veneration. This event went down in history as the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Saint Athanasius the Confessor is undoubtedly one of its main creators on earth and participants in heaven.