Events for Wednesday 3rd May 2023

Information

St. Athanasius was born in 297 A.D. in Alexandria and died in 373. He was the bishop of Alexandria for 45 years. St. Athanasius was considered the champion of the Council of Nicea in 325. He was a prolific opponent of the Arians who exiled him 5 times.

Arianism was perhaps the most serious heresy of the early church. It was named after Arius (died 312) its chief exponent, and flourished in Alexandria and throughout the Near East in the 4th century. In its most extreme form it denied that Christ was God. In other words it claimed that the Second Person of the Trinity was not of the same nature or substance as God the Father.

St. Athanasius is one of the four great doctors of the Eastern Church. He wrote the "On the Incarnation", the "Discourses Against the Arians", and the "Life of Anthony". St. Athanasius is known as the Doctor of Incarnation and his theology of the Trinity was the inspiration for Hilary, bishop of Arles, to write the Athanasian Creed.

The four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church, Sts John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianzus, Athanasius and Basil the Great, were recognized in 1568 by Pope St. Pius V.

A Doctor of theChurch, (from the Latin docere, to teach), is a saint from whose writings the whole Church is held to have derived great advantage and to whom "eminent learning" and "great sanctity" have been attributed. The honour is always bestowed posthumously.

Sts Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Pope Gregory Iwere the original doctors of the Church and were named in 1298. They are known collectively as the Great Doctors of the Western Church.

Information

St. Philip came from Bethsaida of Galilee. He was martyred in the first century by dying on the cross at Heirapolis. He is only mentioned in the Gospels with the list of the apostles. St. Philip along with St. James is the Patron Saint of Uruquay.
Tomb of Philip found

St. James,who died in 62 A.D., was the son of Alphaeus and believed to be a cousin of the Lord. He was believed to be the leader of the Jerusalem Church and has an epistle ascribed to him. St. James was either beaten or stoned to death. This St. James is often referred to as St James the Less to distinguish him from the other apostle, St James the Greater, who was called to be an apostle before him.