A message to today's Traditional Catholics from Saint Athanasius

It was when I was working with the Fatima Priest, Father Nicholar Gruner+, that I learned about Saint Athanasius of Alexandria. St. Athanasius was beloved of Father Gruner for having dared to stand up for the True Faith in opposition to the Arian Heresy embraced in the 4th century A.D. by secular rulers and the majority of churchmen, up to and including Pope Liberius.

St. Athanasius "whose very gift it was, above all other Fathers, to possess a clear and accurate knowledge of the Catholic doctrine," was born in Alexandria, Egypt, near the end of the 3rd century A.D. Christianity was well-rooted in Alexandria at that time, yet it was also the centre of a growing theological error regarding the fundamental Christian doctrine of the Trinity. This error would be fervently promoted by the Alexandrian priest, Arius, from whom it derives its name of "Arianism". 

The defense of the orthodox Faith in opposition to Arianism would largely define the life of St. Athanasius. The serious nature of this heresy and the dispute it occasioned led to the calling by the Emperor Constantine of the first Ecumenical Council of the Church -- the Council of Nicaea -- in A.D. 325.

Assisting the bishop of Alexandria at this council was the young deacon, Athanasius. There, the orthodox formulation of the Nicene Creed declared that the Son of God was truly God, begotten, not made, and of the same substance as the Father. 

Despite the dogmatic definition of Nicaea, the Arian Heresy persisted. With undaunted courage, Athanasius continued the struggle against this denial of the Divinity of Christ, which brought him up against powerful churchmen and even Emperors. Despite being exiled on five separate occasions and even excommunicated by Pope Liberius in 357 A.D., Athanasius persisted in his defence of the orthodox doctrine. 

The purported excommunication of this champion of the true Faith was controversial at the time and for centuries aftrerward. As Athanasius pointed out in charity when he refused to accept the validity of the excommunication, Pope Liberius had been imprisoned and issued this condemnation under pressure from his captors. No doubt that mitigated somewhat his responsibility. Nevertheless, Liberius was the first pope never recognized as a saint. 

Historian Cornelius Clifford says in his account: "Athanasius was the greatest champion of Catholic belief on the subject of the Incarnation that the Church has ever known and in his lifetime earned the characteristic title of 'Father of Orthodoxy', by which he has been distinguished ever since." 

St. John Henry Newman describes St. Athanasius as a "principal instrument, after the Apostles, by which the sacred truths of Christianity have been conveyed and secured to the world."

Here is one of the saints writings which resonates loudly today, as Traditional Catholics are denounced and bullied by the Vatican, and called "excommunicate", "schismatic" and even "a Protestant sect", by churchmen who, by all objective measures, have embraced heresy and apostasy.

Let us pray. "O Lord Jesus Christ, we recall to mind how St. Athanasius defended Thee and the true teachings of Thy Holy Church even at the risk of his career and life, relying always for strength and comfort on his faith in Thee and his love for Thy Blessed Mother, Mary. Even when his foes stripped him of his priestly offices and worldly goods, this holy saint remained steadfast and true always, revealing the lies and treachery of Thine enemies and earning the love of Thy people.

"O Blessed Lord, through the intercession of this great saint, we beseech Thee to raise up pastors filled with faith, charity, truth, and apostolic zeal, capable of guiding souls in fidelity to the Church and to Catholic Tradition. We ask Thee also to strengthen our faith and love and apportion to us the zeal of St. Athanasius so that we too may totally serve Thee without reserve, hesitation of fear. Amen."

A timely restatement of the True Faith

If you ask a practising Catholic -- never mind about the millions who have left the Church -- what they believe and what the Church believes, he or she might be hard-pressed to tell you. That's because their religious education has been sadly neglected, even in the so-called "Catholic schools". Not only that, the leaders of the Church (Hello, Holy Father!) are themselves unclear in their teaching, constantly contradicting themselves and confusing the faithful. Who knows what the Pope believes?

Faced with the great confusion which weakens the Faith and weakens Holy Mother Church, one courageous prelate, Gerhard Cardinal Müller, has apparently grown tired of waiting for a "Vatican III" to correct the manifest errors of Vatican II, and has this week issued a "Manifesto of Faith", in which he restates the core elements of the Faith of our fathers.

Cardinal Müller was the Prefect (= head) of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2012 until the summer of 2017, when he was fired by Pope Francis for having the temerity to suggest that the Holy Father might be leading the Church into error on such things as the necessity of being Catholic to be saved from eternal damnation. See "Battle between modernism and tradition heats up as Pope fires 3IC", WWW 3/7/17.

Cardinal Müller's manifesto echos another restatement of the Faith, "Credo of the People of God", proclaimed in 1968 by Paul VI. That was a rather late-in-the-day attempt by the Pope to pour some oil on the troubled waters which he himself had stirred up. In the wake of Vatican II, the Church was in turmoil, and many Catholics were no longer sure what to believe. So, having opened the window through which "the smoke of Satan...entered the Church" (his own words!), Pope Montini felt it his duty to reaffirm the pillars of Church doctrine, taking as a starting point the Credo of the Council of Nicaea, aka the Nicene Creed, still recited by the faithful at traditional Catholic masses.

Instead of the Nicene Creed, Cardinal Müller has taken as the guideline for his "Manifesto of Faith", the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), adopted following Vatican II. His manifesto is thus not open to challenge as being an attempt to turn back the clock to a statement of the Faith as it was prior to the great "reform" of the Council. But even though it quotes the CCC, the manifesto accurately reflects and restates the stone truths of the Catholic Faith -- the Faith of our Fathers -- that the Church has always believed.

Saint Paul wrote to Saint Timothy, "there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry." (II Timothy 4:3-5, DRV) That is what Cardinal Müller has done. Lack of space keeps us from posting his "Manifesto of Faith", but you can click here to read the complete text. This what Catholics believe. This is the True Faith.

Footnote: LifeSite News (which Walt reads regularly and recommends highly) has started a petition of support for Cardinal Müller in his efforts to correct at least some of the errors of Pope Francis' pontificate. Click here to find out more and add your signature!