HOLY FATHERS STS. ATHANASIUS AND CYRIL

On Saturday, January 21, the Armenian Church commemorates the Holy Fathers Athanasius and Cyril. Athanasius is known as the “champion of orthodoxy” and “Father of Orthodoxy.” He served as bishop of Alexandria for 45 years (17 years in exile). He attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD where he was regarded as a theological expert. He is respected and revered in the Armenian Church. Cyril of Alexandria succeeded his uncle, Theophilus, as patriarch of Alexandria in 412. He was a brilliant theologian in the Alexandrian tradition, and like Athanasius, is highly regarded by the Armenian Church. He presided over the third ecumenical council in Ephesus in 431 AD. He wrote treatises clarifying the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation, commentaries on the Gospels of John and Luke, dogmatic theology, and many letters and sermons.