This past week, we celebrated the feast days of St. Pope Pius V and St. Athanasius. These two men, while separated by 1,000 years, were motivated by the same love of God, which set their hearts on fire and gave them great courage and zeal for right doctrine and practice.

St. Athanasius, who lived in the 4th century and eventually became the bishop of Alexandria, was one of the first and most prominent defenders of the faith against the heretic Arius, who spread false teaching about the nature of Savior, Jesus Christ. Arius and those who followed him believed that Jesus was not God, that he was a created being. If this were true, not only would it make our Lord a liar (in St. John’s Gospel especially, he proclaims that he and the Father are one), but it would also make him unable to save us from the slavery of sin and power of death that previously ruled over us.

Athanasius relentlessly opposed this false teaching. He was at the Council of Nicaea with his bishop (Alexander) and would have assisted in writing the Nicene Creed, we still say at Mass on every Sunday and Solemnity. This Creed beautifully reminds us that Jesus is “the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father.” He became bishop of Alexandria after Alexander was martyred in 311. He continued to stand firm against Arianism while nearly all the bishops of the world fell into heresy. He was exiled from Alexandria five separate times for a total of 17 years. His love of God gave him the courageous strength to never waver from the truth of our faith the Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is a Doctor of the Church, and is called the Father of Orthodoxy.

St. Pius V, who was pope in the 16th century, did not have to fight the battles of Arianism that Athanasius did, nor was he exiled from Rome, but he had a similar courage to Athanasius. Pius confronted a Church that lacked discipline and was struggling to accept the results of the Council of Trent. Before he was Pope, he joined the Dominican order and was known for his discipline and desire to live a monastic life. He eventually was made the general inquisitor of all Christendom, and during this time prosecuted eight bishops for heresy. As Pope, he demanded that bishops not living in their diocese need to go back to their dioceses. He reformed the liturgy and public prayers of the Church, standardizing what we now call the “Traditional Latin Mass,” which went without major changes until Vatican II. He excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England for heresy and persecution of Catholics, declaring her a heretic and releasing her subjects from allegiance to her. St. John Henry Newman said of Pius V that he was, “stern and severe, as far as a heart burning and melted with divine love could be so.”

In these two saints, we see two men who loved God, who loved the truth, and who strove to live their faith despite a bleak world that confronted them. St. Athanasius lived in a time where he was nearly alone in proclaiming the true faith of Christianity. St. Pius V lived in a time where the Church was full of bishops who had lost their way and a time of moral laxity amongst Christians. Both are wonderful examples and models for us now, in a world that opposes Christianity and all it stands for. May we have the courage, love for the truth, and devotion to God that these two saints do!