Saint Athanasius of Alexandria

Athanasius served as a deacon at the Council of Nicaea in 325 before becoming bishop of Alexandria, one of the most important sees of the early Church. Through his life, he became the leading defender of the Nicene teaching that Christ is truly and fully divine, against the widespread Arian heresy that held Christ to be a created being lesser than God the Father. His unwavering stance cost him dearly: he was exiled from Alexandria five separate times by different emperors sympathetic to Arianism, spending roughly seventeen years of his episcopate away from his own diocese. Despite this, he continued to write and correspond in defense of orthodox doctrine, and his teaching was ultimately vindicated at the Council of Constantinople after his death. He is remembered as one of the great Doctors of the Church for his role in preserving the doctrine of the Trinity.