Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (10: 22-25) in which Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You will be hated by all men because of my name, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved’. Afterwards, Fr Paul shares a little about the life of St Athanasius (Bishop and Doctor of the Church) whose memorial we celebrate today.

Fr Paul says Athanasius was born in Alexandria. He assisted Bishop Alexander at the Council of Nicaea and later succeeded him as bishop. He fought hard against Arianism all his life, undergoing many sufferings and spending a total of 17 years in exile. He wrote outstanding works to explain and defend orthodoxy.

So, today, Fr Paul invites us to ask, ‘St Athanasius… pray for us!’.