/ Reflections, Saints and their love for Mary 2023 / By

The Saints and Their Love for Mary

St. Athanasius

A fresco of St. Athanasius from a Church in Kastoria, Greece photographed by Мико

St. Athanasius loved Jesus. He loved Jesus as God and he loved Jesus as man. He knew that Jesus was God incarnate, God made man, God becoming one of us. Some people began to say that Jesus was not God but only a creature.

Athanasius knew Jesus. He knew what Jesus had said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

He knew that Jesus showed us the Father because he was God with a human face.

Athanasius spent his life telling people the truth about Jesus. And because he loved Jesus, he also loved Mary.

Here is a beautiful prayer he wrote:

O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all. O Ark of the New Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which divinity resides. Should I compare you to the fertile earth and its fruits? You surpass them, for it is written: “The earth is my footstool” (Isa. 66:1). But you carry within you the feet, the head, and the entire body of the perfect God.