St. Athanasius, St. Anthony the Great & the Battle for the Spiritual Life

About this sermon

Christ is among us! In this Orthodox reflection, we journey through the spiritual and theological legacy of St. Athanasius the Great, St. Cyril of Alexandria, and St. Anthony the Great, drawing from Vespers, the Desert Fathers, and lived experience in Orthodox theological formation. Remembering the great saints commemorated in mid-January, this talk reflects on the balance between knowing the faith and living the faith. While the Church sings of “eloquent rivers of theology” and defends the dogmas defined at the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea (325) and Ephesus (431), the heart of Orthodoxy remains rooted in a deep spiritual life with Christ. St. Athanasius, the great defender of the divinity of Christ, also gave us The Life of St. Anthony, a powerful witness to the inner spiritual battle—against pride, lust, distraction, and the subtle temptations that persist until our final breath. This reflection highlights: The importance of nepsis (watchfulness) How thoughts become sins and passions Why theology without prayer becomes hollow Why spiritual struggle is lifelong How the saints show us the way to be fully alive in Christ As the Desert Fathers teach us, the demons know our weaknesses—but Christ is stronger, and vigilance rooted in prayer is our defense. May this reflection encourage you to deepen both your knowledge of the faith and your daily spiritual struggle in Christ. ☦️ Amen. 0:00 – Christ is among us & Vespers reflections 0:29 – Seminary memories & Fr. Maxim Lass 1:15 – St. Anthony the Great & the January commemorations 1:39 – The Ecumenical Councils: Nicaea & Ephesus 2:05 – Defending the faith and knowing Orthodox doctrine 2:39 – Why St. Anthony keeps returning to mind 2:52 – St. Athanasius and The Life of Anthony 3:10 – The desert, demons, and the battle with passions 3:56 – Nepsis: watchfulness over thoughts 4:24 – Theology must flow from spiritual life 4:51 – “You will be tempted until your last breath” 5:06 – Living fully alive in Christ 5:25 – Conclusion & Amen For more please visit https://www.youtube.com/@steliasbrampton & say 3 Hail Marys for the priest 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🙏🏻PLEASE HELP OUR CHANNEL GROW 🙏🏻 ▶️ 1. Become a Channel Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SensusFidelium ▶️ 2. Visit the website https://www.sensusfidelium.us for Gueranger, Saint of the Day, Apologetics, Meditation by the Saints, Scripture Study and more. ▶️ 3. Subscribe to Other Video Platforms 🔴 SpiritusTV - https://spiritustv.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 BitChute --- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium/ 🔴 Rumble --- https://rumble.com/c/c-298311 🔴 My Catholic Tube - https://mycatholictube.com/videos/sensus-fidelium-channel/ 🔴 LBRY.tv --- https://lbry.tv/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 ODYSEE - https://odysee.com/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 UGETube - https://videos.utahgunexchange.com/@Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 BrandNewTube - https://brandnewtube.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 GabTV - https://tv.gab.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 GloriaTV - https://gloria.tv/Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 Brighteon - https://www.brighteon.com/channels/sensusfidelium ▶️ 4. Paypal, Bitcoin, Anedot, Stripe, Square & PO Box donations - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ ▶️ 5. YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 Please "Like" our videos so that Youtube shares it to others by clicking the "Like" thumbs-up under the video = 👍🏻 ▶️ 6. Please share this video 📲, and help others find Christ inside the Catholic Church! Please share this video on Facebook and Twitter using the share button. ▶️ 7. Follow on Social Media: 🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SensusFidelium/ 🔴 Twitter: https://https://twitter.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 🔴 Parler: https://parler.com/profile/Sensusfidelium/posts 🔴 SP3RN: https://www.sp3rn.com/community/pages/14-sensus-fidelium 🔴 GAB: https://gab.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 Bastyon: https://bastyon.com/sensusfidelium 🔴 GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/sensus_fidelium 🔴 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sensusfidelium/ 🔴 Telegram: https//t.me/RealSensusFidelium ▶️ 8. Follow on iTunes: 🔴 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sensus-fidelium-catholic-podcast/id1477010758 #OrthodoxChristianity #StAnthonyTheGreat #StAthanasius #DesertFathers #OrthodoxSpirituality #Nepsis #OrthodoxFaith #ChurchFathers #SpiritualWarfare #EasternChristianity #Theosis #OrthodoxHomily