Il s'agit d'une Pape Alexandre Ier, 6e évêque de Rome (108-116), mosaïque 1823, médaillon de la frise des papes à Saint-Paul-hors-les-Murs.
Portrait
of en:Pope Alexander I in the en:Basilica of Saint Paul
Outside the Walls, Rome
Saint Alexandre Ier
Pape (6e) de 105 à 115 et
martyr (+ 115)
Nous avons de lui cette parole en réponse au juge qui lui demandait pourquoi il gardait le silence durant les tortures : "Le chrétien qui prie parle à Dieu". Il fut percé par tout le corps de petits coups de poinçons qui le firent longuement souffrir. Puis, avec deux de ses prêtres (Evence et Théodule), il fut décapité.
Depuis 1969, fête confinée aux calendriers locaux.
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/6750/Saint-Alexandre-Ier.html
Saint Alexandre I (105-115)
Né à Rome. C’était une personne cultivée et savante. Il fut disciple de
Plutarque et de Pline, le jeune.
Il fut le premier pape
élu et non désigné par testament, comme jusque là.
L’usage de l’eau bénite fut institué par lui, ainsi que la composition de l’hostie : faite de pain sans levain.
SOURCE : http://eglise.de.dieu.free.fr/liste_des_papes_01.htm
Sts Alexandre Ier, pape, Eventius et Théodule, martyrs et Juvénal, évêque et confesseur
La fête de l’Invention de la Sainte Croix ayant pénétré à Rome dès le 1er quart
du VIe siècle, on disait à Matiens au Latran et au Vatican les deux premiers
nocturnes des saints Martyrs et le 3ème de la Croix.
Le Natale des martyrs
Eventius, Alexandre et Théodule est attesté au martyrologe hiéronymien. Le
sacramentaire Grégorien fait passer, vers 645, Alexandre en tête, l’identifiant
avec le pape du même nom.
Le calendrier de
St-Pierre y ajoute saint Juvénal honoré à Rome dès le VIIe siècle. En
consacrant de nouveau la basilique Saint-Juvénal à Narni, Eugène III
(1145-1153) a contribué à rendre son culte plus célèbre.
Leçons des Matines avant
1960
Neuvième leçon.
Alexandre, né à Rome, gouverna l’Église sous l’empereur Adrien, et convertit au
Christ une grande partie de la noblesse romaine. Il arrêta que l’oblation du
sacrifice consisterait uniquement dans le pain et le vin, et que l’on mêlerait
de l’eau avec le vin, à cause du sang et de l’eau qui coulèrent du côté de
Jésus-Christ ; il ajouta au Canon de la Messe ces mots : Qui la veille du jour
où il endura la passion. Ce Pontife décréta que l’on conserverait toujours dans
l’Église de l’eau bénite mêlée de sel, et qu’il en serait fait usage dans les
habitations pour chasser les démons. Il siégea dix ans, cinq mois et vingt
jours, illustre par la sainteté de sa vie et ses ordonnances salutaires. Il
reçut la couronne du martyre en même temps que les Prêtres Évence et Théodule,
et fut inhumé sur la voie Nomentane, à trois milles de Rome, au lieu même où il
avait eu la tête tranchée. Il avait ordonné en plusieurs fois, au mois de décembre,
six Prêtres, deux Diacres et sacré cinq Évêques pour divers lieux. Les corps de
ces Saints furent transportés dans la suite à Rome dans l’église de
Sainte-Sabine. En ce même jour arriva la bienheureuse mort de saint Juvénal,
Évêque de Narni, qui après avoir, par sa sainteté et sa doctrine, enfanté
beaucoup de fidèles au Christ dans cette ville, et s’être rendu célèbre par des
miracles, s’endormit dans la paix, et fut enseveli avec honneur dans sa ville
épiscopale.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année
Liturgique
Un saint Pape martyr
vient en ce jour déposer sa couronne au pied de la Croix triomphante, par
laquelle il a vaincu. C’est Alexandre, le cinquième successeur de Pierre.
Honorons ce témoin vénérable de notre foi, appelé à recevoir aujourd’hui les
hommages de l’Église militante, au sein de la gloire dont il jouit depuis tant
de siècles dans la compagnie de notre divin Ressuscité. La Passion de ce Maître
souverain fut toujours présente ici-bas à sa pensée, et l’Église a conservé le
souvenir de l’addition qu’il fit de quatre mots au Canon sacré, pour exprimer
que Jésus avait institué l’auguste mystère de l’Eucharistie la veille même du
jour où il devait souffrir.
Une autre institution
chère à la piété catholique est due au même Pontife. C’est par lui que l’Église
a été mise en possession de cette eau sainte que les démons redoutent, et qui
sanctifie tous les objets qu’elle touche. Le fidèle renouvellera donc
aujourd’hui sa foi envers ce puissant élément de bénédiction que l’hérésie et
l’impiété ont si souvent blasphémé, et dont l’usage pieux sert à discerner les
enfants de l’Église de ceux qui ne le sont pas. L’eau, instrument de notre
régénération, le sel, symbole d’immortalité, s’unissent sous la bénédiction de
l’Église pour former ce Sacramental envers lequel notre confiance ne saurait
être trop grande. La vertu des Sacramentaux, comme celle des Sacrements,
procède du sang de la Rédemption, dont les mérites sont appliqués à certains
objets physiques par l’action du sacerdoce de la loi nouvelle. L’indifférence à
l’endroit de ces moyens secondaires du salut serait aussi coupable
qu’imprudente ; et cependant, à cette époque d’affaiblissement de la foi, rien
n’est plus commun que cette indifférence. Il est des catholiques pour qui l’eau
bénite est comme si elle n’existait pas ; ils ne réfléchissent jamais sur
l’usage continuel qu’en fait l’Église, et se privent, de gaieté de cœur, du
secours que Dieu a daigné mettre à leur portée pour fortifier leur faiblesse et
purifier leurs âmes. Daigne le saint pontife Alexandre ranimer leur foi, et
rendre à ces chrétiens dégénérés l’estime des choses surnaturelles que la bonté
de Dieu avait prodiguées à leur intention !
Recevez, ô saint Pontife,
en ce jour consacré au culte de la Croix de votre divin Chef, les hommages du
peuple chrétien. C’est par la voie de la Croix que vous êtes monté au ciel en
ce jour ; il est juste que votre louange se mêle à celles que nous offrons à
l’instrument sacré de notre délivrance. Rendez-nous propice celui qui a donné
son sang sur cet arbre de vie ; qu’il daigne accepter nos chants de triomphe
pour sa résurrection, nos hymnes en l’honneur du bois libérateur. Faites
croître en nous la foi, ô saint Pontife, afin que nous arrivions à comprendre
l’économie de la Rédemption, dans laquelle le Fils de Dieu a voulu se servir
pour notre salut des éléments mêmes que l’ennemi avait souillés et dirigés à
notre perte. Chassez loin de nous ce mesquin rationalisme qui ose choisir dans
l’Église ce qui convient à sa médiocre compréhension, et croit pouvoir dédaigner
le reste. Intercédez pour la sainte Église Romaine, ô saint Pontife ! Elle vous
invoque aujourd’hui ; montrez-lui qu’elle est restée chère à votre cœur.
Bhx Cardinal
Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Le premier groupe de ces
martyrs se retrouve à cette date dans la liste des évangiles de Würzbourg ;
quant à Juvénal, il appartient à une tradition un peu postérieure. Les deux
fêtes, quoique plus anciennes que l’exaltatio Crucis, ne sont pas vraiment
romaines, car, dans la liste primitive des Natalitia Martyrum, les trois
lointains martyrs de la voie Momentané ne furent jamais compris. Ils
pénétrèrent probablement dans le Férial romain vers le temps du pape Damase.
Alexandre, Eventius et
Théodule ont leur tombe au dixième kilomètre de la voie Nomentane, près de
l’antique village de Ficulea qui fut jadis siège épiscopal. Les Actes de ces
martyrs font d’Alexandre le premier pape de ce nom ; mais ce document tardif
est sujet à de sérieuses réserves, et l’identification supposée du héros de
Ficulea avec le Pontife successeur d’Évariste se heurte à de grandes
difficultés d’ordre archéologique.
Les plus anciens
manuscrits du Liber Pontificalis ne font mention ni du martyre ni de la
sépulture du pape Alexandre sur la voie Nomentane, et le canon romain de la
messe, tout en commémorant le martyr Alexandre du territoire de Ficulea, à la
fin de la Grande Intercession, semble vouloir, en raison même de la place qu’il
lui assigne, le distinguer du Pontife homonyme, qui aurait dû être invoqué dans
les diptyques épiscopaux après Lin et Clément.
Nous savons aussi, par
les Itinéraires des pèlerins, que les corps des saints Eventius et Alexandre
étaient ensevelis ensemble, tandis que celui de Théodule se trouvait dans une
crypte voisine. Lors des fouilles entreprises sous Pie IX dans ce cimetière, on
ramena au jour un fragment de balustrade votive (transenna) avec cette
inscription ;
Il est inutile de
signaler qu’ici, où pourtant le nom de l’évêque Ursus, qui a dédié l’autel, est
accompagné de sa qualification hiérarchique, l’Alexander mentionné dans
l’épigraphe non seulement ne reçoit pas le titre d’episcopus ou de papa, mais
se trouve à la dernière place, après les autres martyrs.
Près de nos saints,
plusieurs évêques locaux eurent les honneurs du sépulcre ; on a retrouvé leurs
épigraphes funéraires ; ce sont : un Adeodatus de l’époque de Théodose ; un
autre dont le nom a disparu, mort en 569 et qui, dans sa jeunesse, avait été chantre
; un Petrus du IVe siècle, et divers autres ecclésiastiques.
Les corps des trois
martyrs furent transportés par Pascal Ier dans l’oratoire de Sainte-Agnès à
Sainte-Praxède, comme nous l’atteste une inscription du même Pape. Au XIIIe
siècle, cette chapelle avait même pris le titre de Saint-Alexandre, selon
l’épigraphe suivante, conservée maintenant au musée du Latran :
DEO • AD • HONOREM
BEATORVM • MARTYRVM
AGNETIS • VIRGINIS • ET
ALEXANDRI • PP • OBTVI.IT
PRATVM • MARCVS • ABBAS
MONASTERII • HVIVS • SAN
CTAE • PRAXE
DIS
Le titulus Sabinae et
celui de Lucine revendiquent aussi la possession de reliques de nos trois
martyrs de Ficulea.
***
Le nom de l’évêque Juvénal
de Narni pénétra dans les Sacramentaires bien avant que sa ville
épiscopale fît partie du patrimoine de saint Pierre, et devint, à ce titre,
l’objet de fâcheuses contestations entre les Papes et les Lombards
envahisseurs. La dévotion envers saint Juvénal devait même être très populaire,
car le Liber Pontificalis, dans la biographie de Vigile, rapporte que Bélisaire
érigea et dota, à Orte, un monastère dédié à ce célèbre évêque.
Au IVe livre des
Dialogues, saint Grégoire raconte que le même Saint apparut à l’évêque Probe de
Rieti, durant sa dernière maladie [1] ; et dans la XXXVIIe Homélie sur les
Évangiles, il ajoute que saint Cassius, évêque lui aussi de Narni, avait
coutume de célébrer quotidiennement le divin Sacrifice sur la tombe de saint
Juvénal [2].
Saint Juvénal mourut le
13 août 377 ; cependant son nom est inscrit dans le Calendrier romain au 3 mai
; peut-être cette date correspond-elle à l’anniversaire de son ordination
épiscopale, à moins qu’on ne l’ait choisie parce que le 13 août on célèbre à
Rome le natale du martyr Hippolyte, qui, jadis, était très vénéré.
Sur le sépulcre de
Juvénal, auquel, par erreur, quelques-uns attribuent le titre de martyr, on
plaça l’inscription suivante :
SECRETVS • LOCVS • INTVS
• INEST • SANCTIQVE • RECESSVS
QVEM • DVM • SVMMA • PETIT • IVVENALIS • MORTE • DICAVIT
QVO • SIBI • POST • OBITVM • PLACVIT • DARE • CORP(us humandum)
IN • CAVTE • MANIBVS • SCINDENS • NE • POLLV(at imber)
IDIBVS • AVGVSTI • DOMINO • PRAESTANTE • SEPVLTVM
Ici est la secrète
retraite d’un saint
Que Juvénal consacra par sa mort, quand il fut ravi au ciel.
Ici, il voulut que fût enseveli son cadavre,
Après s’être, de sa propre main, creusé une tombe dans le roc, afin que la
pluie ne mouillât pas ses ossements.
Il fut enseveli aux ides d’août, le Seigneur en ayant ainsi décidé.
La basilique de
Saint-Juvénal à Narni fut consacrée à nouveau au xne siècle par le bienheureux
Eugène III.
Près de la tombe du Saint
se prépara aussi un sépulcre, aux côtés de son épouse, l’évêque saint Cassius
(+ 558) dont saint Grégoire le Grand raconta aux Romains la vie merveilleuse
dans sa XXXVIIe Homélie sur les Évangiles. Voici son épigraphe :
CASSIVS • IMMERITO •
PRAESVL • DE • NVMERO • CHRISTI
HIC • SVA • RESTITVO •
TERRAE • MIHI • CREDITA • MEMBRA
QVEM • FATO • ANTICIPANS
• CONSORS • DVLCISSIMA • VITAE
ANTE • MEVM • IN • PAGE •
REQVIESCIT • FAVSTA • SEPVLCHRVM
TV • ROGO • QVISQVIS •
ADES • PRECES • NOS • MEMORARE • BENIGNA
CVNCTA • RECEPTVRVM • TE
• NOSCENS • CONGRVA • FACTIS
SD • ANN • XXI • M • IX •
D • X • RQ • IN • PACE
PRID • KAL • IVL • P • C
• BASILII • V • C • ANN • XVII
Moi, Cassius, infime
parmi les Pontifes du Christ,
En ce lieu je restitue à la terre le corps tiré d’elle ;
Ici m’a précédé en mourant la compagne chérie de ma vie,
Qui repose en paix dans le tombeau situé en face du mien.
Je te prie, qui que tu sois, : de vouloir te souvenir de nous dans tes prières,
Sachant bien que tu seras récompensé suivant tes mérites.
Je siégeai XXI ans, IX mois, X jours et m’endormis en paix
Le XXX juin, l’an XVII du consulat de Basile, homme très illustre.
La messe Sancti tui,
assignée au groupe de saints de ce jour, est celle du Commun de plusieurs
Martyrs au temps pascal ; seules les collectes sont propres.
Dans la liste de
Würzbourg, la lecture évangélique est tirée de saint Jean XV, 17-25 [3], comme
dans le Missel romain actuel pour la fête des saints Simon et Jude.
L’action de grâces après
la sainte Communion est ainsi formulée : « Réconfortés par votre Corps et par
votre Sang, Seigneur, nous vous en conjurons ; grâce à vos saints Alexandre,
Eventius, Théodule et Juvénal, faites que nous puissions obtenir les fruits du
Sacrifice que nous venons de célébrer. »
Et folium eius non
defluet, et omnia quaecumque faciet prosperabuntur. Selon ce qui est promis
dans le premier des Chants davidiques, les saints portent un fruit qui ne fait
jamais défaut. En effet, non seulement ils illustrent par leurs vertus leur
famille, leur patrie et la génération de leurs contemporains ; mais, à travers
tous les siècles, par leur intercession, par la renommée de leurs miracles et
par l’attrait de leurs vertus, ils exercent une grande influence sur l’Église.
[1] Dialog. Lib. IV, c.
XII, P. L., LXXVII, col. 340.
[2] P. L., LXXVII, col.
1279 et seq.
[3] DIE III MEN. MAI. IN
NAT. SCI. ALEXANDRI ET EVENTII ET THEODULI lec. sci. eu. Ioh. k. CXXXVIII. dx
Ihs. discip. suis haec mando uobis usp. quia oderunt me gratis.
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide
dans l’année liturgique
Saint Alexandre et ses
compagnons. — Alexandre 1er fut le cinquième successeur de saint Pierre. Il mourut
en 116. Dans la catacombe qui porte son nom sur la voie Nomentane, on a trouvé
les fragments dune inscription qui le concerne. Remportèrent la couronne du
martyre avec lui les prêtres Eventius et Théodule. Nous commémorons aussi
aujourd’hui la mort de saint Juvénal, évêque de Narni (376). Les reliques des
trois premiers se trouvent actuellement dans les églises de Sainte-Praxède et
de Sainte-Sabine à Rome.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/03-05-Sts-Alexandre-Ier-pape#nh1
Also
known as
Alessandro I
Profile
Roman citizen. Pope in
the reign of Emperor Trajan. Baptized Saint Balbina
of Rome. He inserted in the Canon
of the Mass the words commemorative of the institution of the
Eucharist beginning “Qui pridie”. Introduced the use of blessing water
mixed with salt for the purification of Christian homes
from evil influences. Martyr.
While in prison awaiting execution,
he converted the
criminals who became the Martyrs
of Ostia.
Born
Papal Ascension
between 106 and 109 (sources
vary)
burned and beheaded 3 May between 113 and 119 (sources
vary on the year) on the Via Nomentana in Rome, Italy
relics transferred
to Freising in Bavaria in 834
man with his chest
pierced with nails or
spikes
Additional
Information
Acts
of the Early Martyrs, by Father James
A M Fastré, S.J.
Lives
and Times of the Popes, by Alexis-François Artaud de Montor
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Canon, by Monsignor John T McMahon
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
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auf deutsch
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in italiano
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MLA
Citation
“Pope Saint Alexander
I“. CatholicSaints.Info. 3 May 2024. Web. 28 January 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-alexander-i/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-alexander-i/
New
Catholic Dictionary – Pope Saint Alexander I
Article
Reigned c.106 to 115.
Probably born in Rome, Italy; died there.
He was the fifth successor of Saint Peter. As commemorated in the ninth lesson
of Nocturn for his feast,
he inserted in the Canon
of the Mass the words commemorative of the institution of the Eucharist beginning
“Qui pridie,” introduced the use of holy water for blessing Christian homes,
and suffered martyrdom.
He is represented with his chest pierced with nails or spikes. Feast,
Roman Calendar, 3
May.
MLA
Citation
“Pope Saint Alexander
I”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 22
October 2010.
Web. 28 January 2026. <http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-pope-alexander-i/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-pope-saint-alexander-i/
Pope St. Alexander I
St.
Irenaeus of Lyons, writing in the latter quarter of the second century,
reckons him as the fifth pope insuccession from
the Apostles,
though he says nothing of his martyrdom.
His pontificate is
variously dated by
critics, e.g. 106-115 (Duchesne) or 109-116 (Lightfoot). In Christianantiquity
he was credited with a pontificate of about ten years (Eusebius, Church
History IV.1) and there is no reason to doubt that
he was on the "catalogue of bishops"
drawn up at Rome by Hegesippus (Eusebius,
IV, xxii, 3) before the death of Pope
Eleutherius (c. 189). According to a tradition extant in the Roman
Church at the end of the fifth century, and recorded in the Liber
Pontificalis he suffered a martyr's death
by decapitation on the Via Nomentana in Rome,
3 May.
The same tradition
declares him to have been a Roman by birth and to have ruled
the Church in
the reign ofTrajan (98-117).
It likewise attributes to him, but scarcely with accuracy, the insertion in
the canon of the Qui Pridie, or words commemorative of the
institution of the Eucharist, such being certainly primitive and original
in the Mass. He is also said to have introduced the use of blessing water mixed
with salt for
the purification of Christian homes
from evil influences
(constituit aquam sparsionis cum sale benedici in habitaculis hominum).
Duchesne (Lib. Pont., I, 127) calls attention to the persistence of this
early Roman custom by
way of ablessing in
the Gelasian Sacramentary that recalls very forcibly the actual Asperges prayer at
the beginning of Mass.
In 1855, a semi-subterranean
cemetery of the holy martyrs Sts.
Alexander, Eventulus, and Theodulus was discovered near Rome,
at the spot where the above mentioned tradition declares the Pope to
have beenmartyred.
According to some archaeologists,
this Alexander is identical with the Pope,
and this ancient and important tomb marks
the actual site of the Pope's martyrdom.
Duchesne, however (op. cit., I, xci-ii) denies the identity of the martyr and
the pope,
while admitting that the confusion of both personages is of ancientdate,
probably anterior to the beginning of the sixth century when the Liber
Pontificalis was first compiled [Dufourcq, Gesta Martyrum Romains
(Paris, 1900), 210-211].
The difficulties raised
in recent times by Richard Lipsius (Chronologie der römischen Bischofe, Kiel,
1869) and Adolph Harnack (Die Zeit des Ignatius u. die Chronologie der
antiochenischen Bischofe, 1878) concerning the earliest successors
of St. Peter are ably discussed and answered by F.S. (Cardinal
Francesco Segna) in his "De successione priorum Romanorum Pontificum"
(Rome 1897); with moderation and learning by Bishop Lightfoot, in his
"Apostolic Fathers: St. Clement" (London, 1890) I, 201-345-
especially by Duchesne in the introduction to his edition of the "Liber
Pontificalis" (Paris, 1886) I, i-xlviii and lxviii-lxxiii. The
letters ascribed to Alexander I by Pseudo-Isidore may be seen in P.G., V, 1057
sq., and in Hinschius, "Decretales Pseudo-Isidorianae" (Leipzig,
1863) 94-105. His remains are said to have been transferred to Freising
in Bavaria in
834 (Dummler, Poetae Latini Aevi Carolini, Berlin, 1884, II, 120). His
so-called "Acts" are
not genuine, and were compiled at a much later date (Tillemont,
Mem. II, 590 sqq; Dufourcq, op. cit., 210-211).
Shahan, Thomas. "Pope
St. Alexander I." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 3 May 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01285c.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Gerard Haffner.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01285c.htm
May 3
St. Alexander, Pope and
Martyr
HE succeeded St.
Evaristus in 109, and held the holy see ten years, but not complete. He died in
119, and is ranked among the martyrs in the canon of the mass. Notwithstanding
the silence of St. Irenæus, we also find him styled a martyr in the
Sacramentary of St. Gregory the Great, in the ancient Calendar of Fronto, and
unanimously in other martyrologies which join with him two companions, Eventius
and Theodulus, who suffered with him, or at least about the same time of his
happy death. The bodies of SS. Alexander, Eventius, and Theodulus, were
interred on the Nomentan road, but were translated into the church of St.
Sabina, which now belongs to a great convent of Dominican friars. St. Juvenal,
the first bishop of Narni, in Umbria, who died in peace about the year 367, is
commemorated in the Roman Breviary on the same day. He is styled a martyr by St.
Gregory the Great. (Hom. 57, in Evang. and Dial. l. 4, c. 12.)
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/032.html
The
Lives and Times of the Popes – Saint Alexander I – A.D. 109
Article
It is said that this
pontiff pursued his studies under the direction and advice of Pliny the Younger
and Plutarch. There are attributed to him two decrees and three decretal
letters; the first addressed to all the orthodox, the second to all the
bishops, and the third to all the priests. Modern critics have decided those
pieces to be apocryphal. They find in them no trace of the system of
composition of the two great writers above mentioned. Novaes credits what is
said of Saint Alexander’s connection with Pliny. As regards Plutarch, he
himself confesses that during his travels in Italy he could not command
sufficient leisure to acquire a profound knowledge of the Latin language,
occupied as he was with the public business which was entrusted to him, and
with the conferences with the learned men who came to consult and listen to
him. In all probability Plutarch could not give lessons in Latin literature to
Alexander; but the painter of the virtue of the Greeks, who was born A.D. 66,
in the little town of Chaeronea, in Boeotia, could instruct the Christian in
the art of meditating upon the Greek literature. This a pontiff could not
neglect, as he necessarily had to maintain correspondence with so many
illustrious cities which spoke the language of Homer and Herodotus. It is
unfortunate that we have no letter or other document from the pen of Alexander
containing any expression of a feeling of gratitude towards such masters, as it
might have enabled us to learn something as to the various sentiments of Pliny
and Plutarch upon the great question of religion which at that period divided
the pagans. The letter that Pliny wrote in favor of the Christians is justly
famous, and does credit to his enlightened tolerance. The virtues of that
friend of Trajan, who was then proconsul and governor of Bithynia, induced, it
is said, some persons to reckon him among them, and to assign him a place in
their diptychs. Unfortunately, however, those partisans of Plinius Secundus
have confounded him with another Secundus, a true Christian, whose name was
quite properly placed on the Christian roll.
Alexander was still young
when he arrived at the pontificate. Some say that he was only twenty, and
others that he was thirty, when he became pope. On that point Novaes says: “Alexander
was young in years; but in morals, knowledge, and virtue, he was a veteran.” It
was he who ordered that the priests should celebrate but one Mass daily, which
rule was observed until the papacy of Saint Deodatus, in 615. Alexander
converted to the faith: Ermes, prefect of Rome, that officer’s wife, and
numerous illustrious citizens. Being thrown into prison for those glorious
efforts, he converted the tribune Quirinus and his daughter Balbina. Alexander,
in three ordinations, created six bishops, six priests, and two or three
deacons. He suffered martyrdom under Adrian, who had not sufficiently weighed
the plea which Pliny the Younger had addressed to Trajan.
Pliny to the Emperor
Trajan –
“I feel it my duty, my
Lord, to make known to you all my doubts; for who can better decide for me and
instruct me? I have never been present at the trial and sentence of any
Christian, so that I know not the particulars of the information against them,
or to how great a degree of punishment they should be consigned. I feel great
hesitation on the subject of different ages. Should Christians be subject to
punishment without any distinction being made between the older and the
younger? Ought those to be pardoned who repent, or is renunciation of
Christianity useless when it has once been professed? Are they punishable for
the mere name of Christianity, or for the crimes connected with that name? The
following is the rule by which I have governed myself in the cases which have
been brought before me concerning the Christians. I have questioned a second
and even a third time those who have avowed their Christianity, and I have
threatened them with punishment should they persist, and I have sent to
execution those who did so persist; for no matter what may be the nature of
that which they confessed, I felt that I must not neglect to punish their
disobedience and their inflexible obstinacy. Others, though confessedly guilty
of the same folly, I have sent to Rome, because they are Roman citizens.
Subsequently this crime, or accusations of it, having spread, as is usual in
such cases, charges were made in great variety. An anonymous memorial has been
placed in my hands, accusing of Christianity many persons who deny that they
are or ever have been such. In my own presence, and in terms that I dictated to
them, they have invoked the gods, and offered wine and incense to your image,
which I expressly ordered to be brought with the images of the gods. They have
even indulged in furious imprecations against Christ, which I am assured no
real Christians can be made to do. I therefore deemed that they ought to be
acquitted. Others, accused by an informer, at first admitted that they were
Christians, but immediately afterwards denied it, declaring that indeed they
had been, but had ceased to be so, some for three years and others for more,
even to the extent in some cases of twenty years. All of this class have
venerated your image and the statues of the gods, and have also cursed Christ.
They protested that their error or their crime had been confined to the
following particulars: On appointed days they assembled before sunrise, and
sang by turns verses in praise of Christ, as being God; that they engaged
themselves on oath, not to any crime, but that they would not be guilty of
larceny, theft, or adultery, or of breach of promise or denial of deposit made
with them. That afterwards it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble
to eat in company innocent food; and that they had ceased to hold those
assemblies when my edict was published, in obedience to your orders forbidding
such assemblies. This made me feel it all the more necessary to get at the
whole truth, by dint of torture, from two young slave-girls, who confessed to
ministering in this worship; but as I ascertained only that they carried to
excess a stupid superstition, for that reason I suspended further proceedings
until I can receive your orders.
“This business appears to
me to be worthy of your consideration, on account of the multitude of those
that are placed in this peril; for a great number of persons of all ages and
ranks, and of both sexes, are and will be implicated in this accusation. This
contagious evil has not only diffused itself in the cities and towns, but also
in villages and in the open country. I believe, however, that it can be
remedied and arrested. What is certain is that our temples, which were almost
deserted, are now frequented, and sacrifices long neglected recommence. Victims
are now everywhere in demand, which formerly found no purchasers; whence we may
infer what numbers of persons would be redeemed from their errors if repentance
would procure pardon.”
Trajan replied in the
following terms:
“You have taken the right
course, my dear Secundus, as to the cases of Christianity that have been referred
to you; for it is not practicable to establish a certain and general form of
procedure in a business of this kind. Inquiry and search should not be ordered;
but those who are accused and convicted should be punished. If, however, the
accused denies his Christianity, and authenticates his denial by his conduct –
I mean, by invoking the gods – his repentance should obtain his pardon,
whatever the suspicions under which he has formerly labored. In no kind of
accusation should anonymous denunciations be received, for they set an evil
example, and suit not our age.”
Fleury, after
transcribing this letter, makes the following judicious observations:
“That reply of the
emperor in some sort put a stop to the persecution which threatened the
Christians, yet left their enemies no less pretext to annoy them. In some
places the populace and in others the authorities set snares for them; so that
without any declared general persecution, there were individual persecutions in
every province.”
The persecution in which
Pope Saint Alexander perished had not been expressly ordered by the emperor,
but the sycophantic governors, hoping to please him, and often without any
orders, or under misinterpreted orders, sent Christians to execution.
Saint Alexander governed
the Holy See ten years, five months, and twenty days; he has the title of
martyr in the Sacramentary of Pope Gregory the Great, in the old calendar
published at Verona in 1733 by Father Fronteau, and in all the martyrologies.
After several centuries his body was removed to Saint Sabina, and placed
beneath the high altar erected by Sixtus V.
MLA
Citation
Alexis-François Artaud de
Montor. “Saint Alexander I – A.D. 109”. The
Lives and Times of the Popes, 1911. CatholicSaints.Info.
26 July 2022. Web. 28 January 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/the-lives-and-times-of-the-popes-saint-alexander-i-a-d-109/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-lives-and-times-of-the-popes-saint-alexander-i-a-d-109/
The
Acts of the Early Martyrs – Saint Alexander and his Companions
Article
Saint Alexander was the
successor of the blessed Evaristus in the see of Peter. By the holiness of his
life, by his burning zeal, and the wonderful faith which animated all his
actions, he brought to the fold of Christ great numbers of his fellow-citizens
– among them many Senators, and also Hermes, Prefect of Rome. The conversion of
the latter – who, together with all his household, consisting of more than
twelve hundred persons, received baptism at the hands of the holy Pontiff –
created so great a stir in the city that it induced the Emperor Trajan, who was
then in the East, to send Aurelian, one of his chief officers, to Rome, that he
might enforce the laws against the Christians.
On his arrival in the
city, Aurelian was received with every demonstration of joy and welcome, for
the priests of the idols had persuaded the populace to gratify in this manner
the vanity of the imperial deputy, that thus they might the more easily impel
him to enter into their designs of extinguishing the very name of Christian.
Wherefore, also, amidst the shouts of welcome which greeted him, Aurelian heard
repeatedly from all sides the cries of “To the flames with Alexander, the
Christian Pontiff,” and “Death to Hermes, the Prefect, who has destroyed his
household gods and taught his people to abandon our temples.”
In consequence of these
clamors of the people, Aurelian had Alexander forthwith arrested and sent to
prison; after which he gave orders to the Tribune Quirinus to put the Prefect
in chains, and hold him in safe keeping at his own residence.
While the Tribune had the
noble prisoner in charge, knowing that, sooner or later, he should have to
appear before Aurelian and suffer the penalty of the law, unless he consented
to abandon his religion, he thought that it would be an act of kindness on his
part if, by some means or other, he could prevail upon him to return to the
worship of the gods. For this purpose he sought an interview with Hermes, and
said to him:
“What is the reason that
a man of your rank suffers himself to be subjected to this degradation? How can
you thus calmly give up the honors which, as Prefect of the city, you were wont
to receive, and patiently permit yourself to be put in chains, as if you had
never been more than a private citizen?”
“I have not lost my
prefectship,” answered Hermes, “nor the honors attached thereto. I have simply
made a desirable change; for all earthly dignities may be lost or taken away:
but heavenly dignities are permanent, and not subjected to the fluctuations of
human affairs.”
“I am astonished,” said
the Tribune, “that a man of your good sense should forget himself so far as to
give credence to the absurd opinion that, after this life, there is another, in
which he may enjoy comfort and happiness. Do you not know that, after death,
the ashes of the human body are so reduced to nothingness that of the very
bones not a particle remains?”
“Not longer than two
years ago,” replied Hermes, “I used to talk as you do now. I then endeavored to
persuade myself that the present life was the only one wherein happiness was to
be found. But, by the mercy of God, my eyes have been opened to the truth, and
I now fully understand that the joys, as well as the sorrows of this life, are
neither real nor abiding.”
“If you can prove this to
me, I would willingly believe as you do,” said Quirinus.
“The blessed Alexander,
who is now in prison, has made me clearly see all this,” said Hermes.
When the Tribune heard
the name of Alexander, the grew very indignant, and, interrupting the Prefect,
exclaimed: “My noble lord, illustrious Hermes, take back your prefectship;
return to your senses; enjoy all your possessions, which shall be restored to
you. Aurelian, in the name of the Emperor, authorizes me to make you these
promises: reject not his generous offer. He puts only one condition – sacrifice
to the gods of the Empire. If you know your own interest, follow my advice, and
revenge yourself upon your enemies, who are even now rejoicing over your
misfortunes.”
“Did you not desire me to
give you a reason for my belief?” asked Hermes. “How comes it that you are all
at once unwilling to listen to me?”
“That is easily
explained,” answered the Tribune. “I requested you to show to me that your
change of belief was founded on reason and good sense; but you quote to me the
authority of Alexander, a magician, whom I was obliged to put in prison. How
could [ listen to you after hearing the name of that miserable wretch, who, by
his cunning devices, has succeeded in deceiving yourself, as well as many other
citizens? How is it possible, my lord, that you could suffer yourself to be
imposed Saint Alexander and his Companions. 235 upon by a juggler, as if you
were an untutored rustic? But perhaps the poor man is himself mistaken, and
will only discover his error when he is about to be thrown int» the flames for
his wicked deceptions. If he have any power, here is a chance to show it. Let
him free you and himself from these bonds.”
“Such also was the saying
of the Jews,” replied Hermes, “when Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour, was
hanging on the Cross. For they mocked and blasphemed Him, and, defying His
power, said with lying tongues: ‘If He be the Son of God and the King of
Israel, let Him now come down from the Cross and we will believe Him.’ And He,
had He not known their corrupt and treacherous hearts, would doubtless have
worked a miracle to save them.”
“If what you say is
true,” said the Tribune, “I will repair at once to Alexander and say to him:
‘If you desire me to believe that you worship the One true God, and that you
are His herald, let me find you in company with Hermes at my dwelling, or let
me see Hermes with you in your prison, and I will believe all your teachings.'”
“Let it be so,” replied
Hermes.
“But observe, I will more
than double his chains and the number of his keepers, and tell him to meet you
here about the hour of supper. If he can do this, I must needs confess that he
possesses a power greater than that of other men, and I will lend a ready ear
to his words.”
Thereupon he hastened to
the place where Alexander was kept a prisoner, and related to him all that had
passed between himself and the Prefect Hermes. After which he saw to it that,
under his personal inspection, the bonds were doubled as well as the number of
the guards, and then went his way.
As soon as Quirinus had
left the prison, the holy Pontiff betook himself to prayer, saying:
“Lord Jesus Christ, who
didst place me in the chair of Peter, Thy Apostle, hear my prayer. As formerly
Thou didst send Thy holy Angel to free him from prison, so now send him in like
manner to me, Thy unworthy servant, that this night he may lead me to the
apartment of the blessed Hermes and guide me back – yet so that my absence from
this place may not be known to my keepers.”
His prayer was heard. At
the beginning of the night, when all was silent, Alexander saw before him a
little child bearing a lighted torch in his hand. The servant of God was so
filled with wonder that he thought at first it was only a dream, But the child
said to him: “Follow me.”
“As Christ my Lord
liveth,” replied-the Pontiff, unless thou kneel down with me and recite the
Lord’s Prayer, I will not follow thee.”
The child, who, to all
appearance, seemed not to be more than five years of age, immediately kneeling
down, said the Lord’s Prayer. Then taking the holy prisoner by the hand, he led
him to the window of the apartment. Instantly it flew open, and they, passing
through it, in a few moments stood in the presence of Hermes, at the house of
the Tribune – the doors of the room remaining closed. After a while, Quirinus,
anxious to see what would be the upshot of their agreement, opened the door,
and, beholding the two servants of God with their arms extended and absorbed in
prayer, was greatly frightened; because the light of the torch, for the
presence of which he could not account, threw such a dazzling brightness
through the room, that he became wholly confused. They, however, seeing him in
this trouble, instantly came to his relief, saying:
“Since you put it as a
condition, that you would not believe our doctrines unless you saw us two, who
were at a distance from one another in body, although intimately united in
spirit – brought also visibly together, you must confess that your wish has
been satisfied, and that you cannot honorably recede from your agreement. Yet,
do not imagine that it was for the sake of securing our liberty you see us this
moment freed from our bonds. In the morning you shall find us again in chains
and secured as before. All this is done to release you from the bonds of sin
and the slavery of the devil, and to convince you that Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, is Himself the true God, who hears the prayers of them that believe in
Him, and grants to them whatsoever they may ask in His name.”
Nevertheless the Tribune
was not yet inclined to yield to the evidence of his senses, and said:
“Is it not possible that
what I behold may, after all, be simply the effect of your skill in magic?”
“Was it then for our sake
that this was done?” replied Hermes. “Was it not because you said you would
believe as I do, were you to see what you now witness? Disregard not this favor
which Christ our Lord has granted you; for He does not perform these miracles
without a purpose. Whilst He conversed with men upon earth, He healed the sick,
cleansed lepers, gave sight to the blind, restored the dead to life; very many
persons witnessed all these wonders, and yet how few believed in His doctrines!
Think you that they who refused to believe shall escape condemnation? To come
more closely to the point, what do you imagine should be my destiny hereafter,
had I been unwilling to listen to the teaching of this holy Pontiff Alexander?
Listen how my own conversion to the Faith was brought about.
“I had an only son, who
was successfully pursuing his studies; but he was of a weak and sickly
constitution. At the suggestion of his mother, we took him to the temple of
Jupiter, and there offered sacrifice to all the gods, and bestowed liberal
gifts upon the priests, in the hope that, by their prayers, we might obtain his
complete restoration to health. But, in spite of all this, he continued to
languish, and at last, to our unspeakable grief, he died. An old servant of
mine, who was now blind, but who had nursed the boy in his childhood, hearing
of his death, was deeply afflicted, and, bathed in tears, she loudly upbraided
me, saying:
“‘Had you taken your beloved
child to the shrine of the blessed Peter, and believed in Christ, the boy would
this day be alive and well.’
“If thou hast so easy a
remedy at hand,’ I replied, ‘how comes it that thou didst not get cured of thy
blindness?’
“‘Because, during the
five years since I lost my sight,’ she answered, ‘I never thought of believing
in Christ.’
“‘Well, then,’ I said,
‘go and believe in Christ. And if Alexander, the Christian Pontiff, restore
thee thy sight, I am ready to believe that he can give me back my darling boy.’
“I sent with her a trusty
servant to guide her on the way. It was about the third hour of the day when
she left my dwelling. Three hours later she returned with her sight perfectly
restored. Before we had time to give expression to our astonishment, she took
the lifeless body of my son in her arms, and returned to the blessed servant of
God, with such vigor and sprightliness that the youngest and strongest of the
attendants were hardly able to keep up with her. Arrived at the residence of
Alexander, she laid the body at his feet, and said:
“‘May I become blind
again, if it be God’s will; only let this child be restored to life.’
“‘May Christ our Lord
raise up the boy,’ replied the Pontiff, ‘without taking away from thee the
blessing of sight, which He hath mercifully bestowed upon thee.’
“Then calling upon the
name of the Lord, he blessed my child, and instantly led him to me, not only
alive, but perfectly restored to health. Seeing this, I threw myself at the
feet of the holy man, and besought him to make me a Christian; for I could not
possibly doubt of the truth of a doctrine which received so marvellous a
sanction from on high. Since then I have placed my son under the guardian care
of Alexander; I have given freedom to all my slaves, after making an adequate
provision for their support; the remainder of my possessions I have sold, and
distributed the amount among the suffering and the poor. And now that I am at
ease, and no longer encumbered by the things of earth, I fear neither the
confiscation of my property nor the wrath of man; but I hope that I shall have
a portion with them who, for the sake of their faith in Christ, the Saviour of
men, generously lay down their lives.”
Quirinus, hearing these
things, was greatly moved, and throwing himself at their feet, said:
“May Christ the Lord save
also my soul by your means, And as a sign that He is willing to do so, I am
bold to make a request. I have a grown-up daughter, a virtuous and comely maid.
Her I desire to give in marriage to a person of distinguished rank; but she is
afflicted with an ugly swelling in her neck. If you deign to heal her, I will
give her all my wealth, and serve Christ after your example.”
“Go and take her to my
prison,” said Alexander; “I will heal her there.”
“But since you are here
in my house,” exclaimed the Tribune, “how can I expect to find you in your
prison?”
“Do as I say. He that has
brought me to your house will also take me hence.”
Quirinus withdrew,
leaving the door of the room unlocked; but they insisted that he should put
everything in the same condition in which he found it when first he entered.
About an hour after he
had left his own house, Quirinus came to the prison of Alexander. Here he saw
the four men, whom he had placed there as a special guard, wide awake, and
fully convinced that nothing strange had occurred. He found the door closed, –
the seal he had put on it unbroken and untouched. Anxious to ascertain whether
all he had witnessed that night were not a dream, he opened the door, and
beheld the holy Pontiff in chains, and reverently engaged in prayer. Struck
with awe at a sight so unexpected, the Tribune cast himself at the feet of the
prisoner, and exclaimed:
“Pray for me, most holy
Father, lest I be overtaken by the wrath of the great God, whose servant you
are.”
Alexander bade him rise,
and said:
“The God whom I serve is
not willing that any should perish, but that all who have sinned should be
converted from their evil ways, and, through His mercy, should become entitled
to life everlasting. Therefore, also, when He was hanging on the Cross, and
dying for man’s salvation, He prayed with a loud voice for them that crucified
Him.”
“May He also have mercy
on me,” exclaimed Quirinus, Then, remembering that there was one very dear to
him whom he wished to be made a partaker of his own happiness, he added: “My
daughter Balbina, whom you desired me to bring to this place, is outside waiting
for your blessing.”
“How many persons are
there confined in this prison?” asked Alexander.
“Twenty persons, or
thereabouts,” he answered.
“Go then,” said the
Pontiff, “inquire if there be among them any who, for the sake of Christ, have
been thrown into this dungeon.”
The Tribune went, and
soon returned, saying:
“There is one aged
priest, Eventius by name, and another called Theodulus, who, they say, have
been sent hither from the East.”
“Make haste,” replied
Alexander, “and kindly invite them to join me here. Yet, before going, take
this collar from my neck, and put it on the neck of your daughter.”
Immediately Quirinus took
the collar, and at the same time, removed all the other chains from the servant
of God; then, kneeling down before him, said:
“I beseech you, most holy
Pontiff, deign to put this chain on her with your own blessed hands.”
Alexander complied with
his request, urging him again to release the two imprisoned priests. No sooner
had the Tribune left the place than the little child, bearing the lighted
torch, again made his appearance, and, addressing the daughter, said:
“Thou art healed.
Continue to lead a life chaste and undefiled, and I will show thee a Bridegroom
who, for love of thee, deigned to shed His own Blood.” Saying this, he vanished
from their sight.
A few moments later
Quirinus returned with Eventius and Theodulus. Seeing his daughter transported
with joy and perfectly healed, he was so astonished and delighted that he fell
down before the servant of God, and cried out with a loud voice:
“Leave this prison, I
entreat you, O holy Father; lest fire fall from heaven and destroy me for
keeping you here.”
“No, my son, not at all,”
replied Alexander; “but, if you are willing to do me a favor, suffer all the
prisoners detained in the place to come to me, that they may have a chance to
hear the doctrine of salvation and to become Christians.”
“You Christians,” said
the Tribune, “are holy persons; but these prisoners are robbers,
house-breakers, adulterers, in short, evil-doers guilty of all sorts of crimes.
How could they be induced to forsake their evil ways, and to lead the blameless
life required by your sacred teachings?”
“It was for the salvation
of sinners,” answered the Pontiff, “that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came
down from heaven and took upon Himself our human nature. Do not, therefore,
hinder them from reaping the benefit of so great a condescension, but permit
them to listen to what I have to say to them.”
Quirinus, thereupon,
hastened to the different apartments of the prison-house, and cried out to them
that were in custody:
“They among you who
desire to become Christians, let them repair to the room of Alexander, the
Pontiff.”
All, without exception,
eagerly availed themselves of this permission. As soon as they were all assembled,
the servant of God said to them:
“O, my children, listen
to me, that you may believe. God, – the Creator of all things and the Ruler of
the universe, who made man in His own image, – when man had fallen away from
his original state, sent His only Son to redeem him. This Son of God, assuming
our human nature, was born of a Virgin; and, dwelling among men, appeared as
one of them, that thus He might the more easily teach them the way of
salvation. He came down from heaven for the salvation of the whole human race,
but He taught His doctrines chiefly among the Jews. However, when they were
unwilling to believe His words, He called upon them to believe His works. For
this reason, He made them witness many signs and wonders! He changed water into
wine; He read their most secret thoughts; He gave sight to the blind, speech to
the dumb, cured the lame. He healed the sick and cast out devils; He calmed the
storms, and walked upon the waters; nay more, He restored the dead to life. And
when He did all these things, great multitudes believed in Him; but the priests
and chiefs of the Jews, goaded by envy, persecuted, and, at last, crucified
Him. This He permitted them to do because He chose in this manner to lead into
captivity the author of our death. Hence also, the third day, He rose again
from the dead; and, after abiding for forty days among men, and conversing with
them on the kingdom of God, He ascended into heaven, in the presence of many
witnesses. And, that His Disciples might continue the work He had begun, He
gave them all the power which Himself possessed for the salvation of mankind.
Lastly, at the end of the world, He will come, in the clouds of heaven, with
great majesty, to judge all men, and give to every one according to his works,
whether they be good or evil. See, therefore, in Whom you are invited to
believe: hearken to the voice that calls you from on high; resolve at once to
become followers of Christ, your Divine Leader, and thus secure your best
interests for time and for eternity.”
No sooner did he cease
speaking than they all exclaimed, as with one voice: “We believe in Christ!
Teach us what we must do to become His true followers.”
Whereupon, he ordered
Eventius and Theodulus to lay their hands upon them, and to receive them as
catechumens. After a few days, when they were sufficiently instructed,
Alexander baptized them all, together with Quirinus and the members of his
household, – so that the prison was changed, as it were, into a church. But
they were not long suffered to remain undisturbed.
Instigated by the evil
spirit, one of the keepers went to Aurelian, and related to him all that had
taken place in prison. Aurelian was very angry. Forthwith he sent for the
Tribune, and said:
“I have loved and treated
you as my son; how could you suffer yourself to be misled by that Alexander?
How could you trifle thus with the confidence and friendship I had shown you?”
“I will hide nothing from
you, my lord,” answered Quirinus. “I have become a Christian. You may scourge,
you may burn, you may kill me: I will not deny my faith. I begged the blessed
Pontiff Alexander and the noble Hermes to leave the prison, but they refused.
All the persons confined in prison have also become Christians: I gave them a
chance to make their escape, but they said: ‘If we were resigned to die on
account of the crimes we had committed, how much more willing ought we now to
be to lay down our lives for the Name of Christ, who has so mercifully forgiven
us our sins. Thus do matters stand: it belongs to yourself to decide what is to
be done.”
Aurelian grew furious
when he heard this, and, sternly eyeing the Tribune, said:
“Since thou wert not
afraid of boldly divulging thy secrets, I will force thee henceforth to be
silent by having thy tongue cut out, and by putting thee on the rack as the
vilest of criminals.”
“Wretched man,” replied
Quirinus, “take care of your immortal soul, lest hereafter you be condemned to
suffer everlasting torments.”
Aurelian, instead of
being frightened, became only the more incensed, and gave orders, first to
torture him on the rack, then to cut off his hands and feet, and, lastly, to
sever his head from the body, and to throw the remains to the dogs; all which
was duly executed. The Christians, however, secured the relics of the Martyr,
and privately buried them in the cemetery of Praetextatus, on the Appian Way.
A few days later, the
Prefect Hermes, after fearlessly confessing the truth, was by order of Aurelian
beheaded. Theodora, the sister of the noble Martyr, obtained possession of his
body and deposited it in a monument not far from the city, on the Salarian
Road. Next, all they who had been baptized in prison were put in an old
worn-out ship, and, with stones tied to their necks, sunk into the depths of
the sea.
Afterwards, the Judge
summoned Alexander before him, and said:
“I command you, first of
all, to make known to me all the secrets of your doctrines, so that I may
understand why it is that the followers of Christ choose rather to die than to
give up their belief.”
“That which you require
is sacred and inviolable,” replied Alexander; “and Christ does not allow us to
give to’ the dogs that which is holy.”
“Am I then a dog?”
shouted Aurelian.
“Would that you were only
a dog,” said the Pontiff, “but what is more unfortunate for you, you are much
worse. For when a dog dies, he comes to nothing, and is not thrown into
everlasting fire, on account of his evil deeds. But a man, created in the image
of God, if by wickedness he departs from the worship and obedience which he
owes to his Maker, exposes himself to endless torments, even as you would
consider him guilty who should defile your own picture or statue. And you,
being yourself mortal and short-lived, you inflict punishments which last but
for a time; but God, who is Eternal, visits with everlasting punishments the
transgressors of His law.”
“If you do not satisfy me
by answering what I ask of you, I will have you scourged,” said the Judge.
“Wicked tyrant,” replied
Alexander, “how dare you make bold to ask for such things, and that too of me,
who, beside my King who reigns in the heavens, fear none other? You are
mistaken if you imagine that you can learn the mysteries of the Christian
Religion by disputing instead of by believing.”
“Let there be an end to
that cunning loquaciousness of yours,” said Aurelian; “and remember that you
are not talking to an ordinary Judge, but to one whose power and influence have
been felt throughout the world.”
“Boast not of your power,”
answered the Pontiff; “for he that glories in his strength is nigh to a fall.”
“I allow you now to talk,
you poor wretch,” exclaimed the Judge; “because I am about to torture the life
out of you with every punishment I can invent.”
“That will be nothing
new,” said the Confessor; “for what innocent man did ever escape your hands?
They alone who deny that they are servants of Christ, deserve to live according
to your decisions. I, therefore, who will never deny my divine Master, must
needs be condemned to death by you – even as the holy Hermes, who, by dying for
the truth, is now truly illustrious. And is not Quirinus, whom you ordered to
be slain, now more exalted in glory than when he was a Tribune upon earth? and
all they whom I baptized in their prison, are they not now free and blissful in
the kingdom of heaven?”
“That is the very
reason,” said Aurelian, “why I did ask, and still ask, how comes it that you
Christians prefer a cruel, ignominious death to a pleasant and honorable life?”
“As I said before,”
answered the fearless Pontiff, “it is not lawful to throw to the dogs that
which is holy.”
“Do you still persist in
calling me a dog?” cried the Judge. “But let that pass; words will cease when
blows begin.”
“I fear not your blows,”
said Alexander; “they soon come to an end; but I dread those torments of the
hereafter, of which you seem not to be afraid.”
Aurelian, no longer able
to contain his wrath, ordered him to be put on the rack, and to be torn with
iron hooks and burned with lighted torches. When the Martyr had been in this
manner tortured for a long time, and did not utter a word, the Judge said to
him:
“Why are you now silent?”
“Because, during prayer,
a Christian converses with his God,” answered the Martyr.
“Answer the questions
which I did put you heretofore,” said Aurelian, “and I will order the tortures
to be discontinued.”
“I care not for your
foolish questions,” replied Alexander, “and I despise all the inventions of
your cruelty.”
“You seem not to be more
than thirty years of age,” added the Judge; “how can you be willing to forego
the happiness and pleasure of so youthful an age?”
“Would that you were so
wise as not to be willing to lose your own soul,” answered the Martyr.
Meanwhile, Severina, the
wife of Aurelian, hearing what was going on, presented herself before him, and
said:
“Save thyself from the
evils which threaten thee; release the holy Bishop Alexander, lest thou die a
miserable death, and bring misfortune upon thy family.”
“Is it because he is a
friend of thine that thou speakest thus in his favor?” said the Judge.
Nevertheless, he ordered the Martyr to be taken from the rack, and sending for
Eventius and Theodulus, said to Alexander:
“Who are these persons?”
“They are two holy men,
both worthy priests,” answered the Pontiff.
Then, addressing
Eventius, Aurelian said:
“What is thy name?”
“According to the world,
my name is Eventius, but in a spiritual sense I am called a Christian,”
answered Eventius.
“When didst thou become a
Christian?” asked the Judge.
“More than seventy years
ago,” replied the servant of God; “for when eleven years old, I was baptized;
at the age of twenty, I was ordained a priest; I am now in my eighty-second
year, and I am glad to be able to add that I spent the last year in prison and
in chains for the sake of my Faith.”
“Consider thy advanced
age,” said Aurelian; “have pity on thyself. Deny Christ, thy God; I will make
thee my friend and companion, and enrich thee to thy heart’s content.”
“Where is your reason?
where is your common sense?” exclaimed the venerable old man. “I took you to
bea person of at least ordinary understanding; but, alas! blind and
hard-hearted as you are, you cannot see the things that are of God. Do at last,
I entreat you, consider that you are but a poor mortal man; believe and confess
that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is truly God; do penance for your sins, that
you may find mercy with Him who came upon earth to save sinners.”
Whereupon the Judge,
ordering him to stand aside, said to Theodulus:
“Art thou that Theodulus
who carest nothing for my commands?”
“And I will continue to
make very little of yourself,” boldly replied the Confessor, “so long as you
persist in afflicting the Saints of God with your torments. For what wrong hath
the blessed Alexander done that you should treat him thus?”
“Thinkest thou, perhaps,
that I am about to exempt thee from a similar treatment?” asked Aurelian.
“I hope, by the mercy of
my God,” answered Theodulus, “that I shall not be separated from the company of
His holy Martyrs.”
Then the Judge commanded
his men to heat a large oven, and to cast Alexander and Eventius, tied back to
back, into the same. But Theodulus he placed close to the oven, so that,
frightened by the sufferings of his brethren, he might be induced to sacrifice
to the idols. Alexander, however, seeing him in that condition, cried out to
him:
“Brother Theodulus,
hasten to join us here; that fourth one, who appeared among the Hebrew youths
in the fiery furnace, is now here with us.”
Instantly Theodulus
leaped into the glowing oven, and, together returning thanks to God for their
wonderful preservation, they joyfully exclaimed:
“Thou, O Lord, hast tried
us by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in us.”
When Aurelian saw and
heard all this, he was exceedingly annoyed. After giving orders that Eventius
and Theodulus should be beheaded, and that Alexander should be pierced to death
with small sharp-pointed instruments, he returned to his dwelling sad and
despondent. No sooner had he arrived there than he felt a burning fever in all
his limbs, and began to rave like one in utter despair, calling upon his wife,
who was a Christian, to pray to God, that He might spare him. But in vain;
after some hours he died a wretched maniac, and the words of Alexander, “He
that glories in his strength is nigh to a fall,” were verified in him.
Severina, clothed in the
garments of mourning, hastened to the spot where lay the bodies of the three
Martyrs, and, followed by many of the clergy and the Faithful, took them to her
own villa – on the Nomentan Road, near the seventh milestone from the city –
where she reverently buried them; placing the sacred remains of Alexander and
Eventius in the same monument, and those of Theodulus in another close by.
There she continued to watch and pray for many days, until the blessed Sixtus,
successor of Alexander in the chair of Peter, arrived in Rome, and, at her
request, appointed a priest who should daily celebrate the Sacred Mysteries
near the resting-place of the holy Martyrs.
Their martyrdom is
commemorated on the third of May.
MLA
Citation
Father James A M Fastré,
S.J. “Saint Alexander and his Companions”. The
Acts of the Early Martyrs, 1871. CatholicSaints.Info.
25 July 2022. Web. 28 January 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/the-acts-of-the-early-martyrs-saint-alexander-and-his-companions/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-acts-of-the-early-martyrs-saint-alexander-and-his-companions/
Sant' Alessandro I Papa
e martire
m. 3 maggio 115/116
(Papa dal 105 al 115).
Nobile romano, ebbe al narra la tradizione al come maestri Plinio il Giovane e
Plutarco. Fu eletto successore di Evaristo in giovanissima età, quando non
aveva ancora compiuto trent'anni.
Patronato: Barrafranca
(EN)
Etimologia: Alessandro
= protettore di uomini, dal greco
Emblema: Palma
Nel Liber pontificalis è detto “natione Romanus, ex patre Alexandro, de regione caput Tauri”. Tale indicazione topografica allude alla zona vicina a S. Bibiana, all'estremità della V regione Augustea, dove L. Statilius Taurus, console nel 44 d.C., eresse i suoi horti e il suo forum e nel Medioevo fu detta Taurina la porta S. Lorenzo. Il suo pontificato va dall'anno 105 al 115. Quindi è indicato il suo martirio, avendo a compagni “Eventius presbiter et Theodolus diaconus”; sepolto sulla “via Numentana, ubi decollatus est, ab urbe Roma non longe, milliario VII, nonas mai”, cioè il 3 maggio.
Il Martirologio geronimiano alla stessa data segna: “Romae via Nomentana, miliario VII, natale sanctorum Eventi, Alexandri, Theodoli”. Manca ogni indicazione di episcopi, che dà sempre ai papi, e non lo mette al primo posto; queste due circostanze fecero dubitare al Fiorentini dell'identità del papa e del martire.
Nell'itinerario del VII sec. inserito da Guglielmo di Malmesbury nei Gesta Regum Anglorum, fuori della porta Nomentana è segnato: “In septimo miliario eiusdem viae sanctus papa Alexander, cum Eventio et Theodolo pausant ”.
Questa notizia dipende dalla passio, come pure dalla passio dipende il Liber pontificalis.
La passio fa i due compagni di Alessandro ambo presbyteri. Tutti sarebbero stati sepolti da Severina, moglie del comes Aureliano che li aveva condannati, “in septimo milliario ab urbe Roma via Numentana in praedium suum, Eventium et Alexandrum in uno posuit monumento, Theodolum vero solum in loco altero sepelivit”. La passio non ha valore storico, ed è ritenuta dal Duchesne non anteriore al sec. VI; vi si parla anche dei martiri Ermete, Quirino tribuno e di sua figlia Balbina.
Ma le indicazioni topografiche e l'unione dei tre nomi che ricorrono sia nel Liber pontificalis che nel Martirologio geronimiano, nella passio e nell'itinerario detto Malmesburiense sono risultate esatte quando nel 1855 si scoprì al VII miglio della via Nomentana un cimitero e un complesso basilicale con due tombe venerate. Sulla prima era stato eretto un altare con l'iscrizione:
...ET ALEXANDRO DELICATVS VOTO POSVIT DEDICANTE AEPISCOPO VRS(0)
L'Ursus fu identificato dal Duchesne con il vescovo di Nomentum di tal nome ricordato in una lettera del papa Innocenzo I (401-417). L'iscrizione è, dunque, dell'inizio del sec. V e dimostra che Alexander è nominato per ultimo, senza alcuna dignità gerarchica, rafforzando i dubbi espressi dal Duchesne. Il cimitero e i monumenti in esso contenuti non permettono in alcun modo una datazione così remota, come l'età di Traiano, ma si tratta di un cimitero locale, iniziato non prima della seconda metà del sec. III.
Autore: Enrico Josi
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/51675
ALESSANDRO I, santo
di Francesco Scorza
Barcellona - Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000)
Successore di Evaristo nel
consenso generale delle antiche liste episcopali romane. Secondo Eusebio il
suo episcopato si sarebbe svolto per dieci anni dal 108 (Historia ecclesiastica
IV, 1; cfr. Chronicon, ad a. 108) al 119 (Historia ecclesiastica IV, 4), un
lasso di tempo sicuramente più lungo di dieci anni. Il Catalogo Liberiano
attribuisce all'episcopato di A. una durata di sette anni, due mesi e un giorno
dal 109 al 116. Il Liber
pontificalis, nr. 7, riporta solo la data dell'ultimo anno di episcopato di
A., il 116, e lo fa durare dieci anni, sette mesi e due giorni. A tali
riferimenti cronologici il Liber pontificalis aggiunge una serie di notizie,
difficilmente controllabili e verosimilmente fantasiose. A. sarebbe stato
romano, figlio di Alessandro, originario della regione di "Caput
tauri" (questa è stata identificata con una zona ai margini
dell'Esquilino). Avrebbe introdotto la commemorazione della passione del
Signore nel canone della messa e avrebbe disposto che la benedizione delle case
si facesse con acqua e sale; in tre ordinazioni avrebbe consacrato sei
presbiteri, due diaconi e cinque vescovi. Sarebbe morto martire insieme al
presbitero Evenzio e al diacono Teodolo, e sarebbe stato sepolto il 3 maggio
sul luogo della sua decapitazione al VII miglio della via Nomentana. Alla sua
morte sarebbe seguito un periodo di sede vacante della durata di trentacinque
giorni.
L'attribuzione ad A.
della commemorazione della passione di Gesù durante la messa - corrispondente
al "Qui pridie quam pateretur" del canone romano - è un evidente
anacronismo, perché la celebrazione eucaristica non prescinde dal contesto
dell'istituzione del rito, che è propriamente quello della passione del Cristo.
La benedizione delle case con acqua e sale è attestata in Occidente solo dal
Sacramentarium Gelasianum, posteriore al Liber pontificalis, che dunque ne
costituisce la prima testimonianza: cionondimeno è da escludersi l'attribuzione
del provvedimento ad Alessandro I. La notizia che associa nel martirio A. con Evenzio
e Teodolo si ricollega alla commemorazione dei tre martiri omonimi sepolti al
VII miglio della via Nomentana secondo il Martyrologium Hieronymianum alla data
del 3 maggio. La
critica moderna ritiene però che questi fossero solo martiri locali, e
il fatto che Alessandro vi sia menzionato al secondo posto, tra Evenzio e
Teodolo, e senza alcun titolo, farebbe escludere che secondo l'autore del
documento liturgico egli rivestisse rispetto agli altri due una funzione
ecclesiastica di rilievo come quella di vescovo.
A. è il protagonista di
una Passio che ha tutti i caratteri della produzione agiografica romana dei
secc. V-VI, in cui è associato a Evenzio e Teodolo. Per vari particolari del
racconto P.A.B. Llewellyn ha posto in rapporto questo testo con la
ricostruzione, terminata nel 439, del "titulus Apostolorum" ad opera
di Filippo, già legato papale al concilio di Efeso e
presbitero di quel titulus che in seguito fu conosciuto come "titulus
Eudoxiae" e poi "S. Petri ad Vincula" (o "in
Vinculis").
Nei primi tre
capitoli della Passio si racconta di Ermete,
prefetto di Roma già
convertito da A., fatto arrestare per volontà dell'imperatore Traiano dal comes
utriusque militiae Aureliano e tenuto sotto custodia dal tribuno Quirino,
mentre A. è stato chiuso in carcere. Dopo vari prodigi, tra i quali la
guarigione di Balbina, figlia di Quirino, anche questi si converte con la
figlia, finisce martire per ordine di Aureliano, ed è sepolto nel cimitero di
Pretestato, sulla via Appia. Evenzio e Teodolo, quest'ultimo di provenienza
orientale, sono due presbiteri che si trovavano in carcere con A., e che
impongono le mani ai carcerati convertitisi dopo una predica del
vescovo. Ermete è decapitato e sepolto sulla via
Salaria; i prigionieri convertiti sono fatti gettare in mare con una pietra
al collo. Balbina si consacra alla verginità. Dopo un interrogatorio in
cui cerca invano di convertire il comes Aureliano, A. (che dallo stesso
interrogatorio si viene a sapere essere dell'età di trent'anni) è sottoposto a
vari tormenti, e dopo di lui anche Evenzio e Teodolo. Vano risulta però il
tentativo di bruciare A. ed Evenzio in una fornace ardente, nella quale anche
Teodolo si getta spontaneamente su invito dei compagni quando questi gli dicono
di avervi trovato l'angelo che aveva salvato i tre giovani nella fornace
secondo il racconto del libro di Daniele. Allora Evenzio e Teodolo sono fatti
decapitare, mentre A. è condannato ad essere pungolato lungo tutte le sue
membra. La vendetta divina non tarda a colpire Aureliano: sua moglie Severina
seppellisce i tre martiri al VII miglio della via Nomentana, Evenzio e A.
insieme, Teodolo in un sepolcro a parte. La Passio coincide con la notizia del
Liber pontificalis quando identifica l'Alessandro martire della via Nomentana
con il vescovo di Roma, dandogli per compagni Evenzio e Teodolo, e per il luogo
e la data del loro martirio e della loro sepoltura: se ne distingue tuttavia
quando fa di Evenzio e Teodolo due presbiteri - mentre nel Liber pontificalis
sono rispettivamente un pre-sbitero e un diacono - e per il particolare
supplizio di A., che invece secondo il Liber pontificalis è decapitato. Non si
può negare tuttavia che quest'ultima fonte si rifaccia alla stessa tradizione
agiografica attestata dalla Passio: è probabile che quest'ultima ci sia giunta
in una redazione leggermente diversa (forse posteriore) rispetto a quella che
doveva conoscere l'autore del Liber pontificalis.
La commemorazione di
Evenzio, A. e Teodolo alla data del 3 maggio secondo il Martyrologium
Hieronymianum fu ripresa nei martirologi medievali a partire da quelli di Beda
e di Floro, ed è stata accolta dal Martyrologium Romanum. Il Calendarium
Romanum del 1969 concede la commemorazione dei tre martiri ai soli calendari
particolari, affermando che di essi si conosce soltanto il nome e la data della
deposizione: con ciò si rinuncia all'identificazione del vescovo A. con il
martire della via Nomentana. Nella collezione delle decretali pseudoisidoriane
ad A. sono attribuite tre epistole.
Eusebio
di Cesarea, Historia ecclesiastica III, 34; IV, 1, a cura
di E.
Schwartz, Leipzig 1903 (Die Griechischen Christlichen
Schriftsteller. Eusebius Werke, II, 1), pp. 300-04.
Id., Chronicon, ad a.
108, a cura di R. Helm, Berlin 1956 (Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller. Eusebius
Werke, VII), p. 195.
Le Liber pontificalis, a
cura di L.
Duchesne, I, Paris 1886, pp. XCI-XCII, 54-5, 127.
Catalogo Liberiano,
ibid., pp. 2-3.
H.
Quentin, Les Martyrologes historiques du Moyen-Âge, ivi 1908, pp.
490-92.
H.
Delehaye, Commentarius perpetuus in Martyrologium Hieronymianum [...],
in Acta Sanctorum Novembris
[...], II, pars posterior, Bruxellis 1931, pp. 227-28.
Martyrologium Romanum
[...] scholiis historicis instructum, in Propylaeum ad Acta Sanctorum
Decembris, ivi 1940, pp. 169-70.
Calendarium Romanum ex
decreto sacrosancti oecumenici concilii Vaticani II instauratum auctoritate
Pauli PP. VI promulgatum, In Civitate Vaticana 1969, p. 122.
Fonti agiografiche:
Cfr. Bibliotheca
Hagiographica Graeca, a cura di F. Halkin, III, Bruxellis 1957³, nr. 2168;
ibid., Novum Auctarium, a cura di F. Halkin, ivi 1984, pp. 48-9.
Bibliotheca Hagiographica
Latina [...], I, ivi 1898-99, nrr. 266-71; ibid., Novum Supplementum,
a cura di H. Fros, ivi 1986, nrr. 266-69e.
La Passio sancti
Alexandri (Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina [...], nr. 266) è pubblicata
in Acta Sanctorum [...], Maii, I, Antverpiae 1680, pp. 367-75.
Decretali:
cfr. P.
Hinschius, Decretales pseudo-Isidorianae et Capitula Angilramni [...],
Lipsiae 1863, pp. 94-105.
Studi:
Ecclesiastica Historia
[...] per aliquot studiosos et pios viros in urbe Magdeburgica, Centuria II,
Caput X, Basileae 1562, coll. 110-11.
C.
Baronio, Annales ecclesiastici,
II, Romae 1590, pp. 68, 77-9.
[L.-S.] Lenain de
Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique des six
premiers siècles, t. II, Venise 1732, pp. 238-41, 590-93.
J. Dubois-G.
Renaud, Le Martyrologe d'Adon. Ses deux familles. Ses trois recensions.
Texte et commentaire, Paris 1984, pp. 144-46.
O.
Marucchi, Il cimitero e la basilica di Sant'Alessandro al VII miglio
della via Nomentana, Roma 1922.
G.
Belvederi, La Basilica e il cimitero di S.
Alessandro al VII miglio della Via Nomentana, "Rivista di
Archeologia Cristiana", 14, 1937, pp. 7-40, 199-204.
P.A.B. Llewellyn, The
Passion of S.
Alexander and his Companions, of S. Hermes and
S. Quirinus: a Suggested Date and Author, "Vetera Christianorum",
13, 1976, pp. 289-96.
J. Squillbeck, Le
chef-reliquaire du pape Alexandre aux Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire.
Critique historique et examen des formes, "Revue Belge
d'Archéologie", 53, 1984, pp. 3-19.
A. Dufourcq, Alexandre I,
in D.H.G.E., II, coll. 204-06.
Dictionnaire de théologie
catholique, I, Paris 1930, s.v., coll. 708-09.
Vies des Saints et des
Bienheureux, V, ivi 1947, s.v., pp. 58-63; E.C., V, s.v., col. 893.
E. Josi-G. Lucchesi,
Alessandro, in B.S., I, coll. 792-801.
New Catholic Encyclopaedia, I, Washington 1967, s.v., p. 288;
Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie, V, Rom 1973, s.v.,
coll. 82-3.
Biographisch-bibliographisches
Kirchenlexikon, I, Hamm 1975,
s.v., col. 100.
Lexikon für Theologie und
Kirche, I, Freiburg 1993³, s.v., col. 367.
Il grande libro dei
Santi. Dizionario enciclopedico, I, Cinisello Balsamo 1998, s.v., pp. 78-
SOURCE : http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-alessandro-i_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)
Den hellige pave
Alexander I ( - ~115)
Minnedag:
3. mai
Den hellige Alexander I
var ifølge LP romer
og sønn av en Alexander. Han var en disippel av Plutark. Kildene gjetter at han
regjerte mellom sju og ti år.
Han sies å være den
første som begynte å velsigne hus med vievann (vann blandet med salt). Han skal
også ha påbudt at hostier skal bakes av usyret brød.
Pave Alexander er
tidligere æret som martyr. I følge en tradisjon fra slutten av 400-tallet som
ble tatt inn i LP, skal han
ha blitt halshogd den 3. mai ved Via Nomentana, som går nordøstover fra Roma.
Her ble hans angivelige grav oppdaget i 1855. Hans relikvier er sagt å ha blitt
overført til Freising i Bayern i 834. Hans minnedag er 3. mai.
Men ettersom det i de
eldste pavekrøniker ikke står noe om Alexanders martyrium, og da det mangler
autentiske beretninger om ham, antar man nå at det siktes til en romersk martyr
med samme navn. Denne Alexander nevnes sammen med martyrene (etter
forvandlingen) i Den romerske Canon (Eukaristisk bønn I), men hadde han vært
pave, er det rimelig å anta at han ville blitt nevnt sammen med Linus og Kletus (før
forvandlingen).
Paverekken - Kildehenvisninger -
Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Sist oppdatert: 1998-02-03 21:14
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/alexand1
Alexander I.
Gedenktag katholisch: 3. Mai
Auffindung der Gebeine: 27. Oktober
Übertragung der Gebeine: 5. Mai
bedacht im Eucharistischen Hochgebet
I
Gedenktag orthodox: 16.
März
Name bedeutet: der
Wehrmann (griech.)
römischer Gemeindevorsteher, Märtyrer (?)
* in Rom
† 3. Mai 115 (?) daselbst
Alexander gilt als
fünfter in der Liste der
Päpste nach Petrus,
demnach im Amt von 105 bis 115. Er wurde demnach als Sohn eines Römers namens
Alexander in der Stadtregion Caput Tauri - an der heutigen Porta
Tiburtina - geboren. Er gewann der Überlieferung nach viele Menschen,
vor allem aus dem niederen Adel Roms, und einige Ratsherren für das
Christentum. Ihm wird die Einführung der Abendmahlsworte in der Messe und des
Weihwassers zum Hausgebrauch zugeschrieben, denn in Schlafräumen soll es zur
Abschreckung der Teufel dienen. Er verfügte, dass kein Kleriker von
einem weltlichen Gericht belangt werden soll, Priester nur eine Messe am Tag
feiern sollen und man Hostien, die in der Messe verwendet werden, nur aus
ungesäuertem Teig machen dürfe.
Ungesichert ist, ob
Alexander als Märtyrer starb und tatsächlich unter Kaiser Trajan enthauptet
wurde. Nach der Legende waren Alexander und der römische Präfekt Hermes,
den er bekehrt und getauft hatte, in getrennten Gefängnissen untergebracht und
gefesselt. Während Quirinus den
Hermes bewachte, erschien, von einem Engel geführt,
Alexander ohne Fesseln, um seinen Freund Hermes zu stärken; Quirinus musste
feststellen, dass Alexander zu dieser Zeit sein Gefängnis nicht verlassen
hatte. Quirinus bedingte sich als weiteres Zeichen die Heilung seiner
Tochter Balbina aus.
Diese erfolgte, als er die Ketten fand, an denen Petrus bei
seiner Gefangenschaft im Carcere
Mamertino in Rom gefesselt war; Balbina übergab sie Alexander, der
taufte nun Balbina, Quirinus und sein Haus; auch sie wurden daraufhin
enthauptet.
Nach dem Liber
Pontificalis war Alexander zehn Jahre, sieben Monate und zwei Tage
Bischof von Rom und
starb zur Zeit des Kaiser Trajan während des Konsulats von Aemilius Aelianus
und Antistius Vetus. Der Bischofsstuhl blieb dann für 35 Tage vakant, bevor
Papst Sixtus
I. die Nachfolge antrat.
Legenden aus dem 5.
Jahrhunderts berichten vom Martyrium Alexanders, der demnach an eine Säule
gebunden, dann mit gebrochenen Gliedern und von Schwerthieben zerfleischt
enthauptet wurde. Die - auch im Liber
Pontificalis enthaltene - Überlieferung, dass er das Martyrium
zusammen mit Eventius und Theodoulos erlitt,
beruht auf einer Verwechslung mit deren gleichnamigem Leidensgenossen. Das
neue Martyrologium
Romanum von 2001/2004 enthält Alexander I. überhaupt nicht mehr als
Papst, sondern nur Alexander als einen der drei Märtyrer.
Alexander - tatsächlich
der sonst unbekannte Märtyrer und Gefährte von Eventius und Theodoulos -
wurde dieser Überlieferung zufolge an der Via Nomentana in den nach
ihm benannten Katakomben bestattet. Über den Katakomben wurde schon im
4. Jahrhundert ein kleines Oratorium errichtet,
in dem lokale Verehrung stattfand. Dieses wurde wie die Katakomben im 6. Jahrhundert
von den Goten zerstört. 1854 wurden diese Katakomben erforscht, über ihnen
wurde dann vom Ortspfarrer eine Basilika errichtet.
Heute ist der Komplex an
den Alexander-Katakomben in
Rom ein Jugend-Freizeitheim, die Pfarrkirche gegenüber ist dem Märtyrer
Alexander geweiht. Im 9. Jahrhundert wurden Reliquien übertragen;
die von Alexander - also tatsächlich die des sonst unbekannten Märtyrers -
kamen 834 nach Freising,
andere 837 in die Klosterkirche Sant'Alessandro nach
Parma, weitere in die um 950 errichtete Stiftskirche
St. Peter und Alexander nach Aschaffenburg sowie 1710 aus der
römischen Katakombe in die Jakobskirche nach
Schrobenhausen.
Angebliche Reliquien des
römischen Gemeindevorstehers Alexander kamen nach Corfinium - dem heutigen
Corfinio -, wo Alexander 1092 das an die Kathedrale angebaute Oratorium geweiht
wurde, in dem diese Reliquien verehrt werden.
Patron von Corfinio;
gegen Kropf und Skrofeln
Schriften
von Alexander gibt es online zu lesen in den Documenta Catholica
Omnia.
Die Katakomben des Alexander in Rom sind nicht öffentlich zugänglich, Besuch nur nach Vereinbarung mit der Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra. (2017)
Die Kathedrale in
Corfinio ist täglich von 7.30 Uhr bis 12 Uhr und von 15.30 Uhr bis 18.30 Uhr -
im Winter nur bis 17.30 Uhr - geöffnet. (2023)
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Autor: Joachim
Schäfer - zuletzt aktualisiert am 16.05.2025
Quellen:
• Vera Schauber, Hanns Michael Schindler: Heilige und Patrone im Jahreslauf. Pattloch, München, 2001
• Hiltgard L. Keller: Reclams Lexikon der Heiligen und der biblischen Gestalten. Reclam, Ditzingen 1984
• Erhard Gorys: Lexikon der Heiligen. dtv, München, 1997
• Otto Wimmer, Hartmann Melzer: Lexikon der Namen und Heiligen, bearb. u. erg. von Josef Gelmi. Tyrolia, Innsbruck, 1988
• P. Ezechiel Britschgi: Name verpflichtet. Christiana, Stein am Rhein, 1985
• https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01285c.htm - abgerufen am 31.05.2023
• Adolf v. Harnack: Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums. J. C. Hinrich, Leipzig, 1924
• Karl Heussi: Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte. Tübingen, 1976
• Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, begr. von Michael Buchberger. Hrsg. von Walter Kasper, 3., völlig neu bearb. Aufl., Bd. 1. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1993
• Friedrich-Wilhelm Bautz. In: Friedrich-Wilhelm Bautz (Hg.): Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, Bd. I, Hamm 1990
• http://romanatura.roma.it/i-parchi/r-n-marcigliana/catacombe-di-s-alessandro nicht mehr erreichbar
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0054:id=forum-tauri - abgerufen am 31.05.2023
•
https://www.donaukurier.de/lokales/schrobenhausen/Heilige-in-unseren-Kirchen-Er-war-der-sechste-Bischof-von-Rom;art603,3760406
- abgerufen am 31.05.2023
korrekt zitieren: Joachim Schäfer: Artikel Alexander I., aus dem Ökumenischen Heiligenlexikon - https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienA/Alexander_I_.htm, abgerufen am 28. 1. 2026
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet das Ökumenische
Heiligenlexikon in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte
bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über https://d-nb.info/1175439177 und https://d-nb.info/969828497 abrufbar.
SOURCE : https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienA/Alexander_I_.htm
