Sainte ALEXANDRA de ROME, impératrice et martyre, et ses compagnons martyrs

Sainte martyre impératrice Alexandra de Rome

Alexandra de Rome est une sainte chrétienne vénérée comme martyre. “Alexandra aspire à la vérité et aspire dans l’esprit masculin beaucoup plus que les porteurs de plusieurs autres noms” (P. А. Florenskiy). Alexandre est connue grâce à la biographie de Georges de Lydda. Alexandre était païenne, femme de l’empereur romain Dioclétien, oppresseur cruel des chrétiens. En voyant le courage du Saint Georges et les miracles effectués par lui, la tsarine crut en Christ. Se serrant contre les pieds du grand martyr, Alexandra, devant tout le peuple et l’empereur, proclama Christ le vrai Dieu. Dioclétien ordonna d’exécuter sa femme avec le saint Georges.

SOURCE : http://www.iconkuznetsov.com/index.php?sid=358&did=68&lang=fra

Sainte Alexandra, reine martyre

Le 23 avril / 6 mai, nous célébrons la mémoire de la sainte martyre ALEXANDRA, l'impératrice

Sainte Alexandra était l'épouse de l'empereur Dioclétien.

Lors du martyre de saint Georges, constatant avec admiration que le saint résistait vaillamment au tyran et que, resté invulnérable aux supplices les plus cruels par l'intervention de la Grâce, il s'était présenté devant l'empereur et avait provoqué la conversion d'un grand nombre de païens, elle confessa elle aussi le Christ vrai Dieu.

Dioclétien furieux la fit jeter en prison et donna l'ordre de la décapiter avec saint Georges.

Lorsqu'elle apprit cette nouvelle, la sainte se mit en prière et remit son âme à Dieu, avant que les impies n'eussent porté la main sur elle.

Ses serviteurs Apollos, Isaac et Codrat, voyant que leur maîtresse avait tout renié par amour du Christ, se convertirent à leur tour et allèrent se présenter devant l'empereur, pour l'accuser en face de barbarie.

Le souverain les fit arrêter puis, au matin, il donna l'ordre de décapiter Codrat.

Ses deux compagnons, restés en prison dans l'attente de la sentence, furent laissés sans nourriture ni boisson pendant de nombreux jours, et c'est ainsi qu'ils remirent leurs âmes à Dieu.

Extrait du "Synaxaire / Vie des Saints de l’Eglise Orthodoxe" 

du Hiéromoine Macaire de Simonos Pétra (Mont Athos) 

Hymnographie

Тропарь мученицы царицы Александры, глас 4

Царства земнаго славу презревши,/ Единаго Христа, нас ради распятаго, возлюбила еси/ и, Того мужественне исповедающи,/ венцем мученическим увенчалася еси,/ всеблаженная царице Александре./ Темже и ныне Престолу Царя славы на Небесех предстоящи,/ молися о спасении душ наших.

SOURCE : https://www.saint-nicolas-sainte-alexandra.fr/sainte-alexandra/

Holy Martyr Empress Alexandra of Rome

Alexandra of Rome is a Christian saint, who is revered as a martyr. "Alexandra strives for truth, and seeks in the spirit of man more than the bearers of many other names" (P. Florensky). The information about Alexandra is contained in the hagiography of St. George the Victorious. Alexandra was a pagan woman, married to Roman Emperor Diocletian, who was a cruel persecutor of Christians. Seeing the courage of St. George and the miracles performed by him, the queen came to believe in Christ. Then having lain at the feet of this great martyr Alexandra in front of the whole nation and the emperor confessed Christ as true God. Diocletian ordered to execute his wife along with St. George.

SOURCE : http://www.iconkuznetsov.com/index.php?sid=358&did=68

A silver icon of St Alexandra and St Paul, icon by Feodor Platonov, St Petersburg, 1889 depicting the saints standing full length, signed in Cyrillic l.r. F. Platonov, the silver border finely cast and chased with scrolling foliage, applied with the name plaque, the reverse with a champlevé dedication plaque inscribed in Cyrillic: 'To His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich from his valets/ Tkachev, Khudoyarovsky, Volkov, Lednev, Kleschev, Savely, Markov, Pavlov, Surovtsev, Sorin/ 4 June 1889', struck with maker's mark M.T., 84 standard 27.3 by 22.7cm, 10 3/4 by 8 7/8 in.

Martyr Alexandra the Empress, wife of Diocletian

Commemorated on April 23

The Holy Empress Alexandra was the wife of Diocletian (284-305). Her supposed death was described in the Martyrdom of Saint George, which was written immediately after his death. The empress, however, received the crown of martyrdom several years later, in 314.

Many events occurred during these years. In 305 the emperor Diocletian resigned the throne and power passed to his co-ruler Maximian Galerius (305-311), a fanatic pagan, as well as a coarse and fierce soldier. His wife was Saint Valeria, the daughter of the holy Empress Alexandra, whom Diocletian had given in marriage against her will.

Saint Alexandra raised her daughter in Christian piety. When Galerius died, the emperor Maximinus sought her hand in marriage. When he was refused, he banished Saint Valeria to Syria, where she lived with her mother.

After the death of Maximinus in 311 the mother and daughter arrived in Nicomedia, trusting in the mercy of the emperor Licinius (311-324). Together with Saint Constantine, he had subscribed to the Edict of Milan, which gave Christians the freedom of religion, but secretly he remained an enemy of Christianity. Licinius gave orders to execute the holy Empress Alexandra and her daughter Valeria. They were beheaded, and their bodies thrown into the sea.

SOURCE : https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2001/04/23/101185-martyr-alexandra-the-empress-wife-of-diocletian

Sainte Alexandra de Rome, mosaïque cathédrale Féodorovsky de Tsarskoïe Selo

St Alexandra

Commemorated April 21

Martyr St Alexandra, the Empress and wife of Emperor Diocletion, was so impressed by the courage and martyrdom of St George that she became a Christian and fell under the same persecution. She also was condemned to be beheaded but when she arrived at the place of execution she asked to be allowed to sit down. Her request was granted. She sat down and died quietly before the executioners could carry out their task. Her feast day is 21 April.

SOURCE : http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/alexanda.htm

ST ALEXANDRA, THE EMPRESS

 in a silver-gilt oklad oil and tempera on panel, oklad stamped with mark of pavel ovchinnikov in cyrillic under imperial warrant, moscow, 1883, 84 standard. 52 by 26.5 cm.

This valuable commissioned icon depicts St. Alexandra (commemorated on 23rd April), wife of the Emperor Diocletian (or according to some sources, widow of one of his predecessors), who suffered together with the Great Martyr St. George, the Bringer of Victory, during the persecutions of Christians at the beginning of the 4th century. In the 19th century, this royal martyr was regarded a s the Protectress of Russian Empresses, which explains the popularity of her icons at that time, as opposed to previous centuries. The Empresses Alexandra Fyodorovna (1798–1860), wife of Nicholas I, and Alexandra Fyodorovna (1872–1918), wife of Nicholas II, both received the name Alexandra in honour of this saint upon their conversion to Orthodoxy. In the 1830s–1860s and 1890s, there were churches and chapels consecrated to the Blessed Tsarina Alexandra in both Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The 1883 date on the oklad links the icon to the events of the Coronation of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Fyodorovna on the 15th May 1883 at the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Moscow Kremlin, two years after Alexander III’s accession to the throne. A thanksgiving offering could be made to the church by those honoured with the monarch’s favour, and also by those who had taken part in the Coronation ceremonies (these cases are well known). The slightly larger dimensions of the icon indicate that it was intended for a church, rather than a domestic setting. It is also entirely possible that another icon was commissioned to go with it, depicting the princely saint Alexander Nevsky, Protector of Russian Emperors and patron to Emperor’s ascending the throne.

The icon, with its highly professional quality of production, is a brilliant example of icon-painting from this revivalist era. The saint’s apparel is richly decorated and painted in great detail with gemstones and pearls at the neck and hem of the embroidered tunic. The precious cloak is further enriched with a jewelled breast-piece, the headdress has grand additional ornamentation, all of which are rendered in the traditions of “archaeological painting”, a genre founded by the eminent Russian graphic artist, Fyodor Grigoryevich Solntsev (1801–1892). The portrayal of the Tsarina Alexandra is surprisingly reminiscent of the drawings he made of the frescoes in St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Kiev and the manuscript miniatures from the collections of the Princes Obolensky and Gagarin, as recorded in Ancient Depictions, Portraits and Dress of Grand Princes, Tsars, Boyars and Common Folk (Antiquities of the Russian State, Moscow, 1851, Section 4, Fig. 4–18). The richness of the saint’s apparel is echoed in the silver foliate ornamentation on the gilded background and the silver oklad, seemingly studded with fine stones, which was made in the workshop of the court jeweller, Pavel Akimovich Ovchinnikov.

This icon of Saint Tsarina Alexandra makes an important contribution to the appraisal of Russian icon-painting and the life of the church community in Russia in the last quarter of the 19th century.

http://macdougallauction.com/Indexx0512.asp?id=327&lx=a

SOURCE : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Alexandra_(Russia,_1883,_priv.coll).jpg

Santa Alexandra à volta do ícone da Feodorovskaya juntamente com São Nicolau de Mira, São Miguel Maleinos e Santo Aleixo de Moscou.

Sant' Alessandra e compagni Martiri a Nicomedia

22 aprile

† Nicomedia, Bitinia, 18 e 22 aprile 303

Etimologia: Alessandra = forma femminile di Alessandro, protettrice degli uomini, dal greco

ALESSANDRA, APOLLO, ISACCO, CODRATO

Il nome Alessandra è il femminile di Alessandro; deriva dal greco ‘Aléxandros’ e significa “protettrice degli uomini”.

Il nome è sempre stato usato fin dall’antichità e della versione maschile si ricordano due re dell’Epiro, tre re di Macedonia, due re di Siria, un imperatore romano, otto papi, oltre 40 santi, tre re di Scozia, tre imperatori di Russia, ecc.

Nella versione femminile, il nome Alessandra è stato portato oltre che da sei fra regine e imperatrici, anche da cinque cristiane martiri, curiosamente sempre inserite in altrettanti gruppi di martiri.

Il più noto dei quali è quello di Amiso (Alessandra, Claudia, Eufrasia, Matrona, Giuliana, Eufemia e Teodosia) celebrate il 20 marzo; poi c’è il gruppo delle martiri di Ankara (Tecusa, Giulitta e altre) celebrate il 18 maggio; poi c’è il gruppo di Ancira, il gruppo di Antiochia e infine il gruppo di Nicomedia di cui parliamo in queste note.

Bisogna dire che per quanto poco noto, il gruppo dei martiri di Nicomedia, composto da Alessandra, Apollo, Isacio (Isacco) e Codrato (Crotato) è menzionato da un numero rilevante di fonti agiografiche, sono ben 11 i Martirologi, Sinassari, Menologi, orientali ed occidentali che ne parlano; si evita qui di elencarli tutti.

Secondo una ‘passio’ armena, connessa al ciclo delle storie di s. Giorgio martire, Alessandra, ritenuta moglie leggendaria di Diocleziano, a volte di Daziano re persiano, per aver difeso e perorato con eccessivo zelo la causa dei cristiani, perseguitati per la loro fede, finì per incorrere nelle ire dell’imperatore, il quale dopo averla percossa e torturata di sua mano, la fece decapitare il 18 aprile del 303, primo anno della sua violenta e sanguinaria persecuzione.

Uguale sorte subirono nei giorni seguenti, Apollo, Isacco e Codrato, probabilmente domestici o funzionari di Alessandra; sebbene fossero legati da vincoli di varia natura con la Casa imperiale, non fu risparmiato loro il tormento della fame e infine la decapitazione.

Le condanne furono eseguite a Nicomedia in Bitinia, dove Diocleziano aveva stabilito la sua residenza imperiale.

I Sinassari orientali affermano che essi si erano convertiti al cristianesimo, considerando fra loro il coraggio con cui il martire s. Giorgio di Lydda, loro contemporaneo, aveva affrontato il martirio in Palestina.

La memoria dei martiri sopra menzionati, è celebrata secondo i vari testi in date diverse, dove il 21 e dove il 22 aprile; le successive aggiunte o presunte precisazioni, sui luoghi e sui fatti della vita e del martirio dei suddetti santi, si colorarono di leggenda e di mancanza di fondamenti storici.

Autore: Antonio Borrelli

SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92739

Alexandra the Martyr : https://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints?contentid=2447

Saint Alexandra of Rome (Αλεξάνδρα) : https://peoplepill.com/i/saint-alexandra/

Saint Alexandra the Empress of Rome, Wife of Emperor Diocletian : https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2015/04/saint-alexandra-empress-of-rome-wife-of.html