The view of the eastern tower of the Genoese castle in Chios.
Bienheureux Alexandre de
Lugo
Dominicain
espagnol (+ 1645)
Dominicain espagnol qui
voulut évangéliser les Turcs, et comme tant d'autres chrétiens, principalement
orthodoxes, connut le martyre par fidélité au Christ qu'il ne voulut jamais
renier.
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/5617/Bienheureux-Alexandre-de-Lugo.html
Also
known as
Alexander Baldrati
Alexander Baldrati a Lugo
Profile
Alexander joined
the Dominicans in Lugo, Italy in 1612,
then studied in Faenza, Naples,
and the convent of
Our Lady of the Arch. Priest,
assigned to Bologna, Italy soon
after ordination.
He worked himself so hard, in pulpit and with the needy,
that he ruined his
health and had to be reassigned to Venice, Italy to
recover.
As part of his recovery,
and to get him away from the over-work that had crushed him, he was sent by sea
to the east. The ship stopped on the Greek island
of Chios,
and Alexander took the opportunity to preach to
the locals. An apostate Christian there
took the opportunity to stir up sentiment against Alexander, going to the
Muslim authorities and swearing that Alexander had converted to Islam.
Alexander was dragged to court, interrogated, and offered in rewards if he
would bring other Dominicans to
Islam. When he denied that he had ever converted to Islam, the court convicted
him of being an apostate Muslim,
and charged the Christian authorities
of harbouring an apostate.
The archbishop and
the Dominicans swore
that Alexander had always been a Christian.
When questioned again, Alexander denounced Islam, Mohammed, and the Koran.
After an brief imprisonment,
he was martyred by
the Muslim authorities and local citizens.
Born
hacked
to pieces and burned at the stake in 1645 on Chios
Island, Greece
Additional
Information
Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
nettsteder
i norsk
MLA
Citation
“Blessed Alexander of
Lugo“. CatholicSaints.Info. 30 April 2022. Web. 23 May 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-alexander-of-lugo/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-alexander-of-lugo/
Blessed Alexander of
Lugo, OP M (AC)
(also known as Alexander
Baldrati)
Born in Lugo, Italy,
1595; died on Chios Island in 1645.
If anyone ever was framed
and destroyed by a tissue of lies, it was Alexander Baldrati a Lugo, who was
martyred by the Islamics. Alexander was baptized in the Dominican church at
Lugo, Italy. Showing early signs of piety, he was carefully educated and was received
into the order in Lugo in 1612. He studied first in Faenza, then in Naples, in
the convent of Our Lady of the Arch. After his ordination, he was sent to
Bologna, where he carried on a heavy program of preaching and teaching. He
devoted half his time to God and half to his neighbor; by arithmetic, that left
none for himself. Eventually his health failed. It was during his convalescence
in Venice that circumstances sent him on the great adventure of his life.
Just why a sick man
should embark on a trip to the Orient is not quite clear; perhaps his superiors
thought a sea voyage would help him. At any rate, he arrived on the island of
Chios and--like many convalescent religious--promptly began devoting a full day
to preaching.
He happened to incur the bitter
hatred of an apostate Christian, who began planning his downfall. When the
archbishop of Edessa arrived, en route to his see, and stopped over with the
Dominicans, the apostate convinced his friends that the Christians were moving
in on Chios (sort of like the pope is moving into the White House) and a furor
of anti-Christian feeling arose among the fanatical Islamics. However, the
target of wrath was not the archbishop of Edessa, nor the other transient
archbishop staying with the Dominicans, but Alexander. The apostate, who had
elected himself spokesman, went to the governor and denounced Alexander. This
Dominican, he said, had secretly become a follower of Islam, and he could prove
it.
Like many another
brazenly false charge, this one was difficult to disprove. Alexander was haled
into the Mohammedan court, and the governor praised him highly for his wisdom
in converting to the beliefs of Islam. He was promised great rewards as his
portion, especially if he could get some of his fellow Dominicans interested in
the faith of the prophet.
Alexander protested
indignantly that he had never been in the slightest danger of professing Islam,
that he was a Christian and proud of it. The governor therefore informed him
that he must be treated as an apostate from Islam. Alexander realized that he
was bound for the sacrifice no matter what happened, but he wanted the record
kept straight. "I have never believed in your prophet," he said.
"I have never believed in the Koran, nor in any of its teachings!"
"This man has
abandoned the faith of Mohammed," said the governor. "He has
blasphemed. He is guilty of death." Without further discussion, the
unhappy Dominican was taken off to prison, still protesting his orthodoxy. The
governor sent soldiers to bring the Dominican prior and two archbishops.
"Why did you harbor this traitor?" he demanded of them. "Our law
commands us to kill anyone who abandons the faith of Mohammed, and you had no
right to shelter him from his just punishment. We could seize all of you and
put you to death for this treason."
The prior and the two
visiting archbishops held up stoutly under the governor's polished trickery.
They protested that Alexander was an excellent Christian and never had been
anything else. As soon as they were released, they sent word to Alexander to be
of good courage, that everyone would pray that he could bear up through the
ordeal ahead. They called the Christians of the island to keep vigil in the
churches, to pray for those who were to die.
Alexander, brought once
more before the court, was given three days to reflect on whether or not he
would proclaim himself a faithful son of the Prophet. "I do not need three
days," he said. "I can give you a definite answer right now. I am a
Christian, and have never been a Mohammedan. Your prophet is a prophet of lies,
your law proceeds from the father of lies." His bold words met a chorus of
fanatical screams from the populace already incited to murder by the apostate.
"Avenge your prophet!" cried the governor, and the crowds pressed in
until it was necessary to put Alexander in a dungeon to keep him alive until
the governor's plans were complete.
Alexander was condemned
to be burned at the stake. When he was led out to die, the maddened crowds
pressed in as if they would tear him to pieces. No one listened to his
protesting that he was and always had been a Christian. When he was tied to the
stake, the governor said to him: "Lift one finger to show that you believe
in the God of Mohammed, the one true God, and your life will be spare."
Bleeding and stiff from torture, the Dominican raised three fingers and cried
out: "I believe in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."
The fire would not touch
the martyr as he stood suffering at the stake. Wind blew the flames away, or
put them out; faggots fell and rolled away from him. With a maddened roar, the
crowd fought through its guard and hacked him to pieces. Then someone tossed
gunpowder on the fire and, in the sight of 40,000 witnesses, Alexander Baldrati
a Lugo gave up his valiant spirit (Benedictines, Dorcy).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0210.shtml
Saints and
Saintly Dominicans – 20 June
Venerable Father Alexander
Baldrati, Martyr, O.P.
After passing a fervent
novitiate begun at the age of sixteen, this religious was assailed by so
violent a temptation that only those who have passed through a like trial can
understand it. He became by degrees so full of antipathy towards his brethren, that
he set off for the East without permission. In vain did Father Nicholas
Ridolphi, General of the Order, the more merciful as he himself had been sorely
tried, offer him pardon. He only replied “Treason, they wish to kill me.”
However, when the Turks seized him and stripped off his scapular, he entered
into himself, by the grace of God and courageously confessing his faith, was
condemned to be burnt! He showed the greatest constancy in the flames, invoking
the holy name of Jesus and those of Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of
Sienna. But neither his body, nor his scapular, which he had regained, could be
burnt, so be was finally stabbed. Doves came and reverently pecked at the earth
soaked with his blood, and his remains, bought for a high price by the Christian
merchants, received all the honors due to the relics of martyrs. (1645)
Prayer
“O Jesus, most dear
Brother, you deign to pardon me in spite of my unfaithfulness.” – Blessed
Henry Suso
Practice
Be very patient with
reserved and melancholy characters, do not wound them, but help them with
consoling thoughts and ask Our Lady, “the cause of our joy,” to gladden their
hearts.
– taken from the
book Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-and-saintly-dominicans-20-june/
Blessed
Alexander of Lugo, Dominican Martyr
Giacomo Baldrati was born
in Lugo, Italy, on September 26, 1595. His parents (Cesare
Baldrati and Lucia de Bianchi) supported his boyhood piety, and he joined
the local Dominicans on January 15, 1612, taking the name “Alessandro”, or
Alexander.
The Order sent him to
study in Faenza and Naples. The friar was then ordained a priest and sent to
the University of Bologna as a teacher, where people said he devoted half his
time to God and half to his neighbor, leaving no time for himself. He collapsed
into sickness from overwork and was sent to Venice to recover.
The interesting bit is that
he may have ended up with some kind of mental illness too, which is very
unusual in a saint. Some saints are very eccentric, but they tend to be saner
than most. Alessandro had been known to be a particularly cheerful person all
his life, but now he became depressed and prone to wild anger. He also began to
fear his fellow friars (some of whom apparently teased him at this point) as
persecutors. His biographer from the 1700’s from Chios, Leone Allacci, says
that he went to Venice without permission from his superiors, and that he
definitely was on the run when he took ship from Venice to Constantinople, and
from there to Pera. He reported in at the Dominican friary at Pera. They
decided to send him to Smyrna, because the archbishop of Edessa and co-adjutor
of Smyrna was a particularly wise and holy Dominican, Venerable Giacinto
Subiani di Arezzo. Friar Alexander was filled with fear again, but the monks of
Constantinople assured him that Smyrna was “not a place where they beat up
foreigners.”
Things must have gone
well in Smyrna, because Archbishop Giacinto decided to send him to the small
monastery of St. Sebastian on the Greek island of Chios — which was then part
of the Ottoman Empire, and ruled by Muslims. With no other duties, Friar
Alexander decided to spend all day preaching in the little Christian towns.
Archbishop Giacinto later testified that he harvested “abundant fruit of souls”
among his fellow Christians.
Then his Italian brothers
sent a letter inviting him to come back. Friar Alessandro had a relapse into
his fears, and was sure the letters were a trap. At times he seemed to go
catatonic. At other times, he ran around town, crying out his sadness and fear.
Strangely, he kept saying that people were going to burn him at the stake.
Politics and human drama
ensued. Since a couple of prominent churchmen (including Archbishop Giacinto)
arrived at Chios at about the same time to change ships, some local Muslims
spread rumors that the Christians were planning to take back the island. Taking
advantage of the hostile atmosphere, a guy named Aga Cuzaim, a Chios Muslim who
had once been Christian and who disliked Friar Alexander (nobody knows why)
decided to report him to the local Ottoman authorities as an apostate Muslim.
And of course we all know
that the sharia law penalty for forsaking Islam is death.
Under the Ottoman Empire,
sharia law ruled in most matters. Alexander was hauled into court by the Muslim
governor. Here’s the strange thing. Now that he was really being persecuted and
was really in danger of his life, Friar Alexander became himself again,
fearless and articulate as a Dominican preacher should be. He protested again
and again that he was Christian, had never been anything but Christian, and
never intended to be anything but Christian. (One source seems to think that he
may have apostatized during his screaming fits, some of which happened near
Cuzaim’s house; but Allatios doesn’t seem to believe it.)
The Dominicans and the
visiting churchmen were threatened for having concealed an apostate Muslim.
They fired back that Friar Alexander was a Christian and never had been
anything else. Eventually they were let go, and sent messages to Alexander to
stand firm. Archbishop Giacinto ordered all his churches to keep a 24-hour
prayer vigil for their fragile brother.
When Alexander was
brought to court again, the judge told him that he would be executed for
apostasy unless he embraced Islam again. He told them once again that he was a
Christian who had never been anything else. He also told them for good measure,
“Your Prophet is a prophet of lies; your law comes from the Father of Lies.” He
was almost lynched then and there. But he was not afraid; he was calm and happy
to die for Jesus’ Name, and professorial in his defense of Christian doctrine.
After all his fears, and
possibly because they were known, he was indeed condemned to be burned at the
stake for his “blasphemy.” He wasn’t even shaken, now that it was real. So they
threw in some torture over the next few days. Prisoners and guards agreed that
Friar Alexander fasted the whole time, prayed prostrate in his cell as was one
of the Dominican customs, never complained, and was constantly penitent over
his sins but in control of himself. When they came to execute him, he was
serene and calm. He was led through the streets as a frightening example; but
the streets were lined with Christians eager to honor their martyr, Catholics
and Orthodox alike.
After he had been led out
and bound to the stake with chains, the governor tempted him one last time. “Lift
one finger to show that you believe in the God of Mohammed, the one true God,
and your life will be spared.”
Alexander lifted three
fingers. “The One God is the Holy Trinity!” Then he blessed the crowd with
those fingers, “In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!”
They lighted the fire —
but the flames refused to touch him. They added wood, and the wood rolled away
from him.
The Muslim crowd shot
him, hacked him to pieces, then blew up his body with gunpowder. It was
February 10, 1645.
Relics were saved from
the mess and were sent around the world by the Dominicans, including to his
hometown of Lugo.
February 10 is his
memorial. His symbol is a martyr’s palm and a chain.
Blessed Alexander of
Lugo, pray for us!
Here’s his biography:
Vita
e morte del p.f. Alessandro Baldrati da Lugo, fatto morire nella citta di Scio
da’ Turchi per la fede cattolica li 10. di febraro 1645. by Leone
Allacci, Rome: Francisco Moneta, 1657. And here it is on
Google Books.
The author is also known
as Leo
Allatius or Leo Allatios (1586-1669), and he was indeed a Greek born
on Chios. He was also one of the Vatican Library’s head librarians, from
1661-1669, and was responsible for a lot of its Greek and Syriac acquisitions.
On the side, he was a trained physician. He fought hard to heal the schism
between Catholics and Orthodox, and wrote several important works about it. He
translated St. Methodius of Olympus’ Banquet of the Ten Virgins into
Latin, and refuted the urban legend of Pope Joan by consulting Greek records.
He is a major source for opera history, since he listed all the operas put on
in a city in his book Drammaturgia. He also wrote about Greek folklore in
his De Graecorum hodie quorundam opinationibus. Most of his 150 volumes of
manuscripts have never been published… but he published and edited hundreds of
books during his lifetime. So yeah, Leo was an interesting guy.
SOURCE : https://suburbanbanshee.wordpress.com/2016/09/24/blessed-alexander-of-lugo-dominican-martyr/
Den salige Alexander
Baldrati av Lugo (1595-1645)
Minnedag:
10. februar
Den salige Alexander
Baldrati ble født i 1595 i Lugo i regionen Emilia-Romagna i Nord-Italia. Han
ble døpt i dominikanerkirken i Lugo og viste tidlig tegn på fromhet. Han fikk
en omhyggelig utdannelse, og han ble i 1612 tatt opp i dominikanerordenen (Ordo
Fratrum Praedicatorum – OP) i Lugo. Han studerte først i Faenza, deretter
i Napoli, i klosteret Vår Frue av Buegangen.
Etter sin prestevielse
ble han sendt til Bologna, hvor han gjennomførte et omfattende program av
preking og undervisning. Han viet halvparten av tiden til Gud og halvparten til
sin neste, noe som gjorde at han ikke hadde noe tid for seg selv. Til slutt
brøt hans helse sammen. Det var under hans rekonvalesens i Venezia at
omstendighetene sendte ham ut på hans livs store eventyr.
Akkurat hvorfor en syk
mann skulle legge ut på en reise til Østen, er ikke klart, men kanskje hans
overordnede mente at en sjøreise ville hjelpe ham. Uansett kom han til øya
Khios, som da sto under tyrkisk herredømme, og i likhet med mange
rekonvalesente ordensfolk begynte han straks å vie seg til forkynnelse på
heltid.
Han klarte å vekke
bittert hat hos en apostat (frafallen kristen), som begynte å planlegge hans
undergang. Da erkebiskopen av Edessa i Mesopotamia (i dag Urfa i Sørøst-Tyrkia)
ankom på vei til sitt bispesete og besøkte dominikanerne på veien, overbeviste
apostaten sine venner om at de kristne overtok Khios, og rasende anti-kristne
følelser ble vakt hos de fanatiske muslimene. Men målet for vreden var ikke
erkebiskopen av Edessa, og heller ikke den andre erkebiskopen på gjennomreise
som bodde hos dominikanerne, men Alexander. Apostaten, som hadde utpekt seg selv
til talsmann, gikk til guvernøren og anmeldte Alexander. Han sa at
dominikaneren i hemmelighet hadde blitt tilhenger av islam, og at han kunne
bevise det.
I likhet med mange andre
frekke falske anklager var denne vanskelig å motbevise. Alexander ble trukket
for den islamske retten, og guvernøren priste ham høyt for hans klokskap ved å
konvertere til den islamske tro. Han ble lovt stor belønning, særlig hvis han
klarte å få noen av sine medbrødre blant dominikanerne interessert i profetens
tro. Alexander protesterte oppbrakt og sa at han aldri hadde vært i den minste
fare for å bekjenne seg til islam, og at han var en kristen og stolt av det.
Guvernøren informerte ham da om at han måtte behandles som en frafallen fra
islam. Alexander innså at han ville bli ofret uansett hva som skjedde, men han
ønsket at sannheten skulle frem. «Jeg har aldri trodd på deres profet. Jeg har
aldri trodd på koranen eller noe av dens lære».
«Denne mannen har
forkastet Muhammeds tro», sa guvernøren. «Han har begått blasfemi. Han må
ilegges dødsstraff». Uten videre diskusjoner ble Alexander tatt med til
fengselet, mens han fortsatt hevdet sin ortodoksi. Guvernøren sendte soldater
for å hente dominikanernes prior og de to erkebiskopene. «Hvorfor huset dere
denne forræderen?» anklaget han dem. «Vår lov påbyr oss å drepe alle som faller
fra troen på Muhammed, og dere hadde ingen rett til å gi ham ly fra hans
rettferdige dom. Vi kunne arrestere dere alle og drepe dere for dette
forræderiet».
Prioren og de to
besøkende erkebiskopene sto standhaftig mot guvernørens glatte knep. De
protesterte og sa at Alexander var en utmerket kristen og aldri hadde vært noe
annet. Straks de ble løslatt, sendte de bud til Alexander om å være ved godt
mot og at alle skulle be om at han måtte holde ut gjennom prøvelsene som lå
foran ham. De kalte sammen de kristne på øya for å holde vigilie i kirkene for
å be for dem som skulle dø.
Alexander ble brakt for
retten enda en gang og fikk tre dager for å reflektere over om han ville
erklære seg som en trofast sønn av profeten eller ikke. Han svarte: «Jeg
trenger ikke tre dager. Jeg kan gi dere et endelig svar her og så. Jeg er
kristen og har aldri vært muslim. Deres profet er en profet av løgner, deres
lover går ut fra løgnens far». Disse modige ordene ble møtt av et kor av
fanatiske rop fra folket, som allerede var hisset opp til mord av apostaten.
«Hevn deres profet!» ropte guvernøren, og mengden presset på slik at det var
nødvendig å sette Alexander i et fangehull for å holde ham i live til
guvernørens plan var komplett.
Alexander ble dømt til å
brennes på bålet. Da han ble ført ut for å dø, presset den rasende mengden på
som om de ville rive ham i filler. Ingen hørte på hans protester om at han var
og alltid hadde vært kristen. Da han var bundet på bålet sa guvernøren til ham:
«Løft en finger for å vise at du tror på Muhammeds Gud, den ene sanne Gud, og
ditt liv vil bli spart». Alexander, blødende og stiv etter torturen, løftet tre
fingre og ropte ut: «Jeg tror på Gud Fader, Sønnen og Den Hellige Ånd».
Ilden ville ikke ta tak i
martyren der han sto bundet på bålet. Vinden blåste bort flammene eller slokket
dem, og veden til bålet falt og rullet bort fra ham. Med et rasende brøl tvang
mengden seg forbi vaktene og hakket Alexander i småbiter. Deretter kastet noen
krutt på bålet og foran 40.000 tilskuere oppga Alexander Baldrati av Lugo sin
tapre sjel. Det var i 1645.
Hans minnedag er 10.
februar, men Alexander er aldri offisielt saligkåret av Den hellige Stol.
Kilder:
Benedictines, Bunson, KIR, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho -
Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Sist oppdatert: 2006-07-18 13:17
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/alexlugo
