ON SAINT ALEXANDER, BISHOP OF JERUSALEM, MARTYR, AT CAESAREA IN PALESTINE
IN THE YEAR 250.
HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.
Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, Martyr, at Caesarea in Palestine (Saint)
Section I. Sacred veneration among the Latins. Confession under the Emperor Severus. The Episcopate of Jerusalem.
[1] The ecclesiastical veneration of Saint Alexander the Bishop is set forth in very many Martyrologies for this eighteenth day of March. The genuine Martyrology of Bede is silent for this day, but the Dijon manuscript supplies as follows: Sacred veneration in Usuard, Saint Alexander the Bishop, who together with Narcissus received the governance of the Church of Jerusalem.
Usuard celebrates him with this eulogy: The birthday of Blessed Alexander the Bishop, who coming from Cappadocia, from his own city, to Jerusalem with holy desire, received by divine revelation the governance of that place, and after Ado, old age, being led to Caesarea, in the persecution of Decius, he completed his martyrdom for the confession of Christ.
Bishop Ado commemorates more: The birthday of Saint Alexander the Bishop, who coming from his city in Cappadocia, when he went to Jerusalem with desire for the holy places, and Narcissus, Bishop of the same city, already an old man, was governing the Church; both to Narcissus himself and to many of his clergy it was revealed that on the following day in the morning a Bishop would enter who was to be a helper of the priestly see. And so, when this was accomplished just as it had been predicted, with all the Bishops of Palestine gathered together, and with Narcissus especially promoting it, he received the governance of the Church of Jerusalem together with him. And when in the persecution of Decius, now resplendent with the venerable white hair of advanced age, he was led to Caesarea and shut up in prison, he was crowned with martyrdom for the confession of Christ. Nearly the same things are read in Notker and in the printed Bede and in various manuscripts, though in some they are abbreviated. Notker In the Centula manuscript these things are written differently: The birthday of Saint Alexander, Bishop and Martyr, who when he was governing the Church of Cappadocia and visited the holy places of Jerusalem out of religious zeal, was commanded by a voice sent from heaven to govern the Church of Jerusalem. Bellinus, Maurolycus, Felicius, and Galesinius also have their own eulogies: others, and Wandalbert, who is more ancient than all the rest, begins this day thus:
Bishop Alexander holds the fifteenth. in the Roman Martyrology In the tables of the present-day Roman Martyrology he is venerated in first place thus: At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of Blessed Alexander the Bishop, who from Cappadocia, from his own city where he was Bishop, coming to Jerusalem with desire for the holy places, when Narcissus, Bishop of the same city, already an old man, was governing the Church, received its governance by divine revelation: but afterwards in the persecution of Decius, when he was already resplendent with the venerable white hair of advanced age, he was led to Caesarea and shut up in prison, and completed his martyrdom for the confession of Christ. In the Breviary of the Order of the Hospitallers, or Knights of Jerusalem of Saint John, then of Rhodes, now called of Malta, Saint Alexander is venerated with an Office of nine Lessons, which are taken from the Common of a Martyr and Pontiff, with this Prayer: Be present, O Lord, to your people, that receiving the renowned merits of Blessed Alexander, your Martyr and Pontiff, they may always be aided by his patronage in obtaining your mercy. Whether also on January 30 Through our Lord. Again the Roman Martyrology for January 30 has this: Likewise of Blessed Alexander, who, seized in the persecution of Decius, resplendent with the venerable white hair of advanced age and with repeated confession, gave up his spirit amid the torments of the executioners.
Other Martyrologies are cited in the same place, and in some of these the title of Bishop is found. Whether these should be said of this same Martyr Alexander, we discussed in that place. What the Greeks have concerning his glorious contest, for December 12, we shall report below, after we have first presented the account of the ancients concerning the deeds of his life.
[2] And first, what is read in the Chronicle of Eusebius, as translated by Saint Jerome, at the eleventh year of the Emperor Severus, the year of Christ 203, after the fifth persecution has been indicated, pertains to this saint: Under the Emperor Severus the Bishop fought bravely. Alexander is regarded as distinguished for the confession of the Lord's name. Hence his repeated confession and twofold confession is proclaimed, when he completed his martyrdom under Decius. At that time Saint Alexander was Bishop of a certain city in Cappadocia, as will shortly be established from Eusebius. Certainly this would be an illustrious confession if, as the Greeks have it in the Menaea, he had been cast before wild beasts and dismissed unharmed by them, and then been made Bishop of Jerusalem. Eusebius in Book 6 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 8, near the end, clearly suggests something similar when he writes thus:
When Severus had held the Empire for eighteen years, his son Antoninus succeeded in his place. At which time Alexander, one of the number of those who had fought bravely in the persecution, and who after the glorious contests of confession had been preserved by divine providence, whom we related a little before to have been Bishop of Jerusalem; on account of his distinguished confession of the Christian faith, was promoted to the aforesaid Episcopate, while Narcissus, who had previously been Bishop there, was still living. And these things concerning the illustrious confession of Saint Alexander under Severus, in the eleventh year of his reign, the year of Christ 203. But when Severus died at York in Britain in the eighteenth year of his reign, the year of Christ 211, the day before the Nones of February, as is read in the said Chronicle of Eusebius, Antoninus reigned, surnamed Caracalla, the son of Severus. Alexander was ordained the thirty-fifth Bishop of Jerusalem, while Narcissus was still living, and governed the Church together with him.
[3] But by what divine providence this came to pass, the same Eusebius explains in Book 6 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 11. When Narcissus, he says, could no longer carry out his ministry on account of extreme old age, He set out for Jerusalem, the divine dispensation called the aforesaid Alexander, Bishop of another Church, through a certain revelation which had appeared to them in dreams, to share the priestly office with Narcissus. Admonished therefore by this vision as by a divine oracle, Alexander, when he had set out from Cappadocia, where he had first been ordained Bishop, for Jerusalem, both for the sake of prayer and of visiting the holy places; the brethren of that Church receiving him most kindly, afterwards did not allow him to return to his homeland. For another revelation had also appeared to them in a dream, and a most clear voice had been heard by those who were eminent in holiness among them. He is constituted Bishop there with Saint Narcissus. For it signified to them that they should go outside the gates of the city and receive the Bishop destined for them by God. When they had done this with the consent of the Bishops of the neighboring Churches, they compelled him to remain with them thenceforth. Indeed the same Alexander, in his letters to the people of Antinoë, which still survive, mentions the Episcopate which he held together with his colleague Narcissus, in these words which are read at the end of the letter: Narcissus greets you, who before me held the Episcopal See of this Church, and who is now joined with me in prayers, He writes to the people of Antinoë: being one hundred and sixteen years old: and he exhorts you together with me, that you all be of one mind. And these things indeed happened thus. At Antioch, however, after the death of Serapion, Asclepiades received the Episcopate of the Church, who during the time of persecution had confessed the faith of Christ and gained the greatest glory. Alexander mentions the ordination of this man in a letter to the Antiochenes in these words: Before that, to the Antiochenes, Alexander, servant of God and prisoner of Jesus Christ, to the most blessed Church of Antioch, greetings in the Lord. God made my bonds easy and light during the time of my imprisonment, after I learned that Asclepiades, a man most worthy by merit of faith, had received the Episcopate of your most holy Church by divine providence.
He indicates that he gave this letter to Clement to be delivered, writing thus near the end: Furthermore, I sent these letters to you, brethren in the Lord, through the blessed Presbyter Clement, a man endowed with and proven in virtue: whom you already know, and will come to know more fully. Who indeed, by the will and providence of God, while he was present here among us, both confirmed and greatly enlarged the Church of Christ.
[4] Thus Eusebius, from which we gather that Saint Alexander was a very illustrious man: whose letters were circulated among the writings of the Holy Fathers, and in the time of Eusebius were still preserved, especially those which he had written to entire cities: such as the one which as Bishop of Jerusalem he sent to Antinoë, a city of the Thebaid, and the one which he wrote to Antioch before being elevated to that Episcopate, as is evident from Saint Jerome's On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 38, where he treats of Clement the Presbyter, and adds the following: There survives a letter of Alexander of Jerusalem, The letter carried by Clement the Presbyter. who afterwards governed the Church together with Narcissus, concerning the ordination of the Confessor Asclepiades, to the Antiochenes, congratulating them: in which
near the end he writes: These things, brethren and lords, I have transmitted to you in writing through the blessed Presbyter Clement, namely of the Church of Alexandria, a student of Pantaenus and teacher of Origen, who flourished in the times of Severus and of his son Antoninus. Saint Asclepiades is venerated on October 18, and his predecessor Serapion on October 30, and on the day before that, Saint Narcissus: from whom, while still living, it is also recorded in the Acts of the Eighth Ecumenical Council that Saint Alexander, later a Martyr, was chosen as successor. Rufinus inserted the same material into his own Ecclesiastical History, Book 6, chapter 9, and explains what is narrated concerning the vision more distinctly in these words: It was clearly shown by the Lord, not only to the blessed man Narcissus himself, but also to many others through revelations among the people, With a preceding revelation that they should detain him as Bishop in the holy place. Moreover, what was above all things most glorious, on the day when Alexander was reported as about to enter the city, and a very great multitude of the brethren had gone out beyond the gates to meet him; a voice from heaven was most manifestly heard by all, saying: Receive the Bishop who has been destined for you by God. Elected Bishop of Jerusalem. And when from all these things the dispensation of God had been clearly declared to everyone, the Bishops of the neighboring cities, having learned all the things by which it was shown that the matter concerning him was directed by God's judgment, compelled him of necessity to remain there.
Section II. The acquaintance of Saint Alexander with Origen: the library erected: martyrdom: sacred veneration among the Greeks.
[5] Origen was still a young man at that time, as is said by Eusebius in Book 6, chapter 19, who, when a very serious war had been stirred up at Alexandria, secretly fled from there, and not considering it safe to remain even in Egypt, He invites Origen to preach: made for Palestine and established his residence at Caesarea. Where he was also asked by the Bishops of that region to discourse publicly in the Church and to expound the divine Scriptures, although he had not yet been ordained a Presbyter. And this will be evident from those things which Alexander of Jerusalem and Theoctistus, Bishop of Caesarea, write to Demetrius, Bishop of the Church of Alexandria, in defense of this action, in the following manner: As for what you added in your letter, that it has never before been seen nor yet done that laymen should preach in the presence of Bishops; in this I do not know how you have strayed so far from the truth. Thus Euelpis was invited at Laranda by Neon, He excuses the deed by letter: Paulinus at Iconium by Celsus, Theodore at Synnada by Atticus, our most blessed brethren: and it is credible that this is done elsewhere as well, although we are unaware of it. In this manner the aforesaid Origen, while he was still a young man, was esteemed not only by those who knew him and by his own people, but also by the Bishops of foreign regions. But when Demetrius recalled him by letter, and sending the Deacons of his Church did not cease to press for his return, he returned to Alexandria and discharged his customary office. But afterwards, as is related in chapter 23, Origen, compelled by necessity on account of ecclesiastical business, set out for Achaia, and passing through Palestine, received the grade of the Presbyterate through the laying on of hands at Caesarea from the Bishops of that region. Saint Jerome, On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 54, treating of Origen, inserts this: He ordains him Presbyter. When he was already of middle age, and was traveling through Palestine to Athens on behalf of the Churches of Achaia, which were troubled by many heresies, with the endorsement of an ecclesiastical letter, he was ordained Presbyter by Theoctistus and Alexander, the Bishops of Caesarea and Jerusalem, and thereby offended the spirit of Demetrius. Wherefore, as the same Jerome relates in chapter 62, Alexander wrote to Origen and on behalf of Origen against Demetrius, By the testimony of the Bishop of Alexandria: because he had constituted him Presbyter according to the testimony of Demetrius. Baronius at the year 230, number 6, thinks on account of the said words that Demetrius had given Origen letters of commendation to Alexander, as is customary: by whose authority it seemed sufficient to Alexander that Origen was approved. So that for this reason too he should have been excused, even in those things which Eusebius narrates in chapter 27. But Alexander of Jerusalem, he says, and Theoctistus, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, always listening to him as a Teacher, alone permitted him the interpretation of Sacred Scripture and every other office of ecclesiastical teaching.
[6] Another illustrious benefit rendered by Saint Alexander to himself and to all who study ecclesiastical antiquity and truth, Eusebius acknowledges in chapter 20 in these words: At the same time many ecclesiastical men who excelled in learning were flourishing: He builds a library at Jerusalem. whose letters, which they wrote to one another, it is easy to find. For they survive even in our own time in the Library of the city of Aelia, built by Alexander, Bishop of that Church: from which we have gathered into one a most abundant supply of material for the treatment of the subject which we have in hand. That Library therefore had survived the general conflagration of all ecclesiastical books in the persecution stirred up by Diocletian.
[7] Finally, he who in the fifth persecution under the Emperor Severus was regarded as distinguished for his confession and rare learning in the year of Christ 203, continued in extending and advancing the Church of Christ for nearly fifty years under ten Emperors, when, as Eusebius relates in the Chronicle, under the Emperor Decius, He is crowned with martyrdom under Decius: Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, having been killed at Caesarea of Palestine for martyrdom, and at Antioch Babylas, Mazabanes and Fabius are appointed Bishops. Which things the same Eusebius explains more fully in Book 6 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 39, in these words: Meanwhile, when Philip had reigned for seven years, (as Saints Fabian and Babylas) Decius succeeded him, who out of hatred against Philip brought persecution upon the Church. In which persecution, when Fabian had suffered martyrdom at Rome: Cornelius was appointed Bishop in his place. In Palestine, however, Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, again brought before the tribunal of the Governor on account of Christ; when he had gained great glory from this second confession, he was cast into prison at Caesarea, Led to Caesarea, a man conspicuous for his comely old age and venerable white hair. Who, after the renowned and illustrious confession of the Christian faith delivered in the governor's court, at length breathed out his soul in custody, and Mazabanes was proclaimed Bishop of Jerusalem in his place. And in the same manner at Antioch, after Bishop Babylas had died in chains after his confession, Fabius was set over that Church. Saint Jerome, in the above-mentioned chapter 62 of On Ecclesiastical Writers, describes the following concerning his martyrdom from Eusebius: In the seventh persecution under Decius, at which time Babylas suffered at Antioch, Alexander was led to Caesarea and shut up in prison, Shut up in prison. and was crowned with martyrdom for the confession of Christ. Saint Epiphanius, in his book On Weights and Measures, number 19: In the persecution of Decius, he says, Babylas suffered martyrdom at Antioch, Fabian at Rome, and Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, at Caesarea.
Gregory Cedrenus, writing about Decius, states: Under whom Babylas at Antioch, Flavian at Rome, Alexander of Jerusalem, and Dionysius of Alexandria, Bishops, were crowned with martyrdom. But Zonaras has this: At that time Flavian, Bishop of the Church of Rome, ended his life by martyrdom. Likewise Babylas of Antioch and Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem: who did not then fight for the Christian faith for the first time, but previously also, as has already been set forth, under the Empire of Severus, and then died in prison. In the Alexandrian Chronicle, when the deaths of Saints Fabian and Babylas had been indicated, this is added: In like manner Alexander, Pontiff of Jerusalem, stood before the tribunal at Caesarea of Palestine, and distinguished by his twofold confession, weighty with old age, and venerable for the holiness of his life, attained the prize of martyrdom in a blessed course.
[8] We have given the Acts of Saint Fabian, by some called Fabius or Flavian, on January 20, and those of Saint Babylas on January 24 of the same month, and three sets of the latter: in which, after various torments, he is said to have been beheaded, not to have died in prison: but with such great divergence of accounts that we have feared there may have been two persons named Babylas whose Acts have been confused. The Greeks in the Menaea narrate the martyrdom of Saint Alexander in a far different manner as well, which seems to have been drawn from the larger Acts of the martyrdom. Perhaps Nicephorus Callistus, Book 5 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 27, alludes to similar accounts when he writes these things: Decius, raised to the imperial dignity, on account of his hatred of Philip, who had embraced Christianity, stirred up a most grievous persecution against the Christians. In which many indeed underwent the sacred contest for Christ: Did he suffer severe torments? but especially the heads of the Churches, and whoever excelled others among us in eloquence and wisdom, enduring unspeakable and cruel torments, departed this life. Just as at Rome Fabian, in Palestine at Jerusalem Alexander, at Antioch Babylas, fighting the good fight, dyed their episcopal stole with much blood. In Greek: τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα ἀγωνισάμενοι, τὴν ἱερατικὴν ςολὴν εἰς βάθος κατέχρωσαν. They stained their priestly stole to its depths, or dyed it with the color of blood.
[9] The Greeks therefore in the Menaea and in Maximus of Cythera have this for December 12: On the same day, the memory of our holy Father Alexander, Archbishop of Jerusalem. When Decius was reigning over ancient Rome, a great persecution was stirred up against the Christians. For the Emperor sent men throughout the entire world who would compel the Christians they apprehended to sacrifice to idols and to abjure Christ, and who would subject those who refused to atrocious punishments, and so end their lives with the utmost severity. At that time this most holy Alexander, Archbishop of Jerusalem, was brought before the Governor of Caesarea, who sent men by whom he was to be brought before him bound in iron. When therefore he had debated much with him, and had testified with a magnificent voice publicly, He freely confesses Christ. that Christ is God and the Creator of the Emperor and of all things, and with the freest voice had execrated the idols and all who worship them; he greatly provoked the anger of the Governor against himself. Wherefore, within a short time, having tortured him with various torments, He is tortured in various ways. the wretched and miserable man condemned him to the beasts, to be devoured alive by them. The tyrant therefore commands that he be stripped of all his garments, and led into the middle of the theater like a choice ram, and that wild beasts of various kinds be sent against him to devour him. But Alexander, amid his prayers which he was pouring forth, also added these words: Lord, if it is your will that I die here, let your will be done. Of the beasts, however, which were sent against him, Cast before the beasts, he is not harmed. some, with necks bowed, seemed to adore him, and so returned to their cages; others, rolling on the ground, kissed his feet; others licked with their tongues his flesh bruised from his wounds. And the great Pontiff, having given thanks to God, flew away to the Lord, He dies. and left his body untouched and unharmed on earth, which certain devout Christians anointed with ointment and wrapped in linen cloths and placed in a conspicuous location. Thus far the Menaea.
The holy Pontiff Alexander could have been led back to prison after the beasts departed from him untouched, and there breathed out his soul, and crowned with martyrdom flown to the Lord: or indeed he could have undergone some of these torments in the first confession under Severus, or even been cast before the beasts and escaped. That he died a bloodless death the Menaea themselves indicate, when they prefix this distich to the eulogy already cited:
Ο Ἀλέξανδρος εἷς ἧν
τῶν θυηπόλων Ἀνὲυ ἅιματος εἷς ὢν καὶ τῶν μαρτύρων.
Alexander was one of the Priests, Being without blood, also one of the Martyrs.
ON THE TEN THOUSAND HOLY MARTYRS AT NICOMEDIA IN BITHYNIA.
CommentaryTen Thousand Martyrs at Nicomedia in Bithynia (Saints)
When or where they suffered, the Menaea do not explain, whether the printed editions from Venice or those which exist in manuscript at Dijon in the possession of Pierre-François Chifflet: both, however, expressly declare the manner of martyrdom, both in the title, which is as follows: They are remembered as slain by the sword Τῇ ἀυτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὅι Ἅγιοι μύριοι τὰς ἀυχένας τμηθέντες τελειοῦνται. On the same day the holy ten thousand, having had their necks cut, are perfected: to which this distich is appended.
Δεκὰς χιλιὰς τὸν ἀυχένα τμηθέντες, Ἀπῆλθον ἔνθα μυριόμματοι νόες.
Their necks cut, ten thousand went Where the ten-thousand-eyed intelligences dwell.
If from what follows one were allowed to make some conjecture, we might suspect that these were from among the innumerable persons whom the flame of persecution, blazing beyond measure, At Nicomedia. kindled at Nicomedia by the tyrant Diocletian, and not extinguished by any blood however copious, consumed. But there is no need for conjectures regarding the place, and from this it will be possible to form a more probable opinion about the time: since the Greek Menologium, published in Latin translation by Cardinal Sirletus and edited by Henry Canisius, expressly states: On the same day ten thousand struck with the axe at Nicomedia were crowned with martyrdom. Slightly altering these words, Cardinal Baronius inserted them into the Roman Martyrology thus: At Nicomedia, of the Holy Ten Thousand Martyrs, who for the confession of Christ were struck with the sword. Most probably under Diocletian, Nor indeed is it to be wondered at, he says in the notes, for the Emperor Diocletian, stirring up that most savage persecution, resided at Nicomedia, and there exercised a most inhuman slaughter of Christians, as the Acts of the Martyrs attest, and Eusebius in Book 8, specifically in chapter 6, where treating of the martyrdom of Saint Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia, to be commemorated on April 23: To this man, he says, a great and numerous band of Martyrs was joined, and indeed because in those very days, by some chance, the royal palace of Nicomedia was set ablaze, and from a certain suspicion a rumor had been spread that this crime had been committed by our people: whence, by the Emperor's command, of the faithful After the burning of the palace: who were there, some were slaughtered in heaps by the sword, others perished from the heat of flames cast around their bodies. If nonetheless, even on such an occasion, in so populous a city, under so cruel a tyrant, the number of ten thousand slaughtered at once should seem too great to anyone; let him consider that for a cause much lighter than what was here alleged, in the city of Thessalonica, by the precipitous command of Theodosius, a Prince otherwise most mild, seven thousand of the common people gathered for a spectacle were slaughtered.