February 26th - St. Alexander of Alexandria, Bishop
St. Alexander was made Patriarch of Alexandria in 313. He was a disciple
of
the Patriarch of Alexandria St. Peter the Martyr, and had heard the
warnings
the great Bishop made in prison about the deacon Arius. St. Alexander led
an
untiring battle against this heretic, preparing the way for St.
Athanasius.
Arius was a tall man of a grave imposing appearance. He attracted
confidence
by his amiable manner and agreeable conversation. He lived austerely,
assumed a penitent air, and showed an apparent zeal for religion. With a
broad but superficial knowledge of profane literature and the
ecclesiastical
sciences, he was a subtle and persuasive dialectician. However, under this
exterior show of virtue was a man of melancholy, turbulence, ambition and
a
taste for novelties. After he was ordained priest and charged with
teaching
Scriptures, he could not contain his vanity and titled himself
illustrious.
After the death of St. Achillas, Bishop of Alexandria, Arius aspired to
his
see. When St. Alexander was chosen for it, Arius became his enemy. It was
about this time that Arius began to teach his bad doctrine and recruit
followers.
St. Alexander, concerned about the spreading of this heresy and finding
Arius obstinate and incorrigible, excommunicated him from the Diocese of
Alexandria. The heretic went to Palestine where he received the support of
various bishops, especially Eusebius of Nicomedia. There he began a
campaign
of intrigues against his adversaries.
The Council of Nicaea in 325 condemned Arius and his doctrines. In that
famous assembly of Bishops, one of the high luminaries was St. Alexander.
St. Athanasius, who had accompanied St. Alexander, was also present as a
deacon. St. Alexander returned to Alexandria, where he died several years
later, after naming St. Athanasius as his successor. Having dedicated his
life to gloriously fighting in defense of the Church, he delivered his
soul
to the Lord in 328.
Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)
It is noteworthy that this selection speaks more about Arius than St.
Alexander. The description of the heresiarch is well done, because all the
psychological facets are coherent and portray the typical hypocrite of
that
time who pretended to be a pious religious.
Today many modern people have a favorable view of a Bishop with a modern
car, perhaps a sports car, or a Bishop who takes on a communist look in
order to give the impression that he is favorable to the poor. In that
time
the heretics used to assume conservative airs. Arius was a tall figure
with
an imposing air - I am reminded of some Eastern schismatic priests with
their strong physiques, beards, vigorous airs, and those hard black hats.
Further, he had an amiable presence, and was well versed in Scriptures and
the sacred sciences. But deep down he was steaming with ambition and
excesses. Here you see the hypocrite. In epochs when good prevails, the
hypocritical pays tribute to good.
This appearance of sanctity made the combat of St. Alexander against Arius
more difficult. Arius fooled many people. We will see this type of evil
with
the Antichrist, who will also appear to be a saint. In such cases, the one
who attacks such pseudo-saints look like a bad man. This resource to
hypocrisy inverts everything: the evil looks good and vice-versa. So, many
people would have thought that St. Alexander was bad because he was
attacking Arius, which made for a very difficult fight. St. Alexander had
to
fight hard to condemn Arius and expel him from Alexandria. Arius ended by
becoming Archbishop of Constantinople. He died during a procession going
to
the Cathedral supposedly to be readmitted to communion to the Church. It
was
an extraordinary death where his stomach exploded, and his intestines and
organs spilled out.
St. Alexander was the opposite of Arius. He had been preceded by St.
Achillas and his secretary was St. Athanasius. The great St. Athanasius
was
so anti-Arian that even when all the other Bishops and even a Pope became
Arians, he stood alone defending orthodoxy. The persecution he suffered
was
so difficult that for a while he had to hide himself in the sepulcher of
his
parents and live there.
So we can see the growing chain of saints: St Achillas who was succeeded
by
St. Alexander, who was more than the former. Then St. Alexander was
succeeded by St. Athanasius, who was greater still in the fight against
Arianism. We can see that Divine Providence prepared a kind of genealogy
of
saints in the See of Alexandria that was completed with the incomparable
St.
Athanasius who gave the Church the final victory against Arianism.
These actions of Divine Providence have an extraordinary architectonic
beauty, which is the most beautiful thing in History. God so arranges that
one saint should succeed another, one good movement generates another.
Even
if at times it can appear that the good cause is defeated, it ends as
victorious through the prayers and intercession of Our Lady.
We can learn a good lesson from the life of St. Alexander and the fight
against Arianism. That is, we should not be fooled by the appearance of
sanctity of many religious progressivists and their success in some pious
milieus. Also, we should not become discouraged when these same people
call
us proud and lacking charity because we maintain a position consistent
with
Catholic principles. This kind of accusation should not bother us. Just as
Our Lady made the apostolate of St. Achillas, St. Alexander and St.
Athanasius fruitful amidst the difficult battles and persecution the good
cause suffered, so also will she make our apostolate grow, and give us the
necessary means to establish her Reign. Let us ask St. Alexander to help
us
in this fight
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Whoever humbleth himself shall be exalted. -Lk. 14:11
"Here is one of the best means to acquire humility: fix well in mind this
maxim: One is as much as he is in the sight of God, and no more"
-Thomas a Kempis
St. Francis made a beginning of sanctity by trampling underfoot human
respect; for he had thoroughly penetrated the truth of this holy maxim
which
he often revolved in his mind.
(Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints". February - Humility)
Bible Quote:
The fear of the Lord is the lesson of wisdom: and humility goeth before
glory. (Proverbs 15:33)
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Glory Be To Jesus and Mary
A letter written by the Blessed Virgin Mary to the City of Messina where
St.
Paul, the Apostle preached the gospel, which has been preserved in the
Reliquary of the great altar.
"I, Mary Virgin, servant of God, very humble Mother of Jesus Christ, Son
of
God, the Almighty and Eternity, to all who are in Messina, health and
benediction in Our Lord. You have learned by the ambassadors who have been
sent to you. You received the gospel and you acknowledged that the Son of
God has become man, and has suffered the passion and death for the
salvation
of the world, and that He is Christ and also the true Messiah. I beseech
you
to persevere, promising to you, and all your posterity, to assist you in
the
presence of My Son."
(Great graces are given to those who carry a copy of this letter.)
Mary Virgin, very humble servant of God
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