Born c.
250; died 326-328. Named bishop of Alexandria in 313 to
succeed Saint Achillas, Saint Alexander is famed chiefly for
his opposition to the Arian heresy, which claimed the Jesus
was not truly God, that the Son was a creature, and that
there was a time when the Son did not exist. Alexander is
also known for his apostolic doctrine and life, one of the
great accomplishments of which was his training of a young
deacon name Athanasius, who was later to be celebrated
throughout the whole Christian world.
Alexander was gentle
with the Arians but he was determined. Many accused him of
compromising the position of the Church by the former
attitude, many others said he was an impetuous man because
of the latter position. He nevertheless must be considered a
champion of Orthodox teaching and credited with great
pastoral zeal for the kindly, fatherly expostulation he
addressed to Arius for a long period before excommunicating
him at a meeting of his clergy about 321. The
excommunication was confirmed at a local synod in
Alexandria. His circular epistle on the Arian heresy has
survived and is an important part of the ecclesiastical
literature of this period.
As a bishop,
Alexander seems to have preferred monks as bishops,
appointing by preference those who had lived in hermitages
or in the desert since he considered these the proper models
of what a bishop ought to be to his flock. Alexander also
insisted on charity to the poor in the dioceses under his
control--a thing for which he was famous in the diocese of
Alexandria.
Alexander is reputed
to have drawn up the acts of the first General Council of
Nicaea in 325, where Arianism was formally condemned. He
died in Alexandria two years after his return from the
council, having appointed Athanasius his successor.
