greek-saints

Biography of the Othodox Saint Alexios

st-alexiosAmong the most popular saints of the early Christian years is Saint Alexios, who was distinguished for his deep piety and faith, but also for his extreme humility, exercise and self-restraint. The invisible earthly existence of his life ensured him, by divine command, the divine title “The Man of God”, since the Lord himself revealed him with His voice, named him and indicated him to the Christian people of Rome.

Saint Alexios was born in Rome in 357 during the reign of King Constantius II (317 – 361). He was the only son of the high official Euphimianos, the first of the Senate, and Aglaido, who came from an aristocratic family. His rich and noble parents were possessed of deep Christian faith and philanthropic Christian sentiments. That is why their house had become the refuge of orphans, widows and the poor. Alexios was brought up with the threads of our unblemished Christian faith, but he was offered a rich and worldly knowledge and education.

But he longed for heavenly goods from a young age and soon his soul began to burn with divine love. That is why he devoted himself entirely to the study of the texts of ecclesiastical authors, while at the same time he abhorred everything secular. However, the desire of his parents was to see their son as a worthy and brilliant successor to their great wealth and worldly power.

Instead, however, Alexios left and arrived by ship in Seleucia, and after taking off his luxurious clothes and distributing his possessions to the poor, he began to roam the country like a beggar. From Seleucia he arrived in Edessa in Syria and in fact in the year of the sleep of Saint Ephraim of Syria, which took place in 373. There he dedicated himself to prayer and fasting, while daily he took refuge in the temple of Saint Thomas the Apostle, which became the center of his life according to Christ.

He lived and moved around like a beggar and remained invisible and a stranger to everyone, even to his father’s servants, who came all the way to Edessa to find Alexios. they even offered him their alms as a beggar that he was. The saint stayed in Syria for seventeen full years.

One day, feeling that he had reached the end of his earthly activity, he asked for paper and pen to recount his unseen and unknown life. In this way, he left for eternity having fully completed his complete dedication to our Lord Jesus Christ. It was Friday, March 17, 407.

The Greek church celebrates him on March 17