Iconographer: Markella Sister
Commemorates on: March 17
This saint came from elder Rome and was the only-child of noble and rich parents (his father was Patrician Euphemianos and his mother was Aglais). He lived during the reign of Theodosios the great in 380. When he got married and the bridal chamber had been prepared, the bridegroom had to sleep with the bride. However, the saint gave the bride a ring, wished her all the best, departed from the house of his father secretly and went to Edessa. He remained in the church there for eighteen years dressed in poor and mended clothes and receiving his food from the mercy of the Christians. Because his virtue could not be always kept secret and because many people came to him often and disturbed him, he departed thence. He wished to go to Tarsus of Cilicia and stay in Apostle Pauls church but, because of contrary winds, the ship drifted to another place. So, he returned to Rome again and came to his fathers house unrecognisable. He sat at the door and spent the rest of his life there. He used to be laughed at and mocked by his servants. He also suffered all these things which a foreigner, who has no right to speak, naturally suffers from pleasure-loving and disorderly men. When he was about to die, he asked for a piece of paper and wrote down who he was and by which parents he was born. The saint kept this piece of paper on him even after he died and until God revealed to emperor Honorius all about him. The emperor went to the saints holy relics and, after praying to him a lot, even though he was dead, he received the paper and read it for everybody to hear. Then, all who heard were astonished and the saints holy relics were buried with honour and grandeur in the church of the first of the Apostles Peter. St. Alexios relics have always been pouring out sweet-smelling myrrh and have cured various diseases from which those who approached them with faith suffered.