De sancto Alexio
The Call to Renunciation
Alexius, born to nobility, chooses a life of chastity and leaves his bride to pursue a life of holy detachment.
The name Alexius comes from 'a', meaning 'greatly', and 'lexis', meaning 'word'; so, Alexius means someone who is 'greatly robust in the word of God'. Alexius was the son of Euphemianus, a man of the highest nobility among the Romans, who served in the emperor's court and was attended by three thousand young men dressed in silk and wearing golden belts. Euphemianus was a very merciful man; every day in his home, three tables were set for the poor, orphans, widows, and pilgrims, whom he served diligently, and at the ninth hour, he would eat with religious men in the fear of the Lord. He had a wife named Aglaes who shared his same religious devotion and purpose. Although they had no children, the Lord granted them a son in answer to their prayers, after which they decided to live together in chastity from that time on. The boy received a liberal education, and when he had flourished in all the arts of philosophy and reached manhood, a young woman from the imperial household was chosen for him, and they were married. When night came and he was alone in the quiet with his bride, the holy young man began to instruct her in the fear of God and to encourage her toward the modesty of virginity; then he gave her his golden ring and the head of his belt, telling her, 'Take this and keep it until it pleases God, and may the Lord be between us.' .
The Pilgrim in Edessa
Alexius lives as a beggar in Edessa for seventeen years, unrecognized by his own servants who search for him.
After this, he took some of his wealth, left for the sea, and secretly boarded a ship. He arrived at Laodicea and from there traveled on to the city of Edessa in Syria, where the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, made without human hands, was kept on a shroud. Upon arriving, he gave away everything he had brought with him to the poor, and putting on simple clothes, he began to sit in the atrium of the Mother of God, Mary, with the other poor people. He kept for himself only as much of the alms as he needed to survive, and gave the rest away to other poor people. But his father, grieving deeply over his son's departure, sent his servants throughout every part of the world to search for him diligently. When some of them arrived at the city of Edessa, they recognized him, but they themselves did not recognize him at all; they gave him alms along with the other poor people, and as he accepted them, he gave thanks to God, saying: "I give you thanks, Lord, because you have made me receive alms from my own servants." The servants returned and reported to his father that he couldn't be found anywhere. His mother, however, from the day of his departure, spread a sackcloth on the floor of her room, where she would wake up and cry out in lamentation, saying: "I will remain here in mourning forever, until I have recovered my son." His bride, however, said to her mother-in-law: "Until I hear news of my sweetest husband, I will remain here with you, solitary as a turtledove." Alexius had been in that atrium for seventeen years.
The Hidden Servant
After being revealed by a divine sign, Alexius returns to his father's house as an unrecognized beggar, enduring humiliation for seventeen more years.
As he remained in God's service, the image of the blessed Virgin that was there finally said to the church custodian: "Let this man of God enter, for he is worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and the Spirit of God rests upon him; for his prayer ascends like incense in the sight of God." But when the custodian did not know who he was talking about, he said to him again: "The one who sits outside in the atrium—he is the one." Then the custodian hurried out and brought him into the church. When this became known to everyone and they began to honor him, he fled from human glory and left that place. He arrived in Laodicea and boarded a ship, but when he wanted to go to Tarsus, God ordained that the ship be driven by the winds to the Roman port. Seeing this, Alexius said to himself, "I will remain unknown in my father's house, and I won't be a burden to anyone." He met his father returning from the palace, surrounded by a crowd of attendants, and began to call out to him, "Servant of God, command that I, a pilgrim, be taken into your house, and let me be fed from the crumbs of your table, so that the Lord may deign to have mercy on your own pilgrims as well." Hearing this, his father, out of love for his son, ordered him to be taken in and assigned him a place in his house, providing him with food from his own table and appointing a personal servant for him. He himself, however, persevered in prayer and wore down his body with fasts and vigils. The household servants often mocked him, frequently poured water and dishwater over his head, and inflicted many injuries upon him, but he remained very patient through it all. So he remained unknown in his father's house for seventeen years. Seeing then through the Spirit that the end of his life was approaching, he asked for paper and ink and wrote down the entire order of his life there. Then, on a Sunday after the solemnity of the Mass, a voice sounded from heaven in the sanctuary, saying, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you."
The Revelation of the Saint
A divine voice leads the Roman authorities to the house of Euphemianus, where the deceased Alexius is finally identified through his own written testimony.
Hearing this, everyone was terrified and fell on their faces; and then, a voice spoke a second time: "Seek the man of God, so that he may pray for Rome." As they were searching, and finding nothing, they were told again: "Search in the house of Euphemianus." When questioned, he said he knew nothing about it. Then the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, along with Pope Innocent, came to the house of the man mentioned, and the servant of Alexius came to his master and said: "Look, sir, see if that pilgrim of ours is the one, for he is a man of great life and patience." Euphemianus ran and found him dead, and he saw his face shining like an angel's; he wanted to take the paper he was holding in his hand, but he couldn't. After he left and reported this to the emperors and the pontiffs, they went in to him and said: "Although we are sinners, we hold the reins of the kingdom and bear the universal care of pastoral governance; give us the paper, then, so that we may know what is written in it." The pontiff approached and took the paper from his hand, and he immediately let it go to him, and he had it read before all the people, the multitude, and his father.
Lamentation and Veneration
The family of Alexius mourns his loss with profound grief, realizing the extent of his sacrifice and their own blindness to his presence.
When Euphemianus heard this, he was overcome with such intense grief that he stood stunned, then lost all strength and collapsed to the ground. When he had come to himself a little, he tore his clothes and began to pull out his gray hair, tear at his beard, and beat himself, crying out over his son's body: "Woe is me, my son! Why have you caused me such sorrow, and why have you brought so many years of pain and groaning upon me?" "Woe is me, miserable man that I am, for I see you—the staff of my old age—lying on a pallet, not speaking to me. Woe is me, what consolation will I be able to have from now on?" His mother, hearing this, broke through the crowd like a lioness breaking a net. With her clothes torn and her hair disheveled, she lifted her eyes to heaven, and because she could not reach the holy body due to the massive crowd, she cried out: "Give me a way through, men, so that I may see my son, so that I may see the consolation of my soul, the one who nursed at my breasts." When she reached the body, she leaned over it and cried out: "Woe is me, my son, the light of my eyes! Why have you done this, and why have you treated us so cruelly?" "You saw your father and me, miserable as we were, weeping, and you did not reveal yourself to us; your servants were insulting you, and you endured it!" Again and again she threw herself over the body, now spreading her arms over it, now stroking his angelic face with her hands, and kissing it, she cried out: "Weep with me, all of you who are here, for I had him in my house for seventeen years and did not know that he was my only son; even the servants were insulting him and striking him with their hands." "Woe is me, who will give my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I may lament the sorrow of my soul day and night?" His wife, dressed in mourning clothes, ran up weeping and saying: "Woe is me, for today I am desolate and have become a widow; I no longer have anyone to look upon, nor anyone to whom I can lift my eyes. Now my mirror is shattered and my hope has perished; from this moment on, a sorrow has begun that has no end."
The Glorification of the Saint
The body of Alexius is carried through Rome, performing miracles, and is finally laid to rest in a place of honor.
When the people heard this, they wept bitterly. Then the bishop and the emperors placed the body on an honorable bier and carried it into the center of the city; when the people were told that the man of God whom the whole city had been seeking was found, everyone ran to meet the saint. If any sick person touched that most holy body, they were immediately healed; the blind received their sight, and those possessed by demons were cured. Seeing such great wonders, the emperors began to carry the bier themselves along with the bishop, so that they too might be sanctified by that same holy body. Then the emperors ordered a wealth of gold and silver to be scattered in the streets, so that the crowd might be occupied by the love of money and let the body pass. to lead it to the church. But the people, because of their love of money... rushed even more to touch the most sacred body. With great effort, they finally brought it to the church of Saint Boniface the martyr; there, persisting for seven days in the praises of God, they fashioned a monument of gold, gems, and precious stones, in which they placed the holy body with great veneration. A very sweet fragrance drifted from the tomb itself, so it seemed to everyone as if it were filled with spices. He died on the 16th. of the Kalends of August, around the year of our Lord 398.
Read the original Latin
Alexius dicitur ab a, quod est valde, ct lexis, quod est sermo: inde Alexius quasi valde in verbo Dei robustus. Alexius fuit filius Euphemiani, viri nobilissimi Romanorum et in aula imperatoris primi, cui tria millia puerorum assistebant, qui zonis aureis cingebantur et vestimentis sericis induebantur. Erat autem praefectus Euphemianus valde misericors et singulis diebus in domo sua tres mensae pauperibus, orphanis, viduis et peregrinis parabantur, quibus strenue serviebat et hora nona ipse cum viris religiosiosis cibum intimore domini capiebat. Cui uxor nomine Aglaes ejusdem religionis ac propositi erat. Cum antem filium non haberent, ad preces tamen suas dominus contulit iis filium,post quem ipsi déinceps in castitate vivere firmaverunt. Traditus autem puer liberalibus disciplinis, cum omnibus philosophiae artibus ipse floreret et jam ad puberem aetatem pervenisset, puella sibi de domo imperiali eligitur et sibi in conjugem copulatur. Venit nox, in qua cum sponsa sua suscepit secreta silentia: tunc sanctus juvenis coepit sponsam suam in Dei timore instruere et ipsam ad virginitatis provocare pudorem; deinde annulum suum aureum et caput balthei, quo cingebatur, sibi servanda tradidit dicens: suscipe hoc et serva, donec Deo placuerit, et dominus sit inter nos. .
Post hoc de substantia sua accipiens ad mare discessit adscendensque occulte navem Laodiceam usque devenit indeque pergens in Edessam civitatem Syriae profectus est, ubi imago domini nostri Jesu Christi sine humano opere facta in sindone habebatur. Quo perveniens 26 omnia, quae secum detulerat, pauperibus distribuit et vestimenta vilia induens cum caeteris pauperibus, in atrio Dei genitricis Mariae sedere coepit. De elemosinis vero quantum sibi sufficere poterat, sibi retinebat, caetera vero aliis pauperibus erogabat. At vero pater de recessu filii plurimum ingemiscens per universas mundi partes pueros suos misit, qui eum inquirerent diligenter. Quorum cum aliqui ad civitatem Edessam venissent, ab eo cogniti, sed ipsi eum minime cognoscentes eidem cum caeteris pauperibus elemosinas tribuerunt, quas accipiens Deo gratias agens dixit: gratias tibi ago, domine, quia a servis meis elemosinam recipere me fecisti. Reversi antem pueri renuntiantspatri, quod nusquam valeat reperiri, mater antem sua a die sui recessus saccum in pavimento cubiculi sui stravit, ubi evigilans lamentabiles voces dabat dicens: hic semper in luctu manebo, donec filium meum recuperavero. Sponsa vero ad socrum dixit: donec audiam de sponso meo dulcissimo, instar turturis solitaria tecum manebo. Cum igitur Alexius in praedicto atrio XVII.
anno maneret in Dei servitio, imago tandem beatae virginis, quae ibidem erat, custodi ecclesiae dixit: fac introire hominem Dei, quia dignus est regno coelorum et spiritus Dei requiescit super eum, nam oratio ejus sicut incensum in conspectum Dei adscendit. Cum autem custos, de quonamdiceret, ignoraret, iterum ei dixit: ille, qui foris sedet in atrio, ipse est. Tunc custos festinus exiit et ipsum in ecclesiam introduxit. Quod factum dum cunctis innotesceret et ab omnibus venerari coepisset, humanam gloriam fugiens inde recessit e Laodiceam venit ibique navem adscendens cum in Tharsum we vellet pergere, dispensante Deo navis a ventis pulsa in Romanum portum devenit, Quod cernens Alexius ait intra se: in domo patris mei ignotus manebo nec alteri onerosus ero. Patrem igitur a palatio redeuntem multitudine obsequentium circumdatum obvium habuit ac post eum clamare coepit: serwe Dei, me peregrinum in domo tua suscipi jubeas et de micis mensae tuae me nutriri facias, ut tui quoque peregrini dignetur dominus misereri. Quod audiens pater ob amorem filii sui eum suscipi jussit et locum proprium in domo sua constituit et cibum de mensa sua tribnit et ministrum proprium delegavit, ipse autem in orationibus perseverabat et corpus suum jejuniis et vigiliis macerabat, famuli autem domus ipsum multipliciter deridebant et aquam utensillum super caput ejus frequenter fundebant,et multas injurias ei irrogabant, sed ipse ad omnia patiens valde erat. Septendecim igitur annos in domo patris permansit sic ignotus: videns igitur per spiritum, quod appropinquaret terminus vitae suae, chartam cum atramento petiit et toium ordinem vitae suae ibidem conscripsit. Dominica igitur die post missarum sollemnia in sanctuario vox de coelo insonuit dicens: venité ad me omnes, qui laboratis et onerali estis, et ego reficiam vos.
Quod audientes omnes territi in facies uas deciderunt et ecce vox secundo dicens: quaerite hominem Dei, ut oret pro Roma. Quaerentibus illis et. minime invenientibus iterum dictum est: in domo Euphemiani quaerite. Requisitus ille se nihil scire de hoc dicebat. Tunc imperatores Arcadius et Honorius una cum pontifice Innocentio ad domum praedicti viri venerunt et ecce minister Alexii ad dominum suum venit dicens: vide domine, ni ille peregrinus noster sit, quia magnaevitae et patientiae homo est. Currens igitur Euphemianus eum defunctum reperit et vultum cjus tamquam angeli rutilantem vidit voluitque chartam, quam in manu habebat, accipere, sed nequivit. Exeunte igitur eo cum hoc imperatoribus et pontificibus retulisset et illi ad eum intrassent, dixerunt: quamvis peccatores sumus, regni tamen gubernacula gerimus et hic curam universalem regiminis pastoralis: da igitur nobis chartam, ut sciamus, quae in ea scripta sunt. Et accedens pontifex chartam de manu sua accepit et ille eam statim sibi dimisit fecitque eam legi coram omni populo et multitudine et patre ipsius.
At Euphemianus hoc audiens nimio dolore conturbatus obstupuit et factus exanimis resolutusque viribus in terram decidit, Cum vero aliquantulum ad se rediisset, vestimenta sua scidit coepitque canos capitis sui evellere, barbam trahere atque semet ipsum discerpere at super filii sui corpus exclamabat: heu me, fili mi, quare me sic contristasti et per tot annos mili dolores et gemitus incussisti? Heu me miserum, quia te video baculum senectutis meae in grabato jacentem et nou loquentem mihi heu me, qualem consolationem de caetero habere potero? Mater vero ejus hoc audiens, quasi leaena rumpens rete, scissis vestimentis ruens coma dissoluta ad coelum oculos levabat, et cum prae nimia multitudine sanctum corpus adire non posset, clamavit dicens: date mihi, viri, aditum, ut videam filium meum, ut videam consolationem animae meae et qui suxit ubera mea. Et cum pervenisset ad corpus, incumbens super illad clamabat: heu me, fili mi, lumen oculorum meorum, quare sic fecisti et tam crudeliter nobiscum egisti? Videbas patrem tuum et me miseram lacrymantes et non ostendebas te ipsum nobis: servi tni injuriabantur tibi et sustinebas! Et iterum atque iterum prosternebat se supra corpus et nunc brachia super illud expandebat, nunc manihus angelicum vultum contrectabat osculansque clamabat: plorate mecum ommes, qui adestis, quia per XVII annos eum ín domo mea habui et non cognovi, quia unicus filius meus esset, servi etiam eum conviciabantur et alapis percutiebant. Heu me, quis dabit oculis meis fontem lacrymarum, ut plangam die ae nocte dolorem animae meae? Sponsa vero ejus induta veste Adriatica cucurrit plorans et dicens: heu me, quia hodie desolata sum et apparui vidua, jam non habeo, in quem conspiciam nec in quem oculos levem, nunc ruptum est speculum meum et periit spes mea: amodo coepit dolor, qui finem non habet.
Populus autem audiens hoc lacrymabiliter flebat. Tunc pontifex cum imperatoribus posuerunt corpus in honorato feretro et duxerunt in mediam civitatem et nuntiatum est populo inventum esse hominem Dei, quem civitas tota quaerebat, et omnes obviam currebant sancto. Si quis autem infirmus illud corpus sanctissimum tangebat, protinus curabatur, caeci visum recipiebant, daemoniaci curabantür. Imperatores autem tanta mirabilia vidéntes coeperunt per se cum pontifice lectum portare, ut et ipsi sanctificarentur ab eodem corpore sancto, . Tunc imperatores jusserunt copiam auri et argenti in plateis spargi, ut turbaé occuparentur amore pecuniarum et sinerent corpus sámeti, . perducere ad ecclesiam. Sed plebs amore pecuniarum !) seposito magis ac magis ad tactum sacratissimi corporis irruebat et sic cum magno labore ad templum sancti Bonifacii martiris illud tandem perduxerunt et illic per septem dies in Dei laudibus persistentes operati sunt monumentum ex auro et gemmis et lapidibus pretiosis, in quo sanctum corpns cum magna veneratione collocaverunt.
De ipso quoque monumento ita suavissimus odor fragravit, ut omnibus videretur aromatibus esse plenum. Obiit autem XVI. cal. Augusti circa annos domini CCCXCVIII,
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
Chosen Portion serves the Golden Legend as a daily portion on iOS, free, alongside the full Sub Rosa archive
The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
- A complete saint's life or feast reading most days in 5-10 minutes
- 240 chapters - enough daily readings to cover a full liturgical year and beyond
- Daily reminders so the plan survives busy weeks