Saint Alexandra of Rome (Ἀλεξάνδρα) — Christian martyr and saint, known from ''"Martyrdom of
Saint George
Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...
"'' as either Emperor
Diocletian's wife or the wife of
Dacian, a Roman Prefect. She is also sometimes mistaken with Priscilla or
Prisca.
Life
According to
Frederick George Holweck, Saint Alexandra was the reputed wife of Emperor Diocletian and secretly converted to Christianity.
Jacobus de Voragine
Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the '' Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medi ...
listing her name as “Alexandria” describes her as the wife of Dacian, the Roman Prefect who persecuted Saint
Caprasius of Agen and
Saint Maginus. While Saint George was being tortured, Alexandra went to the arena, bowed before him, and professed her faith openly. When she questioned whether she was worthy of paradise and martyrdom without being baptized, Saint George told her, “Do not fear, for your blood will baptize you.” She was denounced as a Christian and imprisoned on her husband's orders in
Nicomedia
Nicomedia (; el, Νικομήδεια, ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocleti ...
, then sentenced to death.
Her husband was so outraged by her conversion that he is said to have uttered, “What! Even thou hast fallen under their spell!”. Alexandra quietly accepted her sentence and prayed as the guards walked her to the place of execution. She asked if she could rest for a moment. The guards allowed this. She rested by the place of Saint George's execution at Nicomedia's City Wall.
Her three servants Apollo, Isaac, and Codratus went to prison with her; the first two died of
starvation while the last was beheaded with her on April 21, 314. Her feast day is usually celebrated on April 21
and occasionally on April 23, when she is commemorated at the same time along with the soldier martyrs Anatolios and Protoleon and the 630 others who were martyred for professing faith while witnessing George's martyrdom. The
Coptic Church
The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...
venerates her on April 8.
She is sometimes confused with Prisca. Holweck believes that her story was fabricated; de Voragine presents it as legendary but not outright fiction.
See also
*
Prisca (empress)
Prisca (died 315) was the Empress of Rome (286–305) and wife of Emperor Diocletian.
Nothing is known of her family background.
According to the Latin writer Lactantius, Prisca and her daughter Valeria were "forced to be polluted" by sacrifi ...
— wife of Emperor Diocletian.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandra
303 deaths
Year of birth unknown
People executed by the Roman Empire
3rd-century Roman women
4th-century Roman women
4th-century Christian saints
Diocletianic Persecution