St Alexis

There are many saints who are recognized by one or more branches of the Christian Church but of whom very few people have heard, and it is sometimes hard to work our why they ever gained the status they did.

One of these was Alexis, who died in the year 417. His claim to fame appears to be down to living a life of poverty but still being generous to others – which must have been true of plenty of other people down the centuries.

There was a bit more to the story of Alexis, namely that he chose to live as a beggar when he did not need to do so, and he did so out of devotion to God. He was born into a wealthy Roman family late in the 4^th century and was expected to marry an heiress to a fortune. However, he turned his back on a life of privilege and moved to Mesopotamia, where he lived in a tiny hut next to a church and lived on whatever people would give him. If he came across anyone even poorer than himself he would share what he had with them.

Seventeen years after leaving the family home he went back to it and was employed there as a servant, being unrecognized for who he was and never revealing his true identity. He slept at night under the staircase of the house that rightly belonged to him.

He lived this life for another seventeen years before he died. When this happened a parchment was found in his belongings that told the full story. He was given a dignified Christian burial. 

His sainthood was confirmed by Pope Honorius III in 1216 when Alexis’s burial site was discovered. He was reburied under the high altar of the church of St Boniface in Rome, which was then renamed as “Sant Alessio e Bonifatio”.

The saint’s day for St Alexis is 17^th July.

© John Welford