Saint Alexander I
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Birth name
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Alexander
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Papacy began
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ca. 106
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Papacy ended
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ca. 115
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Predecessor
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Evaristus
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Successor
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Sixtus I
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Born
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unknown date Rome, Italy
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Died
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ca. 115 Rome, Italy
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Other popes named Alexander
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Pope Saint Alexander I was bishop of Rome for about ten years in the early second century, according the Catholic tradition. The dates of his episcopacy are estimated from as early as 106-115 and as late as 109-119 C.E. He is credited with instituting several church traditions and with being a martyr, but these supposed facts are now doubted by secular and Catholic scholars alike.
According to the Liber Pontificalis, it was Alexander I who inserted into the narration of the Last Supper (the Qui pridie) into the Catholic mass. However, this claim is now considered to be anachronistic, a product of the agenda of Liber Pontificalis—this section of the book was probably written in the late fifth century—to show an ancient pattern of the earliest bishops of Rome ruling the church by papal decree. Alexander I is also said to have introduced the use of holy water and salt for the purification of Christian homes from evil influences, as well as the custom of mixing water with the sacramental wine of the Eucharist. All this, too, is considered unlikely, as is the report that he ordained six priests, two deacons, and five bishops, since these offices are not thought to have been defined as such yet in his time. However, it is certainly possible that Alexander, whether acting singly or part of a collective leadership at Rome, played and important part in the governance of the church and the evolution of its emerging liturgical and administrative tradition.
Liber Pontificalis also reports that Alexander suffered martyrdom by beheading, probably under the Roman Emperor Trajan. However, Irenaeus of Lyons, writing much earlier, does not know this tradition. The priest Eventius and the deacon Theodulus are said to have died with him outside of Rome. Since Liber Pontificalis reports that all the early popes were martyrs, the accuracy of this report is now treated with skepticism. The date of his death is given as May 3, and he was buried on the Via Nomentana, where his execution took place.
Legacy
Although little is known of Alexander I with certainty, he became part of a time-honored tradition that views each of the early popes as both saints and martyrs. His remains are said to have been transferred to Freising in Bavaria, Germany in 834 C.E. A late tradition holds that in the reign of Emperor Hadrian, Alexander I converted the Roman governor Hermes by miraculous means, together with his entire household 1500 souls.
Alexander's feast day is celebrated on May 3, the traditional date of his death. The identification of Alexander as a martyr was removed from the Roman Calendar by Pope John XXIII in 1960 as lacking historical basis.
Notes
References
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Alexander I in the reign of Hadrian converted Hermes the governor and all his house to the number of 1500 souls
External links
Popes of the Catholic Church |
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Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II
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Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Leo VIII Benedict V John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV
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John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III
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Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII
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Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX
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Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II Benedict XVI Francis
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