Pope Alexander I

Saint Alexander I
Birth name	Alexander
Papacy began	ca. 106
Papacy ended	ca. 115
Predecessor	Evaristus
Successor	Sixtus I
Born	unknown date Rome, Italy
Died	ca. 115 Rome, Italy
Other popes named Alexander

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. 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 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. 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.

Liber Pontificalis also reports that he suffered martyrdom by beheading under the Roman Emperor Trajan. However, Irenaeus of Lyon, writing much earlier, does not know this tradition. The priest Evenitus 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, 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.

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.

Roman Catholic Popes
Preceded by: Evaristus	Bishop of Rome Pope 106–115	Succeeded by: Sixtus I

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

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope St. Alexander I
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Saint Alexander I

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