Alexius of Edessa

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Saint Alexius with the attribute of stairs in Hartmann Schedel's world chronicle from 1493.

Alexius von Edessa (also: Allexius the Confessor , * in Rome or Edessa ; † around 430 in Edessa; according to Berns † 417) was a hermit and saint .

Legends

St. Alexius under the stairs of his parents' house, doused with rinsing water (painting by Anton Maulbertsch in the parish church of Langenargen , 1732–1733).

According to the oldest legend, a Syrian vita from the 5th century, Alexius (Greek for 'help') was the son of the Roman senator Euphemius and Aglaia. After his wedding, he left his parents and his wife and fled to Edessa , where he lived piously as a hermit in poverty and soon enjoyed great respect. In this earliest version of the legend, however, the name "Alexius" does not appear yet.

The legend from the 10th century tells that Alexius lived as a beggar in front of a church in Edessa for 17 years . When the sexton became aware through a face that this beggar was a holy man, he arranged for him to be worshiped. But Alexius fled across the sea and was driven back to Rome by a storm, where his father did not recognize the pilgrim begging, but welcomed him benevolently into his house. For another 17 years Alexius lived under the stairs of his parents' house, doused with dish water by the servants , suffering and exercising patience. As he was dying, he made himself known by a letter. According to a Greek version of the legend, only the Emperor Honorius , according to other versions, only the Pope or the bride could release the letter from the dead man's hand.

Touching his body produced healings . He was buried with great honors in the Church of Boniface of Tarsus in Rome.

According to another tradition, Alexius always lived in Edessa and died there; accordingly, his cult came to Rome in the 10th century.

Adoration

Greek icon, Saint Alexius, the "Man of God"

Alexius, who professed his faith, has long been one of the most venerated saints. His admiration reached its peak in the late Middle Ages and the Baroque.

Memorial days

His feast day is July 17th in the Catholic Church, March 17th in the Orthodox Church , and March 12th for the Monophysites in Syria .

The pawn rules for July 17th are:

  • If Alexius rains this year, grain and fruit will be expensive.
  • When it rains on Alexius, the harvest and fruit are blessed.

Patronage

Alexius is considered the patron saint of pilgrims , beggars , vagabonds , the sick and continues to protect against earthquakes , lightning and storms , plague and epidemics . He is also the city patron of Innsbruck , Kalavryta in Greece and the towns of Sant'Alessio in Italy.

The Alexians are named after Alexius , a Catholic brotherhood founded around 1350 based on the rule of Augustine of Hippo , who are dedicated to caring for the sick.

Places of worship

St. Alexius next to the hll. Rochus, Sebastian and Pirmin, facade mosaic on the Three Saints Church in Innsbruck

Relics exist in Rome, Prague- Břevnov , Kalavryta and other places. Numerous Alexius churches and chapels were dedicated to his memory .

After a severe earthquake on Alexius's Day , July 17, 1670, the Innsbruck citizens elected St. Alexius as the second city patron next to St. James and vowed an annual procession and a festival service on his feast day. The saint was venerated on a side altar in the Seven Chapel Church as early as 1600 ; after the church was profaned under Joseph II , the altarpiece was transferred to the Three Saints Church , which was given to Saints Sebastian , Pirmin and Rochus . Alexius was the fourth patron.

Entry in Schedel's world chronicle from 1493

Saint Alexius has his own entry including a portrait in Hartmann Schedel's World Chronicle from 1493, a kind of encyclopedia of the late Middle Ages. On sheet CXXXV it says:

"Alexius is a Roman and a willful and holy confessor on. Xvi. day of the month Julii in rome in which haws his father Eufemiani called the a councilor who was known from a steyg to vil erliddner died patiently and was on too much. At the miracle story full of begengknus or begrebnus were the emperors Archadius and Honori '. then for god's sake he left an extremely beautiful poem. "

(Alexius, a Roman and a worthy and holy confessor, died on the 16th day of July in Rome in the house of his father, called Euphemius, who was a councilor, and died unrecognized under a staircase after long-suffering patience and went to God in heaven driven up ...)

Literary adaptations

The Alexius material has been extensively worked on poetically.

  • Laying:
  • Prose versions:
  • Dramatic arrangements:
    • Le Miracle de Saint Alexis (2nd half of the 14th century)
    • B. Diaz: Auto de Santo Alexio (Portuguese; 1613)
    • L. de Massip: Le charming Alexis (1655)
    • The hidden gem or the healing one. Alexius. Drama in two acts by Nicolaus (Nicholas) Wiseman, Cologne, Regensburg 1860, 112 p., Translated from English
    • Henri Ghéon: Le pauvre sous l'escalier (1920)

Musical arrangements

literature

  • Gaston and Léopold Pannier: La vie de saint Alexis, poème du XIe siècle et renouvellements des XIIe, XIIIe et XIVe siècles, in: Recueil de travaux originaux ou traduits relatifis à la philologie et à l'histoire littèraire. Cinquième fascicule, Paris 1872.
  • Margarete Rösler: Alexiusprobleme , in: Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie, Vol. 53 (1933), pp. 508-528.
  • Melitta Hirsch: Alexius Song and Christian Asceticism , in: Journal for French Language and Literature, Vol. 58 (1934), pp. 414–418.
  • ER Curtius: To the interpretation of the Alexiuslied , in: Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie, Vol. 56 (1936), pp. 113-137.
  • Margarete Rösler: Sankt Alexius, old French legend poetry of the 11th century, in: Collection of Romanesque exercise texts, Vol. XV, Halle / Saale: 4th edition 1941.
  • Hans Sckommodau : To the old French song of Alexius. In: Journal for Romance Philology, Volume 70 (1954), pp. 161–203.
  • Hans Sckommodau: Alexius in liturgy, painting and poetry , in: Journal for Romance Philology, Vol. 72 (1956), pp. 165–193.
  • Franz-Wilhelm Servaes: Joseph Bripius. De laudibus sancti Alexii. Investigations and critical text , Cologne 1966 (also dissertation 1966).
  • Klaus Berns: The life of St. Alexius. Translated from the old French by Klaus Berns (and provided with a foreword, notes and a bibliography), Munich 1968: Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Alexius of Edessa. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 114.  ( Article / beginning of article in the Internet archive )

Web links

Commons : Alexius von Edessa  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ This motif of the unrecognized return to the father's house was taken from the life story of Johannes Calybita Constantinopolis , who lived in the 5th century.
  2. ↑ Episcopal Ordinariate of the Diocese of Innsbruck (Ed.): Directory: Regulations for the liturgy according to the Roman rite for use in the Dioceses of Innsbruck and Feldkirch for the year 2019 (from Advent 2018). Innsbruck 2018, p. 148 ( PDF; 1.5 MB )
  3. ↑ Hartmann Schedel: Weltchronik 1493. Colored and commented complete edition, introduction and commentary by Stephan Füssel, Augsburg 2004, ISBN 3-8289-0803-9 .
personal data
SURNAME Alexius of Edessa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saint
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome or Edessa
DATE OF DEATH at 430
Place of death Edessa