Sub-Saharan Africa, 26 February, 2024 / 11:15 am (ACI Africa).
St. Alexander succeeded St. Achillas as bishop of Alexandria in 313.
Alexander was a champion of orthodox Catholic teaching.
The majority of his ministry was dedicated to fighting against the Arian heresy. Arius, a priest of Alexandria, claimed Jesus was not truly God and that there was a time when the Son, the second person of the Trinity, did not exist.
The bishop was gentle with Arius but when Arianism started accumulating a larger following, Alexander finally excommunicated Arius. The sentence of excommunication was confirmed in the year 320.
Alexander's epistle on the Arian heresy has survived and remains an important part of ecclesiastical literature.
