Alexander the Bishop

Alexander, a bishop of Cappadocia, wishing to visit the Holy Land, came to Jerusalem at the time when Narcissus, bishop of that city, already an old man, was ruling the church. It was revealed to Narcissus and to many of his clergy that on the morning of the next day a bishop would enter the city who was to be his assistant on the priestly throne. And it happened just as it had been foretold. All the bishops of Palestine were gathered together, Narcissus himself pressing for it most of all, and Alexander took the helm of the church of Jerusalem together with him. At the end of one of his letters, written to the Antinoites On the Peace of the Church, he says: “Narcissus, who held the office of bishop here before me and now carries it on with me through his prayers, being about a hundred and sixteen years old, greets you, and with me begs you to be of one mind.” He wrote another To the Antiochenes, by the hand of Clement, the presbyter of Alexandria, of whom we spoke above; another To Origen; and one On Behalf of Origen, against Demetrius, which arose because, as Demetrius testified, Alexander had made Origen a presbyter. There are other letters of his to various people. In the seventh persecution, under Decius, at the time when Babylas of Antioch was put to death, Alexander was brought to Caesarea and shut up in prison, and he received the crown of martyrdom for confessing Christ. [a]