ALEXIUS, Saint. — According to the oldest version of the legend, which seems to contain the authentic story of the saint, he would have been an anonymous Roman beggar, born into a wealthy family, who fled on his wedding night and led an ascetic life in Edessa, where he died during the episcopate of Rabbula (412–35). Neither his name nor that of his parents was known; he was simply called “the man of God.” In later texts he was also referred to as Mār Rīshā (Lord Prince), on account of his aristocratic origins, and Gabra Krestos (Servant of Christ). The name ‘Αλεξιος, ‘Αλεξιος, which is unexplained, was used by the Byzantines, from whom our form Alexius derives.
The life of this saint, now known primarily by the name of A., is preserved in a Syriac legend composed between 450 and 475, of which a manuscript survives from the early sixth century. The story of “the man of God” is recounted on the authority of testimony from the sacristan of the church frequented by the anonymous beggar. The narrative concludes with the saint’s death in Edessa and the discovery of his empty tomb by Bishop Rabbula. The account presents such characteristics as to be regarded, as a whole, as authentic. Everything that later narratives added to the primitive version—including the well-known episode of A.’s seventeen-year stay in a corner under the stairs of his father’s house—must be considered legendary.
Among these later legends, which exercised a wide influence on hagiographical and literary production concerning Alexius, the following deserve mention: 1) the Byzantine legend, whose text has not yet been recovered, which was used by Joseph the Melodist (Acta SS. Iulii, IV, pp. 247–48), from the second half of the ninth century, and by the Byzantine Menologia (cf., for example, the anonymous Byzantine Menologion of the tenth century, ed. B. Latyshev, St. Petersburg 1911, pp. 245–52); 2) a second Syriac legend from the ninth century; 3) the Western legend, in Greek and Latin, in various redactions, of which the oldest (BHL, 289, ed. L. Vázquez de Parga, Madrid 1941; Analecta Bollandiana, 62 [1944], pp. 281–83) dates to the first half of the tenth century and concerns the anonymous Filius Faeni. The other redactions appear to have been composed by adapting the legend to the topography of the Aventine, in the Greek-Latin monastery revived by Sergius, archbishop of Damascus, who took refuge in Rome in 977. It is worth noting that the Byzantine legend has much in common with the no less fabulous legend of St. John Calybites (v.). Recently, Léon Hermann (in L’Antiquité classique, 11 [1942], pp. 235–41) has argued that the source of the Roman legend of A. is a lost biography of the poet Commodian and that this poet is the prototype of A. and of Calybites (cf. observations by F. Tailliez, in Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 1945, pp. 216–22).
The cult of A., widely diffused in the East, spread to the West in the tenth century (the earliest known manuscripts of the oldest Western redaction of the legend, BHL, 289, come from Spain and date to the tenth century); in Rome it was introduced by Archbishop Sergius. The cult then spread throughout Europe, both because of the immediate fame acquired by the monastery on the Aventine and because of the popular appeal of A.’s pathetic legend. In the East his feast is celebrated on March 17; in the West, on July 17.
Diffusion of the Legend of St. A. — The legend of A., which Gregorovius (Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter, I, ed. Schillmann, Dresden 1926, pp. 781–82) called “one of the most beautiful tales of Christian self-denial,” enjoyed extraordinary diffusion and great popularity. It was known to Arab, Ethiopian, and Slavic Christians—Alexius is a very common name in Russia—through the Syriac and Byzantine legends; medieval Europe sang and staged it, drawing on both the Western and the Byzantine legends, and perhaps also the Syriac. Among the best-known literary works are: La vie de saint Alexis (ed. G. Paris, Paris 1903), a poem from the eleventh century; the Ritmo di s. A., mentioned in folklore; the well-known poem by Corrado da Würzburg, who died in 1287 (ed. P. Gereke, Halle 1925–1927); the Vita b. Alexii by Bonvesin da la Riva, who died c. 1313–15 (ed. E. Monaci, Città di Castello 1912), and others. The regions of Italy richest in popular compositions inspired by the legend of A. are the Marches, Romagna, Emilia, and Piedmont. There are also various theatrical works; among modern ones may be mentioned those by Cardinal Wiseman (1859) and Henri Ghéon (1920). In music, particular note should be taken of S. A. by Stefano Landi (v.), with libretto by Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi (later Clement IX), performed in Rome with great success in 1632 and, with some modifications, in 1634 (cf. R. Rolland, Le Journal de J.-F. Bouchard, in Revue Musicale, 1902), and the Leggenda di s. Fabiano (see below), written by A. Beltramelli (cf. Il secolo XX, 25 [1926], pp. 829–37), set to music by Pratella and performed in Bologna in 1939.
The Church and Monastery. — The first titular of the church was St. Boniface, and its origins date to the late sixth or early seventh century. The text of the Liber Pontificalis (Life of Sixtus III, 432–40), according to which the basilica of St. Sabina was built “iuxità monasterium S. Bonifacii, in quo et s. Alexius iacet,” is an interpolation from the twelfth century. The church of St. Boniface appears among the deaconries at the beginning of the ninth century; in 977 it was ceded by Benedict VII to Archbishop Sergius, who restored monastic life there. By the end of the tenth century the name of A. was added to that of Boniface, and soon came to prevail over II. The church was rebuilt in the twelfth century, restored in 1582, completely transformed in 1750, and again restored and decorated between 1852 and 1860. Since 1587 it has been a cardinalitial title.
The monastery must have existed when the church was a deaconry, but its fame dates from the time of Sergius (d. 981); elevated to the rank of abbey, it became the fourth among the twenty privileged monasteries and a center for missions to northern and eastern Europe. In 1231 it passed from the Benedictines to the Canons Regular of Prémontré; in 1426 to the Hermits of St. Jerome; and in 1848 to the Somascans. Since 1940 it has been the seat of the Istituto di Studi Romani.
A. IN SACRED ART. — He is generally represented as a pilgrim, sometimes holding the autobiographical letter of tradition in his hand. The most characteristic attribute is provided by the legendary ladder under which he lived for seventeen years unknown in his father’s house, as in the elaborate monument by Andrea Bagordi in the basilica of the saint in Rome (stucco, mid-18th century). Among the cyclical depictions of the legend, those discovered in the lower basilica of S. Clemente in Rome are the oldest (11th century).
A. IN POPULAR POETRY. — The popular cult of St. A. is attested above all by a narrative song in hendecasyllables, perhaps originating in central Italy, whose area of diffusion extends from Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia to Calabria and Apulia in numerous versions, some of which, of high poetic value, are among the finest examples of Italian popular poetry. In the Romagna versions the protagonist is called St. Fabiano, due to confusion with the name of the saint’s father, Euphemianus, and by folk etymology, Fabianus.
Besides this narrative song, which still survives in the oral tradition of various Italian dialects, there are ancient poems of popular tone: the famous Rhyme of St. A., in monorhymed stanzas, attributed to a Marchigian minstrel of the early 13th century and perhaps even earlier, published by E. Monaci, to whom it was pointed out by the priest V. Paoletti of Amandola (Rend. R. Acc. d. Lincei, Classe Scienze Morali St. e Fil., 5ª series, 16 [1907], pp. 103-32); a poem of 73 ottava rima stanzas already appearing in an incunabulum of the Biblioteca Casanatense; another, also in ottava rima, from the 16th century, both repeatedly reprinted to the present day in popular booklets adorned with crude woodcuts, as well as various lesser elaborations.
The legend has also been treated in dramatic form. Sanudo, in his diaries, recalls a performance of St. A. given in the monastery of S. Salvatore in Venice on 13 February 1515; notable are a sacred representation in ottava rima (first known edition 1517) and a *maggio* from the Tuscan countryside (ed. Sborgi, Volterra 1867).