Alexander of Comana

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Alexander of Comana
birth_date=unknown
death_date=c. 250
feast_day=Roman Catholicism 11 August
Orthodox 12 August
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Churches


imagesize=200px
caption=An engraving of Saint Alexander of Comana by Jacques Callot
birth_place=
death_place=Comana in Pontus
titles=Bishop and Martyr
"The Charcoal Burner"
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
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patronage=charcoal burners
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
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Saint Alexander of Comana (died c. 251), known as "the charcoal burner", was Bishop of Comana in Pontus.cite encyclopedia | last = Christie | first = Albany James | authorlink = | title = Carbonarius Alexander | editor = William Smith | encyclopedia = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology | volume = 1 | pages = 115 | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = ] Whether he was the first to occupy that see is open to discussion. The saint's curious name comes from the fact that he had, out of humility, taken up the work of burning charcoal, so as to escape worldly honors. He is noted for being exceptionally filthy and dirty [http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainta2c.htm] .

He is called a philosopher, but it is not certain that the term is to be taken literally. His philosophy consisted rather in his preference of heavenly to earthly things. The discovery of his virtues was due to the contempt with which he had been regarded. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus had been asked to come to Comana to help select a bishop for that place. As he rejected all the candidates, someone in derision suggested that he might accept Alexander, the charcoal-burner. Gregory took the suggestion seriously, summoned Alexander, and found that he had to do with a saint and a man of great capabilities. Alexander was made bishop of the see, administered it with wisdom and was burned to death in the persecution of Diocletian.

He would have been absolutely unknown were it not for a discourse pronounced by St. Gregory of Nyssa, on the life of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, in which the election of Alexander is incidentally described. His feast is kept on August 11 among Roman Catholics, on August 12 among Orthodox.

External links

* [http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainta2c.htm Alexander the Charcoal Burner]
* [http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/my.html?month=August&day=12&Go.x=16&Go.y=8 August 12th in the "Prologue of Ohrid" - includes the life of Saint Alexander of Comana and a hymn of praise]

References

References