Feast Day: February 26

St. Alexander was named bishop of Alexandria in 313 and was a champion of orthodox Catholic teaching. He dedicated his ministry to fighting against the Arian heresy which claimed that 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 the Arians and was exemplary in the pastoral approach he took with them for a long period before finally excommunicating Arius at a meeting of his clergy in 321.The excommunication was confirmed at a local synod in Alexandria. His epistle on the Arian heresy has survived and remains an important part of ecclesiastical literature.

It is assumed that St. Alexander also drew up the acts of the first General Council of Nicaea in 325, where Arianism was formally condemned. He died in Alexandria two years after his return from the council.

St. Alexander was also famous for his charity to the poor and his doctrine on life.