The Monk Alexander, First-Head of the "Unceasing Vigilance" Monastery
Commemorated on July 3, February 23
The Monk
Alexander, First-Head of the "Unceasing Vigilance" Monastery, was
born in Asia and received his education at Constantinople. He spent some time
in military service but, sensing a call to other service, he left the world and
accepted monastic tonsure in one of the Syrian wilderness monasteries near
Antioch, under the guidance of hegumen Elias. He spent four years in strict
obedience and monastic effort, after which he received from the hegumen
blessing to dwell in the wilderness. Going into the wilderness, the monk took
with him nothing from the monastery, except the Gospel. The monk then asceticised
in the wilderness for seven years. Afterwards, the Lord summoned him to preach
to pagans. The saint converted to Christ the local city-ruler named Rabul, who
afterwards was granted the dignity of bishop and for 30 years occupying the
bishop's cathedra-chair at the city of Edessa. Together with Rabul all the
local inhabitants accepted Baptism, and before receiving the sacrament they
burned their idols in the city-square. Having confirmed the newly-converted in
the faith, the Monk Alexander again went into the wilderness, where by chance
he came upon a cave of robbers. Fearless of the death that might threaten him,
he preached the Gospel to them and urged them to repent. And actually, all the
robbers sincerely did repent, the accepted holy Baptism, and their cave they
transformed into a monastery, where they dwelt in prayer and penitence. The
Monk Alexander appointed an hegumen for them, gave them a monastic rule, and he
himself resettled still farther in the wilderness. For several years he lived in
complete solitude. But even there lovers of solitude began to throng to the
monk. A monastery emerged, numbering 400 monks. Desiring at this monastery to
establish uninterrupted praise to the Lord, the monk prayed for three years,
that the Creator would reveal to him His will, and having then received the
revelation, he initiated at the monastery the following order: all the monks
were divided into 24 watches of prayer. Changing shifts each hour, day and
night they sang in two choirs the Psalms of David, interrupting this only for
the times of making Divine-services. The monastery received the name
"Unceasing Vigilance", since ascetics throughout the cycle of both
day and night sang praise to God.
The Monk Alexander
guided the monastery on the Euphrates for twelve years. Afterwards, having left
as its hegumen one of his disciples, the experienced elder Trophymos, he set
out with some chosen brethren through the cities bordering on Persia, preaching
the Gospel among the pagans. After this missionary journeying, the Monk
Alexander lived with his monks for a certain while at Antioch. There he built
for the city-dwellers a church, and an home for the sick and homeless, from the
means which charitable Antiochians abundantly put at his disposal. However,
through the intrigues of the jealous, the Monk Alexander was compelled to move
away to Constantinople. Here he founded a new monastery, in which likewise he
initiated a monastic rule of "unceasing vigilance". The Monk
Alexander and his monks suffered at Constantinople under the Nestorian
heretics, enduring beatings and imprisonment. After this, when the storm of
heretic unrest abated, the Monk Alexander spent the last days of his life at
the Constantinople monastery founded by him. He died in extreme old age in
about the year 430, after 50 years of incessant monastic effort. His
commemoration is also 23 February, which see.
© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.