Alexander of Adrianople and Companions
The Holy Hieromartyr Alexander, Bishop of Adrianople, and his Companions
Hieromartyr · Bishop · Martyr · d. c. 3rd century
Commemorated 22 October — Martyrdom at Adrianople
Alexander, bishop of Adrianople in Thrace, was a hieromartyr of the third century who preached the Gospel boldly among the pagans of his city and turned many from idolatry. Arrested and tortured to compel him to sacrifice, he endured with such constancy that a soldier named Heraclius, watching, came to faith in Christ and was tortured and beheaded. When Alexander was afterward healed of his wounds by the grace of God, four women — Theodota, Glyceria, Anna, and Elizabeth — confessed Christ openly before the governor and denounced the idols; they were put to the sword, and the bishop Alexander was last of all beheaded, receiving with his companions the unfading crown.
The commemoration belongs to the great third-century persecutions, when the growth of the Church among former idolaters met with violent reprisal. Alexander was bishop of Adrianople (Adrianopolis) in Thrace, and preached the Gospel with such zeal that crowds of pagans were drawn to Christ and baptised, despite the danger. This so enraged the local ruler that Alexander was seized and subjected to torture, to force him to offer sacrifice to the idols; but he bore it with exemplary patience, refusing to worship lifeless images fashioned by human hands and offering himself instead as a sacrifice to the living God, mindful of the word of the Lord, "Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:25).
A soldier named Heraclius, seeing the bishop's fortitude under torment, was converted on the spot and confessed Christ; he too was tortured and then beheaded. By the grace of God Alexander was healed of the wounds he had suffered, and when this miracle became known, four women — the accounts name them Theodota, Glyceria, Anna, and Elizabeth — came forward before the governor, confessed their faith in Christ, and refuted the error of idolatry. They were led to the place of execution and put to death by the sword. After his companions had been killed, Alexander himself was beheaded, and so the whole company obtained the martyr's crown. Beyond this synaxarion account little is transmitted of them; they are honoured together on their one day.
Feast and commemoration
October 22 (church date; Old Calendar civil November 4), commemorated among the martyrs of the day together with Abercius of Hierapolis and the Seven Youths of Ephesus. The company is kept in both the Greek and the Slavonic synaxaria, which place the martyrdom in the second-to-third century; the group has no proper service, and the common office of holy martyrs is used.
Hymns
Troparion
Thy holy martyrs, O Lord, for their struggles have received incorruptible crowns from thee our God; for possessed of thy might, they cast down the tyrants and broke also the feeble boldness of the demons. By their prayers, O Christ God, save our souls.
Original translation from the Greek
Iconography
No distinct early iconography of this company is established, and no identity-verified pre-modern image has been secured for storage. In menaia and synaxarion illustration the martyrs would be shown according to type: Alexander as a bishop in phelonion and omophorion holding the Gospel, the soldier Heraclius in military dress, and the four women as martyrs bearing crosses, the whole company crowned.