The life of St Alexander of Rome
He confessed his faith openly, refused offers of honor in exchange for apostasy, and was tortured for his defiance.
Rather than execute him at once, Maximian sent him under guard with Tiberian, who was traveling to persecute Christians elsewhere in the empire, and Alexander was taken in chains through Thrace, Carthage, and Philippopolis, tried and tortured again at each stop along the way, his mother Pimenia following at a distance to comfort and encourage him. He remained steadfast through it all. At last, in the city of Drizipera, Tiberian condemned him to death, and Alexander was beheaded, giving thanks to God to the end. His mother recovered his body and buried it near a river outside the city. The fuller account of his long journey carries many miraculous details, of angelic visitations and other wonders, which later tradition added to his story and which are recounted at greater length in the Church's own service books.
