On Easter Monday, the Church commemorates the Hieromartyr Januarius, the Martyr Alexandra the Queen, her healers Apollos, Isaac, and Codratus the Martyrs, and the Venerable Anastasios of Sinai.
Saint Alexandra was the wife of Emperor Diocletian (284–305), yet they were marked by completely different inner worlds.
The Queen was known for her compassion and philanthropy. During the martyrdom of the Great Martyr and Trophy-Bearer Saint George, she was enlightened by the Holy Spirit and publicly expressed her faith in the Nazarene. She even attempted to persuade her husband to end the torture of Saint George and the persecution of Christians in general.
At that time, Diocletian assumed that the Queen was suddenly overcome with pity for the Christians and ordered her to leave the scene of the dreadful spectacle. He was met, however, with a courageous response: that such a scene was inhumane and unworthy of the imperial crown.
When the emperor began to blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ, Alexandra, without hesitation, publicly confessed her faith in the Triune God and denounced the persecutors of Christians.
In an attempt to protect his reputation, Diocletian dismissed the Queen’s bold confession as a sign of mental instability. Alexandra protested this claim and reaffirmed her faith in the Holy Gospel.
Frustrated and enraged, the emperor, unwilling to admit defeat, reacted even more harshly. He deemed the Queen’s behavior unacceptable for the imperial order and ordered her imprisonment.
While in confinement, Alexandra prayed for the Church, for all Christians, and even for her husband—that he might be enlightened by God, abandon his arrogance, and recognize the future of humanity and the true progress of the Roman Empire, which Constantine the Great would later boldly achieve.
She was well aware that her husband considered himself a god on earth and that no human persuasion could convince him otherwise, as his demagogic power over the Roman people relied heavily on this illusion.
For this reason, she prayed to the Most Merciful God to forgive the unjust actions and decisions of the emperor. At the same time, she reproached herself and pleaded for God’s mercy for her previous indifference toward the persecution and martyrdom of Christians.
Her martyrdom came to an end in prison, two days before the death of the Great Martyr George, in the year 303 AD. Her example later inspired three of her followers—Apollos, Isaac, and Kodratos—who were initiated into the Christian faith by a virtuous priest and courageously endured martyrdom unto death.
The Church rightly honors them on the same day as Saint Alexandra the Queen.
These are the examples that highlight the preservation of that innermost hidden treasure—the one that sustains us through time, regardless of the sirens of each modern age or the external social conditions we experience throughout human history, in this life that is, quite literally, fleeting.
Christ is Risen!
Source: Church of Cyprus
