From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   August 11th - St. Alexander, the Charcoal-Burner, Bishop, Martyr   
   (A.D. 275)   
      
   The Christian community of Comana in Pontus having grown to be   
   sufficiently large to require a bishop, St Gregory the Wonder-worker,   
   Bishop of Neocaesarea, went thither to preside at the election.  He   
   rejected all the candidates put forward by the clergy and people,   
   especially one who was favoured because of his high birth and wealth,   
   reminding them that the Apostles were poor and common men.   
      
   St. Gregory of Nyssa, roughly a contemporary of St. Alexander, tells   
   us the charming story of this rather unusual churchman and saint.   
      
   Alexander lived at Comana, in the province of Pontus, Asia Minor.   
   Adherents to the Christian faith in that town had increased despite   
   persecution. St. Gregory Thaumaturge (“the WonderWorker”) was the   
   bishop of Neocaesarca and principal agent in his day for the   
   Christianization of Asia Minor. He decided that there were now enough   
   Christians in Comana to be given a bishop of their own. (It is   
   important to know that in these early days, dioceses with a definite   
   territory were not yet being established. Bishops were rather put in   
   charge of cities, with a vaguer duty of spreading the faith into the   
   suburban and rural areas round about. That is why there were so many   
   bishops in the early centuries–one per city, (no matter how close the   
   cities were to each other.)   
      
   When Gregory gathered the Christians of Comana to announce his   
   proposal, they nominated several likely candidates for the post of   
   bishop. Gregory did not think any of the nominees was sufficiently   
   qualified. One of them, for instance, was a popular choice because of   
   his high birth and great wealth. The bishop rejected him precisely   
   because he was noted and prosperous. He reminded the faithful that the   
   apostles picked by Christ were neither rich nor of the social elite.   
      
   “All right, then,” replied one of the congregation sarcastically, “why   
   not appoint Alexander the Charcoal-Burner?” St. Gregory overlooked the   
   sarcasm, for he realized that the Holy Spirit can communicate to us in   
   rather surprising ways. He summoned Alexander the Charcoal-Burner to   
   see whether he might indeed be God’s candidate. Alexander came right   
   from work at his charcoal ovens. His clothing, face and hands were   
   blackened by the carbon. However, when the bishop took him aside for a   
   chat, he found that this charcoal-burner was a man of good birth and   
   education. He lived by charcoal-making simply because he had given   
   away all his property to the poor, choosing to earn his keep by manual   
   labor in order the better to follow Christ. Gregory, therefore, asked   
   him if he would accept the episcopate. Alexander consented, the people   
   concurred, and Gregory ordained him a bishop and installed him in his   
   new see.   
      
   According to St. Gregory of Nyssa, Alexander did very well as a   
   bishop. He was a man of spiritual wisdom and proved to be an excellent   
   teacher of his flock. Eventually the Roman authorities apprehended him   
   because he was a Christian leader, and he was martyred. Death was by   
   burning alive- -a method perhaps suggested to the torturers as   
   appropriate for a charcoal maker.   
      
   St. James the Apostle had already warned against “favoritism”: against   
   giving the seat of honor to a person well-dressed and bedecked with   
   rings, while showing scant hospitality to a poor man clad in shabby   
   clothes (James, II). St. Gregory was exercising a “discrimination” of   
   the right sort when he chose as bishop a man smudged of face but clean   
   of heart.   
      
   St Alexander was naturally revered as a patron of charcoal- burners.   
   See the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. ii .   
   –Father bob   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Some say it is unreasonable to be courteous and gentle with a reckless   
   person who insults you for no reason at all. I have made a pact with   
   my tongue; not to speak when my heart is disturbed.   
   -- St. Francis de Sales   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   "set yourselves close to him, so that you, too, may be living stones   
   making a spiritual house as a holy priesthood to offer the spiritual   
   sacrifices made acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."  [1 Peter   
   2:5]   
      
   <><><><>   
   Reflection:   
   How do you approach those who are difficult to love, or who are   
   shunned by others because they are deformed or have some defect? Do   
   you show them kindness and offer them mercy and help as Jesus did? The   
   Lord is always ready to show us his mercy and to free us from whatever   
   makes us unclean, unapproachable, or unloving towards others.   
      
   Prayer:   
   Lord Jesus, inflame my heart with your love and make me clean and   
   whole in body, mind, and spirit. May I never doubt your love nor cease   
   to tell others of your mercy and compassion."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)