Alexander of Aegae

Saint Alexander of Aegae was one of the two executioners, Alexander and Asterius, who bore witness to the faith at the martyrdom of Saint Thalelaeus, in the time of the emperor Numerian (283 to 284). They are commemorated on 2 June.

The governor of the city of Aegae sent soldiers to search for Christians. They brought him an eighteen-⁠year-⁠old fair-⁠haired youth, Thalelaeus, who said: "I am a Christian, from Lebanon in Syria. My father, Berukius, was a general, and my mother is called Romilia. I have a brother who is a subdeacon. I learned the craft of medicine from the physician Macarius. But I am ready to die for Christ my Saviour and God." The governor ordered the two executioners, Alexander and Asterius, to bore through the martyr's shins, thread a rope through them and hang him head down. But the executioners, by God's arrangement, bored a log of wood, which they hung in place of the martyr. Seeing that he had been deceived, the governor ordered Alexander and Asterius beaten without mercy, and they confessed themselves Christians and glorified God. Then the governor ordered their heads cut off at once.

Thalelaeus he drowned in the sea, but he appeared again in white garments; he was given to the beasts, which did not touch him, and at last received the crown of martyrdom by the sword, in the year 284. His relics are in Constantinople, in the church of Saint Agathonicus, and work many miracles.