Alexander of Sebaste

Saint Alexander of Sebaste was one of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, Christian soldiers from Cappadocia who froze to death in a lake in Armenia, in the winter of about the year 320, in the time of the persecution under Licinius. He is commemorated on 22 March, on the day of the commemoration of the forty (9 March by the old calendar).

The commander Agricolaus tried to force them to sacrifice to idols, but they remained unshaken. Stripped, they were put at night on a frozen lake, while a bathhouse was heated on the shore for anyone who would deny. Only one soldier ran to the bath and fell dead, but the guard Aglaius, who had seen a heavenly light, confessed Christ and took the place of the one who fled. The next morning the martyrs' shins were smashed, they were burned, and the bones thrown into the river. After three days the martyrs appeared to Peter, bishop of Sebaste, who gathered their remains and buried them with honour. Among the names kept is that of Alexander.