Demetrius of Alexandria

Saint Demetrius of Alexandria was the twelfth bishop and patriarch of Alexandria, shepherding the Church in Egypt for about forty-⁠two years, from 189 until 231 or 232. He is the first Alexandrian bishop about whom reliable information survives, and the Church remembers him as the organizer of its liturgical life and of the catechetical school, and also for his troubled relationship with Origen.

His election

According to the Coptic Synaxarium, Demetrius was a farmer who lived with his wife in virginity for forty-⁠seven years until he was chosen as bishop. The ailing Patriarch Julian is said to have received a vision telling him that his successor would come to him with a cluster of grapes, at a time when grapes were out of season. The next day a farmer named Demetrius arrived, bringing the bishop a cluster of grapes and asking his blessing, and he was proclaimed bishop. According to the sources he was ordained before Pascha in 189.

Episcopate

In his time the see of Alexandria became an institution of great weight, whose authority was recognized in Egypt and beyond. Demetrius wished to set a liturgical calendar of fasts and feasts and took part in the dispute over the calculation of Easter; by the Alexandrian tradition he was the first to apply a method of calculation for the date of Pascha, and the Church of Alexandria has remained faithful to that order. Saint Jerome states that he sent Pantaenus on a mission to India. With his support the catechetical school of Alexandria became a settled institution of learning.

Demetrius and Origen

When Clement left Alexandria, around 203, Demetrius placed Origen, then about eighteen, at the head of the school. He supported him at first and valued his learning, even sending him to Arabia at the invitation of an official. After the emperor Caracalla sacked Alexandria in 215, Origen fled to Caesarea in Palestine, where the bishops asked him to preach in church. Demetrius was angered, saying that a layman may not preach, although Bishops Alexander of Jerusalem and Theoctistus of Caesarea cited precedents in his defence, and he recalled Origen. In 230, sent from Alexandria to settle a dispute in Achaea, Origen passed through Palestine and was ordained priest there. Demetrius regarded this as an act of independence and their relationship cooled. In 232 he convened a synod that banished Origen and sent a condemnation of his conduct to the churches. Rome accepted the decision, but Caesarea, Phoenicia, Arabia and Achaea questioned it. Historians suspect that personal jealousy also played a part.

Afterwards Demetrius entrusted the school to Heraclas, Origen's pupil and companion; this may have been his last act as bishop.

Repose

Demetrius died at the age of 105, in 231 or 232, after forty-⁠two years of ministry. He is regarded as the second founder of the Church of Alexandria for his work in organizing the hierarchy in Egypt. His feast is kept on 9 October.