Gregory of Alexandria

Holy Hierarch Gregory of Alexandria, an archbishop, devoted himself to the service of God from his youth. Elected to the see of Alexandria, he was a model pastor. In the time of the iconoclast Emperor Leo V (813-820) he came to Constantinople and boldly denounced him for his heresy. For this he was thrown into prison, where he was beaten with ox sinews and starved. Bearing the sufferings bravely, he said that he was ready to accept still greater torments for Christ. The emperor sent him into exile, and after three years of banishment the saint passed to the Lord.

Information about his life is found only in Greek verse synaxaria. According to the sources for the history of the Church of Alexandria, in the time of Leo V the see of Alexandria was held by Christopher I, and a Patriarch Gregory I of Alexandria is known only in the thirteenth century. Of an Archbishop Gregory of Alexandria in that period we have no reliable data. It may be that a confessor Gregory was mistakenly called in the synaxarion archbishop of Alexandria, or that the account concerns not Alexandria of Egypt but another Alexandria.

He is commemorated on 18 November (new style).