St. Alexis

St. Alexis or Alexius is also known as Alexis of Rome or Alexis of Edessa. He was born in Rome in the fourth century and died in the fifth century. Although he was the son of a wealthy Roman senator, Alexis desired only to live a life of poverty and devotion to God. His parents arranged a marriage for Alexis, but on his wedding day he fled to Syria and disguised himself as a beggar. One day an apparition of the Blessed Mother revealed that this beggar was actually a holy man. Once again Alexis fled to escape the attention he was getting. He returned to his parents’ home where he was not recognized but nevertheless received alms and shelter as the beggar they thought he was. For the next seventeen years until his death, Alexis sheltered under the stairway in his parents’ home and taught catechism to little children. When he died, it was discovered who he really was. His feast day is July 17th, and he is the patron saint of beggars, nurses, travelers, and pilgrims. In church art such as stained glass windows, St. Alexis is seen holding a ladder or lying beneath a staircase. If you would like to order a stained glass window or door panel of St. Alexis, then please contact us and we will be happy to help you.