|
|
Saint Alexandra was a fourth century recluse (feast day: 7 Amshīr). The account of Saint Alexandra is given by the recension of the Copto-Arabic SYNAXARION of Upper Egypt (Basset, 1916, pp. 801ff.; Forget, 1954, p. 453 [text]; 1953, p. 480 [trans.]), but this passage is only a translation of Chapter 5 of the Historia lausiaca by PALLADIUS (Butler, 1904, p. 21; Lucot, 1912, p. 50).
Alexandra was a young woman of Alexandria who, pursued by the importunities of a young man, preferred to shut herself up in a tomb not far from Alexandria, where she remained for ten years and where she died. Melania the Elder succeeded in getting her to tell her story and how she employed her time. From morning to the ninth hour, she prayed every hour and spun flax. According to Melania's narrative, we can date the life of Alexandra to the second half of the fourth century.
The story in Palladius and the Synaxarion is interesting, for it shows reclusion as a form of the monastic life at Alexandria.
René-Georges Coquin
Note: The DACB uses the transliteration system of the Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd ed.), dropping the diacritical marks on the kha, dtaa, saad, and daad.This article was reprinted, with permission from The Coptic Encyclopedia, vol. 1, copyright © 1991 by Macmillan, New York, U.S.A., edited by Aziz S. Atiya. All rights reserved.