![]() ![]() He in truth, like the Morning Star rising among the stars, shining forth with the radiance of his sacred virtues, most magnificently governed the citadel of the faith. To him Peter, succeeding at the helm of the Church, was by all the clergy and the whole Christian community appointed bishop, the sixteenth in order from Mark the Evangelist, who was also archbishop of the city. A cycle of two hundred and eighty-five years from the incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had rolled round, when the venerable Theonas, the bishop of this city, by an ethereal flight, mounted upwards to the celestial kingdoms. In commencing, therefore, our account of the episcopate of this most holy man, let us call to our aid his own language, in order that we may make it co-operate with our own style.Īlexandria is a city of exceeding magnitude, which holds the first place not only among the Egyptians, but the Thebans also and the Libyans, who are at no great distance from Egypt. Yet this do I consider to be a glorious end, and a spectacle of a magnificent contest, sufficient for those who do not doubt of a truthful narration, which is unstained by falsehood. Nevertheless, because the office of the narrator must fail in narrating his inmost conversation and wonderful deeds, and language is noways sufficient for the task, I have considered it convenient to describe only those exploits of his by which he is known to have attained to the pontificate, and after Arius had been cut off from the unity of the Church, to have been crowned with the martyr's laurel. Especially incongruous do I consider it to commit to paper what perils he underwent by tyrants, what conflicts he endured with Gentiles and heretics, lest I should seem to make these the subjects of my panegyric rather than that passion to which he manfully submitted to make safe the people of God. Were all the limbs of my body to be turned into tongues, and all the joints of my limbs to utter articulate sounds, it would noways be sufficient to express who, how great and how good, was our most blessed Father Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria. Eusebius of Caesarea described him as "a model bishop, remarkable for his virtuous life and his ardent study of the Scriptures." He is much revered by the Coptic Christians, although since 1969, his cult has been confined to local calendars in the Catholic Church. He is called the "seal and complement of martyrs" as he was the last Christian slain by Roman authorities. Peter returned to Alexandria in 311 after a lull in the persecutions, but was soon arrested and beheaded by Roman officials acting on the decree of Emperor Maximian. The partisans of Melitius, Peter's chief critic, installed their favorite as bishop of Alexandria, thereby starting the Melitian Schism which troubled the see for many years. Thus, in 306 when the persecutions began again, Peter was forced to flee the city. ![]() He composed a set of rules by which those who had lapsed might be readmitted to the faith after appropriate penance, a settlement which was not to the liking of extremists of the community. ![]() Made head of the famed Catechetical School of Alexandria, he was a vigorous opponent of Origenism before receiving appointment as bishop. A native of Alexandria, Egypt, Peter survived the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian and served as a confessor for the suffering Christians. ![]()
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