Saint Peter of Alexandria

Memorial

• 26 November

Profile

Suffered in the persecution of Decius, but survived. Renowned for his knowledge of science and the Bible. Head of the catechetical school at Alexandria, Egypt. Bishop of Alexandria in 300. Opposed extreme Origenism. May have been the first to deal with the Arian heresy.

During the Diocletian persecution, Peter fled the area with many of his flock. Criticized by many for being lenient and forgiving to Christians who had renounced their faith during the persecutions. However, when a rogue bishop usurped Peter’s position, the Meletian schism broke out in his clergy, and Peter had to return from hiding to deal with it. Peter excommunicated Meletius and convened a synod of bishops to condemn the schism. His writings were used in the Council of Ephesus and the Council of Chalcedon.

Bishop Peter was martyred with Father Dio, Father Ammonius, and Father Faustus, three of his priests, in the persecutions of Gaius Valerius Galerius Maximinus. As he was the last Christian martyred in Alexandria by civil authorities, the Coptic Church calls him “the seal and complement of the martyrs“.

Born

• at Alexandria, Egypt

Died

• martyred in 311 at Alexandria, Egypt
• initially buried in an Alexandria martyr‘s cemetery
• most relics later enshrined in a church at Grasse, France

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Representation

• embracing his executioner
• with Christ appearing to him as a child in rags (from a scene in the Acts of the Martyrdom of Saint Peter)

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Catholic Encyclopedia, by F J Bacchus
• Heiligen 3s
• Katherine Rabenstein
• Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
• New Catholic Dictionary
• Open Directory Project
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
• Pictorial Lives of the Saints

MLA Citation

• “Saint Peter of Alexandria“. Saints.SQPN.com. 8 April 2013. Web. 25 May 2013. <>