Holy Hieromartyr Proterius, Patriarch of Alexandria (+457)

The Hieromartyr Proterius, Patriarch of Alexandria, and the six martyrs who met their end with him.

During the patriarchate of Dioscorus (444–451), a follower of the Monophysite false teaching of Eutyches, there lived in Alexandria a presbyter, Proterius, who fearlessly denounced the heretics and boldly confessed the Orthodox faith. At the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon held in 451 the holy fathers condemned the heresy of Eutyches and drew up the Orthodox definition of the faith. Dioscorus was stripped of his rank and excommunicated, and Proterius, famous for his strict and pious life, was enthroned on the patriarchal throne of Alexandria.

After the heretic chief shepherd had been driven out, many of his followers remained in Alexandria, and they rose against the election of the new patriarch. The rebels burned the soldiers sent to calm them. The pious Emperor Marcian (450–457) took from the savage Alexandrians all the privileges they had enjoyed, and sent a new, reinforced detachment of soldiers to the city. Then the rebels calmed down and themselves asked Proterius to intercede with the emperor for their old privileges to be restored. The meek and guileless chief shepherd promised the Alexandrians his help and kept his promise.

After Marcian’s death the heretics raised their heads again. The presbyter Timothy, who laid claim to the patriarchate, took advantage of the absence of the head of the city and led the rebels. Saint Proterius decided to leave Alexandria, but that night the Prophet Isaiah appeared to him in his sleep and said: “Go back to the city; I will wait for you there!” The blessed father understood that this vision foretold the approach of his martyrdom; he returned to Alexandria and took refuge in the baptistery. The rebel heretics found the refuge, burst in, and killed the patriarch with the six people who were with him. Not even the fact that it was Great Saturday, the eve of radiant Pascha, could stop the godless. Their fury went so far that they tied a rope to the body of the murdered hierarch, dragged it out into the street, beat and mutilated it, and at last burned it and scattered the ashes to the wind.

The Orthodox reported what had happened to the holy Emperor Leo (457–474) and to Anatolius, Patriarch of Constantinople (449–458). A large force of soldiers came to Alexandria and put down the unrest. Timothy was handed over to the tribunal and then exiled.

After the hieromartyr’s death four Thracian bishops, his contemporaries, wrote: “We hold the most holy Proterius to be among the ranks of the saints, and we beseech the Lord to send down His mercy upon us through his prayers.”