St. Alexius of Rome

St. Alexius of Rome, known in the East as the "Man of God," is an early saint whose story, though largely legendary in its surviving form, was among the most popular in medieval Christendom. According to the tradition, he was the only son of a wealthy Roman senator who, on his wedding day, left his bride untouched and secretly fled to Edessa in Syria, where he gave away his goods and lived for years as an unknown beggar at a church, devoting himself to prayer and penance.

When his holiness began to be recognized, he fled again and eventually returned in disguise to his own father's house in Rome, where, unrecognized, he lived as a despised servant under the stairs for years, patiently enduring hardship for the love of Christ. Only after his death was his identity discovered through a document in his hand. However much of the tale is embellished, his cult was ancient and widespread in both East and West, and he became a model of radical poverty and hidden holiness.