Polychromed Statue representing Sint Alexis of Edessa.Flemish school.

The Greek version of his legend made Alexius the only son of Euphemianus, a wealthy Christian Roman of the senatorial class. Alexius fled his arranged marriage to follow his holy vocation. Disguised as a beggar, he lived near Edessa in Syria, accepting alms even from his own household slaves, who had been sent to look for him; they did not recognize him] until a miraculous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary singled him out as a "Man of God.Fleeing the resultant notoriety, he returned to Rome, so changed that his parents did not recognize him, but as good Christians took him in and sheltered him for seventeen years, which he spent in a dark cubbyhole beneath the stairs, praying and teaching catechism to children. After his death, his family found a note on his body which told them who he was and how he had lived his life of penance from the day of his wedding, for the love of God.The life of St Alexius is recounted in a French poem, la Vie de saint Alexis, believed to date from the early or mid-11th century. This is regarded as one of the earliest works of French literature.