Saint Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria, was the main defender of the Orthodox faith, who was destined to fight the heretic Arius. Saint Alexander ruled the Alexandrian Church from 313 to 326. The life of the saint occurred during a difficult period in the history of the Church, when it was necessary to defend the Orthodox faith from the heresy of Arius. Striving to preserve the unity of the Orthodox Church, Saint Alexander rose with all determination to fight for the truth. In numerous written messages and conversations, he denounced the false teaching and delusion of the heresiarch himself and his supporters. Seeing the intransigence of Arius, the Saint convened a Local Council (about 320), at which the heresy of Arius and his accomplices was condemned, and they themselves were excommunicated from the Church. However, Arius continued to sow discord in the Alexandrian and other Churches. At the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325, Saint Alexander was one of the main participants. The Council condemned and anathematized the heresy of Arius. The activity of Saint Alexander, a courageous defender of the apostolic dogmas, contributed to the preservation of the truth of the Christian teaching about the Holy Trinity. The blessed death of the Saint followed in 326. Church historians, Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus (March 8), Socrates and Sozomen, report Saint Alexander as an outstanding theologian and archpastor of the Church of Christ.