On this day the Church celebrates the memory of St. Alexis Man of God on this day. There is always this paradox in Church tradition. One is not allowed to do certain things, but when a person is right and objectives are worthy, they are permitted. The accounts from the lives of the fools for Christ contain many illustrations of this paradox. Saint Alexis lived in Rome at the end of the fourth century. He was from an aristocratic family. His parents arranged his marriage and on the wedding night the saint announced to his bride that he is leaving her and left the city. I don’t have a good answer to the question why he could not have left without marrying her? She clearly wanted to be married and not be a widow. The Gospel story of the dishonest house manager (Luke 16:1-13), in which the master, while he did not endorse the manager’s deceit commended his shrewdness, serves as an example of what I am talking about here. At the end of the day, a human is created in the likeness of God, and one of the qualities of this likeness is a free will. Even God does not control the will, as we know from the story of Adam and Eve. At the same time, we will give an account to the Maker for how we used our determination. I believe the answer to St. Alexis’ ethical choice regarding his would-be wife is that all individuals are unique. He made this decision, which many priests would not likely advise their spiritual children to implement. After Rome St. Alexis spent time as a fool for Christ in Edessa (now Urfa in Turkey). Since Christians there paid a lot of respect to him, Alexis decided to come back to Rome. Like a prodigal son from the Gospel parable, he returned to his household, but his appearance had changed so much that he was able to live in a servants’ quarter of the villa without being uncovered listening to mourning over his loss of his parents and the bride. There is also Manus Dei (Incomprehensive Cod’s Providence). Around 411 or 417 there was a voice in St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome pointing out to Alexis. And finally, he was found dead with a scroll in his hand explaining who he was. His mission was accomplished. A similar account belongs to another saint who also concealed his identity, and when he died a scroll was also discovered. He lived almost nine hundred years later in a very different corner of the world. His name is St. Andrew of Smolensk, but his story proves that a Christian paradox lives on. | 
