E05289: John Moschus, in his Spiritual Meadow, mentions a church of *Mary (Mother of God; S00033) founded in Alexandria by Patriarch Eulogius I (580-608), and a church of *John (probably the Baptist, S00020), probably also in Alexandria. He also records a legend that Alexander the Great brought the relics of *Jeremiah (the Prophet, S01421) and had them buried at the so-called Tetrapylon in Alexandria. Written in Greek, probably in Rome, in the 620s or 630s.

John Moschus, The Spiritual Meadow, 77

Summary:

In this chapter Moschus recounts that one day he himself , with Sophronius, went to the house of Stephanos the Sophist on a business matter. Stephanos lived at the church of Mary Mother of God which was built by the Alexandrian Pope Eulogios I (580-608) and was known as the church of Dorothea. A maid told them that her master was sleeping, so they retired to the place called Tetrapylon and waited there. Moschus adds that this place was held in very high esteem by the citizens who used to say that Alexander [the Great], the founder of the city, had taken the relics of the Prophet Jeremiah from Egypt and buried them there. When Moschus and Sophronius were waiting there, they overheard a conversation of three blind men, one of whom, relating his story, said that in the past he had been a thief and once stripped a dead man of all his clothes; the corpse was buried in a grave behind the church of John (possibly also in Alexandria).

Text: Migne 1865 (PG 87.3). Summary: J. Doroszewska.