Dionysius of Alexandria

Formed in Origen's school, of which he took charge, Dionysius became bishop of Alexandria in 248 and governed for seventeen years a Church struck in succession by riot, the persecution of Decius, civil war and an epidemic of plague. His paschal letters, largely quoted by the historian Eusebius, describe Christians nursing plague victims whom others abandoned — a first-hand testimony to what made the Church's reputation in the Empire. Twice exiled, he always sought moderation: he pleaded for readmitting those who had failed under persecution, against the rigorists. He has been called the Great.