5th century
Saint Alexius, the Man of God
Ascetic from Rome who, according to tradition, lived unrecognised and poor in his parents' house.
Biography
Alexius came from a wealthy family in Rome. On his wedding day he left his bride and set off for Edessa in Mesopotamia, where he gave away his fortune to the poor and lived unrecognised as a beggar at the entrance of a church for seventeen years.
When he was recognised there, he fled in secret, but a storm drove his ship back to Rome. Still unrecognised, he asked for shelter in his own father's house and lived there as a beggar, scorned even by the servants, until his death. Only then did his family learn who he was, from a note found in his hand.