Alexander Misace
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This old and rich merchant from beyond the Euphrates is a descendant of Jews exiled to Babylon. He is the father of twelve children, sometimes with Persian-sounding names: Baldassar, Nabor, Félix, and Sidmia… His faith has gradually grown cold, but without extinguishing.
He hears about the Messiah from a carpet maker of Ascalon, visited by Jesus.[1] He seeks him out, secretly listens to him preach at the Temple, and eventually meets him on a journey undertaken with his Apostles and the Women Disciples in Gilead.[2] He exchanges the Protection of his caravan for that of God: "I will protect you and You will protect me. I have a cargo of great value."
Along the way, the dialogues with Jesus, the teachings he hears, and the miracles he witnesses open his Heart. At the start of the journey, Jesus had told him his hope to give him a gift at the end of the route: it is the gift of faith.
"My Soul is old. But I will strive to make it new. Lord, I am an old sinner. But You absolve me and bless me so that from now on I may begin a new life. I will carry your blessing with me as the best escort on my way to your Kingdom…"[3]
When leaving him, Alexander makes him a substantial gift.[4] This will providentially serve, besides subsidies to the needy, to send two persecuted persons to Antioch: Syntyche, a slave on the run, and John of Endor, an escaped galley slave.
Later in his journey, Alexander evangelizes the Man of Petra, a merchant like him, whose children are Confessiongles: "Only Jesus of Nazareth could cure them. Seek him."[5]
His name
Alexander, from Greek "defender of men" – Historical: Reference to Alexander the Great.
The origin of Misace remains unknown to us at the moment.
Where is he mentioned in the work?
GRM 218
Historical concordances
Under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC) the religious, political, and economic elite of Israel was deported to Babylon, the capital of a vast empire.
A few decades later, Emperor Cyrus II, king of the Persians and conqueror of the Babylonians, freed the deported Jews. They were to return to their country, now the Persian province of Judea, and rebuild the destroyed Temple of Jerusalem (538 BC).
More than 40,000 deportees took advantage of this offer, but many also remained in Babylon where they had prospered. They formed the first center of the Diaspora. Perfectly integrated, they nonetheless remained attached to their origins. Hillel, the great rabbi of Israel who met the young Jesus[6], comes from this intellectual center.
Notes and references
Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.