the authorities, brutal torture and execution. Many fled from the city into the desert, where most succumbed to exposure, hunger, thirst, or attacks by bandits or wild animals. Dionysius himself was pursued by the prefect Aurelius Appius Sabinus, who had sent out an assassin to murder him on sight. Dionysius spent three days in hiding before departing on the fourth night of the Decian decree with his servants and other loyal brethren. After a brush with a group of soldiers, he managed to escape with two of his followers, and set up a residence in the Libyan desert until the end of the persecution the following year. He supported Pope Cornelius in the controversy of 251, arising when Novatian, a learned presbyter of the Church at Rome, set up a schismatic church with a rigorist position on the readmittance of Christians who had apostasized during the persecution. In opposition to Novatian's teaching, Dionysius ordered that the Eucharist should be refused to no one who asked it at the hour of death, even those who had previously lapsed. In 252 an outbreak of plague ravaged Alexandria, and Dionysius, along with other priests and deacons, took it upon themselves to assist the sick and dying. The persecutions subsided somewhat under Trebonianus Gallus, but were renewed under Valerian who replaced Gallus. Dionysius was imprisoned and then exiled. When Gallienus, took over the empire he released all the believers who were in prison and brought back those in exile. Gallienus wrote to Dionysius and the bishops a letter to assure their safety in opening the churches. During the debate with Pope Stephen and Cyprian, Dionysius supported the position of the Roman Bishop but he still supported the autonomy of the African churches. Legacy Basil of Caesarea writes to Pope Damasus I about aid sent by Dionysius, to the church at Caesarea. This correspondence is cited by Pope Pius IX in his encyclical Praedecessores Nostros (On Aid For Ireland) of 25 March 1847. References External links The works of Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius of Alexandria and Archelaus, trans. S. D. F. Salmond, Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1871: Google Books, archive.org F. C. Conybeare, "Dionysius of Alexandria, Newly discovered letters to the Popes Stephen and Xystus", English Historical Review 25 (1910) pp. 111-114 (tertullian.org copy) Bishop of Alexandria, Saint Dionysius, "St. Dionysius of Alexandria Letters and Treatises", edited by Charles Lett Feltoe, The MacMillin Company, London,