Alexander the Sleepless VIII

Things went on this way for seven years. Then Alexander made another inquiry into what else to ask from God, and found the prophetic words: "On the law of the Lord he will meditate day and night." He thought to himself and said, "How is that even possible?" Reason furnished the reply: "The Holy Spirit would not send us an impossible command through the oracle by any means." [....] And he devoted three years to preyer and fasting day and night, and beseeching God that this command, albeit a job for heavenly powers, might yet be fulfilled through him upon the earth. 

God was well aware of His servant's reverence and goodwill, and the burning heat of his zeal, and in His complaisance and philanthropy granted Alexander's wish, disclosing Himself visibly and saying to him: "Be the founder of what you wish for, and at your word it will stand on earth until this age comes to its end." (Alexander conveyed this to us as if it had happened to someone else, and in this he was a disciple of the blessed apostle Paul, who narrated his visionary rapture as something that befell another person.)

After this mystery was revealed to him, he sought some standard for fulfilling the command, but on seeing the weakness of human nature, he was disappointed. For he ransacked both Testaments, and scanned the greatest men of every era for someone to emulate, in order that he might fulfill his good intentions and save many souls—and found that no one on earth had ever accomplished this prodigious feat. So Alexander took the universe's Maker as his guru.

From The Life of Alexander the Sleepless III.29-30

Alexander the Sleepless VII

To stand revealed as a second Jacob! He prayed to God that this would be allowed him, and God in His love for humanity allowed it. 

Adding up the parallels between them, the blessed Alexander said to himself: "Jacob was the shepherd of unreasoning flocks, and my goal is to be the shepherd of reasoning ones. He demanded to receive a just wage from Laban at the end of seven years, and when my seven years are up I will win my Master's grace. At the end of twenty years of service, he had four wives and was the father of assemblies, and in twenty years of service to my Master I will dedicate four choruses to Him, each one singing in a different language. Jacob, in fear for his life, appeased his brother with eight herds of livestock, but I will win salvation with eight choruses singing hymns to God. And whereas he had twelve sons of flesh and blood, I have twelve readings from divine Scripture." For twenty years these thoughts were his occupation, and the jar was his second home. 

During this time, there formed around him a group of four hundred aspirants who, believing that through Alexander the Kingdom of Heaven could be earned, adopted his excellent and blameless way of life, so that they too might be intimates of Christ. Romans, Greeks, Syrians, Copts—altogether these men were speakers of four languages, and he organized them into eight choruses, singing and psalmodizing to God with articulate fervor. And this is how his monastery was founded. [....] In fulfillment of holy Gospel, he gave no thought to any provision for the brothers' needs beyond the day at hand. All else went to the poor. They kept no change of clothes. And they were content in the words of God through all these austerities, and thrived on the hope of things to come.

From The Life of Alexander the Sleepless III.26-7