Saint Alban of Britain, I am known to be the first English Christian know by name. I was brought up as a pagan and served as a soldier in the Roman Army. I was born, raised, joined the Army then stationed in Britain. I was brought up and lived during the religious persecutions of Christians during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. I did not see any need to torture or kill them, and this was not my job. During these dangerous times I met a priest named Amphibalus. I invited and took him into my house to hide him. He was on the run from the Roman governor. The govenor seemed to enjoy persecuting Christians as there was no war being fought. I was so struck by the devotion to God and blameless life of this man whom I protected, that I placed myself under his instruction and came to know God, the Life of Jesus, and his disipiles. I soon was baptised and became a Christian myself. A rumour having reached the governor of Verulamium (the city is now named St. Albans after me), The Govenor sent soldiers to my home to search it. When I saw them arrive, I hastily threw the long cloak of the priest over my own head and shoulders and presented myself to the soldiers as the priest named Amphibalus. I was immediately bound and brought before the governor who, at that moment, was standing at one of the civic altars, offering up a sacrifice to the statue. When the cloak, which had concealed my face, was removed, it was immediately revealed that I was not the priest whose arrest the governor had ordered. The latter's anger flamed hot and he ordered Alban, immediately, to sacrifice to the gods or to suffer death. I steadfastly refused to offer anything to idols. Then the magistrate asked, "Of what family and race are you?" "How can it concern thee to know of what stock I am?" I answered. "If thou desirest to know what is my religion, I will tell thee - I am a Christian and am bound by Christian obligations." "I ask thy name, tell it me immediately." "I am called Albanus by my parents; and I am called Alban by my friends and I was baptised as Alban," I replied, "and I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things." Then the governor said, "If thou wilt enjoy eternal life, delay not to sacrifice to the great gods." I then replied, "These sacrifices which are offered to devils are to no avail. Hell is the reward of those who offer them." The governor ordered me then to be scourged, hoping to shake his constancy by pain. But then I bore the multiple stripes of the whip patiently and even joyously, for our Lord's sake as God had truely touched me through the priest. When the judge saw that he could not prevail, he ordered me to be put to death. On his way to execution, on 20th June, I was being led to the executioner and we had to cross a river. Then we saw a multitude of Christiaqn people of both sexes, and of every age and rank, assembled to attend my execution as blessed confessor of Christianity who was a Roman Soldier. These people so crowded the bridge, that I and my guards could not pass over that evening. Then I, urged by an ardent desire to accomplish his martyrdom, drew near to the stream, and the channel was dried up, making a way for my guards and to pass over to the other side. Then the I and my escort were followed by an innumerable company of spectators, ascended the hill above Verulamium, ( This is now occupied by the abbey church bearing my name. It was then a green hill covered with flowers, sloping gently down into the pleasant plain. However, after we arrived, the executioner refused to perform his office and, throwing down his sword, confessed himself a Christian also. Another man was detailed to deliver the blow for both myself and the executioner, who had refused to strike the blow, We then were decapitated together. My body body was buried in the adjoining cemetery and, when Christianity was legalized by the Emperor Constantine the Great, not long afterwards, I was well remembered by the local community who erected a martyrium above my grave. This almost certainly became a place of pilgrimage, even in Roman times. It was famously visited by St. Germanus of Auxere, in AD 429, and, as a small church, survived the pagan Saxon expansion, until the present abbey church was founded on the site, by King Offa of Mercia, in AD 793. My relics were reverred by the devout for centuries, before they eventually disappeared during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Tradition has it that they were smuggled away to join previously exchanged relics at St. Pantaleon's Church in Cologne. I am said to be the Saint in both the Roman and Anglican (English) Churches, and the protector of all priests and suffered Christians. Pray to me for protection in times of struggle or need. I will always hear your prayers!
God bless all you read these words!
Saint Alban
Edited from Baring-Gould's "Lives of the Saints" (1877)
The Prayer to Saint Alban: Heavenly Father, Saint Alban was converted by a priest whom he sheltered from persecutions and rescued by changing clothes with him. As the patron saint of Priests and Christian converts, I ask him to pray with me for all the people I know who have not yet converted. O Lord, remove from their lives all the crutches they've been leaning on when they should be turning to You. When people reach their bottom, help them to see that they have nowhere else to turn, so that they look upwards to You and realize it's You they need. Send angels and people into their lives who will deliver them into Your arms. Saint Alban, pray for us. Amen.Links
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