Walking with the Saints Podcast | Feast of St. Alban , Patron Saint of all Torture Victims | June 22

Walking with the Saints Podcast | Feast of St. Alban, Patron Saint of all Torture Victims | June 22   St. Alban, was the first English Christian martyr. He lived in Verulamium sometime during the 3rd century when the Christians were suffering from the cruel persecution of Emperor Septimius Severus. Nothing is recorded about the early life of St. Alban. What we have gathered here is an account according to Venerable Bede, an English monk, scholar and theologian. Bede relates that Alban was not a Christian, but one day he met a Christian priest fleeing from persecutors. Alban kept the priest for some days in his house and watched him pray and meditate. He was so impressed that he decided to imitate the priest. Soon he decided to be a Christian and asked to be baptized. A few days later , someone informed the persecutors that the priest was hiding in Alban’s house. When the soldiers pursuing the priest came to Alban’s house, without the knowledge of the priest, Alban put on the priest’s cloak and presented himself to the soldiers. He was immediately brought to the emperor and was ordered to offer sacrifices to the idols. But he refused saying “I worship and adore the true and living God, who created all things.” in prayer in St. Alban’s Enraged, the emperor sentenced him to be scourged and beheaded. As he was being led to execution, they came across a river and Alban prayed that they could cross the wide river. Immediately the water dried up and they crossed it on dry land. When they reached a certain point, Alban prayed that God would give him a drink for he was thirsty. Suddenly, water sprung up at his feet and he was able to drink. Then, one of the soldiers gave him a fatal blow and his head dropped to the ground. The soldier who killed him, however, also died with his eyes popping out of its head and fell off to the ground beside the head of Alban. Meanwhile Alban’s head rolled down and on the spot where it stopped a spring of water gushed up. These miracles converted some soldiers. Today’s St. Alban’s Cathedral stands on this spot. After its destruction by the enemies of the Church the Cathedral was remodeled and improved. At 85 meters long, it has the longest nave of any cathedral in England. The present building is of Romanesque architecture with Gothic and 19th century arts. The present church officially called The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Albans and often referred as “the Abbey” is a church in England in the former Verulamium, now St. Albans. But there is a real Benedictine Abbey of monastic life founded beside it about 794 by King Offa. This Abbey still exists today, was remodeled and improved and other monasteries were established, including a monastery for nuns.  It is recorded that a part of the improved building was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1982. Today, there are several churches and schools in some parts of England built and maintained in memory of St. Albans, where they also keep some of his relics. The largest relic of this saint is his thigh preserved at St. Michael’s Benedictine Abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire, which was transferred from St. Pantaleon’s reliquary in the 1950’s. St. Albans is venerated as the English Protomartyr. He is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on June 22 and he continues to be venerated by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Communions. Every year, during the weekend closest to his feast, St. Alban’s Cathedral is host to a celebration called “Alban Pilgrimage” performed around the city of St. Albans, re-enacting Alban’s martyrdom. Virtue: integrity, empathy, compassion, kindness, bravery, commitment and fortitude Prayer: “St. Alban, help us to imitate your faith to worship and adore the living God alone and reject the idols of our modern world.”