22 June: St Alban

Today is the feast day of St Alban, the first recorded British martyr. The city of St Albans in England is named after him.

1. He lived in Britain during the time of the Romans. We don't know much about his life before he became a Christian. He was converted after meeting a Christian priest fleeing from persecution, and letting him hide in his house for a few days. He was so impressed with the way the priest lived and prayed, that he was converted. The priest's name was Amphibalus, which means "cloak" in Latin.
2. The Romans soon figured out where Amphibalus was hiding and soldiers came to arrest him. Alban put on the priest's cloak and pretended to be him, and was brought before a judge. The judge, angry at finding out how Alban had protected the priest, declared he would be punished in the exact same way unless he made sacrifices to the Roman gods. Alban said, "I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things," and wouldn't do it. His words are still used in a prayer at St Albans Abbey.
3. The judge ordered that Alban be whipped, thinking it might bring him to his senses, but he bore it patiently and his faith didn't budge - so the judge ordered that he be beheaded.
4. The execution party came to a river, which was flowing so fast they couldn't cross it. The bridge was congested with the crowds who'd come to watch the execution, so they couldn't get across there, either. Alban was anxious to get it all over with and become a martyr as quickly as possible, so he prayed and the river dried up. The executioner was so impressed that he became a Christian on the spot and refused to carry out the execution.
5. There were others in the party, though, and another executioner led them up a nearby hill, where he beheaded both Alban and the soldier who'd just been converted. However, before he had a chance to gloat and rejoice, the new executioner's eyes fell out of his head.
6. St Albans Cathedral stands near the believed site of his execution, and a well is at the bottom of the hill, Holywell Hill. The spring is believed to have sprung up in the place where Alban's head came to rest after it rolled down the hill.
7. St Alban is the patron of converts, refugees and torture victims.
8. No-one has ever established for sure the exact year of Alban's death. It could have been any time between 209 and 313. Most versions of his story say he lived and died in Verulamium, the Roman city which later became the modern day town of St Albans, and the river he dried up was the Ver. There is a version, however, in which the river is the Thames, which would mean he lived in London. There is even a suggestion that he never even existed. His name, Alban, is similar to Albion, the oldest recorded name for Britain, so he could simply be a personification of early Britain.
9. In 2006 some Church of England clergy suggested that Alban should replace St George as the patron saint of England.
10. On the weekend nearest his feast day on June 22nd, St Albans Cathedral puts on a puppet show with large puppets acting out the story of St Alban's martyrdom at locations around the city.

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