Saint of the Week: Alban
6/25/2025
Saint Alban
early 4th Century A.D.
Protomartyr of Britain
Alban is the earliest Christian martyr in Britain who we know by name. As a soldier in the Roman army, he was stationed at Verulamium, a city about 20 miles northeast of London, which is now called St. Alban’s. What we know of Alban is derived from accounts which Christian historian St. Bede penned. According to Bede, during Alban’s time in the British Isles, he became fascinated with and eventually converted to Christianity, a belief that was frowned upon by the largely pagan Roman authorities who occupied the majority of what today southern England. Alban’s conversion occurred when he chose to shelter a Christian priest who was fleeing persecution. Fascinated by the fugitive’s witness about Jesus Christ, Alban was subsequently converted and asked to be baptized. Eventually authorities learned the whereabouts of the cleric. Wanting to protect the holy man from harm, when officers came to Alban’s house, the soldier welcomed them dressed in the priest’s garments, allowing them to apprehend him instead. Alban was tortured severely and brought before a Roman magistrate for trial. Bede’s account states that, “When Alban was brought in, the judge happened to be standing before an altar, offering sacrifice to demons … ‘What is your family and race?’ demanded the judge. ‘How does my family concern you?’ replied Alban; ‘If you wish to know the truth about my religion, know that I am a Christian and am ready to do a Christian’s duty.’ ‘I demand to know your name,’ insisted the judge. ‘Tell me at once.’ ‘My parents named me Alban,’ he answered, ‘and I worship and adore the living and true God, who created all things.’” The frustrated and enraged judge sentenced Alban to death. Decapitated on a hilltop outside the garrison walls, the Cathedral of St. Alban’s stands there today. Although the traditional date of his martyrdom is around 304, some scholars argue that either 209 or 251 are more likely years of his martyrdom. Regardless, the site of Alban’s death soon became a shrine and King Offa of Mercia established a monastery there in 793. By the high Middle Ages, St. Alban’s ranked as the premier abbey in Christian England. In 1077, construction on the current cathedral began. Today, the ruins of the original St. Albans are a pilgrimage site for Anglicans and Roman Catholics alike.
