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Soldier and solid citizen. Converted by a persecuted priest whom he
sheltered. He then changed clothes with the priest, allowing him to
escape. Caught, he was ordered to renounce his new faith. He refused and
became the first Christian martyr in Britain. The second was the
executioner who was to kill him, heard his testimony, converted on the
spot, and refused to kill Alban. The third was the priest, who when he
learned that Alban had been arrested in his place, hurried to the court in
the hope of saving Alban by turning himself in. The place of their deaths
is near the site of Saint Alban's Cathedral today.
Born
Verulamium, Hertfordshire (now Saint Albans), England
Died
tortured and beheaded c.305 at Holmhurst Hill, England
Patronage
converts, refugees, torture victims
Prayer
Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Alban triumphed
over suffering and was faithful even unto death: Grant to us, who now
remember him with thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in
this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Representation
man with a very tall cross and a sword; decapitated with his head in a
holly bush and the eyes of his executioner dropping out
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