SAINT ALBAN

The great saint of the past 20th century, Archbishop John Maksimovitch (1896–1966), spoke of the need to venerate ancient Western saints.

He himself studied the biographies of the saints of the first centuries of Christian history. They lived and worked at a time when communion between the churches of the East and the West still really existed and was based on a common belief and a common practice.

In the mouth of Bishop John, invoking the saints for heavenly intercession became not only a pious practice but a real commandment. Such commemoration of the saints was not only a permissible form of piety for him, but a virtue that bestows life and grace.

The forgotten saints, in turn, are not just the absence of a name in the church calendar, but a significant loss. In the words of the novel title of the writer Kiran Desai (*1971) it is “The Inheritance of Loss”. The forgotten saints are the holiness that once shone uniquely in history, but thereafter suddenly became invisible. The universe cries out for holiness.

One of these ancient saints, forgotten in Orthodoxy, was the martyr Alban. In the Ancient Church, he was revered as the first Christian martyr for faith in Christ in the territory of modern Britain. As the first Christian martyr in his country, Alban, according to the ancient tradition of the Church, is called the protomartyr.

It is noteworthy that the day of St John departure to God, July 2, became the day of his memory after his canonization. On the third day, as if in the mysterious biblical poetics of Christ’s words, on the 5th day of the same month, the Church celebrates the memory of St. Alban. In their almost simultaneous celebration during the July days of summertime holiness, John and Alban smile at the Church from the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the III century, the British Isles were a border territory very remote from the Roman Empire, where only occasionally reminded of themselves the Roman emperors.

According to the life, during one of these “royal visits”, the authorities received an order to arrest wandering Christian preachers. It was at this time that Alban sheltered such a persecuted priest. The power of grace and the personal example of the wanderer led Alban himself to Christ. He believed and was baptized. Moreover, when the persecutors came to his house, he pretended to be a shepherd they were looking for. For this he was beheaded with a sword.

In this amazing sparkling detail, the essence of the New Testament attitude to the commandments of God is revealed. As a living icon of the Living God, in the spontaneous self-sacrifice of the saint, the meaning of Christ’s words was revealed: “There is no greater love than if someone lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Christ not only fulfilled the commandments of the Heavenly Father, but Himself became their Living Image. Thus, His disciples, Christians, each in their measure, by the gift of grace and the will of God, are called to personify the commandment, thereby making it alive and beautiful.