If you live in Ohio, you may know of St. Alban’s in Bexley. It’s named for a saint honored on June 22. He has the sad distinction of being Britain’s first Christian martyr, during the Roman occupation. Alban was not a believer when he sheltered a priest from the Romans, but that man’s witness converted him. It was Alban who came up with the idea to switch cloaks, so that when the Romans came for the priest, they would take Alban instead. (If this sounds familiar, you may have been listening a few weeks ago to the passage from Paul's letter to the Romans, stating that perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die.) And so it happened as planned, and Alban was subsequently beheaded. “I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things,” he said, refusing the opportunity to recant. Unfortunately, the Romans came for the priest shortly after that, and he, too, was martyred. Scholars aren’t sure of the exact date of his martyrdom; possibly it was in 209 or 304. Some doubt he even existed, but was merely a legend, like King Arthur, although he is called a Roman soldier in in the Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History. And the church has given us a prayer in honor of Saint Alban. 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.
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Saints Alive!
I have been privileged to offer Noonday Prayer at my church, usually on Thursdays, which doesn’t matter because it’s on Youtube forever. [It’s amazing what can be done with a smartphone and a smart, helpful parish administrator!] The service is brief, with a place for a meditation. We usually look at the Episcopal calendar of saints, who are nearly always honored on their death dates, not their birth dates. Here is a hymn by medieval saint Hildegard of Bingen to set the mood.
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