Holy Priestmartyr Amphibalus of Verulamium

Shrine of Saint Amphibalus, St Albans Cathedral

The twenty-fifth of June in the Orthodox Church is the feast day of the second of the Christian martyrs of Britain. The underground priest who was rescued from capture by the soldiers of Diocletian by his pupil and convert Alban, Saint Amphibalus was himself taken and martyred a short while after, while preaching the Gospel to others in Verulamium. There is some dispute over Saint Amphibalus, as some sources hold that his name was not mentioned until Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 1200s. He is mentioned, though not by name, in the histories of both Gildas the Historian and Bede the Venerable.

This is what Saint Gildas writes about the priest, who was given shelter by Alban:

The first of these martyrs, Saint Alban, for charity's sake saved another confessor who was pursued by his persecutors, and was on the point of being seized, by hiding him in his house, and then by changing clothes with him, imitating in this the example of Christ, who laid down his life for his sheep, and exposing himself in the other's clothes to be pursued in his stead.

And here is what Holy Bede has to say about this priest:

Alban, being yet a pagan, at the time when the cruelties of wicked princes were raging against Christians, gave entertainment in his house to a certain clergyman, flying from the persecutors. This man he observed to be engaged in continual prayer and watching day and night; when on a sudden the Divine grace shining on him, he began to imitate the example of faith and piety which was set before him, and being gradually instructed by his wholesome admonitions, he cast off the darkness of idolatry, and became a Christian in all sincerity of heart. The aforesaid clergyman having been some days entertained by him, it came to the ears of the wicked prince, that this holy confessor of Christ, whose time of martyrdom had not yet come, was concealed at Alban’s house. Whereupon he sent some soldiers to make a strict search after him. When they came to the martyr’s house, Saint Alban immediately presented himself to the soldiers, instead of his guest and master, in the habit or long coat which he wore, and was led bound before the judge.

This priest, who was sheltered by Saint Alban, certainly existed, as he is attested in these earlier histories. These aspects of his life are also almost certainly true. It is probably also true that he was martyred in Verulamium in the same persecution as Alban. However, his name was probably not Amphibalus, which was originally a reference to the long vestments worn by early Christian clergy, which Alban exchanged with the priest and put on himself. This was probably mistaken by Geoffrey of Monmouth for his name. Other details about his life added by later mediæval commentators following Geoffrey are probably extraneous, but they do seem plausible. Even so, a priest whose continuous prayer and selfless way of living were able to not only convert a pagan like Alban but motivate him to die for a Christ he’d only recently heard of, is certainly worthy of remembrance, under whatever name. Holy father Amphibalus, pray unto Christ our God that our souls may be saved!