SAINT ALBANUS [SAINT AUBAIN DE NAMUR BELGIQUE ET-UND SANCTUS ALBANUS VON MAINZ]
FOLLOWING THE MARTYR’S FOOTSTEPS OF A GREAT UNKNOWN AND “FOREIGN” NAXIAN CEPHALOPHORE SAINT OF THE FAITH, IN NAMUR, BELGIUM AND IN MAINZ, GERMANY AFTER 17 CENTURIES
SAINT AUBAIN DE NAMUR BELGIQUE ET-UND SANCTUS ALBANUS VON MAINZ
APOLYTIKION OF THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORE HIEROMARTYR XENOS IN TONE 1 (TO THE MELODY OF “THE ATHONITE…”)
The offspring of Naxos, the glory of Magentia, who appeared in the last times, the foreign Hieromartyr, the Cephalophore Saint, O faithful, let us hymn with songs and odes: Peacefully by the River Rhine he made the Faith shine forth. Glory to Christ who glorified you, Glory to Him who made you wondrous, Glory to Him who works through you healings for all.
A well-founded deposition concerning Saint Albanus with the prayer of the Saint and the Grace of the All-Good God
THE RELIQUARY OF THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORE MARTYR SAINT AUBAIN (SAINT ALBANUS) IN NAMUR, BELGIUM
THE GREAT UNKNOWN GREEK CEPHALOPHORE SAINT, KNOWN IN BELGIUM, WHERE HIS RELIQUARY IS LOCATED IN THE HOMONYMOUS CHURCH IN THE CITY OF NAMUR AS SAINT AUBAIN, WHOSE CANONICAL OFFICIAL NAME IS SAINT ALBANUS, AND WHO MARTYRED IN MOGONTIACUM-MOGUNDIA (MAGENTIA) — PRESENT-DAY MAINZ IN GERMANY, IN THE AREA NOW CALLED GARTENFELD OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF THE OLD CITY BY THE RHINE RIVER, AND WHO, AFTER THE MARTYRDOM OF HIS HEAD BEING CUT OFF, WALKED AS A CEPHALOPHORE TO THE NEARBY HILL THAT BEARS HIS NAME (ALBANSBERG), WHERE HE LAID DOWN HIS VENERABLE HEAD AND HIS MARTYR’S BODY AND WAS BURIED.
INTRODUCTION TO A GREAT CEPHALOPHORE NAXIAN BY BIRTH, A FOREIGN SAINT UNKNOWN TO US OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH
On the basis of painstaking research and a combined examination of available sources, and by presenting the most reliable information that agrees with one another from the ecclesiastical, historical, geographical and chronological points of view, we present with the prayer of the Saint and the Grace of the All-Good God, for the knowledge of the Orthodox Christ-named fullness, the following documented study:
Saint Aubain, whose real, true and historical name is Albanus — a name common throughout the territory of the Roman Empire in the 4th century — is an Orthodox historical and hagiographical personality who acted as a missionary in the northern Empire, in the lands crossed by the Rhine River.
The name “Aubain” is the popular Gallo-Roman rendering of the name “Albanus” from the 12th century. In 1047 a fragment of the Saint’s head was transferred by Frederick of Lorraine and the monastery dedicated to the Saint on the hill of Albansberg in Mainz, Germany, to Namur (capital of Wallonia in present-day Belgium). In Latin documents of the 11th and 12th centuries the Saint is still referred to as Albanus. However, already from the 12th to the 13th century, local documents begin to show Gallo-Roman forms of the name, such as Albain or, with the popular corruption of the local dialect, Aubain, which from the 14th century onwards prevailed in the wider area of Namur.
This development is a natural phonological transition from the Latin Albanus to the French idiomatic form of the local dialect, as Aubain (Albanus… Alban… Aubain).
The present-day cathedral of the city of Namur, Cathedral of Saint-Aubain, preserves this Gallo-Roman popular form of the name.
Aubain (noun, masculine gender) Meaning: Foreigner, stranger (usually in older French texts or feudal law), that is, one who is not a subject of the kingdom and for whom there existed a law according to which the feudal lord, after his death, would acquire any property he might have left in the place of his authority.
Etymology: It derives from the Latin alibi natus (“born elsewhere”) and which may also constitute the reason why the Saint bore, in his missionary journey to the West (xeniteia), the alibi natus… Albanus… Alba(i)n… Aubain.
“It so happens, therefore,” that the name “Aubain” in French means “stranger,” and here we have the case of a Saint whose honour to his holy person and the fragment of his holy relic came to the city of Namur from another (foreign) place, Mainz, but also the Saint himself came from or originated from an even more distant and different (foreign) place.
Venantius Fortunatus, 6th century (566-600)
Albanus, hospes et peregrinus, qui in Mogontiaco sepultus est.
Albanus, stranger and pilgrim,
(free translation… stranger and sojourner…)
who is buried in Mainz.
The phrase hospes et peregrinus expresses the state of man as stranger and sojourner. It manifests the belief that the faithful is a temporary and passing traveller upon earth and who does not belong to the material world but awaits his true homeland in the Heavenly Kingdom.
Saint Augustine According to the word of Saint Augustine (354-430), man experiences earthly life as peregrinus, that is, as a traveller in a foreign place, maintaining a spiritual distance from worldly things. At the same time, as hospes, he embodies the stranger who is entitled to and owes hospitality, connecting human existence with the sacred obligation of love and the reception of the neighbour, as the Holy Gospel teaches. In summary, the term describes the spiritual duty of man who, recognising his temporality, focuses on his spiritual journey and obedience to the Divine Will and the divine purpose of life. In his work De Civitate Dei (The City of God) — and especially in books XV–XIX — Saint Augustine, a contemporary of Saint Albanus, describes the faithful as peregrinus (pilgrim, traveller, stranger in temporary exile). Earthly life is “via” (road), not homeland. Man does not “take root” in this world, but uses it as uti (use) and not as frui (enjoyment for himself). His heart remains turned towards the Civitas Dei, the eternal homeland. The concept of hospes (guest / stranger) is equally central. In his sermons, but also in De Doctrina Christiana and in many letters, Saint Augustine emphasises that: Every stranger is Christus in peregrino (Christ Himself in the person of every pilgrim). Hospitality is not formal courtesy; it is an act of substance: caritas (love) that is identified with love for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (cf. Matt. 25:35 “I was a stranger and you took me in”). Thus, the faithful is simultaneously peregrinus (he has no permanent dwelling here — traveller, pilgrim) and hospes (he receives the other as the sacred presence of Christ — as the Lord Himself).
INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE OF THE SAINT
Saint Albanus, as is ascertained, was born around 360 on the Greek island of Naxos, left there because of the Arian persecutions around 378 (Valens the Arian emperor in the East, Gratian the Orthodox emperor in the West until 383 — and from 392 onwards the Orthodox dynasty of Theodosius I with a brief intervention by Valentinian II, an Arian sympathiser, 383-392: 12-21 years old) and was possibly sent by Saint Ambrose of Milan as a missionary to the northern borders of the Roman Empire by the Rhine River, with the aim of spreading the Holy Gospel and restoring the Orthodox Faith in the countries of north-western Europe, and also in order to fight against the heretical Arians, who had denied the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, recognising only His human nature, and who for this reason had been condemned by the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. Saint Albanus would arrive around 404 in Mogontiacum (Magentia), on the site of which today stands the city of Mainz in Germany, and which had been founded on the northern borders of the western Roman Empire in the 1st century BC as a Roman military camp (castrum) by Claudius Drusus, on the western bank of the Rhine River, for the purpose of guarding the borders and the river crossing from the northern barbarian tribes on the one hand, and the protection and service of all the key routes that passed through that area on the other, and which, because of its important position and mission, became the capital of the Roman province of Upper Germany (Germania Superior). Characteristic of its important position and mission was the quantity of remains of ancient Roman ships found there, which were used for the military, administrative and commercial service of the city — many of which have been reconstructed on the basis of the originals and are exhibited in a specially designed museum.
During a devastating raid by the northern barbarian tribes, he was arrested during the Divine Liturgy in the cathedral church and was beheaded in the year 406 outside the city wall, martyring for the Orthodox Faith, after first refusing to sacrifice to the idols.
His presence and martyrdom there is connected with the beginning of the gradual dissolution of the Roman Empire and the onslaught from north to south of these harsh barbarian tribes (Alamanni, Suebi and Vandals) who destroyed everything in their path, as far as the Iberian Peninsula, where they settled. The raids on 31 December 406 passed through Mogontiacum, which they destroyed completely (it was already in decline), massacred all the faithful in the church and dragged Saint Albanus outside the walls, where they beheaded him (sources: Prosper of Aquitaine 390-463 and the Martyrology of Jerome, 5th century).
THE EXPLANATION OF THE QUESTION OF THE SAINT’S ORIGIN
The Saint is ascertained to be Greek by race, originating from the Greek island of Naxos (Naxian-Naxia). The island appears recorded in the manuscript palaeographic Latin ancient texts as Namsia. The scientific study of the toponym begins from the Greek form “Naxía” as it has been recorded since the most ancient times for the island of Naxos in the Cyclades. In Latin writing it was rendered as a phonetic transcription “Naksia,” with the sound of the Greek “ξ” being rendered as “ks.” In medieval manuscripts the forms Namsia and Nausia appear. The corruption is explained palaeographically: the letter κ in calligraphic writing resembles “u,” resulting in the complex “us” instead of “ks,” while the calligraphic similarity of “u” with “m” leads, by a scribal error, to the form Namsia, as Bucelinus (1599-1681) clarifies — one of the most authoritative and important scholars of his time, with extensive access to primary sources, specialised in the science of genealogy and with excellent geographical knowledge — and many other more recent and important ones, as we present in detail below. The island Nausia-Namsia that appears in the ancient martyrologies does not exist as a toponym in any historical or geographical archive anywhere in the world, neither in antiquity nor in more recent times; it is, as we have proved, an erroneous — in the course of time — palaeographic rendering of the word Naxia, a fact that strengthens the reality that, on the basis of the entire relevant study-research, the island referred to by the oldest sources as Namsia-Nausia is none other than Nax(ks)ia-Naxía-Naxos of the Cyclades islands of Greece.
The reference of Bucelinus in 1655 was not an invention, but the historical and graphological restoration of an ancient, diachronic error of palaeographic copying. The Saint is therefore concluded to have been Greek from Naxos. The complex “ks” rendered the sound of the Greek “ξ” in the copying process, and on the basis of the calligraphic rendering of κ, it resulted in the phenomenon of the complex “us” and from there to “ms”…
…as it appears that the oral tradition preceded the rendering of the word on the basis of the ancient Greek and Latin writings:
Propertius (Sextus Propertius, 1st century BC): In the Elegiae (Book 3, Poem 17, verse 20), he refers to “Naxia turba” (the people of Naxos), in a poetic context.
Ovid (Publius Ovidius, 1st century BC): In the Metamorphoses (Book 8, verse 174), he uses “Naxia tellus” (the land of Naxos), referring to the story of Ariadne.
Strabo (c. 64 BC – 24 AD): In the Geographica (Book 10, Chapter 5, paragraph 3), he writes “Νάξος καὶ Ναξία” (Naxos and Naxia), about the island in the Cyclades.
Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus, 23-79 AD): In the Naturalis Historia (Book 4, Chapter 12, paragraph 67), he refers to “Naxos libera cum oppido… Naxia appellata” (Naxos, free with a town, called Naxia…).
Solinus (Gaius Iulius Solinus, 3rd century AD): In the Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium (Chapter 7, paragraph 15), he writes “Naxos… Naxia dicta” (Naxos… called Naxia).
Servius (Maurus Servius Honoratus, 4th-5th century AD): In his commentary on Virgil’s Aeneid (Book 3, verse 125), he explains “Naxon: Naxos insula est Cycladum, dicta… Naxia” (Naxos is an island of the Cyclades, called… Naxia).
In Greek history, Naxos is referred to as the ruler of the Carians, the first great conqueror and lord of Naxos (c. 1800 BC) and from whom the island took its name, that is Naxia = the island of Naxos.
We must also completely exclude the origin or provenance of Saint Albanus from the “Naxos” of Sicily, the well-known ancient colony of the Greeks, on the one hand because the scholars mention the word “insula,” which means island, and on the other hand because of the fact that Naxos of Sicily (735 BC) was never and nowhere written or is written as Naxia (Naxia).
THE FIRST RESTORATION OF THE PALAEOGRAPHIC SLIP “NAMSIA”
LATIN TEXT (Bucelinus, Menologium Benedictinum, 21 Iunii)
Moguntia natalis Sancti Albani (genitive of Albanus) Martyris, qui sub Theodosio Imperatore, cum esset genere Graecus et ex insula Naxia oriundus, ibidem pro fide Christi capite truncatus est.
GREEK TRANSLATION
In Magentia the memory of Saint Albani (genitive of Albanus) the Martyr, who in the days of the Emperor Theodosius — n.b. understood as the Theodosian dynasty — was Greek by race and originated from the island of Naxos, was beheaded in the same place (Moguntia-Mogontiacum-Mainz) for the Faith of Christ. (from the work of Gabriel Bucelinus, Menologium Benedictinum, edition 1655, in the entry for 21 June (21 Iunii).
The main oldest testimonies-sources concerning Saint Albanus of Mainz follow, which refer to the place of his origin or provenance as the “island of Namsia”:
Rabanus Maurus (9th century) writes for 21 June: In Moguntia natalis Albani martyris qui sub Theodosio imperatore de insula Namsia pergens cum sancto Theonesto et Urso Mediolanum venit indeque exiens auxiliante Domino pervenit ad Gallias et in servitio Dei manens ad martyrium pro nomine Salvatoris promptus.
Usuardus (9th century, c. 858-860) refers: “de insula Namsia.”
Composes his Martyrology around 858 AD. In the entry for Saint Albanus (21 June), Ado uses the word Namsia. Exact Text: In the Martyrologium Adonis, the relevant phrase is: “…sancti Albani martyris, qui ex insula Namsia…” (Translation: “…of Saint Albanus the martyr, from the island Namsia…”)
Grozwin in the 11th century also writes Namsia. In the surviving manuscripts the phrase appears: “Albanus… ex insula Namsia oriundus.”
THE MAIN EXPLAINERS OF NAMSIA AS NAXIA – NAXÍA – NAXOS
Gabriel Bucelinus (1599–1681) is the first published source that clearly writes the word Naxia (in the Menologium Benedictinum, 1655) and explicitly connects it with the Greek origin of Saint Albanus from Naxos in the Cyclades. On the page dedicated to Saint Albanus (21 June), he characteristically writes in Latin: “S. ALBANUS Martyr… Fuit autem natione Grecus, ex insula Naxia Cycladum…” (Translation: “Saint Albanus Martyr… He was Greek by nation, from the island Naxia of the Cyclades…”)
Franz Brunhuber (19th century) Comments on martyrologies and confirms the restoration of “Namsia” to “Naxia” on the basis of Bucelinus’s palaeographic observations. In his study concerning the honour paid to Saint Albanus, he accepts the palaeographic correction. The relevant text (in the German or Latin quotations he uses) confirms: “Dass Namsia eine Verschreibung für Naxia ist, unterliegt keinem Zweifel.” (Translation: “That Namsia is a scribal error for Naxia is beyond any doubt.”)
Jean-Baptiste de Rossi (19th century) — Known archaeologist/historian, 1822–1894 — De Rossi in his comments on the martyrologies and inscriptions (specifically in the discussion of the Martyrology of Usuardus and its variants) notes: “Namsia et Nausia, quae in codicibus leguntur, corruptelae sunt veri nominis Naxia.” (Translation: “Namsia and Nausia, which are read in the codices, are corruptions of the true name Naxia.”)
Johann Peter Kirsch (1861–1934) Repeats Bucelinus’s logic and confirms the Greek origin of the Saint. In the entry for Saint Albanus in the position he holds in ecclesiastical bibliography (e.g. The Catholic Encyclopedia or his writings), he writes exactly: “He is said to have been a Greek priest, having come from Naxos in the Cyclades…” (Translation: “He is said to have been a Greek priest, who came from Naxos in the Cyclades…”)
Hippolyte Delehaye (1859–1941) Confirms that Namsia and Nausia arise from copying errors and correspond to the Greek Naxia (mainly in the Acta Sanctorum and comments on martyrologies, early 20th century).
Jacques Dubois (1920–1991) Comments on the manuscripts of Usuardus and points out that “Namsia sine dubio Naxos Cycladum” (works of the 1960s–1980s) and:
Basil Watkins (today 2026) The Greek origin of Saint Albanus from Naxos and therefore the interpretation of Namsia-Nausia as Naxia-Naxía is explicitly confirmed by his book The Book of Saints (8th edition, 2015: “He was allegedly a Greek priest of Naxos in the Cyclades, who was sent into exile by the Arians (‘ending’) to Mainz -Germany-, where he became a missionary (‘served as’)”. Watkins connects Saint Albanus exactly with the persecution of the Orthodox by the Arians and rejects any confusion with Saint Alban of England.
In summary, the chronological sequence of the main sources that refer to Saint Albanus:
The Martyrology of Jerome is the oldest extensive Latin martyrology (composition) of the West, originally attributed (first initiative) to Saint Jerome, which was initially compiled in Northern Italy around the 5th century and revised in Gaul around 600.
Venantius Fortunatus Chronology 6th century c. 566 to 600 In the work Carmina, book 3, poem 7, he refers to Saint Albanus as a martyr in Mainz and characterises him as a stranger or pilgrim with the words hospes and peregrinus, without any reference to his place of origin, and notes that he is buried there.
Rabanus Maurus Chronology 9th century In his martyrology he refers to Saint Albanus with the indication Namsia as place of origin.
Usuardus Chronology c. 858 to 860 In his martyrology he records for Saint Albanus the phrase de insula Namsia, that is from the island Namsia.
Ado Chronology 9th century In his martyrology he mentions Saint Albanus without any reference to his place of origin.
Grozwin Chronology 11th century Refers to Saint Albanus with the term Namsia as place of origin.
Sigebert Chronology 12th century c. 1112 In the work Chronicon he writes Mogontiaci sancti Albani martyrium celebratur, that is in Mainz the martyrdom of Saint Albanus is celebrated, without any reference to his place of origin.
Laurentius Surius Chronology 16th century, work published 1570 to 1575 In the work De probatis Sanctorum historiis he publishes biographical material from older manuscripts where the formulation Albanus ex insula Namsia is included, that is Albanus from the island Namsia.
Bucelinus Chronology 1599 to 1681 Uses the form Naxia as restoration of Namsia and is the first documented identification with Naxos.
Franz Brunhuber Chronology 19th to 20th century Follows Bucelinus’s interpretation and accepts the identification of Namsia with Naxos.
Jean Baptiste de Rossi Chronology 19th century Agrees with the restoration Naxia and the correlation with Naxos.
Johann Peter Kirsch Chronology 19th to 20th century Adopts the view that Namsia corresponds to Naxos.
Hippolyte Delehaye Chronology 19th to 20th century Agrees with the critical restoration of Namsia as Naxia.
Jacques Dubois Chronology 20th century Follows the tradition that identifies Namsia with Naxos.
Basil Watkins Chronology 20th-21st century Agrees with the restored interpretation that Namsia corresponds to Naxos.
MISSIONARY ACTIVITY AND ARRIVAL IN MOGONTIACUM-MOGUNDIA-(MAGENTIA)-MAINZ
The Saint appears to have travelled from Naxos to the heart of Europe as a missionary, but also against the all-heresy of Arianism at that time, which among others had been fought most fiercely by the Great Ambrose of Milan (present-day Milan). We do not know what the Greek name of the Saint was; certainly, however, for practical reasons and because of his departure to the north-western part of the Empire, the use or naturalisation in the travel documents of a Latin name, the one with which he has also been canonised, would have served.
Saint Albanus, as recorded by the oldest hagiographers (Usuardus 875), would first act in France (Gallia-Galatia) before his arrival in 404 in the city of Mogontiacum (ancient Roman name of present-day Mainz in Germany) in the then Germania Prima, which was one of the most important military and commercial centres of the Rhine. There he exercised his missionary work for the Orthodox Faith towards a people who were in danger at any moment from the fanatical and bloodthirsty idolatrous northern nations and who had already been poisoned by the heresy of Arianism, but also by the persistence of many still in idolatry.
This hypothesis draws from hagiographical traditions that present him as an Orthodox hieromonk sent to preach among Gallic and Germanic tribes along the border zone of the Rhine, and is strengthened by the fact that this route is true also on the basis of the standard missionary as well as military and commercial roads in the late fourth century, and on the basis of the fact that the Rhine had always existed as a navigable river and a means of service for the whole of that area.
In the missionary journey to Mogontiacum, Saint Albanus was not alone.
As is ascertained, the following Saints were with him: a) Theonestus (the only relevant ancient Greek recorded name is “Theónostos” — Oxford Lexicon of the Greek Personal Names) and b) Ursus of Aosta, as emerges from the verification and cross-checking of the relevant sources [Rabanus Maurus, Usuardus, Bucelinus, Gregoire de Tours].
The three Saints, as is concluded, constituted a unified missionary team: A) Saint Albanus is ascertained by the excellent researcher Bucelinus (1655) as “ex insula Naxia oriundus” (originating from Naxos), a fact with which all the more recent scholars also agree: Franz Brunhuber, Jean-Baptiste de Rossi, Johann Peter Kirsch, Hippolyte Delehaye and Jacques Dubois, confirming his Greek origin and provenance and interpreting in this way the palaeographic slip-corruption “Namsia.” The leader of the team was: B) Saint Theonestus (“Theónostos,” in palaeographic writing because of the writing of “n” as “m” it also appears as Theomastus) or elsewhere as Theonastus, and who composes his route through the sequence: Philippi (Philippi-Greece) – Mogontiacum (Mainz Germany) – Pictavis (Poitiers France). As Episcopus Philippensis (Bishop of Philippi — reference Usuardus 875) he was persecuted by the Arians and through Saint Ambrose developed his missionary activity together with his two fellow-travellers the Saints. His repose is placed in Pictavis (Poitiers) of Gallia (France) around 425 AD, on the basis of the testimony of:
Gregorius Turonensis — Gregoire de Tours +594 (Gregory of Tours in France):
is known for his work “Historia Francorum” (History of the Franks), which records events and persons from the period of the first centuries of the Middle Ages in France, among which the repose of Saints, and is considered one of the most valuable and most reliable scholars.
Saint Theonestus of Vercelli is a completely different figure. His existence is attested by the inscription S. MARTIR THEONESTUS and the testimony of Sanctus Eusebius. His martyrdom in Italy is chronologically certain before 371 AD, the year of Eusebius’s death, with no relation to the missionary work of Saint Albanus in Germany. C) Saint Ursus (of Augusta-Aosta) is referred to as Deacon. The phrase of Rabanus Maurus concerning Saint Albanus: “de insula Namsia pergens (interpretation: Naxian by race) cum Sancto ‘Theonesto’ et Urso Mediolanum venit,” (he came to Mediolanum — present-day Milan — together with “Theónostos” and Ursus), ascertains that the three of them constituted a unified escort.
Saint Ursus of Aosta is distinguished from Saint Ursus of the Theban Legion of Egypt who was a soldier and martyred much earlier, c. 286 in Switzerland in Solothurn.
This triad of Saints was possibly connected during the persecutions of the Arian emperor Valens (364–378 AD) against the Orthodox in the East. They took refuge in Mediolanum (Milan). There Saint Ambrose of Milan (374-397), the great opponent of Arianism, received them and assigned them the missionary work in Gaul and Germany (by the Rhine), so that they might preach the Gospel and support the faithful on the northern borders of the Empire.
Before reaching Mogontiacum, the team passed through the Alpine region. According to the chronological sequence of Rabanus Maurus (“Postquam autem in Augusta civitate beatus Ursus martyrium accepit…”), Ursus martyred in Augusta Praetoria, which is the present-day city of Aosta in Italy. The martyrological tradition (Rabanus Maurus) places his death before the year 406 AD, since the text states that after the martyrdom of Ursus, the rest continued to Mogontiacum, present-day Mainz.
Albanus and Theonestus (Theónostos) reached Mogontiacum (Mainz) where Albanus martyred during the invasion of the Vandals (alliance with Suebi and Alamanni) on 31 December 406, was beheaded and walked miraculously to the hill that today bears his name: Albansberg.
For Theonestus (“Theónostos”), the strongest historically attested ending is the one handed down by Grégoire de Tours (Gregory of Tours 6th century). He refers to him as Bishop of Magentia (Mogontiacum) who, after the invasion of the Vandals in 406, took refuge in Poitiers (Poitiers) in France, where he reposed peacefully as a Confessor (Confessor) around 425 AD.
Therefore, and on the basis of all the elements presented, the three Saints started as a group of persecuted clerics from Greece (Naxos and Philippi — at least Albanus with Theonestus — “Theónostos”), and were united under Saint Ambrose in Milan, where the three of them coexisted because of the persecution and their missionary work, and Saint Ursus martyred in Augusta (Aosta) before 406, Saint Albanus in Mogontiacum (Magentia)-Mainz in 406, while Saint Theonestus (Theónostos) reposed peacefully in Poitiers (Poitiers) of Gallia (Gaul-France), around 425.
The sources that present the three Saints together: Saint Albanus of Mainz, Saint Theonestus (or Theonostus or Theonistus or Theonastus) and Saint Ursus as fellow-travellers and martyrs are the following:
First source: the Martyrologium of Rabanus Maurus from the ninth century, c. 845 AD. This text is the oldest reference that presents the three Saints Albanus of Mainz, Theonestus and Ursus together as fellow-travellers and martyrs. The names are Albanus, Theonestus and Ursus; the chronology is the era of the emperor Theodosius I (dynasty) from 379 to 395 AD. The Latin original states that Albanus started from the island Namsia with Saint Theonestus and Ursus, went to Mediolanum, that is Milan, and from there continued to Gaul. Then in a city Augusta the blessed Ursus found martyrdom; Theonestus together with Albanus reached Moguntiacum, that is Mainz, while there, while Albanus was preaching, he was completed as a martyr and was buried near the city. The German translation and in later collections is that Albanus came in the period of the government of the emperor Theodosius I (dynasty) 379 to 395 with two fellow-travellers Theonestus and Ursus from the island Namsia to Saint Ambrose; Ursus found martyrdom already on the way in an unidentified city Augusta and Albanus (and Theonestus) were beheaded in Mainz. (n.b.)
Second source: the Passio Sancti Albani of Gozwin or Goswinus from Mainz of the eleventh century, c. 1060 to 1070 AD, which is the basis of the old Passionale medieval hagiographical manuscript. Here the three Saints Albanus, Theonestus and Ursus appear together as fellow-travellers and martyrs with variants: Theonestus as bishop, Albanus as priest and Ursus. The chronology is the end of the fourth century, around 380 to 400 AD with elements from the era of the emperor Theodosius I (dynasty). The text describes that Theonestus with Albanus and Ursus went to Saint Ambrose in Rome; Theonestus left for Donauwörth and further to Mainz, where Albanus during the Common Worship was seized and beheaded and then Theonestus was also killed. (n.b.) The German rendering is: The holy Theonestus and Albanus were Christians; the same with his chaplain Albanus and Ursus went to the Pope in Rome; Theonestus went to Donauwörth and further to Mainz; they seized Albanus during prayer and beheaded him. Theonestus was also killed. In this version Saint Ambrose of Milan is often added, who sends them to preach in Gaul and against the Arians.
Third source: the Acta Sanctorum of June, volume 4, pages 86 to 95 from the collection of the Bollandists of the seventeenth to eighteenth century. Here the three Saints Saint Albanus of Mainz, Saint Theonestus and Saint Ursus appear together as fellow-travellers and martyrs. The names are Albanus, Theonestus and Ursus with variants Theonestus as bishop and Albanus as priest. The chronology is the end of the fourth century. The text states that Saint Ambrose of Milan had sent Ursus together with Saints Albanus and Theonestus to preach in Gaul; Albanus continued to Mainz where he martyred by beheading. The Bollandists quote and analyse the older traditions from Rabanus and the Passionale, discussing variants and confirming the mission from Ambrose.
Fourth source: the German and Scandinavian hagiographical collections of the nineteenth century that are based on ancient texts such as the Martyrologium of Rabanus and the Passionale. Here the three Saints Albanus, Theonestus and Ursus appear together as fellow-travellers and martyrs with variants Albanus with two Gefährten (fellow-travellers). The chronology is the period of the government of the emperor Theodosius I (dynasty) from 379 to 395 AD. The text is: kam Albanus während der Regierungszeit des Kaisers Theodosius I. 379-395 mit zwei Gefährten Theonestus und Ursus von der Insel Namsia zum heiligen Ambrosius; Ursus fand bereits unterwegs in einer unidentifizierten Stadt Augusta den Märtyrertod; Alban und Theonestus wurden in Mainz enthauptet. The translation is: Albanus came in the period of the government of the emperor Theodosius I 379-395 with two fellow-travellers Theonestus and Ursus from the island Namsia to Saint Ambrose; Ursus found martyrdom already on the way in the city Augusta (Aosta); Alban and Theonestus were beheaded in Mainz. (n.b.) These collections include the Stadler Heiligen-Lexikon and faithfully repeat the older sources without new elements.
Fifth source: the Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon and other modern hagiographical summaries that are based on the previous sources from the ninth to the eleventh century. Here the three Saints Albanus, Theonestus and Ursus appear together as fellow-travellers and martyrs in the ninth to eleventh century where elements from Alban of Mainz and Ursus of Aosta are added. The names are Theonestus, Albanus and Ursus with variants. The chronology remains the end of the fourth century and states that the legend was expanded with a common pilgrimage journey to Rome and Milan, mission from Ambrose and martyrdom in Mainz for Albanus while Ursus martyred in Augusta. The text is a short summary of the older ones but confirms the common appearance of the three as fellow-travellers and martyrs without new original excerpts.
(n.b.): As regards the continuation of Saint Theonestus, on the basis of older and more certain elements we must prefer the following: “His repose of Saint Theonestus is placed in Pictavis (Poitiers) of Gallia (France) around 425 AD, on the basis of the testimony of Gregorius Turonensis — Gregoire de Tours +594 (of Tours in France),” as we have already noted.
One more historical and archaeological link that argues for the common journey and joint ministry of the three Saints is located in Venice:
In the Church of Saint Martin on the island of Burano in Venice, an ancient stone sarcophagus (Arche) is preserved, which at its discovery in 1000 on the basis of popular traditions and in 1067 on the basis of written ones, contained the relics also of these three Saints.
The co-existence of the relics of Saints Albanus, Theonastus and Ursus strengthens the written tradition.
The existence of the common casket comes to strengthen the written sources, offering also the testimony that the Saints Albanus, Theonastus and Ursus were not simply contemporaries, but also companions and fellow-travellers and fellow-deacons in the persecution, exile and missionary work.
In this casket three relics and an inscription were found which mentioned the names of only two Saints, Albanus and Ursus. The following hypothesis (reference-study) explains the event and what truly possibly happened:
The most direct connection of the Burano casket and the third “unknown relic” with Saint “Theonestus” (Theonestus) comes from the academic website Christian Iconography of Richard Stracke (Emeritus Professor of English, Augusta University). On the page “The Saints Named Ursus in Art” (christianiconography.info/ursus.html) it is explicitly stated: “The legend on Burano may relate to a claim by the nearby island of Torcello to have the relics of St. Theonestus.” That is, the Burano legend may be related to the claim of the neighbouring island of Torcello that it possesses relics of Saint “Theonestus.”
Stracke’s hypothesis is based on the observation that the ancient hagiographical triad (from 9th-century martyrologies such as that of Rabanus Maurus and Acta Sanctorum, June vol. 5, pp. 86-95) is composed of the Saints: Albanus, Theonestus and Ursus/Orso.
The casket is also connected with an inscription that it bears and which is written in Italian: “Bishop Albanus and Deacon Ursus martyred for the Faith of Christ” and is today in the Church San Martino Vescovo of Burano in Venice.
THE BEHEADING OF THE VENERABLE HEAD OF THE HIEROMARTYR OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF MOGONTIACUM
The Martyrdom of Saint Albanus in 406 AD
The year 406 AD (reign of Honorius 395-408 — Theodosian dynasty) constitutes a milestone in the history of northern and western Europe. As Prosper of Aquitaine records in his Chronicle (“Anno 406, ultimo die Decembris, Wandali et Alani et Suevi transito Rheno in Gallias irruerunt”), the alliance of the Vandals, Alans and Suebi crossed the frozen Rhine, violating the northern borders of the Empire. Mogontiacum found itself at the centre of the invasion, with the aim of neutralising this most important northern stronghold and for the invaders to achieve the most unobstructed possible entry into the interior of the western Empire. The city was brutally plundered and its inhabitants found themselves facing the murderous and inhuman fury, rage and hatred of the idolaters. Jerome describes a few years later in Epistle 123 to Ageruchia (c. 409) the tragedy: “The once noble city of Mogontiacum has been captured and destroyed. Thousands have been slaughtered in its church. The provinces of Gaul have suffered an immense desolation… where the sword did not reach, famine completed the work.” The barbarians plundered, burned and killed indiscriminately the Christian inhabitants. At that critical moment, Saint Albanus — who had arrived in the city as a missionary a few years earlier — continued to preach the Gospel. According to Rabanus Maurus (Martyrologium, ~845), “while there he was preaching the word of God” (dumque ibi praedicaret verbum Dei), Albanus was seized by the barbarian-idolaters outside the city walls, in the area now called Gartenfeld. There, before his executioners, he boldly confessed his Faith in Christ and refused to sacrifice to the idols. For this confession he was beheaded on the spot.
In this way Saint Albanus was revealed as a Martyr exactly at the moment when Roman rule on the Rhine borders was collapsing. His martyrdom was not only a personal sacrifice, but was also a symbol of the victory of Faith and the Word of the Holy Gospel against idolatry and heresy, in an era when the entire West began to be shaken by the hordes of northern barbarian invasions.
THE EMPIRE IN THE 2ND CENTURY
CONTEMPORARY MAP OF THE AREAS RELATED TO THE MISSION OF THE SAINT; MAINZ (MOGONTIACUM) AND NAMUR ARE ALSO VISIBLE, WHERE A FRAGMENT OF HIS HOLY RELIC IS LOCATED TODAY
THE MIRACLE OF THE CEPHALOPHORIA
Immediately after the severing of his venerable head, Saint Albanus lifted his severed head and walked miraculously, to the great astonishment and terror of his executioners, a distance of about one kilometre to the nearby hill that took his name (Albansberg), until a little before the summit, at the site of an old Roman cemetery of the 1st century. This supernatural event, apart from the absolute good pleasure of the Creator towards His creature, made manifest the spiritual Victory of Life over death and the indivisible unity of spirit and body in Christ Jesus our God, both in this life and in the life to come, as the most certain promise of the Resurrection and eternal life with unadulterated Martyrdom of the Truth of the Orthodox Faith.
In the Acta Sanctorum, Iunius tomus IV (editions from 1643 to the reprints of the 19th century), on pages 87–95 (in the chapter for 21 June), the Bollandists record the following tradition concerning Saint Albanus of Mainz: After his beheading by the barbarians outside the walls of Mogontiacum, the Saint lifted his cut-off head and walked miraculously to the nearby hill. There he deposited his head and his body and was buried. The Bollandists present the event as a local tradition (traditio loci Moguntina) and include it in the hagiographical narrative.
The miracle of cephalophoria is exceptional and is granted by the Contest-Setting God to exceptional vessels of His election, as a special recognition-reward of their struggles, their offering and their good pleasure, but also as a Worldwide indisputable Signal for the Orthodox Faith, Truth, Confession and Martyrdom!
The place where the Saint deposited his head and lay down, thus indicating also the place of his burial, became a place of Worship to the Triune God and of Honour to the Martyr. At this spot a Holy Pilgrimage-Church (Martyrium) was erected a few years later in 413 (according to the “Klosterlexikon” or the local tradition), in the style of an old Basilica, and whose Holy Altar was founded exactly over the tomb of the Saint, on the basis of the indisputable findings of the relevant excavations of 1907-11.
At this point we also mention a recorded popular tradition that Saint Theonestus (“Theónostos”) buried the Martyr.
Later, around the first Martyric Basilica, towards the end of the 8th century, a Holy Monastery was erected in honour of the Saint and which included the pre-existing Holy Church (Martyrium).
THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY RELICS OF SAINT ALBANUS FROM HIS TOMB AND THE FIRST MARTYRIC BASILICA OF 413 AND SUBSEQUENTLY FROM THE MONASTERY OF THE 8TH CENTURY THAT WAS FOUNDED AROUND THE BASILICA AND INCORPORATED IT.
The Holy Relic of Saint Albanus existed in the early Martyric Basilica that was built in the fifth century (413) exactly over his tomb in honour of him, in the Roman cemetery whose ruins are located on the hill that today bears the name of the Saint to the south of the city (Albansberg). As the Klosterlexikon states: Saint Albanus, after undergoing martyrdom (406), with his beheaded head in his hands, ran to the cemetery to the south outside the city and there deposited his Holy head and laid to rest his Martyr’s body, at the spot where he was also buried. Over the tomb of the Martyr the said Martyric Basilica Coemeterialkirche (5th century) was built with foundations discovered in the excavations of 1907-1911, dimensions 14.60 x 29.60 metres. Concerning this early Basilica there is no source that mentions that there were other Holy Relics there except those of the Saint. The Relic of the Martyr Saint Albanus remained there from the beginning but also during the foundation of the Holy Monastery by Archbishop Richulf in the 8th century as well as later.
Charlemagne additionally donated to the Monastery in 794 on the occasion of the burial of his wife Fastrada the following four Holy Relics: a. fragments from the table of the Mystical Supper, b. Relics from the Holy Swaddling Clothes of Christ, c. Relics from the Sudarium of Christ and d. a large fragment from the head of the Martyr Vincentius (Vincent). These four Holy Relics were all that Charlemagne offered, as is recorded verbatim in the Klosterlexikon Rheinland-Pfalz, page Religiöses und spirituelles Wirken.
Together with the Relic of Saint Albanus, which already pre-existed in the Monastery from the Martyric Holy Church, and the four Holy Relics that Charlemagne offered, the same source (Klosterlexikon, “Religiöses und spirituelles Wirken”) records with absolute accuracy also the total of the Holy Relics from the local Saints that already existed in the Monastery: 1. part of the arm of Saint Aureus (Saint Aurelius 436-451) and 2. the head of his fellow-martyr sister, Saint Justina (Saint Justina). From Archbishop Otgar (826-847) were given Relics of 3. Severus of Ravenna (Severus), 4. of his wife Vincentia (Vincentia) and 5. of his daughter Innocentia (Innocentia-Agnes-) fellow-martyrs (+344-348); furthermore were added 6. a large part of the Relic of Saint Ferrutius +212, 7. the arm of Saint Stephen, 8. the head of Saint Anastasia, 9. Relics of Saint Vitus (Vitus +303), 10. Saint Theodore, 11. of Saint Sergius, as well as 12. Relics of Saint Caesarius of Terracina (Saint Caesarius Terracina 1st-2nd century) and 13. a large fragment of the Honourable Cross of the Lord.
In 1046 Archbishop Bardo had already detached a small part of the Relic of Saint Albanus (from the head of the Saint) which in 1047 was honourably sent by Frederick of Lorraine to the Cathedral Church of Namur, which was dedicated in honour of the Saint with the Gallo-Roman rendering of his name: “Saint Aubain.” The remaining part of the Holy Relic had remained in the Monastery, which was completely destroyed in the burning and plundering of 1552.
In 1298 the Monastery acquired also relics of Justin the Confessor +269 from the Church of St. Justin in Höchst (different from Justin the Philosopher of the 2nd century).
In 1353 the emperor Karl (Charles) IV received from the Monastery exactly these four relics that Charlemagne had donated together with three others: a large part of the body of Saint Albanus, the head of Saint Justina (Saint Justina) and a part of the arm of Saint Aureus (Saint Aurelius 436-451). He did not take from the Monastery the following Holy Relics: The Relic of Saint Ferrutius +212, the arm of Saint Stephen, the head of Saint Anastasia, the Relics of Saints Vitus (Vitus), Theodore and Sergius (Sergius) and the Large Fragment from the Honourable Cross of the Lord. In the Monastery there remained none of the relics that Charlemagne had donated. According to historical sources (and specifically the detailed study of Wolfgang Schmid on the transfers of relics in 1353), from Mainz, at the end of 1353, Karl (Charles) IV sent all these Relics, with a detailed report, directly to Prague (Prag). There, in his capital, he incorporated them into his personal collection of Holy Relics. Their destination was the castle Karlštejn (Karlstein), which he himself had built from 1348 exactly as a treasury of Holy Relics and imperial treasures (Imperial Regalia and Passion Relics). Karlštejn functioned as the official “Holy Treasury” of Charles IV, where all the Relics he had collected were kept with absolute security.
These relics remained as part of the treasury of Karlštejn (or the wider collection of Prague) until the later historical periods (the Hussite wars and after). Today these Relics are unknown.
None of the Relics that Charles IV transferred from Mainz to Karlštejn has been found to this day whole or in a recognisable way in any location.
As the cause of this “loss” are considered the Hussite wars (15th century).
The castle Karlštejn was attacked and besieged by the Hussites (Hussites) in 1422. Although the castle was not captured, the enormous treasury of Relics was deemed insecure, with the result that the deans of the castle decided to evacuate and transfer the treasury for safety. This tumultuous period possibly led to an unknown dispersion or partial or total loss of the Relics.
The Relic of Saint Albanus was possibly transferred first from Karlštejn to the castle Pürglitz but from there onwards every hypothesis is uninvestigated. After the death of Charles IV and the upheavals, its traces were lost. There is no modern reference related to the Czech Republic today. The existence of the Holy Relic is unknown from the period of the upheavals of the 15th century or from the later plunderings of Prague (such as in 1648 by the Swedes) with the possibility that its trace was lost perhaps even much later during the period of the communist regime.
Only the built-in Relics of the 10,000 Martyrs were not moved and were not lost, remaining built-in stably in their original position.
As regards the relics that remained in the Monastery of Saint Albanus after the departure of Charles IV, they are completely unknown since the Monastery was also plundered and burned, except if some were saved preventively, anyway without any relevant reference. Consequently, the original Relic of the Saint and the large part that Charles IV took are not located or are not revealed yet, at least until today.
Negative conclusion: The relics of Saint Albanus from the original tomb and the monastery of Mainz are not preserved in any documented location today except for the fragment from the Holy head that is located in a reliquary in Namur, capital of Wallonia in Belgium, in the Church of Saint Aubain (Saint Albanus). The large part that Charles IV received in 1353 and transferred to the castle Karlštejn was lost definitively perhaps during the Hussite wars of the 15th century and the later plunderings of Prague (study of Wolfgang Schmid on the transfers of relics of 1353 based on imperial documents). The rest that remained in the Monastery St. Albanus were possibly lost completely with the burning and plundering of 1552, as the chronicles of the city of Mainz concerning the war of Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades confirm. No modern source, archival catalogue or official record from Karlštejn, Prague, Mainz Dom or any other Church and location mentions the existence or preservation of them.
Also: There is no archive, inventář, catalogue or reference from the communist period (1948-1989) in Prague, the hrad Karlštejn or anywhere else in the Czech Republic that records, mentions or documents Relics of Saint Albanus from the transfer of 1353.
The official state archives (Národní archiv ČR), the museum records of the Karlštejn castle after 1945, the reports of the National Monument and all the available digitised sources are silent. The same applies to every academic study, diploma thesis or publication that examines the collections of Karlštejn in the 20th century.
THE CERTAIN THING IN ANY CASE IS THAT THERE EXISTED ON THE ONE HAND THE ORIGINAL FROM 406-413 AND THE FRAGMENT OF THE HOLY HEAD THAT IS LOCATED IN NAMUR, BELGIUM FROM 1047, BUT ALSO THE LARGE PART THAT CHARLES IV TOOK WITH HIM TO THE CASTLE OF KARLŠTEJN IN 1353. FROM ALL THE ABOVE THE ONLY ONE THAT IS CERTIFIED TODAY AT LEAST UNTIL NOW IS THAT WHICH IS PRESERVED IN THE CHURCH SAINT AUBAIN OF NAMUR.
Sources: Concerning the donation of Charlemagne and the burial of Fastrada in 794 the source is the imperial chronicles and the Klosterlexikon Rheinland-Pfalz in the entry Religiöses und spirituelles Wirken. The full catalogue of the Relics that were in the Monastery is confirmed by the same source Klosterlexikon as well as the copies of the medieval catalogues of treasures. The detachment of a fragment of Relic from the head of Saint Albanus by Archbishop Bardo and its sending to the Cathedral Church of Namur in 1047 through Frederick of Lorraine is documented by the documents of the church of Namur and the relevant catalogues of the 11th century. The great transfer of relics by the emperor Karl (Charles) IV in 1353 to Prague and the castle Karlštejn is scientifically documented by the study of Wolfgang Schmid on the transfers of relics of 1353 which is based on the imperial documents of Prague. The final destruction of the Monastery and the remaining relics that were there in 1552 is confirmed by the historical chronicles of the city of Mainz concerning the war of Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades.
THE CONNECTION OF A FRAGMENT OF THE HOLY RELIC WITH NAMUR IN BELGIUM:
At the place of the tomb there already existed the first Holy Church (Martyrium) in his name from 413, when towards the end of the 8th century (786) the large Monastery in honour of the Saint was built, which however was completely destroyed in 1552.
The fragment of the Relic from the venerable head of the Holy Martyr Albanus would be transferred, as we have already written, in 1047 to Namur in Belgium to the cathedral church that is in his name, and apart from Patron of Mainz together with Saint Boniface, he would also become Patron of the diocese, but also of the city of Namur which is the capital of Wallonia in Belgium.
THE FIRST STUDY AND RESEARCH CONCERNING THE SAINT BEGAN AROUND 2010 ON THE BASIS OF THE RELEVANT REFERENCE TO THE PERSON OF THE SAINT IN THE LOCAL PHILOLOGICAL-HISTORICAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL “FLEA,” AND CONCERNED THE COLLECTION AND EXAMINATION OF PRINTED AND INTERNET INFORMATION. ONLY RECENTLY HAS THIS RESEARCH APPEARED TO HAVE YIELDED ITS “FINAL” FRUITS AND TO HAVE STOOD PERHAPS AS A HUMBLE SPRINGBOARD FOR A GREATER, MORE ACCURATE AND MORE COHERENT POSITIONING, ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS ON THE SUBJECT.
THE CEPHALOPHORE SAINTS OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH ARE NOT MANY; THEY ARE FEW AND FOR THIS VERY REASON THEY DESERVE OUR OVERALL — QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE — INTEREST.
THE MIRACLE OF CEPHALOPHORIA IS INDICATIVE OF THE UTMOST GOOD PLEASURE TOWARDS THE LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOUR OF US JESUS CHRIST FROM THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORE MARTYRS, BUT ALSO OF THE TERRIBLE THEOSYMEIA FOR THE ASTONISHMENT AND RETURN OF THE UNBELIEVERS AND THE STRENGTHENING OF THE BELIEVERS.
WITH THE MIRACLE OF CEPHALOPHORIA EVERY DOUBT, EVERY ARROGANCE, EVERY INSULT AND EVERY ALIEN PRIDE OF UNBELIEF AND IMPIETY IS CRUSHED.
ESPECIALLY THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORE MARTYRS BROUGHT MULTITUDES OF PEOPLES TO THE ORTHODOX FAITH, OR RATHER THAT THE MOST HOLY GOD THROUGH THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORES BROUGHT PIETY AND REVERENCE TOWARDS THE FAITH OF TRUTH TO IDOLATROUS PEOPLES AND NATIONS, TO TYRANTS AND IMPIOUS RULERS AND MADE THE HOLY ORTHODOXY SHINE FORTH TO THE ENTIRE WORLD, DESTROYING THE HERESIES AND CRUSHING IDOLATRY, LEAVING ONLY AND ALONE THE TRUE, UNBOUND AND FREE WILL OF MAN TO DECIDE AND TO ACT, SO THAT THERE MIGHT BE NO JUSTIFICATION FROM ANY SINFUL MAN EITHER IN THIS LIFE OR AT THE JUDGMENT TOWARDS THE FUTURE…
CEPHALOPHORIA PROCLAIMS THAT HE WHO TAKES AWAY THE HEAD DOES NOT TAKE AWAY EITHER THE FAITH, OR THE LIFE, OR THE JUSTICE, OR THE VICTORY FROM THE BEHEADED MARTYR, BUT THAT ON THE CONTRARY THE SPIRITUAL TRUTH, THE POWER AND THE GRACE OF THE ALL-GOOD GOD ARE MOST CLEAR AND MOST SECURE AND ABOVE EVERY CONCEPT SUPERIOR TO EVERY EARTHLY REALITY, POWER, FORCE, STRENGTH AND TERROR, DESTROYING AND BRINGING TO AN END ERROR, HERESY, UNBELIEF AND EVERY POWER OF SATAN.
THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORE MARTYRS OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH MORE THAN EVER ARE NOW HERE, BESIDE US, AT OUR SIDE AND TOGETHER WITH THE CONTEST-SETTING GOD AND SAVIOUR OF US JESUS CHRIST, HIS ALL-HOLY MOTHER, HIS HOLY ANGELS AND ALL THE OTHER SAINTS, THEY FIGHT TOGETHER AND CHAMPION FOR OUR SALVATION AND THAT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!
ONE OF THEM IS ALSO THE GREAT AUBAIN (ALBANUS) WHO BRINGS HIS COMING AS FAR AS THE PLACE OF HIS MARTYRDOM IN MAINZ OF THE RHINE RIVER FROM THE GREEK NAXOS, AND WHICH IS REFERRED TO IN THE TEXTS OF THE SOURCES, THE OLDEST AS NAMSIA FROM A PALAEOGRAPHIC ERROR OF THE FORMULATION NAKSIA, AND WHICH ORIGINATES FROM THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE WORD NAXIA-NAXÍA, AS WE MOST CLEARLY PROVE BELOW THAT AS NAXÍA THE GREEK NAXOS ALONE WAS REFERRED TO, AND NOT THE SICILIAN ONE IN ANCIENT TIMES AND IN THE TIMES OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE SAINT, AND WAS REFERRED TO AND HAD BEEN RENDERED AS NAXÍA WITH THE MEANING THAT IT WAS ONCE, BELONGED TO, HAD AS RULER, AS GOVERNOR NAXOS (c. 1800 BC), AND THEREFORE NAXÍA MEANS THAT WHICH IS OR BELONGS TO NAXOS.
BUCELINUS (1599-1681), AN EXCEPTIONAL CHRONOGRAPHER AND MOST POLYGRAPHIC SCHOLAR AND TO THE UTMOST DEPTH SCHOLAR, KNEW THIS, AS HE KNEW EXCELLENTLY ALSO THE SOURCES, AND FOR THIS REASON HE IS ALSO THE FIRST AND MOST VALUABLE IN HIS TIME WHO SAYS BOLDY THAT THE SAINT IS FROM NAXÍA AND GREEK BY RACE, AFTER CONTINUOUS STUDY AND COMPARISON OF ALL THE AVAILABLE SOURCES UP TO HIS TIME, WHICH WERE ALSO ACCESSIBLE AND AT HIS DISPOSAL BECAUSE OF HIS LEARNING, THE SUBJECT OF HIS OCCUPATION BUT ALSO OF HIS DELIBERATE OR NECESSARY MOVEMENTS BECAUSE OF THE CONDITIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ERA.
WE QUOTE BELOW THE MOST IMPORTANT SOURCES CONCERNING THE HAGIOGRAPHY, THE HISTORICITY AND THE ORIGIN OF SAINT ALBANUS.
A) Venantius Fortunatus (full name Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus) was one of the most important Latin poets of the 6th century. He was born c. 530 AD in northern Italy, near Treviso, and studied rhetoric and grammar in Ravenna. Around 565 he made a great journey to Merovingian Gaul, probably because of a vow to Saint Martin of Tours. He passed through cities such as Mainz, Cologne and Trier, reached Poitiers in 567 and stayed there forever. He became a priest, collaborator of Saint Radegund and Abbess Agnes, and finally Bishop of Poitiers. He died c. 600 AD.
His work is large: 11 books of Carmina with about 300 poems covering panegyrics for kings, friendly letters, witty poems and mainly religious hymns. The most famous are the hymns of the Cross “Vexilla regis prodeunt” and “Pange lingua gloriosi,” which are still sung. He also wrote lives of Saints, such as the life of Saint Martin in verse. His poetry is full of deep Christian Faith.
In Carmina, book 3, poem 7 (written c. 565-566 when he passed through Mainz), Fortunatus refers to Saint Albanus the Martyr honoured there. The poem is very short, like an epitaph epigram (martyrology distich), and says exactly:
Albanus, hospes et peregrinus, qui in Mogontiaco sepultus est.
Albanus, stranger and pilgrim,
who is buried in Mainz.
He does not mention at all from where the Saint originated, only that he is a stranger and sojourner (hospes and peregrinus) and that he is buried there as a Martyr of Christ. Fortunatus was initially a travelling pilgrim and poet, later became a priest and then Bishop.
is the oldest and most authentic source concerning the Saint, since he is also connected with the Monastery in the name of the Saint and in the place of his martyrdom.
He was born in Mainz (Moguntia) or in a nearby area, from a noble family. Very young he entered as a monk in the Benedictine monastery of Fulda (Hesse). He was ordained deacon in 801. In 802 he was sent by Abbot Ratgar to Tours in France to study theology, the liberal arts and the Scriptures near Alcuin (Alcuin), the greatest teacher of the era of Charlemagne. There Alcuin gave him the name Maurus in honour of the beloved disciple of Saint Benedict. He returned to Fulda in 803, where he undertook the role of teacher and later director of the monastic school, which became the leading centre of learning in the entire Empire. His students included Walafrid Strabo, Servatus Lupus, Otfrid of Weissenburg and others. He was ordained priest in 814. In 822 he was elected Abbot of Fulda (until 842), a period of great prosperity: he built more than 30 churches and chapels, enriched the church with mosaics, tapestries and reliquaries, greatly increased the library, preached to the people and cared for the priests of the provinces. Politically he supported Louis the Pious against his sons. After the death of Louis (840) he supported Lothair, was forced to flee in 840, returned in 841 and resigned from the abbacy at the beginning of 842 (probably under pressure from Louis the German). He withdrew to Petersberg near Fulda for prayer and writing. In 845 he was reconciled with the king and in 847 was elected Archbishop of Mainz (succeeding Otgar), ordained on 26 June.
He organised three provincial synods:
847 (October, in the monastery of Saint Albanus Mainz): 31 disciplinary canons.
848 (October): condemnation of Gottschalk of Orbais and his teaching on predestination.
852 (or 851): ecclesiastical rights and discipline.
During the famine of 850 he fed more than 300 people daily. He died naturally on 4 February 856 in Winkel (Vinicellum) near Mainz, at the age of about 75-76. He was buried in the monastery of Saint Albanus in Mainz and later his relics were transferred to Halle.
He is especially honoured in Fulda, Mainz and Limburg sanctus, feast 4 February. He is also recognised in the Eastern Orthodox Church as a pre-Schism Western Saint. In 2006 Germany celebrated the 1150th anniversary of his death with exhibitions of manuscripts (e.g. Codex Vaticanus Reginensis latinus 124).
More than 50 works, mainly exegetical (commentaries on almost all books of the Old Testament, on the Gospel of Matthew and on the Pauline epistles, based on Jerome, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Isidore of Seville, Ambrose and Bede).
Main ones:
De universo (22 books): encyclopaedia based on the Etymologiae of Isidore.
De institutione clericorum, De ecclesiastica disciplina, De computo, Excerptio de arte grammatica Prisciani.
De procinctu romanae miliciae (military manual based on Vegetius).
Poems: De laudibus sanctae Crucis (814, artistic masterpiece with crosses in shape, numbers and images).
Hymns: Veni Creator Spiritus (Pentecost, ordinations), Christe sanctorum decus Angelorum.
Martyrologium (~845).
Letters (MGH Epist. V), poems (MGH Poetae II).
He was an exceptional synthetic and encyclopaedic writer. He was called “the most learned man of his time” and “Praeceptor Germaniae” (teacher of Germany).
The Martyrologium (~845) and the phrase “in the reign of the emperor Theodosius”
It constitutes one of the oldest sources for Saint Albanus of Mainz (and his group with Theonestus “Theónostos”). It contains two separate entries: one for Saint Alban of England (22 June) and one for Saint Albanus of Mainz (21 June), distinguishing the two Saints from each other.
Exact excerpt for 21 June:
“XI KAL. In Moguntia natalis Albani (genitive case of Albanus) martyris, qui sub Theodosio imperatore de insula Namsia pergens cum sancto Theonesto et Urso Mediolanum venit, indeque exiens, auxiliante Domino, pervenit ad Gallias, et in servitio Dei manens ad martyrium pro nomine Salvatoris promptus. Postquam autem in Augusta civitate beatus Ursus martyrium accepit, Theonestus cum Albano Moguntiacum pervenit, dumque ibi praedicaret verbum Dei, Albanus, discipulus eius, martyrium explevit, et sepultus est ibi iuxta civitatem.”
Translation:
“21 June: Memory of the martyr Albanus in our homeland Moguntia (Mainz), who in the reign (n.b. explained with the meaning: ‘dynasty’) of the emperor Theodosius, starting from the island Namsia (n.b. Naκsia-Nausia-Namsia-Naxía-Naxos) together with the holy ‘Theónostos’ and Ursus, came to Mediolanum, and from there starting, with the help of the Lord, reached the provinces of France, and remaining in the service of God was ready for martyrdom for the name of the Saviour. After the blessed Ursus received martyrdom in the city Augusta, Theónostos with Albanus reached Moguntiacum; and while there he was preaching the word of God, Albanus, his disciple, fulfilled the martyrdom and was buried there near the city.”
Rabanus was a leading scholar of patristic texts, with encyclopaedic knowledge in Holy Scripture, Fathers, Ecclesiastical Canons, Liturgical texts, grammar and military science. He influenced for centuries hagiography, education and the explanation of the Scriptures.
C) Usuardus (Usuard, monk of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 9th century) in his Martyrology (Le martyrologe d’Usuard, ed. Jacques Dubois, 1965) refers to Saint Albanus of Mainz (Moguntiaci / Mogontiacum) on 21 June (XI Kalendas Iulii) with the following short announcement:
“Moguntiaci sancti Albani martyris.” (i.e. “In Mainz [Moguntiaci], of Saint Albanus the martyr.”)
Usuardus was a distinguished Benedictine monk and scholar who lived in the ninth century in France and whose name is inextricably linked with the organisation of the Christian calendar. He was born at the beginning of the ninth century and spent most of his life in the famous abbey of Saint Germain des Prés (Saint Germanus) in Paris, where he distinguished himself for his education and his devotion to ecclesiastical letters.
The landmark of his biography was the year eight hundred and fifty-eight when he was sent by the abbot of his abbey to Spain together with the monk Odilard. The aim of their journey was to find and transfer holy relics for their monastery. During their stay in Cordoba they came into contact with the communities of the Christian martyrs of that period and managed to transfer back to Paris the relics of Saint George the deacon, Saint Aurelia and Saint Natalia. This experience deeply influenced his literary work as he incorporated many of these new martyrs into his records.
His main work is called Martyrology and was completed around eight hundred and seventy-five at the wish of Emperor Charles the Bald. Usuardus did not limit himself to a simple copying of older texts but carried out a systematic synthesis of sources such as those of Bede and Ado of Vienne. The text was organised on the basis of the calendar, providing for each day of the year short biographical notes on the saints being celebrated. His writing was characterised by clarity and brevity, a fact that made his work extremely popular throughout western Europe for the following centuries.
Gabriel Bucelinus 1599-1681 is the first who clarifies that the palaeographic erroneous rendering “Namsia” is in reality the word “Naxia,” with which it appears that all the more recent researchers also agree with him.
He was born on 29 December 1599 in Diessenhofen, Thurgau, Switzerland, from an aristocratic family of the counts Bucellini. At the age of 13 (1612/1613) he entered as a monk in Weingarten in Württemberg (southern Germany). He studied philosophy and theology at the University of Dillingen.
In 1624 he was sent as a teacher to the institution of Saint Trudpert (St. Trudpert) in the Black Forest. He taught humanistic studies in Feldkirch (1635). During the Thirty Years’ War he was forced to take refuge because of the advance of the Swedish army in Vienna, Venice and Admont. He died on 9 June 1681 in Weingarten, at the age of 81.
Bucelinus was an extremely productive writer and left about 53 works on genealogy, world history, hagiography, ecclesiastical history, as well as maps and plans. Many remained unpublished and are preserved in the library of Stuttgart.
Main works:
Menologium Benedictinum sanctorum, beatorum, atque illustrium ejusdem Ordinis (Feldkirch, 1655) — two volumes, with lives and encomia of blessed and distinguished men of the same Order.
Germania sacra (Augsburg, 1655).
Germania topo-chrono-stemmato-graphica sacra et profana (4 volumes, 1655-1678) — his largest and most important work, with genealogies, history of German institutions.
Constantia sacra et profana (Frankfurt, 1667).
Rhaetia etrusca, romana, gallica, germanica (Augsburg, 1661).
Aquila imperii benedictina (Venice, 1651).
Annales Benedictini (Vienna 1655, Augsburg 1656).
Nuclei Historiae universalis (Ulm, 1650 & 1654).
Bucelinus is considered one of the first systematic scholars of the ancient ecclesiastical history of Germany (Germania Sacra). He was polymathic, with great contribution to genealogy, local history and hagiography. His works were widely used by later historians and hagiologists (including the Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum).
He refers especially concerning Saint Albanus:
In his important work Menologium Benedictinum (1655), Bucelinus refers to Saint Albanus of Mainz (Albanus Moguntiacensis) on 21 June. He follows and supplements the older sources (Rabanus Maurus, Gozwin etc.). He thus contributes to the dissemination and recording of the honour paid to Saint Albanus of Mainz.
LATIN TEXT
(Bucelinus, Menologium Benedictinum, 21 Iunii)
Moguntia natalis Sancti Albani (genitive case of Albanus) Martyris, qui sub Theodosio Imperatore, cum esset genere Graecus et ex insula Naxia oriundus, ibidem pro fide Christi capite truncatus est.
GREEK TRANSLATION
In Moguntia (Mogontiacum-Mainz) the memory of Saint Albani (genitive case of Albanus) the Martyr, who under Emperor Theodosius (n.b. meaning the Theodosian dynasty), Greek by race and with origin from the island Naxia, was beheaded in the same place — Moguntia (Mogontiacum, Mainz) — for the faith of Christ. This reference is from the work of Gabriel Bucelinus: Menologium Benedictinum, in the entry for 21 June (21 Iunii) — edition 1655.
Yet another ancient source “Martyrologium Hieronymianum” (of the 6th century) with commentary of the 19th century by Hippolyte Delehaye (Acta Sanctorum Nov. II, 1890-1901)
Hippolyte Delehaye notes explicitly: “Namsia vel Nausia = Naxia insula Cycladum, errore scriptorio (palaeographic error) ex Graeco Ναξία” and which is repeated by Dubois from the edition of 1965 concerning Usuardus, where the original text writes: “de insula Namsia” and the comment of Jacques Dubois: “Namsia sine dubio Naxos Cycladum”: “Namsia is undoubtedly the Naxos of the Cyclades.”
MONUMENTS CONCERNING SAINT ALBANUS
ON THE HILL OF ALBANSBERG IN MAINZ, GERMANY
The building depicted in the photograph is the Kinder und Familienhaus St Alban(us) und St Jakobus, which is located at the address Am Fort Elisabeth 1-3, near the place where the tomb of the Saint was discovered. It is a later construction of the early 20th century that was built over the historical grounds of the old monastery, preserving the Memory of the Saint on the hill Albansberg, southwest of the old city, where the Saint deposited his body and head.
The route of the martyrdom of Saint Albanus in Mainz… …because of the residential and urban changes that have taken place until today, it is impossible to follow exactly the steps of the Saint from the place of his martyrdom (area of present-day Gartenfeld) to a little before the summit of the hill Albansberg, where he deposited his venerable head, his body and gave up his spirit to the contest-setting God, and where the early Christian Basilica of 413 and the Monastery later, in the 8th century, were erected exactly over his tomb, of which today nothing is preserved.
The archaeological research of 1907 on the hill Albansberg
The excavations were carried out by Ernst Neeb (main person in charge and architect) with the collaboration of Ludwig Lindenschmit the younger and Rudolf Kautzsch (architectural analysis) from 1907 to 1911. The results were published in the journal Mainzer Zeitschrift, volume 3 (1908), pp. 69-100 (“Zur Baugeschichte der St. Albanskirche bei Mainz”) and volume 4 (1909) with the “Bericht über die Ausgrabungen der St. Albanskirche bei Mainz im Jahre 1907” (Lindenschmit/Neeb 1908, Neeb 1909).
The excavations revealed the foundations of a single-nave basilica (Saalkirche) of the early 5th century AD, dimensions approximately 13.20 metres wide and 28.50 metres long. This building was built immediately after the martyrdom of Saint Albanus (406 AD), probably in 413 AD, over the tomb of the Saint [Ernst Neeb & Ludwig Lindenschmit, Mainzer Zeitschrift 1908-1909 (foundations of 5th-century basilica over a single tomb under the Holy Altar)] and belongs to the type of early Christian Martyric Churches (martyrium). It was built exactly over a pre-existing Roman cemetery that operated continuously from the 1st century AD. The name of the hill Albansberg is very ancient and predates the excavations by centuries, since it derives from the local tradition that connects the area with Saint Albanus already from the 5th century.
The central archaeological element is the existence of a pre-existing “einzelgrab” (single tomb) of the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century, which was located exactly under the eastern part of the Basilica, at the spot where the Holy Altar was later placed. This fact is characteristic of the Martyric Churches of the early Christian era: the Church is proved to have been built over the tomb of a Martyr, and the Holy Altar was placed exactly over it (the very position of the Holy Altar constitutes a sign and evidence of honour to the Saint). The archaeologists (Neeb, Lindenschmit and Kautzsch) emphasised that this architectural arrangement — a Church whose Holy Altar is located exactly over or is founded on a tomb — constitutes the basic characteristic of a Martyric Holy Place and constitutes yet another serious piece of evidence that confirms the tradition that the area was a place of burial and honour to Saint Albanus from the 5th century. The 5th-century basilica was later incorporated into the Monastery founded by Archbishop Richulf in 787-796 (Carolingian phase). The totality of the findings (foundations, cemetery, position of the tomb) exclusively documents the existence of a Martyric place of worship from the 5th century.
This is the exact, complete and documented description of the findings, based exclusively on the publications Mainzer Zeitschrift 1908-1909 and their modern references. Nothing is added, nothing is removed and nothing is interpreted beyond what the excavators themselves recorded. The hill Albansberg, the 5th-century Basilica as a Martyric Church and the position of the tomb under the Holy Altar constitute indisputable archaeological evidence of the local presence and honour to Saint Albanus already from the 5th century (413).
IN THE TYPE OF THE FIVE LOAVES WE PRESENT THE FOLLOWING
The multiple documentation: a. dating of the martyrdom — old Basilica in 413 AD, b. position of the single-nave — unique tomb exactly under the Holy Altar of the first Holy Church (Martyric Basilica), c. the subsequent foundation of the Holy Monastery in the name of the Saint at the same spot, incorporating the Martyric Basilica, d. the already existing ancient naming of the hill in the name of the Saint (Albansberg), elements and evidence that were recorded by Neeb, Lindenschmit and Kautzsch and e. and most importantly, the Tradition of the ancient Church, the living Martyrdom and the Ancient Ecclesiastical Sources, prove Ecclesiologically, historically, archaeologically and scientifically that on the hill Albansberg of Mainz was located the tomb of Saint Albanus, the original Martyric Holy Church and the Monastery in honour of the Holy Cephalophore Martyr, where his Holy Relic was treasured, the presence, journey and distribution of which has already been most clearly and most demonstrably attested.
Today on the hill of Albansberg there is no Church but only ruins and remains of excavations. The modern Church St. Alban(us) is located in the Oberstadt (upper city) of Mainz, at the address An der Goldgrube 44, approximately 1.5 km northeast of the hill Albansberg, a location near Gartenfeld, the place of the martyrdom of the Saint.
Today in Mainz three clear and distinct points of reference to Saint Alban(us) are distinguished: First, Gartenfeld near the railway station, the wider area where Saint Albanus was seized and slaughtered in martyrdom of the Faith during the raid of the barbarians (Vandals, Suebi and Alamanni in 406). Second, the hill Albansberg, the place of the burial of the Saint, where as a Cephalophore he walked about one kilometre to where he deposited his venerable head, his body and also gave up his spirit to the contest-setting God, and where the early Christian Basilica was erected in 413 and the Monastery later in the 8th century exactly over his tomb, and whose discovery constitutes a documented archaeological finding from the excavations of 1907-11. Today there, near the road Am Fort Elisabeth 1-3, is located the Child and Family Centre (institution of family Caritas — love —). Third, the modern Church St. Alban in the Oberstadt, street: An der Goldgrube 44, approximately 1.5 km northeast of the hill Albansberg, near Gartenfeld, the area where the Saint martyred.
The archaeological findings on the hill of Albansberg are also among the indisputable elements of the presence and the martyrdom of Saint Albanus of Mainz, who is equally Patron Saint both in Mainz in Germany and in Namur in Belgium.
The Monastery of Saint Albanus in Mainz (Stift St. Alban vor Mainz)
The Monastery of Saint Albanus in Mainz was an important monastery of Benedictine Monks, known also as St. Alban’s Abbey. It was founded c. 787-796 by Archbishop Richulf (787–813) in honour of the Holy Cephalophore Isapostle and Martyr. It was located south of the city of Mainz, on the hill that later was named Albansberg, and had incorporated the older basilica of Saint Albanus that had been built c. 413 AD at the site of the old Basilica of 413 over the tomb of the Saint.
History and Foundation The monastery started as part of the Carolingian Renaissance. In 804 Charlemagne (Charlemagne) inaugurated the Carolingian Basilica. Initially it operated as a Benedictine Monastery, but in 1442 it was transformed into a “collegiate” institution (Herrenstift). In the 14th century Baldwin of Luxembourg (1328–1336) fortified it, together with other monasteries outside the city walls, such as St. Jakob’s and St. Victor’s.
In the Monastery were treasured very important Relics, among which that of Saint Albanus, as we have referred to in detail and exhaustively earlier.
Also in the wider area of the Monastery had been buried: Fastrada (+794), fourth wife of Charlemagne. Charles of Aquitaine (+863), Archbishop of Mainz (856–863). Liutgard of Saxony (+953), daughter of Emperor Otto I. Liudolf (+957), Duke of Swabia and first son of Otto. William, Archbishop of Mainz (+968). Rabanus Maurus (Hrabanus Maurus, +856), famous theologian and Archbishop of Mainz.
The Monastery was also the place of local synods, such as the Synod of 847 organised by Rabanus Maurus.
Architecture
The Carolingian Basilica (inaugurated 804) had three naves and two apses. At the western end there was a hall of the same size as the central Church, and above it a chapel of the Archangel Michael. The two western towers were added later, in the Romanesque period. The ground plan of the Monastery is reflected in Schloss Johannisberg, which was a dependency of St. Alban’s. Unfortunately, no detailed descriptions or monuments are preserved, but historical depictions show a fortified complex with towers and a large perimeter wall.
St. Alban’s Abbey, Mainz — Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia
(Historical map of Mainz by Matthäus Merian in 1655, where the Monastery of Saint Albanus is visible to the east) File:Das Ritterstift St. Alban.jpg — Wikimedia Commons
The Monastery was plundered and burned on the night of 28 August 1552 during the second margrave war (second margrave war) by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. It was never rebuilt, and its ruins were completely destroyed. The institution retained legal existence until its official dissolution in 1802 by Napoleon. Historical images and maps give a picture of the Monastery and its surroundings.
PRESENT-DAY VIEW OF MAINZ WITH THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH IN HONOUR
OF THE SAINTS STEPHEN AND MARTIN
MAINZ BY THE RHINE RIVER AROUND 1900
THE MODERN CHURCH IN HONOUR OF SANCTUS ALBAN(-US) IN THE OBERSTADT (UPPER CITY), STREET: AN DER GOLDGRUBE 44, APPROXIMATELY 1.5 KM NORTHEAST OF ALBANSBERG IN THE WIDER AREA OF GARTENFELD, THE AREA WHERE THE SAINT MARTYRED.
THE CHURCH IN HONOUR OF SAINT AUBAIN (ALBANUS…ALBAIN… AUBAIN)
IN NAMUR OF WALLONIA (BELGIUM)
Explanation of the naming Aubain for the Saint in Namur, Belgium, where a fragment of his Holy Relic from his head was deposited around 1047.
… the name “Aubain” constitutes a Gallic-Walloon rendering, combined also with the interpretation of “stranger” — since he came from foreign places, in this case Greek Naxos — from oral or palaeographic corruption of “Albanus” (Alban, Aubain).
In the 11th century AD, in Namur (present-day Belgium), the population mainly spoke an early Romance-Gallic dialect, which later evolved into Walloon and belongs to the group of Old French (langue d’oïl).
The transfer of the fragment of the Holy Relic from Mainz to Namur in Belgium took place in 1047. The initiative was taken by Frédéric de Lorraine, from the collegiate institution that had been established by Count Albert II de Namur. Frédéric de Lorraine, exploiting his position and his connections — as a relative of the count — negotiated and secured from the Monastery of Mainz a part of the head of Saint Alban(us). This Relic was officially transferred to Namur, a fact that led to the naming of the church there as Saint Aubain (Albanus) and to his designation as Patron Saint and Protector of the city of Namur. This Relic is preserved today within a reliquary, confirming this historical record.
[The following is the documentation of the clearest differentiation of Saint Alban of Britain from Saint Albanus of Mainz, Germany (who is the same Saint as Saint Aubain of Namur in Belgium).
Scientific research has proved that Saint Alban of England and Saint Albanus of Mainz constitute two distinct historical personalities, whose confusion arose from onomastic identity (sometimes one is called by the name of the other) and geographical proximity of celebration (21 and 22 June); however their biographical and chronological differences are absolutely documented.
Saint Alban of England, known as Alban of Verulamium or Proto-Martyr Anglorum (Proto-Martyr of the English), lived and martyred in Roman Britain. His chronology is based on early written sources such as those of Gildas and Bede, which place his martyrdom during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian or, according to other views, of Septimius Severus, that is in the 3rd or the beginning of the 4th century (c. 303 AD). The tradition and the archaeology of the city Verulamium (present-day Saint Albans) describe him as a pagan who embraced Christianity and martyred by beheading by Roman soldiers, protecting a Christian Priest. His memory is celebrated on 22 June.
On the contrary, Saint Albanus of Mainz (known also as Albanus Mogontinus) lived about one century later. His chronology is determined by specific events that are confirmed both by the Hagiographical and historical sources and by the findings of the relevant archaeological excavations. He martyred in the year 406 AD, during which the barbarian tribes crossed the Rhine invading the north-western Empire. The excavations on the hill Albansberg of Mainz (which for centuries has borne honourably the name of the Martyr), which were carried out from 1907-1911, revealed an early Basilica of the 5th century (Martyric Church) built over a unique tomb, confirming his burial there immediately after the martyrdom. In the sources he is referred to as a missionary who was slaughtered in the area that today is called Gartenfeld to the south of the city Mogontiacum, present-day Mainz, outside the wall of the Roman camp, by barbarian invaders and became a Cephalophore Martyr. A fragment of the head of the Saint is preserved today in the Cathedral Church of Saint Aubain (Saint-Aubain) in Namur, Belgium, and the naming of him as Saint Aubain constitutes a linguistic Romance-Gallic popular version of Albanus, and his memory is celebrated on 21 June.
The temporal distance between the two Saints is absolutely distinct and amounts to about one century. Saint Alban of England belongs to the era of the Roman imperial persecutions, while Saint Albanus of Mainz belongs to the era of the beginning of the collapse of the borders of the Roman Empire, about one century later. The archaeological excavations of 1907-11 are absolutely clear concerning the dating of the findings of the tomb and the early Martyric Basilica at the beginning of the 5th century, while the written tradition of England places the martyrdom of Saint Alban before the lifting of the persecutions at the beginning of the 4th century (one century earlier), according to which, while previously he was a pagan, after he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ he sacrificed himself for the escape and salvation of the Christian Priest whom he was hosting, voluntarily taking his place in the martyrdom after first helping him to escape.
Therefore the two Saints have different Hagiographical but also chronological-historical and geographical differences.
The confusion between the two Saints exists because of the same name. The name Albanus is proved to have been common in the Roman era, varying by places and especially where the Latin ending -us was not kept, as also in England, instead of Albanus, Alban.
As regards the difference of one day in the celebration (21 June for Saint Albanus and 22 June for Saint Alban), this proximity is in essence proof that two different Saints are concerned, with separate days of memory even with one day’s difference, and exactly for the reason of this specific distinction. We also note here, in support of what is written, that Saint Albanus on the basis of the historical elements (barbarian invasion) martyred on 31/12/406, so we have primarily a different day of martyrdom; the 21/6 may be the day of the consecration of the Martyric Church, which was possibly decided so that he might celebrate very near and with the English Proto-Martyr and namesake Saint Alban, as especially and already widely known and important Martyr in the Church and moreover Proto-Martyr in England, without again there being confusion concerning identity between the two Saints. We note at this point in confirmation of what is written that the modern Church in honour of Saint Albanus today in Mainz is named Sanct(us) Alban, while it is most clearly and most accurately distinguished from the English Proto-Martyr and is in honour of Saint Albanus of Mainz, of the ancient Mogontiacum.
THE “SPECIALTIES” OF SAINT ALBANUS THE FOREIGN SAINT AND NOW SAINT FOREIGNER FOR US
All the Saints after the All-Holy Mother are mediators to God for the Salvation of the human race, and each Saint in turn especially benefits according to the gifts that the All-Good God gave him and the faith of those who approach and request his help and consolation, and again, some Saints perhaps especially have some specialties, without this of course excluding them from the total of issues that may concern the faithful — spiritual, psychic but also bodily, livelihood, professional, social, dangers, needs, sorrows and so on…
Saint Albanus protects from hernia, epilepsy, kidney stones and urinary tract pains. As a Cephalophore and missionary against Arianism, he is also a protector of the persecuted and exiles as well as a champion protector against heresies.
We have composed this study [we want to believe, with the prayer of Saint Albanus and with the Grace of the All-Good God, to Whom alone belongs all glory, honour and worship] on the basis of all those elements that exist as verified and also cross-checked from Hagiographical, archaeological, historical and geographical sources; we did not include elements of chrono-topical contradictions or confusions, so as to render as far as possible a coherent, comprehensive and verifiable result from all the individual elements, taking especially and more into account the oldest sources, but also the clearest, most reliable, true and also interconnected and interrelated with one another.
The questioning concerning the Greek, specifically from the island of Naxos, origin or provenance of the Saint began, as we have already written, around 2010, and the addition of the relevant evidentiary elements was completed recently after a long chronological gap-inertia (due to the non-finding then of further relevant evidentiary elements), and now the result of this study constitutes perhaps a strong synthesis and documented hypothesis concerning Saint Albanus of Mainz and of whom a part of his Holy Relic is located in the city of Namur in Belgium in the homonymous Church Saint Aubain (popular Gallo-Roman corruption of Albanus), a fragment of which should be honourably sent to the birthplace or place of origin of the Hieromartyr Cephalophore Saint, the Greek Naxos, in which he should now be honoured, certainly with a Hellenised name and a separate Feast, which we propose to be 31 December, on the basis also of the strongly ascertained date of his martyrdom.
This study proposes as a Greek name for the Saint, on the occasion of “Saint Aubain” of Namur and our introductory reference concerning the testimony of Fortunatus, Saint Xenos, since Aubain in French means Stranger and since Saint Albanus was found as a stranger (foreigner — alibi natus — albain-aubain) for the strangers, but also as a stranger (unknown-distant) for us, while until today it appears that the “droit d’aubaine” (the right of ownership of the western feudal lords over the property elements of non-naturalised subjects — strangers — in case of their death) was in force, with the result that only the foreign “kingdom” and the Mother Eastern Church and his Homeland Greece and Naxos have inherited, honour and rejoice in him, neither knowing him nor honouring him, at least until the present. The foreign Saint and now Saint Xenos.
At this point we must absolutely reject different but related or similar names “Hellenised” and non — which have been highlighted from time to time — such as “Alvanós” (even with the accent transferred to the penultimate syllable), because on the one hand there is absolutely no ethnological basis or relation of the Saint either with this people or with the place of his residence, nor again to confuse him or name him Albinus (Albin-Alvinos), since this specific Saint lived much later (470-550) in Angers de Gallia (Angers in France), as well as Albinus of Bourbourg (8th century). And with this explanation the use in the reference to Saint Albanus of all these names that we mentioned above must be completely excluded.
On the occasion, therefore, of all that we have recorded until now, we propose the immediate Recognition-Canonisation of Saint Albanus-Aubain as “Saint Xenos” in the Greek-Orthodox Hagiologion with a fixed Feast on 31 December each year, firmly ascertained as the date of his martyrdom, since he is most clearly a Saint before the Schism and indeed from the beginnings of the 5th century, but also a Great Cephalophore Saint, and as we mentioned earlier, to request a fragment of his Holy Relic so that we may return it to his birthplace, the Naxos of the Cyclades, for which he should be constituted as Patron Saint together with the All-Holy Mother, the Saints Nikodemos the Hagiorite, Nikolaos Planas, but also the Great Anthimos III, Patriarch of Constantinople, who is soon to be Canonised [and again with the fullness of time the Naxian Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Longovarda, the Blessed Fr. Hierotheos (Nikolakis) is to be added, and of whom through many testimonies and many signs his Sainthood is already being revealed].
We must emphasise in every case that the sole purpose of this study, apart from the acquaintance and the meeting with the now known to us also “foreigner,” Saint Xenos [Sanctus Albanus-Saint Aubain], is the due rendering of honour, the due debt to the Saint, both from Orthodox Greece and from his particular Homeland Naxía-Naxos, even after 17 centuries and because as a Cephalophore Saint he constitutes one of the especially outstanding Saints of the Faith, of the Entire Orthodox and of the Local Church.
FOR THIS REASON WE SAY WITH CLARITY THAT EVERY HONOUR AND CARE TOWARDS THE SAINT MUST TAKE PLACE WITHOUT ANY ABSOLUTE RELATION, COMPARISON-CONVERGENCE OR ECCLESIASTICAL COMMUNION WITH THE PAPAL LATINS, BEING ABSOLUTELY DISTINGUISHED FROM THEM ACCORDING TO ALL THAT OUR HOLY TRADITION COMMANDS AND WHICH THE HOLY AND GOD-BEARING FATHERS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH ORDAINED.
THE PRAYER AND THE HELP OF SAINT ALBANUS (AUBAIN) OF MAINZ AND OF NAMUR [OF THE SAINT XENOS OF NAXOS AND OF GREECE AND OF THE ENTIRE ORTHODOX CHURCH] MAY WE HAVE — AS WELL AS OF ALL THE SAINTS, ABOVE ALL AND FOR ALL, OF THE ALL-HOLY MOTHER AND ESPECIALLY FOR ALL THE DIFFICULT AND HARD THINGS OF THIS NEW ANTI-CHRIST HERETICAL AND APOSTATE ERA, FOR THE MERCY AND SALVATION OF OUR SOULS.
MAY THIS DISCOVERY OR EVEN REVELATION OF THE SAINT ALSO BE A SIGN OF HOPE AND CONSOLATION TO ALL BRETHREN IN THESE TIMES, THE MOST DIFFICULT AND MISERABLE, BUT ALSO A PROEM AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ORTHODOX KINGDOM OF THE HOLY JOHN III DOUKAS ELEEMON VATATZES AND WHO IS TO BE RESURRECTED AND TO BRING THE DIVINE WILL AND RESULT OVER THE ENTIRE EARTH!!!
THE ONE WHO COMPOSED ALL THE ABOVE
SIGNING IOANNIS SINFUL BROTHER
AND TO THE ONLY GOD LORD JESUS CHRIST BE THE GLORY TO THE AGES OF AGES AMEN!
HISTORICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS
Mogontiacum was the Latin name of the present-day city of Mainz in Germany and was founded in 13 BC by the Roman general Drusus as a military fortress. Because of its strategic position at the confluence of the rivers Main and Rhine it evolved into one of the most important cities of the Empire and became the capital of the province Germania Superior. Its name derived from the Celtic idolatrous pseudo-god Mogons. Today in the city remains of findings are preserved such as the largest Roman theatre in this wider area, the cenotaph of Drusus and ruins of the Roman aqueduct, while in the local museum are exhibited models of Roman ships whose remains were found in the river.
THE EMPERORS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE DURING THE PERIOD WE ARE EXAMINING BY THEME OF CHRONOLOGY AND DISPOSITION
Julian ruled the Empire from 360 to 363 and was a pagan. Jovian ruled the Empire from 363 to 364 and was Orthodox. Valentinian I ruled in the West from 364 to 375 and was Orthodox. Valens ruled in the East from 364 to 378 and was Arian. Gratian ruled in the West (Gaul, Spain, Britain) from 367-383 (until 375 he co-ruled with his father Valentinian I) Orthodox. Valentinian II co-ruled in the West from 375 to 392 and was Arian.
Theodosian dynasty: Theodosius I ruled in the East from 379-392 and in the entire Empire from 392-395 and was Orthodox. Arcadius ruled in the East from 395 to 408 and was Orthodox. Honorius ruled in the West from 395 to 423 and was Orthodox. Theodosius II ruled in the East from 408 to 450 and was Orthodox.
