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| A facemask on a carving on the refurbished Shrine of Amphibalus in St Alban's Abbey |
This week the church celebrates Alban, the first recorded British martyr, who famously sheltered a priest fleeing persecution by the Roman authorities, helping him to evade capture by swapping cloaks. When the Romans found it was Alban beneath the priest’s cloak, he was sentenced to death.
Little is known about the priest that Alban sheltered, whose life is also celebrated by the church this week. Even his name remains a mystery. As a result of a medieval mistake, he became known as Amphibalus (a Latin word for 'cloak').
The restoration of a shrine to Amphibalus in St Alban’s Abbey was completed during the lockdown, on which one carving has been reclothed - in a face mask! A small reminder of how we re-clothe stories using familiar images from our own day.
