Saint Albinus of Angers

Albinus was born around 470 in Vannes, in Brittany, to a noble Gallo-Roman family. He chose monastic life and for twenty-five years was abbot at Tincillac, until in 529 the people of Angers elected him bishop by acclamation — and, the sources say, against his will. As bishop he found himself doing the uncomfortable work. He led a campaign against marriages between blood relatives, which in those years were mostly a matter for the nobility, and took part in the councils of Orléans in 538 and 541, after asking King Childebert for permission. He found support in Caesarius of Arles, after seeing how little the other bishops cared. Plenty of traces remain of his reputation as a man who looked after people in trouble. He used the diocese’s funds to ransom hostages from pirates. He took in Tugdual, who was fleeing his enemies, and defended him before the king. And he clashed with Childebert himself, who was holding a woman named Etheria in prison: unable to get her freed, he went to visit her in jail, and the soldier who tried to bar his way fell dead at his feet — so tradition says, and it was that event that changed the king’s mind. Another legend says he prayed into the night for some men locked in the tower of Angers, and that a large stone fell out of the wall, letting them escape. He died in 550 and was buried in the church of Saint-Pierre in Angers. Six years later a church was dedicated to him alone, and an abbey grew up beside it. In France they call him Saint-Aubin. If your name is Albino or Albina, today is your name day.