St. Alphege of Canterbury
Feast day: April 19
St. Alphege, the eventual Archbishop of Canterbury, was born in 954 and martyred for the Faith by Danish invaders of England in 1012. From a wealthy family, St. Alphege, also spelled “Aelfheah,” among other variants, entered the Benedictine abbey of Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, and later became an anchorite, a form of hermit, near Bath. Known for his piety, austerity and generosity to the poor, he was appointed Abbot of the abbey in Bath and then the bishop of Winchester, where he worked to enlarge the city’s churches and upgrade the cathedral.
In 994, St. Alphege was sent by the king of England as ambassador to King Olaf of Norway, whom he encouraged to become a Christian and confirmed. In 1006, St. Alphege became the Archbishop of Canterbury and was an inspirational force in the decrees of the Council of Enham, which called to discuss significant issues such as those caused by Viking raids. Although King Olaf had promised not to invade England again, the Danes conquered much of southern England and soon attacked Canterbury, looting the city and burning the cathedral. They seized many of the town’s inhabitants and sold them as slaves.
St. Alphege was also captured as was the Bishop of Rochester and the Abbess of St. Mildrith’s, although the Abbot of St. Augustine’s Abbey managed to escape. St. Alphege was held by the Danes for seven months after being transported to Greenwich. Ill-treated, he later refused to have a ransom paid for his release since it would require money provided by the poor as taxes. St. Alphege was then killed on Easter Day by the Danes with an axe after first being pelted with ox bones left over from the drunken revelry during a feast. He was first buried at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, but his remains were later transferred apologetically to Canterbury Cathedral in 1023 by the Viking King Canute, who was also King of England.
Reports of conversions among the soldiers who killed St. Alphege came soon after his death. Today the place of his death is still marked by a church in his honor at Greenwich, and a stone indicates his burial spot beside the high altar in Canterbury Cathedral. St. Alphege was canonized in 1068.
Venerated as a martyr, St. Alphege particularly inspired St. Thomas Becket, also the Archbishop of Canterbury, who prayed to him in 1170 just before his own murder. Recent research indicates that St. Thomas Becket owned an 11th century book of psalms, held today in a Cambridge library, which more than likely belonged to St. Alphege. Becket may have held on to this psalter at the moment of his martyrdom by picking it up when the King’s knights came to challenge him. Eyewitnesses claim that Becket invoked St. Alphege in his final words, “To God and St. Mary and the saints who protect and defend this cathedral, and to the blessed St. Denis and St. Alphege, I commend myself and the Church’s cause.” In his last homily in Canterbury Cathedral on Christmas Day 1170, Becket told his congregation that they already had one archbishop who was a martyr, St. Alphege, and that it was possible that they would shortly have another.
St. Alphege’s shrine in Canterbury Cathedral was the focus of pilgrimages there until Becket’s subsequent martyrdom and shrine overshadowed it. The shrines of both saints at Canterbury Cathedral were destroyed in the Reformation.
Reflection
My Lord and my God, may I only see the good in people so that I am never tempted to hatred. Help me to be inspired by examples like St. Alphege, who dearly love the poor.
Prayer
Lord our God,
you have honoured the Church
with the victorious witness of St. Alphege.
As he imitated the sufferings and death of the Lord,
may we follow in his footsteps and come to eternal joy.
We make our prayer through Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
