Albinus of Vercelli

Holy Hierarch Albinus of Vercelli was the sixth bishop of Vercelli, from 435 to 451. His episcopate is linked to the rebuilding and consecration of the cathedral of Vercelli in the year 448. Vercelli lies in northern Italy.

The few reports about his life concern this cathedral. In 406 the Ostrogothic hordes of Radagaisus and in 410 the Visigoths of Alaric ravaged Vercelli and destroyed the cathedral built by Theodosius I on the site of the early Christian basilica of Saint Eusebius. When the work was finished, Saint Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, passed through Vercelli on his way to a council at Ravenna to ask the emperor not to let Aetius draw the Alans against Brittany; Germanus promised that on his return he would consecrate the cathedral. But he died at Ravenna on 31 July 448, mourned by the bishops present and by the Empress Galla Placidia. To fulfil his wish to be buried in his cathedral at Auxerre, his body was embalmed and taken under imperial guard toward Gaul. When the funeral procession passed through Vercelli, Albinus ordered the coffin brought into the cathedral for the rite of consecration. The story says that as soon as the saint entered the church, all the candles lit by themselves, as a sign of participation in the consecration. Albinus died in 451.

The Roman Martyrology sets his commemoration on 1 March, by the Western calendar (new style). He is the chief patron of the town of Albino near Bergamo. He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.