St. Maurice

Who they were

Maurice was, in the fifth century account of Bishop Eucherius that is our source and that historians still argue over, the commander of the Theban Legion: Egyptian Christian soldiers serving Rome in Gaul who were ordered at Agaunum to take part in persecuting fellow Christians and refused. The legion was decimated, every tenth man executed, refused again, was decimated again, and was finally destroyed entire. The answer recorded for Maurice stands for all of them: we are your soldiers, but we are also the servants of God; we owe you military service, but we cannot renounce him.

Two things outlast the argument about the history. The abbey of Saint Maurice, founded at the site in 515, has prayed without interruption ever since, which makes it the oldest continuously active monastery in the West. And the thirteenth century statue of Maurice at Magdeburg is the first monumental depiction of a Black African in European art, which settles how he is to be shown: he was an Egyptian, and he is depicted as one.

Why people turn to St. Maurice

Service members, police, and everyone under orders who has a conscience, with St. Nuno Álvares Pereira and St. Martin of Tours. The point is not that service is suspect. The point is that integrity sometimes costs, and he is the patron of paying it.

How to ask their intercession

Before the order you cannot obey, pray his sentence as it stands. And for those serving honourably under hard commands, by name.