dimanche 11 mars 2012

Saint EULOGE de CORDOUE, évêque (EULOGIUS, EULOGIO), et sainte LUCRETIA (LÉOCRITIE, LEOCRITIA), martyrs

Martyrdom of Saint Eulogius of Cordova, at Cordova cathedral


Saint Euloge de Cordoue, évêque et martyr

Fils d’un sénateur de Cordoue, très cultivé, saint Euloge, archevêque de Cordoue, composa une "Exhortation au martyre" pour encourager les chrétiens à affronter la menace de l'Islam. L'émir leur laissait la liberté d'exercer leur culte, mais les soumettait à de très lourds impôts. Las d'être traités en parias, beaucoup étaient tentés d’abjurer leur foi. Lui-même fut plusieurs fois arrêté et, alors qu’il venait d’être élu archevêque de Tolède, il le fut une dernière fois parce qu'il avait recueilli une jeune musulmane devenue chrétienne, et que ses parents maltraitaient pour cette raison. Il fut fouetté puis décapité en 859.

SOURCE : http://www.paroisse-saint-aygulf.fr/index.php/prieres-et-liturgie/saints-par-mois/icalrepeat.detail/2015/03/11/13521/-/saint-euloge-de-cordoue-eveque-et-martyr

St. Eulogio, Capilla de San Eulogio, Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (La Mezquita), Córdoba


Saint Euloge

Martyr à Cordoue (+ 859)

et sainte Léocricia, martyrs.

Très cultivé, saint Euloge, archevêque de Cordoue, composa une "Exhortation au martyre" pour encourager les chrétiens à affronter l'Islam. L'émir leur laissait la liberté d'exercer leur culte, mais les soumettait à de très lourds impôts. Las d'être traités en parias, beaucoup étaient tentés de se convertir à l'Islam. Il fut arrêté parce qu'il avait recueilli Léocricia, une jeune musulmane, devenue chrétienne, et que ses parents maltraitaient pour cette raison. Il fut fouetté puis décapité. Léocricia montra autant d'intrépidité.

À Cordoue en Andalousie, l’an 859, saint Euloge, prêtre et martyr. Suivant les traces des saints martyrs de cette ville, dont il composa le mémorial, il fut décapité à cause de son éclatante confession du Christ.

Martyrologe romain

SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/783/Saint-Euloge-de-Cordoue.html

SAINT EULOGE

Prêtre et Martyr

(859)

Euloge, né à Cordoue, appartenait à l'une des plus illustres familles de cette ville; mais sa principale noblesse était celle de la science et de la vertu.

Les Maures avaient envahi sa patrie et persécutaient le nom chrétien. Euloge, sans jamais faiblir, lutta avec persévérance contre leur influence perverse et contre les chrétiens traîtres et perfides qui cherchaient à entraîner leurs frères dans une honteuse apostasie. Que d'âmes durent à son zèle ardent, à ses éloquents écrits, à ses exhortations enflammées, de demeurer fidèles à Jésus-Christ!

C'est surtout grâce à lui que l'on vit une nouvelle et magnifique floraison de victimes immolées pour la foi, fleurs parfumées qui embaumèrent le jardin de l'Église et furent plus tard pour l'Espagne la source de grandes bénédictions. Euloge lui-même recueillit les noms et les actes de ces généreux martyrs. Mais il allait bientôt, lui aussi, se joindre à eux et conquérir la couronne glorieuse qu'il avait méritée à tant d'autres.

Le premier soin du savant prêtre, quand il comparut devant son juge, fut de lui exposer avec vigueur les impostures et les erreurs de Mahomet, et de l'engager à se faire lui-même disciple de Jésus-Christ, unique Sauveur du monde. Furieux d'une si sainte audace, le juge ordonne de le frapper à coups de fouets jusqu'à ce qu'il expire: "Vous auriez bien plus tôt fait, lui dit Euloge, de me condamner à mourir par le glaive, car sachez bien que je suis prêt à mourir plusieurs fois pour Jésus-Christ!"

Conduit devant le conseil du prince musulman, le vaillant prêtre se mit encore à prêcher hardiment l'Évangile avec tant de véhémence que, pour échapper à ses arguments victorieux, on se hâta de le condamner à avoir la tête tranchée. Comme on le conduisait au supplice, l'un des soldats lui donna un soufflet; Euloge, se souvenant des enseignements de son divin Maître, tendit l'autre joue sans se plaindre, et le misérable osa le frapper de nouveau.

Quand le Saint fut arrivé au lieu du supplice, il pria à genoux, étendit les mains vers le Ciel, fit le signe de la Croix et unit ses souffrances et son martyre aux souffrances et à la mort de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ sur la Croix; puis il tendit sa tête au bourreau et consomma son sacrifice. Les fidèles rachetèrent du bourreau la tête de saint Euloge, et donnèrent à son corps une sépulture honorable.

Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950

SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_euloge.html

Saint Euloge, né à Cordoue, au commencement du IXe siècle, appartenait à l’une des plus illustres familles de cette ville ; mais sa principale noblesse était celle de la science et de la vertu, et il fut, sans aucun doute, la première gloire de l’Espagne à cette époque.

Les Maures avaient envahi sa patrie et persécutaient le nom Chrétien. Saint Euloge, sans jamais faiblir, lutta avec persévérance contre leur influence perverse et contre les chrétiens traîtres et perfides qui cherchaient à entraîner leurs frères dans une honteuse apostasie.

Que d’âmes durent à son zèle ardent, à ses éloquents écrits, à ses exhortations enflammées, de demeurer fidèles à Jésus-Christ ! C’est surtout grâce à lui que l’on vit une nouvelle et magnifique floraison de victimes immolées pour la Foi, fleurs parfumées qui embaumèrent le jardin de l’Église et furent plus tard pour l’Espagne la source de grandes bénédictions.

Saint Euloge lui-même recueillit les noms et les actes de ces généreux Martyrs. Mais il allait bientôt, lui aussi, se joindre à eux et conquérir la couronne glorieuse qu’il avait méritée à tant d’autres. Le premier soin du savant prêtre, quand il comparut devant son juge, fut de lui exposer avec vigueur les impostures et les erreurs de Mahomet, et de l’engager à se faire lui-même disciple de Jésus-Christ, unique Sauveur du monde.

Furieux d’une si sainte audace, le juge ordonne de le frapper à coups de fouets jusqu’à ce qu’il expire : « Vous auriez bien plutôt fait, lui dit saint Euloge, de me condamner à mourir par le glaive, car sachez bien que je suis prêt à mourir plusieurs fois pour Jésus-Christ. »

Conduit devant le conseil du prince musulman, le vaillant prêtre se mit encore à prêcher hardiment l’Évangile avec tant de véhémence, que, pour échapper à ses arguments victorieux, on se hâta de le condamner à avoir la tête tranchée.

Comme on le conduisait au supplice, l’un des soldats lui donna un soufflet ; saint Euloge, se souvenant des enseignements de son divin Maître, tendit l’autre joue sans se plaindre, et le misérable osa le frapper de nouveau.

Quand le Saint fut arrivé au lieu du supplice, il pria à genoux, étendit les mains vers le Ciel, fit le signe de la croix et unit ses souffrances et son martyre aux souffrances et à la mort de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ sur la croix ; puis il tendit sa tête au bourreau et consomma son sacrifice, le 11 mars 859, saint Nicolas Ier étant pape, Michel III l’Ivrogne empereur de Byzance et Charles le Chauve roi de France.

Les fidèles rachetèrent du bourreau la tête de saint Euloge, et donnèrent à son corps une sépulture honorable. Un ami du saint prêtre écrivit son histoire, qui demeure comme l’un des plus précieux monuments parmi tant d’autres qui rappellent l’héroïsme des Martyrs.
SOURCE : http://www.cassicia.com/FR/Vie-de-saint-Euloge-ne-a-Cordoue-vers-l-an-800-Fete-le-11-mars-Pretre-martyr-des-musulmans-No_1246.htm

Stiftskirche Heilig Kreuz, Horb am Neckar, Orgelempore (evtl. von Anton Hermann, 1781-1782): Hl. Eulogius von Córdoba († 859) im Gewand der Horber Stiftsprediger


SAINT EULOGE DE CORDOUE,

MARTYR (+ 859) 16 janvier (translation) - 11 mars (martyre) – 1 juin (élévation)

Euloge, d'une des premières familles de Cordoue, fut confié dès sa jeunesse à la communauté des Prêtres de Saint-Zoïle et se forma sous leur direction à la piété et à la science sacrée. On remarqua en lui un vif attrait pour l'étude des Saints Livres; il s'appliqua à en pénétrer le sens et en fit l'objet préféré de ses méditations. Il se mit ensuite sous la conduite d'un pieux et savant Abbé, nommé Espérandieu, qui gouvernait le Monastère de Cutelar près Cordoue : c'est là qu'il connut son biographe Alvare, et se lia d'une étroite amitié avec lui. En sortant de cette école, Euloge parut comme un homme consommé en sagesse et exercé dans la pratique des vertus; son humilité surtout, puis sa douceur et sa charité lui concilièrent l'estime, le respect, l'affection de tous ceux qui le connurent. Il enseigna pendant quelque temps les lettres à Cordoue, fut élevé au diaconat et, bientôt après, au sacerdoce.

Attaché au service d'une église, il fut pour tous, Prêtres et fidèles, un modèle de continence, de piété, d'ascèse. Il dressa des règles pour ceux qui servent Dieu dans les communautés, vécut lui-même comme un vrai Moine dans le clergé, se montra un ecclésiastique parfait au milieu des Moines. Après avoir visité les monastères de son pays, il voulut voir ceux des provinces éloignées pour en confronter les constitutions avec les règles dressées par lui, et recueillir ce qu'il trouverait de meilleur. Il revint ensuite à Cordoue pour travailler avec une nouvelle ardeur à l'oeuvre de sa sanctification.

En 850, la vingtième année du règne d'Abdérame, les Maures, pris d'une fureur subite qu'on ne put s'expliquer, commencèrent à persécuter les Chrétiens. Un évêque d'Andalousie, nommé Récarède soit par apostasie, soit par faiblesse en face de là violence, se fit l'instrument de cette nouvelle persécution : il fit arrêter les Prêtres de Cordoue avec leur Evêque. Tous furent enfermés dans les prisons. Euloge était parmi eux : il employa le temps de sa détention à prier, à encourager ses frères. Il composa une exhortation au martyre pour deux Vierges, nommées Flore et Marie. Ces Saintes filles, dociles à ses instructions, souffrirent généreusement le martyre l'année suivante. Euloge et les autres prisonniers en rendirent grâces au Seigneur : quand ils sortirent de prison quelques jours après leur supplice, Euloge se hâta d'écrire l'histoire de ce supplice pour exciter les autres confesseurs à imiter leur exemple.

Profitant ensuite de la liberté qui lui était laissée, il travailla par ses prédications et ses écrits à instruire les fidèles. Son zèle fut couronné de succès; sous Mohammed, fils d'Abdérame, il empêcha beaucoup de Chrétiens faibles de renier Jésus-Christ, et il envoya au martyre des Moines, des ecclésiastiques, des personnes mariées. Il recueillit ensuite les Actes de ces Martyrs, en composa trois livres sous le titre de Mémorial; en même temps, dans une Apologétique, il justifiait la conduite de ces héros.

Lorsque vers la fin de 858, l'Archevêque de Tolède vint à mourir, le clergé et les fidèles donnèrent leurs suffrages à Euloge : c'est qu'en effet, il était considéré comme le premier homme de l'Église d'Espagne par sa doctrine, sa capacité, sa vertu, comme aussi par le courage avec lequel il avait confessé la Foi de Jésus-Christ devant les persécuteurs. Mais Dieu voulut le rappeler à Lui, avant qu'il pût être sacré. Il y avait à Cordoue une Vierge chrétienne, nommée Léocritie, convertie toute jeune à la Foi de Jésus-Christ par l'une de ses parentes.

Maltraitée par les siens demeurés païens ou mahométans, en danger d'apostasier, si elle cédait à leurs menaces, cette jeune fille vint chercher un refuge près d'Euloge qui la prit sous sa protection, la confia à sa soeur, l'instruisit plus amplement de ses devoirs, fortifia ses résolutions et la fit mettre en sûreté chez un ami. Les parents de Léocritie soupçonnèrent ce qui s'était passé, prétendirent qu'il y avait eu enlèvement de leur fille, et se firent autoriser par le magistrat à ouvrir une enquête. A cette occasion, beaucoup de personnes furent saisies et soumises à la question. Pendant ce temps, Euloge veillait sur sa protégée, la faisait passer secrètement d'une maison dans une autre, affermissait sa Foi et la préparait au martyre, car il lui était difficile d'y échapper. Il passait les nuits en prières pour elle dans l'église de Saint-Zoïle; de son côté, Léocritie veillait, jeûnait, couchait sur la cendre pour se préparer au combat.

A la fin, tous deux furent arrêtés; on les jeta en prison et on les traduisit devant le juge.

Euloge fut accusé d'avoir séduit Léocritie, de l'avoir détournée de l'obéissance qu'elle devait à ses parents; il répondit qu'un Prêtre ne pouvait refuser l'instruction aux personnes qui la lui demandaient, que selon les principes mêmes des persécuteurs, il avait eu raison de dire à Léocritie qu'elle devait dans la circonstance préférer Dieu à ses parents. Il alla même jusqu'à proposer au juge de lui montrer le chemin du Ciel, comme il l'avait fait pour cette jeune fille, de lui découvrir les impostures du faux prophète Mahomet et de lui prouver que Jésus-Christ est l'unique voie par laquelle on arrive au Salut éternel. Il n'avait pas enseigné autre chose à Léocritie.

Entendant cette proposition, le juge entra en fureur et fit fouetter Euloge : "Vous auriez plutôt fait, déclara celui-ci, de me condamner immédiatement à la mort, car de me faire changer vous n'y pouvez prétendre; je donnerais avec joie plusieurs vies, si je le pouvais, pour la défense de ma Foi." Le juge, à ces mots, fit conduire Euloge devant le conseil du roi. Cependant un des conseillers prit à part le Saint Confesseur; il lui déclara qu'on aurait égard à son mérite et qu'il serait épargné, s'il consentait à renier de bouche Jésus-Christ devant le tribunal; à cette condition on lui laisserait toute liberté de demeurer Chrétien. Indigné d'une telle proposition, Euloge répondit à ce conseiller : " Si tu pouvais seulement connaître les récompenses qui attendent ceux qui conservent notre Foi, tu renoncerais aussitôt à toute dignité temporelle pour les obtenir" . Amené devant le conseil du roi, Euloge parla comme devant son premier juge : il alla même jusqu'à exposer devant tout l'auditoire les vérités de l'Évangile : pour ne pas entendre cet enseignement, on le condamna aussitôt à être décapité.

Comme on le conduisait au supplice, un eunuque lui donna un soufflet. Euloge, sans se plaindre, lui présenta l'autre joue; l'infidèle eut l'insolence de la frapper encore. Arrivé au lieu de l'exécution, Euloge pria à genoux, étendit les mains vers le ciel, fit le Signe de la Croix sur tout son corps. Puis avec une fermeté admirable, il présenta la tête au bourreau et consomma ainsi son glorieux martyre, un samedi (11 mars 859). Léocritie fut décapitée le mercredi suivant, 15 mars. Le fouet qui est placé près d'Euloge dans l’iconographie, rappelle qu'avant son dernier supplice il fut cruellement flagellé.

Les écrits d'Euloge que nous avons énumérés Mémorial des Saints ou Actes des Martyrs de Cordoue en trois livres; Exhortation au martyre, adressée aux Vierges Flore et Marie; Apologétique des Martyrs, et un certain nombre de Lettres sont dans P. L., t. 115, col. 736.

Les fidèles de Cordoue rachetèrent au bourreau la tête d'Euloge et l'enterrèrent avec son corps dans l'église de Saint-Zoïle, au service de laquelle il avait été attaché comme Prêtre durant toute sa vie. Le 1er juin 860, on fit l'élévation de son corps, et parce que le 11 mars, date de sa naissance céleste était ordinairement en Carême, que, durant ce saint temps, l'Église mozarabe ne célébrait aucune fête, la mémoire des deux Martyrs Euloge et Léocritie fut célébrée solennellement le 1er juin à Cordoue.

En 883, les deux corps furent transférés de Cordoue à Oviédo, et on en fit l'anniversaire le 16 janvier. Une troisième translation fut exécutée par les papistes le 9 janvier 1300 à Camarasanta. Ainsi s'explique comment le nom d'Euloge reparaît à ces diverses dates. Des exemplaires du martyrologe d'Usuard marquent encore ce nom au 20 septembre.

SOURCE : http://orthodoxie-libre.actifforum.com/t375-saint-martyr-euloge-de-cordoue-1-14-juin

Saint Eulogius of Cordoba

Memorial

11 March

Profile

Son of a senatorial family from Cordoba, Spain. Well educatedPriest. Head of an ecclesiastical school. Worked to comfort and support Christian martyrs and their survivors during Islamic persecutions in Moorish occupied SpainArrested several times for his faith, he wrote Exhortation to Martyrdom while during one of his imprisonments. Appointed to succeed the Archbishop of ToledoSpain, but was never consecrated. Imprisoned after he gave shelter to Saint Leocritia of Cordoba, he preached the Gospel in court, then in front of the king‘s counsel. Martyr.

Died

scourged and beheaded 11 March 859 at Cordoba, Spain

some relics translated to ParisFrance in the early 860’s

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Patronage

carpenters

coppersmiths

Writings

Apologia

Exhortation to Martyrdom

Memorial of the Saints

Additional Information

Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate

Catholic Encyclopedia

Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler

Pictorial Lives of the Saints

Saints of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein

books

Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

other sites in english

Catholic Culture

Catholic Online

Christian Martyrs in Muslim Spain, by Kenneth Baxter Wolf

Executed Today

John Dillon

Saints Stories for All Ages

images

Wikimedia Commons

video

YouTube PlayList

sitios en español

Martirologio Romano2001 edición

fonti in italiano

Martirologio Romano2005 edition

Santi e Beati

MLA Citation

“Saint Eulogius of Cordoba“. CatholicSaints.Info. 24 May 2020. Web. 12 March 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eulogius-of-cordoba/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eulogius-of-cordoba/

Eulogius of Córdova M (RM)

Died 859. In 850, the Moors of Spain began a systematic persecution of the Christians, probably because of indiscreet attacks by Christians on Islam or attempted proselytism. Until that time extra tax had been paid by Christians for the freedom to worship, but the conversion of a Moor was punishable by death for the convert and those who helped him. Eulogius, a descendent of a wealthy family that had owned land near Córdova from the time of the Romans, was one of those arrested during the outbreak of persecution perhaps due to the injudicious words of Bishop Reccared of Andalusia.

Eulogius had been educated by Abbot Sperando and ordained. His younger brother became an important official in the local Islamic court. From the short biography written by his friend Alvarus we learn that Eulogius was renowned for his learning and knowledge of Scriptures, his candor and kindly disposition, and devotion. He was in the habit of visiting hospitals and monasteries, and, in fact, drew up the rules for many of the monasteries of Navarre and Pamplona. That Eulogius was a staunch Catholic, as well as a perceptive one, is evident from his Exhortation to Martyrdom addressed to two young ladies imprisoned with him, Saints Flora and Mary.

In it he urged, "They threaten to sell you as slaves and dishonor you, but be assured that they cannot injure the purity of your souls, whatever infamy they may inflict upon you. Cowardly Christians will tell you in order to shake your constancy that the churches are silent, deserted, and deprived of the sacrifice on account of your obstinacy. But be persuaded that for you the sacrifice most pleasing to God is contrition of heart, and that you can no longer draw back or renounce the truth you have confessed."

Flora and Mary were beheaded after receiving Eulogius's encouragement, but Eulogius and others were released a few days later. During the continued persecution the next seven years, Eulogius was tireless in bolstering the spirits of his fellow Christians. He collected a record, called the Memorial of the Saints, describing the sufferings of martyred saint to encourage the persecuted Christians. There had been a good deal of anti-Islamic agitation, and a church council in Córdova had warned Christians against deliberately provocative behavior. Saint Eulogius in an Apologia, defended martyrs who sought death by proclaiming their faith.

Eulogius was elected archbishop of Toledo, but never set foot within his see for Eulogius did not have to wait long for the destiny he urged on others. In 859, he was again arrested and was martyred for protecting Lucretia (Leocritia), a girl convert from Islam, whom the law condemned to death for apostasy. Eulogius attempted to evangelize the kadi before whom he was tried but to no avail. Sentence was immediately passed and he was beheaded. Lucretia was martyred four days later. After the translation of Eulogius's remains from Córdoba in 883, the bodies of Saints Lucretia and Eulogius rest together in the cathedral of Oviedo (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer).

In art, Saint Eulogius is a priest with a palm, book, sword in his breast, scimitar in his head, a Moor at his feet, and a missioner's cross. At times the picture may include (1) Saint Lucretia who was killed by the Moors with him; (2) Lucretia holding a palm and book with seven seals; (3) Eulogius holding a heart; (4) a whip; or (5) Saint Eulogius praying in the wilderness (Roeder). He is the patron of carpenters and coppersmiths (Roeder).

SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0311.shtml

St. Eulogius of Cordova

Spanish martyr and writer who flourished during the reigns of the Cordovan Caliphs, Abd-er-Rahman II and Mohammed I (822-886). It is not certain on what date or in what year of the ninth century he was born; it must have been previous to 819, because in 848 he was a priest highly esteemed among the Christians of Catalonia and Navarre, and priesthood was then conferred only on men thirty years of age. The family of the saint was of the nobility and held land in Cordova from Roman times. The Mussulman rulers of Spain, at the beginning of the eighth century, tolerated the creed of the Christians and left them, with some restrictions, their civil rule, ecclesiastical hierarchymonasteries, and property, but made them feel the burden of subjection in the shape of pecuniary exactions and military service. In the large cities like Toledo and Cordova, the civil rule of the Christians did not differ from that of the Visigothic epoch. The government was exercised by the comes (count), president of the council of senators, among whom we meet a similarly named ancestor of Eulogius. The saint, like his five brothers, received an excellent education in accord with his good birth and under the guardianship of his mother Isabel. The youngest of the brothers, Joseph, held a high office in the palace of Abd-er-Rahman II; two other brothers, Alvarus and Isidore, were merchants and traded on a large scale as far as Central Europe. Of his sisters, Niola and Anulona, the first remained with her mother; the second was educated from infancy in a monastery where she later became a nun.

After completing his studies in the monastery of St. Zoilus, Eulogius continued to live with his family the better to care for his mother; also, perhaps, to study with famous masters, one of whom was Abbot Speraindeo, an illustrious writer of that time. In the meantime he found a friend in the celebrated Alvarus Paulus, a fellow-student, and they cultivated together all branches of science, sacred and profane, within their reach. Their correspondence in prose and verse filled volumes; later they agreed to destroy it as too exuberant and lacking in polish. Alvarus married, but Eulogius preferred the ecclesiastical career, and was finally ordained a priest by Bishop Recared of Cordova. Alvarus has left us a portrait of his friend: "Devoted", he says, "from his infancy to the Scriptures, and growing daily in the practice of virtue, he quickly reached perfection, surpassed in knowledge all his contemporaries, and became the teacher even of his masters. Mature in intelligence, though in body a child, he excelled them all in science even more than they surpassed him in years. Fair in feature [clarus vultu], honest and honourable, he shone by his eloquence, and yet more by his works. What books escaped his avidity for reading? What works of Catholic writers, of heretics and Gentiles, chiefly philosophers? Poets, historians, rare writings, all kinds of books, especially sacred hymns, in the composition of which he was a master, were read and digested by him; his humility was none the less remarkable and he readily yielded to the judgment of others less learned than himself." This humility shone particularly on two occasions. In his youth he had decided to make a foot pilgrimage to Rome; notwithstanding his great fervour and his devotion to the sepulchre of the Prince of the Apostles (a notable proof of the union of the Mozarabic Church with the Holy See), he gave up his project, yielding to the advice of prudent friends. Again, during the Saracenic persecution, in 850, after reading a passage of the works of St. Epiphanius he decided to refrain for a time from saying Mass that he might better defend the cause of the martyrs; however, at the request of his bishop, Saul of Cordova, he put aside his scruples. His extant writings are proof that Alvarus did not exaggerate. They give an account of what is most important from 848 to 859 in Spanish Christianity, both without and within the Mussulman dominions, especially of the lives of the martyrs who suffered during the Saracenic persecution, quorum para ipse magna fuit. He was elected Archbishop of Toledo shortly before he was beheaded (11 March, 859). He left a perfect account of the orthodox doctrine which he defended, the intellectual culture which he propagated, the imprisonment and sufferings which he endured; in a word, his writings show that he followed to the letter the exhortation of St. Paul: Imitatores mei estote sicut et ego Christi. He is buried in the cathedral of Oviedo;

Sources

FUENTE, Hist. Ec.ca de España (1855), II, 124-26; FLOREZ, España Sagrada, X, 336-471; GAMS, Kirchengesch. Spaniens (1874), II, 229-38; MIGNE, P.L., CXV, 704-966; SIMONET, Historia de los Mozárabes de España in Memorias de la Real Academia de la Historia, XIII, 357, 480 (Madrid, 1903); BAUDISSIN, Eulogius und Alvar (Leipzig, 1872); EBERT, Gesch. der lat. Litt. des Mittelalters (Leipzig, 1880), II, 300-05; BOURRET, Schola Cordubæ Christiana (Paris, 1858), 35-58.

Fita y Colomé, Fidel. "St. Eulogius of Cordova." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1909. 13 Sept. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05604a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by WGKofron. In memory of Fr. John Hilkert, Akron, Ohio. Fidelis servus et prudens, quem constituit Dominus super familiam suam.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05604a.htm

Pictorial Lives of the Saints – Saint Eulogius, Martyr

Article

Saint Eulogius was of a senatorian family of Cordova, at that time the capital of the Moors in Spain. Our Saint was educated among the clergy of the church of Saint Zoilus, a martyr who suffered with nineteen others under Dioclesian. Here he distinguished himself by his virtue and learning; and being made priest, was placed at the head of the chief ecclesiastical school at Cordova. He joined assiduous watching, fasting, and prayer to his studies, and his humility, mildness, and charity gained him the affection and respect of every one. During the persecution raised against the Christians in the year 850, Saint Eulogius was thrown into prison and there wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom, addressed to the virgins Flora and Mary, who were beheaded the 24th of November, 851. Six days after their death EuloMarch gius was set at liberty. In the year 852, several others suffered the like martyrdom. Saint Eulogius encouraged all these martyrs to their triumphs, and was the support of that distressed flock. The Archbishop of Toledo dying in 858, Saint Eulogius was elected to succeed him; but there was some obstacle that hindered him from being consecrated, though he did not outlive his election two months. A virgin, by name Leocritia, of a noble family among the Moors, had been instructed from her infancy in the Christian religion by one of her relations, and privately baptized. Her father and mother used her very ill, and scourged her day and night to compel her to renounce the faith. Having made her condition known to Saint Eulogius and his sister Anulona, intimating that she desired to go where she might freely exercise her religion, they secretly procured her the means of getting away, and concealed her for some time among faithful friends. But the matter was at length discovered, and they were all brought before the cadi, who threatened to have Eulogius scourged to death. The Saint told him that his torments would be of no avail, for he would never change his religion. Whereupon the cadi gave orders that he should be carried to the palace, and presented before the king’s council. Eulogius began boldly to propose the truths of the gospel to them. But to prevent their hearing him, the council condemned him immediately to lose his head. As they were leading him to execution, one of the guards gave him a blow on the face for having spoken against Mahomet; he turned the other cheek, and patiently received a second. He received the stroke of death with great cheerfulness on the nth of March, 859. Saint Leocritia was beheaded four days after him, and her body thrown into the river Guadalquivir, but taken out by the Christians.

Reflection – Beg of God, through the intercession of these holy martyrs, the gift of perseverance. Their example will supply you with an admirable rule for obtaining this crowning gift. Remember that you have renounced the world and the devil once for all at your baptism. Do not hesitate; do not look back, do not listen to suggestions against faith or virtue. But advance, day by day, along- the road which you have chosen, to God, who is your portion forever.

MLA Citation

John Dawson Gilmary Shea. “Saint Eulogius, Martyr”. Pictorial Lives of the Saints1889. CatholicSaints.Info. 2 February 2014. Web. 12 March 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-eulogius-martyr/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-eulogius-martyr/

Martyrdom of S. Eulogius and S. Leocricia of Cordoba, by Josep Segrelles, plate for Historia de España,ca. 1910


March 11.—ST. EULOGIUS, Martyr.

ST. EULOGIUS was of a senatorian family of Cordova, at that time the capital of the Moors in Spain. Our Saint was educated among the clergy of the Church of St. Zoilus, a martyr who suffered with nineteen others under Diocletian. Here he distinguished himself, by his virtue and learning, and, being made priest, was placed at the head of the chief ecclesiastical school at Cordova. He joined assiduous watching, fasting, and prayer to his studies, and his humility, mildness, and charity gained him the affection and respect of every one. During the persecution raised against the Christians in the year 850, St. Eulogius was thrown into prison and there wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom, addressed to the virgins Flora and Mary, who were beheaded the 24th of November, 851. Six days after their death Eulogius was set at liberty. In the year 852 several others suffered the like martyrdom. St. Eulogius encouraged all these martyrs to their triumphs, and was the support of that distressed flock. The Archbishop of Toledo dying in 858. St. Eulogius was

elected to succeed him; but there was some obstacle that hindered him from being consecrated, though he did not outlive his election two months. A virgin, by name Leocritia, of a noble family among the Moors, had been instructed from her infancy in the Christian religion by one of her relatives, and privately baptized. Her father and mother used her very ill, and scourged her day and night to compel her to renounce the Faith. Having made her condition known to St. Eulogius and his sister Anulona, intimating that she desired to go where she might freely exercise her religion, they secretly procured her the means of getting away, and concealed her for some time among faithful friends. But the matter was at length discovered, and they were all brought before the cadi, who threatened to have Eulogius scourged to death. The Saint told him that his torments would be of no avail, for he would never change his religion. Whereupon the cadi gave orders that he should be carried to the palace and be presented before the king's council. Eulogius began boldly to propose the truths of the Gospel to them. But, to prevent their hearing him, the council condemned him immediately to lose his head. As they were leading him to execution, one of the guards gave him a blow on the face, for having spoken against Mahomet; he turned the other cheek, and patiently received a second. He received the stroke of death with great cheerfulness, on the 11th of March, 859. St. Leocritia was beheaded four days after him, and her body thrown into the river Guadalquivir, but taken out by the Christians.

Reflection.—Beg of God, through the intercession of these holy martyrs, the gift of perseverance. Their example will supply you with an admirable rule for obtaining this crowning gift. Remember that you have renounced the world and the devil once for all at your Baptism. Do not hesitate; do not look back; do not listen to suggestions against faith or virtue; but advance, day by day, along the road which you have chosen, to Gods Who is your portion forever.

SOURCE : http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/lots086.htm

Christian Martyrs in Muslim Spain

Kenneth Baxter Wolf
4

The Life of Eulogius

[51] Of the two men who witnessed and wrote about the martyrdoms, Eulogius is by far the more important source. Though Alvarus' works occupy somewhat more of the corpus muzarabicorum, he devoted no more than a single treatise to the martyrs. In sharp contrast, everything that Eulogius wrote dealt directly with some aspect of the martyrdoms.

Eulogius is also the more historically accessible of the two. We have no biography of Alvarus. Aside from the references to his social status and educational achievements to be found in the introductions of letters addressed to him, we are left with nothing more than Alvarus' own writings which reveal little about their author. Alvarus did, on the other hand, have something to say about his childhood friend and lifetime correspondent. His Vita Eulogii, together with the bits and pieces of information that we can extract from the works of Eulogius, provide the necessary biographical framework for determining Eulogius' exact role in the events of the 850s.

Still, the information that we have is of rather inconsistent quality. Our knowledge of Eulogius' birth and ancestry is a case in point. According to Alvarus, Eulogius was of aristocratic stock, "born into a line of senators in the noble city of Córdoba."(1) But the biographer noted neither the date of this birth nor the exact significance of "senator" in ninth-century Córdoba. We also know that Eulogius' mother was named Elizabeth and that he had at least five siblings,(2) but there is no mention of his father. On the other hand we know that he had a grandfather named Eulogius who used to cover his ears and murmur a psalm whenever he heard the muezzin's call to prayer.(3) It is possible that Eulogius had some Arab blood in his veins. One of the three confessors to whom Eulogius [52] claimed some sort of family tie was Christophorus, whom Alvarus separately described as Harabs genere. But Eulogius admits no mixed blood, nor does Alvarus ever ascribe such an ancestry to him, suggesting that the relative that Eulogius and Christophorus shared was a Latin Christian one.(4)

Eulogius' parents dedicated him to the church of St. Zoylus, where he came under the highly formative influence of Abbot Speraindeo.(5) We know very little about Speraindeo outside of what can be distilled from the praise heaped upon him by his pupils. The only one of his works that has survived in anything but a fragmentary state is a brief response to one of Alvarus' letters describing a local Trinitarian heresy.(6) But all indications point to his example and instruction as seminal in the formation of Eulogius' later attitudes.

Under the tutelage of this man, who was "enriching all of Baetica with the rivers of his wisdom," Eulogius learned the responsibilities of the priesthood and studied the patristic authors available in Córdoba at that time. But Speraindeo's program of instruction also included lessons in the doctrinal differences that separated Christianity from Islam, lessons designed to prepare an Andalusian clergyman for the peculiar demands of a religiously pluralistic environment. By chance a portion of what was probably one of Eulogius' "textbooks" has survived in one of his later polemical assaults on the Islamic conception of the afterlife. Quoting from the sixth chapter of one of Speraindeo's works, Eulogius wrote:

"In the next life," they say, "all the fortunate shall be born into paradise. There God will give us beautiful women, more comely than usual, and ready to serve our pleasure." Response: By no means will they obtain the state of blessedness in paradise if both sexes partake freely in the flow of desire. This is not paradise but a brothel, a most obscene place. The Lord, responding to the Pharisees who had asked whose wife the woman would be upon resurrection who had married seven brothers so that, according to the Mosaic law, she might raise up the seed of the next of kin, said: "You err, not knowing the scripture, nor the power of God. The children of this world marry and are given in marriage. But they who shall be as angels of God in heaven shall neither marry nor be given in marriage upon resurrection."(7)

This excerpt indicates that Speraindeo had composed a lengthy point-by-point rebuttal of Islamic doctrine. As we shall see later, [53] Eulogius himself frequently resorted to such scripturally-based diatribes against Islam in his attempts to justify the martyrs' actions.

It was in the company of Speraindeo that Eulogius first met Paulus Alvarus, at the time a fellow student. Years later Alvarus would recall his and Eulogius' reckless habit of debating doctrinal issues which they were not yet qualified to discuss, and composing self-congratulatory verse in honor of their naive erudition.(8) As it turned out, neither ever outgrew his love for poetry or his willingness to leave accepted authority behind for the sake of winning an argument.

Although the language of instruction at St. Zoylus' was no doubt Latin, we can be fairly certain that Eulogius could speak some Arabic. Many of the confessors relied upon a speaking knowledge of Arabic to kindle the anger of the magistrates, and it is doubtful that Eulogius was any less exposed to the language than they. At one point the priest even transliterated and translated, for the benefit of his Latin readers, an Arabic prayer used by the Muslims who arrested Perfectus.(9)

When Eulogius achieved juventus, he was promoted first to the diaconate, then to the priesthood.(10) Later he became a magister, apparently serving in the same capacity as Speraindeo, responsible for the training of young clerics.(11) The only details that we have of this pre-martyrial phase of his priestly life are those relating to two long journeys, neither of which he was able to complete. As Alvarus tells us, Eulogius had always dreamed of making a pilgrimage to Rome, but his responsibilities at home proved far too pressing.(12) He did, however, find time to undertake an expedition north, one which took him to Christian Spain. In a letter of thanks to one of his hosts, Bishop Wiliesindus of Pamplona, Eulogius revealed that his original intention had been to locate two of his brothers who, for some unrecorded reason, had been detained in Bavaria.(13) Upon reaching the Pyrenees, the priest found his route blocked by bandits and the military machinations of one William who, in alliance with cAbd ar-Rahmân II, was fighting Charles the Bald. Carolingian chronicles permit the identification of William as the son of Count Bernard of the Spanish March who had been executed in 844 for supporting Charles' rival Pepin. Following closely in his father's [54] footsteps, William managed, in 848 or 849, to appropriate Barcelona, which he held until succumbing to forces sympathetic to Charles early in the year 850.(14)

Hoping to find a safer passage to the west, Eulogius made his way to Pamplona only to encounter more political instability. This time it centered around Count Sancius Sancio, whom Eulogius also described as a rebel against Charles' authority in that region.(15) Despairing of ever connecting with his brother, Eulogius decided to make the most of his Navarrese detour by visiting the great monasteries of the region. He also took the opportunity to collect some books that were apparently hard to find in Córdoba. Not surprisingly, given his love of poetry, the titles included many works by Virgil, Horace, and Juvenal. Far more remarkable a deficiency of the Cordoban library, however, was that which Eulogius remedied with his acquisition of Augustine's City of God. Historians of Muslim Spain have almost unanimously pointed to the absence of this patristic standard as symptomatic of the slipping hold that Andalusian Christians had on Latin Christian culture.

The letter to bishop Wiliesindus, particularly valuable as a source for students of Spanish monastic history, poses a slight problem for anyone interested in the precise chronology of Eulogius' life. Based on the correspondence between the priest's references to William's civil war and the dated chronicle entries, Elie Lambert and Léonce Auzias picked 848 and 849 respectively as the most likely years of Eulogius' expedition.(16) But Colbert has rightly argued that the year 850, which witnessed the reconquest of Barcelona by Caroline forces, would fit equally well.(17) It might even fit better, since the chroniclers both note that William took Barcelona "through trickery," but lost it in battle, making 850 appear more war torn in the Barcelona area than either of the two previous years.(18) The determination of the exact year of the journey is, as Colbert has indicated, important for figuring out where Eulogius was at the time of the first martyr's death on April 18, 850. If the priest's problems crossing the Pyrenees were the result of Charles' efforts to regain control of the Spanish March then Eulogius was not present when Perfectus was executed.(19)

If Eulogius missed the execution of Perfectus, he seems to have been back in time to witness Isaac's. He reported to Wiliesindus that, upon arriving in Córdoba, he "found all things safe and [55] sound," except that his youngest brother had been removed, for some unknown reason, from the principatus by cAbd ar-Rahmân II. But between the time of his return and mid-November 851, when he composed his letter, the situation had changed quite radically:

We want you, dear father, to be aware of our tribulation, which we suffer these days on account of our sins, so that, defended by the shield of your prayers, we may be led out of this labyrinth of weariness by the unassailable merit of your intercession, which we are confident is worth a great deal in God's estimation. For in the present year, which is 889 era [851 C.E.], a fierce, tyrannical madness, rising up against the church of God, has subverted, laid waste and dispersed everything, dragging bishops, priests, abbots, deacons and the entire clergy to prison, consigning them, shackled in iron, to subterranean caves as if they were dead to the world. Among whom I, your beloved sinner, am also confined, suffering all of the horrid squalors of prison like everyone else.(20)

Eulogius transformed his letter of thanks into a prisoner's petition for the type of spiritual aid that the unafflicted monasteries of the north were most capable of supplying.

This fury. . . has widowed the church of its sacred ministry, deprived it of its oracle, and alienated it from its office, to the point that at this time we have access to no oblation, incense, sacrifice or first fruits through which we might be able to placate our Lord.(21)

Hoping to circumvent this gap in spiritual communication, Eulogius promised Wiliesindus some relics of the Roman martyrs Zoilus and Acisclus to aid in the establishment of a cult in the north that would prove sympathetic to the plight of the Christians in the south.(22)

Eulogius did not explain to the bishop why he and the other equally unfortunate members of the Cordoban clergy had suffered such a sudden turn of fortune. Nor did he mention Bishop Reccafredus, whom Alvarus fingered as the one directly responsible for the arrests. He simply proceeded to describe the heroic efforts of a handful of confessors who, "armed with zeal," had descended into the forum to denounce Muhammad and his followers, without any explicit attempt to connect them to nostra tribulatio. Only toward the very end of his letter did he suggest why they had been arrested:

We believe that we remain bound and shackled for this reason: they think that it was by our instigation, and they ascribe to our instruction, that which these illustrious ones have done as a result of divine inspiration.(23)

[56] This connection between the first wave of martyrdoms and the confinement of the Cordoban clergy provides the only clue as to the date of Eulogius' imprisonment. The radical denunciations that sealed the fates of Isaac and the ten Christians who followed him to their deaths all occurred within the months of June and July 851. There were, according to Eulogius' records, no more executions prior to the very end of his prison term in late November. If the authorities did indeed arrest the clerics because they regarded them as the instigators of the martyrs then we would expect that the roundup of priests began shortly after the two month span of executions, that is, in the late summer or perhaps the early fall of 851.

In his letter to the bishop of Pamplona, Eulogius neither admitted nor denied any personal involvement with the martyrs, but he certainly did not temper his adulation for them. Apparently confident that the new saints could, along with Acisclus and Zoilus, be enlisted to aid the struggling Christian community, he ended his letter with a list of their names and the dates of their deaths, thereby providing the bishop with the minimal biographical information required for the establishment of a new cult.(24)

Eulogius' letter to the bishop of Pamplona was only one of the literary products of his prison months. As Alvarus tells us, the captive priest passed the hours praying, reading, and composing a hortative treatise entitled Documentum martyriale.(25) Its purpose was to encourage two fellow prisoners, the condemned virgins Flora and Maria, to maintain their resolve to die for their faith.(26)

Eulogius' prison term also provided him with the forced leisure he needed to complete a project he had begun before his arrest: the Memoriale sanctorum. In a cover letter written at some point during his incarceration, Eulogius introduced a copy of this combination apology and martyrology to Alvarus:

This work was almost finished when an insane decision on the part of the authorities landed me in prison . . . I thought that it would end up dispersed all over the place. But having been preserved at that time by the Lord, now with his help, amidst the anxieties of prison life, it has not only been completed but delivered to you, whom the Lord chose to see it before anyone else.(27)

It seems most likely that Eulogius began writing the Memoriale sanctorum either during or very shortly after the first wave of [57] martyrdoms. The fact that he neglected to add any formal closing remarks after the account of Theodemirus' death on July 25 suggests that he was either uncertain at the time whether it would be the last, or that the "insane decision" of Reccafredus preempted its completion. In prison Eulogius met a number of long-time captives who filled him in on the details of Perfectus' passion a year and a half before.(28) He also encountered the merchant Joannes who was still serving his sentence for blasphemy.(29) Thus Eulogius was able to extend his martyrology back in time, providing some precedents for the actions of Isaac and the ten other Christians who died in the early summer of 851. He also seems to have composed at this time the lengthy apologetic preface that would ultimately constitute book one. For when reviewing the types of Christians that had been "sent to heaven by the madness of the gentile mob," he included virgines in the company of presbyteres, levitas, and confessores.(30) Since Flora and Maria were the first females among the executed Christians, Eulogius could not have known, prior to their arrest, that they would join the ranks of the other martyrs.

It is difficult to determine precisely when the Muslim authorities first began to single Eulogius out as a dissident supporter of the martyrs. He had been arrested as one of a large body of clerics whom the authorities seem to have regarded more as convenient pressure points for controlling the Christian community as a whole than as actual instigators of the confessors' actions. And he was released on November 29, 851, along with the rest of the detained clerics. As a precautionary measure, the authorities required Eulogius to give sureties that he would remain in Córdoba, but there is no reason to suspect that he was the only one among the prisoners obliged to do so.(31) The "publication" of the Memoriale sanctorum after his release was, as far as can be ascertained, his earliest public statement of support for the martyrs. But we have no way of knowing how the work was received by his Christian or Muslim opponents, if indeed anyone other than Alvarus even read it.

Eulogius drew more attention to himself in the months after his release when Reccafredus and the emir began again to apply pressure on the Christian community.(32) Eulogius, "seeing the deceitful strategy of the bishop spreading around him," bemoaned the lack of effective avenues of protest open to him. In an effort to [58] relieve his friend's consternation, Alvarus arranged to have a letter of the fourth-century bishop Epiphanius of Cyprus read in the presence of the Cordoban bishop, Saul. In this letter Epiphanius praised two priests for abstaining in protest from the celebration of the eucharist. Eulogius seized upon the incident as a precedent for suspending himself from performing the sacrament as a means of dramatizing his discontent with the leadership of the Cordoban church. Had the bishop not threatened him with censure, he had, according to Alvarus, every intention of going through with his threat.(33)

No matter how short-lived, Eulogius' refusal to perform the mass was a symbolically pregnant gesture. More than any other ritual, the eucharist symbolized the unity of the Christian community as a whole and the community of clerics in particular. By suspending himself from its performance, Eulogius sought to detach himself from the policies of Reccafredus and those clerics who supported him. Eulogius perhaps expected more support for his action than he actually received. Alvarus was apparently the only one present who could, like Epiphanius, appreciate such a ploy.

This episode was only the first in a series of confrontations between Eulogius and the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the course of the practically martyrless winter and spring of 852.(34) Alvarus recorded that, upon the death of Archbishop Wistremirus of Toledo, the metropolitans and suffragans elected Eulogius to be his successor.(35) But Eulogius never assumed his prestigious new post for "divine providence placed obstacles in his path."(36) Alvarus never let on as to the exact nature of these obstacles. But given Eulogius' outspoken criticism of the ecclesiastical policies of Reccafredus, his apparently open support of the martyrs, and his legal confinement in Córdoba, it is not hard to guess what prevented him from going to Toledo.

The conflict between Eulogius and the authorities erupted once again in the summer of 852. The executions of Aurelius, Sabigotho, Felix, Liliosa, and Georgius on July 27 broke a months-long moratorium on martyrdom and prompted cAbd ar-Rahmân II to consider a new general incarceration. Eulogius, recounting this episode, wrote:

Learning of this deplorable plan we fled, we departed, we wandered, we hid, and having changed our clothes we made our way in timid flight [59] through the nocturnal silence. We were frightened by falling leaves, we frequently changed our place of residence, we searched for safer places, and we constantly trembled, fearing death by the sword.

This lack of fortitude seems to have bothered Eulogius. But he consoled himself by considering the providential aspects of martyrdom: "perhaps we fled martyrdom not because we feared death, which comes when it will, but because we were unworthy for martyrdom, which is given to some, not to all. Those who have been and are being martyred were predestined from the very beginning."(37)

Though Eulogius was able to ride out this particular storm in hiding, he became a target of reproach during the episcopal council that the emir had convened that summer to consider measures for squelching the new outbreak of martyrdoms.(38) As Eulogius later reported, the exceptor reipublicae, who presided over the council, "moved his tongue against me, heaping insults upon me."(39) Recalling the same incident, Alvarus noted more generally that Eulogius was "attacked and irritated by threats" because "he was seen to be the inspirer of martyrdom in those days."(40)

Not long after the council, cAbd ar-Rahmân II suffered a sudden illness which deprived him first of his speech and then, on September 22, of his life. The fact that the attack came when the bodies of Rogelius and Servus Dei were being committed to the flames attested, in Eulogius' opinion, to the "wondrous power of the savior." But his euphoria over what must have seemed to him an all too rare exercise of divine justice was cut short by the accession of the emir's son, who, as we saw in the first chapter, proved to be much more of a persecutor Christianorum than his father.

Eulogius regarded the subsequent nine-month hiatus in the martyrdoms as a sign that the new emir's hardline approach had worked. In mid-spring of 853 Eulogius decided to bring the Memoriale sanctorum up to date by recording the passions of Aurelius, Sabigotho, and the nine others who had died in the course of the previous summer. He then formally closed the work for the first time with a long invocation to Christ.(41)

Eulogius could not have predicted that within two months he would have five more martyrs to add: Fandila on June 13, Anastasius, Felix, and Digna a day later, and Benildus on the fifteenth. Apologizing to his readers for violating not only the [60] rhetorical rules against prolixity, but those which frowned on choppy narrative, the priest reopened his hagiographical record.(42) There is no way of knowing exactly when Eulogius composed the third book of the Memoriale sanctorum. But the lack of any formal ending suggests that this time he decided to leave the register open in the event of more unforeseen executions. Indeed after the five Christians killed in June 853, the martyrdoms did become increasingly sporadic, but Eulogius would never see them subside altogether.

At some point in or after the year 857 the priest composed the Liber apologeticus martyrum. Like the Memoriale sanctorum, it combined a general defense of the martyrs' claim to sanctity with specific hagiographical narratives, in this case involving the passions of Rudericus and Salomon who died on March 13, 857. In the course of this work Eulogius made passing reference to a new persecution launched by Muhammad I, made possible by an uncharacteristic lull in the provincial rebellions that plagued the emirate. But the priest did not elaborate.(43)

We also know from an independent source that in the spring of 858 Eulogius met Usuard and Odilard, two monks from Paris in search of relics. They had come to Spain hoping to secure the remains of St. Vincent, but were disappointed when the Christians of Zaragoza proved reluctant to hand over such a precious spiritual treasure. Hearing reports of an enormi fidelium interfectione in process in Córdoba, the two monks decided to make their way south rather than return to France empty-handed. Once in Córdoba, they made contact with Samson, the former translator, who had recently assumed the abbacy of the monastery at Pinna Mellaria. There, as Samson informed them, the bodies of Aurelius and Georgius, as well as the head of Sabigotho, had been deposited almost six years before. The two relic hunters were impressed with what they read in the passio and heard from the mouth of Eulogius himself, whose personal knowledge of Aurelius made him an ideal source for additional information about the martyr. Though the monks were very reluctant to part with the relics, Samson and the Cordoban bishop Saul saw to it that the Parisians' detour was not in vain.(44)

As far as we know the Liber apologeticus martyrum was the last of Eulogius' literary efforts.(45) In late winter, 859, the authorities arrested Eulogius for harboring and encouraging the apostasy of [61] the fugitive Leocritia. When questioned as to his motives, Eulogius responded:

The order of preaching is enjoined upon us and it befits our faith that we extend its light to those who seek it from us, that we deny no one who hastens along those paths of life, which are holy. This befits priests, this the true religion demands, this Christ our Lord has taught us: that anyone who is thirsty and wants to drink from the rivers of faith may find a draught double that which he sought. And since this virgin sought from us a rule of the holy faith, it was necessary that we freely give her our attention, that her inclination might be fully ignited. Nor is it right to reject such petitioners, especially for those selected for the service of Christ. Therefore it was fitting that I, inasmuch as I was able, instruct, teach and present the faith of Christ as the way to the celestial kingdom. I would most readily do the same for you if you were inclined to seek the same from me.(46)

The judge reacted to Eulogius' invitation by ordering that he be whipped. But the priest, who had once fled to avoid arrest, was unsatisfied with such a lenient sentence. Now, almost six years later, he told the judge to sharpen his sword and proceeded to point out the errors of Islam. Because Eulogius was such an important member of the Christian community, the judge had him taken to the emir's palace for sentencing by the "royal counselors." There a sympathetic courtier encouraged him to cooperate and avert his own execution:

If stupid and idiotic individuals have been carried away to such lamentable ruin, what is it that compels you, who are outstanding in wisdom and illustrious in manner of life, to commit yourself to this deadly ruin, suppressing the natural love of life? Hear me, I beseech you, I beg you, lest you fall headlong to destruction. Say something in this the hour of your need, so that afterward you may be able to practice your faith. We promise that we will not bother you again anywhere.(47)

But Eulogius chose instead to maintain his course and continued extolling the virtues of Christianity. On March 11, 859, Eulogius was decapitated.

Notes for Chapter Four

1. Vita Eulogii 1.2 (PL 115:707 CSM 1:331).

2. Eulogius' letter to bishop Wiliesindus mentions two sisters, Niola and Anulo, and three brothers, Alvarus, Isidorus, and Joseph. Epistula 3.1, 5, 8 (PL 115: 845, 847, 848; CSM 2:497, 499, 500).

3. Liber apologeticus martyrum 19 (PL 115:862; CSM 2:487).

4. Vita Eulogii 4.12 (PL 115:714; CSM 1:337). There is no reason why either Eulogius or Alvarus would have attempted to hide the former's mixed heritage if such had indeed been the case. Alvarus admitted in a letter that his own ancestry was Jewish, and neither he nor Eulogius had anything but praise for the martyrs who were of mixed blood. Colbert, p. 349, mistakenly assumes that if Eulogius were related to Christophorus, both would have had to have Arab blood, and therefore treats the Christophorus that Alvarus mentioned as a completely different one than Eulogius' contribulis. Morales, in the notes to his edition of Eulogius' works (PL 115:726, n. 2), treated the two as one and the same without, however, drawing any conclusions about Eulogius' ancestry.

5. Toledo 4.24 (633) established the procedure by which young men were to be prepared for ecclesiastical service: ". . . If among the clerics there are any adolescent or pubescent boys, let them all dwell in one room of the atrium, so that they might pass through these treacherous years not in lust but in ecclesiastical discipline under an approved elder whom they shall have as both a master of doctrine and a living example." Vives, p. 201. We have already, in chapter 2, encountered many examples of Christians coming from all over southern Spain to study under the masters of the various basilicae in Córdoba. Some came of their own accord and some were dedicated by their parents. Apparently the latter had the option of returning to lay life when they reached the age of discretion. Alvarus, who, as we shall see below, was Eulogius' schoolmate, did not follow his friend into the priesthood. Similarly, both Emila and Hieremias studied together at the basilica of St. Cyprian, but only the former died an ecclesiastic.

6. Alvarus, Epistula 8 (CSM 1:203-10). The calendar of 961 lists Speraindeo under May 7, and uses the word "interfectio" to describe his death. Dozy, Calendrier. But it is extremely unlikely that he would have died a martyr without some indication in the writings of Eulogius and Alvarus. That he did not survive to see the martyrdoms of the 850s is evident from Alvarus' reference to his master as "bone recordationis memorie." Vita Eulogii 1.2 (PL 115:708; CSM 1:331).

7. Memoriale sanctorum 1.7 (PL 115:745; CSM 2:375-6). Deuteronomy 25.5, Matthew 27.29, and Luke 20.34-5.

8. Vita Eulogii 1.2 (PL 115:708; CSM 1:331).

9. "Zalla, Allah, Halla, Anabi. V. A. Zallen. Quod Latine dicitur, Psallat Deus super prophetam, et salvet eum." Memoriale sanctorum 2.1.3 (PL 115:767; CSM 2:399).

10. Isidore defined juventus as between the ages of 28 and 50. Etymologies 11.2. Toledo 4.20 (633) set the minimum age for deacons at 25, and for priests at thirty. Vives, p. 200.

11. Vita Eulogii 1.3 (PL 115:708; CSM 1:332). Eulogius described the martyrs Sanctius and Christophorus individually as "auditor noster," suggesting that they may have been students of his at one time.

12. Vita Eulogii 1.3 (PL 115:709; CSM 1:332).

13. Epistula 3 (PL 115:845; CSM 2:497).

14. Annales Bertiniani, ed. G. Waltz, MGH, Scriptores rerum germanicorum in usum scholarum . . . (Hanover, 1883), pp. 36, 38. Fragmentum chronici Fontanellensis, ed. George H. Pertz, MGH, Scriptores 2 (Hanover, 1829), pp. 302-3.

15. Epistula 3.1 (PL 115:845; CSM 2:498). Independent confirmation of this rebellion is not available.

16. Léonce Auzias, L'Aquitaine carolingienne (778-987), Bibliothèque Méridionale,

series 2, vol. 28 (Toulouse, 1937), p. 264. Elie Lambert, "Le voyage de Saint Euloge dans les Pyrénées en 848," Estudios dedicados a Menéndez Pidal, vol. 4 (Madrid, 1953), pp. 557-67.

17. Colbert, p. 185.

18. Annales Bertiniani, pp. 36, 38. Fragmentum chronici Fontanellensis, pp. 302, 303.

19. Colbert's observation that Eulogius seems to have relied on second hand accounts of Perfectus' martyrdom and therefore must have been away from Córdoba at the time, would have been stronger had not Eulogius also credited others for his information about Pomposa. Memoriale sanctorum 3.11.3 (PL 115:812; CSM 2:453).

20. Epistula 3.10 (PL 115:849; CSM 2:501).

21. Ibid.

22. Epistula 3.9 (PL 115:848: CSM 2:500).

23. Epistula 3.12 (PL 115:850; CSM 2:502). Here, as elsewhere, it is difficult to determine whether or not Eulogius' use of the first person plural is rhetorical.

24. Epistula 3.13 (PL 115:852; CSM 2:503).

25. Vita Eulogii 2.4 (PL 115:709; CSM 1:332-3).

26. Ibid.

27. PL 115:733; CSM 2:364.

28. Memoriale sanctorum 2.1.5 (PL 115:769; CSM 2:401).

29. Memoriale sanctorum 1.9 (PL 115:747; CSM 2:377).

30. Memoriale sanctorum 1.17 (PL 115:751; CSM 2:381). Colbert, p. 218, regards this as a later insertion. But, as we shall see in the next chapter, there is no reason to suppose that Eulogius composed the apologetic portion of the work before recording the passions of the first group of eleven spontaneous martyrs.

31. Vita Eulogii 2.7 (PL 115:711; CSM 1:334).

32. Vita Eulogii 2.6 (PL 115:710; CSM 1:333-4).

33. Vita Eulogii 2.7 (PL 115:710-11; CSM 1:334).

34. We hear no more about Reccafredus after Eulogius' eucharistic threat. Given the way Alvarus referred to the "times of Reccafredus," he may well have died between the spring of 852 and the time Alvarus wrote the Vita Eulogii.

35. Though the date of Wistremirus' death has provoked considerable debate in the past, the fact that Eulogius, in his letter of November 851 to Bishop Wiliesindus of Pamplona, referred to Wistremirus as "adhuc vigentem" at the time of Eulogius' trip a year before, suggests that he died sometime in 851 prior to Eulogius' letter. Based on the chronology of the Vita Eulogii, the election most likely took place in early 852, not long after Eulogius' release from prison. Epistula 3.7 (PL 115:848; CSM 2:500). See Colbert, pp. 322-8, for a summary of the controversy.

36. Vita Eulogii 3.19 (PL 115:713; CSM 1:336). Possibly the political tensions that existed between Toledo and Córdoba at the time led to Eulogius' election in absentia as a form of protest. Dozy 1:354.

37. Memoriale sanctorum 2.14 (PL 115:795; CSM 2:433-4).

38. There has been little agreement among historians as to the precise date of this council. Eulogius tells us that the exceptor fell from the emir's grace post bisseno mense after the council met and post aliquos menses after the accession of Muhammad I. Given that the council was intended to find a way of preventing future martyrdoms, it would make the most sense for it to have been convened immediately after a significant number of executions. The middle to late summer of 852, after the group of martyrs that died on July 27, fits best. It also makes the most sense in terms of the order of events that Eulogius described, placing, as he did, the council on the eve of cAbd ar-Rahmân II's death. The exceptor's disgrace, then, would have occurred twelve months later, or roughly August, 853. It does not make as much sense to interpret post bisseno mense as "after the twelfth month," or December, as Colbert would have it (p. 249). Memoriale sanctorum 3.2 (PL 115:801; CSM 2:440).

39. Memoriale sanctorum 2.15.2 (PL 115:796; CSM 2:434-5).

40. Vita Eulogii 2.5 (PL 115:710; CSM 1:333), 3.8 (PL 115:711; CSM 1:335).

41. Eulogius tells us that he composed the passio of Aurelius, Sabigotho, et al., at the request of their youngest child nine months after the execution, that is, about May of 853. Memoriale sanctorum 2.10.17 (PL 115:784; CSM 2:423). We can assume that the others that followed in the summer of 852 were recorded at about the same time. At some point after Eulogius first terminated his martyrology with the account of Theodemirus' death and before the inclusion of the victims of the summer of 852, that is between November 851 and May 853, he incorporated the passio of Nunilo and Alodia, two Christians executed for apostasy in Bosca, the news of which he had received secondhand from Venerius, the bishop of Alcalá. He began the episode with an apology for his lack of prescience in ending his martyrology prematurely. Memoriale sanctorum 2.7 (PL 115:775 CSM 2:406). The passio of Flora and Maria was also composed sometime in this interim period. But its structure indicates that it was originally designed as a separate work, perhaps intended to accompany the Documentum martyriale, and was only later added to the rest of the passiones. Memoriale sanctorum 2.8 (PL 115:835-42; CSM 2:408-15).

42. Memoriale sanctorum 3, pref. (PL 115:799; CSM 2:438-9).

43. Liber apologeticus martyrum 22 (PL 115:863; CSM 2:488-9).

44. Aimoin, De translatione I (PL 115:941-8). Nathalia is, for some unknown reason, the name that Sabigotho assumed in the passio that accompanied the remains to Paris. The meeting between the monks and Eulogius is mentioned specifically in Aimoin 1.8 (PL 115:944-5).

45. Raphael Jiménez Pedrajas has made a case for regarding Eulogius as the author of the revised passio that Usuard and Odilard brought north with them, perhaps making this his last work. "San Eulogio de Córdoba, autor de la pasión francesa de los mártires mozárabes cordobeses Jorge, Aurelio y Natalia," Anthologica Annua 17 (1970).

46. Vita Eulogii 5.15 (PL 115:716; CSM 1:339).

47. Vita Eulogii 15 (PL 115:717; CSM 1:340).

SOURCE : https://libro.uca.edu/martyrs/cm4.htm

Reliquaire de Saint Eulogius et de Sainte Leocritia de Cordoba,

Camara Santa, Oviedo Cathedral


March 11

St. Eulogius of Cordova, Priest and Martyr

From his authentic life by Alvarus, his intimate friend, and from his works, Bibl. Patr. t. 9. See Acta Sanct. t. 7. Fleury, b. 48. p. 57.

A.D. 859.

ST. EULOGIUS was of a senatorian family of Cordova, at that time the capital of the Moors or Saracens in Spain. Those infidels had till then tolerated the Christian religion among the Goths, exacting only a certain tribute every new moon. Our saint was educated among the clergy of the church of St. Zoilus, a martyr, who suffered at Cordova, with nineteen others, under Dioclesian, and is honoured on the 27th of June. Here he distinguished himself by his virtue and learning; and being made priest, was placed at the head of the chief ecclesiastical school in Spain, which then flourished at Cordova. He joined assiduous watching, fasting and prayer, to his studies: and his humility, mildness, and charity gained him the affection and respect of every one. He often visited the monasteries for his further instruction in virtue, and prescribed rules of piety for the use of many fervent souls that desired to serve God. Some of the Christians were so indiscreet as openly to inveigh against Mahomet, and expose the religion established by him. This occasioned a bloody persecution at Cordova, in the 29th year of Abderrama III. the eight hundred and fiftieth year of Christ. Reccafred, an apostate bishop, declared against the martyrs: and, at his solicitation, the bishop of Cordova and some others were imprisoned, and many priests, among whom was St. Eulogius, as one who encouraged the martyrs by his instructions. It was then that he wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom, 1 addressed to the virgins Flora and Mary, who were beheaded the 24th of November, in 851. These virgins promised to pray as soon as they should be with God, that their fellow-prisoners might be restored to their liberty. Accordingly St. Eulogius and the rest were enlarged six days after their death. In the year 852, several suffered the like martyrdom, namely, Gumisund and Servus-Dei: Aurelius and Felix with their wives: Christopher and Levigild: Rogel and Servio-Deo. A council at Cordova, in 852, forbade any one to offer himself to martyrdom. Mahomet succeeded his father upon his sudden death by an appoplectic fit; but continued the persecution, and put to death, in 853, Fandila, a monk, Anastasius, Felix, and three nuns, Digna, Columba, and Pomposa. Saint Eulogius encouraged all these martyrs to their triumphs, and was the support of that distressed flock. His writings still breathe an inflamed zeal and spirit of martyrdom. The chief are his history of these martyrs, called the Memorial of the Saints, in three books; and his Apology for them against calumniators, showing them to be true martyrs, though without miracles. 2 His brother was deprived of his place, one of the first dignities of the kingdom. St. Eulogius himself was obliged by the persecutors to live always, after his releasement, with the treacherous bishop Reccafred, that wolf in sheep’s clothing. Wherefore he refrained from saying mass, that he might not communicate with that domestic enemy.

The archbishop of Toledo dying in 858, St. Eulogius was canonically elected to succeed him; but there was some obstacle that hindered him from being consecrated; though he did not outlive his election two months. A virgin, by name Leocritia, of a noble family among the Moors, had been instructed from her infancy in the Christian religion by one of her relations, and privately baptized. Her father and mother perceiving this, used her very ill, and scourged her day and night to compel her to renounce the faith. Having made her condition known to St. Eulogius and his sister Anulona, intimating that she desired to go where she might freely exercise her religion, they secretly procured her the means of getting away from her parents, and concealed her for some time among faithful friends. But the matter was at length discovered, and they were all brought before the cadi. Eulogius offered to show the judge the true road to heaven, and to demonstrate Mahomet to be an impostor. The cadi threatened to have him scourged to death. The martyr told him his torments would be to no purpose; for he would never change his religion.

Whereupon the cadi gave orders that he should be carried to the palace, and presented before the king’s council. One of the lords of the council took the saint aside, and said to him: “Though the ignorant unhappily run headlong to death, a man of your learning and virtue ought not to imitate their folly. Be ruled by me, I entreat you: say but one word, since necessity requires it: you may afterwards resume your own religion, and we will promise that no inquiry shall be made after you.” Eulogius replied, smiling: “Ah! if you could but conceive the reward which waits for those who persevere in the faith to the end, you would renounce your temporal dignity in exchange for it.” He then began boldly to propose the truths of the gospel to them. But to prevent their hearing him, the council condemned him immediately to lose his head. As they were leading him to execution, one of the eunuchs of the palace gave him a blow on the face for having spoken against Mahomet: he turned the other cheek, and patiently received a second. He received the stroke of death out of the city-gates, with great cheerfulness, on the 11th of March, 859. St. Leocritia was beheaded four days after him, and her body thrown into the river Bœtis, or Guadalquivir, but taken out by the Christians. The Church honours both of them on the days of their martyrdom.

If we consider the conduct of Christ towards his Church, which he planted at the price of his precious blood, and treats as his most beloved spouse, we shall admire a wonderful secret in the adorable councils of his tender providence. This Church, so dear to him, and so precious in his eyes, he formed and spread under a general most severe and dreadful persecution. He has exposed it in every age to frequent and violent storms, and seems to delight in always holding at least some part or other of it in the fiery crucible. But the days of its severest trials were those of its most glorious triumphs. Then it shone above all other periods of time with the brightest examples of sanctity, and exhibited both to heaven and to men on earth the most glorious spectacles and triumphs. Then were formed in its bosom innumerable most illustrious heroes of all perfect virtue, who eminently inherited, and propagated in the hearts of many others, the true spirit of our crucified Redeemer. The same conduct God in his tender mercy holds with regard to those chosen souls which he destines to raise, by special graces, highest in his favour. When the councils of divine providence shall be manifested to them in the next life, then they shall clearly see that their trials were the most happy moments, and the most precious graces of their whole lives. In sickness, humiliations, and other crosses, the poison of self-love was expelled from their hearts, their affections weaned from the world, opportunities were afforded them of practising the most heroic virtues, by the fervent exercise of which their souls were formed in the school of Christ, and his perfect spirit of humility, meekness, disengagement, and purity of the affections, ardent charity, and all other virtues, in which true Christian heroism consists. The forming of the heart of one saint is a great and sublime work, the masterpiece of divine grace, the end and the price of the death of the Son of God. It can only be finished by the cross on which we were engendered in Christ, and the mystery of our predestination is accomplished.

Note 1. Documentum Martyrii, t. 9. Bibl. Patr. p. 699. [back]

Note 2. Some objected to these martyrs, that they were not honoured with frequent miracles as those had been who suffered in the primitive ages. [back]

Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73).  Volume III: March. The Lives of the Saints.  1866.

SOURCE : https://www.bartleby.com/210/3/111.html

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (Spanish: Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, ou  Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba (Spanish: Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba)


Sant' Eulogio di Cordoba Sacerdote e martire

11 marzo

† Cordoba, Spagna, 11 marzo 859

Eulogio è il più importante dei «Martiri di Cordoba» assieme a Rodrigo e Salomone. Strappata ai Visigoti dagli Arabi nel 771, Cordoba raggiunse il suo apogeo culturale nel X secolo, prima di essere "riconquistata" nel 1236 da Ferdinando III di Castiglia. I musulmani non si mostrarono sempre feroci persecutori dei cristiani, cui talvolta si limitavano a imporre di non testimoniare la loro fede e di versare un cospicuo tributo periodico: se ciò provocava lo spirito d'indipendenza dei cristiani, i più sensibili, non potevano tollerare una specie di ibernazione religiosa. Di qui sporadiche reazioni alla dominazione, che venivano soffocate con sporadiche persecuzioni. Di una di queste reazioni furono protagonisti Rodrigo, Salomone ed Eulogio. Questo era prete; non potendo accettare la passività dei cristiani, parlò apertamente contro il Corano. Imprigionato una prima volta, venne rilasciato, ma, nominato vescovo di Toledo, non poté essere ordinato, perché venne decapitato l'11 marzo 859. (Avvenire)

Emblema: Palma

Martirologio Romano: A Córdova nell’Andalusia in Spagna, sant’Eulogio, sacerdote e martire, decapitato con la spada per avere proclamato apertamente la fede in Cristo. 

Sant’Eulogio non è che il più importante fra la folta schiera dei “Martiri di Cordoba”. Numerosissimi cristiani, infatti, testimoniarono la loro fede in Cristo con il supremo sacrificio dell’effusione del loro sangue presso Cordoba, importante città spagnola dell’Andalusia. Strappata ai Visigoti dagli Arabi nel 771, la città raggiunse il suo apogeo culturale nel X secolo, prima di essere riconquistata nel 1236 dal celebre sovrano San Ferdinando III di Castiglia.

Bisogna constatare, ad onor del vero, che i musulmani non si mostrarono sempre feroci persecutori dei cristiani, ai quali solitamente si limitavano ad imporre di non testimoniare pubblicamente la loro fede cristiana e soprattutto di versare periodicamente un cospicuo tributo: se ciò da un punto di vista puramente politico portava a provocare uno spirito d’indipendenza e di autonomia da parte della popolazione indigena, quest’ultima in quanto cristiana non poteva certo tollerare una sorta di ibernazione religiosa. Nacquero così sporadiche reazioni alla dominazione dei mori, che venivano facilmente soffocate con altrettanto sporadiche persecuzioni.

Fu proprio in tale contesto che si collocò il martirio di Eulogio, sacerdote, vescovo eletto di Toledo. Non potendo a qualunque costo accettare o tollerare la passività dei cristiani, egli scrisse e predicò apertamente contro il Corano. Imprigionato una prima volta, venne rilasciato dopo che egli aveva confortato e rianomato i suoi compagni di prigionia con un’efficace “Esortazione ai martiri”. Nominato vescovo di Toledo, non poté neppure essere consacrato e prendere possesso della sua sede: l’11 marzo 859 venne infatti decapitato, in esaudimento del suo grande desiderio.

Autore: Fabio Arduino

SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/45050

Voir aussi http://stmaterne.blogspot.com/2008/03/saint-euloge-de-cordoue-sceau-des.html