Saint of the day:Saint Natalia (Natalie) July 27

July 27

 

Saint of the day:

Saint Natalia (Natalie)

Patron Saint of converts, martyrs

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Prayer:

 

Saint Natalia's Story

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Aurelius and Natalie (died 852) were Christian martyrs who were put to death during the reign of Abd ar-Rahman II, Emir of Córdoba, and are counted among the Martyrs of Córdoba.

Aurelius was the son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. He was also secretly a follower of Christianity, as was his wife Natalie, who was also the child of a Muslim father. One of Aurelius's cousins, Felix, accepted Islam for a short time, but later converted back to Christianity and married a Christian woman, Liliosa.

Under Sharia Law, all four of them were required to profess Islam. In time all four began to openly profess their Christianity, with the two women going about in public with their faces unveiled. They were all swiftly arrested as apostates from Islam.

They were given four days to recant, but they refused and were beheaded. They were martyred with a local monk, George, who had openly spoken out against the prophet Mohammed. He had been offered a pardon as a foreigner but chose instead to denounce Islam again and die with the others.

They are considered saints in the Roman Catholic Church, with a feast day of July 27.

 

Note:

Saint Natalia de Córdoba was born in this city around 825, in full Muslim rule. Emir Abderramán II reigned then, believing that with this he would tame the rebellious character of the Christians, he unleashed a persecution against them that further inflamed the problem he wanted to solve. Indeed, the religious provocation against the Muslims ended up, knowing that this one always ended in martyrdom. It was the case of Natalia, who was born to Mohammedan parents. But the father died, being still very small, the mother married in second nuptials with a Christian, who managed to convert her.

Natalia was educated, then, Christianly and married to Aurelio. Aurelio was born to a Christian mother and a Mohammedan father. With the passage of time, he was orphaned and educated by a Christian aunt. They lived like true believers but in hiding, to avoid persecution. But having attended the martyrdom of John, both husbands believed that they had to be braver and practice their religion in public to encourage other Christians, thus preventing them from moving on to Islam, the official religion at that time and place. Soon it was their turn to martyrdom.

They were seized by the governor's ministers and taken to prison. There they tried by all means, judges and executioners, to deny their faith. But neither the promises nor the tortures could with them, reason why finally they were degollados the 27 of July of the 852. Their bodies were buried and venerated by the Christians; but being very unsafe in Cordoba, Carlos el Calvo took care of moving six years later to San Germán (Paris) the body of San Aurelio and the head of Santa Natalia.

Natalia's grief was that her two daughters, ages 5 and 8, would become Muslims as established by Arab laws. They were taken to the Tabanense monastery under the care of Isabela, widow and martyr of Jeremiah. They gave him money for his support.