Aurelius and Natalia

Aurelius and Natalia
Died	852, Córdoba, Al-Andalus
Martyred by	Abd ar-Rahman II
Means of martyrdom	Decapitation
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	27 July

Aurelius and Natalia (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.

Biography

Aurelius was the son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother and was brought up as a Christian. His wife Sabigotho was also the child of a Muslim father but he converted her to Christianity and she took the name Natalia. Together they had two children and they practised Christianity in secret while continuing to live their Christian faith in secret. 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 to the churches 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 monk, George, who had come to Cordoba to seek alms for the Mar Saba monastery but been arrested. When the court was about to release him, he criticised Islam and was therefore executed with the others.

Veneration

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

Sources

• Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4.
• Bornos, Ángel (May 2007). Los santos más populares (in Spanish). Ediciones Robinbook. ISBN 978-84-7927-902-8. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
• Butler, Alban; Burns, Paul (1 January 1995). Butler's Lives of the Saints. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-86012-256-2. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
• Gracia, Roberto Grao (6 February 2020). El siglo de los Laicos (in Spanish). Punto Rojo Libros. ISBN 978-84-18416-19-4. Retrieved 3 March 2024.

External links

• http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=309
• http://www.familiario.com/santoral/NataliadeC%F3rdoba.htm Archived 2018-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
• http://www.santopedia.com/santos/santa-liliosa-de-cordoba