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SAINT FRUCTUOSUS, BISHOP OF TARRAGONA, MARTYR

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 21st of January

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SAINT FRUCTUOSUS, BISHOP OF TARRAGONA, MARTYR


According to his authentic acts, bishop and martyr Fructuosus of Tarragona in Spain was captured under the emperors Valerianus and Gallienus on January 16, 259 together with his deacons Augurius and Eulogius. After he had baptised the catechumen Rogatian in the dungeon, he was presented, along with Augurius and Eulogius, to the President Aemilian on Friday, January 21. Here he professed to be a Christian and worshipper of the One God who created heaven and earth. The three confessors were sentenced to death by fire. This condemnation aroused the pity of the people, who could not hold back their tears as they saw the three innocent victims being led into the amphitheatre.

Then a Christian, named Felix, begged him to remember him in his prayers. "I must," cried Fructuosus in a loud voice, "pray for the whole Church, spread from east to west." When Martialis then implored him to say a few words of consolation to his sorrowful Church, he said, addressing the Christians: "My brethren, the Lord will not leave you without a shepherd; he is true to his promise. Do not grieve over my fate; an hour of suffering will soon pass."

Meanwhile, the saints were tied to a stake and the pile of wood lit. In this martyrdom they became like the three young men in the fiery furnace, and the divine Trinity became visible in them, in that the Father was with them and the Son stood by them, and the Holy Spirit walked in the midst of fire. At first the flame seemed to remain at a respectful distance, but gradually it consumed the ties with which their hands were fastened, so that the holy martyrs were now able to stretch them out crosswise in prayer, and praying in this position they gave up their spirit. After their death, two Christians, the governor's court servants Babylas and Mygdonius, witnessed the holy men ascend into heaven crowned with glory.

Some of their relics came to the Church of Saint Montana near Barcelona, ​​sone to a Benedictine monastery near Genoa. The name of Saint Fructuosus, whom the Spaniards call San Frutos, has always been highly celebrated in the Western Church, especially in Spain and Africa, and is also recorded in the Roman Martyrology*. In Church art, the saint is depicted in episcopal robes, standing on a pyre. He is one of the patron saints of Segovia and Tarragona in Spain. (II. 339. But. I. 461)

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 110)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Fructuosus may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

➡️ More information about Saint Fructuosus

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org






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