Acta Sanctorum

Gumesindus und Servus Dei

13 January · passio
Latin source: Heiligenlexikon
Sts. Gumesindus, a priest, and Servus Dei, a monk, were martyred at Cordoba in A.D. 852 during the persecution of Christians under Muslim rule. Their martyrdom was recorded by the contemporary St. Eulogius in his Memorial of the Saints. The text includes the brief original Acts. 9th century

ON THE HOLY MARTYRS OF CORDOBA, GUMESINDUS THE PRIEST AND SERVUS DEI THE MONK.

Year of Christ 852.

Preface

Gumesindus, Priest, Martyr at Cordoba in Spain (Saint). Servus Dei, Monk, Martyr at Cordoba in Spain (Saint).

From Various Sources.

[1] The Roman Martyrology records the feast day of the holy Martyrs Gumesindus the Priest and Servus Dei the monk on this day, as do Wion, Menard, and Dorganus; Ferrarius places it on January 19, Their feast day. on which it is said to be celebrated in the Church of Cordoba with a semi-double office, together with a commemoration of Saints Marius and companions. Their martyrdom is described by St. Eulogius in book 2 of the Memorial of the Saints, chapter 9, and from him by Antonio de Yepes, volume 4; Francisco de Pisa in his Description of Toledo, book 3, chapter 7; and more fully by our Martin de Roa in his history of the Saints of Cordoba. Acts. Our Mariana mentions them in book 7, chapter 15; Baronius in volume 10, at the year 852, number 11; as do Marietta, Villegas, and Ambrosio de Morales. Roa observes that the name Gumesindus is common among the Spanish and is popularly rendered as "Gomez" — which is evidence that there has always been great devotion of the people toward this holy Martyr.

ACTS,

BY ST. EULOGIUS AS AUTHOR.

Gumesindus, Priest, Martyr at Cordoba in Spain (Saint). Servus Dei, Monk, Martyr at Cordoba in Spain (Saint).

The homeland of St. Gumesindus. The holy Gumesindus the Priest, coming from the town of Toledo to Cordoba while still a small boy, together with both his parents, and enrolled by the devoted affection of his parents in the heavenly militia through the sacred order of the clergy, his education, was distinguished by the instruction of his teachers in the fear of God at the basilica of the Three Saints, where Faustus, Januarius, and Martialis the Martyrs rest in the present ashes of their bodies. There, after some time, he was consecrated in the holy ministry of the diaconate; and at last, as a young man, he was appointed Priest of a certain church in the Campania of Cordoba. his priesthood, Thence, descending to the city, together with the Blessed Servus Dei the monk — who at that time was still a young man, living as a recluse in the aforesaid sanctuary with the Priest Paul — both of them, standing before the rulers and judges, fell under the confession of the others, on the Ides of January, in the Era eight hundred and ninety. the martyrdom of both. Their bodies, secretly taken up by the Christians, are preserved with religious veneration in the basilica of St. Christopher the Martyr, their burial, which is beyond the river, in the southern part.

Annotations

Notes

a. Yepes shows, from Ambrosio de Morales, that this was the common name at that time; it is now called St. Peter's, as Roa reports.
b. We shall treat of these on October 13. They are venerated elsewhere on September 28, as Morales has also noted.
c. This is a vast expanse of plains, which the ancients praised for their fertility. It is now commonly called "Campina," or, as Morales renders it in Latin, "Campienna."
d. "Sanctuarium" here signifies a church of the Saints, as Morales has observed.
e. This persecution was instigated by Abd al-Rahman, the second of that name, King of Cordoba, and by his son Muhammad. So Mariana.
f. They were beheaded, as most of the Spanish authors report.
g. This was a monastery beyond the river Guadalquivir. Roa and others report that they were buried in the field called "of Truth," where there is now a cell of St. Julian, as is conjectured from the ruins of walls and other indications.