Eulogius of Cordoba

Eulogius was born into a noble family in the capital of Muslim Spain , during the time of Emir Abd al-Rahman . The family gave him, as well as his brothers and sisters, an excellent education, of which special care was given to his mother by the name of Isabelle. The youngest of the brothers, Joseph, held a high post at the court of Abd ar-Rahman. His brothers Alvar and Isidore were merchants and traded throughout Central Europe . Of his sisters, Niola stayed with her mother, while Anulona was educated at the monastery and became a nun .

After completing education in the monastery of St. Zoila St. Eulogius returned to the family, where he continued his education, studying literary art from such a famous master as Father Superior Sperandeo. At the same time, he became friends with Alvarus Paulus, with whom they studied both secular and spiritual sciences in all their wealth. Their correspondence in prose and poetry amounted to volumes that were later destroyed by mutual agreement, since, in their opinion, their contents were not polished enough. Alvar married, and Eulogius was ordained priest of St. The Recarred , Bishop of Cordoba . He quickly became famous for his scholarship and ascetic lifestyle. He often visited the nearby monasteries and drafted for them the statutes of monastic life. From distant monasteries he brought ancient manuscripts, according to which he checked and corrected Latin religious texts.

But the main work of Eulogy's life is the support of believers who are obviously doomed to suffering, that is, those who voluntarily converted from Islam to Christianity , who actively preached the Word of God. In 851, Eulogius was elected archbishop of the city ​​of Toledo , but the successor of Abd al-Rahman - Emir Muhammad - did not want to see an unyielding, unstable hierarch in such a crucial place, and Eulogius did not take up his duties. Moreover, in the same year he was imprisoned, from where he did not stop talking with words of encouragement and support to fellow Christians. For example, his letters are known to two Cordobian women - Flora and Maria . In prison Eulogius wrote a significant part of the work, containing biographies of more than 50 of his fellow martyrs, carrying people words of brotherly love and appeals to hold on to the end (“Memories of the Saints” or “The Memorial Book of Saints” ( Memoriale Sanctorum ) ^[2] ).

The finale of the life of St. Eulogy was tragic, but bright. A girl named Leocritia (Lucretia), descended from a noble Arab family, converted to Christianity. She fled from home and found shelter with Eulogius, for which he was again arrested in 859 and brought to trial. He told the judge that he would be happy to provide him with asylum in case he became a Christian. In addition, here, in court, he undertook to immediately prove that Jesus was the true Son of God, and called the prophet Muhammad a deceiver and an impostor. Eulogius was scourged and then beheaded. Convert Leocritia showed no less courage than her older brother in Christ, and three days later she suffered the same fate - she was beheaded.

St. Eulogius is one of the most revered martyrs in Spain. His relics reside in the cathedral of Oviedo .

• Cordoba Martyrs

• Tobacco, Yuri “Truth and Life”, 1993, No. 3
• St. Eulogius of Cordova // Catholic Encyclopedia

• Phillips, Andrei , priest, “ Saints of Spain ” (translated from English by Pisenko, K. A.) 16 XII 2005