Eulalia of Mérida | |
|---|---|
 Image of Santa Eulalia in Merida Cathedral | |
| Virgin martyr | |
| Born | c. AD 290 Mérida, Spain |
| Died | c. AD 304 Mérida |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church,Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Canonized | 304 |
| Majorshrine | Cathedral of San Salvador |
| Feast | 10 December |
| Attributes | cross,stake, anddove |
| Patronage | Mérida, Spain;Oviedo, Spain;runaways;torture victims; widows; inclement weather[1] |
Eulalia of Mérida (Augusta Emerita in 292 - Augusta Emerita 10 December, 304) was a young RomanChristian martyred in Augusta Emerita, the capital ofLusitania (modernMérida, Spain), during thePersecution of Christians underDiocletian. Other views place her death at the time ofTrajan Decius (AD 249–51).[2] There is debate whetherSaint Eulalia of Barcelona, whose story is similar, is the same person.[3] Up till the proclamation ofJames, son of Zebedee, Eulalia was invoked as the protector of Christian troops in theReconquista and was patron of the territories ofSpain during their formation.[4]
Eulalia was a devout Christianvirgin, aged 12–14, whose mother sequestered her in the countryside in AD 304 because all citizens were required to avow faith in theRoman gods. Eulalia ran away to the law court of the governor Dacian atEmerita, professed herself a Christian, insulted the pagan gods and emperor Maximian, and challenged the authorities to martyr her. The judge's attempts at flattery and bribery failed. According to the Spanish-Roman poetPrudentius of the fifth century, who devoted book 3 of hisPeristephanon ("About martyrs") to Eulalia, she said:
Eulalia was then stripped by the soldiers, tortured with hooks and torches, and burnt at the stake, suffocating from smoke inhalation. She taunted her torturers all the while,[a] and as she expired a dove flew out of her mouth. This frightened away the soldiers and allowed amiraculous snow to cover her nakedness, its whiteness indicating her sainthood.
A shrine over Eulalia's tomb was soon erected. Veneration of Eulalia was already popular with Christians by 350;[2] Prudentius' poem increased her fame[5] andrelics from her were distributed throughIberia.Bishop Fidelis of Mérida rebuilt abasilica in her honor around 560.[2][6] Her shrine was the most popular inVisigothic Spain.[5] Around 780 her body was transferred toOviedo byKing Silo. It lies in a coffin of Arabsilver donated byAlfonso VI in 1075. In 1639, she was madepatron saint of Oviedo.[7] She appears inThieleman J. van Braght,Martyrs Mirror: An account of Those who Suffered in the Fourth Century (1660).[8]
Often linked with Eulalia is Saint Julia of Mérida, as in the double dedication to Saints Eulalia and Julia. Julia is also said to have been a young girl martyred at Mérida in 304, in the same persecution by Diocletian, and her feast day is also celebrated on 10 December.[9]
