Anastasius of Lleida

Holy Martyr Anastasius of Lleida, also called Anastasius of Badalona, was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier born at Lleida in Spain around 263, into a pagan family. He rose, says the legend, to be the personal guard of Diocletian, but moved by the faith of the Christians in the time of the persecution he became a Christian. His comrades in the army believed too.

Pursued together with 73 companions (other sources say 63), he was seized and taken from Lleida to Tarragona, then to Saragossa, Barcelona and Baetulo, that is Badalona, where he died a martyr on 11 May 305. His historical existence is doubted; he is even thought to be a saint invented in the 15th century, perhaps by a doubling with Anastasius of Persia. Yet since 1627 at Lleida and since 1672 at Badalona he has been the patron of these two cities. His day of commemoration, first set on 9 May, has stood at 11 May since the 18th century, the day on which the great feasts of both cities are held. He is shown as a Roman soldier with a sword in hand and the martyr's palm. He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.