Celedonius

Holy Martyr Celedonius was a Roman soldier in the city of Calahorra in northern Spain, and he was beheaded for faith in Christ on 3 March, between the years 298 and 304. He is honored together with Saint Emeterius, possibly his brother, and the two are patrons of the city of Calahorra and of Santander and its diocese in Cantabria.

The two served in the Gemina legion, whose camp was near León. When the persecution broke out, probably under Diocletian, they were taken to Calahorra and made to choose between their faith and the army, although they had been honored for bravery. They were imprisoned, tortured and beheaded on the bank of the river Cidacos, where the cathedral was built later. The Roman Martyrology of 2001 names both at Calahorra. The poet Prudentius, a native of that city, dedicated a hymn to them.

A legend says that their heads came to Santander in a stone boat. It is also thought they were brought there to be safe from the Muslim invasion. The heads are kept in the cathedral of Santander and the rest of the bodies in the cathedral of Calahorra, where they are carried in procession on 3 March, 15 May and 31 August. They are commemorated on 3 March and 31 August, by the Western calendar (new style). They are saints of the undivided Church.