Eighteen Martyrs of Saragossa

The Eighteen Martyrs of Saragossa (also called the Countless Martyrs) were Christians put to death for Christ at Saragossa in Spain, around 304, in the time of the governor Dacian and the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. According to tradition, Dacian promised the faithful freedom of worship if they went out of the city, then put them to the sword and burned their bodies, mixing their ashes with those of criminals so that they would not be venerated. A shower of rain washed the ashes apart, forming them into white masses, the holy masses, preserved in the crypt of the church of Saint Engratia in Saragossa. The poet Prudentius dedicated a hymn to them, listing their names. They are saints of the undivided Church, commemorated on 16 April (new style; 29 April in the old style).