Holy Fathers of Mérida

The Holy Fathers of Mérida are three hierarchs of the city of Augusta Emerita, now Mérida in Spain: Paul, Fidel and Masona. They served in the 6th and 7th centuries, in the age of splendor of the archiepiscopal see of Mérida. This is therefore a group of three saints, not a single person.

Paul (bishop from 530 to 560) was Greek by origin and a physician. He came to Mérida, was known for humility and meekness, and brought the diocese a time of calm. Before retiring to the monastery of Saint Eulalia he appointed his nephew Fidel as his successor. Fidel (560 to 571) was a young merchant from the East who met his uncle by chance, received tonsure, the diaconate and the priesthood, and became bishop; a man of great patience and charity, he was persistently pursued by his enemies. Masona (571 to 605), of Gothic race and noble lineage, entered the monastery beside the basilica of Saint Eulalia. He founded a hospice open to Christians and Jews, was exiled by King Leovigild and the Arian bishops, presided over the Third Council of Toledo, and, according to Gregory of Tours, took part in the conversion of Hermenegild. He seems to have died in the reign of Witterich.

Their deeds are known from the book Lives of the Holy Fathers of Mérida. Their cult was forgotten for several centuries, then renewed by Archbishop Santiago García Aracil of Mérida-⁠Badajoz (2004 to 2015), who placed their commemoration on 14 November in the calendar of the archdiocese. They are venerated in the Western Church.