Martha of Córdoba

Saint Martha of Córdoba, called Maria in other sources, is one of the two virgin martyrs of Córdoba who suffered together, Flora and Maria (Martha), in the time of the emir Abd al-⁠Rahman II. The martyrologies of Ado, Usuard, Maurolico, of Bishop Equilinus and the Roman one tell of these two martyrs, which may explain the rapid spread of their veneration.

In the decade 850-860 persecutions against Christians took place at Córdoba, in which some fifty Mozarabic martyrs died. Martha had grown up in the monastery of Santa María de Cuteclara near Córdoba, under the guidance of Artemia. Since her brother, the monk and deacon Walabonsus, had been martyred, she left the monastery in search of martyrdom. She met Flora and together they went to the qadi and publicly confessed their faith. Thrown into prison, they were visited by Eulogius, also imprisoned. Interrogated by the qadi, they persevered in the faith and were beheaded on 24 November 851. Their bodies, thrown into the fields, were spared by the beasts, then thrown into the Guadalquivir; Martha's body was later found and buried by Christians in the church of the monastery of Cuteclara. The heads of the two martyrs were placed in the basilica of Saint Acisclus. Eulogius, who attributed to their intercession his release a few days later, wrote for them the "Documentum martyriale", a most noble apology and exhortation to martyrdom; he himself died a martyr eight years later. The Roman Martyrology commemorates her with Flora on 24 November, by the Western calendar (new style). She is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.