Perfectus of Córdoba

Holy Hieromartyr Perfectus of Córdoba was a priest at Córdoba, in Spain under Moorish rule, put to death for confessing Christ in 850 or 851. He was born at Córdoba, was a monk and ordained priest, and served at the basilica of Saint Acisclus. Christians were tolerated, but not always. According to the legend, in 850 two Muslims asked him who was the greater prophet, Christ or Muhammad. At first he refrained from answering, but they insisted and promised not to harm him; then he said, in Arabic, that Muhammad was a false prophet. His words brought a sentence for blasphemy. After a few days some of them had him arrested, and he was tried and beheaded on 18 April, according to our sources on Easter Sunday. His last words, the legend says, were to bless Christ. His death was one of the first in the persecution in al-⁠Andalus, which began in 850 under Abd ar-⁠Rahman II and continued intermittently until about 960. Saint Eulogius of Córdoba recorded the history of the martyrs of this time in his Memorial of the Saints. He is a saint of the undivided Church, commemorated on 18 April (new style; 1 May in the old style).