Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Catholic Calendar Honors Saint Hermenegildo on His Feast Day

The observance recalls a Visigothic prince whose conversion to Catholicism led to martyrdom under his Arian father.

Overview

  • The Vatican's liturgical calendar marks the feast of Saint Hermenegildo, a Visigothic prince venerated as a martyr.
  • He was born in Tarragona in the 6th century and was the son of King Leovigildo, who followed Arian teaching that denied Christ’s divinity.
  • Saint Leandro of Seville guided his conversion to Catholicism, which placed him in open conflict with his father.
  • He refused to receive communion from an Arian bishop and was imprisoned, with tradition holding that he was beheaded on Easter in 586 by his father’s order.
  • The same calendar entry notes other observances for the date, including Saint Martin I, Blessed Ida of Boulogne, Saint Caradoc, and additional blesseds and saints.