Fructuosus of Tarragona, Saint

Fructuosus of Tarragona, Saint, bishop and martyr; d. January 21, 259. During the night of January 16, he, together with his deacons Augurius and Eulogius, was led into prison, and on January 21 tried by the judge Aemilianus. He confessed that he was a Christian and a bishop, whereupon all three were sentenced to be burnt alive. They underwent the ordeal courageously, and, praying and with outstretched hands, gave up the ghost. In this position they are also depicted. St. Augustine mentions them in one of his sermons (cclxxiii), and the Spanish poet Prudentius has celebrated them in a hymn (Peristephanon, hymn 6).

GABRIEL MEIER