Plea to St. Pelagius of Córdoba for Spain —Martyr of Faith and Purity for rejecting Islam and homosexuality

St. Pelagius of Córdoba (c. 912–926) (in Spanish San Pelayo Mártir, in Galician San Paio)

St. Pelagius of Córdoba (c. 912–926) (in Spanish San Pelayo Mártir, in Galician San Paio)

Martyr for faith and chastity.

Memorial: † June 26
Patronage: Chastity and youth, abandoned people, victims of torture, Castro Urdiales, Spain.


Model of purity, heroism and faith for priests and seminarians.

He is an example of the virtue of youthful chastity against homosexuality. 

He is a Model of Temperance.

Heroic model of Fortitude in the face of apostasy.

Saint Pelayo is the patron of the Minor Seminary of Tui, his remains were transferred to León and later to Oviedo, where he is venerated in a monastery of Benedictine nuns.

We read in the “Martyrology”: “In Córdoba, in the Hispanic region of Andalusia, Saint Pelayo, martyr, who at the age of thirteen, for wanting to preserve his faith in Christ and his chastity in the face of the dishonest customs of Abd al-Rahmán III, Caliph of the Muslims, consummated his glorious martyrdom by being torn to pieces with pincers (925)”.

Pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum eius

Psalms 116:15 Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his saints.

Plea to St. Pelagius of Córdoba for Spain 

(– Dom Prospero Gueranger, Abbot of Solesmes)

— Oh Pelayo, how great is your glory in heaven! With Justo and Pastor, with Dominguito del Val, with Eulalia and Julia, and with Flora, you form a bouquet of glowing carnations and white lilies worthy of presenting yourself to the King of glory. Neither the brilliant court of the Caliph of Córdoba, nor his dazzling promises deceived your eyes. You preferred to those deceitful and obsolete pleasures the incomparable glory promised by Jesus Christ to those who give their lives for him. Remember to ask for Spain, now free of Muslims but not of Marxists, so that it preserves its faith. Above all, pray for the youth, whose faith tries to be perverted with doctrines of perverse philosophies, and whose chastity is threatened by pagan sensualism.