Which saint is celebrated today: the feast days of this Friday, March 3

A few decades, even centuries ago, the ancestors used to name their children with the name of the saint of the day of their birth, not in vain in the famous “Mañanitas” there is a stanza that says: “Today, because it’s your birthday, we sing them to you here…”.

He onomastic alludes to the day when a saint is celebrated, although it is common for many people to use it as a synonym for birthday, which is wrong, because when they talk about it, they only allude to the list of holy names.

Like every day of the year, today also commemorates the women and men who stood out for having special connections with the deities, who did good deeds for their neighbors and who had high ethics and morals, reasons that led them to to be canonized or beatified and be among the saints.

It is the day of the saint Friday March 3.

In verse, accounts of his death were collected in writing by the Hispanic poet Prudencio.

Calahorra is linked to these soldiers by the fact of their martyrdom and perhaps also by being the place of their birth. Others point to León as the cradle of the León prayer books – antiphonaries, lectionaries and breviaries from the 13th century – when they interpret “ex legione” as the place of their origin, when it seems that the Latin phrase refers better to the Legion Gemina Pia Felix to which they belonged and which camped near the ancient Lancia, today León, according to what is found in the historical document called “Actas de Treveris” from the 7th century.

In the upper part of Calahorra is the Church of El Salvador -probably perpetuating the testimony of martyrdom- where previously there was a Franciscan convent and even before that the primitive Visigothic cathedral that had to be built, according to the custom of the time, next to the royal residence, for defense against possible invasions and which was destroyed by the Muslims during the invasion of 923, as indicated in the first codex of the archives of the cathedral.

The circumstances of the martyrdom of these saints are not known; Prudence does not refer to it. What a pity that the Emperor Diocletian ordered the burning of the ancient codices and the erasure of the writings of his time! With this he tried, from what Eusebio tells us, so that it does not remain recorded or serve as propaganda for the martyrs and prevent the fire from spreading. There are also no names in the story that facilitate an approximation. Was it at the beginning of the 4th century in the persecution of Diocletian? It seems preferable to lean with The Source for the middle of the 3rd century, in that of Valeriano, counting on someone else taking the story back to the 2nd century. It is true that Prudence was born around 350, he leaves written in his verses the history before 401, the date of his departure for Italy, speaking as of a very distant event and one should not refer with this at the time of Daciano (a. 304) because this time was already known to the parents of the poet. It’s also good to keep in mind that the ancient narrator isn’t as accurate in dating events as the current review, and it’s common to come across anachronisms that disrespect the story.

The fact is that Emeterio and Celedonio – blood brothers according to some journalists – who were honored with the Roman decoration of Gallic origin called torques for their merits of courage, warrior courage and martial discipline, now find themselves in the dilemma of choose between apostasy from the faith or abandonment of the military profession. So changeable are the rewards of men. For their sincere willingness to give their lives for Jesus Christ, they first undergo a long imprisonment to the point of letting their hair grow. In enforced solitude and retirement, they were able to help each other, passing over the Gospel phrase that it was time to “give to God what is God’s” after they had already given Caesar what was his. . Their military strength has prepared them to resist reasoning, easy promises, threats and torments. In the sandbar of the Cidacos River, the place and time of execution are fixed. The story goes that those who witness the martyrdom see, amazed, how Emeterio’s ring and Celedonio’s handkerchief rise to heaven as a sign of his unique triumph.

Very soon, the Calagurritan people began to worship the martyrs. His remains were taken to the Cathedral of El Salvador; Over time, the churches of Biscay and Guipúzcoa along with other Hispanic churches and half a day from France have disposed of precious relics. Next to the sandbank that collected the spilled blood stands the cathedral that guards their bodies. Today Emeterio and Celedonio, the saints sung by their compatriot Prudencio and remembered by their compatriots Isidoro and Eulogio are the patron saints of Calahorra who consider them brothers or by blood or -which is the greatest link- of country, d ideal, profession, faith, martyrdom and glory.

With this character is other saints and martyrs which are also celebrated this Friday, March 3 as follows:

Saint Anselm of Nonantola

Saint Artelaide

Saint Asterio, senator and martyr

Santa Catalina Drexel

San Celedonio de Calahorra

Saint Cleonica

Saint Eutropius of Amasea

Santa Cunegunda

San Marino of Caesarea

Saint Teresa Eustochius Verzeri

Saint Titian, bishop

San Winwaleo

Blessed Frederick of Friesland

Blessed Innocent by Berzo Scalvinoni

Blessed Jacobin of Canepacci

Blessed Liberato Weiss

Blessed Michael Pio Fasoli da Zerbo

Blessed Pedro Jeremiah

Blessed Pedro Renato Snape

Blessed Samuel Marzorati

The Catholic and Orthodox Church uses canonization to declare a deceased person a saint.which implies the inclusion of her name in the canon (list of recognized saints) and the authorization to venerate her, acknowledging her power before God.

During Christianity, people were recognized as saints without the need for a formal process; however, this changed in the Middle Ages.

In the case of Catholicism, the Church must make an exhaustive investigation of the life of the person to be sanctified and there are four ways to obtain the appointment: the path of heroic virtues; the path of martyrdom; that of exceptional causes, confirmed by an ancient cult and written sources; and the offer of life.

Moreover, it is an essential requirement who performed at least two miracles (or one in the case of being a martyr). Canonization is made in a solemn papal declaration and a feast day is assigned for liturgical veneration.

There is no set time limit for proceeding with the canonization of a character, since there is even cases like that of San Pedro Damián who was canonized up to 756 years after his death or, conversely, the case of San Antonio de Padua which was named up to 352 days after his death.

The last canonization took place in October 2019, when the pope declared Cardinal John Henry Newman and Sister Dulce of Brazil saints.