St. Roderick/Rodriguez of Cordoba, Martyr


The saint of the day for March 13 is St. Roderick.

St. Roderick, also known as Rodriguez, was a Christian in Moorish Spain in the 9th century. He had a Moslem brother and another with no religion. One day he tried to break up a fight between his brothers but they turned on him and seriously beat him. The Moslem brother, seeking further revenge, announced to authorities that Roderick had converted to Islam. When Roderick awoke, he was questioned about it, but he claimed his allegiance to Christ. The Moslem authorities took this to be apostasy, deciding Roderick was denying his new Moslem faith. He was imprisoned for several months, and then martyred in 857 by beheading.
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