Emetherius and Chelidonius
The brothers Emetherius and Chelidonius ( Spanish Emeterio and Celedonio ; † around 298 ) are venerated as martyrs and saints in the northern Spanish city of Calahorra . Her feast day is March 3rd.
Vita
According to tradition, Emetherius and Chelidonius were peasant sons and later soldiers in the Roman army . When Christians were betrayed, they were thrown into the prison of Calagurris (now Santa Casa in Calahorra), tortured and finally beheaded . Their heads were thrown into the Cidacos River and miraculously ended up in a boat to Santander , where they were buried by monks on the site of today's cathedral .
Adoration
The veneration of the two saints is only proven in a few places in Spain; one of them is the Monestir de Sant Celdoni i Sant Ermenter de Cellers in the Catalan municipality of Torá , another is the small town of Río Quintanilla in the municipality of Aguas Cándidas in the province of Burgos . In the church of Sant Miquel in Cardona there is a wall tabernacle with a monstrance that supposedly contains relics of the two saints' companions. Their names can be found in the border of the city arms of Calahorra; the coat of arms of the autonomous community of Cantabria shows their heads over a sailing ship.
Representations
Medieval portraits of the two saints are unknown. The few modern depictions mostly show them in soldiers' clothing ( breastplate , shoulder coat , soldier's skirt , gauntlet boots ).
