Sts. Natalie & Aurelius

Feastday: July 27
Death: 852

Not much is known about St. Natalie, except that she was martyred for her Faith with her husband Aurelius. According to his biography by St. Eulogius of Toledo, Aurelius was the son of a Moor and a Spanish woman, and was orphaned as a child. He was secretly raised a Christian by his aunt during the Moorish persecution of Christians. He married a half Moorish woman, Sabigotho, who took the name Natalie when he converted her to Christianity. They were both beheaded for practicing their religion openly together with George, a monk from Jerusalem whom Aurelius had befriended. Their feast day is July 27th.

History of Al-Andalus
Muslim conquest (711–732)
Battle of Guadalete Battle of Toulouse Battle of Tours
Umayyads of Córdoba (756–1031)
Emirate of Córdoba Caliphate of Córdoba Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir
First Taifa period (1009–1110)
Almoravid rule (1085–1145)
Conquest Battle of Sagrajas
Second Taifa period (1140–1203)
Almohad rule (1147–1238)
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
Third Taifa period (1232–1287)
Emirate of Granada (1238–1492)
Nasrid dynasty Battle of the Strait Granada War
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Aurelius and Natalie (died 852) were Christian martyrs who were put to death during the reign of Abd ar-Rahman II, Emir of Córdoba, and are counted among the Martyrs of Córdoba.

Aurelius was the son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. He was also secretly a follower of Christianity, as was his wife Natalie, who was also the child of a Muslim father. One of Aurelius's cousins, Felix, accepted Islam for a short time, but later converted back to Christianity and married a Christian woman, Liliosa.

Under Sharia Law, all four of them were required to profess Islam. In time all four began to openly profess their Christianity, with the two women going about in public with their faces unveiled. They were all swiftly arrested as apostates from Islam.

They were given four days to recant, but they refused and were beheaded. They were martyred with a local monk, George, who had openly spoken out against the Islamic prophet Mohammed. He had been offered a pardon as a foreigner but chose instead to denounce Islam again and die with the others.

They are considered saints in the Roman Catholic Church, with a feast day of July 27.