- Caecilius of Elvira
Infobox Saint
name= Saint Caecilius
birth_date=
death_date=1st century
feast_day=May 15 ;May 1 (with the Seven Apostolic Men);February 1 (Caecilius)
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
imagesize= 150px
caption=
birth_place=
death_place= Granada, Spain
titles= Bishop and martyr
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes= episcopal attire
patronage= Granada, Spain
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=Saint Caecilius ("Cecil, Cecilius, Cäcilius", _es. San Cecilio) is venerated as the
patron saint ofGranada ,Spain . Tradition makes him aChristian missionary of the1st century , during theApostolic Age . He evangelized the town of "Iliberri" or "Iliberis" (Elvira /Granada ), and became its first bishop. He is thus considered the founder of thearchdiocese of Granada , established around 64 AD. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06723a.htm] Elvira’s first bishop, according to the "Glosas Emilianenses ", was Caecilius. cite web|url=http://www.aciprensa.com/santos/santo.php?id=491|author=?|title= San Torcuato y los 7 Varones Apostólicos|date=?|publisher=Aciprensa|accessdate=September 5|accessyear=2008] Tradition states that he wrote some didactic treatises and that he was burned to death during the reign ofNero . [http://www.elalmanaque.com/santoral/febrero/1-2-cecilio.htm ]He is one of the group of
Seven Apostolic Men ("siete varones apostólicos"), seven Christian clerics ordained inRome by Saints Peter and Paul and sent to evangelize Spain. Besides Caecilius, this group includes Sts. Hesychius, Ctesiphon, Torquatus,Euphrasius ,Indaletius , andSecundius ("Isicio, Cecilio, Tesifonte, Eufrasio, Hesiquio y Segundo").Veneration
Sacromonte , a neighbourhood of Granada, celebrates on the first February each year the "Fiesta de San Cecilio", when large crowds gather to celebrate the city's first bishop and Granada'spatron saint . The fiesta and abbey act as key instruments for the preservation, propagation and dissemination of Caecilius' legend, by which the city of Granada in the 17th century sought to redefine its historic identity, replacing its Moorish past with fabricated (or re-discovered) accounts ofChristian origins.The legend states that the catacombs are the site of Saint Cecil's martyrdom, and the abbey preserves the supposed
relic s of Cecil and eleven other saints' bones, ashes and the oven in which they were believed to have been burned. It also possesses the inscribed lead plaques and books, theLead Books of Sacromonte , that were found with the supposed relics, but which were subsequently officially dismissed as forgeries.External links
*de icon [http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienC/Caecilius_von_Illiberis.html Cäcilius von Illiberis]
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