Servandus and Cermanus
Saint Servandus and Cermanus | |
|---|---|
| Died | ~305 AD |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Catholic Church |
| Feast | October 23 |
| Attributes | Depicted as young soldiers |
| Patronage | Cádiz |
Saints Servandus and Cermanus (Germanus) (Template:Lang-es) (d. 305 AD) were Spanish martyrs who are venerated as Christian saints. They were killed at Cádiz. Tradition states that they were from Mérida, and sons of Saint Marcellus the Centurion.[citation needed] They joined the Roman Army and were imprisoned after being identified as Christians. They made new converts in prison. During the persecution of Diocletian, the vicarius of Mérida, Viator, tortured them and imprisoned them once again. Viator then planned to take them to Mauritania Tingitana and had them walk barefoot and in chains from Mérida to Cádiz. Viator failed to find a boat that could take them and they were decapitated on the spot near Cádiz later known as Cerro de los Mártires. The body of Cermanus was buried at Mérida and Servandus at Cádiz, and then later translated to Seville.[1]
Veneration
They are mentioned in the martyrologies of Bede, Usuard, Ado, as well as the Mozarabic Breviary, and in the Breviaries of Toledo, Seville, Salamanca, among others.[2] They are venerated as patron saints of Cádiz (officially since 1619).[1] On the Sunday closest to October 23 they celebrate in the town of San Fernando the festival of Saints Servandus and Cermanus, carrying statues of the saints in a procession.[3]
The sculptress Luisa Roldán (1650–1704), called La Roldana, made sculptures of these two saints at Cádiz.[4]