Ss. Flora and Mary of Córdoba

Flora was instructed in the Christian faith by her mother in ninth-century Córdoba. Because her father was Muslim, her Christian profession brought serious danger within her own household. Butler relates that her brother denounced her and that, after punishment, she was placed again under his control. She later escaped and found shelter away from the city.

On returning to Córdoba she met Mary in the church of St. Acisclus. Mary was the sister of the deacon Walabonsus, who had already suffered martyrdom. The two women resolved to acknowledge their faith before the authorities. They were arrested and confined together, undergoing repeated examinations rather than abandoning their profession.

St. Eulogius, himself imprisoned elsewhere, sent them an exhortation encouraging their constancy. Butler draws on his account of the martyrs and records their execution by beheading on November 24, 851. Their remembrance preserves both the circumstances of each woman and the encouragement of their shared witness. Butler also notes their inclusion in the Roman Martyrology.