Ss. Nunilo and Alodia

Nunilo and Alodia were sisters brought up in the Christian faith by their mother in ninth-century Spain. Their father was Muslim, as was the man their mother married after his death. Butler relates that the sisters experienced serious opposition to practising their religion within the household. They eventually obtained permission to live with a Christian aunt, where they could follow their life of prayer more freely.

The sisters resolved to remain unmarried and consecrated themselves to God. Their religious practice made them conspicuous when measures were taken against Christians. Brought before the authorities, they were pressed first by promises and then by threats to abandon their faith. The effort to persuade them through other women also failed to change their decision.

They were condemned to be beheaded in prison. Butler assigns their death to October 22 and records disagreement about the year, giving 851 and an alternative of 840. He cites St. Eulogius’s Memorial as his principal narrative witness. Their relics and commemoration were preserved in Spanish churches and monasteries, notably the monastery of San Salvador at Leyre.