Nunilo and Aloida, in the Year 851

For this contest for the name of Christ the Lord prepared not only men, but also women and young maidens; so that in the following year, 851, as nearly as can be reckoned, two sisters, one named Nunilo, the other Aloida, did not hesitate to confess Jesus Christ, their heavenly Bridegroom, among the Mohammedans, not only with their blood, but also with their death; which happened in this way.

Their father was a Mohammedan, and their mother a Christian in name only, but not very devout, since she, according to the testimony of the ancients, after the death of her husband married a Saracen (Mohammedan), or unbeliever. As a result, these pious young women could not freely observe, and live up to, the confession of their faith, according to the doctrine of Christ, because of the restraints placed upon them by their unbelieving stepfather. Compelled, therefore, to leave their mother's house, they went to live with their aunt, or mother's sister, who, being a true Christian woman, brought them up further in the Christian religion.

The envious enemy of the human race, filled with jealousy because they, the children of a Saracen father, had become Christians, accused them, by means of wicked persons, to the chief officer of the city of Osca, so that shortly afterward they were brought before the judge. The judge, in order to draw them away from the Christian religion, made them great promises of gifts and presents. He also offered to secure their marriage with the most excellent young men, and so on, if they would only embrace Mohammedanism. But if they remained stubborn, and despised the advice of the president or judge, he threatened to torture them with various torments, and finally to put them to death with the sword.

Then these pious maidens, strengthened by the Spirit of God, firmly and fearlessly answered the judge, saying: "O judge! How is it that you command us to turn away from true godliness? For God has made known to us that no one in the world is richer than Jesus Christ, our Savior; and that nothing is more blessed than the Christian faith, by which the just live, and the saints have conquered kingdoms. For without Christ there is no life, and without knowledge of Him there is nothing but eternal death. To dwell with Him, and to live in Him, is our only and true consolation; but to depart from Him is eternal perdition. From communion with Him we will never be separated as long as we live in this life; for, having given and entrusted our innocence (or youth) into His keeping, we hope in the end to become His bride.

"As for the profit of the passing riches of this world, with which you thought to entice us, we count it as dung and loss, that we may gain Christ, because we know that everything under the sun, except Christ and true faith in Him, is vanity.

"Nor are we moved by the punishment you threaten; for we know that the torments last only a short time; indeed, for death itself, which you have set before us as the final terror, we long all the more, because we know that by it we go without delay* to heaven, to Christ our Bridegroom, there to be embraced by Him inseparably, through His love."

The judge, seeing the steadfastness of their faith and the power of their confession, thought it best to commit these young maidens, each separately, to certain Saracen women, to be instructed in the Mohammedan religion, strictly forbidding them to talk with each other, or with any others of the Christians. The women, who had undertaken to instruct them in the Saracen or Mohammedan religion, daily set before them their idolatry and destructive doctrine, seeking in this way to poison them with the cup of the wrath of God, from the hand of Mohammed. But all in vain; they remained steadfast, which their enemies called stubbornness.

Finally they were brought before the tribunal and made a public spectacle; and there, confessing Christ as before, declaring Mohammed an enemy of the Christian faith, and rejecting his doctrine, they were executed with the sword, in the city of Osca in Spain, on the 22nd of October, in the year 851. Though others differ considerably in their chronology of this matter, we leave it to the decision of the intelligent reader. Compare the account of A. Mellinus, second book, folio 308, columns 1, 2, with the authors from whom the same has been extracted. Eulog. Memor. Sanctor., book 2, chapter 7, and Interp. [n347-1]

Concerning these two pious martyresses, there is also to be observed what is said in the added note about John, the first-mentioned martyr.

NOTE. In the year 852, the zeal of some to die for the name of Jesus Christ was so great that multitudes of them confessed Christ, and, hastening to martyrdom, allowed themselves to be put to death as defenseless lambs, for Christ's sake. It is stated that among these there were two young heroes of Jesus Christ, namely Emilas and Hieremias, who, out of a well-meaning and special zeal, spoke against Mohammed, and thus offered themselves to suffer for Christ their Savior. For this they were both executed with the sword; whereupon (according to the testimony of the ancients), though the weather had been fine in the forenoon, immediately at the hour of their death there followed mighty peals of thunder, so that the earth quaked; terrible lightnings fell from the air; great darkness, heavy hailstorms, furious whirlwinds, and storms appeared, as though the insensible elements (according to Eulogius) were mourning the death of these pious martyrs; whose dead bodies were carried across the river and hung on stakes, on the 15th of September, in the year 852. A. Mell., folio 309, column 4, from Memor. Sanctor., book 2, chapter 2. For certain reasons, however, we will not comment on these persons, though we know of nothing to censure in either their faith or their life.