St. Perfectus of Cordoba, Priest & Martyr, Intercede for us

Beheaded by the Moors of the Umayyad Caliphate (Muslims), Saint Perfectus (Santo Perfecto, died 850) was charged with "blasphemy", denouncing Islam and Muhammad to the very end:

"I have cursed, yea, and I will curse your prophet :

I have called and I do call him the spawn of devils, 

a magician, an adulterer, and a liar! 

I denounce the profanations of your sect to be the invention of hell."

While uttering these truths, the scimitar separated his head from his body.

Perfectus, a Spanish priest who served at the basilica of St. Aciscius just outside the city walls, was stopped one day on his way to market by a group of Muslims. Seeing that he was a priest, they asked him to explain the "catholic faith" and to share with them his opinions about Christ and Muhammed. Fearing that he would only provoke his audience, Perfectus declined. But when the Muslims swore to protect him, he proceeded, in Arabic, to decry Muhammed as one of the false prophets foretold by Christ and as a moral reprobate who had seduced the wife of his kinsman.

Though angered by the harsh attack, the Muslims respected their oaths and let Perfectus go on his way. But a few days later the priest ran into some of the same group, who no longer felt constrained by their earlier promise. Seizing Perfectus, they took him before the magistrate and testified that he had disparaged the prophet. As they led Perfectus to prison to wait out the holy month of Ramadân, he repeatedly denied his guilt. Only when he realised that his fate was sealed did he repeat his denunciation of Islam. On April 18, 850, Perfectus was decapitated before the crowds that had gathered to celebrate the end of the feast. He died on Easter Sunday.

St. Perfectus was one of the Martyrs of Córdoba whose martyrdom was recorded by Saint Eulogius in the Memoriale Sanctorum.