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.
