Aurelius and Natalia

Aurelius and Natalia (died 852) were Christian martyrs who were put to death during the reign of Abd ar-Rahman II, Emir of Córdoba, and are counted among the Martyrs of Córdoba.

Biography
Aurelius was the son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother and was brought up as a Christian. His wife Sabigotho was also the child of a Muslim father but he converted her to Christianity and she took the name Natalia. Together they had two children and they practised Christianity in secret while continuing to live their Christian faith in secret. One of Aurelius's cousins, Felix, accepted Islam for a short time, but later converted back to Christianity and married a Christian woman, Liliosa.

Under Sharia Law, all four of them were required to profess Islam. In time all four began to openly profess their Christianity, with the two women going about in public to the churches with their faces unveiled. They were all swiftly arrested as apostates from Islam.

They were given four days to recant, but they refused and were beheaded. They were martyred with a monk, George, who had come to Cordoba to seek alms for the Mar Saba monastery but been arrested. When the court was about to release him, he criticised Islam and was therefore executed with the others.

Veneration
They are considered saints in the Roman Catholic Church, and in the Orthodox Church with a feast day of 27 July.