What follows is an account pieced together from various sources, regarding a 12 year old young girl, martyred for the Christian faith in 304 AD. Now there is some confusion and question surrounding the accounts of both Saint Eulalia of Merida (pronounced "Yoo-lay-lee-uh") and Saint Eulalia of Barcelona, both of the same age and both martyred in the same fashion in the same year. Likely they are indeed one and the same. Given the external factors given below, this will focus on Eulalia of Merida.
The lives of the saints are often fascinating. And while we do not venerate them, they do still serve as an example to us of faithful lives throughout the centuries. As Lutherans, we have 1500 years of shared heritage and history, which includes an abundance of saints. And her story is profound. Eulalia was a child of noble birth, brought up as a Christian in the Roman Empire. It was said that she was from Augusta Emerita, the capital of Lusitania, today known as Merida Spain. If you thought that raising your children was tough, especially if you had one who was strong willed, stubborn, and fiercely independent, yet still loving, You've not seen what the extent of it truly could be.
In 304 AD, a persecution against Christians was ordered under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. The edict demanded that everyone offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods, under threat of torture and death. Eulalia, at just 12 years of age, took this edict to be a battle cry of faith. Though her mother secretly whisked her to the countryside to spare the child, Eulalia snuck off at night, to travel back to town where the ruthless judge "Dacian" was overseeing the implementation of the emperor's edict.
Though tired from the long journey by night, Eulalia quickly regained her strength to approach the judge, accusing him of destroying human souls. This of course was in direct opposition to the emperor's edict, so he had the child seized. At first, he tempted her with wealth, with other worldly vices, to try to get her to fall in line. He even tried caressing her young body in the hopes that some form of pleasure might persuade her to make sacrifice, all to no avail. What came next was the threat of torture. Instruments to be used in her torture were brought out, with graphic and gruesome details given to her of what would happen. He concluded simply with saying "all this you shall escape if you will but touch a pinch of salt and frankincense with the tip of your finger."
At this, Eulalia (as only a 12 year old could) stomped on the incense, and knocked over the Roman gods saying "Isis, Apollo, Venus, they are naught. Maximian himself too is naught, because they are the works of men's hands. Both worthless. Both naught."
It was at this point that Dacian ordered her torture to begin. After first being stripped and then tied to an X shaped cross, she was first torn at by metal hooks, exposing her ribs and bone. In this, she cried out that they were the trophies of Christ. Next, he ordered that her wounds be touched by live fire and hot coals, thus dramatically increasing the pain of her wounds. She responded by taunting her torturers. At this she was then burned alive, thus attaining martyrdom for her Christian faith at the young age of 12. There are additional legends surrounding her death, but suffice to say that this is a horrific act in a time of horrific persecution. Would a spanking not have been better for a 12 year old?
Honestly, it is hard to fathom. But this is true whenever we attempt to apply our worldly values to any situation in history. It is easy to sit back in judgement at the cruelty of the situation, and even at her own stubborn and fiery temperament. And yet her stubbornness was there for all the right reasons. Today, her remains (relics) are buried at Oviedo Spain, lending credence to this fairly early tale of martyrdom, made more horrific by the tender age of the martyr herself.
From antiquity, we know of her as someone real, because of numerous fathers who wrote of her, including St. Augustine and Jerome. There was even an early hymn written about her martyrdom and her stand in faith by Prudentius, in 405 AD, 100 years after her death. One stanza from the hymn goes like this:
Lo I am one of that odious race,
foe to your fiendish idolatrous rites!
Witness to Christ with my heart and lips,
Under my feet I will trample your gods.
There are a lot of relatively obscure saints throughout history. This one, perhaps because of her age and the gruesome manner of her death, strikes a chord with me. It both fascinates me at the faith of this young child, as well as horrifies me at what she suffered and was willing to suffer for the sake of the name of Christ. I often wonder how many of us today would be willing to suffer as she. She has been referred to on rare occasion as the patron saint of stubborn children. Honestly, her stubbornness was at least applied to the right thing: her unwavering faith in Christ. Regardless of how some might judge her according to today's standards, for me, what instantly comes to mind is something from the Gospel of Mark: "People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them." (Mark 10:13-16).
I can imagine the comfort of knowing the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through her Lord Jesus as death fell upon her. I pray that the example of THIS child's faith - a faith that was unto death - will embolden our own faith in this age of decadence, false manmade gods, and rebellion against the triune God. May we receive the crown of life with a childlike faith, knowing the comfort of our savior, who will gather us in his arms, put his hands upon us with an everlasting blessing.
(A sermon given for the commemoration of Eulalia of Merida, Central Plains Chapter, Society of the Holy Trinity, December 10, 2024)