George of Palestine

27 July

George, deacon and martyr, monk from Palestine, with four companions, killed at Córdoba in Spain, c. 852.

George and his four companions were martyred under Emir Abd ar-Rahman II. Aurelius and Felix, with their wives, Natalia and Liliosa, were Spaniards whose family backgrounds, although religiously mixed, legally required them to profess Islam. Given four days to recant, they were condemned as apostates for revealing their previously secret Christian faith. Deacon George was a monk from Palestine who was arrested along with the two couples. Though offered a pardon as a foreigner, he chose to denounce Islam again and die with the others.