BERARDO, PIETRO, ACCURSIO, ADIUTO, OTTONE, saints. — Franciscan proto-martyrs: O. was a priest, B. a subdeacon, and the others lay brothers. In 1219 they were sent among the Saracens by St Francis himself; after a brief stay in Alenquer, they sailed toward Seville, then the capital of the Moorish kings. They began to preach the Gospel before the king’s own palace. He ordered that they be beheaded, but then, fearing the indignation of the Christian princes, had them confined in a tower and subsequently sent them to Morocco. This was the destination assigned to them by St Francis. Here, several times, including in the presence of King Miramolino (Mostanser), they attacked Mohammed and the Coran, preaching Jesus and his law, and confirming it with the miracle of water made to spring forth to quench the thirst of the parched people. Fearing the conversion of the people, Miramolino killed them with his own scimitar on 16 January 1220 at Marrakoš. The bodies of the martyrs were transported with great pomp to Coimbra; Sixtus IV canonized them on 7 August 1481. Feast on 16 January.
Berardo, Pietro, Accursio, Adiuto, Ottone, Saints
BIBL.: Chronica Nicolai Glassberger, in Analecta Franciscana, II, Quaraschi 1887, pp. 13-14; L. Wadding, Annales Minorum, I, there 1931, under the year 1213, p. 173; under the year 1219, pp. 352-353; Acta SS. Ianuarii, II, Parigi 1863, pp. 486-35; Martyr. Romanum, Bruxelles 1940, p. 24. Ferdinando Diotallevi
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“BERARDO, PIETRO, ACCURSIO, ADIUTO, OTTONE, SANTI.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II (1949), p. 795. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/berardo-pietro-accursio-adiuto-ottone-santi.