DANIELE E COMPAGNI, SANTI

DANIEL and Companions, saints. — Franciscans, martyred in Ceuta, Morocco, on 19 Oct 1227. Their names are Daniel, Agnellus, Samuel, Donnulus, Leo, and Nicholas.

According to Wadding, Daniel, provincial minister of Calabria, was a native of Belvedere in the same region, Nicholas of Sassoferrato, and Donnulus of Montalcino. The origins of the others are unknown. In the early months of 1227, they departed for Morocco and landed at Ceuta, initially settling in the outskirts of the city. At the beginning of October, they entered the city to preach the Gospel. Arrested on 10 October, after various trials and attempts to make them apostatize, they mutually confessed and encouraged one another before being beheaded. Their feast is celebrated on the same day.

Bibl.: Acta SS. October, VI, ed. Paris 1868, pp. 384-92; Chronica XXIV Generalium Ordinis Minorum, in Analecta Franc., III, Quaracchi 1897, pp. 32 sq., 613-16; D. Zangari, I sette frati minori di s. Francesco d'Assisi martirizzati a Ceuta nel Marocco, Naples 1926; Wadding, Annales, II, p. 20 sq.; F. Russo, Le fonti della passione dei s. Martiri di Ceuta, in Miscell. Franc., 34 (1934), pp. 113-17, and 350-56; Alberto Ghinato