BEATI DIONYSIUS OF THE NATIVITY AND REDENTUS OF THE CROSS
Dionysius of the Nativity (secular name: Peter Berthelot), a Discalced Carmelite, was born on 11–12 December 1600 at Honfleur in Normandy. As a young man he took up commercial seafaring and voyaged to England, Spain, the East Indies, Java, and Malacca, arriving in Goa in 1629. There he earned the esteem of the Portuguese authorities, who on 22 September of the same year appointed him chief pilot of a powerful fleet dispatched to relieve Malacca, then besieged by the King of Acheh. After a splendid victory he was confirmed by the Viceroy of Goa in the perpetual office of chief pilot and cosmographer of the Indies.
Having achieved these successes, he resolved to abandon his military career and entered the Discalced Carmelite Order, making his profession in 1636.
On 25 September 1638 he was chosen for his nautical expertise (he is credited with maritime charts, *Tabulae maritimæ*) and his knowledge of Malay to join a Portuguese embassy sent to the new King of Acheh on the island of Sumatra. He set out with the lay brother Redentus of the Cross, whose secular name was Thomas Rodriguez de Cunha. Redentus was born at Parades in Portugal on 15 March 1598; he had served the Portuguese Crown in the Indies before entering the Carmelite Order at Goa, where his virtues earned him a reputation for holiness.
Upon landing at Acheh both were taken prisoner and put to death on 28 November 1638. They were beatified on 10 June 1900. Their feast is kept on 29 November.