Columba and Pomposa, Ss.
COLUMBA AND POMPOSA, SS.
Virgin martyrs; b. Córdoba, Spain, c. 830 and c. 840;d. there, Sept. 17 and 19, 853. Columba and her sister built the double monastery of Tabanos, from which came several of the first martyrs of cÓrdoba. Columba was martyred after she confessed Christ and denounced the prophet Mohammed before the Islamic authorities. Christians recovered her relics from the Guadalquivir River and buried them in a basilica outside Córdoba. eulogius makes of her vita an exemplum of the virtues practiced in the monastic life. The youthful Pomposa slipped out of a monastery built by her parents and repeated Columba's words before the cadi. She was slain immediately. Her body also was recovered from the river and buried at the feet of Columba. Both were included in the Roman martyrology in 1583.
Feasts: Sept. 17 (St. Columba) and Sept. 19 (St. Pomposa).
Bibliography: eulogius, Memoriale sanctorum 3.10, 11 in Patrologia Latina, 217 v. (Paris 1878–90) 115:806–813. e. p. colbert, The Martyrs of Córdoba (Washington 1962) 850–859.
[e. p. colbert]