Redemptus of the Cross
{{Short description|Portuguese lay brother (1598–1638)}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific-prefix=Blessed
| name = Redemptus of the Cross
| honorific-suffix=OCD
| image = Denis of the Nativity and Redemptus of the Cross cropped.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption = A devotional image of the Blesseds Redemptus and Denis (Redemptus on the right)
| titles = Martyr
| birth_date = 15 March 1598
| birth_place = in Paredes de Coura, Portugal
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1638|11|27|1598|3|15|df=yes}}
| death_place = Aceh, Indonesia
| venerated_in = Roman Catholic Church
| beatified_date = 10 June 1900
| beatified_place =
| beatified_by = Pope Leo XIII
| canonized_date =
| canonized_place =
| canonized_by =
| major_shrine =
| feast_day = 29 November
| attributes =
| patronage =
| issues =
| suppressed_date =
| suppressed_by =
}}
Redemptus of the Cross, OCD (also Redemptorus of the Cross; 15 March 1598 – 27 November 1638) was a Portuguese Carmelite lay brother. He was put to death, along with other members of a group sent to Aceh by Portuguese authorities.
Life
Redemptus was born Tomás Rodrigues da Cunha in Paredes de Coura, Portugal on 15 March 1598.{{Cite web | title = Tomás Rodríguez da Cunha | work = Martyrs et Saints | date = 13 October 2009 |url = http://www.martyretsaint.com/tomas-rodriguez-da-cunha/ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110714043130/http://www.martyretsaint.com/tomas-rodriguez-da-cunha/ |url-status = usurped |archive-date = July 14, 2011 | access-date = 8 March 2012|language=fr}}{{Cite web | last = Mora Pernía | first = Iván | title = Santos de la Orden de Los Carmelitas Descalzos | publisher = OCD Venezuela | url = http://compuelectric_1.ve.tripod.com/textos/enero.htm#BEATOSDIONISIODELANATIVIDADYREDENTODELACRUZMártiresdenuestraOrden | access-date = 8 March 2012 | language = es | archive-date = 1 April 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160401005204/http://compuelectric_1.ve.tripod.com/textos/enero.htm#BEATOSDIONISIODELANATIVIDADYREDENTODELACRUZMártiresdenuestraOrden | url-status = dead }} He first served as a soldier in the Portuguese army in India, where he joined the Carmelites in Goa as a lay brother in 1615, taking the name Redemptus of the Cross.{{Cite book | last = Walsh | first = Michael | title = A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West | location = Collegeville, Minn. | publisher = Liturgical Press | year = 2007 | page = 511 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8mUJ58SMMhEC&pg=RA1-PA511 | isbn = 978-0-8146-3186-7}}
Redemptus was sent by the superiors of the order to accompany Denis of the Nativity as part of an ambassadorial mission from the Portuguese Empire to the Sultan of Aceh. The mission was led by Dom Francisco Sousa de Castro as ambassador.
Once in Aceh, all the members of the mission were seized and arrested,{{Cite web | title = Bienheureux Pierre Berthelot | work = Nominis | publisher = l'Eglise Catholique en France | url = http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/9411/Bienheureux-Pierre-Berthelot.html | access-date = 8 March 2012|language=fr}} at the instigation of the Dutch authorities based in Jakarta.{{cite book|first=Eugène|last=Guénin|title=La Route de l'Inde|publisher=Librarie Hachette et Cie|location=Paris|year=1903|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Eo_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA250|language=fr}} They were then subjected to torture, and those members of the mission who refused to deny their faith were executed one by one. The two friars were led to a desolate spot on the seashore, where Redemptus was shot with arrows, after which his throat was slit.{{Cite book | last = Rohrbach | first = Peter-Thomas | title = Journey to Carith: The Story of the Carmelite Order | publisher = Doubleday & Co | year = 1966 | location = New York}} Father Denis, a crucifix in his hands, was the last to die, his skull shattered by a blow of a scimitar.
Castro, the ambassador, was the only survivor. He was held in captivity for three years, until his family paid a large ransom for his release.{{cn|date=June 2024}}
Veneration
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://saints.sqpn.com/saintr30.htm Blessed Redemptorus of the Cross] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818215754/http://saints.sqpn.com/saintr30.htm |date=2010-08-18 }} at SQPN
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redemptus of the Cross}}
Category:People from Viana do Castelo District
Category:17th-century Portuguese people
Category:Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries
Category:Carmelite beatified people
Category:17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs
Category:Portuguese beatified people
Category:Beatified Roman Catholic religious brothers
Category:People murdered in Indonesia
Category:Portuguese people murdered abroad
Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in Indonesia
Category:Portuguese torture victims
Category:Christians executed for refusing to convert to Islam