Litany of Saints
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Hosius of Corduba

Spanish bishop (256–359)

SaintResearchedAncient RomePre-congregation

Feast: 27 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born
256
verified
Died
358
verified
Beatified
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

Hosius, a confessor in the persecution, became Bishop of Córdoba about 295. The foremost Western champion of orthodoxy against Arius, he was adviser to Constantine and presided at the Council of Nicaea.

In old age he refused to condemn St Athanasius and wrote a brave protest to Emperor Constantius against imperial meddling in Church affairs. At Sirmium, under pressure, he signed an Arian formula; a later account says he recanted on his deathbed. He died about 358.

The miracles

The Catholic Encyclopedia does not describe how he came to be honoured as a saint.

Why that counted as sanctity

A great defender of the Nicene faith.

Connected on this site

  • Constantine the Great Saint
    “After Lactantius, he was the closest Christian advisor to Emperor Constantine the Great and guided the content of public utterances, such as Constantine's Oration to the Saints, addressed to the assembled bishops.” — Wikipedia
  • Potamius Saint
    “He is the second earliest Christian prose writer of the Iberian Peninsula, with Hosius of Corduba being the first.” — Wikipedia
Sources

Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.

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