Serapion of Algiers
| Saint Serapion of Algiers O. de. M. |
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| Priest; Martyr | |
| Born | 1179 Ireland or England |
| Died | 14 November 1240 (aged 61) Algiers, Algeria |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 23 March 1625, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Urban VIII |
| Canonized | 14 April 1728, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Benedict XIII |
| Feast | 14 November |
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Saint Serapion of Algiers (1179 – 14 November 1240) was either an Irish or English Roman Catholic Mercedarian priest killed in Algeria after being crucified in an x-position; he is acknowledged as a proto-martyr. It has been said that he once served in the armies of Richard the Lion-Heart and Leopold VI during the time of the Crusades.
He accompanied his father during the Crusades in his childhood and was present at a battle at Acre in 1191. He participated in the Reconquista while serving in the armed forces for Alfonso VIII. He met Saint Peter Nolasco in Barcelona and became a professed member of the Mercedarians in 1222. He was assigned to recruit for the order in England but pirates besieged the ship and left him for dead. He survived and wandered to London to preach which landed him in trouble and he was ordered to leave the town.
The Mercedarians’ goal was to free Christian captives held in Muslim states and the priest offered himself as a hostage at Algiers in 1240 in exchange for some Christian captives. The ransom did not arrive in time and so his captors decided to have him killed. He was nailed on an X-shaped cross and was dismembered.
The Baroque artist Francisco Zurbarán depicts the death of Serapion in one of his paintings.
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Wikipedia