St. Ginés de la Jara

Saint Ginés de la Jara
Statue of Saint Ginés by La Roldana.
Died	? near Mar Menor, Murcia, Spain?
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Canonized	1541 by Pope Paul III
Major shrine	monastery of San Ginés de la Jara
Feast	August 25
Patronage	Cartagena, Spain; sailors; vintners; agricultural laborers; invoked against hernias and storms

Saint Ginés de la Jara (also known as Ginés de la Xara, Ginés el Franco, Genesius Sciarensis) is a semi-legendary saint of Spain. He is associated with the region surrounding Cartagena, of which he is co-patron. A hermitage was founded adjacent to the Mar Menor, and ruins of a monastery bearing his name date from before the Moorish conquest of 711 AD, that is, from the Visigothic era.

Pre-Christian or Muslim origins for the cult of Saint Ginés have been suggested, including identification with the cult of a Roman genius or with an Islamic jinn; as well as with an ancient Carthaginian site dedicated to the god Ba'al. The subsequent association of the site with Christian hermits and anchorites is indisputable. However, there is no actual tomb or sepulchre for Ginés: the location of his relics was a cause for the invention of multiple legends.

Some scholars believe the saint may be identical with Saint Genesius of Arles, in Spanish known as San Ginés de Arlés, who was martyred in the 4th century. His feast day is identical to that of Genesius of Arles, a connection that some scholars consider as proof that they are identical. According to Serafino Prete, the spread and popularity of Genesius’ cult in other cities of Gaul and beyond gave rise to the multiplication and “localization” of his cult, so that the saints Genesius of Alvernia, Genesius of Béziers, Genesius of Rome, Genesius of Cordoba and Ginés de la Jara are actually variations on the same saint and saint’s cult.

A legend that appears in a manuscript dating from 1243, Liber Sancti Iacobi, states that the martyr of Arles was buried at Arles but that his head was transported miraculously "in the hands of angels" to Cartagena. This may represent an attempt to explain the existence of the cult of the same saint in two separate locations. An additional variation on the legend states that after Ginés was decapitated in southern France, he picked up his head and threw it into the Rhône. The head was carried by sea to the coast of Murcia, where it was venerated as a relic.