Redemptus of the Cross (also Redemptorus), (15 March 1598 – 27 November 1638) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...

in the

Order of Discalced Carmelites The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...

. He was put to death along with other members of a group sent to Aceh by Portuguese authorities.

Life

He was born Tomás Rodrigues da Cunha in

Paredes de Coura Paredes de Coura () is a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 9,198, in an area of 138.19 km2. The municipality is located in the district of Viana do Castelo. The present Mayor is Prof. Vitor Paulo Pereira, elected by the Soc ...

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on 15 March 1598. He first served as a soldier in the Portuguese army in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, where he joined the Carmelites in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

as a lay brother in 1615, taking the name Redemptus of the Cross. Redemptus was sent by the superiors of the Order to accompany Father

Denis of the Nativity Pierre Berthelot, OCD (known in religion as Denis of the Nativity, or Dionysius; 12 December 1600, in Honfleur – 27 November 1638, in Sumatra) was a French sailor and cartographer in the service of the king of Portugal, and later Discalced Carme ...

as part of an ambassadorial mission from the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...

to the Sultan of Aceh. The mission was led by

Dom Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an et ...

Francisco Sousa de Castro as ambassador. Once in Aceh, all the members of the mission were seized and arrested, at the instigation of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

authorities based in Jakarta. 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. Father Denis, a crucifix in his hands, was the last to die, his skull shattered by a blow of a

scimitar A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...

. 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.''Route''

Veneration

Redemptus of the Cross was beatified on 10 June 1900 by Pope Leo XIII, together with Denis of the Nativity. Their feast day in the

Calendar of Saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of the Order is the 29 November.

Prayer

References

External links

Blessed Redemptorus of the Cross
at SQPN {{DEFAULTSORT:Redemptus of the Cross 1598 births 1638 deaths People from Viana do Castelo District 16th-century Portuguese people 17th-century Portuguese people Portuguese soldiers Discalced Carmelites Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries Carmelite beatified people 16th-century venerated Christians 17th-century venerated Christians 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Portuguese beatified people Portuguese Roman Catholic saints Beatified Roman Catholic religious brothers People murdered in Indonesia Portuguese people murdered abroad Roman Catholic missionaries in Indonesia Portuguese torture victims Christians executed for refusing to convert to Islam Deaths by blade weapons Venerated Catholics Beatifications by Pope Leo XIII