Saint Valerius of Saragossa ( es, San Valero; an, Sant Valero) (d. 315 AD) is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of Saragossa. He was bishop of this city from 290 until his death. He assisted at the

Council of Elvira The Synod of Elvira ( la, Concilium Eliberritanum, es, Concilio de Elvira) was an ecclesiastical synod held at Elvira in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica, now Granada in southern Spain.. Its date has not been exactly determined but is belie ...

.Amadó, Ramón Ruiz. "Saragossa." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 11 Feb. 2015
/ref> His

feast day 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 ...

is January 29.

History

Saint Valerius (4th century) was bishop of

Caesaraugusta Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

(Saragossa), participated in the council of Elbira (Granada), around the year 306, had Saint Vicente Mártir as deacon Vincent of Saragossa first artyrof Spain. Both Valerius and Vincent suffered imprisonment under

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

. Valerius was held captive in Valencia during Diocletian's persecution, apparently he saved his life and perhaps he was banished to an undetermined area of the Aragonese Pyrenees. Valerius was exiled for a time to a place called Enet, near Barbastro. In 1050, some remains that were considered his were transferred to Roda de Isábena and, from 1118, after the entry into Zaragoza of the Christian troops of Alfonso I the Battler, these remains were transferred to Zaragoza in successive shipments throughout several decades. Venerated ever since by the people of aragoza he is the patron saint of the city. An idealised portrait of this Bishop is found in the magnificent Pantaleão, Zaragoza. Why rosconero? This sweet has traditionally been associated with festivities and that in Roman times, at Saturnalia, a bean was hidden around the house and the slave who found it was free until spring. According to the Provincial Association of Confectionery and Pastry Entrepreneurs of Zaragoza, which brings together some 60 establishments, for San Valero the Aragonese usually consume more than 150,000 roscones to sweeten the after-meal. An idealised portrait of this Bishop is found in the magnificent Pantaleão, Zaragoza.

Veneration

A chapel dedicated to him can be found at

La Seo Cathedral The Cathedral of the Savior ( es, Catedral del Salvador) or La Seo de Zaragoza is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain. It is part of the World Heritage Site ''Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon''. The cathedral is located on th ...

. It includes a

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

entryway of gilded wood from the seventeenth century with scenes of the saints Valerius, Vincent, and

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

References

315 deaths 4th-century Christian saints People from Zaragoza Saints from Hispania Year of birth unknown {{spain-saint-stub