St. Fandila

A native of Cadiz, Spain, Fandila entered the Benedictine monastery of Tabanos at Cordoba. His great holiness attracted the attention of the monks of the San Salvador Monastery at Pinna Mellaria. These persuaded him to become a priest for their religious community. Following his ordination, Fandila continued his habitual practices of frequent prayer, vigils, and penances. His zeal to preach the faith and defend it prompted him to take the audacious step of going before a Moorish magistrate to deliver a refutation of Islam. This sermon incurred the anger of the Moorish authorities occupying Spain, who thereupon imprisoned him, and afterwards beheaded him. Centuries later, there was a Spanish farming district where each year in June, close to the date of Fandila's feastday on the thirteenth, thunderstorms pounded the crops with hail, devastating the vineyards. Finally, one of the farmers invoked the intercession of Fandila by erecting a cross with the martyr's name inscribed upon it. From that time onward, hailstorms no longer occurred in that district.