This saint told his father, the King, that he would rather lose all his earthly royal honors than to betray the true Faith

April 13 -- St. Hermenegild (+ 586)

Hermenegild and Recared were the sons of the Arian King of the Visigoths, Leovigild.  As Arian followers, they reigned conjointly with him. 

When Hermenegild married a faithful Catholic, the daughter of the King of France, he converted due to her holy example.  Upon hearing this,  Leovigild accused his son of treachery and imprisoned him. 

Unfortunately the Catholics of Spain were too weak to rescue their sovereign and Hermenegild had to spend two years in a foul dungeon while being subjected to all sorts of ignominies.

When the tortures and bribes failed to shake his faith, Hermenegild reminded his father, the King, that he would rather lose all his earthly royal honors than to betray the true Faith.  As a last resort, Leovigild sent an Arian Bishop to give  Hermenegild communion.  Indignantly rejecting the offer, Hermenegild received the death blow that earned him the martyr's crown.

His father, the King, having witnessed many miracles after his son's death, sent his other son, Recared , to seek out St. Leander to be received into the Church.  Recared then worked earnestly as a preacher of the Truth to implant Catholicism over his entire nation, destroying every vestige of the Arian heresy. 

St. Gregory said of Recared, "Nor is it to be wondered, that he came thus to be a preacher of the true Faith, since he was the brother of a martyr, whose merits helped him to bring so many into the haven of God's Church."                

St. Hermenegild's constancy and zeal won many souls for Christ including his own.  Sacrifice is a strong argument for Truth and the best way to win souls for Heaven.

Let us then ask St. Hermenegild for the grace to hold fast to the Truth whatever the consequence and to have the conviction that by this constancy we will earn Heaven for ourselves and for many others.