Venerable Aemilian Cucullatus

Venerable Aemilian Cucullatus (San Millán de la Cogolla) was a 6th-century Spanish hermit and abbot; his nickname comes from the cowl (cuculla) he was said to wear. His Life was written in the 7th century by Bishop Braulio of Zaragoza. Born at Vergegium (Berceo) in La Rioja, he was a shepherd until about the age of twenty, when he sought out the hermit Felix at Bilibio and studied under him for three years. He then lived as a hermit in the mountains near Burgos for some forty years.

Bishop Didymus of Tarazona persuaded him to be ordained and made him priest of his native village, but his lavish almsgiving from church funds led envious clergy to accuse him of squandering church property. He withdrew again to the mountains, where disciples gathered around him and he became their abbot. He died in 574 at about a hundred years of age. His hermitage grew into the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla (Suso and later Yuso), which keeps his relics and those of his teacher Felix; he is venerated as a patron of Castile.

In December 2018 the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church included him in the Synaxis of Saints who shone forth in Spain and Portugal (Sunday before October 12). His own feast is November 12 (November 25 New Style).