St. Aphrodisius: The Obscure Saint of Tradition

Hey everyone!  I learned about a new Saint this week!  His name is St. Aphrodisius.  And because I learned about him this week, I'm going to tell you about him.

His story mostly comes from tradition, and doesn't involve much.  He is an Egyptian who lived during Jesus' time.  Tradition goes that he is the one who gave a shelter and home to the Holy Family when they flew to Egypt during the reign of King Herod, who wanted to kill baby Jesus.  He would later become a disciple of Christ and go on missionary journeys to preach the gospel.  He became the first bishop of Beziers, France, and was beheaded there as a martyr.
(Information from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10545a.htm)

St. Aphrodisius is one of what I like to call the "Big Little Saints of the Gospels"  These are all the people that get one or two lines in the Gospels, but Jesus' impact on them changes their lives and makes them saints.  A small list includes St. Simon of Cyrene,  St. Dismas, St. Longinus, St. Johanna, St. Veronica, St. Lazarus, and more.  You may not know all of these people but that's okay.  

Most of them are also based on church tradition, and it is likely we will never prove if St. Aphrodisius actually gave shelter to the Holy Family.  Nevertheless, it's not the point whether it actually happened or not.  What matters is that this story is a great example of hospitality. 

It's also cool to learn about new saints.  I learned about him as I was listening to musical soundtracks while writing papers. His name popped up in the soundtrack to the musical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The song itself is okay.  It gives St. Aphrodisius' story in the first third. 
(Link to song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ciscKG8H5Q.)

Saints pop up in random songs and random places, and I like looking for them wherever I can find them.  St. Aphrodisius decided to pop up this week, and I'll be looking for others.  Try paying attention to which saints you hear or see around you.  There might be more than you think, and you might learn something new.