Leocadia (saint)

The sacred Leocadia is a Spanish saint . Tradition says that she suffered martyrdom in the persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Diocletian on December 9, probably in the year 304 .

biography

About the life of St. Leocadia is next to nothing known; she probably came from Toledo or its surroundings. Their name suggests a Greek origin of their family. According to tradition, the Roman governor, a man by the name of Decianus, attempted to persuade them to renounce their faith by torture and threats of death; along the lines of St. However, Eulalia remained steadfast and died in prison as a result of torture.

Adoration

The name of the martyr does not appear in the various martyr hymns of the late antique Spanish poet Prudentius (348-405), but a church of the Holy Sepulcher was consecrated to her early on in Toledo, in which three Toledan councils (633, 636 and 638) were held. Their feast day , December 9th, appears in Spanish martyrologies of the 9th century.

St. Leocadia was buried in a cemetery near the Tajo , where a cult soon developed. In the 9th century her relics were brought to Oviedo because of the attacks by Abd ar-Rahman II , where Alfonso II of Asturias had a church dedicated to her built. In the 11th century, a count from Hainaut , who had set out for Spain as a pilgrim to St. James and was there at the side of Alfonso VI. fought against the Muslims, in thanks for his military service the relics of St. Leocadia and St. Sulpicius , which he gave to the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Ghislain as a gift, but where they led a shadowy existence. Philip the Fair and Joanna of Castile brought a tibial bone of the saint back to Spain during a visit (around 1500).

The abbey suffered during the Spanish-Dutch wars of the 16th century. In 1583 the relics were discovered by a Jesuit and brought to Rome three years later; from there they came by ship to Valencia and then to Toledo . King Philip II himself was present at the relic translation in 1587.

St. Leocadia is the patron saint of the city of Toledo. Although the saint is well known in Spain, none of the great Spanish painters of the 16th and 17th centuries left a representation of her or her martyrdom.

• 

  Oviedo - Santa Leocadia Chapel

• 

  window

• 

  crypt

• 

  Ornate plate

Web links

Commons : Leocadia of Toledo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• St. Leocadia - Legends + History (private page)
• St. Leocadia - Legends + History (span.)