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Saint Lea of Rome
Saint Lea of Rome

Saint Lea of Rome

Feast Day
Mar 22, 2012
Patronage
<p>St. Lea of Rome is known only through the testimony of her beloved friend, the learned St. Jerome.&nbsp; We know that she lived contemporaneously with St. Jerome during the 4<sup>th</sup> Century.&nbsp; She was a noblewoman of Rome, born into wealth and privilege and married up the social ladder.&nbsp; However, soon after her marriage she was widowed and left in a very financially sound position.&nbsp; Instead of retiring as a wealthy widow, however, she joined a convent of consecrated virgins in the city&mdash;shedding all the money and social standing she possessed.&nbsp; In later years she was named the prioress of the convent.&nbsp;</p> <p>During her tenure in religious life, it seems she become well-acquainted with St. Jerome, whose account of her stands as one of the primary sources of evidence for her existence and age-old veneration as a saint.&nbsp; It appears that she died in 384 while she was reciting Psalm 73 (alongside St. Jerome).&nbsp; In a letter relaying her death to others within the city of Rome, St. Jerome writes to St. Marcella that St. Lea, a woman of austerity, obedience and remarkable penances had died.&nbsp; He described her as &ldquo;blessed,&rdquo; emphasizing the woman&rsquo;s virtues as being worthy of heaven.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Practical Take-Away: </strong><em>&ldquo;Living like a fool on earth&hellip;&rdquo;</em><strong></strong></p> <p>St. Jerome described St. Lea&rsquo;s moving from the highest echelons of Roman society to the virgin&rsquo;s convent as her &ldquo;living like a fool on earth.&rdquo;&nbsp; Indeed, this seems to be the Christian life.&nbsp; St. Paul says that &ldquo;the language of the cross&rdquo; is &ldquo;illogical&rdquo; and culminates in &ldquo;the foolishness&hellip;that we preach&rdquo; (I Cor. 1:18, 21).&nbsp; It does seem silly sometimes trying to live our Faith.&nbsp; We don&rsquo;t look &ldquo;normal.&rdquo;&nbsp; But, then, again, &ldquo;normal&rdquo; is a relative term.&nbsp; Certainly in today&rsquo;s society anything looking remotely Christian (let alone authentically Catholic) is radically abnormal.&nbsp; Yet, this is precisely what we are called to do&mdash;to be in the world, but not of the world.&nbsp; To live on the earth, but to look foolish as we wonder toward sights unseen, toward mystical and spell-bounding mirages revealed to us clearly by our Faith.&nbsp; St. Francis, quite clearly a lunatic by worldly standards was called &ldquo;God&rsquo;s Fool.&rdquo;&nbsp; Recalling Christ&rsquo;s own admonition that if He was persecuted, so, too, would His disciples be persecuted.&nbsp; Let the world call us fools&mdash;it assures us that we are Christians.&nbsp; Embrace it.&nbsp; Love it.&nbsp; Live like a fool!&nbsp; Live Faithfully!&nbsp; As Flannery O&rsquo;Connor, one of my favorite authors, once wrote about what being Faithful looks like: &ldquo;You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you odd.&rdquo;&nbsp; Indeed!&nbsp; St. Lea of Rome, pray for us!</p>