Wednesday in the Week of the Second Sunday of Advent
Leocadia of Toledo, Virgin and Martyr
4th century
Today the Greater Church commemorates Leocadia of Toledo, a Christian woman who remained faithful to Christ under persecution and died a prisoner for his name.
Leocadia lived in Toledo, in Roman Spain, at the beginning of the fourth century. The emperors ordered Christians to offer sacrifice to the gods of Rome. Those who refused could lose their freedom and their lives.
The governor Dacian had Leocadia seized and brought before him. He demanded that she abandon Christ. She would not. She was beaten and sent to prison, where she remained steadfast in the faith she had confessed.
In her confinement, Leocadia learned of the suffering of other Christians. The received account of her martyrdom tells that she heard of Eulalia, a young woman who had died for Christ at Mérida. Leocadia prayed that God would receive her also into the company of his faithful witnesses. Wounded and imprisoned, she died on December 9, about the year 304.
Christians buried her outside Toledo, near the River Tagus, and gathered at her grave. They did not remember her because she had held office, founded a community, or left writings behind. They remembered that when the authorities demanded the worship that belonged to God, she would not give it to another.
The church that rose above her burial place became a gathering place for the Christians of Spain. Centuries after her death, bishops assembled there in councils to order the life of the Church. They met beneath the patronage of a woman whom an earlier ruler had ordered imprisoned for confessing the same Lord.
When wars threatened Toledo, Leocadia’s relics were carried away for safekeeping. Her remembrance traveled with them, first through Spain and then beyond it. In time her remains were returned to Toledo, where Christians continued to honor her as their patron.
Leocadia’s captors could confine her body, but they could not command her worship. The Lord to whom she held fast received her in death, and the Church still remembers her among those who bore witness to him. May Christ give us steadfastness when faithfulness is costly, and bring us with Leocadia into the joy of his kingdom.
Let us pray
Almighty God, who strengthened your servant Leocadia to confess your Son in suffering and imprisonment: Grant us grace to remain steadfast in faith, to worship you alone, and to persevere in the hope of the resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.