Leo and his brothers Gervase and Philip were sons of devout parents in the north of France.
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Leo and his brothers Gervase and Philip were sons of devout parents in the north of France. Leo was elected Archbishop of Rouen, but left his diocese to vicars (deputies) and went with his brothers to Bayonne, where paganism lingered.
He made many converts. He was killed by a band of pirates whom the townspeople had driven out for their crimes. Legend says he carried his own head to where he had last preached.
Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 150 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.
Leo, Gervase, and Philip, were the three sons of pious parents in the North of France; Leo was elected to be archbishop of Rouen, but resigned his government of the diocese into the hands of vicars, and betook himself with his two brothers to Bayonne, where Christianity had made but small progress, much heathen superstition remained, and a colony of Moors had settled there.
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Leo, Gervase, and Philip, were the three sons of pious parents in the North of France; Leo was elected to be archbishop of Rouen, but resigned his government of the diocese into the hands of vicars, and betook himself with his two brothers to Bayonne, where Christianity had made but small progress, much heathen superstition remained, and a colony of Moors [the Muslims of North Africa and Spain] had settled there. He was well received, and succeeded in making many converts, but was killed by some pirates who had lived in the town, but had been ejected by the citizens on account of their nefarious deeds. According to the legend, a spring of water bubbled up where S. Leo fell, and he arose and carried his head to the place where he had last been preaching.
He is represented in Art, at Bayonne, where he is greatly venerated, as a bishop, holding his head in his hands.
Feast: March 1
One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Leo of Rouen's story, and a nudge to keep going.
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.
