From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   December 9th - Saint Leocadia of Toledo, Virgin and Martyr   
   (d. 303)   
      
   Saint Leocadia was the fervent daughter of an illustrious Christian family   
   of   
   Toledo, apprehended and martyred in 303 by an order of Dacian, the cruel   
   governor under Diocletian.   
      
   When Dacian arrived in Toledo, she was soon denounced. Summoned before his   
   tribunal, she replied to his contemptuous words concerning the true religion   
   that she considered herself infinitely happy to serve God and His Son Jesus   
   Christ, and that nothing whatsoever would be able to make her renounce her   
   religion. She was flogged until covered with blood, then imprisoned with   
   threats. She went to the prison with joy, consoling the Christians along the   
   route who deplored her condition, telling them to rejoice in the grace she   
   received to suffer for her Lord and Spouse. It was in this prison that she   
   heard   
   of the incredibly cruel martyrdom inflicted on her compatriot, Saint   
   Eulalia,   
   and she was so grieved by these cruelties, and by the condition of the true   
   servants of God in those days, that she prayed to be retired from this   
   world.   
   Her prayer was heard, and she expired peacefully there on December 9, 303,   
   kissing a cross which the touch of her hand imprinted on the hard rock of   
   the   
   prison wall.   
      
   A church was built over her tomb, in which several archbishops of Toledo   
   chose   
   to be buried. Two other famous churches in Toledo bear her name, one built   
   over   
   the site of the prison, and the other at that of the paternal home. Saint   
   Leocadia is honored as the principal patroness of the city. Her relics were   
   kept   
   in that church with great respect, until during the incursions of the Moors,   
   they were conveyed to Oviedo, and again elsewhere, then they were eventually   
   carried back to Toledo with great pomp, and placed in the great church there   
   on   
   the 26th of April, 1589.   
      
   Reflection: If we were not blinded by the world and the enchantment of its   
   follies, and would choose to meditate frequently on the certain prospect of   
   eternity and the uncertainty of the hour of our death, the precepts of   
   Christ   
   would produce in us the same fervent dispositions which they did in the   
   primitive Christians. (Rev. Alban Butler)   
      
   Sources: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin   
   (Bloud   
   et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 14; Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a   
   compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources, by John   
   Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict   
   without an enemy, no victory without strife.   
   -Pope St. Leo the Great   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Purify your souls in the obedience of charity with a brotherly love. (I Pet   
   1:22)   
      
      
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   Indulgenced Prayers   
      
   We adore Thee, O Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in   
   all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless   
   Thee; for by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.   
   (7 years every time said on bended knees upon entering or   
   leaving a church)*   
      
   Grant me Thy grace, most merciful Jesus, that it may be with   
   me and labour with me and continue with me unto the end.   
   Grant me always to will and desire that which is most   
   acceptable to Thee and which pleaseth Thee best.   
      
   Let Thy Will be mine, and let my will   
   always Thine and agree perfectly with it.   
   Let me always will or not will the same with Thee;   
   and let me not be able to will or not to will   
   otherwise than as Thou willest or willest not.   
   (3 years every time said)*   
      
   O Jesus, our Saviour, give us Thy blessing;   
    deliver us from eternal death; assist Thy holy Church;   
    grant peace to all nations; deliver the souls who   
   are suffering in Purgatory.   
   (500 days every time said)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)