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ST LEONIDES, MARTYR OF ALEXANDRIA - 22 APRIL

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL

Saints celebrated on the 22nd of April

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

SAINT LEONIDES OF ALEXANDRIA, MARTYR 

The Emperor Severus, in the year 202, which was the tenth of his reign, raised a bloody persecution, which filled the whole empire with martyrs, but especially Egypt. The most illustrious of those who, by their triumphs ennobled and edified the city of Alexandria, was Leonides, father of the great Origen. 

HE WAS THE FATHER OF THE GREAT ORIGEN

He was a Christian philosopher, and excellently versed both in the profane and sacred sciences. He had seven sons, the eldest of whom was Origen, whom he brought up with abundance of care, returning God thanks for having blessed him with a son of such an excellent disposition for learning, and a very great zeal for piety. 

These qualifications endeared him greatly to his father, who, after his son was baptised, would come to his bedside while he was asleep, and, opening his bosom, kiss it respectfully, as being the temple of the Holy Ghost. 

When the persecution raged at Alexandria, under Laetus, governor of Egypt, in the tenth year of Severus, Leonides was cast into prison. Origen, who was then only seventeen years of age, burned with an incredible desire of martyrdom, and sought every opportunity of meeting with it. But his mother conjured him not to forsake her: and seeing his ardour redoubled at the sight of his father’s chains, was forced to lock up all his clothes to oblige him to stay at home. 

"TAKE HEED, SIR, THAT FOR OUR SAKES YOU DO NOT CHANGE YOUR MIND"

So, not being able to do any more, he wrote a letter to his father in very moving terms, strongly exhorting him to look on the crown that was offered him with courage and joy; adding this clause: “Take heed, sir, that for our sakes you do not change your mind.” Leonides was accordingly beheaded for the faith in 202. 

DIVINE PROVIDENCE WAS HER COMFORT

His estates and goods being all confiscated and seized for the emperor’s use, his widow was left with seven children to maintain, in the poorest condition imaginable; but Divine Providence was both her comfort and support. Suidas informs us, that St Leonides was honoured with the episcopal character; which Dom. Vincent de la Rue confirms by the authority of two Vatican MS. copies of St Jerome’s catalogue of illustrious writers. 

(From Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints)

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