St. Leonard
Saint Leonard
Life and Dedication
Saint Leonard is also known as Leonard of Noblac. Some refer to him asLienard, Linhart, Leonhard, Leonardo, and even Annard.
Although quite notable in the Roman Catholic Church, there are detailsmissing about the life of Leonard.
Saint Leonard was said to have been a Frank nobleman. He belonged to thecourt of King Clovis I, a pagan man who established the Merovingiandynasty.
Saint Leonard was a devoted young Christian. He was said to have beenthe godchild of Saint Remigius who was at that time the bishop of Reims.
As soon as he was old enough, Saint Leonard had joined his godfather asa disciple. He often accompanied Saint Remigius on his missions topreach the gospel to pagan worshippers.
As a disciple, he was given permission to visit several prisons. There,he would preach to the sinners and set them free if necessary.
In his time, Saint Leonard set quite a several prisoners free.
Legacy
He was an austere man who practiced mortification, prayed, and fastedfor long periods. He was zealous and dedicated to God.
It was, therefore, no surprise that he was considered a likely candidatefor the bishopric. This offer was exempted to members of the nobleMerovingian court.
Saint Leonard turned down the offer to the dismay of the parishioners.
At some point in history, the Queen had joked with Leonard and hadinsinuated that he uses prayers to stop an impending opposition armyattack. To her and the rest of the court’s surprise, Saint Leonardprayed to God and King Clovis I won the battle.
It was this stunning miracle that convinced King Clovis that pagan Godscould not help him. He and the rest of the noble court were converted toChristianity.
Sometime late, Saint Leonard joined a monastery at Micy, near Orleans inFrance. There he dedicated his time to improving his relationship withGod.
He might have motivated his brother Saint Lifiard to build a monasteryat Neun where he and other young Christian men lived.
Saint Leonard had become used to staying with human interaction. Hecraved for total seclusion and so he retreated into the forest ofLimousin. There, he became a hermit.
He continued to preach to the locals and soon, he had converted many toChristianity. These people will come to respect Saint Leonard as muchthat they stuck around him, the third thing for his knowledge.
He was said to have established an oratory. He lived there and onlyventured out to preach to the people nearby and in other churches.
The people however wanted more of him. For this reason, Saint Leonardfounded a monastery that was open to all devoted locals. The monasterywas closely located with Leonard’s oratory.
Saint Leonard was said to have performed miracles in his time. The mostnotable miracle was the delivery of a baby for the Queen of Franks whosuffered from a complicated pregnancy. He was rewarded with severalpieces of land at Noble.
On a piece of this land, he established the Abbey of Noblac.
He was revered by many and he almost always drew crowds of people whocame to say their respects.
Death and Canonization
Saint Leonard died around 559 A.D. He received si much respect in hisdeath as he did when he was alive.
His shrine was visited by pilgrims and he was noted from severalmiracles. There are about 4000 requests that were granted on theintercession of Saint Leonard.
Saint Leonard is celebrated on the 6th of November. He is venerated inthe Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican Church.
5 Interesting Facts About Saint Leonard
- Did you know that Saint Leonard is the patron saint of prisoners?
- Did you know that Saint Leonard survived on fruits, herbs, and water
from a spring as a hermit? - Did you know that there are Churches dedicated to Saint Leonard in
major cities like France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy? - Did you know the Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat village is Named after
Saint Leonard? - Did you know that history records that prisoners ego invoked Saint
Leonard we’re set free from their chains?
Prayer to Saint Leonard
O Almighty God, who has called us to faith in thee, and bast compassedus about with so great a cloud of witnesses; Grant that we, encouragedby the good examples of thy Saints, and especially of thy servantLeonard, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, untilat length, through thy mercy, we with them attain to the eternal joy;through him who is the author and finisher of our faith, thy Son JesusChrist our Lord.Amen.
Source:[https://www.sainttherse.com/prayer-to-saint-leonard-of-noblac/]{.ul}