Saint of the day: St. Lea

Saint Lea is a fourth-century saint in the Roman Catholic Church based on the authority of Jerome.

Lea of Rome is known only through the testimony of her beloved friend, Saint Jerome.

Jerome, a scholarly monk best known for his Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate), is the Church’s only source of information on the saint, whose biographical details are unknown.

A noblewoman of Rome, born into wealth and privilege, Lea was a contemporary of Jerome. However, she was widowed soon after her marriage, and left very sound financially. Instead of retiring as a wealthy widow, however, Lea joined a convent of consecrated virgins in the city—shedding all the money and social standing she possessed.

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She was named the prioress of the convent in later years, and supported the house run by Saint Marcella, working as a menial servant, and later served as the group’s superior.

It is known that Lea died in 384, while St. Jerome and St. Marcella were reading and working on Psalm 73.

In a letter relaying the news of her death to others within the city of Rome, St. Jerome writes to St. Marcella that Lea, a woman of austerity, obedience and remarkable penances had passed away.

Jerome described her as “blessed,” emphasizing the woman’s virtues as being worthy of heaven. Jerome, however, provides no biography for Lea, for he assumes that Marcella knows Lea, and so he concentrates instead upon her virtues.