Saint Leolucas of Corleone

Feb 252010

[Saint Leolucas of Corleone]
Also known as

Leo Luke
Leoluca

1 March

Profile

Born to a wealthy and pious family who raised cattle and sheep. Orphaned at an early age he devoted himself to managing the estate and supervising the herds. In the solitude of the fields he realized he had a call to religious life. He sold his estate, converted his assets to cash, gave the money to the poor, and became a Basilian monk at the San Filippo d’ Agira monastery in the province of Enna, Sicily. He moved from Sicily to Calabria, Italy to escape the persecutions of invading Muslims, and joined a monastic community there. Pilgrim to Rome, Italy where he made a special point to visit the tombs of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Abbot of a Basilian monastery of Corleone, Sicily. Lived 80 years as a monk. Leolucas’ intervention is credited with saving the city of Corleone during the plague outbreak of 1575. The apparition of Leolucas and Saint Anthony prevented a Bourbon invasion of Corleone on 27 May 1860.