Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Leander of Seville.

Leander was born to the virtuous Severianus and Theodora in Cartagena, Spain. He had two brothers who were bishops, St. Isidore and Fulgentius, and a sister whose also a saint named Florentina. After becoming a monk in Seville, he was appointed bishop of the See. The two sons of the Arian Visigothic King Leovigild, Hermenegild, and Reccared, were converted mainly thanks to him.

He got banished to Constantinople because of the king’s displeasure for this deed, where he befriended the future Pope Gregory the Great, the Papal Legate. Leander suggested that Gregory composes the renowned Moralia, a commentary on the Book of Job. After returning home, St. Leander started his life’s work of promoting Christian orthodoxy against the Arians in Spain, working for King Reccared.

He presided in 589 at the third local Council of Toledo, established the consubstantiality of three Persons, and instituted moral reforms. Gregory the Great appreciated Leander’s unwavering knowledge and zeal for guiding the Visigoths and the Suevi back to the Faith. The saintly bishop established the Nicene Creed at Mass and wrote significant nuns’ rule. Overworked by his numerous efforts to advance Christ, Leander passed away in 600, and his brother Isidore took over as Bishop of Seville. The Spanish Church reveres Leander as a Doctor of the Faith.

Source: catholic.org