Saint Aurea or Oria (from the la, golden) (1043-1070), was a Spanish

anchorite In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. While anchorites are ...

saint attached to the

Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes ...

, in the Spanish Province of La Rioja (Europe). She is commemorated on 11 March.

Life

Aurea was born in 1043 in the village of Villavelayo, then part of the

Taifa The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, a region controlled by the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

. According to tradition, her mother was St. Amunia. As a child, she studied the Scriptures and the lives of the early

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s of the Church under the guidance of a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

named Munio, who would later write her ''

vita Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vit ...

''. Her favorite saints to meditate upon and to try to imitate were Saint Agatha, Saint Eulalia and

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia ( la, Sancta Caecilia), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She b ...

. When she was aged nine, Amunia and Aurea decided to leave the world and to embrace a life of

asceticism Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

. They went to the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla, where they appealed to the

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

Dominic Dominic is a name common among Roman Catholics and other Latin-Romans as a male given name. Originally from the late Roman-Italic name "Dominicus", its translation means "Lordly", "Belonging to God" or "of the Master". Variations include: Domini ...

(later founder and namesake of the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos) for help in this. After some consideration as to how to proceed, for Aurea Prior Dominic had a narrow anchorhold built for her in the wall of the monastery church, with a small window through which she could see the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

, and another to the outside. He then

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

her and had her walled into her new cell. Aurea completely applied herself to the contemplative life. By the age of 20, she was living in a cave where she received a vision of her three favorite saints and was encouraged to follow her chosen lifestyle with more zeal. St. Eulalia gave her a pigeon, which image became connected to her, instructing her to follow it as an example of how she was to seek God. According to tradition, she performed many miracles and many people began to seek her advice and prayers. She supported herself by embroidering

vestment Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Anglicans, and Lutherans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; this ...

s for the monastery and baking

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

s for the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

. Aurea did not live long after her visions. During the winter of 1070 she contracted a painful disease, in the course of which she sent for her tutor, Munio. At the time of her death, Aurea was twenty-seven years old. Her body was initially buried in her cave, which served as her shrine until 1609, when the bulk of her remains were enshrined at the monastery, with some being given to the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of her home town of Villavelayo, where a special chapel was built to house them and to honor her as the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of the town. A confraternity established to honor her cares for the shrine at the church and organizes an annual trip to the shrine at the monastery.

Veneration

Gonzalo de Berceo, considered the first poet of the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

, wrote an account of her life called the ''Vida de Santa Oria''.

References

External links

Aurea at ''Catholic Online''St. Aurea Hagiography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aurea of San Millan 1043 births 1070 deaths People from La Rioja Spanish hermits Spanish Roman Catholic saints Medieval Spanish saints 11th-century people from the Kingdom of Pamplona Female saints of medieval Spain 11th-century Christian saints 11th-century Spanish women