Saint Leucius was initially a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

from

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, Egypt, who later founded the Diocese of Brindisi, as the first Bishop in 165. It is believed that he later suffered

martyrdom 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 external ...

in 180.

Early life

Not much is known of Leucius' early life, although it is believed that he was born in Eastern Europe, to Eudecius and Euphrodisia and was given the name of Eupressius at birth. What is known is that the young Eupressius was educated and spent the formative years of his life in

, Egypt. Following the death of his mother, he entered monastic life. A heavenly vision, during the

Feast of the Assumption The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

of the Virgin, would change his name from Eupressius to Leucius. Having already been ordained a bishop, Leucius wanted to undertake a missionary apostolate in

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

, to liberate the pagans there from misconceptions of Christianity. Leucius left

for Brindisi, which at the time was one of the largest ports of the Mediterranean, in what is now the southern part of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Religious life

Leucius first came to fame when many pagans in

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

heard him preaching the Gospel during a drought. He claimed that if they had faith in his message, the rains would come. After the rains fell, the pagans who had heard Leucius were immediately converted to Christianity. Soon after, he became the first

Bishop of Brindisi The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Brindisi-Ostium ( la, Archidioecesis Brundusina-Ostunensis) in Apulia, has carried its present name since 1986. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Lecce.Trani Trani () is a seaport of Apulia, in southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, by railway west-northwest of Bari. It is one of the capital cities of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. History Overview The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the fir ...

, then to the capital of the Duchy of

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

Veneration

The cult of St. Leucius spread throughout the region of Apulia (where many of the rural parishes still bear his name), and he became much venerated in

Trani Trani () is a seaport of Apulia, in southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, by railway west-northwest of Bari. It is one of the capital cities of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. History Overview The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the fir ...

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

, and

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...

. The spread of the cult of Saint Leucius in southern Italy came to coincide with the official conversion to Christianity of the Lombard Duchy of Benevento, Brindisi, which is believed to be attributed to Saint Barbato, in 680 and to the Duchess Teoderada in 706. Later that century, the remains of Leucius, which had begun to attract the attention of many pilgrims, were transferred to

, placed in a chapel located under the cathedral. Later, they was transferred again to

. The cult of the saint spread throughout the region, even reaching Rome, where a monastery dedicated to him was constructed as early as the sixth century. In

Atessa Atessa (locally ''L'Atésse'') is an municipality in the province of Chieti, Abruzzo, south-eastern Italy. It is part of the Val di Sangro mountain community. It is the largest municipality in the province by extension and eighth by population. ...

a legend grew around St. Leucius in which the Bishop of Brindisi killed a dragon that had long terrorized the people, and in witness of his work gave him one of the ribs. In the Basilica Cathedral of Brindisi, which was dedicated in 1771, the altar which closes the left aisle preserves the relic of an arm of Leucius.San Leucio a Villavallelonga
Ass. Pro Loco Villavallelonga A depiction of the saint adorns the cathedral, done on canvas by Oronzo Tiso (1726–1800).

References

Bibliography

*Pietro Degli Onofri, ''Vita di Santo Leucio, primo vescovo di Brindisi'', Ed. Raimondi, Napoli 1789. *E. Bove, ''Il lungo viaggio del beato Leucio'', Ed. del Matese, 1990. {{Authority control 180 deaths Saints from Roman Egypt Italian Roman Catholic saints 2nd-century Christian martyrs 2nd-century Italian bishops Year of birth unknown Bishops of Brindisi