Saint Casilda of Toledo ( es, Santa Casilda de Toledo) ( 950–

1050 Year 1050 (Roman numerals, ML) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Hedeby is sacked by King Harald Hardrada, Harald III (Hardrada) of Kingdom of ...

) is venerated as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

. Her feast day is April 9th. Casilda was a Muslim princess, the daughter of the ruler of Toledo. She showed great kindness to Christian captives. Like Elizabeth of Hungary and

Elizabeth of Portugal Elizabeth of Aragon, more commonly known as Saint Elizabeth of Portugal, T.O.S.F. (1271 – 4 July 1336; ''Elisabet'' in Catalan, ''Isabel'' in Aragonese, Portuguese and Spanish), was queen consort of Portugal, a tertiary of the Franciscan Or ...

, the Miracle of the roses was attached to her legend. While Casilda supposedly predated both Elizabeths, her

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

was not written until three centuries after her death, and is likely influenced by the story of one of them.

Life

According to her legend, St. Casilda, a daughter of a Muslim king of

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

, ( Yahya ibn Ismail Al-Mamun), showed great compassion for

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

ers by frequently smuggling

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

into the prison, hidden in a basket concealed in her clothes, to feed them."St. Casilda", Franciscan Media
/ref> Once, she was stopped by her father and his

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

soldiers, and asked to reveal what she was carrying in her skirt. When she began to show them, the bread turned into a bouquet of roses.Zurbaran
/ref> She was raised a Muslim, but when she became ill as a young woman, she refused help from the local

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

doctors and traveled to northern

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

to partake of the healing waters of the

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

of San Vicente, near Buezo, close to

Briviesca Briviesca is a municipality and a Spanish city located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, head of the judicial district of Briviesca, capital of the comarca of La Bureba and province of Burgos, autonomous community of Castile and León. Acco ...

. When she was cured, she was baptized at

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

(where she was later venerated) and lived a life of

solitude Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without distu ...

and

penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of Repentance (theology), repentance for Christian views on sin, sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic Church, Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox s ...

not far from the miraculous spring. It is said that she lived to be 100 years old.

Images

Image:Casilda.jpg, Saint Casilda, by Francisco de Zurbarán File:Fray Juan Rizi casilda.jpg, Saint Casilda, by

Juan Rizi Friar Juan Andrés Ricci de Guevara, known as Friar Juan Rizi (1600, Madrid - 29 November 1681, Monte Cassino) was a Spanish Benedictine monk, painter, and architect, in the Baroque style. He also wrote works on theology and geometry and may hav ...

Image:CasildaBurgos.jpg, St. Casilda Apprehended with her Basket, Burgos Cathedral File:Nogales-Casilda.jpg, The Miracle of the Roses; by

José Nogales Sevilla José Valentín Nogales y Sevilla (3 November 1860, Málaga - 28 November 1939, Málaga) was a Spanish painter and watercolorist, associated with the Málaga School of Painting. He specialized in landscapes and scenes that involved flowers. Bi ...

Painted between 1638 and 1642, Zurbarán's ''Santa Casilda'' used as its model a lady of the Spanish court. She wears the fashions for courtiers of the time.

Bibliography

* Concha Espina, ''Casilda de Toledo'' (Madrid: Biblioteca nueva, 1940)

Life

Images

Bibliography

See also

References

External links