Aurea of San Millán
Encyclopedia
Saint Aurea (Villavelayo
, c. 1042 – San Millán de la Cogolla, 1069) was a Benedictine
hermit
attached to the abbey of San Millán de la Cogolla, La Rioja
. She is commemorated
on 11 March.
Aurea was born around the year 1042 in the village of Villavelayo, Spain in a region controlled by Moors. As a youth, Aurea studied the Scriptures and the lives of the early martyrs of the Church. Her favorite saints to meditate upon and try to copy were Saint Agatha, Saint Eulalia
, and Saint Cecilia
.
As a young woman, Aurea decided to leave home and join a religious convent
. She was welcomed into the convent of San Millán de la Cogolla and completely applied herself to monastic life. Soon after joining the convent, Aurea received a vision of her three favorite saints and was encouraged to follow her chosen lifestyle with more zeal. According to tradition, she performed many miracles and many people began to seek her advice and prayers.
Aurea spent only a few years of her life in the monastery. Around the year 1069 she contracted a painful disease and died. At the time of her death, Aurea was twenty-seven years old.
Villavelayo
Villavelayo is a village in the province and autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain.-References:...
, c. 1042 – San Millán de la Cogolla, 1069) was a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
attached to the abbey of San Millán de la Cogolla, La Rioja
San Millán de la Cogolla, La Rioja
San Millán de la Cogolla is a sparsely populated municipality in La Rioja, . It takes its name from a 6th-century saint who lived here, and from the shape of the surrounding mountains . The village is famous for its twin monasteries, Yuso and Suso, which were declared a World Heritage Site in 1997...
. She is commemorated
Calendar of saints
The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the feast day of said saint...
on 11 March.
Aurea was born around the year 1042 in the village of Villavelayo, Spain in a region controlled by Moors. As a youth, Aurea studied the Scriptures and the lives of the early martyrs of the Church. Her favorite saints to meditate upon and try to copy were Saint Agatha, Saint Eulalia
Saint Eulalia
Saint Eulàlia , co-patron saint of Barcelona, was a thirteen-year-old Roman Christian virgin who suffered martyrdom in Barcelona during the persecution of Christians in the reign of emperor Diocletian...
, and Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia is the patroness of musicians and Church music because as she was dying she sang to God. It is also written that as the musicians played at her wedding she "sang in her heart to the Lord". St. Cecilia was an only child. Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Anglican,...
.
As a young woman, Aurea decided to leave home and join a religious convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
. She was welcomed into the convent of San Millán de la Cogolla and completely applied herself to monastic life. Soon after joining the convent, Aurea received a vision of her three favorite saints and was encouraged to follow her chosen lifestyle with more zeal. According to tradition, she performed many miracles and many people began to seek her advice and prayers.
Aurea spent only a few years of her life in the monastery. Around the year 1069 she contracted a painful disease and died. At the time of her death, Aurea was twenty-seven years old.