Saint Florentina

Formed early on in the teachings of the faith, distinguished by the purity of her morals, and gifted with great penetration of mind, this pious virgin studied the holy Scriptures with profit under the direction of her brother Leander: he himself attests to the success of his young sister in a method he dedicated to her to help her read the Old Testament, and in particular the Song of Songs. Thus, she soon became capable of directing the early education of her young brother Isidore. Together with Leander, she took great care to nourish him with the milk of holy doctrine and to make him know all the dogmas of the faith.

She believed she should apply herself with all the more ardor to forming him in holiness, as God had seemed to manifest His views on this child. Isidore was still in the Isidore Brother of Florentina, great Doctor of the Church. cradle when she saw a swarm of bees enter his mouth, come out, and then fly toward heaven. Frightened, the young girl began to pray to ask heaven for the explanation of this omen: she then learned that the child would become a great doctor of the Church, and that through her care Spain would be delivered from the Arian heresy.

Several great lords aspired to the hand of Florentine. But she disdained, along with the conjugal bond, the seductions of the world. Moreover, the customs of the century inspired in her the deepest disgust: she became a nun, offering to Jesus Christ the flower of her virginity, and taking Him as her master and spouse.

In her monastery, continually applied to reading and prayer, she adorned her soul as if with so many flowers, with all the virtues of the Christian and the religious: charity, humility, poverty. Thus, a great number of virgins, attracted by the perfume of her holiness, came to place themselves under her guidance. Several monasteries even submitted to her direction and supervision.

Saint Leander held the highest opinion of her holiness and the efficacy of her prayers; in addressing to her two short treatises that he had composed for the spiritual advancement of his sister and that of her companions, he said to her with abandon: "... To conclude, beloved sister, I conjure you to remember me before God, and to give place in your prayers to our young brother Isidore. I am certain that God will lend an ear, in our favor, to your prayer as a virgin." These two treatises, which are the two parts of the same work, are titled, one *On the Contempt of the World*, the other, *O n the Institution of Virgins De l'institution des Vierges Spiritual treatise written by Leander for his sister. *.

Saint Isidore had no lesser idea of the eminent holiness and learning of his sister. Full of gratitude for the good care she had lavished upon his childhood, and the first lessons she had given him, wishing to return to her something for what he had received from her, he dedicated two books to her, one which treats *Of the Nativity, of the Passion, of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Last Judgment*, and which he declares to have composed at the request of Florentina herself; the other is that of the *Vocation of the Gentiles*. He promises her at the same time to send her explanatory commentaries that will help her to understand the difficult passages of the divine Scriptures.

Having reached the perfect blossoming of virtue and knowledge, Florentina had no more desires on earth. What the Lord had revealed to her regarding Saint Isidore, she saw fulfilled in that illustrious doctor whose glorious services all of Spain recounts and whose zeal—united with knowledge—had banished Arianism from his homeland. Hermenegild, her cousin, had exchanged his royal crown for the halo of martyrs, and Reccared, Hermenegild's brother, had converted to the Catholic faith. Consumed with love for God, she did nothing but languish in this world. Finally, full of days, she fell asleep in the Lord, in Ecija, as is believed, at the mona Ecija Presumed place of the saint's death. stery of Saint Mary of the Valley. Her body was transported from this monastery to Seville and placed in the Séville Initial burial place with his brothers. tomb of her holy brothers, where it rested until the entry of the Sarac ens into Spain, at w entrée des Sarrasins Historical event causing the relocation of relics. hich time it was hidden in the woods of Guadalupe with the relics of Saint Fulgentius. Under the reign of Alfonso XI, this double treasure was found in Berzocana, a village in the diocese of Plasencia. Under Philip II, the holy r Philippe II King of Spain who ordered the distribution of relics. elics of the brother and sister were divided into two parts: one was left in a magnificent marble mausoleum that was erected in the same place; the other was transported to Murcia and placed honorably near the high altar, where these sacred bones are the object of the greatest veneration by the faithful. A few particles were also given to the palace of the Escorial, in Madrid. Propers of Spain and Perpignan, new trans.