According to a pious legend, Saint Olivia was described as a ravishing beauty of 13 years when Saracens captured her at Palermo, Sicily in the 9th century. She was deported to Tunis where she began to perform miracles and convert Muslims to Christianity.
Wishing to get rid of her, but fearing her power, her captors abandoned her in a forest, giving her to the beasts. Some hunters found her and took her themselves as a slave, but she converted them to the Faith. Exasperated Muslim authorities arrested, tortured, and beheaded her. At the moment of her death, her soul was seen to fly to heaven in the form of a dove.
She has been honoured in Carthage and Palermo, and was held in great esteem by Christians and Muslims. The mosque of Tunis is called the Mosque of Olivia, and Tunisian Muslims say that who speaks ill of her is always punished by God.
Saint Olivia is considered a Patron Saint of Music and Palermo, Italy.
Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
The post Saint Olivia appeared first on uCatholic.
Daily Reading
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
Readings for the Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, religious [In the Dioceses of the United States] Reading 1 1 John 3:7-10 Children, let no one deceive you. The person…
Daily Meditation
Behold, the Lamb of GodHe aquí el Cordero de Dios
Click here for daily readings Credited with establishing Catholic Schools in the United States of America, we owe much to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. As a young wife and mother…