Today, March 13, is the memorial of Saint Leander of Seville.
Born in Cartagena, Spain in 534, Leander came from a family of holy people. He was the son of Severianus and Theodora, known for their piety. He was the brother of St. Isidore of Seville, St. Fulgentius of Ecija, and St. Florentina of Cartagena.
He became a Benedictine monk and was later appointed bishop of Seville in 579.
Together with the Ingunthis, the first Catholic queen of the Visigoths, he converted St. Hermengild and Prince Reccared, sons of the Arian Visigoth King Leovigild, who then exiled Leander to Constantinople from 579 to 582. There Leander became close friends with the papal legate who later became Pope St. Gregory the Great. It was Leander who suggested that Gregory should write his commentary (Moralia) on the Book of Job.
When Reccared became king, Leander was allowed to return to Seville. He fought the heresy Arianism, and headed the Third Council of Toledo in 589. He revised and unified the Spanish liturgy, and led the Visigoths back to Christianity.
Leander wrote many works, but only two managed to survive the test of time: a rule for the nuns of his sister and the “De triumph Ecclesiae ob conversionem Gothorum.”
He introduced the Nicene Creed to Mass in the west. He died in Seville around 600-601.