Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Saint Áurea, also called Oria, was born in 1043 in Villavelayo in La Rioja, then part of the Moorish-controlled Taifa of Zaragoza. From childhood she was drawn to God, studying Scripture and the stories of the martyrs under the guidance of the monk Munio. She especially loved to meditate on Saints Agatha, Eulalia, and Cecilia, longing to imitate their purity and courage. When she was only nine, Áurea and her mother, traditionally identified as Saint Amunia, sought a life of renunciation at the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla. With the help of Prior Dominic, later famed as the founder of Santo Domingo de Silos, Áurea was enclosed as an anchorite in a small cell built into the monastery church, where she could gaze toward the altar and offer her hidden life of prayer for the Church. She supported herself by embroidering vestments and baking hosts for Mass. In her early adulthood she received consoling visions that strengthened her vocation, and many came to seek her counsel and prayers. She died in 1070 at only twenty-seven, revered for her holiness and miracles. She is honored as patron of Villavelayo. Her feast day is March 11.