LEA, Saint. — A noble Roman widow of the 4th century. She was one of the most assiduous attenders of the spiritual cenacle that had formed on the Aventine, in the Paolazzo of Marcella.
St. Jerome, master and spiritual director of that singular community from 382 to 385, calls L. «mona sterii principes» and «mater virginum» (Epist. XXXIII, 2), although one cannot speak of a cenobitic life strictly organized.
She died in 384 and St. Jerome himself composed her eulogy in a letter to Marcella (Epist. XXIII: PL 22, 425-427), recalling of her passing the assiduity of prayer, her capacity for guidance, and her harsh penances. She is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on March 22.
BIBL.: Acta SS. Martii, III, Paris 1865, pp. 383-84; F. Cavallera, St. Féronne, sa vie et son oeuvre, part 1, I, Louvain 1922, p. 100 sq.; Martyr. Romanum, p. 108. Emanuele Romanelli