Leo, the Elderly Lion. He was killed around the year 260, and the pattern of his death follows that of many of the saints killed prior to the Christianization of the Roman Empire–he was ordered to do obeisance to one of another set of gods, upon pain of death, and Leo valiantly refused with several sharp rebukes, and execution ensued. Of the rebukes, my favorite interchange went like this, according to Butler:

Judge: “Only say the gods are great, and I will discharge you. I really pity your old age.”

Leo: “If I allow them that title, it can only be with regard to their power of destroying their worshippers.”

So the furious judge ordered old Leo to be bound and dragged over rocks in order to damage Leo’s elderly body as much as possible before having Leo thrown over “a great precipice into a deep pit”–and that’s when the miracles began happening! First, the saint’s body itself (albeit dead, with his soul gone to heaven as a blessed martyr), once recovered by fellow believers, showed no signs of bruising or tearing whatsoever. Butler writes, “The Christians took up the martyr’s body, and found it of a lively colour, and entire, and his face appeared comely and smiling”–and so they carried Leo off to give him a decent and honorable burial.

Next, the very area itself where the saint had been executed, being dragged over and thrown to his death–rocks, crags, and a dangerous precipice with torrents below–became as pleasant as a picnic ground and “no more dangers or accidents happened in it to travellers.”

What miracle do we need now to ensure that our parks, our streets, and our schools can likewise become transformed into places of pleasantness, where “no more dangers or accidents” happen? We have had the executions already.