Leticia (; ), whose feast day is October 21, is venerated as a
virgin
Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...
and saint, presumably a companion of
Ursula. A saint with the same name had a feast day occurring on March 13 and July 9. Her cult was diffused in
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
("
Letizia
Letizia () is a predominantly Italian feminine given name. People bearing the name Letizia include:
*Queen Letizia of Spain (born 1972), wife of King Felipe VI
*Letizia Battaglia (born 1935), Italian photographer and photojournalist
* Letizia Ber ...
" was the name of
Napoleon's mother) and can be found in
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
(Saint Letycie, Lititia). A center of her cult in
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
is the
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
ese town of
Ayerbe
:''Ayerbe is also the name of a village in the Broto municipality.''
Ayerbe is a town in the Hoya de Huesca comarca, in the autonomous community of Aragon in Spain.
Geography
Ayerbe is located 28 km from Huesca on highway A 132 in the directi ...
.
The
''fiesta'' of Saint Leticia takes place around September 9 and lasts for four to six days. A sculpture of Leticia is carried in procession, its
pedestal
A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...
garlanded with
grapes
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...
; figures of
giants
A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore.
Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to:
Mythology and religion
*Giants (Greek mythology)
* Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...
and ''cabezudos'' (figures with gigantic heads) parade in the streets and
pyrotechnic
Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demol ...
figures of
bull
A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...
s race through the town every night.
The marriage of
Letizia Ortiz
Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano (; born 15 September 1972) is Queen of Spain as the wife of King Felipe VI.
Letizia was born in Oviedo, Asturias. She worked as a journalist for '' ABC'' and EFE before becoming a news anchor at CNN+ and Televisión ...
to king
Felipe VI of Spain
Felipe VI (; Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed For ...
is said to have sparked new interest in the cult of this saint.
La Letiziamanía que viene
Relics
Leticia's relics
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...
can be found in Ayerbe in a reliquary of engraved
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an inta ...
silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
dating from the 16th century. There is a small opening, which the faithful can kiss. The reliquary was a gift from Don Pedro Forcada, a native of Ayerbe, who served as a canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western canon, th ...
of the cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
of Tarazona
Tarazona is a town and municipality in the Tarazona y el Moncayo comarca, province of Zaragoza (province), Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain. It is the capital of the Tarazona y el Moncayo Aragonese comarca. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dio ...
. Thus, the reliquary features the coat-of-arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achiev ...
of the Forcada family.
See also
* Fiestas de Santa Leticia
External links
dictionary of Saint Names
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leticia
Christian saints in unknown century
Spanish Roman Catholic saints
Christian martyrs of the Middle Ages
Year of birth unknown
Medieval Spanish saints
Female saints of medieval Spain
Virgin martyrs