Saint Leopold IV of Austria

His piety did not diminish his courage, which was naturally great. When he had to render unto Caesar what was due to Caesar, he appeared no less intrepid in the midst of armies than he had appeared constant at the foot of the altars to render unto God what was due to God. In the year 1104, he began his military exploits under Emperor Henry IV, who was at war against his son Henry V; having subsequently embraced the cause of the latter, he married his sister. She was named Ag nes a Agnès Wife of Leopold IV and sister of Emperor Henry V. nd was the widow of Frederick, Duke of Swabia, by whom she had had Conrad, who was later emperor, and Frederick, who also gave the empire the famous Frederick Barbaross Frédéric Barberousse Emperor whose hand was requested for Rosana by an officer. a. This marriage, which took place in the year 1106, was very happy, as much because this princess was perfectly virtuous as because God blessed it with great and holy prosperity; for they had together eighteen children: eight boys and ten girls. Heaven took seven of them in their baptismal innocence, and the other eleven all made themselves commendable, either in the secular world, or in religion, or in the ecclesiastical state.

This new commitment of Leopold did not cause him to relax his devotion in any way; on the contrary, seeing himself with a wife entirely devoted to virtue, he strove to provide with her new examples of holiness to his people. As they had no other desire than to procure the glory of God, they resolved together to have a church built and to endow it to maintain divine service there. The place where they were to build it was shown to them by a kind of miracle; for, one day when the weather was very mild, the veil that the princess had on her head was carried off a great distance, and Leopold did not find it until several years later, without it having received any damage, on the top of a tree, in a place called Neubur g, near Neubourg Site of the basilica's foundation and burial place of the saint. Vienna. This wonder, which they took for a sign of the will of God, determined them to have a magnificent basilica erected there in honor of the Blessed Virgin. The first stone was laid on June 9, 1111. This church was served by canons regular of the Order of Saint Augustine.

This was not the only public testimo Ordre de Saint-Augustin Religious order serving the church of Neubourg. ny that our Saint gave of his religion. He also founded, in the year 1127, twelve miles from Vienna, a famous monastery under the name of the Holy Cross. He also repaired and re-endowed la Sainte-Croix Monastery founded by Leopold IV in 1127. an old house already founded by his ancestors, and, by the strength of his arms, he drove from the province the enemies who had devastated it and had forced the religious to abandon it.

Leopold gloriously crowned such a beautiful life with a very holy death. He was buried in his church at Klosterneuburg, and numerous miracles have come to attest to his holiness. This is what determined Pope Innocent VII pape Innocent VIII Pope who canonized Leopold IV in 1485. I to canonize him (1485). Even today, on the feast of Saint Leopold, his relics are exposed for the veneration of the people in a silver reliquary, the head adorned with the ducal hat and resting on a red velvet cushion. The church is then always filled with the faithful, both from the city and the surrounding areas.

The ducal crown and the coat of arms of the House of Austria are frequent attributes of Saint Leopold. The blazoned flag, a general characteristic of princes, is also one of his. As a founder of churches and monasteries, he sometimes carries a small model of a church in his hand. He is also represented (especially in German engravings) surrounded by children: these are the eighteen offspring we have mentioned.

He is the patron of the Duchy of Austria, Carinthia, and Styria.

We have supplemented Father Giry's narrative with the continuators of Godescard and the Characteristics of the Saints.