(c.290-c.304) Eulalia was born to one of the most prominent families in Spain and raised as a Christian. She was between 12 and 14 years old when Emperor Diocletian issued an edict that all persons offer sacrifice to the pagan Roman gods. Eulalia’s mother tried to flee with her, but the young virgin went straight to the tribunal and challenged them. She taunted her torturers and was eventually burned alive in Merida, Spain.
Because of her strong-willed reaction and insistence on facing the persecutors of the Christians, Saint Eulalia is considered the patron saint of runaways and strong-willed children. Are our actions based on self-will or God’s will, or a mix of the two? This distinction is often difficult to work out in recovery, as we seek God’s will for our lives and the power to carry that out (Step 11). Do you try to discern this with your sponsor or spiritual director?
“Isis, Apollo, Venus, they are nothing; Maximian himself too, is nothing; because they are works of men’s hands, both worthless, both nothing. He, because he reveres the works of hands” (Attributed to Saint Eulalia in a poem by the fifth-century Spanish-Roman poet, Prudentius).
Reflection by Brad Farmer