Casilda of Toledo

Saint Casilda of Toledo (about 950 to 1050) was a daughter of an emir of Toledo, of Moorish parentage. She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and in Orthodox calendars. According to the legend, she showed great compassion for Christian captives, bringing them bread hidden in a basket in her clothes. Once, stopped by her father and his soldiers and asked to show what she carried, the bread turned into roses. The story of the miracle of the roses was written down three centuries after her death and resembles that of Elizabeth of Hungary and Elizabeth of Portugal.

Raised in the Muslim faith, she fell ill as a young woman, refused the Arab doctors and travelled to healing springs in the region of Burgos. She received baptism and lived as an anchoress near Briviesca, close to Burgos, and was greatly venerated throughout Spain. She reposed around 1050. She is a saint of the undivided Church, commemorated on 9 April (new style; 22 April in the old style).