Verona of Leefdaal

Verona of Leefdaal is a medieval folk saint, venerated in her adopted town of Leefdaal, today part of the municipality of Bertem in Flemish Brabant, Belgium. According to tradition she was the sister of Veronus of Lembeek and a great-⁠granddaughter of Charlemagne. She is said to have reposed in the year 870 and is remembered on 29 August.

Tradition says that her brother Veronus chose the life of a hermit and foretold, before leaving, that his death would be accompanied by wonderful signs: a storm would rise, and the trees would fall in the direction of his grave. When the signs appeared, Verona set out, reached Berchem, from where she was directed to Lembeek. There she found the body of Veronus still unharmed.

She is invoked against fever. The Saint Verona chapel at Sint-⁠Verona is dedicated to her. Some confuse her with Verona of Leuven (also called Verona of Mainz), said to have been a daughter of the emperor Louis II of Italy, who died in 875; they may be the same person.

She is a folk saint of the West, in the tradition of the undivided Church; no Orthodox synodal canonization is known, and the legend is late.