Saint Leo, the saint of God, the son of noble and pious parents, hailed from the region of Ravenna. For his pure life and intellect, he was honored with all the sacred orders in due order, and upon the death of Blessed Sabinus, Bishop of Catana, he was elevated to the episcopal throne by God's election. The city of Catana is located on the island of Sicily, not far from Mount Etna, which still spews fiery lava. Upon accepting the episcopal throne, Saint Leo also assumed all the labors befitting his new rank. He cared for orphans, the poor, widows, the sick, and the straitened, feeding and clothing them at the expense of church property, and healed their ailments with his prayers. He was a merciful father to his children and a faithful shepherd of his flock, but to demons and their servants he was as terrifying as a lion to wolves. In his days there was a certain sorcerer in Catania, named Heliodorus; he was the son of pious parents who believed in Christ, and had himself been enlightened by holy baptism, but later secretly renounced Christ and began to serve demons, having learned sorcery from a Jew. Thus he was considered a Christian, but in fact he was a pagan, a servant of demons and a great sorcerer, no better than that ancient sorcerer Simon, whom the holy chief apostles Peter and Paul put to death by their prayers. Heliodorus was like him in all things: performing astonishing magical miracles, he, through his suggestion, caused people to imagine that rivers were flowing on dry ground, on roads and in the streets, so that citizens of both sexes, naked, crossed through the middle of the city, as it seemed to them, a river; he turned stones into gold, but only for a short time; In the markets he caused great losses to the merchants with his sorcery; he so aroused noble maidens, the daughters of honest and dignified citizens, to carnal sin with his magic that, forgetting shame, they left their homes and parents and ran to various places for the sake of fornication. When the hegemon Lucius reported him to the kings Leo and his son Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the kings sent a command to arrest him; but Heliodorus himself gave himself up to the people who were looking for him; he boarded a ship with them in Catania and landed that same day at Constantinople, having sailed in one hour a distance that only people sailing from the West - from Sicily to the East - to Thrace can imagine. Appearing before the kings, he was condemned by them to death, but immediately before the kings' eyes he became invisible and again appeared in Catania; Having been summoned a second time to Constantinople and condemned to beheading by the sword, the sorcerer again became invisible at the very moment when the warrior, raising the sword above his head, swung it with such force that the sword struck only the air; and again this sorcerer found himself in Catania.
Saint Leo, the Saint of Christ, often urged him to abandon such evil deeds and, repenting, turn to God, but Heliodorus could no more be persuaded than one can whiten an Ethiopian or turn a hard stone into soft wax. The impious man not only failed to reform, but conceived an even greater evil: he extended his sorcery to the very High Priest of God, wishing to mock him with his sorcery. One day, on a solemn feast day, the saint, in the presence of all the people, was celebrating the Divine Service in church with all his clergy. The sorcerer Heliodorus, a hypocritical Christian, entered the church and began secretly performing his sorcery. Through his sorcery, he achieved the point where some of the people began to stamp their feet in the church like horses and growl like wild beasts; others began to laugh uncontrollably, and still others became angry. The sorcerer boasted that he would do even more: the bishop himself, with all his priests and clergy, would cease the service and immediately leap and dance, as if to the sounds of music and organs. The saint, realizing Heliodorus's intention, knelt before the throne of God and, having prayed fervently, rose, walked out of the altar, and, taking the sorcerer by the neck with his omophorion, bound him. Then, leading him out of the church into the center of the city, he commanded the people to immediately bring more wood and light a mighty fire. When his command was fulfilled, the saint questioned Heliodorus about all his sorceries and enchantments, and then, holding him bound by his omophorion, entered the fire with him. Amidst the flames, he held him, not leaving his place until the impious sorcerer was completely consumed. After this, the High Priest Leo of God, returning to the church, concluded the Divine Service. This glorious miracle terrified everyone, for while holding the sorcerer in the flames, the saint himself not only escaped scorching, but even the fire did not touch his bishop's vestments: the dew of the Holy Spirit surrounded him in the flames and protected him from scorching. Word of this spread to all the ends of the earth. The kings, learning of this miracle, summoned the saint with great honor to Constantinople and, falling at his honorable feet, begged him to pray for them. When entering the royal chamber, the blessed one carried burning coals on his garment, and his clothes were not scorched. This great saint of God also performed many other miracles: he gave sight to the blind, healed the sick, cast out demons from people, destroyed an idol temple with his prayer, and overthrew idols with his word; finally, in his old age, he reposed in the Lord.One day a woman of senatorial descent came to the city of Catana to see the saint. She had long suffered from a bleeding affliction: doctors had already refused to treat her. Hearing that Saint Bishop Leo granted healing to people from illnesses through his prayers, she came to ask the saint to pray for her. As she entered the city gates, she heard the tolling of the bells for the dead, and when she asked who it was that had passed away, she was told that Saint Bishop Leo had died. Filled with deep pity, she went to the deceased, and as soon as she touched his bier, her bleeding immediately stopped, and she was completely healed. The holy body of Bishop Leo was placed in the Church of the Holy Martyr Lucia, which healed various ailments to the glory of Christ our God.