Saint Ildephonsus of Toledo

Ildefonsus or Ildephonsus (rarely Ildephoses or Ildefonse; Spanish: San Ildefonso; c. 8 December A.D. 607 – 23 January A.D. 667) was a scholar and theologian who served as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Toledo for the last decade of his life. His Gothic name was Hildefuns. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church he is known as Dexius (ደቅስዮስ Daqsəyos) based on the Ge'ez translation of legends about his life. Although his writings were less influential outside of Hispania, Ildefonsus was canonised and remained a potent force in the Iberian Peninsula for centuries. Spanish missionaries, and to a lesser extent Portuguese ones, spread his ideas worldwide. Ildefonsus was born to a prominent Visigothic family in Toledo during the reign of Witteric. Civil wars racked the Visigothic kingdom during most of Ildefonsus' life. His uncle Eugenius, who later became Toledo's bishop, began educating the devout youth. Ildefonsus began his religious career circa A.D. 632 when Bishop Eladius of Toledo ordained him as a deacon. However, Ildefonse defied his family's plans for his clerical career by becoming a monk at the Agali monastery outside the city. While he was still a simple monk, he founded and endowed a monastery of nuns. In 650 Ildefonsus was elected its abbot of Agali. In that capacity, he attended two synods of the Iberian church, the eighth and ninth Councils of Toledo. When his uncle Bishop Eugenius II died in 657, Ildefonsus was elected his successor as bishop of Toledo. King Recceswinth compelled him to accept the position, as Ildefonsus later complained to his protégé and successor, Bishop Quiricus of Barcelona. At the end of the eighth century, Cixila, Archbishop of Toledo, embellished the biography of his predecessor. He relates that Ildephonsus was praying one day before the relics of Saint Leocadia when the martyr arose from her tomb and thanked him for the devotion he showed towards the Mother of God.