You're listening to Catholic Sprouts, the daily podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Hey there, Sprouts. Today is Tuesday, April 13th, 2021. Meg Hunter Kilmer is here once again to share a remarkable saint story of once again a saint that I bet you haven't heard of from her new book, Saints Around the World.

Enjoy.

St. Pulcaria from Turkey lived from 399 to 453.

Her memorial is September 10th.

St. Pulcaria was the most powerful woman in the world. Her father had been the Byzantine emperor,

but he died when Polkaria was only nine. This left Polcaria's seven-year-old brother Theodosius to be emperor, though he had grown-ups to make all the decisions for him. Polcaria decided that she would be in charge of Theodosius' education.

And then, when she was 15, she told her brother's advisors that they weren't needed anymore.

Polkaria could run the empire, thank you very much?

At only 15. Can you imagine?

Polkaria ruled for her brother, and then, when he was old enough,

they ruled together. And in between all the necessary meetings and banquets,

Polkaria was praying. She and her sisters became consecrated virgins, married to Jesus,

and would spend hours in prayer. But when duty called,

Polkaria would leave her spot in the chapel to go rule the empire, balancing her life of prayer with her very important work. Eventually, Theodosius

decided he didn't need Polkaria anymore, so he sent her away. Polkaria was only too happy to leave

the palace and have all the time she

wanted for prayer. But with his sister gone, Theodosius was lost. He didn't really understand

what was going on in the empire, and he really didn't understand what was going on in the church.

Before long, he had gotten all confused, and Polcaria had to come back to court to help him

again. She stayed there as Empress for the rest of her life. When Theodosius died,

Polcaria ruled by herself, and then, when the empire was fighting off Attila the Hun,

...