Thread by @someone_hotxx

catholic saints that starved themselves— an edtwt thread
likes and rts appreciated <3

throughout the middle ages, several women were afflicted with ‘Anorexia mirabilis,’ colloquially known as the fasting girls.

religious women often starved themselves to become closer to God, to imitate Jesus’s suffering, or to avoid marriage. over half of female Catholic saints, blesseds, venerables, or servants of God post-1200 AD had anorexia.

Marie of Oignies— she became deeply religious after marriage. part of her devotion included physical punishment, such as sleep deprivation, cutting out chunks of flesh, and wearing a tight rope around her stomach.

by the end of her life at age 35, she was emaciated, eating only consecrated wafers.

catherine of siena— the youngest of 25,
catherine cut her hair and began a fast at 16 to protest her arranged marriage and worsen her appearance. she joined a group of devout woman and often gave away her food and clothing.

catherine declared she would remain celibate, experiencing a “mystical marriage” to Jesus, claiming to wear an invisible wedding ring made of his
foreskin. she was later instrumental in bringing peace to Italy and helped reorganize the church.

throughout this, she ate only bread, wine and a spoonful of herbs, often throwing up what she ate by sticking a twig down her throat.

at age 33 she became unable to swallow, lost the use of her legs, and died of a stroke.

Columba of Reiti— when informed of her arranged marriage, she cut off her hair and sent it to her suitor. after this, she often physically harmed herself, sleeping on thorns and mutilating her breasts and hips with whipping chains (which scared off would-be rapists)

she died at age 34. her fasting and self harm are not mentioned on catholicreadings.org.

Margaret of Cortona— originally a mistress to a lord, Margaret became religious after her lovers murder. she began fasting and living a life of purposeful poverty shortly after, eating only bread and vegetables she begged for. she died at age 22.

THE WHY— celibacy and fasting were THE thing for religious women in the middle ages. fasting was common to avoid gluttony, atone for sins, imitate Jesus’s suffering, and/or become closer to God.

the women viewed earthly food as unholy, satisfying their cravings with sacramental wine and eating at the “delicious banquet of God” in heaven. they claimed to only
feel “hunger for God.” fasting demonstrated their devotion and increased their allure.

women with little control over their life used fasting as a means of controlling their marriage prospects, body, and level of devotion.

fasting also allowed a woman to gain more respect. fasting girls, who usually remained celibate, grew religious followings and were able to study papal politics and theology.

fasting became seen as heretical by the Church during the Renaissance and largely faded out of fashion, but modern cases still exist. most prominently, an American woman entered a covenant in the 1960s and restricted her eating in an attempt to achieve sainthood.

thx for reading!! idk why but this is so interesting to me, if i was born a few centuries early and not jewish i could’ve been a catholic saint 🙄🙄🙄
#edtwt #edtwtthread