I Want To Do That, Too
I Want To Do That, Too
Yesterday I heard of St. Christina the Astonishing
for the very first time and today I was asked
to try to write “something astonishing”.
Astonishing, yes?
Well, not very, but,
prepare to be astonished by Christina
who died from a seizure at 21
in 1224 except she didn’t die—
at her funeral she sat up in her casket
and flew to the ceiling shouting—
“I can’t stand the stench of sin on you people!”
So, let’s compile A Checklist of Astonishing Things:
Her death? Her refusal to die? Her flight?
The fact that she could smell sin?
Check, check, check, check.
She said angels had taken her to hell
and purgatory where she saw people in agony
(some of whom she knew!) before flying her
to heaven to see the Lord himself
who offered her a choice—
stay with him forever or
endure daily pain on Earth
for the sake of The Poor Souls in Purgatory—
and she chose to return.
Check.
Oh my suffering Lord.
And suffer she did, especially
when she threw herself into fires,
writhed in pain
and stepped out of the flames unscathed.
Check.
Or when she repeatedly
threw herself into the river,
got swept up in the water wheel
and, each time came ashore unhurt.
Check.
She eventually died, peacefully, at age 74.
Not surprisingly, Christina is the patron saint
of people with mental illness.
I will be calling on her myself.
As I listened to her story in a church basement
I was looking at a painting on the wall—
a large patchwork of faces,
everyday people. Nobody special.
My face could have been there.
Or yours.
Some suffering, impoverished,
tired, a few smiling…
And above each head, a halo,
a thin gold circle of holiness
making the vulnerable venerable.
The artist considered everyone a saint.
I found that astonishing.
I want to do that, too.
(image – anonymous)