Christina the Astonishing

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Christina the Astonishing
Born	1150, Brustem, Belgium
Died	24 July 1224
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism
Feast	24 July[1]
Patronage	insanity, mental disorders, psychiatrists
Saints Portal

Christina the Astonishing (1150 – 1224), also known as Christina Mirabilis, was a Christian holy-woman born in Brustem (near Sint-Truiden, Belgium) in 1150. She is sometimes considered a saint. Christina is as much remembered for her faith as for her numerous and violent fits of ecstasy. Her memorial day is 24 July.

Contents 1 Life 2 Cultural references 3 References 4 Literature 5 External links

[edit] Life

Born a peasant, Christina was orphaned at 15. When she was 21 (22 according to some sources), she is said to have suffered a massive seizure. According to legend, her condition was so severe that witnesses assumed she had died. A funeral was held, but during the service, she awoke, and is said to have levitated before the crowd. A priest eventually ordered Christina to descend, and she did so, only to land on the altar and proclaim that she had witnessed heaven, hell, and purgatory. Purgatory would henceforth become a major theme in her life.

After the levitation incident, Christina continued to be tormented by strange behavior and unusual events. As chronicled by her contemporaries, she suffered massive seizures (leading some modern scholars to postulate she was stricken with epilepsy). She also began to claim she could "smell sin" on other parishioners. She is said to have climbed trees, hidden in ovens and scaled roofs (when she did not levitate outright) in dramatic attempts to escape the sensation.

Christina displayed other odd behavior as well. She is said to have handled fire with impunity, and to have strapped herself to a mill wheel to be dragged, apparently without injury, round and round through the water. She is also said to have swum unmotivated through freezing waters. When tied to a pillory to prevent her from causing self harm (or according to other sources, because witnesses assumed she was "full of devils"), she is said to have always escaped unharmed. Christina died in 1224 of natural causes, aged 74.

[edit] Cultural references

• Christina's story is told in the Nick Cave song "Christina the Astonishing", from the album Henry's Dream.
• Poets Jane Draycott and Lesley Saunders also re-told her story in their 1998 collection 'Christina the Astonishing' with images by Peter Hay, published by Two Rivers Press [1].

[edit] References

[edit] Literature

• The Life of Christina the Astonishing, by Thomas de Cantimpré, edited by Margot H. King, Toronto 1999. ISBN 0-920669-44-1
• "Medieval Saints: A Reader" Edited by Mary-Ann Stouck, Toronto 1999. ISBN 1-55111-101-2

[edit] External links

• Saint Christina the Astonishing at the Patron Saint Index