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july 4. elizabeth of portugal, dauber of woundsElizabeth founded institutions for several poetic-sounding causes: travelers, the sick, wayward women, needy foundlings, and abandonned infants. She often paid poor girls' dowries. In addition to dowering destitute brides, she dolled up them up by dressing their hair and bequeathing her jewels to them.
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july 6. how do you solve a problem like maria goretti?Maria underwent surgery without anesthesia. She then forgave her murderer and asked God to rejoin her with him in Heaven. She died gazing at a portrait of the Virgin and clutching a cross to her breast.
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July 8. withburga, saint of gushing springs and gushing doesWithburga prayed, and the Virgin Mary appeared, urging her to send two milkmaids to a particular fountain each morning. There they would find two wild does who would "stand to be milked." One by one they submitted to the milking girls' hands and filled up their vessels, sufficient for two men to carry.
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july 20. librada, whose lush beard beat off suitorsHaving chosen a virgin career path, she resisted the unwelcome marriage by praying for disfigurement. God gave her deliverance when, through a miracle, he blessed Librada with a lush beard that repulsed her fiance.
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july 23. birgitta, child bride and lover of christBirgitta's mother went on a sea voyage with the saint's flesh still in her womb. A sudden tempest destroyed the ship, but Birgitta's mother survived. A person in shining garments appeared to her saying, "your life is spared for the Child that you have in your body."
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july 24. christina the astonishingA man once broke Christina's leg to "subdue" her for being too spirited, but she managed to flee to the tree tops unharmed; there her virginal breasts wept nourishing milk to sustain her. Her miraculous breasts also leaked oil, which she used to flavor her bread and treat her festering sores.
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July 24. christina of tyre, whose tormentors faced god's wrathAfter one tormentor died suddenly, the other severed her breasts and her tongue. Christina, incensed, threw her clipped-out tongue in her remaining tormentor’s face and he was instantly blinded.
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july 28. alphonsa Muttathupadathu, who prefered suffering to suitorsAlphonsa disfigured herself by thrusting her feet in a pit of burning embers to make herself less pleasing to suitors. Upon seeing the lengths she was willing to go to ward off potential husbands, her family permitted her to join a convent.
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