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May 1. isIdora the simple, who subsisted on refuseIsidora veiled her head with an old dishrag. Instead of cooked food, she drank filthy dishwater and ate crumbs left behind on the table cloth. The other nuns treated her with utter contempt, beating her, spitting on her, and smearing her nostrils with mustard, because they considered her to be a demoniac.
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may 12. escrava Anastácia, whose eyes pierced from behind a cruel face maskAnastácia wore a muzzle-like face mask inlaid with prongs that prevented her from speaking, but the reason for her cruel punishment varied. According to one chronicler, this was a common torture practice inflicted on slaves, in part to prevent them from committing suicide by ingesting poisonous dirt.
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may 15. dymphna, whose amorous father beheaded herThe spies sent for her father. When eventually he found her, he ordered her to return to Ireland and wed him. When she refused, her enraged father withdrew his sword. He struck Dymphna’s neck and she fell at his feet. He left her to die.
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may 22. Rita of cascia, "la santa de los impossibles"So that she might share in the pain of His Crown of Thorns, Our Lord gave Rita a thorn wound in her forehead. The wound was so ugly that Rita became an object of nausea to some of the nuns, who could not bear to look at her.
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