• Saint Who?

Saint Who?

Saints Who Teach Us about Purgatory

Blessed Christina the Astonishing

Religious († 1224) Feast: July 24

Christina was fifteen years old when her parents died, and she lived with her two sisters until the age of twenty-two. That’s when she had a seizure and appeared to have died. In the middle of the funeral, however, Christina sat up in her coffin. Then she levitated, flew upwards in the church, and sat on one of the beams. The priest managed to finish the Mass before asking Christina to come down from her perch.

Christina explained that she had actually died, that she had visited hell, purgatory, and heaven, and that she had recognized friends in all three places. She was then given the choice of going to heaven or of returning to her earthly life so that she could offer prayers and penances to assist those she had seen in purgatory. Christina chose to return.

Christina dutifully prayed and offered sacrifices for sinners for the rest of her life. But many of those self-imposed sacrifices looked very odd to others. She prayed while curled up in a ball, handled fire, and stood in icy water. She dressed in rags and lived by begging. She climbed trees and rocks to escape the smell of people’s sins. Some thought she was crazy or possessed, but she spent her final years in a convent, where holy men and women sought her spiritual advice.

Loving God, give us the grace to be willing
to look foolish to help those in need.