Eating Disorders Of The Saints l Bizarre Buffet Podcast
Holy Anorexia , Eating Disorders Of The Saints. Holy Anorexia (also known as Anorexia Mirabilis , the Latin meaning for “ miraculous lack of appetite” ) was a phenomenon that occurred among young women during the Middle Ages. The Holy Anorexics were highly regarded as women of almost supernatural piety, and some were even canonized, or made into saints, for their dedication.
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” Holy Anorexia ” l Episode Credits
Hosted By Mark Tauriello , Jen Wilson , & Marc Bluestein
Original Episode Art By Mark Tauriello
Original Story / Episode Concept By Marc Bluestein
Episode Production By Marc Bluestein
” Holy Anorexia ” l Show Notes
Holy Anorexia / Anorexia Mirabilis
( Anorexia Mirabilis)
Holy Anorexia (also known as Anorexia Mirabilis , the Latin meaning for “miraculous lack of appetite”) was a phenomenon that occurred among young women during the Middle Ages. The Holy Anorexics were highly regarded as women of almost supernatural piety, and some were even canonized, or made into saints, for their dedication.
Self-starvation was common among religious women, as a way to imitate the suffering of Jesus in his torments during the Passion.
Anorexia mirabilis is primarily characterized by the refusal to eat, resulting in starvation, malnutrition, and oftentimes, death, but differs from anorexia nervosa in that the disease is associated with religion as opposed to personal aesthetics, although this behavior was usually not approved by religious authorities as a holy one
Documentation exists regarding about two thirds of the holy women officially regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as saints, blesseds, venerables, or servants of God and who lived after 1200 AD showing that more than half of these displayed clear signs of anorexia, with extensive and highly reliable documentation being available for about two dozen of these
I’ll give you some examples of the more bizarre and well documented saints who were known to have suffered from this illness.
Catherine Of Siena
- Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) was known to fast for long periods of time and, towards the end of her life, when her disease was at its worst, the only food she consumed was a single consecrated Host given to her as part of the daily Eucharist. She defied orders from her religious superiors to eat, claiming she was too ill to do so, and in the month before she died, at the age of 33, she lost the use of her legs and her ability to swallow. In addition to restricting her food intake, Catherine was known to use insert sticks into her throat in order to activate her gag reflex and induce vomiting, as someone with bulimia nervosa would do.[3][8]
Anorexia mirabilis was frequently accompanied by behaviors most medical professionals today would find worrisome and dangerous. As an example, theres a depiction of Catherine of Siena where she attempts to obliterate her bodily senses by drinking a cup of pus she has squeezed from the cancerous breast sores of a sick and ungrateful woman she is tending to.
Angela Of Foligno
- Angela of Foligno was known to eat the scabs of the poor.
Marie Of Oignies & Beatrice Of Nazareth
- Marie of Oignies (1167–1213) reportedly lived as a hermit, wore only white, cut off pieces of her body to expunge her desire, and both she and Beatrice of Nazareth claimed that not only did the smell of meat make them vomit, but also that the slightest whiff of food would cause their throats to close up entirely.[17][18]
Many of these women felt that they possessed at least some measure of spiritual enlightenment from their asceticism. They variously said they felt “inebriation” with the sacramental wine, “hunger” for God, and conversely, that they sat at the “delicious banquet of God”.[citation needed]
Maragaret Of Cortona
Margaret of Cortona (1247–1297) believed she had extended communications with God himself. Columba of Rieti believed her spirit “toured the holy land” in visions, and virtually every one of these women was apparently possessed of some level of psychic prowess. These women’s exercises in self-denial and suffering did yield them a measure of fame and notoriety. They were said to alternately be able to make a feast out of crumbs, exude oil from their fingertips, heal with their saliva, fill barrels with drink out of thin air, lactate even though virginal and malnourished, and perform other miracles of note.[25]
The practice of anorexia mirabilis faded out during the Renaissance, when it began to be seen by the Church as heretical, socially dangerous, or possibly even Satanically inspired. It managed to survive in practice until nearly the 20th century, when it was overtaken by its more popularly known counterpart, anorexia nervosa.[26]
How Did This Translate Within Society?
Now! How did this translate within society!? A fasting girl was one of a number of young Victorian era girls, usually pre-adolescent, who claimed to be able to survive over indefinitely long periods of time without consuming any food or other nourishment. In addition to refusing food, fasting girls claimed to have special religious or magical powers.
Mollie Fancher / The Fasting Girls
Mary J. “Mollie” Fancher (August 16, 1848 – February, 1916), otherwise known as the “Brooklyn Enigma”, was extremely well known for her claim of not eating or eating very little for extended periods of time.
A case that led to a death and arrests was that of Sarah Jacob (May 12, 1857 – December 17, 1869), the “Welsh fasting girl”, who claimed not to have eaten any food at all after the age of ten.[7] A local vicar, initially skeptical, became convinced that the case was authentic and Jacob enjoyed a long period of publicity, during which she received numerous gifts and donations from people who believed she was miraculous.
Another case was that of New Jersey’s Lenora Eaton in 1881. Reputable citizens in Eaton’s town promoted her as someone who had “lived without eating”. During these times, Eaton was marked as a “special person and symbol of faith in the miraculous”. When these claims were investigated and doctors were sent to help her, Eaton continued to refuse to eat and died after forty-five days.[12]
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