May 27 -- Feast of Blessed Maria Bartolomeo Bagnesi

Sometimes folks have funny ideas about how to manage their risks. 

Shouldn't she be in bed? 

When Maria was a young woman, looking forward to a lifetime in the convent, her dad sprung a marriage agreement on her.  She fainted with shock, fell ill, and went to bed.  She didn't get up again for another forty-six years.  Marriage might have been easier, but that's not the point I was going to make. 

She prayed a lot, eventually becoming a Dominican tertiary.  In time, she experienced visions, ecstasies, and levitation.  Local townsfolk were afraid that she was being attacked by the devil, or perhaps was in league with the devil.  Naturally, they began to shun the house and mutter to themselves. 

A local priest examined her and found no evidence of demonic presence.  On the contrary, he confirmed that all her fits were from heaven.  Accordingly, her bedroom was considered the abode of a living saint and became a destination for pilgrimage. 

Here's hoping the priest was right.