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        riddles >> what happened >> A saint woman.
        
(Message started by: Grimbal on Dec 19th, 2006, 2:49pm)
Title: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 19th, 2006, 2:49pm
A woman died in a village in Italy, maybe a century ago.  She never did anything exceptional in her life.  Yet, after her death, she was declared a saint by the whole village.

Why?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by cchris on Dec 19th, 2006, 3:02pm
Was she like Mary at all? Giving birth isn't that exceptional..
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Icarus on Dec 19th, 2006, 3:44pm
People prayed to her, and their prayers were answered.

Though I'm not Catholic, I believe this is the central qualification to be declared a saint.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by flamingdragon on Dec 19th, 2006, 4:36pm
When she died, she fell over on the local village dragon's tail, stunning it so that they could kill it.  ;D
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Dec 19th, 2006, 6:27pm
When the village people came to her humble cottage upon discovering of her death, they found a likeness of the face of elvis jesus in the flatbread she had sitting on the counter...

;D
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Sameer on Dec 19th, 2006, 6:42pm
the village hired a new marketing company to improve the image of the village? ;)
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 20th, 2006, 2:17am
No, it was not Mary.
They found nothing unusual in her belongings.
It was not marketing.

BTW, it is supposed to be a true story.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by towr on Dec 20th, 2006, 3:46am
Perhaps she was exceptional in death.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 20th, 2006, 4:53am
She died in a an usual way.  In fact, the story doesn't say how.

But the location of the village is a bit unusual.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by flamingdragon on Dec 20th, 2006, 6:58am
Was she murdered?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Iceman on Dec 20th, 2006, 7:19am
She died in a church called 'Banana split'. Her spirit split when she died, so the 'split' part was removed from church's name in her honor. Now the villagers call this church 'Banana'.   8)
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 20th, 2006, 7:30am
Yes! Iceman got it!!!




er... just joking.  So, no, sorry.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Dec 20th, 2006, 7:33am
Any kind of stigmata involved?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Dec 20th, 2006, 7:37am
WTF, what would eye sight have to do with it?  :-/


JK  8)


very bottom, second from right, turn up your vulume (http://www.illwillpress.com/vault.html)
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 20th, 2006, 8:47am
No stigmata, and no astigmatism either  ;).
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Dec 20th, 2006, 9:05am
Did strangers show up at the town upon her death?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 20th, 2006, 9:10am
No strangers are involved and no aliens ;) either.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Dec 20th, 2006, 12:49pm
Was she found dead in an unusual location?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Sir Col on Dec 20th, 2006, 2:21pm
Although she died in a village in Italy, was she Italian?
If not, is her nationality relevant?
Has she been canonised (officially recognised by the Church) as a Saint?
Was the declaration of her Sainthood a result of something that happened after she died?
Did anything during her lifetime contribute to the villagers convictions?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Iceman on Dec 20th, 2006, 4:35pm
She was declared saint because she never did anything exceptional in her life. This means that she was small, humble servant of god, not eccentric egomaniac, which thinks that she is the center of this world.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 21st, 2006, 2:18am

on 12/20/06 at 14:21:16, Sir Col wrote:
Was the declaration of her Sainthood a result of something that happened after she died?


Yes.

For all the rest: no / irrelevant.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Dec 21st, 2006, 7:13am
A flock of doves came and descended on her grave... or maybe a school of fish--how, I'm not sure  ;)

Thus, signifying a visitation of the spirit to take her to the pearly gates--an elite, saintly, dove entourage.

P.S. and to cap it off, this village had never seen a dove in their neck of the woods.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 21st, 2006, 7:37am
Hm... it is true, many things could have happened.

Maybe a hint would be useful: [hide]Stromboli[/hide].
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Dec 21st, 2006, 8:35am
Hmmn, did their [hide]volcano[/hide] suddenly become inactive?  :)
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 21st, 2006, 8:56am
No.  Definitely not.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by denis on Dec 21st, 2006, 9:04am
Where there apparitions of her after her death in particular locations associated with other saints (church, grottos etc).

Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 21st, 2006, 9:30am
No.  She was buried, never to be seen again.  Or heard, or whatever.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by hiyathere on Dec 21st, 2006, 10:02am
Maybe there was a prophecy about a woman who would die on a certain date, and the woman who died on that date would become a saint, and she died on that date.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 22nd, 2006, 6:31am
No prophecy either.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by thecow135 on Dec 23rd, 2006, 7:42pm
her last name was saint? =P
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Dec 23rd, 2006, 7:56pm

on 12/21/06 at 08:35:19, raven wrote:
Hmmn, did their [hide]volcano[/hide] suddenly become inactive?  :)



on 12/21/06 at 08:56:30, Grimbal wrote:
No.  Definitely not.



Well then, did their volcano have a significant eruption upon/after her death?



My backup guess is her baked casserole dish suddenly became world famous...  ;D
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Dec 23rd, 2006, 8:02pm
Or....

Was the woman unexceptional but exceptionally rich, and willed her wealth to the village... a patroness of sorts?



...the Catholic church has always had a soft spot for money.  ;)
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Iceman on Dec 25th, 2006, 3:48pm
She was [hide]frozen in a block of ice for 10 centuries, buried near the church. They dug it out, and when it melted, she came alive like Lazarus, but just for a minute or two. The villagers thought that this was a miracle, saying that god came down from heaven and resurrected her[/hide]. I knew this riddle was about [hide]ice[/hide]!   :-/  ;)
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Iceman on Dec 25th, 2006, 4:04pm
Maybe her corpse was found below the church. Or her last name was Christ.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by jollytall on Dec 25th, 2006, 11:18pm
OK, I did some search. There are many Italian female saints, but the time of death and the fact that she hadn't done something very special only fits to her:


http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=225
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by SMQ on Dec 26th, 2006, 5:26am
There seems to be a fairly large contradiction there as well: Gemma's stigmata would continue to appear until the last three years of her life, when her confessor forbade her to accept them.


on 12/20/06 at 07:33:20, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:
Any kind of stigmata involved?


on 12/20/06 at 08:47:06, Grimbal wrote:
No stigmata, and no astigmatism either  ;).

And I can't imagine that Grimbal failed to throroughly research his subject matter before posing the riddle. ;)

--SMQ
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by thecow135 on Dec 26th, 2006, 4:39pm
hmm thats probly it unless its not reelie a tru story but it says explicitly that there wasnt any stigmata...
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 26th, 2006, 4:43pm

on 12/23/06 at 19:56:30, raven wrote:
Well then, did their volcano have a significant eruption upon/after her death?


It played a role, yes.

As for my research, it is a story I saw on TV (the Swiss french-speaking channel).  So my sources are completely reliable.

As I said, I don't think she was declared a saint by a Pope, just considered as such by the villagers.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Dec 26th, 2006, 7:51pm
If it was US television, I would suggest it to be sensationalism...


I would say that either (a)upon her death, the volcano resumed activity, after a prolonged period of inactivity, thus restoring a significant portion of the local economy--tourism, or (b)that there was a record breaking eruption after/upon her death, which convinced the local (somewhat simple minded) population that they had better consider her a saint, in order to appease her spirit, and prevent future excessive eruptions.


:)
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 27th, 2006, 7:30am
It wasn't good for their economy, actually.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by thecow135 on Dec 27th, 2006, 8:57am
o maibe it erupted and was gunna kill the eintire village but the ladys headstone was soo big that it stopped the lava flow =P
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 27th, 2006, 8:53pm
Going in the right direction, but not yet there.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by hiyathere on Dec 28th, 2006, 5:47am
Maybe in her will she said that the volcano was gonna erupt about a year after her death, and since it hasn't erupted in nearly forever, they didn't believe her. But after she died, it did erupt, and people were terrified, so they declared her a saint.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by denis on Dec 29th, 2006, 10:17am
If we are talking about the same lady as below, she actually died over 1,700 years ago!

"If Etna is the heart of Catania, St. Agatha has always been its soul. The saint protects the city and its inhabitants, who turn to her in their moments of need and in difficult moments in their relationship with Etna. This long history with Agatha began on February 1st, 252 AD, just a year after the martyrdom of the Christian virgin when a violent eruption was miraculously stopped by holding up a veil that had belonged to the unfortunate girl. According to legend the veil stopped the flow of lava and mysteriously changed colour. Ever since that fateful day the people of Catania have turned to the protective veil in order to face the menace of Etna. In 1444 and again during the catastrophic eruption of March 8th, 1669 the veil appeared to stop the threatening flow of lava. In 1743, St. Agatha is believed to have saved the people of Catania from the plague, which decimated the nearby population of Messina. In 1886 the saint’s veil, carried in procession, stopped lava yet again at the nearby town of Nicolosi. Indeed, the veil continues to be brandished against the volcano to the present day."
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 29th, 2006, 4:10pm
It was more recent.  I seem to remember a photo of her photo was on her grave.  Maybe it wasn't a century ago, after all.
But we are getting close to the story as I heard it.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by thecow135 on Dec 29th, 2006, 8:17pm
the lava never flows past her gravesite?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Dec 30th, 2006, 12:51pm
That is also a step towards the answer.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by denis on Dec 30th, 2006, 12:59pm
1) Is an object belonging to the woman involved (other than the grave stone)?

2) Does the grave play a prominent, secondary or merely a peripheral role?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Dec 30th, 2006, 8:16pm
Was the village saved by her gravestone blocking the lava flow?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by flamingdragon on Dec 31st, 2006, 10:39pm
lolz at WTF's answer.  ;D


And u still haven't answered my question Grimbal.

on 12/20/06 at 06:58:04, flamingdragon wrote:
Was she murdered?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Icarus on Jan 1st, 2007, 9:01am

on 12/30/06 at 12:51:43, Grimbal wrote:
That is also a step towards the answer.


So: there was an eruption, but the flow stopped at her grave. Because of additional not-yet-discovered circumstances, the villagers decided she must be a saint, and was responsible for stopping the flow?

Is that much correct?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Jan 1st, 2007, 5:13pm
"Is an object belonging to the woman involved (other than the grave stone)?"
No object belonging to the woman (not even a veil) was involved.

"Does the grave play a prominent, secondary or merely a peripheral role?"
Let's say the grave itself didn't play a role, the location of the grave did.

"Was the village saved by her gravestone blocking the lava flow?"
No.  Who said the village was saved?

"Was she murdered?"
No / actually I don't know, probably not / In fact, it doesn't matter.

"So: there was an eruption, but the flow stopped at her grave. Because of additional not-yet-discovered circumstances, the villagers decided she must be a saint, and was responsible for stopping the flow?"
Well, I'd say all you said is correct, but some critical element is missing.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Jan 1st, 2007, 5:43pm
Was the grave not yet filled with the woman, et.al. and the flow of lava went into the empty grave...

...creepy...
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Icarus on Jan 1st, 2007, 5:50pm

on 01/01/07 at 17:13:03, Grimbal wrote:
"Was the village saved by her gravestone blocking the lava flow?"
No.  Who said the village was saved?


Was part of the village destroyed before the lava stopped at her grave? Or all of it?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Jan 1st, 2007, 7:53pm
Raven: No.

Icarus: All of it was destroyed, before or maybe after.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Icarus on Jan 1st, 2007, 8:57pm
So lava stopped at her grave, preserving something - not the village. Were the people taking shelter beyond the gravesite, and were saved when the lava stopped travelling in that direction?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by BNC on Jan 2nd, 2007, 1:24am
1. The lava covered just about everything... except for her grave which stayed clear.

2. The volcano killed everyone at the village except her half-brained son. So now "the whole village" = "her son", and he declared his mother a saint.

3. She was burried at a place different than the one she asked for. Upon her burrial, the volcano erupted. It stoped only when she was re-burried at her requested location.
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by denis on Jan 2nd, 2007, 3:37pm
Is this in relation to the 1906 Mt Vesuvius eruption?
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Grimbal on Jan 2nd, 2007, 4:49pm
OK, I'll declare Icarus the winner.

There are striking similarities with an event during the Vesuvio 1906 erruption, but I seem to remember it was the Stromboli.  Maybe I am mixing things up.

Anyway, here is the story as I heard it.
[hide]
There was an erruption and a lava flow.  The lava destroyed the village.  But most people of the village were at the funeral of a woman who died shortly before (and of which I don't remember the name).  The lava flow stopped at the wall of the cemetery and the people were unhurt.  They realized that by her death the woman saved many lives and therefore started considering her as a saint.
[/hide]
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by Icarus on Jan 2nd, 2007, 5:14pm
Of course, anyone who didn't care for the woman was not at the funeral. and therefore was not around to protest her "sainthood"!
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by raven on Jan 2nd, 2007, 5:54pm
That is a very interesting story... it might have taken quite a few more posts to get to that specific conclusion, if ever... cool!


:)
Title: Re: A saint woman.
Post by denis on Jan 2nd, 2007, 7:52pm
Yes good riddle... :)


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