27 Apr: feast of St. Zita (Sitha/Sithe) d. 1272 #otd in #Lucca - a servant #saint - she was canonized in 1696 - & is the finder of lost keys (myrabella)
The city of Cupertino is known today as #Apple Computer's headquarters, but many years ago the city was named in honor of St. José de #Cupertino, a Franciscan #Saint known for being "remarkably un-clever" and a "nuisance" with a "bad temper," but who gained fame based on stories of his miracles, including levitation. In retrospect, these "miracles" are now believed to have been hallucinations due to ergot poisoning from rye bread (aka, 'Saint Anthony's Fire'). Ergot is chemically similar to LSD.
Mary of Egypt reportedly converted to Christianity during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. One of the earliest pilgrim accounts of Jerusalem is that left behind by a Roman woman named Egeria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egeria_(pilgrim)
In the mid-1200s in #Greece, Theodora of Arta was recognized as a #saint for putting up with a real jerk of a husband, who was the ruler of the #Byzantine successor state of Epiros at the time. He even drove her out of his house (for her to live by begging with their young son) for five years while he lived with his mistress instead. Eventually they made up, and she founded a convent (and retired to it).
The English put 19-year-old Joan of Arc on trial, & she was convicted of the #heresy of [checks notes] cross-dressing. She abjured that heresy & promised to wear only women's clothes, but then her captors took away her clothes and provided her with men's clothes. When she put them on, then she was convicted of relapsed heresy and burnt at the stake. She was canonized a #saint almost 500 years later, in 1920, and ironically is now commemorated in the Church of England. #WomensHistoryMonth
45/?