I don't want realism

“Because nobody will deny you anything the moment you stop denying yourself. Who could possibly have sovereignty greater than yours?” she asked, insistent. “Who on earth could have the right to refuse you, if you do not permit it? If this isn’t the way, Sasha, then find another one.”

“The saint, especially the female saint, needed some very real protection. Treated as a curiosity by some, and as a walking reliquary by others, the saint could find it hard to protect her privacy and even her person. Both were seen as not entirely hers. It was acceptable, even laudable, to spy on the saints. The hagiographers again and again reminded their reader, the candle must not be hind under a bushel basket. Saints were not supposed to have backstage behavior; they were expected to be constantly saintly. Saints could not excuse themselves by saying that they were not aware of being watched. It was assumed that they would try to hide their sanctity, adding humility to their catalog of merits, but depriving others of their rewards. This pious selfishness was not tolerated by spectators who did their best to catch the saint in flagrante sanctitate. As for their bodies, the saints were seen as mere custodians of their miracle-working flesh. The saint’s relics (pieces of clothes, blood-stained material) could be torn away from the saint with or without his or her permission. When the followers of St. Romauld learned of his intention to move to another place, they planned, ‘impia pietate,’ to kill him to avoid losing his body.”