#yumberry

Oh man, so yeah, medieval nuns seemed kinda thirsty about Jesus sometimes, at least by modern standards. I took a class in college about medieval hagiography (written accounts of saints’ lives) and sometimes they got really weird (in many ways -- self-flagellation and torture, fasting, drinking of body fluids, all types of oddball stuff, really...)

The first thing I have to say about thirstiness in these hagiographies is that the relationship with Jesus was often personal. For some of these female saints, it wasn’t just an abstract idea of being chaste in these written accounts. Instead, they thought of themselves as married to Jesus Christ, and referred to him as “the bridegroom.” They’d talk with him directly and have visions of him. One of the saints had a vivid vision where Jesus gave her a pearl encrusted golden wedding band which was invisible to everyone but her (sugar daddy Jesus coming for ya)

It seems as if these saints would spend a lot of their days fantasizing about Christ. Here’s a quote that basically sums up how spicy these could often get. This is from the Latin Vita of a saint called Christina of Markyate:

“[Christ] came to the arms of his sorely tried spouse and remained with her for a whole day, not only being felt but also seen. So the maiden took Him in her hands, gave thanks, and held Him to her bosom. And with immeasurable delight she held Him to her virginal breast, at another she felt His presence within her even through the barrier of her flesh. Who shall describe the abounding sweetness with which the servant was filled by the condescension of her creator? From that moment the fire of lust was so extinguished that it never afterwards could be revived.”

That’s just one example; I’d grab more but medieval Vitae can be painful to read... I still have all the PDFs from class on my computer though.