Belly fat or bloating? New insights into the physical appearance of St Anthony of Padua

Over the centuries, iconographic representations of St Anthony of Padua, one of the most revered saints in the Catholic world, have been inspired by literary sources, which described the Saint as either naturally corpulent or with a swollen abdomen due to dropsy (i.e. fluid accumulation in the body cavities). Even recent attempts to reconstruct the face of the Saint have yielded discordant results regarding his outward appearance. To address questions about the real appearance of St Anthony, we applied body mass estimation equations to the osteometric measurements taken in 1981, during the public recognition of the Saint’s skeletal remains. Both the biomechanical and the morphometric approach were employed to solve some intrinsic limitations in the equations for body mass estimation from skeletal remains. The estimated body mass was used to assess the physique of the Saint with the body mass index. The outcomes of this investigation reveal interesting information about the body type of the Saint throughout his lifetime.

BETWEEN MEDICINE AND FAITH. THE HISTORY OF THE ALLEGED BLESSED ALBERTO BESOZZI AND THE AUTHENTICITY OF HIS RELICS

The monastery of Saint Catherine of Sasso was built overhanging the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore in the municipality of Leggiuno (VA). In particular, our paper concerns the relics housed in the Sacellum of the church of St. Caterina. According to the tradition, the first Sacellum dedicated to the saint was built before the 16th century over a medieval hermit’s refuge. The chronicle, the Historieta, remembers that, in the 12th century, a merchant of Arolo, Alberto Besozzi, survived the lake crossing shipwreck and made a vow to St. Catherine of Alexandria. He decided to retreat in prayer in a cave on that part of the coast. The Sacellum, now incorporated in the monastery complex (at the bottom of the central nave of the church), preserved human remains of Blessed Alberto in the past. We present the important role that the Sacellum and the relics have played not only for the faith, but also for the devotion of pilgrims and local people. In this context, this monument is related to the sense of religiosity and spirituality that pervaded medieval life, where every form of prayer is to be materialized in the physicality of a tangible creation.

Arthritis in the hands of saints shown in 15th century Venetian altarpieces by Bartolomeo Vivarini

Bartolomeo Vivarini (1432-1499) was the most prolific member of a prominent 15th-century Venetian family of artists who specialised in religious art, particularly altarpieces. Unlike their Florentine counterparts, Venetian artists of this period were typically more concerned with decorative effects than with accuracy of description, so their paintings often lacked detailed anatomical information. Bartolomeo, however, began the move toward anatomical realism in the Vivarini family. Two pictures of saints from his altarpieces are presented here to illustrate his depiction of arthritic hand deformities. The hands of Saint Louis of Toulouse (painted c. 1465-7), a young man who died in his 20s, show signs of inflammatory arthritis, while the effects of degenerative osteoarthritis can be seen in the hands of Saint Mark (painted c. 1470), who is portrayed as a man in late middle age. These observations extend the findings of previous studies of Florentine altarpieces from the same period, as well as more general studies of deformed extremities in Italian, Flemish and French Renaissance paintings. They also support the broader proposition that when 15th-century Venetian painters began to embrace anatomical realism they were capable of providing sufficient detail to enable pathological deformities in their figures to be identified.

G. B. Morgagni Among Human Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Mummiology. The Beatification of Gregorio Barbarigo of Padua

The article is the first step of a research project aimed at investigating new perspectives and aspects of Morgagni's role and work. His activities as a medical examiner and forensic doctor are yet to be truly discovered. Manuscripts, written by Morgagni when he was a forensic expert for the Health Magistrate of Venice, currently preserved at the City Library in Forli (Italy), shed light on a new aspect of his cultural background. As a forensic doctor, he also helped push an increase in "social medicine" in Italy, when physicians began to collaborate with the administrative and political institutions in order to plan environmental and urban regulations to control air quality. While reading his reports, his contribution to the primordial medical Hygiene and Public Health emerges. Among his reports, the authors focused on the one concerning the Beatification of Gregorio Barbarigo, which clearly highlights his pathological approach, as well as his knowledge and application of embalming systems and mummiology. Moreover, this report could be considered as an issue in the history of paleopathology.

Religious Myths and their Historical Heritage: How did Saints Cosmas and Damian become Patron Saints of Surgery? - From the Miracle of the Black Legs to 21st Century Transplant Medicine -

This paper explores the heritage and the essential significance of worship of the twin Christian saints -St. Cosmas and St. Damian- in the history of medicine. These saints are well known in Western culture as one of the leading Christian saints to heal diseases, whose cults have spread to Europe through Byzantium, which have continued to spread widely to the present, starting from areas where Christianity had been proselytized. Although it is true that their life journeys have undergone many processes of embellishment and beautification over the course of time, the attributes that distinctively characterize the two saints exist apart from such mythical fabrications. This paper categorizes the characteristics of the two saints as being those of "professional doctors," "ideal doctors," and "holders of healing powers" as intermediaries of God, examining how these characteristics came to affect various medical organizations during the era when Medieval medicine was gradually transitioning toward a rational approach based on reason. In addition, it discusses how some of the practices of ancient temple medicine were transplanted into the Christian culture, the process by which it finally arrived at human doctors through the two saints, and how it affected the establishment of professional work ethics -albeit in nascent form- as their medical ethics came to be accepted and practiced by the Medieval guild of surgeons. Furthermore, the paper considers how the existence of the two saints has acquired symbolism in modern medicine, which has made remarkable progress in organ transplantation, and in particular, how it constitutes a significant part of the history of organ transplantation. It is not easy to objectify and attach meaning to an era that was substantially influenced by myths, legends, or religious events. This is because it is easy to fall into the trap of simplifying and passing judgment on the past based on the realities of the present day, without making efforts to understand the unique circumstances and contexts of the past. This is especially the case when the distinction between "religious events" and "medical events" is ambiguous, or when dealing with a social culture where religious influence was paramount. From a broader perspective, the study of St. Cosmas and St. Damian is not concerned with the rights or wrongs of religious myths amid the advancement of medicine and its adherence to science and reason, but with the attempt at a deep and broad understanding of human diseases and human conditions of being prone to such diseases throughout life.

[Protector Saints Against Plague Epidemics - Analysis of the Examples from the Sacral Patrimonies of the Cites of Rijeka and Osijek]

Plague epidemics have remained in the collective consciousness until nowadays remembered as the deadliest. Therefore, it is not surprising that the answers to them throughout history have been not only medical but also religious. The previously mentioned will be analyzed in this paper through the cults of the protector saints against the plague epidemics that have developed in two Croatian cities of comparable size, Rijeka and Osijek, but with the diametrically opposed geographical positions and, accordingly, quite different historical developments. On the one hand, a more detailed overview of the development of the cults of various saints present in the mentioned cities will be presented. On the other hand, based on their presentation in the sacral heritage of these cities, the broader context of the time and space in which they have developed will be lightened. Particular attention will be paid to their medical connotations.

[Pope Pius XII in the History of Radiology: St. Michael the Archangel Protector of Radiologists]

In 1933 the Professors of Genoa School of Medicine V. Maragliano, GB. Cardinale, and A. Vallebona proposed to designate Saint Michael the Archangel as Patron Saint and Protector of Radiologists. The proposal of Italian radiology scientists was immediately accepted by colleagues with great enthusiasm. A petition was then sent to Pope Pius XII to obtain official recognition by the Catholic Church. The choice of the Holy Archangel Michael was argued by the Professors because he is the Saint who, in religious iconography, is the one who wears armor, is the guardian of paradise, and leads souls to God. Moreover, the Saint represents the triumph of the Light of Good against the darkness of evil. On January 15, 1941, the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued the decree that constituted: "Sanctus Michael, Archangelus pro radiologis et radiumtherapeuticis patronus et protector declaratus".

Madness, Medicine and Miracle in Twelfth-Century England

This monograph provides a fresh perspective on how madness was defined and diagnosed as a condition of the mind in the Middle Ages and what effects it was thought to have on sufferers. Records of miracles that were believed to have been performed by saints reveal details of illnesses and injuries that afflicted medieval people. In the twelfth century, such records became increasingly medicalized and naturalized as the monks who recorded them gained access to Greek and Arabic medical material, newly translated into Latin. Nonetheless, by exploring nuances and patterns across the cults of five English saints, this book shows that hagiographical representations of madness were shaped as much by the individual circumstances of their recording as they were by new medical and theological standards.

Tracing the Boundaries of the Natural: Medicine and the Inquiry on Miracles in Early Modern Canonization Trials

Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the inquiry on miracles in the canonization process reveals a fundamental cooperation between medicine and religion. During the last stage of the trials, theologians, lawyers, and physicians concurred with refined reports to accomplish full analysis of the alleged miracles. The promoter of the faith had the task of doubting the supposed miracle healing on juridical, medical and theological grounds; the lawyer supporting the cause responded to any inconsistency in witnesses' depositions; the physician had the task of finding any natural causes which could lead to a natural recovery of the subject. The interplay of these tripartite disciplines underlies early modern probation of supposed miracles. In this paper I will examine the institutional and cultural consequences of the demand for evidence in canonization trials: on the one hand, the increasing role of medical experts in the assessment of miracles and the friction between them and the other members of the committee; on the other hand, the rise of a new method of inquiry in the legal arena.

The paleoradiology importance in the study of relics: the unique densitometric analysis of a bone relic of Saint Nicholas

INTRODUCTION

DXA have greatly contributed to the development of paleoradiology, a branch of diagnostic imaging that allows to obtain information about human remains in contexts of archaeological and/or forensic interest. In this manuscript we report the unique experience of DXA performed on the relic of a Saint; in particular we analyzed a skeletal fragment of St. Nicholas, kept in the Basilica of Bari (Italy) since 1087.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The bone to be examined consisted of the posterior arch of the ninth left rib that was 12cm long, 1.2cm maximum width and 1.7cm thick at the body. The data acquired from the densitometric study were performed using the anthropometric measures reported in historical records of St. Nicholas' life: sex (male), age (75 years), weight (70kg), height (167cm), and ethnicity (Caucasian). In addition to the examination of the relic, a comparison assessment was made with the rib of a healthy 60 years old man (height of 170cm, without known skeletal pathologies). This sample had a length of 19cm, maximum width at the head 1cm, and 0.7cm thick at the body. The analysis of bone fragments is different from the analysis of bones in the context of the human body (where soft tissues are placed around the skeleton); for this reason, one of the most critical issues was to create a support that would allow the analysis of bone fragments. We simulated conditions similar to those occurring in patients: a density scale was established, using a specific plexiglass phantom on which the bone fragments to be examined were placed. From the analysis it was calculated the parameter bone mineral density (BMD), express in g/cm², that indicates the relation between mass of bone mineral content and area of examined bone segment. BMD data was compared to a range normalized by age, sex and ethnicity (BMD-N).

RESULTS

The results of the scannnig of St. Nicholas' rib showed a BMD of 0.97g/cm² with a BMD-N between 0.77 and 1.08g/cm². Simultaneous measurements of the relic compared with a reference rib showed highlighted BMD of 0.84g/cm² for the relic and 0.50g/cm² for the reference rib. The St. Nicholas data are 168% higher than reference bone. All our measurements of the relic indicated a high bone mineral density, most likely due to the presence of a high concentration of calcium salts. A relatively higher mineral density of the relic was seen compared to the healthy subject's rib. From the history of St Nicholas' life, we know of the long imprisonment at the age of 51 in damp and unhealthy environment. The results of this study suggest that a good bone mineral density was maintained by the Saint even in old age. An additional element that can influence bone mineral density is diet, certainly different during the time of St. Nicholas. The good bone densitometry indicates that the Saint maintained a proper diet, with a generally fair state of health.

CONCLUSION

For this first DXA analysis of the rib relic of Saint Nicholas was necessary a long and complex experimental work to modify standard technique procedure to particular and unusual sample and Create specific supports and complementary instruments. Perform DXA analysis on relics permit to obtain additional information to living conditions, economical situation, behaviours, diet, diseaes, conservations conditions of remains, change of life style in different age. Our experimental work, the first of its kind, creates the way to analyze precious relics that often include only few bone fragments and data obtained by our work can be useful for a better management and movement of fragile relics. We ourselves are working on a new challenge for the analysis of bone finds from shipwrecks found at the bottom of the sea.

Did Richard III pray to Saint Apollonia for relief from toothache?

Richard III is known to have had a particular devotion to St Apollonia who is the Patron Saint of sufferers from toothache. The dentition in his skeleton exhumed from a car park in Leicester shows missing teeth which are thought to have been extracted due to caries. It is suggested that Richard, when he was Duke of Gloucester, had prayed to St Apollonia for the relief of toothache before submitting to undergo dental extractions.

A leisurely comment on the list of medical saints by Abraham Bzowski in 1621

The author presents a booklet dating back to 1621 printed in Rome, the work of a preacher, brother Abraham Bzowski (Bzovius), one of the writers of the famous Annals of Cardinal Baron. He draws up a list of 29 doctors who have been sanctified by the Roman Catholic Church.

Patienthood in medieval Tuscany: beliefs and cures

This paper focuses on intersections of holy and sick bodies in the Tuscan Middle Ages to examine how the faithful accessed miraculous cures from contact with, or belief in, the relics of the saints. Rather than examine the relationship between the long dead martyrs (whose relics were abundant), however, it will look at the relationship between relatively recent saints and their devotees. The miracles discussed are traditional-that is, they are found in the lives of many saints and are not exceptional. It is hoped, however, that by concentrating on Tuscany, some insights can be secured on the relationship between Tuscan individuals of the late middle ages and those of their community who were recognised, either officially or through vox populi, as saints.

The martyrdom of St. Zoilus, a urological issue. History and development of the tradition

OBJECTIVES

To highlight, for its urological importance, the martyrdom of St. Zoilus. To elaborate on the tradition of invocation and worship of the saint and to establish their historical bases.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We conducted a study of the images of the martyrdom of St. Zoilus, with a detailed review of the history and tradition of the saint and performed a comparative study of the various saints known as patrons of kidney pain and disease.

RESULT

We found three paintings in different churches and locations depicting the kidney extraction of St. Zoilus. In addition to the three pieces, a preserved chest at the National Archaeological Museum and 2 tapestries in the sacristy of the church of the monastery of St. Zoilus in the Palencian town of Carrion de los Condes provided abundant information on the circumstances in which they were made. By analysing the style, we can deduce its affiliation to a specific artistic milieu and thereby propose a timeframe.

CONCLUSION

Without meaning to dethrone St. Liborius as the patron saint of urologists, an office claimed earlier by colleagues from various European countries, the martyrdom of St. Zoilus is, in light of the tradition and images provided, an unquestionable urological issue. The tradition is vindicated from a new viewpoint 1,712 years later.

The Medical Vestment and Surgical Instruments of Saint Cosmas and Damian on Sinai Icons From the Seventh to the Eighteenth Century

The iconography of the doctor saints Cosmas and Damian and the artistic representations of their miracles are important sources for the history of medicine. Within the sphere of physician-saints, Cosmas and Damian have the greatest number of iconographic depictions in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine art. In most of their representations, they wear long robes as a sort of professional mantles and carry surgical instruments and boxes indicating their status as doctors. The progress of Byzantine surgery could be attested by these objects, some of them mentioned in collections of miracle stories and documented in medical sources.

Could Carmelite Spirituality Promote Good Mental Health? A brief Tribute to Saint Teresa of Avila in the 500th anniversary of her birth

Often it is overlooked that Christian Spirituality involves a personal relationship of a human being with God. It is of interest that both the Protestant Reformers and the exponents of the Catholic Counter Reformation agreed upon this. Two of the greatest exponents of the Counter-Reformation, both of whom were made Doctors of the Church because of their teaching on Prayer were Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross. This year is the 500th anniversary of the birth of Saint Teresa of Avila. Here, as a Catholic Psychiatrist, I argue that the teaching of both saints about the prayer life, properly understood, tends to improve self worth, and therefore must tend to help persons with mental health problems.

The miracle of the black leg: E astern neglect of Western addition to the hagiography of Saints Cosmas and Damian

The Christian miracle tales strongly support the identification of Sts. Cosmas and Damian as doctors. The most famous of the saints' posthumous miracles, is that of the Black Leg. The main source of this story is the Golden Legend by Jacobus da Varagine, collection of fanciful hagiographies compiled in the 13th century. Saints Cosmas and Damian miraculously transplanted the black leg of the Ethiopian man onto the white body of the verger with "cancerous" leg. Saints appeared to the patient in a dream, amputated his diseased leg and replaced it with the leg of a recently died man. This dramatic cure was attractive for many western artists. The iconography of this miracle was depicted for the first time in a Florentine panel of ca.1370. The color of the leg later attracted special attention. Since the 1990's the Miracle of the Black Leg, presented in a (neo) Byzantine style, appeared in Greece. The miracle of Holy Unmercenaries has no proper historical foundation in the Books of the lives of the Saints in the Orthodox Churches. Action focused on replacement of the affected leg with one from cadaveric donor was unknown to the eastern Christianity. Exploration of available orthodox hagiographical sources related to the healing powers of Sts. Cosmas and Damian showed remarkable neglect of that miracle. Some contemporary Greek authors find appropriate to disregard it.

Illness narrative, depression, and sainthood: an analysis of the writings of Mother Teresa

In 2007, the letters of The Blessed Mother Teresa to her confessors were published for the public in a book entitled Come Be My Light. What surprised many readers was that Mother Teresa felt very distant from God and described feeling great "darkness" for many years. This paper draws parallels between the writings of Mother Teresa and those of writers' illness narratives describing the psychiatric condition of Depression. The author provides this textual analysis to explore Mother Teresa's experience within a psychiatric paradigm (Major Depressive Disorder), in comparison with and contrast to the spiritual paradigm of a "Dark Night of the Soul."

Demonic possessions and mental illness: discussion of selected cases in late medieval hagiographical literature

During the Middle Ages, demonic possession constituted an explanation for an erratic behavior in society. Exorcism was the treatment generally applied to demoniacs and seems to have caused some alleviation in the suffering of mentally distressed people. We have selected and analyzed some cases of demonic possession from thirteenth-century hagiographical literature. In the description of demoniacs we have been able to find traits of psychotic, mood, neurotic, personality disorders and epilepsy. The exorcisms analyzed in our article are the result of literary invention more than the description of a contemporary event. Nevertheless, the writers were witnesses of their time, transferred their knowledge about exorcism and possession in their narrative and presumably incorporated their actual experience with demoniacs.

[The relic in the Panels of São Vicente de Fora]

The Panels of São Vicente de Fora, a polyptych dated from 1470 to 1480, are a work composed of 6 panels, authored by Nuno Gonçalves, a painter of King Afonso V. This work reveals one of the most remarkable collective portraits of European painting, making this polyptych an inexhaustible source of readings and interpretations, fueling a secular controversy. The present work aims analyzing precise an iconographic anatomical image repainted in the 6th panel, or the panel of the Relic. This consists of a central image within a structure shown by a red figure with special reverence. The investigation conducted and justification was based on direct observation and comparative analysis of iconographic data collected in the Museum of Antique Art. The bone pieces were selected at the Museum of Anatomy, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, New University of Lisbon, and the comparative analyses performed by two observers, with further analysis of the images obtained in the National Museum of Ancient Art using specific software. After watching these, it was concluded that this representation of a relic in the Panels of São Vicente is an iconic representation of an Occipital bone, fractured at its lower edge, being evident, almost complete, its vertical portion or scale.

[Canonic recognitions and scientific investigations on the Mummies of Saints]

The Mummies of Saints represent a peculiar category in Italian scene; they are very different for each type of mummification, suffer from numerous environmental interference and rituals,from conservation work or handling repeated over time. An analytical and critical review of all known cases and an inventory is presented. In the present work the topics of canonic recognitions is briefly considered. The study of the bodies of the Saints is characterized by particular techniques and by very close bonds that first puts the conservation of the venerable rest to analytical study of them. However, these investigations are of particular interest not only in the anthropological, paleopathological and biological profile but also from an historical, cultural, religious, literary and artistic point of view.

Mummified saints of the Northern Croatian Littoral

The Istrian town of Vodnjan hosts a collection of mummified bodies and relics. Three mummies are completely preserved and belong to Blessed Leon Bembo, St Giovanni Olini, and St Nicolosa Bursa, while the other three are mummified remains of St Barbara, St Sebastian, and St Mary of Egypt. This article gives an overview of the three completely preserved bodies, including their external condition, hagiographic data, statements and hypotheses that need verification by future targeted scientific research. Although local populations attribute divine properties to the remains and treat their continued preservation as a mystery, their origin is probably similar to that of other mummified saints. A scientific study performed on the mummies will probably help to reveal the true origin and type of mummification of the bodies. Additional paleopathological research could also determine the cause of death, if the saints died by natural causes, or attest to any mutilation or sign of torture suffered in life and confirm them as the cause of death. Proper bioarchaeological research could bring useful osteobiographical updates to the existing records about these saints.

[Agueda of Catania: the patron saint of patients with breast diseases]

For those suffering from breast cancer, Agatha is their patron saint. She was a beautiful Christian maiden, from Catania, Sicily, who dedicated her life to God. As she rejected the love proposals of consul Quintiliano, she suffered cruel tortures. One of the tortures she suffered was to have her breast cut off, with iron shears, a detail that furnished to the Christian medieval iconography, the peculiar characteristic of Agatha. Catania honors Agatha as her patron saint and throughout the region around Mt. Etna. Saint Agatha's feast day is February 5. All of those dedicated to the treatment and prevention of breast cancer are known as "the soldiers of Saint Agatha".

[Saint Francis and his brethren: aids to the ill and guardians against diseases]

This article takes a look at the guardian role of saints in Christian tradition against particular diseases, focusing on the life of St Francis of Assisi and his 13 follower saints who were remembered for their care for the ill and who became patron saints for particular diseases, including Anthony of Padua, Clare of Assisi, Ottone of Pola, Elizabeth of Hungary, Rose of Viterbo, Bernardine of Siena, Didacus, Mark of Montegallo, Joseph of Leonessa, John Joseph of the Cross, Giles Mary of Saint Joseph, Francis Mary of Camporosso, and Leopold Mandić. For each of them the article presents a brief hagiography and explains the relationship with a specific disease and how these saints became patrons.

[The stigmata of St Franics and other Saints charismatics: between miracle and scientific answer]

Departing from the definition of the stigmata as the wounds which, temporarely or permanently, manifest in some cases of extasy following a selected model of suffering (Jesus, Mohammed etc.), the present paper analyzes the phenomenology of stigmatization on several most famous historical and actual examples: Francis of Assisi, as the first stigmatized at all; Catherine of Siena, the only one beside Francis whose stigmata have been recognized by the Church as supernatural; Rita of Cascia (14th c.); Marie de Mörl (1812-1868) from Tirol; the Belgian Louise Lateau (1850-1883); Izabele Hendricks (1844-1874), who died from bleeding; Gemma Galgani (1878-1903), who presented stigmata and the traces of flagellation; the Bavarian Therese Neumann (1898-1962), of whom probabely the most has been written; the popular mendicant father Pio from Pietrelcina (1887-1968); Giulio Massa (b. 1970) from Montecorvino near Salerno, already known as the "Father Pio of the 21st century," who speeks out in Aramaic during extasy; and the first Croatian stigmatized, Zlatko Sudac (b. 1971). Considering some older and more recent interpretations of the stigmata, a more precise definition of that phenomenon is suggested. Acording to it, the stigmata might be considered spontaneous, isolated cases of the localized deautonomization of influence upon superficial blood vessels, mediated by altered consciousness. Pointed out are the potential enormous benefits which medicine might provide by finding out the regularity and methods by which that phenomenon would be initiated in a controlled way, at full consciousness, without external help and at any place on the body.

The tomboyism of faith: spiritual tomboyism in the cult of Sainte Foy

This article offers a reading of premodern, spiritual tomboyism as evident in the cult of Sainte Foy in France during the ninth to eleventh centuries. It draws attention to the signs of differently gendered and aged masculinities in the female child saint. Martyred at the cusp of puberty, Sainte Foy remains forever suspended in her gender development. Bernard of Angers, in the Liber miraculorum, portrays Foy as a trickster tomboy whose miracles are known as her "jokes." But beyond the historical Foy and the textual Foy, there is a third Foy who is embodied in a reliquary statue with an adult male head. In times of social upheaval, Sainte Foy, whose earthly presence is manifest in her relics and reliquary statue, functions as a local patronus who protects her monastery, properties, and devotees. Her male-headed reliquary further affirms her identity as a holy warrior of Christ who fights to uphold the Peace of God. As trickster-tomboy and warrior-patronus, Sainte Foy hovers at and crosses over the boundaries of both gender- and age-based identities and practices.

[St Leopold Mandić: a cripple who became a charismatic confessor]

The first part of this article presents in detail the life of the Croatian Capuchin St Leopold Bogdan Mandić (Herceg Novi, 1866 - Padova, 1942). Follows a discussion about the relation between his disability and medicine, including paranormal phenomena recorded during his life on earth. The article concludes with a note that the Holy See has recognised an outstanding number of healing miracles performed by Leopold Mandić, and describes the two most fascinating. The extraordinary attendance to his funeral in 1942, beatification in 1977, and canonisation in 1983 evidence that this saint has been one of the most revered personalities in the recent history of the Catholic Church.