She was born in 1712 at a remote village in the Spanish province of
Estramadura. Various divine portents accompanied her birth. Her mother
dreamed a strange dream about a sea-serpent; her father was cured of a
painful gouty affection; the image of Saint James of Compostella in the
local church was observed to smile benignly at the very hour of her
entry into the world. At the age of two years and eleven months she
took the vow of chastity. Much difficulty was experienced in keeping
the infant alive; she tormented her body in so merciless a fashion. She
refused to partake of food save once in every five weeks; she remained
immovable "like a statue" for months on end; she wore under her rough
clothing iron spikes which were found, after death, to have entered
deeply into her flesh. She was never known to use a drop of water for
purposes of ablution or to change her underwear more than once a year,
and then only at the order of her confessor who was obliged to be in
daily contact with her. The heat of her body was such that it could not
be touched by human hands.
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