"Saint Laura, in her sleep of death,
Preserves beneath the tomb
---'Tis willed where what is willed must be---
In incorruptibility
Her beauty and her bloom."
(from Gryll Grange by Thomas Love Peacock, 1860)
One summer, when I was in my teens, I had just finished boiling a dozen sweet corn for a cookout and was about to pour the water out and drain the ears into a colander in the sink. Unfortunately, the pot tipped backwards onto my bikini-clad body and the scalding water went, instead, onto my stomach.
The pain was excruciating and I've yet to feel anything quite so horrible. I remember my cousins scrambling to put cold water and ice packs on my skin. My stomach hurt for several days, but the pain I felt is nothing compared to the martyrdom of St. Laura of Cordoba.
She was born in Cordoba, Spain and lived amongst Muslims. After being widowed, St. Laura of Cordoba became a nun then eventually abbess at Cuteclara. The Muslims captured her and threw her into a pot of boiling oil, hence, she was scalded to death.
St. Laura of Cordoba is recognized as one of the Martyrs of Cordoba. Her feast day is today.
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