John Damon asks us:
> To cut to my question, after that rather lengthy preamble, does
> anyone know of any other instances of a saint who condemned people to
> death but showed his (her?) sanctity by allowing them to be baptized
> first? To my mind, Caedwalla is playing the role of the tyrant/ judge/
> prefect etc. in a hagiographic topos centered on the deaths of the two
> innocent youths. Any comments?
I can only tell you the folklore of my childhood, when I was assured by
guides at the reconstructed village of Ste-Marie-among-the-Hurons that it
was known that, while 'savage Indians' would try to storm the walls of
white people's forts, Jesuits therein would risk their lives by taking
positions along the tops of the walls and throwing water onto the natives
below while baptizing them, so that they might be saved before being
killed by other white people who shot at them or threw other things down
on them. This story rings 'too Jesuitical' to be true, but there may be a
Canadianist on the list who could shed light on this story.
George Ferzoco
POSTING ON HIS PATRON SAINT'S FEAST DAY!
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