Shocking saints: Showing the holy in persecution

Maxine Kollasch

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Julie Vieira

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The long-anticipated canonization of Mother Teresa is September 4. She usually is shown smiling and always in her blue-striped habit. Some saints, however, especially in early church depictions, are shown at the moment of their martyrdom, like Saint Lucy, who is often shown holding a dish with her eyeballs in it.

In this Random Nun Clip, a listener named after Saint Lucy wonders why images of saints are so startling.

To listen to the full Ask Sister podcast, click here.

GSR shares clips from our friends at A Nun's Life Ministry, which has a live prayer podcast on Monday (excluding holidays) at 4 p.m. Central Time and other live podcasts throughout the month: "Ask Sister," "Motherhouse Road Trip" and "In Good Faith." Dates and times for the full, live episodes are listed on their program schedule. They just celebrated their 10th anniversary in July!