Catherine of Siena Was a Famous Starving Saint
One of the most famous examples of a religious case of fasting came from the 1300’s. Catherine of Siena has been canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. She was known for fasting for long periods of time. On top of that, she was also known to put sticks down her throat to induce vomiting up her food. Leading up to her death, the only thing she agreed to consume was the consecrated Host given to her at mass. For those of you who don’t know, the Host is a small wheat wafer with very little nutritional value. But Catholics believe that by consuming the Host, they are ingesting the body of Christ. At 33 years old, she had stopped eating for so long, she lost the ability to walk and swallow. She died from her fasting. But soon after her death, she was quickly declared a saint.