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| Nymphadota, Saint |
Once St. Floradora was removed from the Roll of Saints, twelve churches in Chicago were renamed to honor this saint, "a third-century ascetic from Leptis Magna who lived "for thirty years in a hollow tree, subsisting on a diet of deathwatch beetles" [St. Fidgeta & Other Parodies, 83].
Bowen adds that it seems likely that the author was indulging himself in an unseemly jest based on an echo with nympho with Nymphadota. "As for the hollow tree and the deathwatch beetles, some of the early ascetics have been credited with austerities almost that bizarre."
Leptis Magna was an ancient city of northern Africa in present-day Libya east of Tripoli. Founded by Phoenicians, it flourished as a port during Roman times and is today noted for its impressive ruins.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptis_Magna |
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