St Apollonia: See ya Suckers!

 So today we read a great story in the book In Caelo et in Terra. We read about St Apollonia, who has caused some deep thinking about the morals of suicide due to her actions. See, it went like this:

She was a deaconess and well on in years when a heavy persecution swept through her country and she was seized by the military and tortured. During her torture, her teeth were either smashed or removed from her mouth with pincers, depending on which account you read. That's why she's the patroness of dentists and toothaches.

But then, she was offered a choice: if she worshiped the pagan gods, she would live. If not, she'd be thrown into a fire and burned alive. She asked for a moment to consider, and while they considered, she yeeted herself into the flames and died. (Yeet is a popular word today meaning, "To throw".) That's why I named the blog "See ya Suckers!" because she outwitted those who were trying to torture her. You can read more about her here.

However, this did lead to some head scratching among moral theologians. Because generally we are not permitted to hasten our own deaths to avoid suffering. In this case, most moral theologians agree that since death was unavoidable, and she would have gladly chosen life if she could do so without denying her faith, it was morally permissible for her to do what she did.

God, thanks for giving us the great example of heroic steadfastness in the face of death that we have in this deaconess from almost 2000 years ago. St Apollonia, pray for us!