by queenv (guest)
3/4/2011, 3:34 PM
LOL. I didn't know that about St. Apollonia, but now that you mention it, I recall reading a novel set in medieval times ("Katherine" by Anya Seton--one of my all time favorites), in which there's a scene featuring carved miniature statues of the saints. St. Apollonia is represented as having a swollen jaw and carrying some sort of extraction implement, and I think the novel mentions that she's the patron saint of toothaches, or at least she was the saint people would pray to when they had a toothache. Bad choice of words indeed.