ST. MARY TORRIBIA 53 the bishop, and his siater Mary endea- Youred to bring rain by their prayers and tears. It was reveided to Mary that there would be no rain until the bodies of the martyrs, Firmus and Busticas, wore brought to Verona, the scene of their martyrdom. Inquiries were im- mediately set on foot to discover where these precious relics lay, and it was ascertained that they were at Capra, in Istria, but the inhabitants would not give them up for less than their weight in gold. Mary collected all the gold she could, which consisted in a great mea- sure of the jewels of the Veronese matrons, and she went to Istria to purchase the holy bodies. When they were placed in the balance they became so miraculously light that a small part of the gold she had brought sufficed to buy them. She set sail with the bodies and the greater part of the gold ; but the Istrians re- pented of their bargain and pursued her. Her escape was assisted by a miracle, the Istrian ships being unable to steer in the right direction when they tried to follow her. When she arrived with her treasures at Verona, all the people came and worshipped the holy martyrs, and the whole neighbourhood was im- mediately blessed with fertilizing rain. AA.S8. B. Mary (38) of Carinthia, Feb. 5. Beginning of 9th century. Wife of B. Domitian or Tuitian, duke of Carinthia, who conyerfced the people to Christianity and, with Mary's help, destroyed the thou- sand idol statues from which Milstadt on the Drave is said to have taken its name. They there founded a Benedic- tine church and monastery, where they were buried. AA.88. St. Mary (39) of Cordova, Nov. 24, V. M. 851. Daughter of a Christian father and Mohammedan mother who, however, was ultimately converted by her husband. To avoid hindrances to the observance of their religion, they left Cordova and went to Froniauo, where Mary's brother Walabonsus was entrusted to Salvador, abbot of the Monastery of St. Felix, to be educated. At the same time Mary was placed, by her parents, at Cuteclara, under the care of a holy woman named Artemia, whose two sons, Adolphus and John, had been put to death for the Christian faith. In 851 Walabonsus, then a deacon of the Christian Church, received the crown of martyrdom; and soon afterwards Mary met St. Flora in the church of St. Acis- clus at Cordova. (See Floba (3).) BM, AA.SS, Stadler. St. Mary (40), Mlada. St. Mary (41) Torribia, called Maria de la Cabeza (Mary of the head), Sep. 8, 9, and with her husband. May 10. 12 th century. Patron of Madrid and Toledo. Represented crossing a stream on her apron, or mantilla, carrying a lantern or torch and a cruse of oil. Wife of St. Isidore, one of the patrons of Spain. They lived at Tordelaguna, near Madrid. Mary was a maid-servant ; Isidore was a ploughman in the service of Juan de Vargas, at a fisirm supposed to be Caramancha. He always did much more work than all his fellow servants who, therefore, were jealous of him and told their master that he always came late to his work. Juan de Vargas got up very early to see, and found Isi- dore in church, while an angel held the plough for him. The servants again complained and again Juan went to see. This time he saw Isidore plodding along with his plough, with an angel on each side of him ploughing, so that he got through as much work as any three of the other workmen. Their jealousy in- creased and they again carried mis- chievous tales to their master. Isidore said, *' Wait, master, see whose field will be best in harvest time." And indeed when harvest came, Isidore's field had three times as fine a crop as any of the others. So Juan de Vargas made him superintendent of the whole farm. Isi- dore was very kind to his horses and to all animals. Once when he and Mary had given all their food to some poor people, another beggar arrived and they fetched the pot which had been emptied, and lo ! it was full of excellent meat, so they had a good dinner for their new friend and for themselves. Isidore was invited to a party. He went to church on the way. When he arrived at the house, followed by a crowd of beggars.
