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Puss-Drinking and Scab-Eating--The general populace scorned lepers for their appearance and disease. As an act of humility and caring, many female saints such as St. Catherine would care for these "untouchables" by licking away the puss in their wounds then eating the scabs. People considered these saints especially holy.

These men would take a ladder, climb up to the top of a ruined Roman column, sit down, and then kick away the ladder, vowing to remain there contemplating God until they died.