The rest of St B's has changed its appearance but we have decided to keep this page the way it was; for old time's sake.

"She who must be..." is not always happy with our sense of humour at St B's but in a specialty with so much sadness a little bit of nonsense can help to lighten the load.

Who was Saint Basillisa? After marrying Saint Julian they both took vows of chastity. They then turned their house into a hospital caring for up to 1000 patients at a time - she worked in her wing, (women only) and he in his (men only).

The New Catholic Dictionary tells us that "chastity, vow of" - "Forbids all voluntary sexual pleasure. It constitutes a matrimonial impediment (Iris agrees with that)....rendering a marriage unlawful although valid." Presumably there were no descendents to keep up the good work - which would also have made for very small family conferences.

Pass the cursor over St Basillisa's picture to see if she made a good decision.

St Basillisa is also the patron saint against chilblains. (What a strange woman she must have been but we are pleased she is against chilblains.)

Iris became particularly devoted to St Basillisa after her chilblains were cured, an event she attributed to the intercession of the saint although wearing her mongrel socks may also have helped. Have a look at the literature on chilblains.