Saint Athala

Two acts of the 7th century abbot Athala feature in an 1884 Dictionary of Miracles under the provocative heading “spittle curative.” First, a monk working in the field cut off his thumb; Athala collected the severed digit, anointed it with spit, and placed it, good as new, back on the man’s hand. Later, when a baby got sick, the saint spit on him too.