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Solange
as an icon of sexual purity.
Sex as God's Gift is a six-part series developed for 14- and 15-year-olds to prepare them for the sexual decisions they will face.
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uring much of church history, legend and fact intermingle making it
hard to ascertain what really happened. The story of St. Solange is one
such tale. Apparently she was a beautiful shepherdess who vowed as a child
to become the bride of Christ alone. Unfortunately for her, her beauty
attracted the notice of Bernard, the son of the Count of Poitiers who
pressed her to yield to him. When she refused, he forced her onto his
horse, but in twisting to escape, she fell off, injuring herself.
Enaged by her resistance, Bernard slew her on the spot, either by driving
a sword through her heart or by lopping off her head. (In one version,
she herself picked up her head and carried it to the village named after
her). A church was built for her three centuries later and her story was
retold in tapestries in the eighteenth century.
A field near Bourges is still known as Le Champ de St. Solange. This
story is worth including because it is representative of the far-fetched
legends that took possession of the Medieval church and encrusted upon
the memories of saintly--or not so saintly--men and women.
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