Saint Jude Thaddeus, thank you for protecting me. I took advantage of my husband being drunk and managed to escape. When my husband went to drink, he used to chain me in the house so I wouldn’t go out. That’s how jealous he was. When he came back from the street I asked him to unchain me to go to the bathroom. He did so. When I finished in the bathroom I noticed that my husband fell asleep. I ran away and hid myself in shrublands. Then I saw my husband walking near me with a whip in his hand—to whip me. I was very scared and decided to leave him. I went to the capital to my aunt and uncle and save myself from this cruel man.

Laura Mejia, Mexico City, 1952