Thre dayes lyved she in this torment,
And nevere cessed hem the feith to teche
That she hadde fostred; hem she gan to preche.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. Cecilia, left lying in torment and dying after being struck three times in the neck by Almachius’s executioner, spends her final three days in the service of God. She uses them to preach the word of God and teach the people the Christian faith.