July 20th - St. Margaret of Antioch, Virgin and Martyr
(d. 275)?
Saint Margaret was born in the third century at Antioch of Pisidia in
southern Asia Minor. Her mother died while she was an infant, and she was
instructed in the Christian faith by a virtuous nurse. When her father, a
pagan priest named Aedesius, learned she was a Christian, he drove her out
of the house. She became a shepherdess to earn her living.
When a Roman prefect arrived in the region to persecute the Christians,
Margaret was imprisoned. The prefect, fascinated by her beauty, desired to
save her life and add her to the already considerable number of his wives
and concubines. He decided to attempt to overcome her resistance by
questioning her before an assembly consisting of virtually the entire
city.
Her reply to his ultimatum, offering her a choice between joy and
torments,
was recorded and became renowned. She said: "The true life and true joy,
thanks be to God, I have already found, and have placed them in the
stronghold of my heart that they may never be removed. I mean that I adore
and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, that I venerate Him with confidence and
will never cease to honor Him with my whole soul. Know that no human
power,
no torture will be able to extract from my heart so great a treasure."
When
the prefect replied that someone had certainly put such ideas into her
very
young and inexperienced head, a long dialogue ensued, Margaret striving to
make him understand the reason for her confidence, and that God Himself
gives replies to those who believe in Him when they are questioned,
according to His own promise.
Hearing her say that her Lord was not merely a man, but very genuinely God
and Man at one same time, whose power was far above that of emperors, he
became furious and sent her to be scourged, suspended in the air by her
hands. Many spectators wept and begged her to have pity on herself. She
replied: "Illustrious gentlemen and noble ladies, do not weaken my
courage,
for as the Apostle said, bad conversation corrupts good habits. But I
forgive you, because you act this way out of sympathy, and do not possess
the true light..." Cast into prison still alive, she was visited by a
demon
whom she put to flight by a sign of the cross; there followed a vision of
the cross of salvation, accompanied by a voice exhorting her to persevere.
When on the following day she was subjected to the torment of burning
torches, she felt no pain. She continued under other ineffectual torments
to
exhort the spectators to understand who it was she adored, and finally was
beheaded with a large number of those whom her words had caused to believe
as she did.
Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin
(Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 8.
Quote:
Let us look at our own faults, and not other people's. We ought not to
insist on everyone following in our footsteps, nor to take upon ourselves
to
give instructions in spirituality when, perhaps, we do not even know what
it
is.
-St. Teresa of Lisieux
Bible Quote
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a
man
having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he
hath, and buyeth that field. (Matthew 13:44)
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Prayer Before a Picture of Jesus
O Jesus, when I look on you
My love for you starts up anew,
And tells me that your heart loves me
And you my special friend would be.
More courage I will need for sure,
But any pain I will endure,
Because it makes me like to you
And leads unto your kingdom too.
In sorrow do I find my bliss,
For sorrow now no more is this:
Rather the path that must be trod,
That makes me one with you, my God.
Oh, leave me here alone and still,
And all around the cold and chill.
To enter here I will have none;
I weary not when I'm alone.
For, Jesus you are at my side;
Never so close did we abide.
Stay with me, Jesus, my delight,
Your presence near makes all things right.
-Blessed Titus Brandsma
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