Saint Margaret of Cortona:

Feast day : 22 February

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Margaret of Cortona who lived during the period AD 1247 to AD 1297. She belonged to the Third Order of St. Francis. Though the early part of her life was spent in sin, after she had a conversion of heart, her only desire was to please God. She undertook severe penances and mortifications seeking closer union with God. Her last years were sanctified with several miracles and conversions of hardened sinners. She is the patron saint of falsely accused, homeless, insane, single mothers, reformed prostitutes, people having temptations, people who have lost parents and people ridiculed for their piety. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1728. Her incorrupt body is kept enshrined in the Basilica of Cortona

Early life:

Saint Margaret was born in Tuscany to a poor farmer and lived a happy life till she lost her mother at the age of seven. Two years later, her father brought home a step mother who was very harsh to her and continually found fault with her. This led her to seek love elsewhere and she fell victim to the charms of a young and wealthy cavalier who persuaded her to live with him. Though he promised to marry her, he never did. They lived together for nine years and had a son during this period. The illicit romance became a great scandal in the area but Margaret appeared to have a carefree attitude and was often seen wearing costly clothes and flaunting her sinful life in public. But deep within, she was deeply troubled by the sinful state of her soul.

Conversion of heart:

One day, the cavalier went off on a journey and a few days later, was found dead in a wooded area. In his mangled body, she saw the judgement of God and repented. She returned all her possessions back to the cavalier’s family and left with her young son. From thereon, she began her life as a penitent sinner. When her father and step mother refused to take her back into their home, she went to Cortona to the Franciscan Friars, who were renowned for their kindness. They became her spiritual fathers.

There for three years she battled temptations by imposing rigorous penances and acts of self mortification upon herself. She slept on hard ground, dressed in rags and cut and bruised her beautiful face to make herself appear ugly. Her soul was in agony despite all the penances and she often thought “O Lord, can You ever love me again, as great as my sins have been?” She burned with the desire to give back to God a love so fierce and so strong that it would unite her completely with Him. Seeing her spiritual transformation, the Franciscans accepted her as a tertiary of their order and later she advanced to an even higher plane of spirituality, being in direct communion with her Redeemer, Our Lord Jesus Christ, experiencing frequent ecstasies. In one such ecstasy, Our Lord said to Margaret “Thou art the third light granted to the Order of my beloved Francis. He was the first, among the Friars Minor: Clare was the second, among the nuns: thou shalt be the third, in the Order of Penance.”

Death & Sainthood:

Her last years were sanctified by many miracles of healing and the conversion of hardened sinners who travelled from neighbouring countries seeking her help. With the sanction of the Bishop, she also established a hospital called Spedale di Santa Maria della Misericordia. She died in 1297 at the age of 50 after spending 23 years in penance. Today, her sacred body lies incorrupt in a glass sided reliquary in the Basilica of Cortona.