Saint Margaret of Antioch was a Christian virgin whose tortures and martyrdom became famous in the early books of Acts. According to her legend, she was the daughter of a third or fourth century pagan priest of Antioch who either threw her out of the house when she converted to Christianity or who was converted by her nursemaid. She was noticed by the local prefect who wanted to marry her, but she spurned him and vowed to keep her virginity for Christ.  He turned her in to the Roman authorities to be persecuted. In prison she was swallowed by Satan in the form of a dragon. But, the cross she was carrying irritated his throat and he spit her out unharmed.

Her persecutors tried to kill her by fire and drowning. But, each time, she survived, converting the growing crowd of onlookers. Finally, she was beheaded, along with her many converts, by Emperor Diocletian. She was buried at Antioch. But, her remains were later taken to Italy where they were divided between shrines in Montefiascone and Venice.

Part of her very popular cult was the promise that if you spread her fame and read her story, you would receive a perpetual crown in Heaven. She prayed, at her death, that women in childbirth would, upon calling on her, be safely delivered of the child as she had been delivered from the belly of the dragon. She is also known as the patron saint of women, nurses, and peasants. She also intercedes for those who call upon her from their deathbed. She became one of the most popular saints in England in the ninth century when the first of many Lives was written about her there, even though her legend had been declared apocryphal by the Pope as early as 494 AD.

She was one of the saints who spoke to Saint Joan of Arc. She is included in a group of saints known as the Fourteen Holy Helpers, who are venerated for their special ability to intercede for people. St. Margaret’s feast day is July 20th in the West and July 13th in the East.

On the outside of our parish church, over the east portal, is a granite relief depicting
St. Margaret encircling a heavy cross with her left arm. A serpent is depicted lurking directly behind her. The symbolism seems clear. With a firm foundation in Christ, Margaret was triumphant in defeating and overcoming Satan by embracing the cross of Christ.

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