Margaret of Antioch
Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr (in Ancient Greek: Ἁγία Μαρίνα) in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in Western Christianity, on 30th of July (Julian calendar) by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on Epip 23 and Hathor 23 in the Coptic Orthodox Church. The teenage Margaret is said to have been tortured and beheaded when she refused to renounce Christianity and give her virginity to a Roman official in the 4th century. She was reputed to have promised very powerful indulgences to those who wrote or read her life or invoked her intercessions; these no doubt helped the spread of her following. Margaret is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in Roman Catholic tradition.
Quotes
[edit]- (To the governor who asked for her hand in marriage) Can you expect me to renounce heaven and choose instead the dust of the earth?
- Carmelo Randello, Santa Marina (Margherita) d'Antiochia di Pisidia, santiebeati.it, 20 agosto 2002.
Quotes about
[edit]- [July 20] In Antioch in Pisidia (Asia Minor), commemoration of St. Marina (or Margaret), who is said to have consecrated her body to Christ in virginity and martyrdom.
- Roman Martyrology, online, translation into Italian by Istituto San Clemente I Papa e Martire (Stefano Calvi), vatican.va.
- Her husband had slipped a gold ring set with a fine ruby onto her finger, and her mother-in-law had given her a birth bag which, in her time, she herself had tied to her thigh for the duration of her pregnancy. “It contains a parchment recounting the birth of Margaret of Antioch. It will protect you from a brutal death, just as it protected me.” Swallowed by a dragon, Margaret of Antioch had escaped from the beast's bowels by piercing its spine with her cross. My son, Hades had thought, will not have to resort to violence to come into the world. At the right moment, I will open wide and he will slide out without pain. He will be born with rosy skin and a healthy complexion.
- Aline Kiner, La notte delle beghine, translation into Italian by Alberto Folin, Neri Pozza Editore, Vicenza, 2018, Ch. 19. ISBN 978-88-545-1776-9.
