Our Saint of the Day had a son who grew up to become a friar. ✝️
May 16, 2024
Hello John,
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Margaret was born of farming parents in Laviano, Tuscany. Her mother died when Margaret was seven; life with her stepmother was so difficult that Margaret moved out. For nine years she lived with Arsenio, though they were not married, and she bore him a son. In those years, she had doubts about her situation. Somewhat like Saint Augustine, she prayed for purity—but not just yet.
One day she was waiting for Arsenio and was instead met by his dog. The animal led Margaret into the forest where she found Arsenio murdered. This crime shocked Margaret into a life of penance. She and her son returned to Laviano, where she was not well received by her stepmother. They then went to Cortona, where her son eventually became a friar.
In 1277, three years after her conversion, Margaret became a Franciscan tertiary. Under the direction of her confessor, who sometimes had to order her to moderate her self-denial, she pursued a life of prayer and penance at Cortona. There she established a hospital and founded a congregation of tertiary sisters. The poor and humble Margaret was, like Francis, devoted to the Eucharist and to the passion of Jesus. These devotions fueled her great charity and drew sinners to her for advice and inspiration. She was canonized in 1728. St. Margaret of Cortona’s liturgical feast is celebrated on February 22.
Reflection
Seeking forgiveness is sometimes difficult work. It is made easier by meeting people who, without trivializing our sins, assure us that God rejoices over our repentance. Being forgiven lifts a weight and prompts us to acts of charity.
Mary offers to share with us her graces, her love, and her mystery, symbolized in the roses adorning her halo. This means she gives us her Son to conceive, bear, nurture, and present. Often, with a little spiritual imagination, we experience the line separating her story from our own to be very thin. St. Paul says we are all members of one body. God’s only Son made it that way. For instance, in many Renaissance paintings of the Annunciation, St. Gabriel is kneeling before the humble handmaiden because God commanded the angels to recognize her as his daughter who would become the vessel of his Son. We clumsy humans also share in her experience of having angels kneel before us.
It was too late to swerve when we saw two orange construction cones lying across our exit lane. Hearing the thump under our car, we pulled into a gas station. A tow truck would take hours to arrive. “Can I take a look?” a stranger asked, and pulled the cones out from under the cracked fender. He waited to see if our car was drivable, then waved and headed into the night.
Pray
Compassionate God, Thank you for giving us a capacity to care and to come to another’s aid. Shower blessings on the nameless good Samaritan who saved us from waiting hours in the cold for help. Infuse the hearts of others with the same generous spirit.
Act
Today, be on the lookout for a stranger in need: an elderly man on a bench struggling to tie a shoe, a mother juggling toddlers and bags in the grocery parking lot, a neighbor chasing a dog escaped from the leash. Step in to help, and accept their gratitude with a smile.
Today’s Pause+Pray was written by Elizabeth Bookser Barkley, PhD. Learn more here!
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