Saint Who?
Saints Who Took Detours in Life
Saint Margaret of Cortona
Religious († 1297) Feast: February 22
By the time of her death at the age of fifty, Margaret was greatly loved by the people of Cortona, Italy, for her prayers and spiritual advice, and she is now considered one of the greatest penitents in the history of the Franciscan order.
Margaret grew up on a farm and was a beautiful, lively girl. Her mother died when she was seven years old. Her father remarried two years later, but she and her stepmother did not get along. Starved for affection, seventeen-year-old Margaret met a dashing young knight and agreed to run away with him. She lived very comfortably as his mistress for nine years and ignored those who disapproved of her scandalous life. However, she often tried to convince her lover to marry her, and she bore him a son.
One day, the knight failed to come home, and his faithful dog showed her the way to his dead body. When Margaret asked her family for help, they refused. She was at her wits’ end to know how she could support herself and her child until two pious women discovered her. They taught her how to pray and led her to a community of Franciscans to receive spiritual guidance. Margaret became a Franciscan tertiary and a woman with a profound trust in God’s forgiveness.
Jesus, our Good Shepherd, do not abandon us
when we wander away from your loving care.
