( 1297 )

Margaret of Cortona, penitent, originally hailed as "a second Mary Magdalene," was born in Loviana in Tuscany in 1247.  She was a beautiful child. Her father was a small farmer. Margaret's mother died when she was seven years old. Her stepmother had little care for her high-spirited daughter.

Rejected at home, by her stepmother, Margaret escaped with a rich youth from Montepulciano, named Arsenio who showed an interest in her . She lived with him as a mistress, and bore him a son out of wedlock. After nine years, her lover  disappeared without warning and she discovered that he was murdered.

Margaret  left Montpulciano and returned as a penitent to her father's house, begging him and her step mother to forgive her, but her father refused to accept her and her son. At first Margaret grieved only for her loss of Arsenio. Then her conscience began to give her trouble with the thought of what might have become of her lover's immortal soul, and what might become of her own soul if she died in sin suddenly. In the middle of a violent conversion experience, looking for extreme ways to humiliate herself, she went to the Friars Minor at Cortona where she received asylum on probation.

Yet  Margaret had difficulty overcoming temptations of the flesh. She once told Father Guinta, "Do not ask me to come to terms with this body of mine because I can not afford it. Between me and my body there will be a struggle until death." One Sunday she returned to Loviana with a cord around her neck. At Mass, she asked pardon for her past scandal. She attempted to mutilate her face, but was restrained by Father Giunta.

Margaret earned a living by nursing sick ladies. Later she gave this up to serve the sick poor without recompense, subsisting only on alms. Eventually, she joined the Third Order of St. Francis, and her son also joined the Franciscans a few years later. Margaret advanced rapidly in prayer and was said to be in direct contact with Jesus, as exemplified by frequent ecstasies. Father Giunta recorded some of the messages she received from God. Not all related to herself, and she courageously presented messages to others. In 1286, Margaret was granted a charter allowing her to work for the sick poor on a permanent basis. Others joined with personal help, and some with financial assistance.

St. Margaret formed her group into tertiary, and later they were given special status as a congregation which was called The ("Poor Ones"). She also founded a hospital at Cortona and the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy. Some in Cortona turned on Margaret, even accusing her of illicit relations with her confessor Father Giunta. All the while, Margaret continued to preach against vice and many, through her, returned to the sacraments. She also showed extraordinary love for the mysteries of the Eucharist and the Passion of Jesus Christ. Divinely warned of the day and hour of her death, she died on February 22, 1297, having spent twenty-nine years performing acts of penance. She was canonized in 1728. Her feast day is February 22nd.

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