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 This Magdalen of the Franciscan Order came into the world in the year 1247 at
Laviano near Cortona in the province of Tuscany. When she was 7 years old, she
lost her pious mother. She was neglected by her careless father, who married
again within a short time, and her unsympathetic stepmother death harshly with
her, so that when Margaret was 18 years old, she left home to earn her bread
among strangers.
She was possessed of rare beauty, and ere long this
became a snare for her. For the space of 9 years she gave herself up to a life
of sin and scandal. Then one day she waited a long time in vain for her
accomplice in sin to return home to the place where she lived with him.
Presently his dog came to her whining and tugging at her dress. She followed
the animal into the heart of the forest, and there she suddenly stood before
the blood stained corpse of the unfortunate man; his enemies had murdered
him.
At the appalling sight, Margaret was stunned like
one struck by lightening. Filled with terror she asked herself, "Where is his
soul now?" Then and there she firmly resolved in future to be even greater in
penance than she had been in sin. Like the prodigal son she returned repentant
to her native town of Laviano.
In a penitential garb, her hair cut short, a cord
around her neck, she knelt at the door of the church and publicly asked all
the congregation to forgive the scandal she had given. Many people were
edified at this public humiliation, but her stepmother was all the more
embittered at it. She. as well as Margaret's father, forbade her to enter the
parental home again. This reception severely tempted Margaret to return to the
road of vice, but God's grace sustained her.
Led by divine grace, she repaired to Cortona, made
a contrite general confession to a Franciscan there, and submitted to the
spiritual direction of her confessor. In a poor little hovel she now lived a
secluded life, in penance, tears, and prayer, earning her scanty nourishment
by hard manual labor.
Again and again she begged for the habit of the
Third Order, that she might be recognized by all the world as a penitent. But
not until 3 years had elapsed and she had been severely tried, was her wish
granted. She received the habit in 1277. Now her fervor increased, and it is
almost incredible what rigorous penances she practiced from then on. Day and
night she wept over her sins, and often sobs so choked her voice that she
could not speak. Satan made use of every wile and snare to cause Margaret to
relapse, but prayer, mortification, and humiliation successfully put him to
flight.
When finally, after uninterrupted struggling, she
had triumphed over every earthly inclination, God assured her that her sins
were fully pardoned and granted her special proofs of His knowledge of the
innermost secrets of hearts. In many an instance, even when people came from
great distances, she recalled grievous sins to their mind, while her
exhortations and prayers were instrumental in bringing about conversion. Many
souls were released from purgatory upon her prayers. Almighty God wrought many
miracles through her even in her lifetime. Health was restored to the sick, a
dead boy was raised to life, and at her approach evil spirits shuddered and
left those whom they possessed.
Finally, after 23 years of rigorous penance, in the
50th year of her life, God called the great penitent to the Beatific Vision on
February 22, 1297. Her body is preserved in a precious shrine in the
Franciscan church at Cortona which bears her name. It is incorrupt even at the
present day and frequently emits a pleasant perfume. Several popes have
confirmed the public veneration accorded her. Pope Benedict XIII canonized her
amid great solemnity in 1728.
ON CONTRITION FOR SINS
1. How remarkable the
effects of divine grace and mercy manifested themselves in St. Margaret! From
all appearances she seemed destined only to become a vessel of divine wrath,
and yet she became a vessel of election. And what brought about the marvelous
change? It was her sincere contrition. We must never despair of the conversion
of any sinner; contrition can make a saint of him. You yourself must never
despair of your own conversion. No matter how difficult it may be to lay aside
certain sinful habits, with the grace of God you will succeed, and He will
never deny this grace to a contrite heart. "A contrite and humble heart, O
God, Thou wilt not despise" (Ps 50:19). But sincere contrition is in itself a
grace. Do you ever implore the gift from God? Pray especially during the
season of Lent each year for the spirit of penance.
2. Consider what
constitutes true contrition. It is sorrow of the soul which detests the sins
committed and has the firm resolution not to sin again. Seeing what he has
done, considering the punishment he has deserved from a just God, realizing
the unworthiness of offending God, who is his greatest benefactor and the
greatest and most lovable of all good things, the sinner cries out with a
contrite heart: "Oh, how badly I have behaved! Would that I could undo it! Not
for all the world will I do it again! Oh, once more, good Jesus, have mercy on
me!" If tears follow upon this grief of the soul, they help to increase your
remorse and the efficacy of your sorrow; but you can have perfect contrition
without tears. On the other hand, no matter how bitterly you were to weep
merely on account of disgrace incurred or temporal loss suffered by your sins,
it would not suffice for the remission of sins in the sacrament of penance.
The thought of having offended God and deserved His punishments must be the
cause of your sorrow. Indeed, you should endeavor to awaken perfect
contrition, saying for example, to your dear heavenly Father: "O my God, so
worthy of all my love, greatest and best of all that is good! I grieve from
the bottom of my heart that I have offended Thee. Let me rather die than ever
offend Thee again." St. Margaret had such contrition; so did St. Mary
Magdalen. That is why their many sins were forgiven them, "because they loved
much." Have you endeavored to acquire perfect contrition?
3. Consider that
it is a fatal error to believe that, after you have once made an act of
contrition for your sins, you may be as unconcerned about them as if nothing
had ever happened. "Man knows not," says the Holy Spirit, "whether he be
worthy of love or hatred" (Eccli 9:1). We should again and again make acts of
contrition for past sins, and it is good also to confess them again and again
subject to the direction of the priest, according to the words of the prophet:
"Wash me yet more from my iniquity" (Ps 50:4). Even if, like St. Margaret, you
were assured by divine revelation of the full pardon of your sins, love of God
should induce you, as it did her, to keep up in your heart lively sorrow for
having offended so good a God. This sorrow should move you to lead a life of
penance, and for this reason the holy Fathers tell us that the life of a
Christian should be on uninterrupted act of penance. -- Can you say this of
your life?
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
O God, who didst bring back
Thy servant Margaret from the road of perdition to the way of salvation, grant
in the same mercy, that we who once were not ashamed to follow her astray may
now be glad to imitate her in penance. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
from:
The Franciscan Book
of Saints, ed. by
Marion Habig, ofm., © 1959 Franciscan Herald
Press
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