July 20, 2019: ST. MARGARET OF ANTIOCH

July 20, 2019: COMMEMORATION OF ST. MARGARET (OF ANTIOCH), VIRGIN AND MARTYR

Let the proud be confounded for unjustly persecuting me, but I will keep thy commandments and thy ordinances, that I myself may not be confounded.

Prayer (Collect).

Let blessed Margaret, thy Virgin and Martyr, O Lord, sue for our pardon, who by the purity of her life, and the profession of thy virtue, was always well pleasing to thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

This same day brings before us a rival of the warrior martyr, St. George: Margaret, like him victorious over the dragon, and like him called in the Menӕa of the Greeks, the Great Martyr. The cross was her weapon; and, like the soldier, the virgin, too, consummated her trial in her blood. They were equally renowned also in those chivalrous times when valour and faith fought hand in hand for Christ beneath the standard of the Saints. So early as the seventh century our Western Island rivalled the East in honouring the pearl drawn from the abyss of infidelity. Before the disastrous schism brought about by Henry VIII, the Island of Saints celebrated this feast as a double of the Second Class; women alone were obliged to rest from servile work, in gratitude for the protection afforded them by St. Margaret at the moment of child-birth—a favour which ranked her among the Saints called in the middle ages auxiliatores or helpers. But it was not in England alone that Margaret was invoked, as history proves by the many and illustrious persons of all countries who have borne her blessed name. In heaven, too, there is great festivity around the throne of Margaret; we learn this from such trustworthy witnesses as St. Gertrude the Great and St. Frances of Rome, who, though divided by a century of time, were both, by a special favour of their Divine Spouse, allowed, while still on earth, to assist at this heavenly spectacle.

The ancient legend in the Roman Breviary was suppressed in the sixteenth century by St. Pius V as not being sufficiently authentic. We, therefore, give instead some Responsories and Antiphons and a Collect, taken from what appears to be the very Office said by St. Gertrude; for in the vision mentioned above, allusion is made to one of these Responsories, Virgo veneranda.

Responsories.

℟. Blessed Margaret, though born of pagan blood:
*Receiving the faith by the Holy Spirit, preserved it free from stain.

℣. She went from virtue to virtue, ardently desiring the salvation of her soul.
*Receiving the faith by the Holy Spirit, preserved it free from stain.

℟. Knowing no evil, she blossomed in purity, being prevented by the grace of our Saviour.
*She tended the sheep for her foster-mother.

℣. Simple as the dove and prudent as the serpent.
*She tended the sheep for her foster-mother.

℟. Odibrius, hateful to God and men, passing one day, cast his glance upon her.
*And he burned with desire of her.

℣. For she was exceeding lovely; her face like a beautiful rose.
*And he burned with desire of her.

℟. Forthwith he sent his men to inquire as to her parentage,
*For that if she were of gentle blood, he fain would take her to wife.

℣. But Jesus Christ whose bride she was, had otherwise ordained.
*For that if she were of gentle blood, he fain would take her to wife.

℟. When the tyrant heard that the virgin despised him,
*Enraged he caused her to be brought to his tribunal.

℣. For he hoped that, as maidens are wont, she would yield through fear of his threats.
*Enraged he caused her to be brought to his tribunal.

℟. The worshipful virgin stood firm in her constancy, setting at nought the words of the judge.
*For she thought not of vile pleasures.

℣. Rejoicing in the hope of a heavenly reward, she was patient under the trial.
*For she thought not of vile pleasures.

℟. The beloved of Christ, after enduring the horrors of a dungeon, and the torturing of her flesh,
*Is closed once more in a darksome prison.

℣. She ceases not to praise and glorify the name of the Lord.
*Is closed once more in a darksome prison.

℟. While the holy martyr was instant in prayer, a foul dragon appeared;
*And rushing upon her, he devoured her.

℣. With the sign of the cross she rent him asunder, and came forth again unhurt.
*And rushing upon her, he devoured her.

Antiphons

The executioners burn the limbs of the tender maiden: but making her prayer she feels nought of the flame.

A great vessel full of water is brought by the judge's command: and the virgin is cast in bound.

The Lord, who is worthy of praise in his mighty deeds, loosened the fetters of his handmaid, and delivered her from death.

At the sight of these wonders five thousand are baptized: the prefect in anger commands them all to be beheaded, and after them the unconquerable witness of Christ, blessing the God of gods for ever and ever.

Another account of St. Margaret of Antioch

[…]

According to the legendary Acts, S. Margaret, or Marina, was the daughter of a heathen priest, Edessius, of Antioch in Pisidia, and was brought up by her nurse, a Christian. When her father discovered that she had embraced the faith of Christ, he was filled with rage, and refused to receive her into his house, or even to see her. She was therefore obliged to live with her nurse, and keep sheep for her. But, unfortunately, Olybrius, the prefect of Pisidia, happened to see her, and becoming enamoured of her, enquired if she were free or a slave. If free he would marry her; if she were a slave he would buy her. She replied that she was free-born, but was a servant of Jesus Christ. Olybrius threw her into prison, when the devil appeared to her as a dragon, but could not frighten her. Olybrius tortured her in various ways, and finally she was decapitated. Such is the story in outline, cleared from the most outrageously fabulous incidents.

[…]

In Art S. Margaret is represented with a cross in her hand rising out of a dragon, sometimes with a dove upon her.

Taken from: The Liturgical Year - Time after Pentecost, Vol. IV, Dublin, Edition 1901;
The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Vol. VIII; and
The Divine Office for the use of the Laity, Volume II, 1806.

July 20, 2019: St. Jerome Emiliani, Confessor.

St. Margaret of Antioch, pray for us.