St. Margaret of Cortona

Saint Margaret of Cortona (1247–1297) was an Italian penitent of the Third Order of St. Francis, known as the "Second Magdalene" for her dramatic conversion from a life of sin to one of profound holiness. ## 📜 Life Margaret was born in Laviano, a small town on the border of Tuscany and Umbria near Lake Trasimeno. When she was seven, her mother died, and two years later her father remarried a woman who showed little affection for her. Craving love and attention, Margaret ran away at seventeen with a young nobleman, bearing him a son but never receiving the commitment of marriage. She lived openly as his mistress for nine years, flaunting her wealth to those less fortunate. Her world shattered when her lover's faithful hound returned alone and led her to discover his murdered body in the forest. The shock transformed Margaret utterly. She returned all the jewels and property he had given her, took her young son, and sought reconciliation with her father. When her stepmother refused to receive her, Margaret heard an interior voice directing her to the Franciscan Friars at Cortona. Two pious women in Cortona took her in and introduced her to the Franciscans at the Church of San Francesco. For three years she struggled fiercely with temptations to return to her former life—her beauty, her vivacious spirit, everything drew her back toward the world. But she persevered through rigorous fasting and penance, living on bread and herbs, eventually being admitted to the Third Order of St. Francis. Her son later became a Franciscan friar himself. Margaret devoted herself entirely to serving the sick and poor of Cortona. She founded a hospital and established the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy to care for the destitute. Christ graced her with mystical visions and the ability to read souls—she could see both hidden sins and secret fears. Many sinners converted through her example and exhortations, including an infamous Ghibelline chief who spent the remainder of his life in penance at a Franciscan convent. In 1288, Margaret withdrew to a small cell near the ruined church of San Basilio above Cortona, which she had restored. She spent her final years there in prayer and penance, dying on February 22, 1297. ## ⚜️ Veneration Margaret's tomb immediately became a center of pilgrimage. Miracles multiplied—the dead brought back to life, the sick cured instantly, the maimed and paralyzed made whole. The bishops of Arezzo and Chiusi began documenting her virtues and miracles for canonization. Her body remains incorrupt to this day, more than seven centuries after her death, and has been known at times to exhale exquisite perfumes. In 1515, Pope Leo X visited her tomb and, kneeling before the urn, perceived the fragrance her body was exhaling. He approved her cultus and authorized the celebration of her feast in the Diocese of Cortona. Margaret was formally canonized in 1728 by Pope Benedict XIII. Her incorrupt body rests in a crystal urn above the high altar of the Basilica di Santa Margherita in Cortona, where pilgrims continue to seek her intercession. ## 🗓️ Feast Day **February 22** (though some sources still list it as May 16 due to historical calendar adjustments) ## 🛡️ Patronage Patron of the falsely accused, homeless people, the mentally ill, orphans, penitents, single mothers, and reformed prostitutes.