ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST
Saints celebrated on the 27th of August
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BLESSED MARGARET OF THE PALATINATE, WIDOW
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| Bl. Margaret and her husband |
Margaret (Margarita, Margarete von der Pfalz) is remembered on August 27 and November 2. She was a daughter of Elector Rupert III of the Palatinate and Elisabeth, daughter of Burgrave Frederick of Nuremberg. [Born in 1376], she had six brothers and two sisters, of whom she was the second-born. We know little of her youth. More out of weakness and compliance with custom than out of love of vanity, it is said, she for a time embraced the splendour of dress customary at the time.
When she turned twenty, Duke Charles II of Lorraine asked her to marry him. This marriage was not a happy one, for Charles II was very much given to laziness and sensuality. Nevertheless, she loved him and prayed for his salvation. When in 1407 the Marshal of Duke Louis of Orleans and his allies invaded the country, it was she who twice secured victory for him through her prayers: The enemies openly admitted that the pious Duchess had appeared to them in battle and had paralyzed all their strength with her flaming gaze.
As she herself clarified, she had not prayed for the defeat of the enemy, but only for the welfare of the Duke in general, leaving everything to the divine will. Indeed, through the sufferings God sent her, through prayer and contemplation, she had, in a short time, advanced so far in following her heavenly Bridegroom that it seemed as if the Duchess had come to Lorraine on an apostolic mission.
Her confessor, Adolf, a Carthusian, reported: "With amazement and shame I saw how the Duchess, accompanied by a faithful servant, went to the hospitals, touching the most revolting ulcers of the poor with her hands, cleansing the neglected of their pus and vermin, bandaging the most disgusting injuries and wounds, washing the feet of the poor and drying them not with cloth or linen, but with her hair." He also tells of miraculous healings, as well as of the great trust with which the sick and those suffering from the plague came to the Duchess from all places and waited until she came out of the church, where she blessed them, and healed them.
"There were only three kinds of sick people," the confessor added, "that she could not heal: those who lacked faith, those who placed their trust in human art, and those who lived in grave sin without a serious desire to improve." The Duchess's daily life was a model for all Christian women. In the morning, she stayed in church as long as possible. Then she went about her daily business.
She had two sons, Ludwig and Rudolf, who died at a tender age, and two daughters, Isabella and Catharina, whom she raised in the fear of God.
Margaret was never idle and did not tolerate sloth from her daughters. She ate little of the food that was served at the ducal table. She preferred the lesser fare of the servants.
When the Duke was absent, she liked to wear a penitential robe. On Sundays and feast days, she always received the Body of the Lord with deep devotion. Once, something truly miraculous happened, as related by her confessor:
The Duchess was kneeling before the altar. The priest turned to offer her the Body of the Lord and recited the prayers. Suddenly, he saw the Duchess's otherwise pale face bathed in heavenly radiance.
He had placed the host on the paten and was quite startled by the sight of her otherworldly glow. When he recovered from his shock, he wanted to offer the Duchess Holy Communion. But he could no longer find the host! He thought he had dropped it and looked around for it. Now the Duchess indicated to him by inclining her head that she had already received the Body of the Lord. The Lord had given Himself to the pious soul without the intervention of his servant!
In later years, she was often transported in spirit after receiving the angelic food.
Margaret's greatest cross was the constant sight of her husband's sinful and revolting behaviour. Despite all her love, patience, and devotion, she could not win him over; she saw herself merely tolerated at court, as her husband's heart was possessed by his concubines. Thus, her life, in complete abandonment and contempt by her husband, was a continuous torment. For this, she was generally considered a saint. As a result of his debauchery, her husband died on January 25, 1431.
Even during his lifetime, she had resolved that if she outlived him, she would dedicate her widowhood entirely to her heavenly Bridegroom, Christ the Lord, to serve Him in the poor, the sick, the miserable, and the stranger, and to continue in this service until the end of her life, following the example of Saint Elizabeth .
She founded two hospitals, one at her widow's residence in Sierk, the other in Einville. She ran the former herself. She was in constant fear of forfeiting her heavenly crown and made every effort to preserve her soul in holy humility and trust in the mercy of Jesus.
Thus she died in her hospital in Sierk, piously and blessedly as she had lived, on August 27, 1434 (not 1439), in the 61st year of her life. Her body was brought to Nancy and buried in the ducal family crypt. Many miracles occurred at her grave, and after her death, the faithful called her the miraculous duchess. Raderus* and Guerin* list her as "Blessed Margaret," as does Jocham* (Bav. pp. II. 309 to 323). November 2 is her feast day according to the Elenchus*.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875, pp. 151-152)
*A hagiography source used by the authors
Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations
PRAYER:
Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Blessed Margaret may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org
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