Is a disability really a reason for abortion? Saint Margaret of Castello is proof that reality is totally far from that statement.
Her life of holiness is a great example for the pro-life movement!
Today, many people say that the birth of a child with a disability is a tragedy. Faced with the growing openness to abortion in cases of Down Syndrome or congenital diseases, the life of Saint Margaret is a light in the darkness.
Her Disability Did Not Stop Her From Reaching Heaven
Margaret was born around 1287 in a village in Metola (Italy) into a noble family.
Seeing that her little girl was blind and had deformities, her father decided to lock her in a cell built next to the castle church, so that no one else would see her.
According to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, when she was five years old, her parents took her to the church of San Francesco in Città di Castello, where they sought to achieve a miracle that would restore her sight.
Unfortunately, Margaret did not heal and her parents decided to abandon her in the city, where for a time the little girl begged until she was welcomed by the nuns of the small community of Santa Margherita.
The nuns decided to expel the little girl, who was saved by a couple of devout Christians, Grigia and Venturino.
Despite her blindness, the young woman dedicated herself to the Christian education of the family’s two children, and continually carried out works of charity, visiting prisoners and the sick.
Margaret attended daily Mass at the Church of Charity of the Friars Preachers and was part of the Dominican Mantellate, later called Secular Tertiaries of San Domenico, or the Third Order of Saint Dominic.
In addition, she dedicated herself to constant prayer, daily confession, frequent communion, and meditation on the mystery of the Incarnation, among other faith practices.
“The virtuous life of the Blessed is characterized above all by her trusting abandonment to Providence, as a joyful participation in the mystery of the cross, especially in her condition of disabled, rejected and marginalized. This loving conformity with Christ was accompanied by intense mystical experiences,” the Dicastery states.“Blessed Margaret is an example of an evangelical woman who matured an experience of a deep and fervent unitive life with the Lord. Her illness did not prevent her from living an exceptional and fruitful spiritual motherhood, which today continues to be a call to the importance of caring for others.”
Margaret died on April 13, 1320, in Città di Castello at age 33. Pope Paul V beatified her on Oct. 19, 1609, and Pope Francis canonized her on Sept. 19, 2021.
She is currently known as the patron saint of children with disabilities, unwanted children, and the pro-life movement.
