Cortona, Tuscany-Town of Saint Margaret
Posted By Mary Freeland on April 6, 2010
This town represents everything that is Tuscan. Some of the of the existing walls in Cortona,Tuscany were built by the Etruscans (where the name Tuscany comes from). You can find that bit of history here. There is also Fra Angelico’s masterpiece, “Annunciation,” housed in the Museo Diocesano. We also have repentant Saint Margaret.
Saint Margaret is the patron saint of many. She is considered the saint of the wrongly accused, penitents, single mothers, reformed prostitutes, and tramps. Because she vowed to help the less fortunate, she is also the saint of the homeless, the mentally ill, and orphans.
Margaret’s story reminded me of the fairy tale Cinderella. Her mother died when she was seven. When her father remarried, his wife was not happy about having such a high-spirited stepdaughter. Margaret was determined to make the best of a bad situation. Her beauty attracted attention from the young men in town so she enjoyed their company as the bright spot in her difficult home life. Deep inside though, she felt that there had to be more to life than this.
By chance, the seventeen year old Margaret met Arsenio, the son of Gugliemo di Pecora, lord of Valiano (the English translation is villain). She accompanied him to his home to live with him and be his maid. She was anxious to leave her stepmother’s control so she didn’t care how it looked to others. As you can guess, Margaret became pregnant with the knight’s child and he did not want to marry her. She was content to raise her son in his home in Montepulciano where they would be provided for.
One day the knight went on a trip and did not return. Margaret became upset when his dog returned without him. The dog led her into the woods and to the knight. He had been brutally murdered. Some say that Margaret felt her beauty and the desire of other men to have her caused them to kill the knight. Whatever the reason, Margaret abandoned the life she had known in his house. She and her son went back to her father’s home but her stepmother denied her a place to live there since she had a child out of wedlock.
Margaret sought refuge with the Franciscan Friars at Cortona, Tuscany. She begged for the chance to repent and they agreed although it was not pleasant for her. To prove her sincerity, she wore a hair shirt and fasted. When she finally ate, she abstained from meat and only ate bread and vegetables. Her penance lasted three years until Fra Giunta became her confessor and decided it was enough. Margaret received a miracle one day as she prayer below a crucifix. Accounts say Jesus spoke to her saying “What do you wish, poverella (little poor one)?,” she replied she wanted only to serve him. This began her communications with God.
This event moved her to start a hospital for the sick, poor, and homeless. She also brought together a group of nuns known as “le poverella.” To support the work of the hospital, she founded the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy.
When Margaret got older, she craved peace and quiet. She had the Church of Saint Basil repaired and moved there. When Margaret died in 1297, the people of Cortona named the church Chiesa di Santa Marghreita and started rebuilding it. When you see it today, most of the work is nineteenth century. Her body is enshrined there in an open tomb above the high altar. In 1728, she was canonized as the Patroness of Fallen Women.
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