Blessed Margaret 2009

Feast of Blessed Margaret of Castello
June 09, 2009
Sto. Domingo Church, Quezon City

THE LIFE STORY OF BLESSED MARGARET OF CASTELLO:

BEATA MARGARITA DE CASTELLO
Blessed Margaret of Castello
1287 - 1320
Beatified in 1609 by Pope Paul V

Feast day: 13 April

Virgin and Third Order of Saint Dominic

Born in Metola on 1287, Margaret was born a dwarf, hunchback, lame and blind. She was kept hidden by her parents throughout her childhood.

When she was 16, she was taken from Metola to the miraculous shrine at Citta-di-Castello, where a cure was anticipated.

Unfortunately, no miracle occurred, and it is recorded that the child was left abandoned.

She was cared for by various poor families of the city and earned money for her board by attending to small children.

Her cheerfulness, based on trust and love of God, endeared her to everyone.

Finally, the family of our Father Dominic welcomed her into the Third Order with open arms.

She became, by her radiant charity, a source of hope and consolation for the poor, the outcast, the sick and the imprisoned, to whom she ministered tirelessly.

At last her heavenly Spouse called her to the eternal nuptials on 13 April 1320 at the age of 33.

After her death, more than two hundred miracles occurred in confirmation of her heroic sanctity.

The preliminary steps toward the cause of her beatification were undertaken by the Dominican Order, but at various times it languished, until it was almost forgotten.

During the sixteenth century, interest in her cause was rekindled after the discovery of her incorrupt and perfectly preserved body.

The exhumation was undertaken in the presence of a number of official witnesses who were awe stricken when the coffin was opened.

While the clothing on the body had crumbled to dust, the body itself was found perfectly preserved, as though Margaret had just died.

Her body measured only four feet long. Her head was rather large in proportion to the rest of the thin figure. The forehead was broad, with the face tapering to the chin. Her nose was quite prominent, and her small, even teeth were serrated at the edges. The witnesses noticed that the hands and feet were small, that the right leg was an inch and a half shorter than the left (which had caused her to walk with a limp).

The body was thoroughly examined by physicians, who declared that no chemicals had been used to preserve it.

On 9 June 1558, the bishop authorized the transfer of the Margarets remains to a new coffin.

Many miracles followed this ceremony, and the cause, which was undertaken with renewed interest, came to a successful conclusion on 19 October 1609, when the Church, lead by Pope Paul V officially recognized Margarets sanctity, pronouncing her a Blessed and designating 13 April as her feast day.

The body of Blessed Margaret so miserably deformed in life remained perfectly intact and incorrupt in death and lies under the High Altar of the Church of San Domenico at Citta-di-Castello, Italy.

CAMARERA: Blessed Margaret Movement

• Category

  Film & Animation

[Mike Edgar]

How boring. I see Catholics at mass every Sunday, I do not need to see them on Youtube. I came to learn about Blessed Margaret of Castello, not look at people and listen to music.

[TheAntonthegreat]

May I know does Santo Domingo also own that carozza?

[Phrygian Almeda]

Though I'lll be a Carmelite, still my love and devotion to Beata Margarita de Castelo won't vanish. =)

[metta108]

very nice video, and a beautiful image of Blessed Margaret. thank you~