Blessed Margaret of Citta-di-Castello, Virgin
It must have been about the year 1293 when some women of Citta-di-Castello in Umbria, who had gone one day to pray in their parish church, found within, a destitute blind child of about six or seven, who had been abandoned there by her parents. The kind souls were filled with pity for the little waif, and, poor though they were, they took charge of her - first one family and then another, sheltering and feeding her until she became practically the adopted child of the village. One and all declared that, far from being a burden, little Margaret brought a blessing upon those who befriended her. Some years later, the nuns of a local convent offered her a home. The girl rejoiced at the prospect of living with religious, but her joy was short-lived. The community was lax and worldly; Margaret's fervor was a tacit reproach to them, nor did she bring them the profit they had anticipated. Neglect was succeeded by petty persecution, and then by active calumny. Finally she was driven forth ignominiously to face the world once more.
However, her old friends rallied around her. One couple offered her a settled home, which became her permanent residence. At the age of fifteen, Margaret received the habit of a tertiary from the Dominican fathers, who had lately established themselves in Citta-di-Castello, and thence forth, she lived a life entirely devoted to God. More than ever did God's benediction rest upon her. She cured another tertiary of an affliction of the eyes which had baffled medical skill, and her mantle extinguished a fire which had broken out in her foster parents' house. In her desire to show her gratitude to the people of Citta-di-Castello, she undertook to look after the children while their parents were at work. Her little school prospered wonderfully, for she understood children, being very simple herself. She set them little tasks which she helped them to perform; she instructed them in their duty to God and to man, instilling into them her own great devotion to the sacred Childhood, and she taught them the psalms which, inspite of her blindness, she had learned by heart at the convent. We are told that when at prayer she was frequently raised a foot or more from the ground, remaining thus for a long time. Thus she lived, practically unknown outside her own neighborhood, until the age of thirty-three, when she died amidst the friends who loved her, and was buried by their wish in the parish church, where many remarkable miracles took place. The cult of Blessed Margaret was confirmed in 1609.
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Saint Margaret of Città di Castello (1287 – 12 April 1320) was an Italian Roman Catholic and professed member from the Third Order of Saint Dominic. Margaret had disabilities and became known for her deep faith and holiness. Her parents abandoned her in a local church due to her disabilities and the town's poor took her in and assumed care for her. Nuns later offered her a home at their convent but soon came to detest her presence and cast her out prompting the town's poor to once again take her in and care for her. But she met with Dominican friars and was accepted as a secular member in their third order; she started a school for children to teach them in the faith and often took care of children while their parents were out at work.
Margaret's holiness was apparent to all in her life that people lobbied for her to be buried in the local church which was an honor reserved for few - this was a clear demonstration people believed in her holiness. Her beatification received approval from Pope Paul V on 19 October 1609. Pope Francis later declared her a saint through equipollent canonization on 24 April 2021.
Life
Margaret della Metola was born in Perugia in 1287 to the nobles Parisio and Emilia in the Metola Castle near Mercatello sul Metauro. Her father served at the garrison at the castle.
Metola was born blind with a severe curvature of the spine and had difficulties in walking; she was also a dwarf. Though her parents (who were embarrassed of her and their pride hurt) hid her from all, a kind maid found her and gave her the name Margaret (derived from the Greek word "margaron", meaning "pearl"). When she was almost publicly discovered at age six, her parents imprisoned her for about a decade in a room attached to their residence's chapel, to ensure no one would see her, although she could attend Mass and receive the sacraments. Her parents’ chaplain instructed her in the faith. Once she was locked up, her father ordered a mason to seal the door since it was his intention to keep her there until she died.
But soon there was an imminent threat of invasion at the castle, so Parisio ordered his wife to place a dark veil upon their daughter so the two could flee to his other castle at Mercatello. There she was again imprisoned in a vault-like cubicle containing nothing more than an old small bench. There were some who knew of Margaret and were furious at her treatment, though they never dared broach the subject with the sometimes temper-prone Parisio. Her mother soon suggested taking her to a church where miracles were said to occur. Emilia was timid asking her husband but was surprised to see that he showed a keen interest.
In 1303 her parents took her one morning to a shrine in the Franciscan church in Castello - where miracles were said to be being wrought - to come hoping for a cure for Metola's birth defects. When no such miracle happened, her parents abandoned her there. But she never came to resent or be bitter over her parent's decision. Some women came to the church to notice her there. The town's poor took her in as one of their own and she was passed to several poor families who helped prisoners and other poor people. Metola was soon granted safe haven in a local convent. Their lax manner of life, though, soon conflicted with her intense faith and she was expelled from the convent since her fervor was a tacit reproach to the nuns who came to detest her presence. It was after this that she took up residence in the town where the townsfolk resumed caring for her. To thank them for their kindness, she opened a small school for the children of the town where she instructed them in the faith and the psalms, which she had learnt during her time with the nuns. Metola also looked after the town's children when their parents went to work.
In 1303 she came to know the friars from the Dominicans who had become established in the town not long before. Margaret came under their spiritual guidance and was admitted to the local chapter of the Third Order of Saint Dominic; she received the religious habit of the order. Metola wore this habit for the rest of her life.
Metola died on 12 April 1320 and the crowds at her funeral demanded that she be buried inside the church against the resistance of the parish priest. But after a disabled girl was cured at the funeral he allowed for Metola's burial inside.
Relic at Saint Patrick's Church - a parish which houses a shrine to her.
Sainthood
Her remains were transferred on 9 June 1558 because her coffin was rotten. Her clothes were also rotten but her remains were preserved. The local bishop ordered for a new casket to be made to house her remains, though he decided to inspect her remains for the beatification cause which had been started. Metola measured four feet long and her head was rather large in proportion to her thin figure. Her forehead was broad with a face tapering to the chin with a quite prominent nose. Her teeth were small and even and were serrated at the edges. Her hands and feet were small with her right leg an inch and a half shorter than the left (the cause for her limp).
Her "cultus" (or longstanding veneration) was recognized allowing Pope Paul V to confer equivalent beatification for her on 19 October 1609. Pope Clement X extended the privilege of a Mass and Divine Office in her name to the entire Dominican order on 6 April 1675 rather than for the Perugian branch as Paul V had done at her beatification. In 1988 the Urbino archbishop, Ugo Donato Bianchi, named her as a patron for the blind. Pope Francis declared her a saint through equipollent canonization on 24 April 2021.
