Sunday, April 13, 2008

Blessed Margaret of Castello - Patroness of the Unwanted

Blessed Margaret of Castello
Feast Day April 13th


For more pictures of Blessed Margaret of Castello, be sure to visit This site

It's a pretty safe bet that, had Blessed Margaret of Castello been conceived in the 1990's, we would never know about her. Why? Because her parents would have chosen prenatal diagnosis and aborted her.

Margaret's parents were members of the Italian nobility. Her father Parisio was Captain of the People, a totally fearless and highly capable soldier. He had captured the mountaintop castle of Metola and instantly became a national hero, along with the awards and pride such recognition brings. As a reward for his valor, Parisio was given the castle and its extensive estate to which he proudly brought his young bride Emilia. Parisio and Emilia enjoyed the adulation of the common people and the easy life of wealth.

Everything was going wonderfully for the upwardly mobile young couple, when these two "beautiful people" conceived their first child. Of course, their child would be a perfectly formed, perfectly behaved infant whom they could show off to friends, family, and neighbors. Since prenatal diagnosis did not exist in those days, the couple did not know that their first born daughter was a badly deformed dwarf until they laid eyes on her at birth...
Please visit Priests for Life for the rest of this article

7 comments:

Jean Heimann said...

Esther,

Thanks for posting on this dear saint - she is close to my heart. What great courage and faith she had to accept God's graces to rise above the horrific circumstances of her life and reach out to so many souls drawing them to Christ! I have read her biography and have seen the movie about on EWTN, but this post really hits the nail on the head when it comes to defending the handicapped and protecting them from abortion, which is so prevalent among the disabled in our society today.

I would love to visit her National Shrine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

EC Gefroh said...

Jean, she is dear to my heart too. I didn't know there was a movie on EWTN. I would like to see it.

Leticia said...

As the mother of a special needs child, I consider Blessed Margaret to be a patroness of our family. She didn't let rejection, even by those she loved and truste most to embitter her and poison her relationship with Our Lord.
Thanks for this post.

Padre Steve said...

I am a big fan of Blessed Margaret! I was going to post on her also but did not get the time! Thank you for remembering her! God bless! Padre Steve

EC Gefroh said...

So true Leticia.

YW Padre Steve!

Alexandra said...

Super post! I'll have to look for the EWTN movie. I had learned of this saint as a child, but rarely heard of her again. Thanks for leading me to rediscovering this wonderful saint.

EC Gefroh said...

YW Alexandra.