There are Dominican saints we have all heard of, such as Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Martin de Porres, and Rose of Lima. And there are those we may never have heard of, like St. Francis Capillas, a Spanish Dominican friar and missionary, one of the martyrs of China. Then there are those whose names one might recognize but about whom one has not given much thought, such as Margaret of Castello, beatified in 1609 but only canonized in 2021 by Pope Francis. Her feast day is April 13.
One could see Margaret’s life as sad although she would see it as full of blessings. She was born in the late thirteenth century (1287), born blind along with other severe disabilities, an embarrassment for her parents who later abandoned her. Discovered by a kind woman and taken into the homes of poor families in Castello, Margaret became known for her holiness and kindness, for corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Many came to her seeking help and prayers. She became a lay Dominican. She died at the age of thirty-three and is considered a patron of the unwanted and disabled.
The Letter to the Hebrews says of Jesus that he learned obedience through what he suffered (5:8). It has been said that suffering and disappointments can make us either contemplatives or cynics. We can learn from what we suffer or be bitter. It can make us stronger and compassionate towards others or destroy us, depending on whether we reject or cooperate with the graces offered us. For Margaret, her disabilities and abandonment made her both compassionate and contemplative. She did not succumb to bitterness but was able to transform sorrow into joy and become a source of inspiration for those who feel unwanted.
Jesus, in offering consolation, said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28). Sometimes in life we experience a burden that humanly speaking seems impossible to bear, a cross too heavy to carry. That must certainly be what Margaret of Costello experienced. Yet God always gives us the grace to bear it. Margaret experienced that as well. She experienced both suffering and grace for what they are, the former an opportunity, the latter a gift.
Margaret was not only disfigured, blind, and an embarrassment to her parents, but abandoned and unwanted. This is why she has become important for us who are pro-life. Yet her life inspired many, brought relief to others, led to miracles, and an incorrupt body after her death. She gives witness to the biblical affirmation that we are all created as images of God, to be more like God (Genesis 1:26–27). For God, there is no such thing as an unwanted child. This Easter Season is a celebration of life, new life, risen life, life with Christ. In Christ, there is no “us” and “them.” As Jesus taught us during his last supper discourse with his disciples, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). Am I willing to follow Jesus’ example, to do as he asks?
As we remember Margaret’s love for those who took her in, for those in need and marginalized, and as we continue our celebration of the Easter season, let us do as Jesus has asked of us, let us put aside the rhetoric of hatred, prejudice, discrimination, and learn once again what it means to love one another, to follow Jesus’ example, and to give God thanks. Let us see in the poor, the handicapped, someone alien to us, an image of God.
Fr. Don Goergen, OP