Saint of the Day — January 18 — Saint Margaret of Hungary

Saint Margaret’s story:

Margaret was born in Klis Fortress in the Kingdom of Croatia, the eighth and last daughter (9th of 10 children) of King Bela IV. Her aunt was St. Elizabeth of Hungary. The royal family had moved to this region of their kingdom during the Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1241. Her parents vowed that if Hungary was freed from the Mongols, they would give Margaret up to the religious life, and when she was four years old, her parents sent Margaret to the Dominican monastery at Veszprém. When she was 10 years old, she was sent to the Monastery of the Blessed Virgin, which her parents had founded on Nyulak Szigete near Buda. Today, this is called Margaret Island in her honor and is a part of Budapest.
This is where she spent the rest of her life. At the age of 12, she became a novice. Even though she was of royal blood, she refused any special treatment, and made efforts to do the work no one else wanted to do. Many attempts were made by her father to arrange a political marriage for her with King Ottokar II of Bohemia. Margaret resisted all of these attempts and took solemn vows when she was eighteen years old. She also received the Consecration of Virgins along with some other royals to prevent her father from forcing her into marriage and having her vows dispensed by the Pope.

Margaret practiced many forms of penance, including wearing an iron girdle, hairshirts, and shoes spiked with nails. She prayed continually and fasted extensively. She also performed the most menial and repulsive tasks in the monastery, and on behalf of the poor and sick. These severe mortifications ultimately brought about her early death on January 18, 1271. She was venerated as a saint shortly after her death, and her brother, King Stephen V championed the cause for her canonization. Between 1271 and 1276, investigations were conducted as part of the cause. Seventy-four miracles were attributed to her intercession; many of them involved curing illnesses. One person was even raised from the dead. Despite these reports and even first-hand testimony of those cured, her cause did not advance. Subsequent attempts to canonize her were again made in 1640 and 1770, but she was not officially canonized until Pope Pius XII proclaimed her a saint on November 19, 1943, which was the feast day of her aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary.