From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   July 20th - St. Margaret (Marina) of Antioch   
   Died c. 304   
      
   . Margaret's cultus began in the East and spread to France, England, and   
   Germany, becoming one of the most popular virgin-martyrs of the Middle Ages.   
   She   
   is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (honored as a group on August 8), who   
   were   
   venerated for their efficacious intercessory power. Promises Margaret   
   supposedly   
   made about her powers of intercession contributed to her popularity.   
   Margaret is   
   said to have been a maiden of Antioch, Pisidia, martyred under Diocletian.   
   This   
   much is probably true; everything else related in her acta is a forgery   
   composed   
   by Theotimus, who claimed to have been Margaret's servant. Story takes place   
   under Diocletian, but doesn't appear until the 10th century.   
      
   According to her acta, she was the daughter of a pagan priest of Antioch and   
   was   
   nursed by a Christian woman. She became a Christian and was consequently   
   driven   
   from home by her father. She lived with her nurse and became a shepherdess.   
      
   Margaret was admired by the prefect Olybrius, who wanted her either as a   
   wife or   
   a mistress, but she resisted him. He vindictively called her before his   
   tribunal   
   and accused her of being a Christian. She was tortured and thrown into   
   prison.   
   There the devil appeared to her in the form of a dragon and swallowed her,   
   but   
   she held a cross, which irritated his stomach, causing it to burst, and thus   
   was   
   freed. She confronted another demon and overcame it.   
      
   The next day attempts were made to kill her by fire and water, but they   
   failed.   
   Thousands of spectators were converted during these attempts, and they in   
   turn,   
   were executed. She was finally killed by beheading. Her executioner fell   
   dead at   
   her feet after killing her, a reward for not wishing to carry out his task,   
   for   
   in this way he could join her in heaven. Her body was taken by Theotimus and   
   buried by a noble widow.   
      
   Margaret's voice was one of those heard by Saint Joan of Arc. Her alleged   
   relics   
   were stolen from Antioch in 980, brought to San Pietro della Valle, and were   
   translated to Montefiascone in 1145. Some of her relics were translated to   
   Venice in 1213, and many others are claimed throughout Europe (Attwater,   
   Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Sheppard, White).   
      
   In art, Saint Margaret carries a small cross and has a dragon on lead   
   (Sheppard), or trampling or standing on a dragon, or emerging from its   
   mouth, or   
   piercing it with a cross-tipped spear (White). She is invoked against kidney   
   disease, by pregnant women (Sheppard) (probably because she was swallowed by   
   a   
   dragon and delivered whole and because she is reputed to have promised that   
   women who invoked her during childbirth would have safe deliveries), and of   
   death (she is reputed to have promised that whoever invoked her as they were   
   dying would escape the devil) (White). In East known as Saint Marina   
   (Sheppard).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Let my soul spend itself in Your praise, rejoicing for love.   
   -Thomas a Kempis   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   I am coming again, and I will take you to Myself; that where I am, there you   
   also may be.  (John 14:3)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SOULS   
   FROM THE PURGATORIAN MANUAL   
    (Imprimatur 1946)   
      
   Ninth Day   
      
   PAIN OF FIRE IN PURGATORY   
      
        The Church has given no decision regarding the word "fire" in relation   
   to   
   Purgatory; but according to Theologians and Doctors of the Church, we are to   
   understand a material fire. Concerning this, Bishop Colmar of Mayence, a   
   great   
   friend of the holy souls, writes: "Besides being deprived of the vision of   
   God,   
   the souls in Purgatory must also endure the tortures of a fire, the effects   
   of   
   which are so much more painful, as it is an instrument in the avenging hand   
   of   
   God; a fire, as St. Augustine says, in comparison to which our material fire   
   is   
   as nothing; a fire that entirely penetrates the soul, in whatever manner   
   this   
   may be accomplished.   
      
        How, and to what extent this is done, we know not, but may draw our   
   conclusion from similar instances. "In like manner," says St. Gregory the   
   Great,   
   "as the fallen angels, although pure spirits, are tormented by the material   
   fire   
   of hell, so may a similar fire torture the souls of the departed in   
   Purgatory."   
   The justice of God can punish a spirit by means of a material substance, as   
   well   
   as He can, in His omnipotence, give life to a body by the agency of a   
   spirit.   
   According to the holy Fathers, the fire of Purgatory does not differ from   
   the   
   fire of hell, excepting in point of duration. "It is the same fire," says   
   St.   
   Thomas, "that torments the reprobate in hell, and the just in Purgatory. The   
   least pain in Purgatory," he adds, "surpasses the greatest sufferings of   
   this   
   life." Nothing but eternal duration makes the fire of hell more terrible   
   than   
   that of Purgatory.   
      
   Prayer: Refresh, O Lord, the suffering souls in Purgatory, with the dew of   
   Thy   
   grace, that their pains may be relieved, and, in Thy mercy, hasten the   
   moment of   
   their deliverance, that they may meet Thee in Heaven, where no fire but that   
   of   
   Thy holy love shall consume them. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   
      
   Special Intercession: Pray for all the souls in Purgatory, particularly for   
   those who are forgotten by their relatives.   
      
   Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon   
   them;   
   may they rest in peace. Amen. (Three times)   
      
   Practice: Endeavor to spread the devotion for the holy souls in Purgatory as   
   much as possible.   
      
   Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!   
      
   See entire 31day prayer at:   
   http://www.faithfuldeparted.net/prayers.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)