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During the month of March we will be focusing on the virtue of forgiveness. Forgiveness is pardoning those who offend you.
Blessed Margaret of Castello was born into a family of Italian nobility. However, she was also born blind, lame, and with a hunchback. Margaret's parents did not want others to find out about her because they were ashamed of her and thought she was unfit to be their daughter. When Margaret was seven, they locked her away in a cell next to the church so that she could hear Mass, but no one would be able to see her. It was here that a priest found her and discovered Margaret's intelligence. He taught her more about God and the Catholic faith.
When Margaret was about 16 years old, her parents took her to a distant shrine where people were sometimes miraculously cured. They left her in the church and told her to pray for a miracle. When they returned at the end of the day and saw she had not been healed, they abandoned her there and returned home. The church beggars found her and realizing what had happened, began to condemn her parents. When Margaret recovered from her shock of being left behind and realized what they were saying, she told them to stop. She would not allow anyone to speak poorly of her parents and said it was time she took care of herself.
The beggars soon recognized that Margaret was very holy, and they told her she should be a religious. Margaret became a Dominican sister. Rather than being bitter about her difficulties, she forgave those who had hurt her, lived joyfully with the sisters, cared for the sick, and visited those in prison. By God's grace, she even worked miracles. After she died, a crippled child was cured at the place of her burial. She was declared blessed in 1609.
During the month of March we will be focusing on the virtue of forgiveness. Forgiveness is pardoning those who offend you.
Blessed Margaret of Castello was born into a family of Italian nobility. However, she was also born blind, lame, and with a hunchback. Margaret's parents did not want others to find out about her because they were ashamed of her and thought she was unfit to be their daughter. When Margaret was seven, they locked her away in a cell next to the church so that she could hear Mass, but no one would be able to see her. It was here that a priest found her and discovered Margaret's intelligence. He taught her more about God and the Catholic faith.
When Margaret was about 16 years old, her parents took her to a distant shrine where people were sometimes miraculously cured. They left her in the church and told her to pray for a miracle. When they returned at the end of the day and saw she had not been healed, they abandoned her there and returned home. The church beggars found her and realizing what had happened, began to condemn her parents. When Margaret recovered from her shock of being left behind and realized what they were saying, she told them to stop. She would not allow anyone to speak poorly of her parents and said it was time she took care of herself.
The beggars soon recognized that Margaret was very holy, and they told her she should be a religious. Margaret became a Dominican sister. Rather than being bitter about her difficulties, she forgave those who had hurt her, lived joyfully with the sisters, cared for the sick, and visited those in prison. By God's grace, she even worked miracles. After she died, a crippled child was cured at the place of her burial. She was declared blessed in 1609.