- Saint Margaret of Cortona (1247 - 1297)
Today is the feast day of Saint Margaret of Cortona and Saint Simon Stock. Margaret was born in 1247 in Laviano, Italy. Her mother died when she was seven years old, and because life was so difficult with her stepmother, Margaret decided to move out. For nine years she lived with Arsenio, though they were not married, and she bore him a son. One day, she was waiting for Arsenio and was instead met by his dog. The dog led Margaret into the forest where Arsenio had been murdered. Seeing this shocked Margaret into a life of penance. She and her son then returned to Lavaino, but were not well-received by Margaret's stepmother. They then went to Cortona, where Margaret's son became a friar. In 1277, three years after her conversion, Margaret became a Franciscan tertiary. She pursued a life of prayer and penance under the direction of her confessor at Cortona. She was very zealous in her self-denial, and was wholly devoted to the Eucharist and to the Passion of Jesus. These devotions fueled her great charity and drew many sinners to her for advice and inspiration. She died in 1297, and was canonized in 1728.
Simon Stock lived around the thirteenth century in England. Little is known about Simon's early life, but there is a legend that says that the name "Stock", which means "tree trunk", derives from the fact that, beginning at the age of twelve, Simon lived as a hermit in a hollow tree trunk of an oak tree. It is also believed that he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land while he was still a young man, and there he joined a group of Carmelites with whom he later returned to Europe. Simon founded many Carmelite communities, especially in the University towns such as Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, and Bologna. He also helped change the Carmelites from a hermit order to a mendicant order. In 1245, Simon was elected Superior-General of the Carmelite Order in London. On July 16, 1251, in Cambridge, England, at the time when the Carmelite Order was being oppressed, he had a vision of the Virgin Mary in which she was holding the brown scapular in one hand. She said to Simon, "Receive, my beloved son, this scapular of thy Order; it is a special sign of my favor, which I have obtained for thee and for thy children of Mount Carmel. He who dies clothed with this habit shall be preserved from eternal fire. It is a badge of salvation, a shield in the time of danger, and a pledge of special peace and protection." Simon cured several sick people by giving them the scapular. On July 16, 1265, Simon died in Bordeaux, France. Today, the brown scapular is the best known of all the eighteen different kinds of scapulars of the Catholic Church.
Saint Margaret of Cortona and Saint Simon Stock, pray for us!
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Picture Of And Information About Saint Margaret and Saint Simon Taken From:
http://www.margaretsrosaries.com/st%20margaret%20prayers.htm
http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/saint-simon-stock-and-the-scapular-of-our-lady-of-mount-carmel/
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1385
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=746
http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/SIMONSTO.HTM
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