Commontide
Proper 11
Liturgical Color: Red
The 5th Sunday after Trinity
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Virgin and Martyr
Ecumenical Commemoration
Margaret of Antioch, known in the East as Marina, was one of the best-loved virgin-martyrs of the Middle Ages, famous for the legend that she was swallowed by a dragon and burst out unharmed by the power of the cross. Her acts are legendary rather than historical, but her cult was ancient and immense, she was one of the heavenly voices Joan of Arc claimed to hear, and she is still invoked as a protector of women in childbirth.
Margaret of Antioch appears first in sources from the 9th century onward, with no mention in any patristic or early medieval source. The earliest reference is in a Byzantine list of martyrs compiled centuries after the alleged date of her martyrdom. The Acta Sanctae Margaretae (Acts of Saint Margaret), the primary narrative source, is a medieval composition with no claim to documentary foundation or eyewitness authority.
According to the Acta, Margaret was the daughter of a pagan priest at Antioch. She converted to Christianity and took vows of virginity. When a pagan official became enamored of her and sought to force her to marry him, she refused. Under interrogation and torture, she remained steadfast in her faith and was eventually executed. The Acta adds that during her ordeal in prison, she encountered a dragon (or demon) that attempted to devour her, but she made the sign of the cross, and the creature burst asunder.
No patristic source mentions Margaret. She does not appear in Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, which details the persecutions of her alleged era. She is absent from Jerome's De Viris Illustribus and from the Depositio Martyrum. The silence of all early sources is significant and suggests she may not be a historical figure at all, but rather a legendary saint whose cult arose in the medieval period.
Traditionally, Margaret is portrayed as a beautiful young virgin of high birth, devoted to Christianity. She resisted marriage proposals and refused to abandon her faith despite torture and threats. According to the most famous legend, a demon or dragon attempted to devour her, but she made the sign of the cross, and the creature split open, releasing her unharmed. She is typically shown standing on or over a dragon, often with a cross in hand. Medieval art frequently depicts her as a graceful figure in elegant dress, sometimes holding a chain attached to the dragon.