Two important feast days are approaching this week. First, on Tuesday is the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and then on Saturday is the Feast Day of our Parish, St. Margaret of Antioch.
It was on July 16th 1251 that Saint Simon Stock, the head of the Carmelite order received from Our Blessed Lady the Brown Scapular. Most of us received the Brown Scapular in our First Holy Communion packages of rosary, missal and scapular.
In the twelfth century, hermits withdrew to Mt. Carmel where the prophet Elijah defended the purity of Israel's faith in the living God and saw clouds in the distance that would water the parched land of Israel. As those clouds brought relief and life to the land, Mary brought forth the Savior, the living water, whose Presence brings life and redemption.
Saturday, July 20th, we celebrate our patron Feast; it is a special day of grace for our parish. Try to attend Mass that day, either the 9:00AM or Noon.
St. Margaret of Antioch is also called St. Marina in the Eastern Church; also St. Pelagia of Antioch, when translated to Latin becomes “Margarita”, which means “pearl”. That is the reason; our Church in Pearl River became St. Margaret. The original name for our congregation was St. Agnes.
St. Margaret is one of the 14 Holy Helpers, a group of saints people invoked against sickness or calamities. St. Margaret appeared and spoke to St. Joan of Arc. The reason one of our stained glass windows in Church is that of St. Joan of Arc.
St. Margaret was one of the most venerated saints during the Crusades and the Middle Ages. There was a fervent devotion to her in England.
Her story begins during the reign (A.D. 284–305) of the Roman emperor Diocletian, Margaret refused marriage with the Roman prefect Olybrius at Antioch and was consequently beheaded after undergoing excessive trials and tortures. She is one of the patron saints of expectant mothers.
St. Margaret lived in Antioch and was born around the year A.D. 291. Her mother died at her birth. Her father Aedesius was a priest for pagan gods, and he gave her to a nurse to be kept. The nurse was a Christian; in time Margaret was baptized a Christian. Her father disowned her. Among her many jobs was a shepherdess. She was tending the flock and Olybrius caught sight of her beauty. He ordered her to appear before him. He proposed marriage, she refused, and then he found out she was a Christian. The next day, Olybrius ordered Margaret before him again. She refused to reject Christ, and the prefect warned her that she should pay homage to his gods on pain of having her beautiful flesh torn asunder. After many tortures, she was thrown into a prison cell. There in the cell she asked the Lord to reveal the fiend that fought with her, and then appeared Satan as a terrible dragon that attacked her. In some stories, the dragon swallows her whole, and inside the belly of the beast, she makes the sign of the cross, which caused the dragon to explode, expelling her. In other versions, the dragon seeks to devour her, but before he can swallow her, he is slain by the sign of the cross. In either case, Margaret overcomes the dragon with the cross that frees her body.
In the morning, still unrelenting in her faith, the prefect ordered her to be thrown into the fire and her body to be burned with brands. Thereafter, the tormenters moved her body to a large vessel filled with water, in order to extend the pain and suffering. In a moment, however, Margaret rose out of the water without injury. Thunder cracked across the air as a dove, from high in the sky, placed a golden crown on Margaret's head. Five thousand people, having seen such a sight, became believers; all five thousand were beheaded including Margaret. Her death is recorded as A.D. 306. St. Margaret’s symbols are the sword and the royal crown.
St. Margaret of Antioch, our patroness, through your intercession, renew and strengthen the faith of your parishioners.