البارّة مرغريتا التائبة

[walaa farouk]

البارّة مرغريتا التائبة/24 شباط



إيطاليّة، ماتت أمّها فتزّوج أبوها ثانية،
ولم تكن خالتها تحسن معاملتها. ولفقرها وجمالها الرَّائع
وقعت بيد رجل غني تعشَّقها. باذلاً لها المال لكي تعيش بالبذخ
وتبقى منصاعة له. ثم قُتِلَ عاشقُها
ولمّا رأته صريعًا تأثرت جدّاً ومسَّت النعمة قلبها
، فمقتت سيرتها الرديئة واعتزمت التوبة حياتها كلّها.
وأسرعت إلى دير مار فرنسيس فاعترفت بخطاياها
وقُبلت راهبةً ثالثية.
إنصرفت إلى مُمارسة جميع الفضائل والتقشّفات البالغة
حد القساوة والغرابة، وكانت تتناول القُربان المقدّس الذي جعلت فيه كلّ مسرتها ولذّتها. وبذلك كانت تنتصر على جميع التجارب التي يثيرها عليها إبليس.
ولم يكن أحبّ إليها من مساعدة الفقراء، تحسن إليهم بما توفّره من أجرة شغلها، وقد تناهت بفضيلة التواضع والتوبة الصّارمة بنوع غريب
. فإنها وضعت يوماً حبلاً في عنقها، كما فعلت قبلاً
، وأخذت تطوف في المدينة تصحبها امرأة تصيح قائلة:
هذه هي مرغريتا التي أهلكت نفوسًا كثيرة. كلّ ذلك تكفيرًا عن ذنوبها.
فقبل الله توبتها ومنحها صنع آيات عديدة.
وكثيرون تابوا وتقدّسوا على يدها. ثم رقدت بالرّبّ سنة 1297.
وجاء في السنكسار الرّوماني أنّ جسدها بقي سالمًا
أكثر من أربعة أجيال تصدر عنه مُعجزات باهرة. صلاتُها معنا. آمين.

Margaret of Cortona, penitent, was born in Loviana in Tuscany in 1247. Her father was a small farmer. Margaret's mother died when she was seven years old. Her stepmother had little care for her high-spirited daughter. Rejected at home, Margaret eloped with a youth from Montepulciano and bore him a son out of wedlock. After nine years, her lover was murdered without warning. Margaret left Montpulciano and returned as a penitent to her father's house. When her father refused to accept her and her son, she went to the Friars Minor at Cortona where she received asylum. Yet Maragaret had difficulty overcoming temptations of the flesh. One Sunday she returned to Loviana with a cord around her neck. At Mass, she asked pardon for her past scandal. She attempted to mutilate her face, but was restrained by Friar Giunta. Margaret earned a living by nursing sick ladies. Later she gave this up to serve the sick poor without recompense, subsisting only on alms. Evenually, she joined the Third Order of St. Francis, and her son also joined the Franciscans a few years later. Margaret advanced rapidly in prayer and was said to be in direct contact with Jesus, as exemplified by frequent ecstacies. Friar Giunta recorded some of the messages she received from God. Not all related to herself, and she courageously presented messages to others. In 1286, Margaret was granted a charter allowing her to work for the sick poor on a permanent basis. Others joined with personal help, and some with financial assistance. Margaret formed her group into tertiaries, and later they were given special status as a congregation which was called The Poverelle ("Poor Ones"). She also founded a hospital at Cortona and the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy. Some in Cortona turned on Margaret, even accusing her of illicit relations with Friar Giunta. All the while, Margaret continued to preach against vice and many, through her, returned to the sacraments. She also showed extraordinary love for the mysteries of the Eucharist and the Passion of Jesus Christ. Divinely warned of the day and hour of her death, she died on February 22, 1297, having spent twenty-nine years performing acts of penance. She was canonized in 1728.

[Ramez5]

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