Margaret the Virgin

Margaret of Antioch is said to have been executed in the 4th century after refusing a Roman official's demand that she renounce her faith and surrender her virginity. The tortures and beheading that followed became the scaffold for a cult that spread with unusual speed. Her legend carried a promise: powerful indulgences for those who wrote, read, or invoked her name. That clause alone may explain why her story multiplied across manuscripts and why she was eventually named one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in Catholic tradition. She is venerated on different dates depending on the rite: 20 July…