ALVAREZ: The saint who transformed her suffering

A detail from Andrea di Bartolo’s late 14th‑century panel painting shows St. Margaret of Castello. St. Margaret is a patron saint for people with vision impairment and disabilities. The tempera‑and‑gold artwork, created circa 1394–98, is housed in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice. (Photo by Sailko, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
St. Margaret of Castello has long been honored as the model and patron for persons with disabilities. She was born blind, with severe curvature of the spine; her right leg was an inch and a half shorter than her left, and her left arm was malformed. 

St. Margaret’s parents kept her hidden away in their house in the Italian province of Umbria. She was 6 years old when the family traveled to a shrine at Castello, hoping for a miracle. When no miracle took place, St. Margaret’s mother and father abandoned her.

Women of Castello would find small Margaret and took care of her until they could arrange for her to be adopted. A local family invited Margaret to live with them; they treated her like their own daughter, with love and kindness. 

There was a convent near St. Margaret’s home, and the nuns became fond of her. When she was about 13 years old, she asked to be admitted. St. Margaret was extremely devout, and her zeal made the nuns self-conscious and angry. As a result, the superior of the convent asked St. Margaret to leave. She returned to her adoptive parents and, at age 15, joined the Third Order of St. Dominic, which allowed her to wear the habit and take the vows of a nun while living at home, where she felt loved and secure.

St. Margaret’s disabilities did not make her resentful; instead, she became one of the most compassionate people in Castello. She nursed the sick, consoled the dying and visited prisoners. St. Margaret said that in the sufferings of her neighbors, she saw the image of the suffering Christ. As for her own disabilities, she regarded them as a means to unite her pain with the pain Christ endured on the cross. Her courage, her patience and her deep religious devotion won her the fondness of everyone in Castello.

St. Margaret died at 33, but she continues to be associated with miracles of healing. 

Knowing that our Divine Physician is at work through persons, sometimes overlooked. May we pray with humility and trust, seeking Christ’s instruments for our healing, and may we actively engage with the sacramental life of the Church and support one another.

“The Church’s solicitude for persons with disabilities springs from God’s way of acting. Following the principle of the incarnation of the Son of God, who makes himself present in every human situation, the Church recognizes in persons with disabilities the call to faith and to a life that is good and full of meaning. Communities are called not only to take care of the most fragile, but to recognize the presence of Jesus who in a special way manifests himself in them. 

“This calls for twofold attention: an awareness of the possibility to educate in the faith the people with even grave or very grave disabilities; and a willingness to consider them as active subjects in the community in which they live.” (Directory for Catechesis, 269)

Do you need support and want to learn more about Disability and Mental Health Ministry? Join us for our next workshop opportunity as we collaborate with The National Catholic Partnership on Disability NCPD for a two-day training. March 13: Mental Health Ministry and Parish Life, and March 14: Disability Ministry and Parish Life.

Sign up for one day or both at no cost. Registration is required, and lunch will be provided. Open to clergy, parish and diocesan staff, and ministry volunteers. For more information, visit www.archgh.org/mpd. 

Melissa Alvarez is an associate director with the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis - Ministry for Persons with Disabilities.