Also known as Marina, Margaritha, Marine ,Margaretha , Margarite

Memorial 20 July 13 July in the Eastern Church

Profile Aprocryphal virgin and martyr. Her father was a pagan priest in Pisidian Antioch, Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Her mother died when Margaret was an infant, and the child was raised by a Christian woman. Her father disowned her, her nurse adopted her, and Margaret converted, consecrated herself and her virginity to God. A Roman prefect saw the beautiful young woman tending sheep, and tried to get her into his bed. When she refused, he denounced her as a Christian, and she was brought to trial. When she refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods, the authorities tried to burn her, then boil her in a large cauldron; each time her prayers kept her unharmed. She was finally martyred by beheading. Part of her story involves her meeting the devil in the form of a dragon, being swallowed by the dragon, and then escaping safely when the cross she carried irritated the dragon's innards; this accounts for this virgin's association with pregnancy, labour, and childbirth. She was one of the saints who appeared to Saint Joan of Arc.

One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

Born Antioch

Died beheaded relics claimed by several locations

Patronage against sterility, childbirth ,dying people, escape from devils, exiles, expectant mothers, falsely accused people, kidney disease, loss of milk by nursing mothers, Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, martyrs, nurses, peasants, people in exile ,pregnant women ,Queens College Cambridge Rixtel, Nederlands ,safe childbirth, Sannat, Gozo, Malta ,women ,women in labour

Representation dragon ,shepherdess ,woman carrying a small cross in her hand ,woman carrying a small girdle in her hand, woman leading a chained dragon ,woman standing next to a cauldron or large vessel ,woman standing with, on, or beside a dead dragon

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