Margaret of Castello

Blessed Margaret of Castello (1287–1320) is an Italian Roman Catholic Church patron of the poor, crippled, and the unwanted. She was born blind, lame, deformed, hunchbacked and a dwarf, into a family of nobles in the castle of Metola, in southeast of Florence. As a child, her parents Parisio and Emilia imprisoned her for 14 years so no one would see her, though she could attend Mass and receive the sacraments. Her parents took her to the tomb of a holy man named Fra Giacomo, where miracles were reportedly being wrought, at Citta di Castello to pray for a cure for her birth defects. When no miracle happened, they abandoned her. She lived in prayer and charity, helping the poor. When she died at the age of 33, crowds at her funeral demanded she be buried inside the church. After a crippled girl was miraculously cured at the funeral, the priest allowed Margaret's burial inside.

In 1558, Margaret's remains were transferred because her coffin was rotten. Her clothes were also rotten, but her body was preserved. She was beatified on October 19, 1609 by Pope Paul V. Her canonization is pending.

Sources

• Patron Saint Index
• Saints Alive biography

Persondata
Name	Margaret of Castello
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1287
Place of birth
Date of death	1320
Place of death