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Apocryphal 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, labor, and childbirth. She was one of the
saints who appeared to Saint Joan of Arc. One of the Fourteen Holy
Helpers.
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