Saint Margaret of England

Who was Saint Margaret of England?

Saint Margaret of England, O.Cist., was born in Hungary to an Englishwoman who was related to St. Thomas Beckett, the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury.

When she was grown, Margaret took her mother with her on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and they then settled in Bethlehem, where they lived austere lives of penance. Her mother died there in the Holy Land. After that Margaret made pilgrimages to the Virgin of Montserrat in Spain, and then to Our Lady of Le Puy in Le Puy-en-Velay, in the Auvergne region of France.

She then became a Cistercian nun at the Abbey of Sauvebénite near Le Puy, where she died. Miracles were reported at her tomb and it became a pilgrimage site. Margaret's feast day is observed on 3 February.