Today, June 20, is the memorial of Blessed Margaret Ebner.
Margaret was born in 1291 in Donauworth, Germany. She came from a wealthy family that ensured she was educated properly at home. Around 1305, she joined the Dominican nuns.
She dedicated herself to a life of penance and mortification. Most of her life she suffered from a serious illness, which led her to a deeper relationship with God. Her ascent to the heights of the spiritual life were marked by visions of Jesus, revelations, and prophecies.
At some point in her life she became the spiritual student of Fr. Heinrich of Nordlingen. Their spiritual correspondence was fortunately preserved, and it became the first collection of its kind in German. It has Fr. Henry who commanded her to write in detail her mystical experiences.
Margaret died of natural causes in 1351.
She was beatified in 1979 by St. John Paul II, the first beatification of his pontificate.