Today, January 18, is the memorial of Saint Margaret of Hungary.
Margaret, born in 1242 in Croatia, was the daughter of King Bela IV and Queen Maria. On her father’s side, Margaret was the niece of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
She was born around the time of the Mongol Invasion of Hungary. King Bela and Queen Maria promised that if Hungary was freed, they would dedicate her to God. Thus, the child Margaret was entrusted to a Dominican monastery. She was moved to another monastery when she spent the rest of her life. One of her superiors was Blessed Helen of Hungary.
King Bela tried to arrange a political marriage for her, but she firmly opposed such an idea. An account was written about Margaret, that even in early life, she already practised severe penances such as wearing a hairshirt, iron girdle, and painful shoes. She even happily accepted the most humble tasks inside the cloister.
In 1270, Margaret died of natural causes at age 27. She was beatified in 1789 by Pope Pius VI. Venerable Pope Pius XII canonized her in 1943.