The Margaret Home - St. Margaret of Cortona

We are in the process of creating a home for women in crisis pregnancies - The Margaret Home. We have a chance of buying a convent that will be the site of the home.

The home is named after St. Margaret of Cortona.

St. Margaret was born in 1247 in Laviano, Italy. Her mother died when she was young, and her father later remarried. St. Margaret did not get along with her stepmother and became somewhat wild as a teenager, running away when she was 17 with a wealthy young man. Unable to marry, due to their different classes - despite her repeated requests and his promises that they eventually would wed -  they lived together for nine years, and she had a son. He was then murdered, and she was led to his body by his dog (she is often pictured with a dog).

St. Margaret and her son tried to return home, but her father (in some stories, her stepmother) would not let them. This would fit with the mission of The Margaret Home, taking in single mothers who can't return home.

Homeless, she was then taken in by Franciscans, but for several years struggled with temptations of the flesh. She repented her past sins, and began living a life of penance, begging, and caring for the sick poor. She eventually became a Secular Franciscan. She was noted for her revelations, and her willingness to get involved in public affairs.

St. Margaret died on February 22, 1297. She was declared a saint by the people almost immediately, but was not officially canonized until 1728.

She is a the patron saint of various groups and things, including, temptation, sexual temptation, homeless people, and appropriately for The Margaret Home, single mothers. 

Pax et bonum