In Their Words—the Sisters tell us about St. Margaret's Day

St. Margaret’s Day is, above all, a celebration of Christian witness. One such witness was Margaret of Antioch, a Syrian woman of the fourth century. The daughter of a pagan priest, she became a Christian as a young woman. Her father had definite plans about Margaret’s future – marriage (or concubinage) to the Roman Governor of the Province, who was enamored of the young woman’s beauty, desirous of possessing her for his own. Margaret had other ideas. She had fallen in love with Jesus Christ, and, as it turned out, no manner of persuasion, even torture, could deter her resolve and force her to deny her Lord. Her captors, enraged by their ineffectiveness in causing her to renounce her faith, powerless in the face of her steadfast commitment, put her to death.

On Saturday, July 19, 2008 , the Sisters of St. Margaret, along with many friends and associates, will gather at the Boston Convent for a 10 a.m. Eucharist in thanksgiving for the grace of God in Christ which empowers Christian witness in every age. Religious communities like the Society of St. Margaret exist primarily to witness to Christ’s all-encompassing love and mercy, and to the attractiveness of his life and his way. Such communities are signs to the world and the church of the surpassing wonder of Christ’s love and of the possibility of commitment and staying power in threatening and uncertain times.

Our witness is that of the long haul. For over 150 years Sisters of the Society of St. Margaret have endeavored to make Christ’s love real in the lives of people in places like Haiti and Roxbury, in the pleasant suburbs and in the dark streets of our inner cities. An elderly, homeless woman in Port au Prince, Haiti, finds Christ’s love made real as the Sisters welcome her as a resident of the Foyer Notre Dame. A young man working in New York City’s financial district finds Christ’s love made real when a Sister opens up for him the joy and meaning to be found in living a Christ-centered life. On St. Margaret’s day we will give thanks for the witness that has been, that continues still, and offer a resounding “yes” to God for what lies ahead.

For a century and a half, every Sister of St. Margaret has begun each day with this resolve: “Everything for God alone, to God’s greater glory and more perfect love.” We invite the members of our diocese to join us in this daily resolve that God’s kingdom may come and God’s will be done through the fidelity and winsomeness of our witness to
Christ and his way.