2 Timothy 4:1-8; Matthew 13:44-46
St Margaret of Antioch, as she is known in the West, is the same as St Marina the Great celebrated in the Eastern churches.
According to a C9th Martyrology (a record that tells the lives of the martyrs), Marina/Margaret suffered and died in 304.
St Margaret of Antioch, as she is known in the West, is the same as St Marina the Great celebrated in the Eastern churches.
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| St Margaret of Antioch (on the left) together with St Margaret of Scotland. Stained glass window, St Margarets' Church, Burnham Norton. |
According to a C9th Martyrology (a record that tells the lives of the martyrs), Marina/Margaret suffered and died in 304.
An audio of this talk can be found here
She was the daughter of a pagan priest, Aedesius, and her mother died when she was very young. She was nursed by a Christian woman, who lived 15 miles or so from Antioch. She embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to Christ.
It was at about this time that men were beginning to go off into the desert to consecrate themselves to Christ – the earliest monks; and so we could say that Margaret was one of the earliest nuns. She was disowned by her father, adopted by the Christian woman, and lived in the country keeping sheep.
Olymbrius, a local governor, asked to marry her, and demanded that she renounce her Christianity, offering her wealth and status if she did so. She refused and was tortured.
It was during the torture that the miraculous incidents were said to have taken place. As she endured the physical torture, Satan came in the form of demons and a dragon. She was swallowed by the dragon but irritated the inside of the beast with the cross, and she escaped from its belly.
In the Western tradition she is shown slaying the beast, or leading the dragon with a cord.
In the Eastern tradition she is shown defeating the demon with a hammer.
While that might sound pretty brutal, we have to remember that the demons are not cuddly furry creatures with two red horns, but more like the dementors in Harry Potter, soulless shapes who suck out the soul, life and joy from people; or like the Balrog who Gandalf defeats in Lord of the Rings. There is such a thing as evil personified.
Peter writes, “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering”. (1 Peter 5:6-9)
And again I note, there are close similarities with some of the stories told of the early desert fathers.
So Margaret ‘fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith’. She was eventually publicly executed, and according to the martyrology her execution brought many to Christ.
It is only fair to say that there is significant debate about the historical accuracy of this: her name, the century that she suffered and also the Antioch we are talking about. The Eastern tradition has her in Antioch in Pisidia, and the Western tradition places her in Antioch of Syria (about 500 miles away).
But even if the details are uncertain, there almost certainly was a young woman called Marina/Margaret (the Greek origin of the word Margaret means ‘pearl’), who was faithful to her commitment to Christ even in the face of terrible torture.
Why? Why in an age when most of what goes for commitment to a cause is screen deep would someone be prepared to go to such lengths.
It is a question that has fascinated me since my first introduction to the Christian believers in the Soviet Union 50 years ago – many of whom suffered terribly for their Christian faith.
I am conscious that it is not only Christians who show such commitment.
After 9/11 some politicians spoke of the bombers as cowards.
Whatever they were, they were not cowards.
The difference is that they gave their lives but, in the process, they took the lives of those they considered their enemies; whereas Margaret – and the Lord who she followed – gave her life, gave his life so that those who were his enemies could live.
And the answer for Margaret is that she had found ‘the pearl of great value’ (Matthew 13.46).
This pearl, this ‘margarita’ in Greek, was so precious that it was worth giving up everything for.
And she gave up everything that the world could: the offer of status and wealth and power. And for this pearl she was prepared to endure terrible pain.
The martyrologies are pretty uncensored in their description of what she suffered.
Of course she could only do that through the power of the Holy Spirit, who gave her:
such a love for Him: Jesus our Lord who loves us, died for us and rose again;
such a desire for Holiness: not being sanctimonious but a longing to be filled with love so that all that she did was marked by right-ness in relationships (humility, gentleness, kindness);
and such a hope for Heaven.
I knew nothing of Margaret or Marina before we dedicated the gate here last year.
She became pretty important among the saints.
It is not only this church that has been dedicated in her memory.
The church next to Westminster Abbey is dedicated to her.
And I thank God for her and for her story of such faithfulness and courage.
It is possibly one of those ironic signs of the times that most people today associate Margarita with a type of pizza, whereas most people then would have associated Margarita with St Margaret, a woman of God who defeated the devil.
She found the pearl of great price and in finding it, she became a pearl. And in our lost world we need the inspiration of such pearls, with their deep commitment to Christ and to the way of faithfulness and sacrificial love.
And we celebrate because we are part of a community of saints – which includes many like St Margaret.
She was the daughter of a pagan priest, Aedesius, and her mother died when she was very young. She was nursed by a Christian woman, who lived 15 miles or so from Antioch. She embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to Christ.
It was at about this time that men were beginning to go off into the desert to consecrate themselves to Christ – the earliest monks; and so we could say that Margaret was one of the earliest nuns. She was disowned by her father, adopted by the Christian woman, and lived in the country keeping sheep.
Olymbrius, a local governor, asked to marry her, and demanded that she renounce her Christianity, offering her wealth and status if she did so. She refused and was tortured.
It was during the torture that the miraculous incidents were said to have taken place. As she endured the physical torture, Satan came in the form of demons and a dragon. She was swallowed by the dragon but irritated the inside of the beast with the cross, and she escaped from its belly.
In the Western tradition she is shown slaying the beast, or leading the dragon with a cord.
In the Eastern tradition she is shown defeating the demon with a hammer.
While that might sound pretty brutal, we have to remember that the demons are not cuddly furry creatures with two red horns, but more like the dementors in Harry Potter, soulless shapes who suck out the soul, life and joy from people; or like the Balrog who Gandalf defeats in Lord of the Rings. There is such a thing as evil personified.
Peter writes, “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering”. (1 Peter 5:6-9)
And again I note, there are close similarities with some of the stories told of the early desert fathers.
So Margaret ‘fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith’. She was eventually publicly executed, and according to the martyrology her execution brought many to Christ.
It is only fair to say that there is significant debate about the historical accuracy of this: her name, the century that she suffered and also the Antioch we are talking about. The Eastern tradition has her in Antioch in Pisidia, and the Western tradition places her in Antioch of Syria (about 500 miles away).
But even if the details are uncertain, there almost certainly was a young woman called Marina/Margaret (the Greek origin of the word Margaret means ‘pearl’), who was faithful to her commitment to Christ even in the face of terrible torture.
Why? Why in an age when most of what goes for commitment to a cause is screen deep would someone be prepared to go to such lengths.
It is a question that has fascinated me since my first introduction to the Christian believers in the Soviet Union 50 years ago – many of whom suffered terribly for their Christian faith.
I am conscious that it is not only Christians who show such commitment.
After 9/11 some politicians spoke of the bombers as cowards.
Whatever they were, they were not cowards.
The difference is that they gave their lives but, in the process, they took the lives of those they considered their enemies; whereas Margaret – and the Lord who she followed – gave her life, gave his life so that those who were his enemies could live.
And the answer for Margaret is that she had found ‘the pearl of great value’ (Matthew 13.46).
This pearl, this ‘margarita’ in Greek, was so precious that it was worth giving up everything for.
And she gave up everything that the world could: the offer of status and wealth and power. And for this pearl she was prepared to endure terrible pain.
The martyrologies are pretty uncensored in their description of what she suffered.
Of course she could only do that through the power of the Holy Spirit, who gave her:
such a love for Him: Jesus our Lord who loves us, died for us and rose again;
such a desire for Holiness: not being sanctimonious but a longing to be filled with love so that all that she did was marked by right-ness in relationships (humility, gentleness, kindness);
and such a hope for Heaven.
I knew nothing of Margaret or Marina before we dedicated the gate here last year.
She became pretty important among the saints.
It is not only this church that has been dedicated in her memory.
The church next to Westminster Abbey is dedicated to her.
And I thank God for her and for her story of such faithfulness and courage.
It is possibly one of those ironic signs of the times that most people today associate Margarita with a type of pizza, whereas most people then would have associated Margarita with St Margaret, a woman of God who defeated the devil.
She found the pearl of great price and in finding it, she became a pearl. And in our lost world we need the inspiration of such pearls, with their deep commitment to Christ and to the way of faithfulness and sacrificial love.
And we celebrate because we are part of a community of saints – which includes many like St Margaret.
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