Margaret, with her palm of martyrdom, escapes the dragon

Saint Margaret, also known as Margaret of Antioch, virgin and martyr, was formerly celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church on July 20. St Margaret of Antioch, from an old holy card The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for his or her religious faith. ... The Roman Catholic Church is the largest religious denomination of Christianity with over one billion members. ... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ...

According to the legend, she was a native of Antioch, daughter of a pagan priest named Aedesius. She was scorned by her father for her Christian faith, and lived in the country with a foster-mother keeping sheep. Olybrius, the praeses orientis, offered her marriage as the price of her renunciation of Christianity. Her refusal led to her being cruelly tortured, and after various miraculous incidents, one of which involved getting swallowed by Satan in the shape of a dragon, from which she escaped alive, she was put to death. This is about one of the cities called Antioch in Asia Minor, now Turkey. ... This article is about the religious people known as Christians. ... Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ... Gustave Dores depiction of Satan from John Miltons Paradise Lost Satan (שָׂטָן Standard Hebrew Satan, Tiberian Hebrew Śāṭān; Aramaic שִׂטְנָא Śiṭnâ: both words mean Adversary; accuser) is an angel, demon, or minor god in many religions. ... Saint George versus the dragon, Gustave Moreau, c. ...

The Greek church knows Margaret as Marina, and celebrates her festival on 17 July. She has been identified with Saint Pelagia -- "Marina" being the Latin equivalent of the Greek name "Pelagia" -- who, according to a legend, was also called Margarito. We possess no historical documents on St Margaret as distinct from St Pelagia.

An attempt has been made, but without success, to prove that the group of legends with which that of Saint Margaret is connected is derived from a transformation of the pagan divinity Aphrodite into a Christian saint. The problem of her identity is a purely literary question. Aphrodite (Ἀφροδῑ´τη, risen from sea-foam) is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. ...

The cult of Saint Margaret became very widespread in England, with more than 250 churches are dedicated to her. Believers consider her a patron saint of pregnancy. In art, she is usually pictured escaping from the dragon. Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... In several forms of Christianity, a patron saint has special affinity for a trade or group. ... A pregnant woman Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. ...

Her cult was suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church in the 1969 reform of the liturgy, on the grounds that she did not in fact exist. She was formerly one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest religious denomination of Christianity with over one billion members. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... From the Greek word λειτουργια, which can be transliterated as leitourgia, meaning the work of the people, a liturgy comprises a prescribed religious ceremony, according to the traditions of a particular religion; it may be refer to, or include, an elaborate formal ritual (such as the Catholic Mass), a daily... The Fourteen Holy Helpers are a group of saints formerly venerated together in Roman Catholicism because prayer to them was thought to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases. ...

References

• Acta sanctorum, July, v. 24—45
• Bibliotheca hagiographica. La/ma (Brussels, 1899), n. 5303—53r3
• Frances Arnold-Forster, Studies in Church Dedications (London, 1899), i. 131—133 and iii. 19.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica ( 1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...