Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of St. Margaret of Hungary, virgin, of the Order of Preachers. The feast is III Class, and the office is prayed according to the rubrics. Most of the office is proper, and is taken from the Proper of the Saints, and at Lauds the Psalms of Sunday are prayed. At Lauds and Vespers a commemoration is made of St. Prisca, virgin and martyr. At Pretiosa, the obit of Barnabas of Vercelli, 15th Master General of the Order is read.
This is one of my favorite feasts on the Dominican calendar. This saintly heir to the Hungarian throne is one of the numerous saints who adorn the liturgical calendar who sprang from royal blood. We live in a time of political confusion and darkness. We also live in an era in which there is great misunderstanding, akin to myth or even superstition, regarding the historical monarchical form of government which is part of the glorious heritage of Christendom. Saints like St. Margaret of Hungary, along with countless other examples of royalty being raised to the altars of the Church, attest to the fact that not all kings and queens were tyrants or scoundrels. Indeed, the propers for today's feast are replete with examples of her sanctity from the accounts of her life, and attest to the level of sanctity that she achieved through her glorious union with Almighty God.
