Childbirth / Margaret of Antioch, late third century, Feast Day: July 20

Margaret was a beautiful princess who secretly converted to Christianity. She was driven from her home and became a simple shepherdess. When she refused the advances of the local governor, she was imprisoned. The Devil appeared to her as a dragon and swallowed her whole. A cross she was carrying grew until it split the dragon in two, enabling her to climb out.

Other patronages: laundresses, midwives, nurses, shepherds; pregnant women

Invoked: against hemorrhages, infertility, pains of childbirth, floods, storms