Saint Margaret of Antioch

Died 303. Feast Day: July 20.
Patron of: Childbirth. Exiles.
Margaret was the Christian daughter of a pagan priest. When her father discovered her conversion he cast her out. She lived as a simple shepherdess. When she rejected the advances of a prelate, she was denounced for her Christianity and incarcerated. In her cell the devil appeared to her as a dragon and swallowed her. A cross she carried grew so large it split the dragon in two. She was then beheaded. She holds the sword that killed her and the dragon in chains at her feet.