St Margaret the Virgin (Margareta von Antiochia) - Vienna, Austria - Statues of Religious Figures on Waymarking.com

"Like most of the suburbs and villages of Vienna, the area of Margareten was completely destroyed by the Ottoman armies in the course of the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683. This applied to a local palace and a former church on the site of St. Joseph. After defeat of Turks, just at the place of today's St Josef Church, a palace called "Schloss Margareten" was built here. The palace was sold to the city of Vienna in 1740 and after that, it became a shelter for the poor and homeless and in 1765, the shelter was equipped with a little church. The church was significantly rebuilded and it was opened with much pomp and circumstance by the Archbishop of Vienna, Count Christoph Anton Migazzi and in the presence of Empress Maria Theresia and her son, the later Emperor Joseph II, in 1771."

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The statue of St Margaret of Antioch was probably placed at the church in these times yet. Today's 5th district of Vienna, where the church is located, bears the name of the Patron Saint, and St Margret is depicted also on the coat-of-arms of the district. The small life-size statue depicts Margret worn in long suit with flower crown on her hear. She holds a cross in her hands and under her feet tied with chains a dragon.

St Margaret of Antioch

"Margaret of Antioch was a Christian virgin whose tortures and martyrdom became famous in early books of Acts. According to her legend, she was the daughter of a 3rd or 4th century pagan priest of Antioch who either threw her out of the house when she converted to Christianity or who was converted by her nursemaid. She was noticed by the local prefect who wanted to marry her, but she spurned him and vowed to keep her virginity for Christ. He turned her in to the Roman authorities to be persecuted. In prison she was swallowed by Satan in the form of a dragon, but the cross she was carrying irritated his throat, and he spit her out unharmed.

Her persecutors tried to kill her by fire and then by drowning, but each time, she survived, converting the growing crowd of onlookers. Finally, she was beheaded, along with her many converts, by Emperor Diocletian. She was buried at Antioch, but her remains were taken later to Italy where they were divided between shrines in Montefiascone and Venice.

Part of her very popular cult was the promise that if you spread her fame and read her story, you would receive a perpetual crown in heaven. She prayed at her death that women in childbirth would, upon calling on her, be safely delivered of the child as she had been delivered from the belly of the dragon. She is the patron saint of pregnant women, nurses, peasants, and sterility. She also intercedes for those who call on her from their deathbed.

Margaret was one of the saints who spoke to St. Joan of Arc, and she is included in a group of saints known as the Fourteen Holy Helpers, who are venerated for their special ability to intercede for people."

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Associated Religion(s): Roman Catholic, Anglican Churches, Orthodox Church. Statue Location: in front of the St Josef zu Margareten Church Entrance Fee: free Artist: Not listed Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the statue. A waymarker and/or GPSr is not required to be in the image but it doesn't hurt.

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