20th of July - St Margarets Day
20th of July is the 201st day of the year
St Margarets Day:
The reason for July 20th being chosen as the feast day of Margaret of Antioch are unknown, rather fittingly given she may well be an apocryphal figure – some say a blend of the Christian religion with the myth of Aphrodite. Her legend is a good one though – no wonder her name attaches to so many churches in this country, the most celebrated being St Margaret’s Westminster near Parliament, and that it inspired the crusaders – and Joan of Arc, to whom Margaret spoke. According to her legend she was born a pagan in Antioch, converted to Christianity, was ejected from her parental home for this, and while living as a shepherdess attracted the lustful attentions of the local Prefect. These she ignored, and was thus persecuted on the grounds of her faith – in prison Satan disguised as a dragon swallowed her, but her cross irritated the devilish beast and she emerged unscathed; the spurned Prefect had her thrown on the fire but that failed; dropped into boiling water - equally ineffective; and finally beheaded which worked.
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