# 7 - A SERIOUS REPORT ON BLESSED CASTELLO, O.P.

 # 7 - A SERIOUS REPORT ON BLESSED CASTELLO, O.P.

IN PURSUIT OF THE TRUTH - HTTP://WWW.CINOPSBEGONE.BLOSGSPOT.COM - THURS. DEC. 10, 2020

 

THE LIFE OF BLESSED MARGARET CASTELLO, O.P. (1287-1320)

By Father William R. Bonneville, O.P. Tan Books, Carolina, 2014, Chapter 11, p. 7-9

 

    "The birth of a deformed child is always a great shock to the parents. But usually the very misfortune of the infant touched the hearts of the father and mother so deeply that, by reason of their compassion, they lavish greater love on the cripple than they do on their normal children - but Parisio and Emilia were not of that type. Their fantastic pride and selfishness rendered them incapable of pity, and they looked  upon their deformed baby with anger and loathing. They were outraged that Nature should have even dared to inflict so shameful a disgrace upon the two most important personages of the land!

 

    From a purely materialistic standpoint, Margaret's parents were not without some excuse for their attitude, because Nature, as if she were acting in a malicious mood. had heaped one misfortune after another upon the unhappy child. Margaret was far from beautiful, but her ugliness was the least of her handicaps. She was so small that it was evident she would never attain normal height. In addition she was hunchbacked. As the right leg was much shorter than her left, it was obvious that the girl would be lame. All this was bad enough. But week or so after her birth, her parents discovered that she still had another handicap. She was totally blind.

 

    When the parents had recovered from the initial shock, they agreed that their misfortune should be kept a profound secret. Of course, the birth of a child could not be concealed, but the news was given out that the baby was sickly and was not likely to live. This accounted to friends for the absence of any celebration and explained at the same time the obvious grief of the parents. 

    To the garrison, however, it was bluntly stated that silence concerning the child would be very prudent; the remembrance of the revolting cruelties inflicted by Parisio on some of his prisoners made the warning effective. The serving-woman who had the care and custody of the baby was under strict orders to keep the child out of sight whenever any visitors came to Metola.

 

    Despite these precautions, the first threat to the secret came within the castle itself. Padre Cappellano, who was apparently both pastor of the parish of Metola and the chaplain of the fort, demanded that the baby be baptized This meant, in effect, that the child should be taken to the cathedral in Mercatello, because there still existed in Massa Trabaria the ancient custom whereby all baptisms (except in urgent cases) were performed in the cathedral church of the diocese.

     Parisio stubbornly refused to run this risk, and it was not until the priest had won over Lady Emilia that the castellan gave a reluctant consent. Lady Emilia's discreet and trustworthy maid was to take the baby to Mercatello. The name to be given her in baptism was a matter of indifference to her parents - except that she was to the name Emilia.  

 

    It was, then, the maid who chose the name Margaret. In so doing she surely did not reflect on the meaning of the word, for Margarita means a pearl. And what comparison could there possibly be between this ugly, misshapen baby and the lovely pearl - that symbol of perfection and beauty?

      One might imagine that with the passing of the years the harsh feelings of the parents would soften and they would begin to show at least a little commiseration for their crippled daughter. Such however was not the case. Time crystalized, it it did not intensify, their abhorrence for the child. It was in vain that the chaplain, who had begun to teach her the rudiments of religion, repeatedly told the parents of the remarkable intelligence their daughter was beginning to manifest; his enthusiasm left cold and uninterested. 

 

    By the time she was five years old, Margaret knew the name of every man, woman and child at Metola. She could make her way unassisted through the various passageways of the fort and the corridors of every building. As she was a friendly little creature, she made regular visits to everyone. There was only one place that she carefully avoided; it was the quarters where her parents lived. She had been emphatically warned to stay away from this part of the castle, as her parents did not want to see her.

George H. Kubeck