Margaret Ward was born at Cheshire, England, and worked as a maidservant for the Whittle Family in London. In the meanwhile during the persecution of the Catholic Church under Queen Elizabeth I, a certain Fr. Richard Watson was arrested and imprisoned in an attic. Margaret took it as her duty to visit him and offer him food with the connivance of the guards. One day she smuggled in a rope so that he could climb down from his cell and make good his escape in a boat that was kept ready at the riverside by a few sailors. As misfortune would have it, the priest fell down and was injured. Though he escaped as planned, the rope remained dangling from the attic. It was traced back to Margaret. She was arrested, treated cruelly and tried at the Old Bailey. Margaret was offered freedom if she would join the Anglican Church and reveal the whereabouts of Fr. Watson. However, she stood firm in the Catholic Faith. As a result, she was hanged at Tyburn in 1588 along with a few other Catholics, including a priest. Margaret was canonized in 1970.
Reflection: It is amazing that a poor and an illiterate maidservant had the courage to defy the inhuman laws of England, selflessly support Fr. Watson against the persecutors and ultimately lay down her life for her faith. When the Holy Spirit is poured upon us by our heavenly Father, the impossible becomes possible and the zeros become heroes.
Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the Churches of the Gentiles. (Rom.16:3-4)
