Basilica of Santa Margherita — the big church perched high above Cortona. From down in the valley, it almost seems to float above the town. This church is dedicated to Margaret of Cortona. Margaret is unlike any other saint you will likely ever hear about. Her story is fascinating and dramatic. If you were choosing the story of a woman to become a saint known for her faith in Jesus, this would not be the chosen one.

But, thankfully God doesn’t choose as we would choose. He never dismisses us because of our past. Our shame or guilt is never beyond his touch of redemption. His good plans for us still stand even when we have done our best to mess them up.

Margaret of Cortona’s body rests in a sealed tomb behind glass within the church high on the hill above the Tuscan town of Cortona. Yes, a corpse now 729 years old on display. I’ve never seen anything like it. But it wasn’t her preserved body that has left me in awe – it’s her story.

Margaret was born in 1247 in rural Tuscany, in a tiny village near Cortona. Her mother died when she was young, and much like a Cinderella story she was then under the rule of a mean stepmother. As a teenager, she ran away with a wealthy nobleman named Arsenio. They lived together for years and had a son, but they were never married — quite scandalous by the standards of the time.

They never married and Margaret had decided she would be okay with that since being Arsenio’s mistress afforded her a life of luxury and wealth. She was attached to her new lifestyle and she build her identity around a relationship with a man that wasn’t honorable.

Hmmmm … not so saintly, huh?

Then came the event that changed everything.

One day Arsenio never returned home. Margaret followed his dog into the woods, which led her to his murdered body. The shock shattered her old life.

Yes, her old life of luxury. Her old life of wealth. And her old life of being the mistress that had settled for a life that fell so short of God’s standards.

After the death of Arsenio, Margaret left everything behind and went back to Cortona in deep grief and repentance. She knew the life she had been living was wrong and she wanted to make it right.

At first she was rejected — even by family — but eventually the Franciscans took her in as someone who wanted to repent and do better. She became deeply spiritual, seeking God’s way instead of her own.

But what made her beloved wasn’t just repentance; it was what she did afterward.

Margaret devoted herself to the poor, the sick, and the outcast. She founded a hospital in Cortona and became known for fierce compassion and being in the presence miraculous acts of God.

Margaret’s story reminds us you can have grief, you can carry shame, and God can still use you in powerful ways. In the hands of God, that’s a life that can reach other lost souls who feel distant. Her troubled past is still being used today, 729 years after her death to reach others with a troubled past.

She was often compared to Mary Magdalene of the Bible.

Remember Mary Magdalene – the woman no one else would have chosen, but Jesus chose her as one of his closest followers. Luke 8:2, “Jesus took his 12 disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them was Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out 7 demons.”

It’s often thought Mary Magdalene is the sinful woman seen anointing the feet of Jesus in Luke 7. A woman believed to have been a prostitue. A woman who simply needed healing from all the enemy had used to destroy her in the past. Mary Magdalene was deeply afflicted and Jesus freed her. And afterwards, she devoted her entire life to him.

She was at the cross when Jesus was crucified. She was the first one Jesus appeared to after his resurrection. She was the woman with an imperfect past that was chosen personally by Jesus.

AND THE SAME IS TRUE FOR YOU AND I.

CHOSEN.

REDEEMED.

HEALED.

SET APART TO NOW DO SOMETHING GOOD WITH OUR LIVES.

You may think certain things disqualified you, but God says surrendered things become powerful things. Your past does not cancel your purpose. Your story still belongs in the hands of a redeeming God.

God wants to use ALL of your story — not just the polished parts. The healed parts. The overcoming parts. The still-growing parts. Stop believing you have to be perfect to be used by God.

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