St. Margaret of Hungary, Heiress of Christ

If I asked you to name one of the wealthiest young women in the world in 2024, would you have guessed the name Kim Jung-youn?

Most likely, you do not know who I am referring to. But she's one of the world's youngest billionaires. Kim Jung-youn is 20 years old. She is a South Korean girl who inherited her wealth from her father, Kim Jung-ju, who founded the online gaming company Nexon. Her current net worth is estimated at $1 billion. Perhaps you are more familiar with the more established name of Alice Walton. She is the wealthiest woman in America, with a net worth of approximately $89.2 billion; she inherited her fortune from Walmart, the retail giant founded by her father, Sam Walton.

Do modern people understand how much wealth and power kings of old possessed and passed on to their progeny? King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who was to be the proposed spouse of St. Margaret of Hungary, had an estimated worth of anywhere from $10 billion to $50 billion in today's dollars. When we look at the life of St. Margaret of Hungary and reflect on how much of a fortune she was giving up, we may wonder why a young heiress like her would be foolish enough to give it all up?

To the world, we are fools for Christ's sake, but we, as the Church, know we are wise in Christ (1 Corinthians 4:10). For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God (1 Corinthians 3:19).

After all, if back in the day, you were friends with a young Paris Hilton or young Ivanka Trump and heard her talking about giving up all her inherited possessions to become a cloistered nun, perhaps you would strongly urge her to reconsider her decision.

This is the story of St. Margaret of Hungary.

She was the daughter of King Bela IV of Hungary. And when her father was at war with the Mongol Tartars, he and his spouse offered Margaret to God before her birth in a petition to deliver their country from their enemy. Praise be to God, their country was indeed delivered from the impending threat, and Margaret was born in 1242. She was placed in the Dominican convent at Vesprim at age 3 in keeping with their promise to God. Margaret received the habit at 4 years old because she was not content simply living in the house of God. The question arose when she turned 12 years old about the great advantage it would be for her father if she were given in a marriage.

No one but St. Margaret seemed to take seriously the idea that she would one day make profession and remain as a sister for her whole life. To quiet the matter, she pronounced her vows to the master general of the Order, Humbert of the Romans. Again, when she was 18, Her Father tried to get her to change her mind about being a nun and got a dispensation from the pope in order to get Margaret married off to the King of Bohemia.

St. Margaret replied, “I esteem infinitely more the King of Heaven and the inconceivable happiness of possessing Jesus Christ than the crown offered me by the King of Bohemia.” I appreciate St. Margaret's prudence and wisdom in seeing the futility of storing up gold and silver that will rust and get stolen in this world and instead investing in the kingdom of heaven where our reward is eternal (Matthew 6:19-21).

She assiduously took responsibility in the kitchen and laundry, doing the manual labor, which she could have avoided due to her rank as a princess. How humbling it must be for someone of her social status to do this! Could you imagine the daughter of a Silicon Valley millionaire or an investment banker's daughter doing these menial tasks? Only the grace of God could move a young girl like this to choose so humble and lowly a station in life compared to her family's earthly and luxurious lifestyle.

Let us pray that we grow in the virtue of humility just like that of St. Margaret of Hungary.