St. Margaret of Scotland
Helper of the Poor

Our Patron Saint - Margaret Queen of Scotland (1047-1093)

“God knew beforehand what he would do with his servant, Margaret. She was destined to increase God’s praise in the rough land of Scotland, to direct a king and his people from their erring paths and warrior-like ways, and bend them to a better way.”

And so begins the ancient Anglo-Saxon chronicle which records the life of our Patron Saint, Margaret, Queen of Scotland. Margaret began her life as a “Royal Refugee.” Exiled to Hungary by a foreign king, her English family were victims of the many political struggles of those nations which had survived the turbulent Dark Ages of Europe and were now entering the second millennium after Christ, the Middle Ages.

Ten years after Margaret’s birth in Hungary, England’s royal family were allowed to return home to reign; so Margaret grew up a princess in the English Court, yet separated from the political intrigue by her teachers, the Holy Benedictine monks.

Ten years after their return to the Court, the English nation under the leadership of King Harold was invaded by their Norman enemies. In the year 1066, Harold died at the Battle of Hastings—England once again came under the rule of a foreign king, and Margaret’s family once again had to flee across the English Channel as Royal Refugees to exile in Hungary.

As luck, or maybe as God would have it, a fierce storm drove their ship northward up the English Channel instead of across it. In danger of sinking, their vessel sought shelter in the Firth of Forth in Scotland and the welcoming arms of Malcolm, King of Scotland. (Malcolm was part of that Scottish Royal Family immortalized forever in Shakespeare’s Macbeth; for it was Malcolm’s father, Duncan, who was slain by Macbeth to gain the throne.)

So, at the age of twenty, Margaret began the third chapter of her life—ten years in Hungary, ten in England, and now she was with the primitive peoples of Scotland at Dumferline.

It was a time of great physical and spiritual poverty in Scotland. Scandinavian pirates haunted their lives. Great monasteries like Iona lay in ruins, and the peoples were sliding into primitive and pagan life-styles. For a while Margaret kept her distance from much of this and continued to live a cloistered life. Taught by the Benedictine Monks, this tall, handsome Saxon girl read Latin Scripture, embroidered cloth, and became a person of prayer.

But in the year 1070, at the age of 25, Margaret’s sheltered life of contemplation ended rather dramatically. Somewhat against her will, she was married to the rough-cut, tempestuous monarch of Scotland, Malcolm, trading her quiet cloister for a bustling throne room.

In the remaining 22 years of her life, this shy, holy lady was to affect her king and his nation to such a degree that the backward and rather unimportant country of Scotland, with its “Celtic idiosyncrasies” was to take its rightful place in Christendom, and from that time on strongly influence the Church at large.

Margaret became a light in the semi-darkness of 11th Century Europe, softening not only a rather ferocious nation but the heart of the king himself. As her biographer says, “He loved what she loved, rejected what she rejected, and King Malcolm was civilized and changed forever when tenderness entered his heart.”

Although Malcolm could not read or write, he used to secretly kiss the Holy Books she read, and often in her absence had them ornamented with silver and gold and gems, and then presented them to Margaret with love and devotion.

Along with reforming her king, Margaret reformed the Church in Scotland in such a way that it has had an ongoing impact on Christendom to this very day. Early monasteries, such as Iona, were rebuilt, and a great religious renewal began to warm the hearts of all primitive Scots people. She worked through her husband, the king, for political reform as well, not only uniting separate warring clans, but also bringing England and Scotland closer together.

Margaret was available to her people. There was a stone near Dumferline on which, tradition says, she sat and waited so that anyone who was in trouble might come directly to her and talk. Her charity was unbounded, we are told, and every morning at the fi rst hour of the day nine orphans were brought to her, there to be fed by her own hand and with her own spoon.

One writer tells us that many destitute poor would come each morning to the Royal Hall, there to be cared for and waited on, and not just by Margaret but by King Malcolm as well. Her duty, she said, was to see Christ in every person. And she saw to it that it was her king’s duty as well. I suspect Malcolm began to realize that to come into contact with a saint is at best a disconcerting experience.

During her 22 years of marriage, Margaret raised eight children, three of whom became kings. One son, David, ruled Scotland for 29 years and was revered by all as a saint himself. In 1093, four days after hearing the news that her favorite son and her husband were killed in battle, Margaret died peacefully at the tender age of 47, holding her Benedictine Cross.

She was canonized by the Church about 150 years later. And of all the saints canonized by the Church, Margaret stands alone as the happy mother of a large family. By the 17th Century she was recognized as the Patron Saint of all Scotland.

What the great Celtic missionaries, like Aiden and Columba, had accomplished through fiery energy some 500 years previous, Margaret accomplished by selfless love, gentle persuasion, and constant prayer. Scotland was civilized, her people reformed, and the Church became a beacon to the world.

Near the end of their lives, Queen Margaret and King Malcolm lived in the Castle at Edinburgh. None of the original building survives, with the exception of her own little oratory, the tiny St. Margaret’s Chapel, which was built for her by Malcolm as a place of prayer. One writer describes her ancient sanctuary with these poignant words:

“That tiny Chapel preserves the flavor she imparted to it, for it retains the blessedness of her prayer and the fragrance of her sanctity.”

 

The People of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church & School seek to know Christ and to make Christ known in all that is said and done. We work with each other to make St. Margaret's "Your place in the Son." We invite you to visit us, to worship with us, to study with us, and to work with us, for the spread of God's Kingdom. We invite you join our family.