About Saint Margaret's: Information about St Margaret
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- Information about Saint Margaret
St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland
1045-1093
Margaret was born about the year 1045. Her father, the English Prince Edward, was in exile and had married a German princess. Margaret was brought up in the Hungarian court, and there she must have gained that insight into just and saintly rule that was to be the mark of her own sanctity.
When she came to England at the age of about 12 it was to the court of another saint, Edward the Confessor. With the Norman Conquest in 1066, Margaret and her mother, with her brother and her sister, were again exiled, and sought refuge in Scotland . Although at the time he was at war with their own country, the Scottish King, Malcolm III received the exiles kindly.
Malcolm III was a powerful and able king. He was deeply attracted to Margaret, whose own inclination and upbringing had prepared her for the convent rather than the throne. It was only after long consideration, yielding to her friends and advisors, that Margaret was married in 1070 at age 24 to the King of Scotland. Through the influence she acquired over her husband, she softened her husband's temper, polished his manners, and rendered him one of the most virtuous kings who have ever occupied the Scottish throne.
What she did for her husband, Margaret also did in a great measure for her adopted country. Though a contemplative by nature, she lived the ordered life of prayer and work taught by St. Benedict, combining the virtues of Martha and Mary in an exemplary fashion. Through her tireless efforts, she reformed both the spiritual and social milieu in Scotland , supported in these endeavors by her devoted husband. She promoted education and religion, made it her constant effort to obtain good priests and teachers for all parts of the country, founded several churches, built hospitals, and cared for the poor. Despite her royal position, she regarded herself merely as the steward of God's riches, living in the spirit of inward poverty, looking on nothing as her own, but recognizing that everything she possessed was to be used for the purposes of God. Margaret spent much of her time and money on works of charity, herself attending on the poor, the aged, the orphans and the sick.
Her charity was boundless. She thought of her poorest subjects before herself, often feeding orphans, taking in the homeless, and performing other acts of charity. Tradition says that Margaret used to sit on a stone outside the castle so that anyone in trouble might come to her. She also had great compassion on the English captives in Scotland , often paying their ransoms and setting them free.
She died in Edinburgh Castle , not yet fifty years old. Margaret was canonized in 1250. Her feast is kept in Scotland on November 16th.
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