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Margaret of Scotland – A Reflection on a Most Remarkable Life

Trinity Cathedral
The Rev. Dr. Grant S. Carey
Canon Residentiary

Most, if not all of us have either read or seen Shakespeare's MacBeth. As wonderful as his characters are, however, we tend to think of them as great fiction - - derived from legends of the past. But this is not so. They were real people living out real lives on the stage of real life.

Malcolm the king married a woman named Margaret, an English princess.  And it is she whom we recall today, nearly a thousand years after her death.

It has been noted that Margaret's first success as a saint was in taming her husband. When they were married, Malcolm was a wild Scottish chieftain. Twenty years later he had become one of Scotland's greatest kings, due in great measure to the influence of his wife.

The first lesson today says it all: "A good wife ... is far more precious than jewels.  The heart of her husband trusts her, and he will have no lack of gain."

But she did more than bring order into her household. With the help of her husband, they set about to practice and to teach Christianity in a way that was far different from what the Scots had previously learned.

Where the church was corrupt they purified it, insisting that the clergy change their ways for some, it seems, were more wolves than shepherds. Nor did they excel in either learning or piety. Margaret saw to it that there were schools, hospitals, and orphanages, and in the course of a few years, she greatly improved the lives of her people. In other words, Margaret took her role as Queen as seriously as she did that of wife and mother.

The writer of Proverbs goes on to say of the "good wife": "she opened her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy."

After her death, Bishop Turgot, her confessor, wrote her life story, and in it he says this:

"Let others wonder at the signs of miracles in other persons.  I, in Margaret, much rather admire the works of mercy, for signs are common to the good and bad, but works of true piety and charity belong only to the good.  The former sometimes disclose holiness, the latter also make it.  Let us admire, I say, - more worthily - the deeds in Margaret which made her a saint, rather than the signs, if she had performed any, which would only show the saint to men.  We may more worthily wonder at her . . . zeal for justice, piety, mercy, and love ..."

With the cooperation and assistance of her husband, she rebuilt the Church in Scotland, improved the quality of life among the poor, ended the bloody warfare among the Highland clans, fostered peace between Scotland and England ... and became Scotland's most beloved saint.

Her confessor added in his account: "... what could be more compassionate than her heart? Who could be more gentle than she toward those in need?  Not only would she have given to the poor all that she possessed, but if she could have done so, she would have given away her very self."

Margaret is not alone; as the old hymn reminds us, there are hundred and thousands still ...who love to do Jesus' will.  Margaret is just one of countless wonderful people who respond to the love of God in their time and their place and who, by opening themselves to the Presence of Christ within, are able to become his hands and feet ... and heart.