United Celts

2021-06-12 00:47:42 Open / Comment

2021-06-11 23:49:10 From a subscriber - some more information on Margaret of Scotland Open / Comment

2021-06-11 23:48:52 Open / Comment

2021-06-11 23:48:51 Please do! Dunfermline Cathedral and the park next to it is really beautiful, strongly recommended. So is St Margaret's chapel in Edinburgh Castle (the oldest standing chapel in Scotland, and the castle's oldest remaining building). Open / Comment

2021-06-11 23:48:51 Here is the site where she was buried, at Dunfermline Cathedral Open / Comment

2021-06-11 23:48:51 Next Tuesday 17:15 there's an event where you can come learn about St. Margret's husband (King Malcom) and Scottish medieval history circa 1070 : https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/develop-2/online-event-registration/?eid=g6YS93V9zpkWqUVv Open / Comment

2021-06-10 19:27:00 North and South Queensferry are the creation of Margaret - she had the idea to start a free ferry service for the poor so that they could attend Mass in St. Andrew's.

Privately, Margaret was just as pious. The majority of her hours were spent in prayer, reading Scripture and embroidery for ecclesiastical purposes. Máel Coluim, an illiterate man considered uncultured, was so inspired by her piety that as a gift, he decorated her books with gold and silver. The Bodleian Library in Oxford has one of these; a small pocket gospel book containing portraits of the Evangelists.

Máel Coluim died at war with the English at Alnwick on the 13th of November 1093. Edgar, their son, was the one to deliver the news to Margaret. She died only three days later on the 16th of November - seemingly too grief-stricken to carry on.

Naomh Mairead, ùrnaigh air ar son!
Sancte Margarete, ora pro nobis!
Saint Margaret, pray for us! Open / Comment

2021-06-10 19:21:04 For reasons lost to history, this may not have been kept, which explains the Scottish invasion of Lindisfarne in 1061.

Together Máel Coluim and Margaret had 8 children, six sons and two daughters.

Thorgaut of Durham, Bishop of St. Andrew's, credited Margaret with civilizing Máel Coluim by reading Scripture to him. She also brought the practices of the Church in Scotland in closer alignment with Rome, under inspiration of Lanfranc, who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury.

She was considered a just ruler by the people and influenced her husband and children - especially David, who eventually became King David I of Scotland.

All chroniclers of Margaret paint a picture of a woman of pure heart, with a pious dedication to the love of God and a charitable spirit, serving orphans and the impoverished before she ate, washing the feet of the poor like Jesus Christ Himself. Open / Comment

2021-06-10 19:15:33 Today is the Feast of St. Margaret of Scotland.

The daughter of English prince, Edward the Exile, Margaret was born and briefly grew up in Hungary in 1045 after Edward ventured there to support Andrew the Catholic's claim to the throne.

As a child, she returned to England with her family after Edward was supposed to become successor to the childless Edward the Confessor. The Exile died upon arrival, with the Confessor continuing to reign until 1066. Agatha, Margaret's mother, abandoned England soon after, choosing to sail to mainland Europe with her children. A storm however, sailed their ship up to Scotland, where they landed at what is now known as St. Margaret's Hope.

King Máel Coluim (Malcolm) III gave them refuge, taking a particular liking to Margaret. He was a widower with two children, and they were married in 1070. It is written however by the Anglo-Saxon historian Orderic Vitalis that this marriage was meant to be done as of 1059, one of Máel Coluim's first acts as King. Open / Comment

2021-06-09 18:48:23 St. Columba just so happens to be my patron saint also. Open / Comment