Born: 1045, Castle Réka, Mecseknádasd, in the region of Southern Transdanubia, Hungary
Died: 16 November 1093, St Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh Castle, Midlothian, Scotland
Canonized: 1251 by Pope Innocent IV
Major Shrine: Dunfermline Abbey
Patron of: death of children, large families, learning, queens, Scotland, widows
St. Margaret of Scotland
Feast Day: November 16
Born: 1046 :: Died: 1093
Margaret was an English princess who was born in Hungary and was the great-niece of St. Stephen of Hungary. She and her mother sailed to Scotland to escape from the king who had conquered their land.
They got ship wrecked on the Scottish coast and King Malcolm of Scotland welcomed them. He fell in love with the beautiful princess and Margaret and Malcolm were soon married. They had eight children, six sons and two daughters and they loved their children very much.
Margaret changed her husband and the country for the better. Malcolm was good, but he and his court were very rough. When he saw how wise his wife was, he willingly listened to her good advice.
Margaret helped him control his temper and practice the Christian virtues. She made the court beautiful and civilized. The king and queen were wonderful examples because of the way they prayed together and treated each other. They fed crowds of poor people. They tried very hard to imitate Jesus in their own lives.
Margaret was a blessing for all the people of Scotland. Many people had bad habits that kept them from growing closer to God. Margaret worked hard to find good teachers to help the people correct their evil ways.
She and Malcolm had new churches built. She loved to make the churches beautiful to honor God. In fact, Queen Margaret embroidered some of the priests' robes herself.
Their youngest son became St. David and one of their daughters St. Maud. But Margaret had sorrows, too. She was very ill, and she learned that both her husband and her son, Edward, had been killed in battle. They died just four days before Margaret's death. She died on November 16, 1093.