Born in Hungary, Margaret of Wessex was the daughter of the English Prince Edward in exile and his wife Agatha. Margaret became the queen of Scotland from 1070 to 1093 as the wife of Malcom III. Chroniclers depicted her as a strong, pure Christian of noble character, who had great influence over her husband, the king, and instigated religious reform in the Church in Scotland.
Queen Margaret also was known for her charitable works, serving orphans and the poor every day, before she herself ate, and washing the feet of the poor in imitation of Christ. She rose at midnight every night to attend the nighttime service of prayer. She invited the Benedictine Order to establish a monastery in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1072 and established ferries to assist pilgrims journeying across the Firth of Forth to St. Andrews, which claimed to possess bones of the saint.
She used a cave on the banks of the Tower Burn in Dunfermline as a place of devotion and prayer. Among her other deeds, Margaret also instigated the restoration of Iona Abbey in the Inner Hebrides Islands. She is also known to have interceded for the release of English exiles held in captivity during the Norman conquest of England, paying their ransoms and setting them free.
Margaret was as pious privately as she was publicly. She spent much of her time in prayer, devotional reading, and ecclesiastical embroidery. Her life is celebrated by the Church on November 16.
Prayer
O God, who called your servant Margaret to an earthly throne that she might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave her zeal for your church and love for your people: Mercifully grant that we also may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Improbable Benedictine 