Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland.
St. Margaret, though the granddaughter of an English king, was actually born in Hungary,
saint of the 11th century.
In the year 1070, she became the bride of Malcolm III, King of Scotland, and there she
reigned as queen until her death in 1093.
And so she lived among the luxury of the royal family.
She was in the royal court and surrounded by all of the world's pleasures at her disposal.
And so we should look at St. Margaret and to see how it is she lived a life of holiness,
how she became a saint in the midst of what would seem to be certainly not a life conducive
to sanctity.
And the first thing we note in St. Margaret is her ardent desire for holiness.
In fact, this is where the path to sanctification begins.
One must first of all desire it, and not with any kind of desire, but as I said, with an
ardent desire.
And this desire needs to be renewed every day.
If we one day wake up and are indifferent towards our sanctification, we will never
arrive at the end.
And so St. Margaret had an ardent desire for holiness.
She was always asking her confessors to correct her faults and to show her the path of virtue
that she should follow.
And she stuck to it.
The next thing we note in St. Margaret's life is she fulfilled her vocation.
Her vocation was, first of all, to the married state.
She fulfilled her vocation. Her vocation was, first of all, to the married state.
She married Malcolm III, and she fulfilled her vocation as wife and as mother, generously.
St. Margaret had eight children, and again, this is the primary end of marriage.
That is, of procreation and bringing up children.
And so St. Margaret was generous in doing so, gave God eight children, and was diligent
in educating them, first and foremost, in holiness.
She also fulfilled all of her other duties as queen, and among these duties, she sought
to honor God, and she also sought the salvation of souls.
She was busy having churches and monasteries built for the honor and glory of God.
And she was also tirelessly seeking that the laws of God be observed throughout the
realm.
So this is another lesson for us in our daily duties.
Let's not forget the honor of God and the salvation of souls where it's possible.
And then, notwithstanding her duties as wife, mother, and queen, she also found time for
prayer.
She was very orderly in carrying out her duties, and always managed to dedicate a certain part
of the day for prayer, and also spiritual reading.
And finally, the last thing I want to mention is that amidst all of the pleasures that surrounded
her, all of her duties as wife, mother, and queen, she always kept her eyes set on heaven.
She was a very good woman.
She was a very good woman.
She was a very good woman.
She was a very good woman.
Well, she liked it in heaven, and therefore her heart as well.
She wasn't distracted by these things, enamored by them, caught up in them so much so that
she lost sight of heaven.
No, it didn't happen that way.
But instead, she always realized that this life in this world was not permanent.
It's not her lasting abode.
. . .
always saw heaven as her final goal. And so again, we see in the life of St. Margaret
lessons for each and every one of us to arrive at sanctity. First of all, to desire it. Second
of all, to fulfill our duties faithfully and generously in that vocation that God has called
us to. Also to be faithful to prayer, spiritual reading, and finally to keep our eyes set on
heaven, our final goal. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.