Women and Liturgical Reform: The Case of St. Margaret of Scotland -- By: Bridget Nichols

Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 22:1 (Winter 2008)
Article: Women and Liturgical Reform: The Case of St. Margaret of Scotland
Author: Bridget Nichols


Women and Liturgical Reform:
The Case of St. Margaret of Scotland

Bridget Nichols

BRIDGET NICHOLS studied English and Classics at Cape Town University and taught for a short time at the University of the Witwatersrand. She completed a doctorate in Literature and Theology at the University of Durham (published as Liturgical Hermeneutics, Peter Lang, 1996) and is now Lay Chaplain to the Bishop of Ely (Church of England).

November 16 is the feast day of a remarkable woman: St. Margaret of Scotland. Margaret spent most of her early life in Hungary during her father’s exile. She returned to England with her family in 1056 or 1057, and, shortly after this her father died, leaving her brother as a possible heir to the childless Edward the Confessor. But, Edward died in January 1066, and then came the Norman Conquest. Her meeting with King Malcolm altered those plans and set Margaret on the course toward a career of queenship rather than the life of religious contemplation she seems to have wanted.1

According to one source, it was at Wearmouth that she met the widowed King of Scotland, Malcolm Canmore, whom she later married.2 Her husband was present at the laying of the foundation stone of Durham Cathedral on 11 August 1093, and the story of her life was written early in the twelfth century by Turgot, Prior of Durham and later Bishop of St. Andrews.

Margaret appears in the Church of England’s present calendar of saints as “Queen of Scotland, Philanthropist, Reformer of the Church.” The last appellation is unique. There are other royal saints, and at least one other philanthropist, but no other reformers of the church. The purpose of this article is to reflect on the church’s appropriation of Margaret. For this, we must rely on a single piece of evidence: Turgot’s Life.3

The exercise of reading Turgot shows that Margaret is part of a complex picture. It asks us to consider how rival occupations could live side by side—how did she manage her parallel roles of queen, mother, ministering angel to the poor, freer of slaves, formidable disputant in theological debate, and intensely pious woman? There are two key questions for liturgy and gender in this. The first concerns the accuracy of this way of reading Margaret. Does the church get her right when it recognizes her chiefly for her efforts to revise the ritual and practice of a local church? The second concerns the terms on which women may become saints. Is the church guilty of reforming its notable women by deforming them to fit categories that deny much of the seemingly obvious ...

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