November 16 - St. Margaret of Scotland & St. Gertrude

NOVEMBER 16

The current Roman calendar lists two saints on November 16. Their stories are briefly presented here one after the other.

ST. MARGARET OF SCOTLAND

Margaret was an English princess born in 1046. She and her mother sailed to Scotland to escape from the king who had conquered their land. King Malcolm of Scotland welcomed them. He fell in love with the beautiful princess. Margaret and Malcolm were married before long.

As queen, 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. Before she came, there was great ignorance. Many people had bad habits that kept them from growing closer to God. Margaret worked hard to obtain good teachers to help the people correct evil practices. 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' vestments herself.

Margaret and Malcolm had six sons and two daughters. They loved all their children very much. The youngest boy became St. David. But Margaret had sorrows, too. In her last illness, 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. Margaret was proclaimed a saint by Pope Innocent IV in 1250.

ST. GERTRUDE

Gertrude entered a convent in Saxony when she was very young. Under the care of St. Mechtildis, she grew to be a happy, holy nun. Gertrude was likeable and intelligent. She did very well in Latin studies. In fact, she did not like the study of religion as well as her other subjects at first. But when she was twenty-six, Jesus appeared to her. He told her that from now on, she would think only of loving him and trying to become holy. Now she began to study the Bible with deep delight. She became very learned in our holy religion.

Jesus appeared to St. Gertrude many times. He showed her his own Sacred Heart. Twice he let her rest her head on his Heart. Because of her great love for Jesus, her divine Spouse, Gertrude tried to correct her faults and become better. She trusted in him with her whole heart and was full of peace and joy.

St. Gertrude had a great devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. She loved to receive Holy Communion often, even though in those days, it was not the custom. She was also very devoted to St. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus. Sister Gertrude wrote many beautiful prayers. After suffering for about ten years, this saint went to join the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who made him her spouse.