Margaret of Scotland was a truly liberated woman in the sense that she was free to be herself. For her, that meant freedom to love God and serve others.
Not Scottish by birth, Margaret was the daughter of Princess Agatha of Hungary and the Anglo-Saxon Prince Edward Atheling. She spent much of her youth in the court of her great-uncle, the English king, Edward the Confessor. Her family fled from William the Conqueror and was shipwrecked off the coast of Scotland. King Malcolm befriended them and was captivated by the beautiful, gracious Margaret. They were married at the castle of Dunfermline in 1070.
Malcolm was good-hearted, but rough and uncultured, as was his country. Because of Malcolm’s love for Margaret, she was able to soften his temper, polish his manners, and help him become a virtuous king. He left all domestic affairs to her, and often consulted her in state matters.
Margaret tried to improve her adopted country by promoting the arts and education. For religious reform she encouraged synods and was present for the discussions which tried to correct religious abuses common among priests and laypeople, such as simony, usury, and incestuous marriages. With her husband, she founded several churches.
Margaret was not only a queen, but a mother. She and Malcolm had six sons and two daughters. Margaret personally supervised their religious instruction and other studies.
Although she was very much caught up in the affairs of the household and country, she remained detached from the world. Her private life was austere. She had certain times for prayer and reading Scripture. She ate sparingly and slept little in order to have time for devotions. She and Malcolm kept two Lents, one before Easter and one before Christmas. During these times she always rose at midnight for Mass. On the way home she would wash the feet of six poor persons and give them alms. She was always surrounded by beggars in public and never refused them. It is recorded that she never sat down to eat without first feeding nine orphans and 24 adults.
In 1093, King William Rufus made a surprise attack on Alnwick castle. King Malcolm and his oldest son, Edward, were killed. Margaret, already on her deathbed, died four days after her husband.
Reprinted with permission from Franciscan Media. Visit www.franciscanmedia.org for more. Saint of the Day is a popular daily web feature and newsletter. The app is available for download via iTunes and Google Play.
HISTORY OF ST. MARGARET’S CATHOLIC CHURCH
GIDDINGS, TEXAS
St. Margaret’s Catholic Church is located in Central Texas, in the city of Giddings. Before the 1930s, missionaries travelling Central Texas first ministered Catholic families living around Giddings. By September 1932, Father Sebastian Rubi TOR. came to Giddings on a monthly basis and held services at the home of Mr. Raymond Treviño. When Fr. Rubi was transferred to Wichita, Fr. Rubi asked his friend Father F.D. Urbanowsky to tend to the spiritual needs of the people. With the permission of Bishop Byrne, from March 1934 to 1939, the Rev. F.D. Urbanowsky came once a month to tend to the spiritual needs of the people, these monthly visits were supplemented once or twice a year when Fr. Urbanowsky came three times a year with his trailer chapel, The Espiritu Sancto, to conduct a week’s mission each visit. By that time the home of Mr. Treviño became too small for the large numbers.
From 1940 to 1943, Fr. Louis Le Blanc built a first white frame church and St. Francis Church begun. In 1943, Fr. George Elmendorf took care of the Giddings church; but by May 1944, the zealous Fr. LeBlanc recovered his health and was appointed as the first resident pastor of the new St. Francis Parish, with Pin Oak as a mission.
The rectory was begun in March 1945, but Fr. LeBlanc was stricken with serious illness and lingered in poor health and two months later he passed away on July 19, 1947, before the rectory was completed. In 1945 when F. Henry Gottschalk, became the new pastor. He remained pastor until he was replaced by Fr. Vincent Waiches, SVD in April 1951.
Fr. Vincent Waiches, S.V.D. After meeting with the Bishop, he was requested to start planning for a new permanent church with the aid of the Extension Society (who requested that the name of the church be changed to St. Margaret’s Church) completed a yellow brick structure in 1954 which was to serve the parishioners until the present time. Soon after his arrival, he renovated the interior of the rectory. Regular religious education classes for the young people began.
Fr. Alvin Trublowski, SVD, from 1954-1964 chronicled the building of the rectory. In 1964 Fr. Michael Bodnar, SVD, a missionary newly arrived from New Guinea, was assigned to take his place. Fr. Bodnar, while ministering to the spiritual need of the people, instituted a “building fund” and established a mission at the newly created State School in Giddings for troubled youths.
Fr. Herman J. Vincent assumed Fr. Bodnar’s duties with the parish and the State School in 1978 upon Fr. Bodnar’s retirement. Fr. Vincent was instrumental in implementing liturgical changes as dictated by the Vatican Council.
In 1980, Fr. Amos Frerichs, SVD was appointed pastor of St. Margaret’s. Within three years, Fr. Amos reorganized many parish activities and spear-headed the building of a new and modern church.
Fr. Clement Mathis and Fr. Jayme served as substitute Pastor until Fr. Victor Mathias, originally from India, was assigned to St. Margaret’s Church in April, 1988, serving until July of 1991.
Fr. Ryszard (Richard) Goluch, from Poland, was then assigned to St. Margaret’s. Under his direction, the education building was completed in the summer of 1992; he strongly believed that having a religious education building our children would have a religious education program.
In 1999, Fr. Raphael Clancy joined St. Margaret’s for a short time; in July of the same year, Fr. Juan Antonio Maravilla was assigned to St. Margaret’s as a pastor. With the parish growing, this created the need for a secretary to be established for the first time. Martha S. Bettis was hired and has been diligently serving in that role until the present time.
July 2000 brought about another change and Fr. Albert C. Ruiz joined St. Margaret’s. Due to the growth of our parish, he purchased the white house across the street from the church. It was renovated and converted into the current Parish Office in 2001.
In January 2002, Fr. James R. Olnhausen was assigned as pastor of St. Margaret’s. He began a number of much needed improvements; the first of which was the Education Building which was remodeled to accommodate its growing needs.
In 2004, St. Margaret’s did a major renovation of the Parish Hall and held a Rededication in November in honor of the Feast of St. Margaret of Scotland. 2004 also brought to St. Margaret’s Deacon Mark Hamlet who served as permanent Deacon for both St. Margaret’s and St. Mary’s at Pin Oak until early 2008.
In 2005, the recently acquired building serving as the Parish Office completed its renovation with the addition of ramps and wheelchair access. Since then, the kneelers have been completely overhauled in the interior of the church, and permanent sign markers have been placed in front of St. Margaret’s and the Parish Office.
In 2012, Fr. James Olnhausen saw the need for an addition to our Religious Education program due to the increased of students; therefore, he begun in earnest the preparation of a second Religious Education building. Not until February 21, 2016, that the dedication by Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of the new building took place. Fr. Jim R. Olnhausen retired on July 15, 2016, after 13½ years of faithful service.
Our new pastor, Fr. Uche Andeh, arrived at St. Margaret’s on July 19, 2016. Since then, he has been working toward the growth of our faith in the Catholic religion.