Venerable Margaret Sinclair

St Patrick’s is fortunate to have one of its own former parishioners on the road to being declared a saint of the Catholic Church. The cause for Venerable Margaret Sinclair’s canonisation was introduced to the Sacred Congregation of Rites in 1942 by Pope Pius XII.

Margaret was born on 29th March 1900 in Middle Arthur Place, Edinburgh. She was the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Sinclair, one of a family of nine children. She was baptised at St Patrick’s on 11th April. Margaret’s family later moved to Blackfriars Street, overlooking St Patrick’s church.

She went to St Anne’s school and made her First Holy Communion at St Patrick’s on 8th May 1910. She was confirmed on the same day. She left school at the age of fourteen and worked as an apprentice French polisher, and later in McVitie’s biscuit factory.

Sister Mary Francis

In July 1923 Margaret entered the Poor Clare Convent in Notting Hill, London. Her religious name was Sister Mary Francis of the Five Wounds. In February 1925 she made her religious profession. Less than two months later she was admitted to Warley Sanatorium, Essex, suffering from tuberculosis of the throat. She was nursed throughout her long and painful illness by the Sisters of Charity and died on 24th November 1925. She was buried in Kensall Green Cemetery, north London. Very soon after her death a number of cures and favours, attributed to her intercession, led to her becoming more widely known. In December 1927 Margaret’s remains were brought from Kensal Green Cemetery and reinterred at Mount Vernon Cemetery in Edinburgh.

Cause introduced

In 1942 the cause for Margaret Sinclair’s canonisation was introduced by Pope Pius XII. Meanwhile, devotion to Margaret grew, and a National Margaret Sinclair Centre was established in Rosewell, Midlothian in 1965.

On 6th February 1965 Pope Paul VI declared that Margaret had practised the Christian virtues to a heroic degree, and she was given the title ‘The Venerable Margaret Sinclair’. A strong devotion to Margaret developed throughout the world, but especially in Scotland. Each year an annual pilgrimage to her tomb at Mount Vernon Cemetery took place followed by Mass at St Patrick’s. On October 6th 2003 Margaret’s remains were reinterred in St Patrick’s Church in Edinburgh, and later that month, on October 25th 2003, the new shrine was blessed and dedicated by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Pablo Puente, in the presence of Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien. Shortly afterwards a small museum telling the story of Margaret’s life was established in the foyer of the church, where it can be visited today.

A saint for today

A special Mass is celebrated on the first Monday of every month at 7pm to pray for the beatification of the Venerable Margaret and to ask the Lord to grant our requests through her intercession. The Friends of Margaret Sinclair are also dedicated to furthering her cause. The annual Margaret Sinclair pilgrimage, which takes place in the autumn, is held at St Patrick’s.

The life of Margaret Sinclair powerfully captures the imagination of people today. She worked for a living, she was a member of a trade union, she knew what it was to be made redundant, she experienced prejudice in the workplace because of her Catholic faith. Margaret was immersed in the realities of everyday living, yet was able to transform the ordinariness of her life into the foundation of a deep spirituality.

The people of St Patrick’s recognise Margaret as one of their own who attained great holiness. People from all over Scotland come to her shrine to pray, as well as visitors from all over the world. Her shrine in St Patrick’s is a focus for prayer and devotion in the city.

Dr John Watts has recently revised his biography of the Venerable Margaret, A Beautiful Fragrance. Copies are available from St Patrick’s for £5.