20-12-2012   THE VENERABLE MARGARET SINCLAIR OF EDINBURGH SCOTLAND




A SHORT STORY OF

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE VENERABLE MARGARET SINCLAIR.


Whether you are a Christian or not. Whether you are a Catholic or not
The simple story of the life of this remarkable young Edinburgh woman is well worthy of your consideration, especially today !

The late Cardinal Gordon Gray who I knew, was a scion of our own Keppoch Clann, was a man similar in nature to Margaret Sinclair, as were many of our family. Down to earth. Serving rather than being served and above all loving and serving God to the best of our ability in work and play.

Margaret was a poor working girl from an early age and came from a hard working poor family in Edinburgh. It is well worth considering her short life of hard work and love of others and above all her love of God Almighty ! When you think about the economic situation in the world today and the struggle that many families have to survive you will welcome reading the story of her short life here on earth.
I have copied most of the information that I read online while looking for information about Margaret Sinclair.
This arose because we were visiting Mount Vernon Cemetery that day, and discovered that Margaret Sinclair had been buried there some 81 years ago.

My wish for everyone who reads this story is that they find comfort and solace in it for the loss of their loved ones !

Beannachadh Dhia dhuibh

Mac Mhic Ronuill.

THE STORY BEGINS HERE >>>

The Venerable Margaret Sinclair - Sister Mary Francis of the Five Wounds of Christ

PRAYER for private use
Lord, Our God,
you granted Margaret Sinclair,
a share in the sufferings of your Son
and in his zeal for the salvation
of men and women.
Through her glorification
may we come to share in your glory.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

Amen

PRAYER for private use
God our Father,
we honour your servant
Margaret Sinclair
as a model of holiness.
We ask you to grant
the requests we make
through her intercession
as a sign of the favour
she enjoys in your sight.
We make this prayer
through Christ, our Lord.

Amen

A Child's Prayer

Margaret Sinclair, God's cheerful servant on earth,
help me to imitate the virtues which made you a great friend of Jesus and His Blessed Mother.

Please grant a sign that you are a saint in heaven by obtaining for me a favour which I now
earnestly request. (here tell Margaret your request)
Margaret Sinclair, hard-working girl - servant of God, pray for us.

Amen.

'Tell your people to pray for a miracle'
The words of Pope John Paul II to the then Archbishop Keith O'Brien of St Andrews and Edinburgh.
'Margaret could well be described as one of God's little ones, who through her very simplicity, was touched by God with the strength of real holiness of life, whether as a child, a young woman, an apprentice, a factory worker, a member of a Trade Union or a professed Sister of religion' said Pope John Paul II. "l fully appreciate the aspirations of the Catholics of Scotland, and elsewhere, for that singular event [of canonisation]to be realised, and I know that you are praying that it may come about." Rosewell, lst June. 1982.
'The devout and generous life of sister Mary Francis of the Five wounds, otherwise known as Margaret Sinclair, an extern sister in the Order of the Poor Clares, provides a striking contemporary example of evangelical heroism, not only for her sisters in religion but for all the faithful whatever their state in life.

Whether we consider her in family life, or in school, as an ordinary working girl or as a suister in the Poor Clare convent or finally as a patient in the sanatorium where she died, we are presented with a spectacle of outstanding holiness.

In the presence of the cardinals and others concerned, the Supreme Pontiff solemnly decreed that the Servant of God had in fact practiced to a heroic degree the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, and also the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, with other related virtues.'
From the decree of the Sacred Congregation for the causes of Saints, 6th February 1978.

A Timeline of Margaret's Life

March 29th 1900: Born in Edinburgh, daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Sinclair, one of a family of nine children.
April 11th 1900: Baptised Margaret Anne at St Patrick’s.
August 1906: Attends St Anne’s School, Edinburgh, under the care of the Sisters of Mercy.
May 8th 1910: Makes first Holy Communion; confirmed same day at St Patrick’s.
August 1914: Starts work as an apprentice french polisher. Joins trades union. Member of Sodality of Children of Mary. Worked in McVitie’s Biscuit Factory.
July 22nd 1923: Entered Convent of Poor Clares Colettines, Notting Hill, London.
February 11th 1924: Received the habit as an extern sister: Sister Mary of the Five Wounds.
February 14th 1925: Religious Profession.
April 9th 1925: Admitted to Warley Sanatorium, Essex, suffering from tuberculosis of the throat. Nursed by Sisters of Charity.
November 24th 1925: Margaret dies after long and painful illness. Buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
December 22nd 1927: Margaret’s remains reinterred at Mount Vernon Cemetery, Edinburgh.
August 1931: Informative Process, Edinburgh, under presidency of Archbishop McDonald.
February 3rd 1942: Cause introduced to Sacred Congregation of Rites by Pope Pius XII. Margaret becomes ‘The Servant of God’.
August 15th 1952: Archbishop Gray presides over Apostolic Process, Edinburgh. Tribunal closes 13th October 1952.
June 29th 1965: Opening of National Margaret Sinclair Centre, Rosewell, Midlothian.
February 6th 1978: Pope Paul VI declares that Margaret practised the Christian virtues to a heroic degree. She is given the title: ‘The Venerable Margaret Sinclair’.
October 2003: Margaret’s remains reinterred at The Chapel of the Resurrection at St Patrick’s, Cowgate, Edinburgh. On 25th October shrine is blessed and dedicated by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Pablo Puent
The Chapel of the Resurrection at St Patrick’s, Cowgate, Edinburgh.

The life of Margaret Sinclair powerfully captures the imagination of people today. We can identify with someone who knew what it was to work for her living, who knew what it was to be made redundant, who met with prejudice in the workplace because she was a Catholic. 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. Her cheerfulness, her concern for others, her devotion to prayer are all well attested. She is one of our own who attained great holiness. We pray that she will one day be made a saint of the Church.


If you would like to know more about the life of The Venerable Margaret Sinclair the Catholic Truth Society has published a short biography of her life written by Jennifer Brave, which can be purchased online by clicking on the link below.

Margaret was born in 1900 in a tenement in Edinburgh, the the third of six children of a hardworking dustman, Margaret grew up amid the First World War and hard times. She was a beautiful young woman who was also resolute in her faith. She knew hard work. She was a disciple of Christ, in season and out of season. After severe tuberculosis, she died at the age of 25, by which time she had become Sr Mary Francis of the Five Wounds - a Poor Clare nun.

Her short life invites us and challenges us to consider Christ afresh, full of love and tenderness, always fighting for our happiness.

A Catholic Truth Society Biography of Margaret Sinclair is available.

In the 81 years since her death, thousands of people have turned to her in their need and have asked her prayers. Through her intercession it is believed that many miracles have occured.

Shortly to be published at Christmas 2011 is a new and excellent biography of Ven Margaret Sinclair written by Dr John Watts. Additionally Monsignor Robson, the vice-postulator the the cause, has reprinted a booklet written in 1926 by the Dowanhill Sisters shortly after Margaret's death. Both of these publications are available to you by contacting him - see his details below.

Monsignor Stephen Robson.
Our Lady Star of the Sea
9 Law Road,
North Berwick
EH39 4PN

or email
monsignorstephenrobson@gmail.com

The National Shrine of the Venerable Margaret Sinclair in St Patrick's Cowgate Edinburgh is open daily for individuals or groups who wish to come and pray. There are monthly devlotions to pray for her beatification on the first Tuesday of every month. Each year there is an annual pilgrimage in her honour led by His Eminence the Cardinal.
For more information on the Venerable Margaret Sinclair or the Annual Pilgrimage Day or for more information about joining The Friends of Margaret Sinclair write to:

The Redemptorists.
5 South Gray's Close,
40 High Street,
Edinburgh.
EH1 1TQ

or phone 0131 566 1973.

To send prayer petitions and thanksgivings via email, prayers@stpatricksparish.co.uk
please note it is St Patrick's Cowgate Edinburgh not St Patrick's Kilsyth who will receive your petitions

Notification of Favours and Cures

Details of all favours and cures received through the intercession of the Venerable Margaret Sinclair should be reported to the Vice Postulator for her cause:

Monsignor Stephen Robson.
Our Lady Star of the Sea
9 Law Road,
North Berwick
EH39 4PN

or email
monsignorstephenrobson@gmail.com


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14-12-2012   A Christmas Greeting from the Chief of Keppoch


A warm friendly greeting to all members of the Honourable Clan Raonuill of Lochaber from your Chief Ranald Alasdair MacDonald of Keppoch, Mac Mhic Raonuill.
"May your receive all the blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ, son of God Almighty, Great Architect of the Universe and Maker of all things in heaven and earth!"

HE has made it possible for our clan's first great achievement. The provision of a lasting memorial to be placed on the graves of our Keppoch ancestors in the ancient Keppoch Burial Grounds of Cille Choirill in Roybridge, Lochaber, Scotland.

This was completed as promised, in the latter part of the Year of the Lord 2011.

The work of installing the Keppoch Bronze Memorial Plaque was undertaken by my son Chieftain Alasdair Raonuill MacDonald of Keppoch,
Professional Landscape Gardener and Artist, under ardous conditions.

My father's dying wish has been honoured and his ashes have been interred beneath the plaque, and he now lies at rest at long last in the bosum of his family .

On arrival at Cille Coirill the weather was stormy and hazardous. But
miraculously, at the moment of the interment of my father's ashes and the setting of the plaque on our grave, the winds ceased, the sun broke out above Ben Nevis Massive, and a dazzling beam of sunlight shone on that spot precisely.Outside of this amazing sunlight beam all was a sheet of darkness. An amazing experience that my wife, my son and I will never forget and cherish forever !
Keppochs served their fellow man, God and country and the experience that day established the fact, that they lived, toiled and served God to the best of their ability in "God's Own Country" - Lochaber from time immorial !

I wish to thank all of my clansmen and family, who contributed financially towards the provision of our Keppoch Bronze Memorial Plaque, and let them all know that this was the first important step for our clan. The next being, the provision of a Keppoch Clan Centre on the duthhas ( the lands of our ancestors in Lochaber ).
That matter has not been forgotten by me and will be given my attention in the New Year !

My son Chieftain Alasdair Raonuil MacDonald of Keppoch took the photographs at the installment of our Keppoch Memorial Bronze Plaque. They have now been successfully posted on our clan website below this message . Owing to the size of the pictures, they had to be reduced in size to allow them to be displayed on our website. They have been displayed separately for the same reason.
They can be enlarged by those with sufficient computer 'know-how' and of course our Keppoch Clan Bronze Memorial Plaque can be viewed personally by all visitors to Cille Choirill in Roybridge, Lochaber, now, and in the future !
Beannachadh Dhia Dhuibh !

If you read my Christmas Greeting first,please then highlight News Archives on left of screen, to view the other photographs taken at this installation ceremony. I say 'ceremony' because we knelt and blessed my father and all our ancestors buried in this very holy burial ground of the Keppoch Clann.

Mac Mhic Raonuill
32nd Chief of the Honourable Clan Ranald of Lochaber.

13-12-2011   Keppoch Bronze Memorial Plaque in Cille Choirill.

Photograph of Keppoch Bronze Memorial Plaque in Cille Choirill

This is a a photograph of the Chief of Keppoch, Mac Mhic Raonuill
standing beside the lair of his ancestors in the ancient Keppoch Burial Grounds in Roybridge, Lochaber.

View All News

A warm and cordial welcome to Keppoch clansmen world-wide.

This site has been designed especially with you in mind, and I trust and sincerely hope, that it is stimulating and beneficial to you all.

It is the first for the Clan Ranald of Lochaber, and is in the process of being developed. So please be patient, and you will I feel sure, find it both interesting and rewarding. It will eventually contain a wealth of information to help all those seeking further details of our clan, its origin, its present status and future aims. Its primary aim is to reunite our clan after a long interval of 156 years, and to facilitate easier and better communication between us all.

You will be able to communicate and create friendships with clansmen throughout the world. We will establish links with other well established web sites of similar interests, and others of diverse but interesting and helpful inter-related subjects, such as : current Scottish News at Home and Abroad, on-line Gaelic language courses, music and song, educational Gaelic teaching organizations, magazines etc, Scottish /Celtic history, and genealogical services, entertainment, tourism, shopping etc. It will be an exciting one -stop-shop for all those interested in their clan's origins and heritage.

MAC MHIC RAONUILL