'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

One of our own

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.