Today we stick with the British Isles for a battle between Scotland and England in the form of Margaret of Scotland vs. William Temple. So it's a pious woman of the 11th century (who didn't become a nun!) squaring off against an early 20th century theologian and Archbishop of Canterbury (who didn't become a nun, either!).
It's been said that "every rose has its thorn." In yesterday's Lent Madness action we learned that Rose of Lima's thorn is Brigid of Kildare who defeated her in the most lopsided battle to date, 82% to 18%. Ouch.
After today’s match-up, we only have one more battle left before the start of the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. Check out the updated bracket and the calendar of upcoming battles and then vote!
Margaret of Scotland (1045-1093) was born Margaret Atheling in Hungary and ended up in England with her family as part of a succession plan devised by King Edward. During the tumult following his death, Margaret and her family fled England and landed in Scotland where they found shelter in the court of King Malcolm.
Eventually Margaret set aside her plans to become a nun and married Malcolm. She had eight children and her descendants ruled Scotland for 200 years. During her reign, Scotland became a center of Christian culture.
Known for her piety and fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church, she was instrumental in rooting out corruption in the moribund Scottish Church and rebuilding monasteries at Iona and Dumferline (destroyed by Reformers in the 16th century). While hagiographers tend focus on her commitment to crafting church vestments and ornaments, Margaret was even more renowned in her day for charity and kindness to the poor, especially children and the elderly.
Collect for Margaret of Scotland: O God, you called your servant Margaret to an earthly throne that she might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave her zeal for your Church and love for your people: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate her this day may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
William Temple (1881-1944) was a member of the clergy in the Church of England, who became Bishop of Manchester (1921-1929), Archbishop of York (1929-1942), and Archbishop of Canterbury (1942-1944). His father, Frederick Temple, was also ordained and served as Bishop of Exeter (1869-1885), Bishop of London (1885-1896), and Archbishop of Canterbury (1896-1902). So William, who never knew his father in an official role other than as a bishop, was raised not only in the heart of the Church of England but also in the heart of the British Empire. Perhaps that inspired him to think that Anglican Christianity might be able to build with others a transcendent version of the British Empire, possessing the ability to transform both his own nation and the world. The best example of that firm conviction can be seen in his support of efforts to establish what would become, after his death, the World Council of Churches.
He excelled in his studies at Oxford, where he also lectured until his ordination, and used his noted intellect in his clerical vocation to help the Church of England look beyond its own walls to the needs of society. That passion for social justice, which he expressed in both word and deed, was grounded in his belief in the truth of the Incarnation (i.e., the doctrine that God, in Jesus Christ, “became flesh, and lived among us”). It led Temple to view as sacred every individual and, indeed, all of life.
Before his appointment as a bishop, Temple resigned a comfortable living as the Rector of St. James’s Church, Piccadilly, in London in order to become a leader in the “Life and Liberty” movement. That popular effort to reform the governance of the Church of England successfully added the voice of the laity in a more democratic structure.
Temple became Archbishop of Canterbury during World War II and died on October 26, 1944, after only two and a half years in that role. He did not live to see the end of those hostilities or the results of some of the seeds that he planted, but his hope for the future was nicely summarized in the title of his last book, published in the year of his death: The Church Looks Forward.
Collect for William Temple: O God of light and love, who illumined your Church through the witness of your servant William Temple: Inspire us, we pray, by his teaching and example, that we may rejoice with courage, confidence, and faith in the Word made flesh, and may be led to establish that city which has justice for its foundation and love for its law; through Jesus Christ, the light of the world, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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124 comments on “Margaret of Scotland vs. William Temple”
Really? Margaret of Scotland vs. William Temple? So cruel! Two of my mother's favorite saints meet in conflict. I think I have to vote for Margaret because my twin sister is named for her, but this is really tough.
Got to go with Temple; at last, someone who was alive at the same time I was (albeit only shortly!)
Thanks for the apostrophe alert. My mother would be horrified! I've corrected it and am taking time out of my day to offer penance to the grammar gods.
Social justice and 'the voice of the laity' gets my vote!
Like Mary (who was obviously awake long before I was today - ah time zones!) I also caught the parenthetical reference to St. Margaret's ability to cause actions 5 centuries after her death. I was going to vote for her anyway (we Scots must stick together), but that clinched the battle.
I did my field work at Margaret of Scotland, and I have the 'wildness and the warmth' of Iona deep in my bones. Margaret it is!
William Temple was a person of his time. As we review the saints, I find it best to understand their context and then focus on the direction in which they pointed. For William Temple it was ecumenism, leadership of the laity, academic rigor, and service to the world. He was a person ahead of his time, marked by the Spirit. Really now... I am sensing a significant gender bias in this year's brackets overall as well as today's contest. It's reflected in the insidious "I love the sweet name of Margaret" stuff. If William were female and Margaret a male, with all his "Power to the laity!" and "Up with ecumenism and social justice!" versus Margaret's narrow view of the faith, would this even be close?!
Steve, I also have a bit of trouble with the 'girly' vote (oooh, I was named for her, and thus I must!) element here. I wonder too, whether, if people were aware of the strong circumstantial evidence for Temple having been (closeted) gay, he wouldn't have a much stronger showing in the vote?
possibly gay? that gets my vote. also he seems to have had a part in creating the church culture in which i have almost been comfortable.
Ah, but you see, Mary, 'possibly gay' is (in my book) no better a reason to vote for him than being named for Margaret is a reason to vote for her. Much better reason for me to vote for Temple is that, like me, he loved cats and played the oboe...(which is still a pretty dumb reason, because it had nothing to do with his real contributions).
well, i love cats and oboe music. i've enjoyed learning more about him from your posts.
Bruthah! Where do you see a gender bias in bracket? I count 23 of 32 saints in the contest as male...so if there's a bias in the bracket, it ain't against gents. Supreme Executive Committee -- please weigh in to explain thyself!
Meanwhile, if it is a gender bias in the direction of voting that troubles you, surely you are not advocating that women not be allowed to vote....? ; )
We do agree on Temple - see below (an independent 'simul-post' to yours.)
Point well taken, Jennifer, about the brackets themselves... And your women voting remark deserves my unreserved commendation for its overall snark. 🙂 Frankly, voting for a saint due to gender or name is no better than what many folks do in that upstart "March Madness" bracket. Many folks will vote for a team based on team colors or mascot, or even geographic proximity. Imagine! I relent. But I am just curious to see this year about how the contenders fare overall when looking at gender alone in determining winners. Just sayin'. 🙂
Don't care where they're from or which church - Temple, for advocating that the voice of the laity be heard in the polity of the church, for his ecumenical eye, and for living his understanding of the Incarnation in his commitment to social justice.
Note: for folks not thrilled by 'establishment' and privilege, I'm not sure a queen is a better place to put your vote than a bishop/archbishop...especially this one! ; )
Like the other Margarets (and the people who love them), I admit the name alone draws me to this saint. Her life and works really make the case. But William Temple is no slouch. I'm not surprised at the close vote. Ultimately, even though I'm the daughter of a William, I cast my vote for Margaret.
My wife and I voted for Margaret. I was telling her (my wife, not Margaret) that one
of the things I like about the Lent Madness Comments is that, unlike other website
Comments that I've seen, the participants don't turn nasty and start cursing each other. And they can spell!
I use Word w/ spell checker then paste it in. Not always right, but a good assistant.
12.38 CDST
I admire William Temple, but the vote goes to Margaret after whom my daughter and mother are named.
As a member of a congregation named St. Margaret's & San Francisco de Asis (and you think pitting Scotland against *England* is challenging...), Margaret's the obvious choice for me. Every Sunday I sit in the choir, looking at the stained glass window that shows the Scottish queen with an open hand, offering bread to the poor; I think of her as a generous spirit.
I should vote for the Scot but Temple's achievements and his impact on the church can't be ignored.
As a person with a proud Scots-Irish heritage this was an easy choice for me. The passage of time can be kind to a person's life story and this seems to be true today with Margaret of Scotland.
Margaret was born in Hungary, not Scotland, and moved to England. She fled England with her brother after a failed attempt by family members to seize the throne. She then married the king of Scotland establishing her rather scant Scottish lineage.
She was noted in Scotland for making the royal court more grand much in the likes of others in Europe.
The reforms in the church mentioned in her bio consisted primarily in stamping out Celtic influences and making the church in Roman in nature. She was noted for her efforts in bringing in hundreds of priests from England to carry out this cleansing.
Without a doubt she did good and charitable works in her life but I think that one must look at the total package. My vote today goes to the theologian, author and noted cleric.
Mark one vote up for William Temple.
As a Canon for Social Justice (and a lay person), I can do no other. Go WT!!
It is nice to see collects written by females. I found this mornings holy beings most interesting especially Margaret of Scotland. Since I have Scottish heritage in my background, I, of course, voted for her.
I agree that Temple's theology was NOT modeled after British empire and, indeed, that his theological leadership here is hardly noted. What? No mention of his having done the Gifford lectures? An early visionary of the healthy and godly relation between theology and science? And that he could write so voluminously, even on the train, because he always left off his composition in mid....
Go T!
Now more than ever, we need to learn to get along and to look out for one another. WT's ecumenism and social justice work, including that on behalf of Jewish refugees in WWII, not only earn him my vote but have me feeling inspired as I contemplate his life. And my middle name is William 😉
Bless you! Obviously there are too many Margarets and not enough Williams here (I put in my Quaker vote for the champion of social justice too.)
Temple was an early Gifford Lecturer (second, I think), but far from one of the first to envision a healthy relationship between science and theology. Joseph Butler, for one, was about 200 years prior, and although largely discredited now, William Paley (the 'divine watchmaker' guy) was trying to do exactly that.
The dates in the biography for Margaret don't make any sense. Temple's legacy in the United States includes many effective centers of counseling, assistance for the poor and homeless, etc., including the one here in Portland.
What moderation? She couldn't have lived and died before 1100, yet helped rebuild churches and monasteries destroyed during the Reformation. You also have to wonder about the zeal of a member of one church rooting out corruption in another...
Temple gets my vote. Much of the voting today seems to be connected to the
name Margaret. I look at one line in background on Margaret and think of a number of questions. The line is: "Known for her piety and fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church, she was instrumental in rooting out corruption in the moribund Scottish Church...” My question is what means were used to root out the corruption and is one of them death to the corrupt person or persons. I see Temple's ideas as positive to all people and seeing value to everyone's way of worshiping as seen in his help setting up the World Council of Churches.
I am saving up for the bloody battle which will ensue tomorrow in the Tarsus Derby. So...today vote for whom you please.
Marguerite, I haven't decided yet whether to vote for Paul so he can be taken out (hopefully) by Emma or Mary Magdalene in a later round... or just go with Theodore tomorrow. Reading Corinthians in the daily office lately has confirmed by ABP, (Anybody but Paul) attitude.
I suggest you just go with Theodore tomorrow. 🙂
I went with Temple because I overuse a quote of his that I have not yet heard referenced: When we decide wisely, God reigns; when we decide foolishly, God reigns. That's not the entire quote, but it is one that has kept me on solid footing and in a non-anxious place during many a congregational conflict! Please don't burst my bubble and tell me Temple never said this . . .
He definitely DID say it--he had been called in to preach last minute at a Lambeth Conference for an ailing ++Randall Davidson, and that was the closing sentence of the sermon. And it has stuck. Wish every preacher who had to work last minute could pull out something that good! It makes me angry when I hear terrible sermons from preachers who admit to waiting to work on their Sunday homily until late Saturday night, on the excuse of 'I work better under pressure.' When you work as well as this on short notice, you can make that claim--not a second before (unless your 'best' really isn't very good...)!
An archbishop, and son of a bishop, who made the way for the laity...gets this lay person's vote! Go Temple!
i am a distant relative of a St. Margeret. # 2 reason for voting for her . # 1 is what she did for the poor, and following Gods word.
While Margaret was born in Hungary, her grandfather was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings. Her father was sent into exile when Canute conquered England. The ethnicity of her mother has been the subject of great debate and is ultimately unknown. Bottom line, she's not Hungarian or Scottish but (at least partly) English. She had no knowledge of Scottish Gaelic, which is why she insisted on the court language being English, which it apparently thereafter remained. She detested the Celtic Church and strongly worked for its Romanization. She was no friend of the Highlanders.
As a descendant of Gaelic Highlanders, I'm not a terribly big fan of hers. So with regrets, Temple it is.
Temple. I liked what the blurb had to say about him. Power to the laity!
I really struggled more with this one than any other. I have such admiration for ++Temple, but my lifetime relationship with stories of my ancestor Margaret are pulling at my heartstrings! Both worked for the poor, and in their own traditions furthered the work of the Church....I finally chose Margaret: too many years spent honoring her before I even learned of the great William Temple!
As a mother of a 2003 graduate of St. Margaret's School in Tappahannock, Virginia, one of the church schools of the Diocese of Virginia, I've got to go with Margaret! Go Scotties!