St. Margaret's RC Church - History (1989 to date)

St. Margaret's RC Memorial Church

Dunfermline, Fife

St. Margaret's current Parish Priest, Father David Barr succeeded Father Urquhart in 1989. Heir to a long line of distinguished Parish Priests, Father Barr quickly proved himself a match for St Margaret's. Deeply spiritual and capable of the most stirring homilies, he is also a man of the people, a pragmatic, practical, energetic leader whom parishioners have quickly taken to their hearts. He has been energetic in ensuring that the large 19th Century building does not deter modern worshippers. The environs of the Church, now used as a car park have been paved. Flood-lighting has been introduced to enhance the architecture and identify the nobility of the building as a landmark in the town. The vexed issue of heating the huge building has been tackled with success despite much initial cynicism inspired by the failure of earlier attempts.

Father Barr has been particularly successful in continuing the adaptation of the Church interior to the demands of post Vatican II liturgical practice. He had the Church repainted in warmer tones; introduced new halogen lighting and extensive carpeting; brought the sanctuary to the people by extending it and resiting the altar and font in closer proximity to the congregation. He acquired marble from the beautiful chapel of St Mary's Balnakeil, Galashiels, when it closed down. This he had refashioned to form an ambo (lectern), baptismal font, altar and tabernacle plinth. All these practical and aesthetic measures have created a more intimate ambience.

Fr. David Barr

There is a strong emphasis on Community in St Margaret's. The most retiring of parishioners find themselves drawn into the activities of the Parish. The Parish Council is a thriving body with numerous sub-committees deputed to deal with every aspect of Church life. Spiritual life is nourished by groups such as the RCIA, the Scripture Study Group and the Prayer Group. For the more politically aware there is the Third World Group. Lay Readers and Ministers of the Eucharist both male and female are the norm in St Margaret's as are both male and female acolytes. Lay people share the burdens of their parish with the clergy : taking Holy Communion to the sick in Queen Margaret hospital, and to the housebound is one of these.

The high point of Father Barr's ministry to date must of course be the Margaret 900 Celebrations which took place over an entire year in 1993 to mark the 900th anniversary of Saint Margaret's death. His influence ensured that Dunfermline's place in St Margaret' s life was central to the celebrations. The Countess of Elgin, Lady Bruce, whose husband is a descendant of Robert the Bruce, one of St Margaret's most famous pilgrims, agreed to be Patroness. She was tireless in her support of the efforts of the 900 Committee. She permitted her home to be used for fundraising. A figure of £30,000 was realised which enabled an ambitious programme of events to be planned.

St Margaret's Pilgrim People expanded to include people from all walks of life. Father Barr observed afterwards:

"As it turned out all our plans proved to be far too humble and low key. Little did we know that Margaret who influenced the country of her day would wield the same influence on us ... in our Procession of Pilgrims we would include people from high and low estate; HRH Princess Margaret; The Lord High Commissioner; The Moderator of the Church of Scotland; the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church; the late Cardinal Gray; the President of the Scottish Catholic Bishops; Abbots, Bishops as well as many parishes and organisations. Over 15,000 pilgrims came to visit St Margaret's Cave, Dunfermline Abbey and St Margaret's Shrine and to our National Memorial Church where they venerated the Relic of St Margaret."

Events included three televised services from St Margaret's Memorial Church, each on a theme connected with St Margaret's Life: her tending of the sick; her love of children and her care of the poor. An Ecumenical service was held in Dunfermline Abbey. Officiating were clergy from both the reformed Churches and the Catholic Church. St Margaret must have rejoiced to see her people honour her and worship God in harmony once more in the very Church she herself had built 900 years before. The visit of Mother Teresa of Calcutta to Scotland coincided with the celebrations, and the significance of her saintly example was not lost on the makers of the television programmes, who included an interview with her as part of

The beautiful Memorial Church of St Margaret now has a historic rose window (see right) to commemorate the 900th anniversary of her death. Father Barr commissioned the stained glass window from the Fife artist, John Blythe. £2,200 was raised by parishioners and further funds were contributed by the generous bequest of Miss A. Madden. A further £1,500 was raised by a sponsored walk to Knock in Ireland undertaken by Kevin Barnes whose daughter Ciara had the honour of presenting a bouquet to Princess Margaret, a descendant of Queen Margaret, on the occasion of the window's dedication. The window depicts Margaret in the centre as Queen and Saint holding her Book of the Gospels and the Holy Rood. On the right she is seen again arriving at St Margaret's Hope and on the left once more reading to King Malcolm in front of the Church built for their marriage in 1070. The style has a strong medieval quality using traditional colour and composition and emphasising the lessons to be learned from St Margaret's exemplary life. It is certainly, as Father Barr intended, "something of lasting artistic value that future generations will come and see".

The wheel has come full circle. St Margaret has never ceased to watch over the people of Dunfermline. She has reunited them through their devotion to her. In 1996, St Margaret's Memorial Church celebrated one hundred and fifty years of community and a hundred years of stone raised to the glory of God. In doing so it also celebrated the living stones that make up God's spiritual house: the people of St Margaret.

To complement this, in November 2008 the Relic of St.Margaret returned to Dunfermline after many years in the safe keeping of the Ursuline Sisters at Gilles College, Edinburgh and was solemnly dedicated in its new home in the Lady Chapel of St. Margaret’s Memorial Church. (For more details, click here.)

Daily Mass incorporating prayers from the Sacred Office takes place in the re-orientated Lady Chapel. Holy Communion under the species of both bread and wine is administered at both Sunday and daily Masses. A children's liturgy is a regular part of the 9.00am Mass on Sundays, and Baptisms form part of the 11.00am Sunday Mass on a monthly basis, all of which confirms the faithful in their dedication to God.

the transmission from the Memorial Church of the Ecumenical Service for the poor. "On reflection," Father Barr concluded, "as well as attracting Pilgrims to Dunfermline from all over the country, we had in fact gone all over the country and taken St Margaret to her people. "

Historical illustrations by Jurek Putter (see left) of Dunfermline's royal and monastic past were commissioned for the 900 celebrations by the District Council. Copies of these are disposed around St Margaret's Church. (For an example of one of the illustrations, go to Gallery).

Rose Window

Parish Pastoral Council