A bishop will be joining the pilgrimage of a Catholic charity to retrace the steps of a famous Scottish saint in order to raise awareness and money for persecuted Christians in Lebanon and Nigeria.
Bishop John Keenan of Paisley will join a team from Aid to the Church in Need’s Scottish office when they complete the second leg of their walk which follows the steps of St Margaret after she was shipwrecked in 1068. The walk on 14 December will cover around 11 miles from South Queensferry to St Margaret’s Chapel in Edinburgh Castle. Along the route walkers will pray for the suffering and persecuted Church and for ACN benefactors.
Lorraine McMahon, head of operations in Scotland for ACN, said: “Half of the money raised will feed families in Lebanon at St John the Merciful Table and half will go to ACN’s widows and orphans project in Nigeria.”
The St John the Merciful Table in Lebanon feeds 1,600 people daily and in Nigeria orphans who have lost their parents at the hands of Boko Haram militants receive clothing and food. “Our ACN team in Scotland have been inspired by the story of St Margaret of Scotland, by her strength, her faith, her kindness, her sense of justice and her almsgiving,” she said.
The first ten miles were walked on the feast of St Margaret on 16 November. Staff from the ACN Office in Scotland followed a route from North Queensferry onto Dunfermline Abbey, passing Malcolm’s Tower, and then on to pray before her relic in St Margaret’s Church in Dunfermline. The prayer was said, “St Margaret of Scotland, help us to live by your example so that Christ’s mercy and goodness is visible in today’s world.”
St Margaret led a life of prayer, charity and fasting. She was known for feeding, serving and giving alms to the poor and was famous for giving away her cloak or another piece of clothing to women that she met and whom she believed needed it more than herself.
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