Catholic Parish Ongar

History of Saint Margaret and our Catholic Parish Church in Doddinghurst

St. Margaret was born in the Kingdom of Hungary to the expatriate English Prince Edward the Exile and with her family, returned to England in 1057, marrying King Malcolm of Scotland by the end of 1070.

She was a strong, pure noble character and known to have interceded for the release of fellow English exiles who had been forced into serfdom by the Norman conquest of England.

Margaret was a very pious Christian and spent much of her time in prayer, devotional reading and ecclesiastical embroidery. Pope Innocent IV canonized St. Margaret in 1250 in recognition of her personal holiness, fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church, work for ecclesiastical reform with the guidance of the future Archbishop of Canterbury and her many charitable works.

Canon Petry, from the Diocese, commissioned the statue of St. Margaret of Scotland to be carved in Italy and donated it to our Parish. The statue depicts St. Margaret carrying a basket of bread. She regularly gave bread to the poor and legend has it that her husband, the King, was not happy with this, but when he went to look at the basket he could only see roses not bread, which is reflected in our Flower Display.

Her feast day in the Roman Calendar is 16th November on the date of her death. She is also venerated as a Saint in the Anglican Church.

Colonel Kittoe, a relative of Mrs Budgen, willed the plot of land that St. Margaret’s Church is built on to the Roman Catholic Church. Local people dug the foundations and Canon Petry commissioned the cedar-wood building to be constructed on the plot and it was dedicated as a Mass Centre in 1970.

St. Margaret’s came into being through the dedication of a small band of parishioners and its development has been achieved through the hard work of many lay people, Catholic and non-Catholic. Fund raising has required a lot of social activities and helped develop a very friendly and active community. The area has many young families and the development of the children’s liturgy has meant that parents are happy to bring their children to a Church where they will be welcomed.