Collect for St. Columba
O God, you called your servant Columba from among princes to be a herald and evangelist of your kingdom: Grant that your Church, remembering his faith and courage, may so proclaim the splendor of your grace that people everywhere will come to know your Son as their savior and serve him as their king, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen.
This collect reminds us that it takes courage to be a herald and evangelist, a missionary, a witness, to tell others about the splendor of God’s grace. It takes the presence and power of The Holy Spirit.
For the Celtic monastic tradition, this courage was expressed by: peregrinitio pro Christo—the call to wander for the love of Christ.
As a result, the pilgrim seekers believed that there was a place they were called to be and following the signs God gave them would lead them there. It was the place where they would flourish and also find “the place of my resurrection.”
In the year 563, St. Columba traveled with twelve other monks to cross the sea in a leather coracle boat and landed on a small island off the coast of Scotland, now known as Iona. It was here that he began his new work. Iona became a staging point for the expansion of Christianity throughout the British Isles and Western Europe. Iona continues to be a vibrant place of pilgrimage and community today.
Therefore, I give thanks for the life and witness of Columba! May we keep remembering the inspiration of these early monk-missionaries from Iona in our own life’s journey.
An ancient Gaelic prophecy attributed to St. Columba:
Iona of my heart, Iona of my love,
instead of monks voices shall be
the lowing of cattle;
But ere the world shall come
to an end,
Iona shall be as it was.
That trip was a great blessing to all of us…much love to you and your precious Nancy..
So grateful you and Dick were there! It will always be a treasured experience!