[MR] Wikipedia: Death of St. Columba

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 597, Saint Columba died on the Holy Island of Hii (now
known as Iona) in western Scotland. Columba, often called the "Apostle to
the Picts", was an Irish monk of royal blood. He and 12 followers came to
Scotland in 563 as missionaries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columba .

The abbey Columba founded on Iona became an important holy site, center of
literacy, training ground for missionaries, and religious administrative
center. Upon Columba's death, his shrine at Iona Abbey became one of
Scotland's most important pilgrimage sites. After the usual decay and
iconoclasm, the 12th c abbey was restored in the 20th century. It remains
an active ecumenical pilgrimage center, under the care of Historic
Scotland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_Abbey .

Columba gets a lot of well-deserved credit for spreading Christianity in
Scotland, but there were other missionaries working in Scotland at that
time, including St. Serf at Culross and St. Kentigern at what would become
Glasgow.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆