At
a contest between Donegal and Meath,
The
saint prayed, “Let Donegal succeed.”
He
should have prayed, “Thy Will be done.”
His
prayer rose not to Christ, but Krumm.
To
atone for his sinful prayer, so vile,
He
threw his life into exile,
To
spread the loving Word of God
Far
away from his native sod.
Coming
to Loch Ness, he found,
A beast spread terror all around.
He
called the monster from the bay,
Till,
prostate before his feet, it lay.
Then
he issued this stern command:
“Be
at peace; cause no more harm.”
And
ever since that very day,
Men
sail safely across Ness Bay.
Then
the saint strode across the land
Bringing
his word of peace to man.
In
response, the Scots gave up their arms
And,
living in peace, caused no more harm.
And
to make sure
That
so they’d stay,
Colm
fed them Saint John’s Wort
Every
day.
Notes:
“Colm
Cille,” a nickname meaning “Dove of the Oratory,” was one of he most powerful
saints of ancient Ireland.
According
to legend, when two branches of his O’Neill family were in contest for the High
Kingship of Ireland, Colm prayed for the success his own nearest cousin, of the
Donegal branch, against his more remote cousin, the Meath man. He soon realised
that God should not be asked to show favour between competitors, but a fair and
peaceful outcome should always be requested. To ask for favour for one person
to the detriment of another, he realised, is to appeal to the pagan God, Crom
Cruach, and not a proper prayer to the Christian God. In penance, he condemned
himself to exile, and sailed away to spread the word of God in Scotland.
(Actually,
his involvement was probably more culpable than I have just described: he seems
to have prompted the Donegal branch to take arms against the incumbent High
King, belonging to the Meath branch, because of a perceived injustice by the
High King, resulting in several thousand deaths in battle, and bitter
complaints by other clergy about his interference).
Even
though he called himself a dove, he was a strong character with a loud,
commanding voice. Among his miracles, he is credited with taming the Loch Ness
monster. Behind the legend, undoubtedly
there lies a true story, which was probably as follows.
At
Loch Ness, the ferryman refused to take him across the lake, because he had
lost courage. The ferryman’s father, uncle and brother had all been drowned in
pursuit of their vocation as ferryman. “There is a monster in the lake,” said
the ferryman, “who gobbles up the boatmen.” (In reality, storms could rise up
suddenly on the Loch, making it a dangerous place for boats if great care were
not taken).
Colm
Cille took the matter in hand. He enquired the name of the monster, and then he
went down to the lake side and commanded the monster to come forth. His voice
was heard, not only by the ferryman and the monster, but by the people all
around, since his strong voice carried clearly across the water. Then he was
heard chastising the monster for wanton murder of human beings and commanding
it henceforth to obey the Word of God, live in peace, and never again attack
humans.
He
returned to the ferryman and told him: “You need fear no more. The monster will
henceforth behave itself.”
The
ferryman then took the saint across the lake, and resumed his vocation as
ferryman, which he carried out happily for many years.
In
effect, he had nothing to fear but fear itself, and Colm Cille had removed that
fear.
Colm
Cille was a very successful missionary in Scotland, setting up his headquarters
on the island of Iona. His monks brought the best farming methods of the time
to Scotland, and grew or collected many medicinal herbs, including the herb now
known as St. John’s Wort, an inoffensive anti-depressant, which is still
associated, in Scotland, with St. Colm Cille’s name.
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