Feast day of Columba, Irish saint

The luckiest day of the year, especially when it falls on a Thursday. Columba is one of three patron saints of Ireland, the other two being St Bridget and St Patrick. About the time that St Patrick was taken to Ireland as a slave, Columba was born. It was in the heart of the so called Dark Ages, the 6th Century, when Irish colonists and invaders, the Scots, began migrating to Caledonia (later known as Scotland).

Columba (Columkill; Columbkill; Colmcille; Colum; Columbus; Columcille; Columbkille; Combs; December 7, 521 - June 9, 597 his feast day) was an Irish missionary who helped re-introduce Christianity to Scotland and the north of England. He was born in Donegal to Irish royalty, the son of Fedhlimidh and Eithne of the Ui Neill clan ...

There are many stories of miracles that Columba performed during his mission to convert the Picts. He made water from wine; made water issue from a rock; calmed a storm at sea; provided a miraculous catch of fish; multiplied a herd of cattle; drove a demon out of a milk pail; and cured the sick. A book owned by the saint could not be destroyed by water; through his prayers he destroyed a wild boar; he stopped serpents from harming people; angels and manifestations of divine light attended him throughout his life.

St Columba is associated with the story of how the robin got its red breast by pulling out the thorns piercing the crucified forehead of Jesus Christ.

Day of Colum Cille the beloved
Day to put the loom to use
Day to put sheep to pasture
Day to put coracle on the sea
Day to bear, day to die'
Day to make prayer efficacious
Day of my beloved, the Thursday.
Carmina Gadelica

St Columba's herb is St John's Wort, which flowers around now in the Northern Hemisphere; if found accidentally and kept beneath the armpit (where the saint is said to have worn it) this will ward off all kinds of evil. Say this charm when you pick it:

Arm-pit package of Columba the kindly
Unsought by me, unlocked for
I shall not be carried away in my sleep
Neither shall I be pierced with iron
Better the reward of its virtues
Than a herd of white cattle.

Hypericum, or St John's Wort, is one of the few medicinal herbs to receive full validation of efficacy by Western Science. It is effective in cases of depression and anxiety ...

Categories: saint, herb, legend, christianity, superstition, folklore, ireland, scotland