The group celebrated Mass at the ruins of Iona Nunnery, a Benedictine convent founded in the 13th century. They then held a procession to Iona Abbey, rebuilt in the 20th century at the site of St. Columba’s community.
The pilgrimage concluded with Solemn Benediction with the relics in the abbey’s chapel.
The St. Columba relic came from the relic collection at Carfin Grotto in Motherwell, Scotland.
“St. Columba’s relics were removed from Iona during the Reformation, so their return on Monday is the first time that St. Columba’s bones have returned to Iona since the Reformation,” McGowan said.
A storied life
St. Columba, also known as St. Colmcille, was born in Ireland on Dec. 7, 521. He studied at several monasteries and became a priest. He spent 15 years in Ulster traveling, preaching and founding monasteries. He left Ireland in 563. One account of his life says he left simply in order to preach the Word of God. Another account says he had become complicit in a war between feuding tribes and then repented of his sins, taking on foreign missionary work as a penance.
He died June 9, 597, on what is now observed as his feast day.
The monastic community he founded at Iona became deeply influential as a center of learning and devotion. It produced artistic manuscripts, possibly including the Book of Kells, and carvings including many Celtic high crosses. Iona went into decline after Viking raids in the ninth century. Monastic communities would wax and wane on the island until the Protestant Reformation.
In the mid-20th century, an ecumenical Christian group sought to restore Iona as a place for Christians to pray and gather. A Catholic house of prayer opened on the island in 1997, the first permanent Catholic presence there in 400 years.
Organizers announced the Brecbannoch Pilgrimage on Dec. 7, 2021, the 1,500th birthday of St. Columba.
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“St. Columba came to a pagan Scotland with 12 men and brought the light of the Christian faith to every corner of it,” McGowan told CNA. “In a world that is increasingly anchored to materialism and utilitarianism, his saintly example speaks to a neo-paganism that we face today in our evangelical mission — and by his intercession we can be sure that we can overcome the challenges that face any modern apostle.”
McGowan said the need for the Church to come together after the major waves of the Covid-19 pandemic was a motive for the pilgrimage. He and friends at the Knights of St. Columba Council at the University of Glasgow thought that “after the pandemic the Church in Scotland needed to pray for its mission of renewal, and the best way to do that was to make prayer and penance with the saints who brought the faith to our nation in the first place.”
“Father Ross Campbell, the lead chaplain, was very supportive of the idea and agreed to help us lead a group to carry the relics with this intention in mind,” McGowan added, referring to the Catholic chaplain at the university.
Joss Brace, warden of the Cnoc a’ Chalmain Roman Catholic House of Prayer on Iona, told CNA the house’s oratory hosted the relics overnight after the pilgrimage concluded.
“We felt very privileged to have them there and to be able to pray in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and St. Columba’s relics,” said Brace, adding that the relics will now return to Carfin Grotto.
The pilgrimage was sponsored by the Knights of St. Columba, a Catholic men’s fraternity that collaborates with the Catholic bishops and clergy to support the Catholic faith and the works of mercy. It is active in Scotland, England, and Wales.
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