ST. KENTIGERN (JAN. 12TH)

 

St. Kentigern of Scotland

Edited by Bp. Joseph

St. Kentigern's mother was named Teneu, a Celtic princess, the daughter of King Lleuddun, who ruled a territory around what is now Lothian in Scotland. She became pregnant in an affair with one chieftain, Owain mab Urien, who was still married to his lawful wife, Penarwen. For the crime of the scandalous affair, Teneu was thrown into the ocean from the jagged Scottish cliffs by her father, who sought to expunge the shame of his daughter's unlawful union. Surviving this fall, she climbed aboard an abandoned coracle, in which she drifted across the sea to Culross. There, Kentigern was born.

Kentigern's mother abandoned him after his birth and he was adopted by a mystical hermit, named Serf, who was ministering to the Picts. It was Serf who gave him his popular pet-name, Mungo, or “Dear One.” Under his tutelage, Kentigern learned spiritual warfare and the life of asceticism as a young man, quickly becoming wiser than his years. At the age of twenty-five, Kentigern began his missionary labors on the Clyde, on the site of modern day Glasgow. He built his church across the water from an extinct volcano, next to the Molendinar Burn, where the present medieval cathedral now stands. For some thirteen years, he labored in the district, living a most strict monastic life in a small cell and making many converts by his holy example and his passionate preaching.

A strong anti-Christian movement began in Strathclyde, headed by a certain King Morken, and this compelled Kentigern to leave the district. He then fled to Wales, via Cumbria, staying for a time with Saint David in his famous monastery. Afterwards, he moved on to Gwynedd, where he founded a church at Llanelwy. After this, he undertook a heroic pilgrimage to Rome, where he was consecrated a missionary bishop. The new king of Strathclyde, Riderch Hael, invited Kentigern to return from Rome to begin a mission in his kingdom. He decided to go after prayer and fasting, and appointed his monastic brother, Asaph, to be Bishop of Llanelwy in his place.

For some years, St. Kentigern fixed his Episcopal seat at Hoddom in Dumfriesshire, evangelizing the district of Galloway. He eventually returned to Glasgow where a large monastic community grew up around him in his later years. It was here that many miracles were attributed to him, and where his iconic symbol of salmon fish began to be associated with him, after several miracles involved miraculous fishing. It was nearby, in Kilmacolm, that he was visited by St. Columba, who was at that time laboring in Strathtay. The two saints embraced, held long conversation, and exchanged their pastoral crosiers. In his old age, St. Kentigern became very feeble and his chin had to be set in place with a bandage. He is said to have died in his bath before Mass, on Sunday the 13th of January, 614AD.

Collect

ALMIGHTY GOD, by whose grace and power Thy holy bishop and missioner, St. Kentigern, triumphed over all adversaries and was always faithful to the proclamation of the Gospel: Grant us, who now remember him with thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to Thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Kentigern, Pray for Us!