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A Liturgy for St. Columba

by The Monks of Pluscarden Abbey

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about

As the founder of the great monastery on Iona, St Columba (c.52I-597) was enormously infuential in the Celtic Church as a whole, and especially in its spread throughout Northern Britain. An account of his life and miracles was written by a later Abbot of Iona, St Adomnan (628-704]. This bears witness to the deep veneration in which Columba continued to be held after his death. He has remained one of Scotland’s most popular Saints to the present day.

Columba was first and foremost a monk. That is, he was a man who devoted his life to seeking God, to the exclusion of all else. Despite his royal lineage, for the love of Christ alone he left his native Ireland, and made his home on a small Hebridean Island. There he and his followers bound themselves by vow to live as a monastic community, practising poverty, chastity and obedience, spending many hours each day in prayer, and living by the labour of their hands.

Like St Columba, the modern monks of Pluscarden believe that the Lord has called them to the monastic way of life. They, too, have deliberately chosen to renounce the world, preferring nothing whatever to Christ. They follow the Rule of St Benedict (480-550), which Columba could not have known. Nevertheless, the two Saints lived in the communion of the same undivided Church, and they agreed about the essence of monastic life. This remains the same today, despite enormous changes of custom and culture over the centuries. As on Columba’s Iona, the monks of Pluscarden live in community, under an Abbot. They devote themselves daily to prayer, the reading of scripture, and manual work. 7 times a day and once at night they come together to praise God with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. But it is in the Mass above all that they find the summit and the source of their vocation.

Much of the music set out on these pages comes from the standard Gregorian repertoire, but adapted to fit words relating to St Columba. A few pieces, however, of which our Magnificat Antiphon is an example, seem to be unique. Could these represent the lost tradition of Celtic Chant, transmitted orally through the centuries, and here preserved for us? It is possible; certainly it is a pleasing thought. It is anyway certain that the music of mediaeval Inchcolm for this feast is again being regularly sung by monks, to the glory of God, and in honour of St Columba.

credits

released September 22, 2017

Producer: Philip Billson
Sound Engineer: Graham Harwood
Remastered by John Hardy Music

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all rights reserved

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