At the beginning of August, having returned my parents safely to Durham after a visit to see us in Essex, I decided to escape North of the Border to Scotland for a brief visit. For as long as I can remember I have longed to visit Iona, a remote Hebredian island off the west coast of Scotland. On the way north my intention was also to visit another holy island - Lindisfarne - alas, the tide was coming in at a rate of knots when I arrived so access at that time was impossible. Coming from County Durham I have been to Lindisfarne many times in past years - yet it was tantalizing to have a glimpse of Holy Island and be denied access because of the elements. Yet, the object of my brief pilgrimage was Iona - the mother church of Lindisfarne.

I have a great love of the Celtic saints who populated the seventh century and made it a golden era for the Christian faith (it is a misnomer to describe such times as "the Dark Ages" for the light of Christ shone very bright indeed in the seventh century) in that time following the departure of the Romans in A.D. 410 and the arrival of the Vikings in the ninth century. However, I pressed on and after a night in Edinburgh ("the Athens of the North") I arrived at Oban and took the ferry over to Mull, thereafter I travelled on a long single track road to the west of the island in order to get my first glimpse of the wonderful isle of Iona.
 

Iona is of religious and spiritual significance because St. Columba founded a monastery there after he was banished from his native Ireland. Columba (or Collum Cille, as he is known in Ireland - which means Dove of the Church) died in 597 A. D. - the same year that St. Augustine (the first Archbishop of Canterbury landed in Kent). In 1997 - to celebrate the 1400th anniversary of Augustine's arrival and to mark the 1400th anniversary of Columba's death -

I went on a pilgrimage from Rome to Canterbury - progressing onwards through Wales into the Republic of Ireland on to Loch Garten - the place where Columba was born in County Donegal. It was a two month sabbatical that has lived with me ever since and has greatly enriched my ministry. From Iona St. Aiden was sent to found the monastery at Lindisfarne - the same monastery in which St. Cuthbert was nurtured.

A short ferry ride to Iona fulfilled a long-time ambition - to visit the place of St.Columba's monastery. When I arrived at the Abbey a short morning service was taking place - it was a joy to worship the Living Lord in such a holy place. After the service all was peaceful and I was so overcome with a sense of the presence of God that I simply had to sit down - almost moved to tears remembering the great significance of Iona in the Christian heritage of these islands of ours. In Columba's time the monastery would consist of a series of beehive cells - the invasion of the Vikings sadly despoiled the monastery and great literary works like the Book of Kells, created by the monks on Iona, eventually found their way to Dublin where they can now be seen. Later the Benedictines built a more substantial monastery in the Gothic style but this too became ruinous at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. But God is very great and in the 1930s he raised up a remarkable Presbyterian Minister called the Rev'd George MacLeod who had the vision to restore the church and abbey to its former glory. He took trainee ministers and unemployed shipbuilders from the Clyde and Glasgow over to Iona and, working co-operatively, they put a new roof on the abbey church.

Nowadays a vibrant Christian Community lives, works and prays on Iona - it is a wonderful place of spiritual retreat and refreshment (the late John Smith - former Leader of the Labour Party chose to be buried on the island and I visited his grave and placed a small stone upon it - along with others placed there in form of a small cairn). My brief time of peace and quiet tranquillity was interrupted when the builders who were repairing the tower started up their work again. The repetitive noise from the blows from the mallet sounded almost like the heart-beat of God resonating around the Abbey church.

My time on the isle of Iona was all too brief but it fulfilled an ambition and certainly re-charged my spiritual batteries. I am all the better for having visited such a holy and religiously significant place. May God bless the work of the Iona Community and may God bless us all as we continue on our Christian pilgrimage through life.

Many Blessings,

FATHER DAVID