From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

17 April =E2=80=93 Saint Donan of Eigg
(Died 617)

=C2 Priest and Martyr, Monk, Missionary =E2=80=93 Patronages =E2=80=93 th=
e Island of
Eigg, an island in the Inner Hebrides where he was Martyred. He is
also known as Dounan, Donnan and Donnanus.

Saint Donan, also known as Saint Donn=C3=A1n of Eigg, lived from about 550
to 17 April 617. He was probably Irish in origin and probably of noble birth.=C2 He is known for his efforts to introduce Christianity to the
Picts of north west Scotland. Very little remains of him in the
written record but, he is remembered in the quite remarkable number of
places named after him, across large parts of modern Scotland. The
only part of his life to have made it into the annals in any detail
was his death, when he and 52 of his monks were murdered at their
Monastery on the Isle of Eigg.

Donan's birth date of 550 is a supposition, deriving largely from a
comment in a document that he was contemporary of but younger than, St
Columba. He seems to have crossed to south western Scotland early in
his adult life, possibly in company with a number of followers. His
progress can then be traced by a series of places named =E2=80=9CKildonan= =E2=80=9D,
=E2=80=9CKildonnan=E2=80=9D, =E2=80=9CChapel Donan=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9CEi= lean Donan=E2=80=9D stretching up the
western seaboard of Scotland from Ayrshire and the Isle of Arran via
the Western Isles to Sutherland. Additionally, it is said, that at
least eleven churches in Scotland are dedicated to St Donan.

It is said that Donan went to visit St Columbanus, asking him to be
his anamchara or soul-friend, a spiritual director and that Columbanus
refused. This may have been because Donan was welcomed by the Picts
while Columba may have had his difficulties with them. But another
story records that Columba said: =E2=80=9CI will not be anamchara to one, w=
ho
will inherit red martyrdom along with your people.=E2=80=9D

It is interesting, that in the centuries during which Celtic
missionaries were spreading the Christian faith across Scotland, there
are very few examples of any of them coming to any harm, from those
whose faiths they were trying to replace. St Donan is the most notable exception. He and his followers had established a Monastery on the
east side of the Isle of Eigg, facing the Scottish mainland. It is
said that Donan got into a dispute with a local noblewoman over the
grazing of sheep on the island. It seems she chose to resolve the
dispute by commissioning a raiding party to remove the Monks from the
island in the most permanent and brutal way possible. On 17 April 617
the raiding party arrived. They allowed Donan to complete the liturgy
before herding him and all his fifty two monks into the refectory and
setting it on fire, or beheaded, depending on the source.

St Donan was Canonised on 11 July 1898 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmed).


Saint Quote:
You, O eternal Trinity, are a deep sea, into which the more I enter
the more I find, and the more I find the more I seek. The soul cannot
be satiated in your abyss, for she continually hungers after you, the
eternal Trinity, desiring to see you with the light of your light. As
the hart desires the springs of living water, so my soul desires to
leave the prison of this dark body and see you in truth.
--Catherine of Siena

Bible Quote:
For whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world: and this is the
victory which overcometh the world, our faith.=C2 Who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God?=C2 (1 John 5:4-5)


<><><><>
Daily Thoughts and Prayers for Our Beloved Dead

"Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because
the hand of the Lord hath touched me" Job. 19-21.

TWENTY-FIRST DAY

To find ourselves forgotten on earth by those whom we love, and who
have loved us is a cruel trial - but to find ourselves in Purgatory -- forgotten by all whom we loved and helped on earth, must be a most
painful sorrow.

Prayers:=C2 Our Father, Three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis.

De Profundis

=C2 =C2 Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee,
O Lord, Lord, hear my voice.
=C2 =C2 Let Thine ears be attentive to the
voice of my supplication.
=C2 =C2 If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark my iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand it?
=C2 =C2 For with Thee there is merciful
forgiveness: and by reason of Thy
law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.
My soul hath relied on His word;
my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
=C2 =C2 From the morning watch even until
night; let Israel hope in the Lord.
Because with the Lord there is mercy;
And with Him plenteous redemption.
=C2 =C2 And He shall redeem Israel from
all its iniquities.
=C2 =C2 Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them:
=C2 =C2 May they rest in peace. Amen.

O my God, infinitely just, hear our prayers in reparation for the souls suffering in Purgatory for want of charity. Release them from their
pains that they may evermore praise Thee and intercede at Thy
Judgement Seat for us at the hour of our death.

--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)