Columba, Abbot of Iona

'tis the feast of Columba, and I am on the road, but the great teller of tales, Padre Mickey of Panama, has his usual reliable and lovely saint's story. See here for icon and saga.

On this Columba day, I honor the people of two congregations -- one to which I belonged and where I still have many friends, the last parish to which I belonged as a Catholic, St. Columba (no apostrophe and s) in Oakland, California, a largely African American church with gospel music at Sunday mass and a loving congregation and pastor; the other where I have several friends and connections, St. Columba's in Washington, D.C., which is by Episcopal standards one HUGE church. (It's not where I usually go when I am in D.C., though, I tend to head toward St. Stephen's and the Incarnation or St. Mark's Capitol Hill, depending where and with whom I am staying. But I digress.)

And here's a link to an Orthodox icon of Columba! (A bit on Orthodoxy in the West and the why and how of this Columba iconography here, with another icon.

Blessed Columba, thank you for your life and witness. Holy One of Blessing, thank you for Columba.