Celtic and Old English Saints 23 October =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Columba of Cornwall, Virgin and Martyr * St. Ethelfleda, Abbess of Romsey, England, Mentor of Saint Dunstan =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St. Columba of Cornwall, Virgin and Martyr --------------------------------------------- Like the majority of Cornish Churches the Parish Church of St Columb is dedicated in the name of a Celtic Saint-Columba the Virgin. She was a holy women who probably came from Ireland to preach the Gospel to fellow Celts in Cornwall and in Brittany. According to tradition Columba was pursued up the river by a heathen tyrant who wished her to marry his son, and was martyred at Ruthvoes, about 2 1/2 miles from St Columb Town. (Columba in Latin means a Dove- the emblem of tenderness and purity.) The church occupies a splendid position at the head of the Vale of Lanherne. The site was quite possibly a large tumulus or burying place in pre-Christian times. but we know that a church has occupied it for at least 1000 years. >From http://homepages.tesco.net/~k.wasley/St_columb_church.htm - -
