Mungo Founder of Glasgow

St Kentigern (or St Mungo) Feast 13th January

Nunraw Abbey Publications

"Mungo: Tales of Kentigern"

Online (Cleared Formatting)

http://liamdevlin.tripod.com/nunraw/mungo.htm

Saint Kentigern Glasgow’s Coat of Arms includes a bird, a fish, a bell and a tree, the symbols of Kentigern. The Bird commemorates the pet robin owned by Saint Serf, which was accidentally killed by monks who blamed it on Saint Kentigern. Saint Kentigern took the bird in his hands and prayed over it, restoring it to life. The Fish was one caught by Saint Kentigern in the Clyde River. When it was slit open, a ring belonging to the Queen of Cadzow was miraculously found inside it. The Queen was suspected of intrigue by her husband, and that she had left with his ring. She has asked Saint Kentigern for help, and he found and restored the ring in this way to clear her name. The Bell may have been given to Saint Kentigern by the Pope. The originalbell, which was tolled at funerals, no longer exists and was replaced by the magistrates of Glasgow in 1641. The bell of 1641 is preserved in the People’s Palace. The Tree is symbol of an incident in Saint Kentigern’s childhood. Left in charge of the holy fire in Saint Serf’s monastery, he fell asleep and the fire went out. However he broke off some frozen branches from a hazel tree and miraculously re-kindled the fire.

Lord Macleod, founder of the Iona Community, wrote of this book: "No other biography . . . has caught, in a such concise compass and with such warmth of appreciatiion, the true image of the saint . . ."