Subscribers Letter
A personal word....
100 Plus!
Hello all, I thought I would just get in touch with you to say a big thanks for helping us pass our first milestone. As of last week over 100 people are subscribing to the newsletter which I never thought possible in barely 6 months! However it shows that there is an appetite in Scotland for good Catholic content written in and by the people living here. From the outset I’d hoped to find and showcase the talents and stories God has placed right here, and so far I’ve not been disappointed! . We have Religious writers, Priests, lay men and women of differing ages, backgrounds and nationalities all writing the weekly reflections in order to bring you something that will help your walk with God. I also wanted to help reveal the riches of the Catholic faith in Scotland - a land that is literally saturated with Saints sites and wells. A Scotland that kept a special place for Mary, with the devotional title ‘Mhoire’ and a Scotland that’s faith runs deep and will not be washed away by time or modern society.
Just a few things about St Moluag’s Coracle
You probably wonder how and why certain articles and Saints are used in the newsletter. It is a mixture of Liturgical calendar, important events or publications, topics that people write in their reflections and what I have come across that week. It all goes into a mix and I pray God guides me!
The Lesser Spotted Saints: We have been blessed by John Woodside’s videos on some of the Saints and also his book on the topic: Together In Christ Following the Northern Saints. These Saints are emphasised over some of the more well known ones for precisely that reason - part of the Coracle’s work is revealing Scotland’s Catholic history which is still largely forgotten
The Curated Content Section: Here we try and highlight some of the best articles and Catholic resources available to help grow in our faith, with an emphasis on local writing when possible.
No Politics! We will never discuss or speculate on Secular or Church politics. We are a platform for orthodox Catholic teaching and will stick with that as best we can!
Who is St Moluag and what is a Coracle?
St Moluag was of noble birth of one of the North Eastern Irish clans that began expanding into South West Scotland in the 6th Century. He became a Bishop and was ordained by St Comgall at Bangor Monastery, one of the biggest in Europe at that time. A contemporary with St Columba, both set off to evangelize in Scotland where reportedly both had set their eyes on Lismore, an Island off Oban as their base. St Moluag won the race and began on Lismore. Lismore was an important cultic site for the Western Picts who cremated their Kings there. St Moluag not only set up his first Monastery here, he set it up close to the man-made mound the cremation occurred on. From Lismore it is said, he started over 100 Monasteries across the North of Scotland and established important ecclesial sites at Rosemarkie and in Mortlach (Dufftown). His missionary zeal, success in sharing the gospel with the Picts and the structures he put in place laid a foundation for Scottish Catholicism.
A Coracle is a small boat often used on rivers and Lochs for short travel and communications. Coracles were extremely common throughout Europe of that time and examples of them are still in use in a variety of places across the world.
The Future
There are a few things ruminating in the background that will come to fruition next year, God willing, with plans to add new sections and different types of articles as we go along. We are also thinking about adding a shop with quality Scottish Catholic devotional items, so watch this space…
As we head to the end of this rather crazy year our hope is that you continue to get something out of the newsletter and that more people can hear about it. So if you are enjoying your Friday Coracle fix then please do pass it on to folks you think might like a read at it too. If they would like to subscribe themselves, there is a link at the bottom of the e-mail.
Feedback is gratefully received so if you have any articles or thoughts on one you would like to read please do let me know .
Lastly, please do keep us in your prayers, that we may keep faithful to what Our Blessed Lord is asking of us and that the fruits will be abundant.
St Moluag praye for us, Ouer Laidy Quene o’ Scotland, Praye for us!
Regards
Eric and the Team