Adapted from various sources, including Butler's Lives.
St. Palladius, Bishop and Confessor; Apostle of the Scots († ca. 460 Feast – July 6)
The name of Palladius shows this Saint to have been a Roman, and most authors agree that he was a deacon of the
Church of Rome. Some say that he was previously married and had a daughter, but wished to dedicate his life to God.
So, he left his family after the manner of the Apostles, giving his daughter to a convent and living as an ascetic in Sicily.
Having received Holy Orders, he went to Rome around the year 418. St. Prosper in his chronicle informs us that when Agricola,
a noted Pelagian, had corrupted the churches of Britain with that pestilential heresy, Pope Celestine, at the request of
Palladius the deacon,
sent there St. Germanus the Bishop of Auxerre in 429 as Papal Legate. The holy bishop, having
ejected the heretics, brought back the Britons to the Catholic Faith. The concern of St. Palladius for the islands did not
stop here; for it seems not to be doubted that St. Prosper is speaking of the same person, when he afterwards says that in 431
Pope Celestine sent Palladius to be the first bishop to the Scots then believing in Christ. The question is whether they were
the Scots living in Ireland, or those living in the north of Britain, in the land now called Scotland.
From the lives of Ss. Albeus, Declan, Ibar, and Kiaran of Saigir, authors have shown that these four Saints preached
separately in different parts of Ireland, even before the mission of St. Patrick. St. Ibar had been converted to the Faith in Britain;
the other three had been instructed at Rome and were directed thence back into their own country of Ireland – all four were raised
to the episcopal dignity. St. Kiaran of Saigir (who is commemorated on March 5) preceded St. Patrick in preaching the Gospel to the
Ossorians, and was 75 years old upon St. Patrick's arrival in Ireland. Hence it is easy to understand what is said of St. Palladius –
that he was sent to be bishop to the Scots believing in Christ, though the number of Christians among them must have been then very small.
St. Prosper, in another book, having commended Pope Celestine for his care in delivering Britain from the Pelagian heresy, adds that
he also ordained a bishop for the Scots, and thus while he endeavored to preserve the Roman island Catholic, he likewise made a
barbarous island Christian.
It has been observed that this could be understood only of Ireland; for though part of North Britain
was never subject to the Romans, and the greater part of it was inhabited then by the Picts, yet it could never be called a distinct
island. It is also clear from Tertullian, Eusebius, St. Chrysostom and others that the light of the Gospel had penetrated among
the Picts beyond the Roman territories in Britain, near the times of the Apostles. These people, therefore, who had lately begun to
receive some tincture of the Faith when our Saint undertook his mission, were doubtless the Scots who were settled in Ireland.
The Irish writers of the biographies of St. Patrick say that St. Palladius had preached in Ireland a little before St. Patrick,
but that he was soon banished by the king of Leinster, and returned to North Britain, where they tell us he had first opened his mission.
It seems not to be doubted that he was sent to the whole nation of the Scots, several colonies of whom had passed from Ireland to North Britain,
and possessed part of the country now called Scotland. Tradition holds that he presided over the Christian community there for about twenty years.
He preached there with great zeal, and formed a considerable church.
The Scottish historians tell us that the Faith was planted in North Britain about the year 200, in the time of King Donald,
when St. Victor was Pope in Rome; but they all acknowledge that St. Palladius was the first Bishop of that country, and style him their first apostle.
The Saint died at Fordoun or Auchenblae, in the little county of Mearns, about the year 460. His relics were preserved with religious respect
in the Monastery of Fordoun. In the year 1409, William Scenes, Archbishop of St. Andrew's and Primate of Scotland, enclosed them in a new shrine
enriched with gold and precious stones. His festival is observed on July 6 in the Breviary of Aberdeen and the Scottish Calendars.
It is easy to conceive how painful and laborious the mission of this Saint must have been; but where there is ardent love,
labor seems a pleasure, and either is not felt or is a delight. It is a mark of sloth and impatience for a man to count his labors,
or so much as to dwell on pains or sufferings in so glorious an undertaking. St. Palladius surmounted every obstacle which a fierce
nation had opposed to the establishment of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Our hearts ought to be impressed with the most lively sentiments
of love and gratitude to our merciful God, for having raised up such great and zealous men, by whose ministry the light of the true Faith
has been conveyed to us.
St. Palladius Church, Scotland
Back to "In this Issue"
Back to Top
Back to Saints
Alphabetical Index; Calendar List of Saints
Contact us: smr@salvemariaregina.info
Visit also: www.marienfried.com
