Welcome to the traditional Catholic daily devotional for Monday, June 9th, 2025.

This is the Monday in the Octavia Pentecost, first class with the color of white.

In this episode, The Meditation, Nine Offices of the Sacred Heart, the Adorer.

Today's news from the church, Alexander Solzhenitsyn on the Vande,

a preview of the sermon, Grace builds on nature, what makes a healthy

life, and today's thought from Archbishop Marcel Lefev. But first the collect of today's Mass.

O God, who gave the Holy Spirit to thine apostles, grant that the devout prayers of thy people

may be effective, and as thou hast given us faith, also grant us peace.

So let's meet today one of the great saints of Ireland and Scotland, St. Columba, the man who brought the gospel to the wild highlands of the Picts, and founded the famous monastery of Iona.

Colombo was born into Irish nobility in 521, but he didn't get too comfortable.

From the time he was young, he had one focus.

Heaven.

He slept on the bare ground with a stone pillow, fasted all year long, and still managed to keep a joyful, radiant spirit.

He wasn't some grumpy monk. I mean, I definitely

would be grumpy. If I was sleeping on a stone pillow, I'm grumpy today, even though I slept. Anyway,

he was known for his kindness and energy, even while living with intense discipline. After becoming an abbot,

a conflict back in Ireland led him to leave for

Scotland in 565. It wasn't exactly a peaceful retreat. Columba threw himself into missionary work

among the picks, who is a fierce as people as they come. But with gentleness and courage, he brought

them to Christ. In gratitude, they gifted him the

island of Iona, where he founded a monastery that became the spiritual engine of Celtic Christianity.

Missionaries, scholars, and even kings were formed there, and a whole lot of them were buried there, too.

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