July 15th - St. Donald of Ogilvy
Traudel
(also known as Donivald, Domhnall)
All that is recorded of this saint, whose name is so common in Scotland, is
that
he lived at Ogilvy in Forfarshire in the eighth century, that his wife bore
him
nine daughters, and that on her death they formed a sort of community who
led
the religious life under his direction. But if no more is known of him, he
has
nevertheless left his mark otherwise, for the often found natural features,
wells, hills, and so on, which are known as the "Nine Maidens", are so
called in
memory of his daughters. They are said to have afterwards entered a
monastery
founded by St. Darlugdach and St. Brigid at Abernethy, and were commemorated
on
July 18. The popularity of the name in Scotland must be attributed, not to
veneration for the saint, but to the ubiquity of the sons of Somerled of the
Isles, clan Donald.
The poem below by an unknown author tells the story
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The Nine Maidens
Barbaric darkness shadowing O'er,
Among the picts in days of yore,
St Donivald, devoid of lore
Lived in the Glen of Ogilvy.
Beside the forest's mantling shade,
His daughters nine a temple made,
To shelter rude his aged head
Within the Glen of Ogilvy.
Charred wood-burned ashes formed the floor,
The trunks of pine around the door
Supporting walls of branches hoar,
Turf-roofed in Glen of Ogilvy.
Nine maidens were they spotless fair,
With silver skins, Bright golden hair,
Blue-eyed, Vermillion-cheeked, nowhere
Their match in Glen of Ogilvy.
Yet these fair maids, like muses nine,
God-like, etherealised, divine,
To perfect some high-souled design
Within the Glen of Ogilvy.
Did with the aged hermit toil,
With their own hands in daily moil,
Hard labouring rude the barren soil,
Around the Glen of Ogilvy.
Poor barley bread and water clear,
And that but once a day, I fear,
Was all their fare from year to year,
Within the Glen of Ogilvy.
A chapel built they ruled at Glamis
From whence, like sound of waving palms,
Arose on high the sound of Psalms'
Near by the Glen of Ogilvy.
The hermit dead they left the glen,
E'er shunning dread the haunts of men,
In oratory sacred to them,
Far from the Glen of Ogilvy.
On Abernethy's holy ground,
From whence their fame spread soon around,
Although no more their songs resound
In their loved Glen of Ogilvy.
Nine maidens fair in life were they,
Nine maidens fair in death's last fray,
Nine maidens fair in fame always,
The maids of Glen of Ogilvy.
And to their grave from every land,
Come many a sorrowing pilgrim band,
The Oak to kiss whose branches grand.
Wave O'er the maids of Ogilvy.
Saint Quotes:
"Since happiness is nothing but the enjoyment of the Supreme Good, and since
the
Supreme Good is above us, we cannot be happy unless we rise beyond
ourselves.
Since we cannot reach above ourselves in our own strength, we must be helped
by
supernatural strength, lifted up by a higher power that stoops to raise us.
However much we structure our inner lives and make progress, it does us no
good
unless our efforts are accompanied by help from on high. Divine aid is
available
for those who seek it with a devout and humble heart; this is done by
fervent
prayer.
"Prayer is, therefore, the source and origin of every upward journey
toward
God. Let us each, then, turn to prayer and say to our Lord God: 'Lead me, O
Lord, on your path, that I may walk in your truth.'"
"Meditation on Christ in His humanity is corporeal in deed, in fact, but
spiritual in mind. . . . By adopting this habit, you will steady your mind,
be
trained to virtues, and receive strength of soul....Let meditation of
Christ's
life be your one and only aim, your rest, your food, your desire, your
study."
"From contemplation of the Passion the soul will receive a new
compassion, a new love, new consolations, and consequently, as it were, a
new
state of soul, which seems to be a presage and share of eternal glory."
-Saint Bonaventure.