Jan 9 Foellan

Jack and Thom
Good morning, I love you.

It has often been said of the Irish that we are Mommas’ boys. Could be the mode. You might say y’all are in that mode. It’s a good thing when your mother is from the mold of Brigid or Grace or any of our Irish Princess Warriors. It matters which person you choose to follow. It matters even more that you choose to follow for the right reasons and select the right traits to emulate.


January 9

Foellan 8th c.


Foellan was an Irishman who went with his mother, St. Kentigem, to Scotland. Who knows why St Kentigem upped and left their Ireland home and migrated to Scotland? There are good reasons for uprooting your children.

The bioblurb does not mention Foellan’s father, Kentigem’s husband. Given the times and the many reasons to leave hearth and home and clan, it is likely that Foellan’s father was dead and his mother sought solace and support from family in Scotland – Church family as well as blood family. It was not likely that she would have left the side of her husband: for her own sake and the proper rearing of their son. That Kentigem was deemed saintly, a woman to emulate, we can assume that her reasons for the move were good.

In Scotland, Foellan became a monk. It is also likely that Kentigem lived in the same monastery, possibly an abbess. To follow your mother for saintly reasons is saintly itself. To stay with her in service to God is to witness to the Son of God who did Our Father’s Will by being obedient to His parents and living out His life in service to Him who sent Him. Thus, a blessing on both your houses.

Be sure to discern prudently whom you follow, for what reasons, to where, and which traits.

Foellan was also related to St Comgan. This relative may have been the one to inspire Foellan to become a missionary. Like Foellan, look beyond your mother to other relatives to find inspiration in your discerning God’s will for you. You too might be called to be a missionary, to take yourself on a more independent path, cut the apron strings, in order to better be the person God created you to be.

I love you,
Dad