As my earlier blog post explained, Scottish King Malcolm IV, was the first person to receive a miraculous healing from the Holy Well of the 12th C Benedictine Priory of Nuns called Our Ladie of the Mosse Well, (Our Lady of Muswell).
God has called me to be a little seed for The Holy Spirit to one day bring the Benedictine Nuns back to Our Lady of Muswell parish shrine, even if I am already long gone to the heavenly choir by then.
God doesn't do anything by accident. Through many twists and turns on the vocation pathway, (St Benedict will know all about that), I find myself in a 3 year formation period, discerning my vocation as a privately consecrated, (dedicated), Lay Benedictine Solitary, in a wee Scottish town that, remarkably has a strong connection to King Malcolm IV.
King Malcom IV's reign wasn't particularly successfull, by worldy standards and yet God picked him to be part of His great work of establishing a Holy Well, in Our Lady of Muswell's honour, that became a place of international pilgrimage and healing, in the Middle Ages.
But there was one place in which God did bless King Malcolm with a great, historic victory. The Battle of Largs, 1263. In response to an invasion attempt by the atheist Norwegian armies, King Malcolm lead a victorious battle against the foe, ( Malcolm IV of Scotland Biography - King of Scotland from 1153 to 1165 | Pantheon ).
King Malcolm IV also went on to gift the lands of Largs to a Gaelic Prince, Alan of Galloway but as he did not have any male Heirs, the ownership of Largs was passed onto one of his Daughters, Dervorguilla.
Dervorguilla married Baron John de Balliol, who amongst other things founded Balliol College Oxford for poor students. After her husbands death, devoted Dervorguilla had his heart embalmed and kept in an Ivory casket, which she would place in her company, at the head of the table during her meal times, and with whom she was buried with, in her arms, in a shared grave by the High Alter of Sweetheart Abbey in Dumfries, (see below). That's love for you. When I read that, it felt like a wee pre-figuration of my Solitary Adoration charism and explained why Largs. Amazing eh?
The name Dervorguillia is the Latinised version of the Gaelic, Dearbhfhorghaill, which in English means "True Testimony".
God does nothing by accident.
A life in Christ is wonderfull.
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