The Columban community in Derry is to host a special pageant later this year to celebrate Saint Columba's day.
The pageant, which will mark the first-ever major event to celebrate
the saint in Derry City, will take place on June 9 and 2011 has been
specifically chosen to mark the 30th anniversary of the Columban
community in the city.
The pageant will see a six-metre Loch Ness
monster been paraded through the city streets to commemorate the saint’s
historic connection with Scotland.
Speaking this week to the media in Derry, one of the event organisers
Fr Neal Carlin said, “Saint Columba is a saint that everyone in the
community can claim and we are asking as many people as possible to come
out on the day or get involved.”
He said that actors playing Saint
Columba and his followers would meet with the Loch Ness monster in
Waterloo Place in the city where a battle scene will take place, marking
the repentance and conversion of the great saint.
He continued, saying, “because Saint Columba is the patron saint of
bards and that Derry is the City of Culture, it is only fitting that we
celebrate him with music and dance.”
Fr Carlin said that the symbolism of the monster is that it is seen
as something that preys on the poor and the defenceless.
However, the
power and the wisdom of Christ helps people overcome him.
“We would love to see this become an annual tradition. Maybe people
might take an hour off work or so to take part in the events on Thursday
June 9.”
According to Fr Carlin, “We' started the event this year to celebrate
thirty years of the Columban community in Derry. Since we began in
1981, we funded the Columban House in Derry, Saint Anthony's retreat
centre, Whiteoaks, and the Celtic Peace Garden. Most recently we opened
Young Adult Reality Dreams (YARD).”