ith was rewarded by a cure, and Oda
resolved, in gratitude for the favour, to dedicate herself to God in
the religious state. She therefore retired to a hermitage in Brabant,
where she spent her remaining years in prayer and penance, winning
from Heaven many graces for the people of that district. After her
death her relics were enshrined in a collegiate church in the town of
Rhode, and she became the chief patron of the place.

It is remarkable that the feast of this saint was inserted in the
calendar drawn up for the Scottish Episcopal Church by order of {173}
Charles I. St. Oda's supposed royal descent is thought to have won
for her this distinction.

28--St. Callen.

Nothing more is known concerning this saint than the facts that the
church of Rogart, in Sutherlandshire, was dedicated to St. Callen,
and a fair, known as "St. Callen's Fair," was formerly held there
on this day.

30--St. Andrew, Apostle, Patron of Scotland.

We cannot reckon St. Andrew among the national saints of Scotland,
for he lived and died far from these northern lands. Scotland cannot
even claim connection with him on the ground of having received
missionaries from him, as England can boast of her connection with
St. Gregory the Great. Yet from time immemorial so far back that
history cannot point to any precise date St. Andrew has been
venerated as the special protector of Scotland, and his feast, known
as "Andrewmas," celebrated everywhere with great rejoicing. The
legend of St. Regulus (see October 17) which attributes to that saint
the bringing of {174} the apostle's relics to the country is rejected
by modern historians. The origin of devotion to St. Andrew in
Scotland is nevertheless due to the translation of the apostle's
relics thither (probably from Hexham) during the eighth century.
These relics were undoubtedly honoured with much devotion at the
place which was afterwards known by the name of the great Apostle,
and eventually became the Primatial See of that country.

Whatever be the true facts of the case, St. Andrew has been invoked
for more than one thousand years as the Patron of Scotland, whose
battle-cry in the ages of faith was "For God and St. Andrew."

DECEMBER

2--St. Ethernan, Bishop.

This saint belonged to a noble Scottish family and was sent to
Ireland for his education. On returning to his native land, he
devoted himself to the work of preaching the Faith among his
countrymen in the province of Buchan,