Iussi was a Welsh hermit who lived in the Black Mountains. He was martyred and the place of his hermitage became known as a sacred place of healing. When a merchant suffering from leprosy visited the site and was instantly healed, he left a bag of gold there in gratitude to God for his healing. The local people used the money to build themselves a church building. Patricio Church, somehow overlooked during the architectural vandalism of the Reformation, can still be visited in its breath-taking location.

A sense of adventure: a group of monks from southern Ireland got into a small rudderless boat called a coracle with no oars and no proper provisions. They cast themselves adrift and after seven days arrived in Cornwall and were brought before King Alfred. When asked why they had embarked on this somewhat unusual journey they answered, “We stole away because we wanted for the love of God to be on pilgrimage and we cared not where.” The Celtic instinct was to respond to the dynamic prompting of the Holy Spirit and then to begin adventuring and wandering with Jesus, carrying out evangelism, mission and church-planting as they went. This was pilgrimage to them.

Serf was a disciple of Ninian and, as mentioned above, became an evangelist in Fife and a mentor to Mungo. He went on to found a monastery at Culross. However, we mention him here because we love the fact that he had a pet robin. Better still, one hagiographer claimed that he discipled a lamb into the signs and wonders ministry. This ministry reached a peak when it saw a dead pig raised to life! (The Celtic Way, Bradley)