St Colette, St Ronan

St Colette

Nun. Born in Corbie, France in 1381, Colette began to follow the Third Order Rule when she was 21. She became an anchoress, living in a small room whose only opening was a window into a church.

After four years of prayer and penance she left her cell. With the approval and encouragement of the Pope, she joined the Poor Clares and reintroduced the primitive Rule of St Clare in the 17 monasteries she established. Her sisters were known for their poverty - they rejected any fixed income - and for their perpetual fast. Colette's reform movement spread to other countries and is still thriving today. Colette was canonized in 1807.

and Saint Ronan

Bishop. St Ronan was an early Christian bishop from Kilmaronen in Lennox, Scotland. Bede describes him as an Irish monk who defended the Roman calculation of Easter at the Synod of Whitby.

St Ronan's well at Innnerleithen, in Peebleshire, was popularised by Sir Walter Scott's novel of the same name.

According to tradition, the saint came to the valley and drove out the Devil. This event is commemorated in St Ronan's games, a week of festivities held every July which comes to a climax when a schoolboy chosen to represent St Ronan is given a pastoral staff to 'cleek the Devil'.