Folklore
St. Fillan was credited with powers such as the healing of the sick and also possessed a luminous glow from his left arm which he used to study and write Sacred Scriptures in the dark.
St. Fillan is the patron saint of the mentally ill. As late as the 19th century, such people were dunked in St. Fillan's Pool, bound and left overnight tied to the font, or possibly to a pew, in the ruined chapel. If the bonds were loosed by morning it was taken as a sign that a cure had taken place.
A story is told that while St. Fillan was ploughing the fields near Killin, a wolf took the life of the ox and thus Fillan could not continue. A geis was put on the ox, which meant the wolf had to take the place of the ox and do the its work. The story may be considered more of a parable than historical truth, but the connection with the origins of Fillan's name remains obvious.
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Famous quotes containing the word folklore:
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