Glasgow Cathedral, Museum of Religion

The Whithorn Way starts in Glasgow, officially at the episcopal cathedral of St Mary, but no pilgrim journey in the city can be complete without paying homage to St Mungo

Highlights

• Tomb and holy well of St Mungo
• Medieval cathedral building
• Museum of world religions

Glasgow owes its existence to St Mungo: his medieval shrine brought people in their thousands. A church was built to honour his memory, then replaced by a cathedral. This saint’s hermitage became a village, which grew into a town, then a medieval city, and finally into Scotland’s largest metropolis.

The tomb of the man who brought people flocking still lies peacefully in the crypt. It is a serene place, visited by a steady stream of tourists, visitors, and pilgrims. Seats are placed around the tomb for quiet prayer and contemplation. No prayers are supplied: a Christian of any tradition can use this chapel as they prefer. As befits a Presbyterian church, there were no icons or even candles when I visited.

St Mungo’s real name is St Kentigern, the name used in the cathedral guides and signs. He was a much-loved bishop and saint: St Mungo is a nickname meaning ‘dear one.’

His actual body is perhaps still buried in this crypt. Relics are particularly important to Roman Catholics and the Orthodox, and bishops from each denomination have held services here in recent years. The respectful treatment of St Mungo’s tomb is exceptional among saints’ shrines in Scotland. There is no reason why it can’t be a precedent, given how much such things mean to other denominations.

There is an ancient holy well at the back of the crypt, in the right-hand corner as you walk past St Mungo’s tomb. A heavy circular lid conceals a deep shaft, with water visible several metres down. There is no way to reach the water, but its presence alone is another remarkable survival of early Christian practice. Beside the well is a stone panel from St Mungo’s medieval shrine.

St Mungo lived in Glasgow as a simple hermit, but so great was his holiness he was made bishop in the mid-6th century. One of his symbols is a salmon, in memory of a miracle. A local king suspected his wife of infidelity, so he took her wedding ring and threw it in the sea. She had three days to find it again, he warned her, or else… St Mungo came to her rescue, extracting the missing ring from the stomach of a salmon that one of his monks caught that day.

The great saint travelled widely, having started life at Culross and perhaps founding the monastery at St Asaph.

St Mungo shares the building with another holy figure, St Fergus. According to medieval history, St Mungo followed St Fergus’s hearse to Glasgow for his burial, and decided to stay nearby as a hermit. The saint’s body is believed to rest somewhere in the Blacader aisle, the site of his former shrine. Not much is known about this St Fergus, but he is no relation to the St Fergus found at Glamis.

The building is owned by the Crown, managed by Historic Environment Scotland, and used by the Church of Scotland. Having abolished bishops, the church uses the name ‘cathedral’ as an honorific title. Most of the building is 13th century, a remarkably well-preserved example of medieval gothic architecture both inside and out.

St Mungo is remembered on 13 January, the date of his death in either 612 or 614.

The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art is next to the cathedral. It places Christianity alongside other world religions, allowing comparisons between attitudes towards death, the afterlife, religious iconography, and many other facets of faith. It goes out of its way to encourage inter-faith dialogue and respect.

Near Glasgow

For actual saintly relics, there is an extensive pilgrimage centre at Carfin run by the Catholic church, with a shrine grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes established in 1922. It houses 735 relics, one of the largest collections anywhere in the world. Carfin is next to Motherwell, 12 miles west of Glasgow, and the pilgrimage centre is at GPS: 55.8065N 3.9543W. For full details, see www.carfingrotto.org.

Glasgow Cathedral, Castle Street, Glasgow G4 0RH

www.glasgowcathedral.org.uk

W3W: aura.vets.ages GPS: 55.8628N 4.2345W

St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, 2 Castle Street, Glasgow G4 0RH

www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums

W3W: knots.brain.behind GPS: 55.8625N 4.2363W

High Street railway station 600m

Directions: Glasgow Cathedral is on the A8 (Cathedral Street), less than half a mile south of the M8 motorway junction 15. Admission times Apr–Sept 9:30 am–5 pm (Sundays 1 pm–4:30 pm), winter 10 am–3:30 pm (Sundays 1 pm–3:30 pm).

The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art is inside the cathedral precinct. As you walk towards the main road from the cathedral, the museum is on your left. It is free to enter, closed on Mondays but otherwise open 10 am (11 am Fri and Sun) to 5 pm, tel: 0141 276 1625.