One of our scribe's predecessors omitted a word or two from the text
here, with disastrous results to the sense. The Latin Life comes to our
aid however and enables us to make good the omission; the latter, by
the way, puzzles our scribe who is like a man fighting an invisible
enemy--correcting a text of which he does not know the defect. Insertion
of the words "walking backwards" immediately after "church," in the
angel's answer, will enable us to see the original writer's meaning. The
text should probably read:
The angel answered:--"Whom you shall see going from the church walking
backwards to the guest-house" (for it was Mochuda's custom to walk
backwards from the door of the church). Comghall announced to his
household that there was coming to them a distinguished stranger,
well-beloved of God, of whose advent an angel had twice foretold him.
Some time later Mochuda arrived at Comghall's establishment, and he went
to the monastery first and he did just as the angel foretold of him and
Comghall recognised him and bade him welcome.