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About St. Columba (Columcille) Four separate articles for your information. Who is Saint Columba?
St. Columba - an Irish abbot and missionary. A member of the warrior aristocracy, he was excommunicated for his part in a bloody battle. Exiled, he set out to do penance as a missionary. He founded two famous monasteries in Ireland before taking 12 disciples to the Scottish island of Iona (c.563), where they built a church and monastery that served as a base for the conversion of the Scottish Picts, and thereby Scotland, to Christianity St. Columba
Abbot of Iona, b. at Garten, County Donegal, Ireland, 7 December, 521; d. 9
June, 597. He belonged to the Clan O'Donnell, and was of royal descent. His
father's name was Fedhlimdh and that of his mother Eithne. On his father's side
he was great-great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish king of the
fourth century. His baptismal name was Colum, which signifies a dove, hence the
latinized form Columba. It assumes another form in Colum-cille, the suffix
meaning "of the Churches". He was baptized at Tulach-Dubhglaise, now
Temple-Douglas, by a priest named Cruithnechan, who afterwards became his tutor
or foster-father. When sufficiently advanced in letters he entered the monastic
school of Moville under St. Finnian who had studied at St. Ninian's
"Magnum Monasterium" on the shores of Galloway. Columba at Moville
monastic life and received the diaconate. In the same place his sanctity first
manifested itself. By his prayers, tradition says, he converted water into wine
for the Holy Sacrifice. Having completed his training at Moville, he travelled
southwards into Leinster, where he became a pupil of an aged bard named Gemman.
On leaving him, Columba entered the monastery of Clonard, governed at that time
by Finnian, a remarkable, like his namesake of Moville, for sanctity and
learning. Here he imbibed the traditions of the Welsh Church, for Finnian had
been trained in the schools of St. David. Here also he became one those twelve
Clonard disciples known in subsequent history as the Twelve Apostles of
Ireland. About this same time he was
promoted to the priesthood by bishop Etchen of Clonfad. The story that St.
Finnian wished Columba to be consecrated bishop, but through a mistake only
priest's orders were conferred, is regarded by competent authorities as the
invention of a later age. Another preceptor of Columba was St. Mobhi, whose monastery at Glasnevin was
frequented by such famous men as St. Canice, St. Comgall, and St. Ciaran. A
pestilence which devastated Ireland in 544 caused the dispersion of Mobhi's
disciples, and Columba returned to Ulster, the land of his kindred. The
following years were marked by the foundation of several important monasteries,
Derry, Durrow, and Kells. Derry and Durrow were always specially dear to
Columba. While at Derry it is said that he planned a pilgrimage to Rome and
Jerusalem, but did not proceed farther than Tours. Thence he brought a copy of
those gospels that had lain on the bosom of St. Martin for the space of 100
years. This was deposited in Derry (Skene, Celtic Scotland, II, 483). Columba
left Ireland and passed over into Scotland in 563. The motives for this
migration have been frequently discussed. Bede simply says: "Venit de
Hibernia . . . praedicaturus verbum Dei" (H. E., III, iv); Adarnnan:
"pro Christo perigrinari volens enavigavit" (Praef., II). Later
writers state that his departure was due to the fact that he had induced the
clan Neill to rise and engage in battle against King Diarmait at Cooldrevny in
561. The reasons alleged for this action of Columba are: (1) The king's
violation of the right of sanctuary belonging to Columba's person as a monk on
the occasion of the murder of Prince Curnan, the saint's kinsman; (2)
Diarmait's adverse judgment concerning the copy Columba had secretly made of St.
Finnian's psalter. Columba is said to have supported by his prayers the men of
the North who were fighting while Finnian did the same for Diarmait's men. The
latter were defeated with a loss of three thousand. Columba's conscience smote
him, and he had recourse to his confessor, St. Molaise, who imposed this severe
penance: to leave Ireland and preach the Gospel so as to gain as many souls to
Christ as lives lost at Cooldrevny, and never more to look upon his native
land. Some writers hold that these are legends invented by the bards and
romancers of a later age, because there is no mention of them by the earliest
authorities (O'Hanlon, Lives of the Ir. Saints, VI, 353). Cardinal Moran
accepts no other motive than that assigned by Adamnan, "a desire to carry
the Gospel to a pagan nation and to win souls. (Lives ot Irish Saints in Great
Britain, 67). Archbishop Healy, on the contrary, considers that the saint did
incite to battle, and exclaims: "O felix culpa . . . which produced
so much good both for Erin and Alba (Schools and Scholars, 311). IONA Columba was in his forty-fourth year when he departed from Ireland. He and
his twelve companions crossed the sea in a currach of wickerwork covered with
hides. They landed at Iona on the eve of Pentecost, 12 May, 563. The island,
according to Irish authorities, was granted to the monastic colonists by King
Conall of Dalriada, Columba's kinsman. Bede attributes the gift to the Picts
(Fowler, p. lxv). It was a convenient situation, being midway between his
countrymen along the western coast and the Picts of Caledonia. He and his
brethren proceeded at once to erect their humble dwellings, consisting of a
church, refectory, and cells, constructed of wattles and rough planks. After
spending some years among the Scots of Dalriada, Columba began the great work
of his life, the conversion of the Northern Picts. Together with St. Comgall
and St. Canice (Kenneth) he visited King Brude in his royal residence near
Inverness. Admittance was refused to the missionaries, and the gates were
closed and bolted, but before the sign of the cross the bolts flew back, the
doors stood open, and the monks entered the castle. Awe-struck by so evident,
the king listened to Columba with reverence; and was baptized. The people soon
followed the example set them, and thus was inaugurated a movement that
extended itself to the whole of Caledonia. Opposition was not wanting, and it
came chiefly from the Druids, who officially represented the paganism of the
nation. The thirty-two remaining years of Columba's life were mainly spent in
preaching the Gospel to the inhabitants of the glens and wooded straths of
Northern Scotland. His steps can be followed not only through the Great Glen,
but eastwards also, into Aberdeenshire. The "Book of Deer" (p. 91)
tells us how he and Drostan came, as
God had shown them to Aberdour in Buchan, and how Bede, a Pict, who was
high steward of Buchan, gave them the town in freedom forever. The preaching of
the saint was confirmed by many
miracles, and he provided for the instruction of his converts by the
erection of numerous churches and monasteries. One of his journeys brought him
to Glasgow, where he met St. Mungo, the apostle of Strathclyde. He frequently
visited Ireland; in 570 he attended the synod of Drumceatt, in company with the
Scottish King Aidan, whom shortly before he had inaugurated successor of Conall
of Dalriada. When not engaged in missionary journeys, he always resided at
Iona. Numerous strangers sought him there, and they received help for soul and
body. From Iona he governed those numerous communities in Ireland and
Caledonia, which regarded him as their father and founder. This accounts for
the unique position occupied by the successors of Columba, who governed the
entire province of the Northern Picts although they had received priest's
orders only. It was considered unbecoming that any successor in the office of
Abbot of Iona should possess a dignity higher than of the founder. The bishops
were regarded as being of a superior order, but subject nevertheless to the
jurisdiction of the abbot. At Lindisfarne the monks reverted to the ordinary
law and were subject to a bishop (Bede, H.E., xxvii). Columba is said never to have spent an hour without study, prayer, or
similar occupations. When at home he was frequently engaged in transcribing. On
the eve of his death he was engaged in the work of transcription. It is stated
that he wrote 300 books with his own hand, two of which, "The Book of
Durrow" and the psalter called "The Cathach", have been
preserved to the present time. The psalter enclosed in a shrine, was originally
carried into battle by the O' Donnells as a pledge of victory. Several of his
compositions in Latin and Irish have come down to us, the best known being the
poem "Altus Prosator", published in the "Liber Hymnorum",
and also in another form by the late Marquess of Bute. There is not sufficient
evidence to prove that the rule attributed to him was really his work. In the spring of 597 he knew that his end was approaching. On Saturday, 8 June,
he ascended the hill overlooking his monastery and blessed for the last time
the home so dear to him. That afternoon he was present at Vespers, and later,
when the bell summoned the community to the midnight service, he forestalled
the others and entered the church without assistance. But he sank before the
altar, and in that place breathed forth his soul to God, surrounded by his
disciples. This happened a little after midnight between the 8th and 9th of
June, 597. He was in the seventy-seventh year of his age. The monks buried him
within the monastic enclosure. After the lapse of a century or more his bones
were disinterred and placed within a suitable shrine. But as Northmen and Danes
more than once invaded the island, the bones of St. Columba were carried for
purposes of safety into Ireland and deposited in the church of Downpatrick.
Since the twelfth century history is silent regarding them. His books and
garments were held in veneration at Iona, they were exposed and carried in
procession, and were the means of working miracles (Adam., II, xlv). His feast
is kept in Scotland and Ireland on the 9th of June. In the Scottish Province of
St. Andrews and Edinburgh there is a Mass and Office proper to the festival,
which ranks as a double of the second class with an octave. He is patron of two
Scottish dioceses Argyle and the Isles and Dunkeld. According to tradition St. Columba was tall and of dignified
mien. Adamnan says: "He was angelic in appearance, graceful in speech,
holy in work" (Praef., II). His voice was strong, sweet, and sonorous
capable at times of being heard at a great distance. He inherited the ardent
temperament and strong passions of his race. It has been sometimes said that he
was of an angry and vindictive spirit not only because of his supposed part in
the battle of Cooldrevny but also because of irritant related by Adamnan (II,
xxiii sq. ) But the deeds that roused
his indignation were wrongs done to others, and the retribution that overtook
the perpetrators was rather predicted than actually invoked. Whatever faults
were inherent in his nature he overcame and he stands before the world
conspicuous for humility and charity not only towards has brethren, but towards
strangers also. He was generous and warm-hearted, tender and kind even to dumb
creatures. He was ever ready to sympathize with the joys and sorrows of others.
His fasts and vigils were carried to a great extent. The stone pillow on which
he slept is said to be still preserved in Iona. His chastity of body and purity
of mind are extolled by all his biographers. Notwithstanding his wonderful
austerities, Adamnan assures us he was beloved by all, "for a holy
joyousness that ever beamed from his countenance revealed the gladness with
which the Holy Spirit filled his soul". (Praef., II.) INFLUENCE, AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS
ROME He was not only a great missionary saint who won a whole
kingdom to Christ, but he was a statesman, a scholar, a poet, and the founder
of numerous churches and monasteries. His name is dear to Scotsmen and Irishmen
alike. And because of his great and noble work even non-Catholics hold his
memory in veneration. For the purposes of controversy it has been maintained
some that St. Columba ignored papal supremacy, because he entered upon his
mission without the pope's authorization. Adamnan is silent on the subject; but
his work is neither exhaustive as to Columba's life, nor does it pretend to
catalogue the implicit and explicit belief of his patron. Indeed, in those days
a mandate from the pope was not deemed essential for the work which St. Columba
undertook. This may be gathered from the words of St. Gregory the Great,
relative to the neglect of the British clergy towards the pagan Saxons (Haddan
and Stubbs, III, 10). Columba was a son of the Irish Church, which taught from
the days of St. Patrick that matters of greater moment should be referred to
the Holy See for settlement. St. Columbanus, Columba's fellow-country-man and
fellow-churchman, asked for papal judgment (judicium) on the Easter
question; so did the bishops and abbots of Ireland. There is not the slightest
evidence to prove that St. Columba differed on this point from his
fellow-countryrnen. Moreover, the Stowe Missal, which, according to the best
authority, represents the Mass of the Celtic Church during the early part of
the seventh century, contains in its Canon prayers for the pope more emphatic
than even those of the Roman Liturgy. To the further objection as to the
supposed absence of the cultus of Our Lady, it may be pointed out that the same
Stowe Missal contains before its Canon the invocation "Sancta Maria, ora
pro nobis", which epitomizes all Catholic devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
As to the Easter difficulty Bede thus sums up the reasons for the discrepancy:
"He [Columba] left successors distinguished for great charity, Divine
love, and strict attention to the rules of discipline following indeed
uncertain cycles in the computation of the great festival of Easter, because,
far away as they were out of the world, no one had supplied them with the
synodal decrees relating to the Paschal observance" (H.E., III, iv). As
far as can be ascertained no proper symbolical representation of St. Columba
exists. The few attempts that have been made are for the most part mistaken. A
suitable pictorial representation would exhibit him, clothed in the habit and
cowl usually worn by the Basilian or Benedictine monks, with Celtic tonsure and
crosier. His identity could be best determined by showing him standing near the
shell-strewn shore, with currach hard by, and the Celtic cross and ruins
of Iona in the background. ST. COLUMBA or COLUMCILLE
521-597 St Columba is a saint who still, after fourteen hundred years, exerts an
appeal upon our imaginations. Born in Ireland, in Donegal in the year 521, he
was of the blood royal, and might indeed have become High King of Ireland had
he not chosen to be a priest. His vital, vigorous personality has given rise to
many legends, and it is a little hard to sift fact from what is more probably
fiction. We do know that he was a man of tremendous energy, probably somewhat
headstrong in his youth, but with his tendency to violence curbed by a gentle
magnanimity. It seems certain that he left Ireland as an act of penance, although it is
less certain how far this was connected with his quarrelling over a copy of the
Gospels he had made, a dispute that led to a bloody battle. He came from
Ireland to Scotland, to the colony of Dalriada founded on the west coast by his
fellow Irish Scots who were at that time somewhat oppressed by the dominant
Picts. With twelve companions he founded his monastery on Iona in the year 563.
These Celtic monks lived in communities of separate cells, but Columba and his
companions combined their contemplative life with extraordinary missionary
activity. Amongst his many accomplishments, Columba was a splendid sailor. He
sailed far amongst the islands and travelled deep inland, making converts and
founding little churches. In Ireland he had already, it is said, founded a
hundred churches. Of all the Celtic saints in Scotland, Columba's life is much the best documented,
because manuscripts of his Life, written by St Adamnan, one of his early
successors as abbot of Iona, have survived. Iona itself remains a place of the
greatest beauty, a serene island set in seas that take on brilliant colors in
the sunshine, recalling the life and background of this remarkable man whose
mission led to the conversion of Scotland and of the north of England, and
indeed carried its influence far further afield. It later became the site of a
Benedictine Abbey and of a little cathedral. These were dismantled by the
Scottish reformers in 1561, and part of Columba's prophecy was fulfilled: In Iona of my heart, Iona of my
love, When Dr Samuel Johnson visited the island in 1773 he observed, 'That man is
little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of
Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona!' Columba was a poet as well as a man of action. Some of his poems in both
Latin and Gaelic have come down to us, and they reveal him as a man very
sensitive to the beauty of his surroundings, as well as always, in St Adamnan's
phrase, 'gladdened in his inmost heart by the joy of the Holy Spirit.' He died
in the year 597. |
Updated 3 February 2005