Columba Marmion

In 1899, Dom Columba Marmion participated in the founding of the Abbey of Mont-César in Louvain, where he became prior and professor of theology. On September 28, 1909, he was elected the third abbot of Maredsous. Under his leadership, the abbey experienced great influence. During the First World War, he had to send the young monks to Ireland to protect them, undertaking complex clandestine journeys. From 1917, his teachings were published and met with international success, notably 'Christ, the Life of the Soul' (1917), 'Christ in His Mysteries' (1919), and 'Christ, the Ideal of the Monk' (1922). Exhausted, he died on January 30, 1923.

From the moment of his death, his reputation for holiness spread. The cause for beatification was initiated in the 1950s under the impetus of Mgr Montini (the future Paul VI). The diocesan process opened in Namur in 1957 and closed in 1961. In 1963, his body was exhumed and transferred to the abbey church of Maredsous, where his remains were discovered intact. Pope John Paul II proclaimed him Venerable on June 28, 1999.

A miracle is attributed to his intercession: the inexplicable healing of an American mother suffering from terminal cancer in 1966. This miracle was officially recognized on January 25, 2000. Dom Columba Marmion was solemnly beatified on September 3, 2000, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome by Pope John Paul II during the Great Jubilee.

Dom Marmion's spirituality is Christocentric and sacramental, centered on the doctrine of the Trinity and adoptive sonship. For him, holiness consists in welcoming the life of Christ received at baptism. His work exerted a major doctrinal influence on the fathers of the Second Vatican Council and inspired numerous theologians and spiritual figures of the 20th century.