Saint Columba

He founded the great monastery of Dale-Mogh or the Field of Oaks, known today as Dur rogh; h e was also the founder of several less considerable monasteries, such as those of Doire or Derry, in Ulster, and of Surd, in the province of Leinster. At the same time, he composed, for the use of his religious, a Rule which was mainly drawn from that of the ancient monks of the East. His name of Columcille means in Irish Founder of cells.

His zeal in rebuking public vices having incurred the indignation of King Dermot or Dermit ius, he left Ireland and crossed into the northern part of Britain, known today as Scotland. He took twelve of his disciple s with him. Bede places his arrival in the year 565 of Jesus Christ, the ninth of the reign of Bridius, the most powerful ki ng of t he Picts.

It is said of the Saint that he converted the Picts to Christiani ty thr ough his preaching, his virtues, and his miracles: but this must be understood only of the northern Picts, as well as those who inhabited the highlands, and who were separated from the others by the Grampian Mountains. Indeed, we learn from Bede that the southern Picts had received the Gospel long before, and that they were indebted for it to the preaching of Saint Ninian, the first bishop of Whithorn, in the county of Galloway.

The Picts, having embraced the faith, gave to Saint Columba the small island of Hy or Iona , which is twelve miles from the mainland, and which from his name was thereafter called I Colm-Kille. He built there a great monastery which, for several centuries, was the principal seminary of the northern Britons. The kings of Scotland long had their burial place there. There were also buried the bodies of an almost innumerable multitude of Saints. This monastery gave birth to several others that Saint Columba founded in Scotland. It was there that the celebrated bishops Aidan, Finian, and Colman were formed, who converted the Anglo-Northumbrians to the faith. Subsequently, the monastery of Hy embraced the Rule of Saint Benedict.

The way of life that Saint Columba followed was very austere; he slept on the bare ground and had only a stone for a pillow. His fasts were rigorous and continuous. Piety, however, made him neither somber nor melancholy. An amiable cheerfulness always appeared painted on his face, and announced to all who saw him that his soul enjoyed an unalterable calm, and that pure joy produced by the presence of the Holy Spirit. His fervor was so great that in all his actions he appeared to be more than a man. As much as was in him, he did not let a moment escape without dedicating it to something that had the glory of God as its object, such as praying, reading, writing, or preaching. His gentleness and charity, which were never belied on any occasion, won him the hearts of all those with whom he conversed. His virtues, further enhanced by the gift of prophecy and that of miracles, attracted universal veneration to him. He had such authority that even kings did nothing without consulting him. Aidan or Edhan, who, in 570, succeeded his kinsman Kinatel on the t hrone, wished to receive the royal ornaments from his hand.

Four years before his death, the Saint had a vision that caused him to shed many tears. He wept because angels had informed him that God, moved by the prayers of the churches of Britain and Scotland, would prolong his life for another four years.

Feeling his final hour approaching, he said one Sunday to Diermit, his disciple: "This day is called the Sabbath, that is to say, the day of rest; it will truly be such for me, since it will put an end to my labors." He was the first to arrive in the church at midnight, which was the time when Matins were said. Having knelt before the altar, he received the holy Viaticum; then, after giving his blessing to his brothers, he fell asleep peacefully in the Lord, in 597. He was seventy-seven years old. He was buried on the island of Iona. His body was later t ransporte d to Down, in Ulster, and placed in a vault with those of Saint Patrick and Saint Brigid.

Sa int Columba w as form erly honored am ong the principal patrons of Ireland and Scotland.

Taken fr om B ede, Hist., book III, ch. 4, and from the Life of the Saint, written by Cumméne, abbot of Iona, in 557.