Columba

Phil
39 minutes ago
5 min read

So who was St. Columba or Colum Cille in Gaelic…? Born of royal blood in 521 AD in Ireland, or Scotia as it was then called, he was the grandson of the Irish King Niall.

He left Ireland for Scotland not as a missionary but as an act of self-imposed penance for a mess he had caused at home. He had upset the king of Ireland by refusing to hand over a copy of the Gospels he had illegally copied, this led to a pitched battle in which Columba’s warrior family prevailed. Full of remorse for his actions and the deaths he had ultimately caused he fled, finally setting on Iona as the first place he found from where he couldn’t see his native Ireland. One of the features on the island is even called “The Hill with its back to Ireland”. Here he began the foundations for his monastery, which was to become the centre of Celtic mission, and an example of monastic devotion. Lying off the west coast of the Isle of Mull, the tiny Isle is barely three miles long by one mile wide, but it had an influence out of all proportion to its size on the establishment of Christianity in Scotland, England and throughout mainland Europe.

Columba set about building Iona’s original abbey from clay and wood. In this endeavour he displayed some strange idiosyncrasies, including banishing women and cows from the island, claiming that “where there is a cow there is a woman, and where there is a woman there is mischief”. The abbey builders had to leave their wives and daughters on the nearby Eilean nam Ban (Woman’s Island).

Stranger still, he also banished frogs and snakes from Iona. How he accomplished this feat is not as well documented.

Iona’s fame as a missionary centre and outstanding place of learning eventually spread throughout Europe, turning it into a place of pilgrimage for several centuries to come. Iona became a sacred isle where kings of Scotland, Ireland and Norway were buried. Columba seems to have been an austere and, at times, harsh man who reputedly mellowed with age. Though noted for his asceticism (he slept on a stone pillow which later became his tombstone), he was also known for his joyous love of life. He suffered a long illness, and died on June 9th in the year 597, the same year that Augustine brought back the faith to the South of England.

Almighty God, who filled the heart of Columba with the joy of the Holy Spirit

and with deep love for those in his care:

may we, thy pilgrim people follow him, strong in faith,

sustained by hope, and one in the love that binds us to thee;

through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with thee,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

May the wisdom of God instruct you;

the eye of God watch over you;

the ear of God hear you;

the word of God

give sweetness to your speech;

the hand of God defend you;

and may you and I

follow the way of God

this and every day.

SAINT COLUMBA'S BLESSING

Be the Lord

a bright flame before me,

Be the Lord

a guiding star above me,

Be the Lord

a smooth path below me,

Be the Lord

a kindly shepherd behind me,

today, tonight, forever.

Not attributed to Saint Columba, but from the same Irish "stable",

Be Thou My Vision’ is a traditional hymn / prayer with Irish origins.

The text is based on a Middle Irish poem attributed to Dallán Forgaill,

an early Christian Irish poet born in 530AD, contemporary with Columba.

He based this hymn on the equally-famous words of "Saint Patrick's Breastplate".

Since the early 20th century, the text has been sung to an Irish folk tune,

known in church hymnals as ‘Slane’.

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

Be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art

Be Thou my best thought in the day and the night

Both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom, be Thou my true word

Be Thou ever with me, and I with Thee, Lord

Be Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son

Be Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;

Be Thou my whole armour, be Thou my true might;

Be Thou my soul’s shelter, be Thou my strong tower,

O raise Thou me heavenward, great power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise

Be Thou mine inheritance, now and always

Be Thou and Thou only the first in my heart

O high King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, Thou heaven’s bright sun

O grant me its joys, after victory is won;

Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be Thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

Saint Patrick's Breastplate below is written in the style of a druidic incantation

for protection on a journey. It is part of the Liber Hymnorum, a collection of hymns found in two manuscripts kept in Dublin, dating back to the 12th Century, but containing a wealth of Hibernic works of devotion, dating back to the time of Patrick and Columba.