Celtic and Old English Saints 21 November =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Columban of Luxeuil and Bobbio * St. Columban Junior * St. Digain of Cornwall =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
continuing the Life of Saint Columban of Luxeil and Bobbio...... Within the Apennines between Milan and Genoa, at a spot now famous under the name of Bobbio, there was a ruined basilica dedicated to Saint Peter. If, as is not unlikely, the ruins were the handiwork of these ruthless Arian Lombards, there was a quality of penance and restitution in Agilulph the Arian's gift of it to Columban. One incident throws light on the undaunted worker. To restore the basilica the little group of monks cut and dragged timber from the neighbouring wood. Sometimes the great trees were felled where no timber-wain could go. The monks were forced to carry the great beams on their shoulders. Yet God seemed so manifestly to help these men to help themselves that heavy logs which, on the word of Jonas, 30 or 40 men could barely have carried over level ground, were carried over rocks on the shoulders of ancient Columban and two or three monks. With a touch of poetry Jonas adds that the abbot and his monks carried their load "with such unfaltering feet as if moving in play and with joy." This abbey flourished for 12 centuries until Napoleon closed it in 1802. Its library was divided among various libraries in Europe. Queen Theodelinda's prayer and plan for the conversion of her Arian husband and the Lombards received sudden reinforcement by the illustrious exile from Luxeuil. The anger of one queen, Brunhilda, was the opportunity for a greater good--God works all things to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Although 10 years had elapsed since Agilulph had begun a friendship with Pope Saint Gregory the Great, which might soon have born fruit in the king's conversion, Saint Gregory's death had withdrawn the main clerical influence over the king's Arian mind. With the coming of Columban, Theodelinda saw the possibility of Gregory's influence being renewed. But in Lombardy Columban met for the first time the subtle atmosphere of the two great Eastern heresies: the king and most of his subjects were Arians. The rest of his people, even the clergy, were Nestorians enmeshed in the famous controversy of the Three Chapters. Columban could find his peace-nurtured believing mind only bewildered by these Oriental disputations and phrase-weavings--historians wrong both him and the original sources of his history when they see descending the slopes of the Alps only a dogmatic sleuth-hound yearning for controversial blood. Faced with such heresies, Columban wrote a treatise and became involved in opposing the Three Chapters, which were condemned by the Fifth Ecumenical Council at Constantinople. The bishops of Istria and some of Lombardy defended these writings with such warmth as to break off communion with Rome. But Queen Theodelinda saw that this undaunted lover of truth and peace was God-sent to bring peace to her king and people through the truth. Though his life was now measured only by months, he could not stint himself when Theodelinda requested help in bringing Arian and Nestorian Lombardy to the orthodox faith. At Agilulph's request Saint Columban wrote a letter to the reigning Pope Boniface IV (f.d. May 8) regarding the need to summon a synod to bring dogmatic peace. In it he says: ". . . the schism of the people is a grief to [Agilulph] on account of the queen and her son and perhaps for his own sake too; seeing that he is believed to have said that if he knew the truth he would believe. . . . The king asks you, the queen asks you, all ask you, that all things may become one as soon as possible, so that as there is peace in the fatherland there may be peace in the "faith" and the whole flock of Christ may henceforth be one. Columban wrote a defence of Rome and of the orthodox faith to an anonymous person, who was probably an Arian bishop of northern Italy: "Thereupon I made such reply as I could . . . for I believe that the Pillar of the Church is always unmoved in Rome." Abbot Jonas assures us that, no doubt by the wish of King Agilulph and Queen Theodelinda, he took up his abode near Milan, that "by the weapon of the Scriptures" he might rend and destroy the deceits of the heretics, that is, of the Arian heresy, against whom he wrote a scholarly book. He continued to preach to large crowds who were deeply moved at the sight of his long white hair and beard, and of his face which though deeply lined with age and fatigue still shone with the zeal for Christ and was able to move souls. Thus it was that God converted both Agilulph and his people through Columban. For centuries Bobbio was the citadel of scientific defence which owed its existence to the man who united culture and sanctity in one mind and heart. When ruin overtook it centuries later, the gathered treasures of its library enriched the libraries that still enrich the scholarship of the world. Columban's prophecy about the death of Theodoric, the rise of Clotaire, and the brutal murder of Brunhilda lead Clotaire to invite Columban back to France. He would not go back asked the king to look kindly on the monks of Luxeuil. The Rule and the Penitential of Columban The Church also has Saint Columban to thank for two contributions of great worth--his Rule and his Penitential. His rule is not original but embodies the stern asceticism of his fellow-countrymen and especially his fellow monks at Bangor. In the end it was found that the less exacting Rule of Saint Benedict was more acceptable to the monks of the West. While the sterner rule everywhere yielded to the milder, every movement towards a reform of the Rule of Saint Benedict has been a movement towards the ideal of Saint Columban. Even greater than his Rule is his penitential, containing the prescriptions of penances to be imposed upon the monks for every fault, however light. Of the penitential Oscar Watkins writes: "The fact of outstanding importance with respect to the Penitential of Columban is that while it corresponds to no existing practice to be found anywhere in force from former times on the continent of Europe, it reproduces all the main features of the peculiar system which has been seen at work in the Celtic churches . . . As in the British and Irish systems, the penance and the reconciliation are alike private" (p. 615). "It is not a little remarkable that by the end of the seventh century the Rule of Saint Columban, for whatsoever reason, practically disappears, and the Rule of Saint Benedict becomes supreme. But his Penitential system not only survived in the monasteries which were now being founded, but was destined in time, after the later English influence, to become the general penitential system of Western Europe" (Watkins, p. 124). It is to the credit of sinful human nature that this Sacrament of Penance, which our Redeemer made not so much an obligation as a privilege, should yet be frequented almost as an obligation. Perhaps we are close to the motive of this humble practice in thinking of its connection, by way of cleansing, with the great Banquet of the Body and Blood. One of the chief glories of the fellow-countrymen of Columban will be that to him more than to any other individual in the Western Church this lowly practice seems due. See "Irish Penitentials : And the Sacrament of Penance Today" by Hugh Connolly ISBN: 1851821619 Columban's last literary testament is a letter to Pope Boniface IV, which would lead the reader to believe that he was an unwearied warrior for the faith, rather than bowed with ailment and age. He also wrote a charming poem in Adonic verse to his young friend Fedolius, which showed him to be less like Tertullian and more like Gregory Nazianzen (f.d. January 2) or Prudentius (f.d. April 6). The only certain date in his life is that of his "dies natalis," though we don't know how he died. We do know that the exile finally made it home to his Father and was welcomed there. His body was laid to rest in the heart of the Apennines, where it remains. His somewhat intemperate defence of the Celtic over the Roman liturgical customs and the austerity of his rule, make him a rather forbidding personality; but on the other hand, through the numerous abbeys, founded by himself and by his disciples, he exerted a determining and lasting influence on Western civilisation. (Attwater, Benedictines, Daniel-Rops, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Fitzpatrick, Gougaud, Jonas, Kenney, MacManus, MacNabb, Metlake, Montague, Montalembert, Porter, Tommasini, Waddell, Walsh, Watkins). Saint Columbanus is represented with a missioner's cross and a bear near him. Sometimes he carries an abbatial staff, a missioner's cross, and wears a sun on his chest; or he is shown in a bear's den with a fountain springing up at his prayers (Roeder). Troparion of St Columban of Bobbio tone 8 Rome was shocked by the severity of thy Rule, O Father Columban,/ but nothing daunted thou didst not waver in thy condemnation of spiritual and moral laxity./ Standing firmly in the tradition of the fathers of the Thebaid, thou art a tower of strength to us sinners,/ wherefore O Saint, do thou entreat Christ our God that He will grant mercy to our souls. Two prayers attributed to St Columbanus 'O Lord God, destroy and root out whatever the adversary plants in me, that with my sins destroyed thou mayest sow understanding and good work in my mouth and heart, that in deed and truth I may serve thee only, and understand thy commandments and seek thyself. Grant memory. Grant charity. Grant faith. Grant all that thou knowest to pertain to the profit of my soul. O Lord, work good in me, and provide me with what thou knowest that I need; who reignest....' Source: Patrick Sims-Williams, Religion and Literature in Western England, 600-800, (CUP, 1990), 325. 'Lord, grant me, I pray thee in the name of Jesus Christ thy Son, my God, that love which knows no fall, so that my lamp may feel the kindling touch and know no quenching, may burn for me and for others may give light. Do thou, Christ, deign to kindle our lamps, our Saviour most sweet to us, that they may shine continually in thy temple, and receive perpetual light from thee the Light perpetual, so that our darkness may be enlightened, and yet the world's darkness may be driven from us. Thus do thou enrich my lantern with the light, I pray thee, Jesus mine, so that by its light there may be disclosed to me those holy places of the holy, which hold thee the eternal priest of the eternal things, entering there in the pillars of that great temple of thine, that constantly I may see, observe, desire thee only, and loving thee only may behold, and before thee my lamp may ever shine and burn. Be it thine, I beg, most loving Saviour, to reveal thyself to us who beseech thee, so that knowing thee, we may love thee only, love thee alone, hold thee in our thoughts; and do thou deign so far to inspire us with thy love, as it befits thee to be loved and cherished as our God; that thy charity may possess all our inward parts, and thy love may own us all, and thine affection may fill all our senses, so that we may know no other love apart from thee who art eternal; that such affection may be in us impossible of quenching by the many waters of this air and land and sea, according to that saying "And many waters are not able to quench love", which in us also can be fulfilled even in part, by the gift of thee our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory unto ages of ages. Amen'. Sermon XII: On Remorse, Sancti Columbani Opera, ed. G.Walker (Dublin, 1970), 115. --- Medieval Sourcebook: The Life of St. Columban, by the Monk Jonas, (7th Century) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columban.html Icon of Saint Columban: http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Columban.htm##1 St. Columbanus Junior, Martyr -------------------------------------------------------- Died after 616. Saint Columbanus Junior, a disciple of the founder of Luxeuil, Saint Columbanus (f.d. November 23), where he was a monk. He is listed as a martyr, but with no further details (Benedictines). St. Digain of Cornwall -------------------------------------------------------- 5th century. The memory of Saint Digain, a son of King (or chieftain) Constantine of Cornwall, is perpetuated in Llangernw in Denbigshire (Benedictines). Troparion of St Digain tone 8 O son of Constantine and servant of God, Righteous Digain, thou dost teach us by thy example that no man is too mighty to humbly serve Christ and labour for His Holy Church./ Therefore, O holy one, pray to God for us that He will grant us the grace of humility, the joy of service and salvation for our souls. Sources: ======== Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, 2nd edition, revised and updated by Catherine Rachel John. New York: Penguin Books. Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate. (1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan. Bentley, J. (1986). A Calendar of Saints: The Lives of the Principal Saints of the Christian Year. NY: Facts on File. Daniel-Rops, H. (1960). The Miracle of Ireland, tr. by the Earl of Wicklow. Baltimore, Maryland: Helicon Press. Delaney, J. J. (1983). Pocket Dictionary of Saints. New York: Doubleday Image. Encyclopaedia of Catholic Saints, October. (1966). Philadelphia: Chilton Books. Fitzpatrick, B. (1922). Ireland and the Making of Britain. New York: Funk and Wagnalls. Fitzpatrick, B. (1927). Ireland and the Foundations of Europe. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Gougaud, Dom L. (1923). Gaelic Pioneers of Christianity, V. Collins (tr.). Dublin: Gill & Sons. Kenney, J. F. (1929). Sources for Early History of Ireland, vol. 1, Ecclesiastical. New York: Columbia University Press. MacManus, F. (1963). St. Columban. Metlake, G. (1914). Life and writings of St. Columban. Montague, H. P. (1981). The Saints and Martyrs of Ireland. Guildford: Billing & Sons. Montalembert. (1863). Monks of the West. Paris. Porter, A. K. (1931). The Crosses and Culture of Ireland. New Haven: Yale University Press. Roeder, H. (1956). Saints and Their Attributes, Chicago: Henry Regnery. Tommasini, Fra A. (1937). Irish Saints in Italy. London: Sands and Company. Waddell, H. (tr.). (1934). Beasts and Saints. NY: Henry Holt and Co. Walsh, M. (ed.). (1985). Butler's Lives of the Saints. San Francisco: Harper & Row. Walsh, W. T. (1943). Watkins, O. D. (1920). A history of penance. Longmans Green & Co. For All the Saints: http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm These Lives are archived at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
