On June 9th, the Church remembers St. Columba, Abbot of Iona. Many of us are familiar with worship from the Iona Community, an ecumenical group of Christian clergy and laypersons within the Church of Scotland. But what do we know of Columba, the man who felt that the spiritual and the material should be intertwined, and who first established the monastery that would later give us this community?
St. Columba (c. 521–597) is an Irish patron saint who also became a patron of Scotland. Alongside St. Patrick and St. Brigid, he is one of the most famous figures in the Irish Church. In addition to being the patron saint of the city of Derry and of bookbinders, he is the saint people pray to when there is a risk of a flood.
Born in County Donegal, Columba is believed to have been the son of noble parents, though much of his early life rests more in the realm of myth and holy tradition than in fact. We do know that his baptismal name, Colum, means “dove” in Latin.
Columba studied in Ireland and was ordained a priest around the year 551, subsequently founding several monastic communities and churches. Around 563, he and 12 followers traveled by small boat to the island of Iona in the Inner Hebrides, using that place as a base for the Christian conversion of Scotland. The religious community founded there was viewed as the “mother house” of his missionary expansion. He finished his days there, living a simple monastic life, and excavations have even found the cell in which he lived.
During his life, Columba played a significant role in religious politics, and met with Pictish King Bridei at Inverness (and won his respect, though he did not convert to Christianity). Columba also performed miracles, including banishing a water monster from the River Ness, sometimes considered to be the first recorded mention of the Loch Ness monster. He also was a great writer, and worked to preserve literacy in the region.
Columba’s final resting place remains a subject of debate. Some accounts say he was buried on Iona, while others place his burial in Saul, Northern Ireland, beside Saints Patrick and Brigid. Because of this uncertainty, both sites have become popular places of pilgrimage. In addition to those places, several of his relics are preserved in the National Museum of Ireland. So if you want a connection to Columba, you have a few places to choose from!
Today, the Iona Community carries on his legacy. The current community was established in 1938, and is made up of individuals from a wide variety of Christian backgrounds who seek to both reimagine and maintain the spirit of Columba’s mission. Through extensive preservation and restoration of the island’s monastic ruins, services are once again held in the rebuilt Iona Abbey, standing as a living example of “a community dedicated to prayer in action” (which is how they describe themselves on their website).
Over 1,400 years after his death, Columba’s vision of intertwined spiritual and material life lives on. His faith and witness remind us to go out into the world, to spread the Gospel, and put our prayers into action within our own communities.
A Prayer of Saint Columba, from the Church of Ireland:
Kindle in our hearts, O God, the flame of love that never ceases, that it may burn in us, giving light to others. May we shine for ever in your temple, set on fire with your eternal light, even your Son Jesus Christ, our saviour and redeemer. Amen.
