the different way of calculating Easter and the tendency of priest-abbots, rather than bishops, to govern churches. (From Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People)
In the year of our Lord 565 … there came into Britain from Ireland a famous priest and abbot, marked as a monk by habit and manner of life, whose name was Columba, to preach the word of God to the provinces of the northern Picts…. Columba came into Britain in the ninth year of the reign of Bridius, who was the son of Meilochon, and the powerful king of the Pictish nation, and he converted that nation to the faith of Christ by his preaching and example.
In this way he also received from them the gift of an island [Iona] on which to found a monastery. It is not a large island, but contains about five families, according to the English computation; his successors hold it to this day. He was also buried there when he died at the age of seventy-seven, about thirty-two years after he came into Britain to preach. Before he crossed over into Britain, he had built a famous monastery in Ireland, which, from the great number of oaks, is in the Scottish tongue called Derry—The Field of Oaks.
From both these monasteries, many others had their beginning through his disciples, both in Britain and Ireland; but the island monastery where his body lies has the pre-eminence among them all.
That island has for its ruler an abbot, who is a priest, to whose jurisdiction all the province is subjected, and even the bishops, contrary to the usual method. This is according to the example of their first teacher Columba, who was not a bishop, but a priest and monk, of whose life and discourses some records are said to be preserved by his disciples.
But whatever he was himself, this we know for certain concerning him, that he left successors renowned for their chastity, their love of God, and observance of monastic rules. It is true they employed doubtful cycles in fixing the time of Easter, since no one brought them the relevant decrees of councils, because of their being so far away from the rest of the world; but they earnestly practiced such works of piety and chastity as they could learn from the prophets, the Gospels, and the apostolic writings.
The Mighty Miracles of St. Columba in Scotland
Columba’s primary rivals were the pagan Druids, who fought hard to keep Christianity out of Scotland. Of the hundreds of miracle stories that circulated about Columba, many emphasize his demonstration of the superior power of the Christian God, over and against that of the pagan gods of the Druids. One seventh-century story has Columba driving a monster out of Loch Ness, and is often credited as the first sighting of “Nessie”! (From Adamnan’s Life of Columba, Founder of Hy)
While the blessed man was stopping for some days in the province of the Picts, he heard that there was a fountain famous amongst this pagan people, which foolish men, having their senses blinded by the devil, worshiped as a god. For those who drank of this fountain, or purposely washed their hands or feet in it, were struck by demonic power, and went home either leprous or blinded, or at least suffering from some kind of weakness. By all these things the pagans were seduced, and paid divine honors to the fountain.
Having heard about this, the saint one day went up to the fountain fearlessly; on seeing this, the Druids, whom he had often sent away from him vanquished and confounded, were greatly rejoiced, thinking that he would suffer like others from the touch of that deadly water. But having first raised his holy hand and invoked the name of Christ, he washed his hands and feet; and then with his companions, drank of the water he had blessed. And from that day the demons departed from the fountain; and not only was it not allowed to injure any one, but even many diseases amongst the people were cured by this same fountain, after it had been blessed and washed in by the saint….
On another occasion also, when the blessed man was living for some days in the province of the Picts, he had to cross the Ness River. When he reached its banks, he saw some of the inhabitants burying an unfortunate man, who had been seized while swimming and bitten cruelly by a monster that lived in the water, as he learned from those who were burying the man … The blessed man, on hearing this, was not at all afraid…. The monster, far from being satisfied, was only hungry for more prey. Lying at the bottom of the stream, when it felt the water disturbed by those above, the monster suddenly rushed out, giving an awful roar with its mouth wide open….
Observing this, while all the rest, brothers as well as strangers, were stupefied with terror, the blessed man raised his holy hand, and invoking the name of God, formed the saving sign of the cross in the air. He commanded the ferocious monster…. “Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed.”… Then the brothers, seeing that the monster had gone back … were struck with admiration, and gave glory to God in the blessed man. And even the pagan barbarians who were present were forced by the greatness of this miracle, which they themselves had seen, to praise the God of the Christians….
On a certain day after the events recorded in the above chapters, a Druid named Broichan, while talking with the saint, said to him: “Tell me, Columba, when are you planning to set sail?” The saint replied, “I intend to begin my voyage after three days, if God permits me, and preserves my life.” Broichan said, “On the contrary, you will not be able to, for I can make the winds unfavorable to your voyage, and cause a great darkness to surround you.” The saint replied, “The almighty power of God rules all things, and in His name and under His guiding providence all our actions are directed.”
What more should I say? That same day the saint, accompanied by a large number of followers, went to Loch Ness as he had determined. Then the Druids began to rejoice, seeing that it had become very dark, and that the wind was very violent and contrary. (We should not be surprised at this: we know that God sometimes allows them, with the aid of evil spirits, to raise storms and agitate the sea.)
Our Columba, therefore, seeing that the sea was violently stirred up, and that the wind was most unfavorable for his voyage, called on Christ the Lord and set out in his small boat; and while the sailors hesitated, he all the more confidently ordered them to raise the sails against the wind. No sooner was this order carried out, while the whole crowd was looking on, than the ship ran against the wind with extraordinary speed. And after a short time, the wind, which until then had been against them, shifted to help them on their voyage, to the intense astonishment of all. And thus throughout the remainder of that day the light breeze continued most favorable, and the ship of the blessed man was carried safely to the port he was seeking.
A Hymn to God the Creator
The astonishing miracles for which Columba was remembered should not cause us to forget his work in spreading art, literacy, and education. Scotland was also devoid of any developed intellectual culture, and the Irish missionaries brought with them the Latin intellectual culture they had learned from Catholic missionaries from the days of St. Patrick. The following is a hymn written by Columba, called “Altus Prosator”: it is “abecedarian,” meaning that, at least in the original Latin, each stanza begins with a different letter of the alphabet.
High Creator, Unbegotten,
Ancient of Eternal days,
Unbegun ere all beginning,
Him, the world’s one source, we praise:
God who is, and God who shall be:
All that was and is before:
Him with Christ the Sole-Begotten,
And the Spirit we adore,
Co-eternal, one in glory.
Evermore and evermore:—
Not Three Gods are
