St. Columba is known as one of the “twelve Apostles of Ireland,” and is a patron saint of Ireland and Scotland. Columba was a hard-nosed Irish abbot who was a great evangelizing force throughout the Celtic lands. This Celtic saint is sometimes called Columcille [Column – kill] because of the many “cells” or religious abbeys he established.

Columba was born in 521 in northern Ireland with royal lineage, and was educated at a local monastery where he was ordained a deacon. He went on to another town to study history and literature and developed into a poet. He completed his education and was ordained a priest at a famous monastery in Clonard, where he studied under St. Finnian, who was known as the tutor to Ireland’s saints.

Columba was a large and athletic man with a strong voice that carried well. He spent the next fifteen years traveling through Ireland, preaching and establishing monasteries.

Once, during a game of hurling (a game still played today), a player from Columba’s clan fatally injured another player and fled to Columba for protection. The opposing clan, ignoring the traditional right of sanctuary, dragged the man away from Columba and killed him in retribution. War broke out between the two clans, and 3,000 lost their lives in one battle. Columba was accused of instigating the war, and was held responsible for the dead.

Columba decided to repent for this violence by leaving his native Ireland and converting as many souls to Christ as had died in the war. With 12 companions—all related to him—he set sail in wicker, leather-covered currachs and landed on the island of Iona.

Columba built a famous abbey on Iona, which would become the center of his missionary activity for the rest of his life. It was situated between Picts of the north and the Scots in the south, and so was ideal for reaching out to both cultures. Columba traveled all over Scotland, converting souls to Christ and building the Church.

Columba remained connected to Ireland, traveling to Ireland multiple times to participate in councils, but he made the isle of Iona his home. People visited him there to seek healing in body or spirit, knowing that he was a holy man capable of miracles and prophecies.

One historian of the time wrote about Columba, “Of all qualities, gentleness was precisely the one in which Columba failed the most.” Yet he was known to be in constant prayer and projected serenity. He was polished and eloquent, and continued his study and learning through his whole life. He was known as a disciplined man who used severe austerities to deny himself, yet remained joyful and kind to everyone he met.

Columba died of an illness at an old age, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the sacred heart on Notre Dame’s campus. The small window pictured here carries St. Columba’s name around a Celtic cross and comes from the Dillon Hall chapel. His image is used above with permission from Catholic.org.

St. Columba, you became a missionary as a sign of repentance for starting a war—pray for us!