Who was St Columba ?

The choice of St Columba, as the Patron Saint of the Order of the Knights of St Columba, was inspirational. Time has proved; that no wiser choice could have been made than that of the missionary Saint, who brought the Christian Faith to Scotland and Northern England. Colum, named Colum-cille, and in Latin Columba (a dove), was born at Gartan in Tyr-connel, County Donegal, in AD 521. He was of noble extraction from Niall, King of Ireland. He learned the Divine Scriptures and the lessons of an ascetic life under the bishop, St. Finian. Advanced to the priesthood in AD 546, in a short time He had many disciples. St. Columba's manner of living was always most austere. It is said he lay on the bare floor with a stone for his pillow, and never interrupted his fast. Yet his devotion was neither morose or severe. It was in Iona, that St. Columba came ashore from Ireland and began the Christianisation of Scotland. A place of pilgrimage and veneration throughout the centuries, for reasons of faith, it was also the cradle of the Celtic Kingdom of Scotland. The traditional date for St Columba's landing in Iona (in the diocese of Argyll and the Isles) is AD 563 ; St. Bede has the definite date of A.D. 565 ; and he gives it not only in manuscripts, which are almost contemporary with St. Bede himself, but he also says that it was at the time when Justin Minor succeeded the Emperor Justinian, and that was in November, A.D. 565. St Columba is believed to have died in Iona, on 9th June AD 597, some 34 years after his arrival. His date of his death has only been attained by calculation ; it is probable; however, the date has also been disputed. The last words attributed to St. Columba, to his followers, before he died were: "These, O my children, are the last words I address to you - that you be at peace, and have unfeigned charity amongst yourselves, and if you follow the example of the Holy Fathers, God the Comforter of the good will be your helper, and I abiding with him will intercede for you, and he will not only give sufficient to supply the wants of the present life, but will also bestow on you the good and external rewards which are laid up for those who keep his commandments." The Island of Iona lies just off the extreme coast of Mull, an island to the West of Scotland. The island is three miles long and one-and half miles wide. The strait that separates it from Mull (with which it is connected by ferry) is only three quarters of a mile wide. Anciently known as "I-Chalium-Chille" (the island cell of Columba). The present name (it is thought) a corruption of "I-Thonna" (the island of the waves) or "I-Shonna" (the Holy or Blessed Isle), but the earliest name is "I", simply "the island". Iona's history is largely the history of St Columba's life there. As his home for 34 years; Columba built a monastery; which became the chief seminary of Northern Britain for a considerable period of time, and as a result Iona became the principal centre of Christian missionary work. The monastery was also the main burial place of many Kings of Scotland and innumerable Saints. Among the last monarchs to be buried at Iona was Macbeth, King of Scotland (slain in 1057). He was preceded by Duncan (whom he murdered in 1050). Before he died on his chosen isle of Iona Columba is attributed with a prophecy that: "This place (Iona) small and mean as it appears, shall be honoured and held in reverence, not only by the kings of the Scots and their people, but by rulers and strange nations, and those subject to them." Although so many centuries have elapsed since the death of St Columba; it is said that visitors to the sacred isle "can still feel the sanctity of his presence in the atmosphere." Few places can have been so untouched by the hand of time, as Iona. With its barren rock, brightened by heather and other wild mountain plants; and views North, South, East and West, unchanged from those which met the gaze of St Columba on that historic Sunday when he first celebrated Holy Mass.