Get to know a patron saint of poetry on his 1,504th birthday

December 7 is the birthday of Irish saint Columba, founder of many monasteries — Derry, Durrow and Kells in his homeland but the most famous being on the Isle of Iona in Argyll. He was a missionary to Scotland and is credited as one of the nation’s early founders. The Book of Kells hails St. Columba as its originator. He is a patron saint of poets and bookbinders, floods, bookbinding and is a co-patron of Ireland alongside St. Patrick and St. Brigid of Kildare.

St. Columba, whose name is Latin for dove, is also known as Columcille (in some sources Columbcille), the “cille,” meaning “of the Church” being added by his companions. He was born in 521 into the royal Conaill clan in Northern Ireland and was educated by the early Irish saints Cruithnechan and Finnian. He entered the monastery under St. Finnian’s governance and would found numerous monasteries in Ireland.

The motive of Columba’s move to Scotland is disputed. The most popular account is that a disagreement between himself and Finnian (over a Psalter manuscript) led to a battle and the deaths of up to 3,000 men. It is said that Columba offered to retreat, never to set foot in Ireland or put eyes on her shores again, rather than be excommunicated. Other accounts are that it was a missionary venture, likely invited by his ruling kinsman in the region who also gifted him the Isle of Iona for a monastic establishment. 

Given his role among the nation-builders in Northern Ireland and Scotland, there is a great deal of biographical information from an historical standpoint. Columba was influential in establishing the ruling dynasty of Dalriada, which would expand its rule to all of Scotland into the 11th century and thus is considered an early founder of the Scottish nation. 

Columba’s life was memorialized by Adamnan, ninth abbot of Iona who was born less than 30 years after the saint’s death. It was not a biography as much as a collection of stories, some of legendary nature, relating prophecies, miracles and visions of the saint. (The abridged edition, including photos is no longer in print though pre-owned copies can be found.)

When Columba encountered the hardy Picts, early ancestors of the Scottish Highlander peoples, their pagan Druid priests vehemently protested, to which the would-be-saint confidently made the Sign of the Cross and struck the barred gates with his bare hands. One biographer, F. A. Forbes, notes, “Bolts and bars shot back at his touch, and silently the great gates rolled open to give the Saint and his companions passage.”

While St. Columba’s encounter with the famed Loch Ness monster is considered legend, many recount it, such as this report. As the first written account of the “water-beast,” Adamnan records the time “the blessed man” had to cross the River Ness while staying among the Picts. He observed a man buried, the locals telling of a water beast that snatched and mauled him savagely. The saint astonished the crowd commanding one of his companions to swim across the river, which he did without question. The beast, according to Adamnan, sensed the swimmer’s presence, swam to the surface and rushed “open-mouthed with a great roar towards the man.” As everyone else froze in fear, “the blessed man looking on raised his holy hand and made the sign of the cross in the air,” invoked the name of God, and commanded the fierce beast.

“At the sound of the saint’s voice, the beast fled in terror so fast one might have thought it was pulled back with ropes…” Seeing that the beast had gone and the swimmer returned completely unharmed, those gathered “glorified God in the blessed man.”

Adamnan tells that even the heathen natives present who witnessed the miracle then “too magnified the God of the Christians.”

Other miracles are recorded that mirror those of Jesus himself, all done in his name — the turning of water into wine, not for a wedding but for a Eucharistic celebration; the calming stormy seas; and the raising of a boy from the dead.

Here are 3 takeaways from the life of this important but little-known saint.

F. A. Forbes, in his biography The Life of Saint Columba, Apostle of Scotland, comments that as a child Columba would often “slip away” from games whenever possible, but they always knew where to find him, “nestled beside the altar like a dove in its nest.” It was near the altar in the abbey church at Iona where the saint also died, after quickly responding to the bell for Matins.

Columba’s faith and missionary activity were not solely directed to the saving of souls. His patronage of poetry -- although he did write poems and a common hymn tune is even named after him -- is really of a secular nature. He advocated on behalf of the Bards whom the Irish parliament wanted to banish because of their arrogant abuses of power. Columba’s plea was not to release those men from guilt but to uphold the role of those who, as Forbes writes, “make the records of nation … sing the noble deeds of its heroes … lament the death of the brave.” The result was a reform of the order of Bards and founding of schools to study literature and educate new poets. 

His legacy of being one among generations of saints that came both before and after him prompts reflection on who the saints and great evangelizers are in our own spiritual heritage, even ancestral lineage. With the increasing resources and effective tracing tools, maybe there’s a saint in your family tree; or you can discover more about the families of saints you love and admire. 

Jenny Lark Snarski writes for the Diocese of Superior’s Catholic Herald and has studied poetry with the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at Houston’s University of St. Thomas where she is earning the Master’s in Faith and Culture. Learn more here and hear about how she discovered that St. Columba is a known ancestor of hers.