Columbanus was born in 543, the year St. Benedict died. Well educated and well favored in appearance he found himself beset by temptations. He consulted a holy hermitess who advised him that the way for him to resist the temptations that beset him was to retire from the world and live a scholarly life. He followed this advice in order not to succumb to worldly ways and learn how to overcome temptation. At around age forty he heard the voice of God instructing him to preach in foreign lands. His later life, teachings and miracles attest to his success in learning how to overcome temptation. .
Jonas of Bobbio, who arrived at the monastery of Bobbio just three years after Columbanus’ death chronicled the life of Columbanus.. The story he tells starts with a young person born to all the advantages of a noble family in West Leinster, Ireland. . Columbanus had wealth, education and religious teaching, as well as the necessary time for contemplation. It was the perfect era for this as well, just on the cusp as the Roman and barbarian cultures merged across Europe. This cultural merger supported the establishment of learning and cultural centers. Columbanus received the start of his formal education at one of the finest of these monasteries, the great mother-school that St. Finian founded at Clonard, Ireland. . There he learned the three-fold division of prayer, labor and study that are the substance of a monk’s life. . He also learned and came to value the habits of sanctity and scholarship that became part of his character and the foundation of the monasteries he founded. .
As a young man Columbanus was educated, wealthy and handsome. Because of this, he was surrounded by sexual temptations from his countrywomen and subject to his own responses and passionate “lusts of the world.” . He struggled against these powerful desires, tormented by the conflict between his value of sanctity and his physical sexual cravings. He sought counsel from a holy female hermit who advised him in this way twelve years ago I fled from the world, and shut myself up in this cell. Hast thou forgotten Samson, David and Solomon, all led astray by the love of women? There is no safety for thee, young man, except in flight, using the oft quoted words, ”Away, O youth, away! Flee from corruption, into which, as you know, many have fallen." . This holy lady hermit set him on the path of sanctity that led to his salvation.
Before he was born, his mother had a dream that of a brilliant sun that arose from her breast and illuminated the whole world. When Columbanus made his decision to withdraw in order to avoid worldly temptation, his mother strongly opposed him. She first spoke up against the idea when that proved ineffective she begged and implored Columbanus not to leave her. His resolve was strong. He believed his only path to salvation was to flee from the temptation of the world. Even though his mother was so distraught at his leaving that she tried to block him with her body and threw herself across the threshold, he overcame his natural feelings were to comfort his mother, her grief-filled actions did not deter him. He stepped over her prostrate form and forever left his home. He begged her not to be broken with grief, and although she would not see him again in this life, and that wherever the way of salvation led him, there he would go. . This was a great test of his resolve to abandon his worldly ways in favor of his spiritual values.
After leaving his home, Columbanus studied under Sinell, who was the Abbot of Cluaninis in Lough Erne. Sinell and Columbanus shared a bond; they both had studied under St. Finian at Clonard. Life at a monastery in those days was not one of ease and comfort. The food was sparse and rough, accommodations were Spartan. Cluaninis was no exception.. This was in part because of the circumstances of the time. However, a greater concern was to train monks to focus inward and exercise the will to overcome the desires of the flesh. It was during this period Columbanus wrote his commentary on the Psalms.. His ability to not just survive the austere conditions of a monestary of this period but also thrive and create shows that he was progressing on his chosen path of valuing the spiritual over the physical.
He was called from his life at Cluaninis to live under the harsher conditons of the monastaery of Bangor on the coast of Down to study under the abbot, St. Comgall. At that timethis celebrated monastery had the most ascetic practices in the country.. Columbanus embraced this severe ascetism and for many years lived a life conspicuous for fervor, regularity and study in a community known for its high standards in that regard.. At around forty years old, Columbanus began hearing the voice of God calling him to preach in foreign lands. Initially, abbot Comgall did not want to lose such a highly valued member of his community and refused to grant leave for Columbanus to depart.. However, after further consideration he realized that it was unfair for him to consider only the concerns of his community and gave consent for Columbanus to leave in around 589. This marks the transition from Columbanus, the tormented young man who sought refuge from worldly lusts in a monastery to Columbanus the Saint who traveled and established monasteries.
Columbanus founded his monasteries, and taught the great value of the barest of Spartan lives are the monastic route to sanctity. Despite the severity of the life style, many people from rustics to nobles were drawn there by Columbanus’ sanctity and at times in search of healing. This was at odds with his personal desire for solitude and sometimes caused him to seek the peace he needed in a cave some miles distant from the monastery he founded. As his reputation grew, it was necessary to build another, and then a third. . Columbanus chose to withdraw from a comfortable life in order to learn to resist worldly temptations and the “lusts of the world.” In that, he was a success, and more than a success, his understanding grew to where he became a teacher and an inspiration to others. The prophetic dream his mother had before his birth was became a reality. Her brilliant “sun” was the baby she carried, her son Columannus who helped illuminate the world.
Works Cited
Henry, Michael. "Columannus Learning in Ancient Ireland." 2000. Columbanus. 02 07 2012
Herbermann, Charles. "St. Columbanus." 1913. Catholic Online. 02 07 2012
Reynolds, Burnam W. and Peter Sterns. Columbanus: Light on the Early Middle Ages. Pearosn Education, 2012.
Sinha, Sayontan. "Saint Columbanus." 2012. Saints SQPN. 02 07 2012
