The Legacy of St. Columba, Gone to Glory,
June 9, 597

hen taking stock of those influences considered most responsible for the creation of what is now the modern West, there are many who would credit Scotland as the chief incubator for such progress. With its life-altering contributions in areas of science, philosophy, literature, medicine, commerce, politics, and more, that small nation has shaped and nurtured—in a way vastly disproportionate to its size and assumed influence—most of what we now hold as chief advances in the civilized world.

The wild and rugged landscape of Scotland reflects her people well

From the tradition of drafting declarations of independence, to their staunch refusal to allow the civil sphere to infringe upon that of the religious, to their radically innovative economic theories and medical discoveries over the many ages, Scotland and her famed inhabitants—stubborn, practical and averse to being told what can or can’t be done—have left their cultural heirs a legacy of intrepid vision. None of this great contribution to mankind would have materialized were it not for the first fearless missionary who came to Scotland’s barbarous shores and claimed its inhabitants for Christ. This fearless carrier of good news was named Crimthan, or as he was later called by his Scottish converts, Columba, meaning Dove of the Church. By his molding of Scotland’s wild and discordant people to the influence of the Gospel, the nation was transformed into a beacon of Christendom for centuries after.

Columba converting King Brude of the Picts to Christianity

Columba himself came from across the sea, an Irishman by birth and rearing, and descended from those whom St. Patrick had converted a century prior. He was born around 521 into royalty and could have become one of the High Kings of Ireland if he chose. But Columba gave up his crown and prestige in order to pursue his greatest love: all things ecclesiastical and scholarly. Educated in the bardic traditions of his ancestors by his father and then (under Bishop Finnian of Clonard) in the newer tradition of Christian learning, Columba became an accomplished scholar and journeyed in his youth as far as modern day France. There he made note of the Roman Catholic monastic systems that were finding favor on the continent, not only with bishops who feared the movement of independent, wild-eyed proselytizers, but also with the average man who wished to escape the increasing uncertainties of an age of great upheaval by living the simple life of a monk.

Garton Lough, County Donegal, Ireland—the region where Columba was born

Upon returning home from this trip, the energetic Columba adopted a combined methodology in his own practice, embracing the Irish persuasion to Christianity that did not adhere to papal authority, alongside the continent’s ordered church infrastructure. He began founding monasteries in Ireland at will, at places such as Durrow, Kells, and many others, some of which still remain to this day. So aggressive was his energy for this work that by the time he reached the age of forty-one, there were forty-one Irish churches that could claim him as their royal patron.

The ruins of Eaglais na h-Aoidhe/St Columba’s Church at Uidh, Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Scotland—one of the dozens of ancient churches named after Columba

But then, at this high point of success and zeal, things took a downward turn for his fortunes; a turn, however, that would be the means of grace for the thousands of lost souls just across the Irish Sea in neighboring Scotland. Columba had a falling out with one of his old mentors regarding an illuminated psalter that Columba had copied while a guest in the man’s house. There were harsh accusations exchanged, with the evidence even brought before High King Diarmait for sentencing in the matter, and Ireland’s first recorded copyright case went down in history with the judgement of “to every cow her calf, to every book its copy”.

Still retaining that fiery temper which was notable among the Irish people despite all the supposed gentling influences of the Holy Spirit in his life, Columba did not accept this judicial defeat meekly and instead went with his clan into battle with his mentor. When we pass through the remote beauty of county Sligo on Landmark Events’ tour of Ireland, we pass the striking flat top mountain Benbulben where, according to legend, this battle transpired. There beneath its towering ledge, the two armies clashed and while Columba’s side won, the conflict cost the lives of three thousand and one of his fellow countrymen. The contested psalter was amongst the spoils of victory, but the punishment Columba incurred for having created such discord was permanent exile. He was allowed to choose his place of banishment so long as it was out of sight of Irish dominions. He chose to remove himself to the tiny and idyllic island of Iona, nestled in the Scottish Hebrides.

Journey with us this August as we soak in the history and culture of a nation legendary for its poetic passions and enduring love of heritage. Ireland has undergone centuries of oppression and revisionism, only to counter it repeatedly with some of the most remarkable cultural rebirths Europe has ever seen. Learn More >

Today Iona draws tourists from around the world to see this hidden gem and the site of the monastery first founded there by Columba himself in 563. Yet not content to live out his banishment in idle reflection or even scholarly absorption, Columba and the few companions who had willingly left Ireland to serve alongside him soon left their island sanctuary to penetrate the hostile interior of Scotland, bringing with them the Gospel and all its manifest benefits. From the varied sources we have of these missionary incursions, we learn of these men’s practice of bringing mercy and justice to the settlements they reached, medicine and technology, freedom from superstitions and constant strife, literacy to kings and peasants alike, and even the mention of a confrontation between Columba and a dreadful sea monster inhabiting Loch Ness.

The picturesque ruins of Iona Abbey in 1899, before extensive restoration work

Columba settled monasteries everywhere he went in Scotland, and stayed on the mainland for years at a time so that his care and wisdom might be more accessible to his new converts. This was no hurried tour of evangelism where souls were saved and then abandoned in favor of the next fresh crop of sinners—on the contrary, his constancy in discipleship and willingness to remain amongst them garnered him so great a reputation even outside of Scotland that his very name, and that of his monastery at Iona, became synonymous with Christian generosity and equity. He welcomed foreign princes fleeing persecution by their families and spoke in defense of the rights of bards and their storytelling craft. He banished pagan idolatries but prized cultural peculiarities, and upheld the jurisdictional sovereignties of various clans and kingdoms. Rather than being an oddity in his day for all these great pursuits, Columba was in fact a man of his time: half statesman, half churchman, and exceptional at both. Where he did not manage to travel himself, his Irish companions and new disciples pressed ever further, even into the north of England and into France, claiming all for Christ, with a notable absence of any mention of papal authority in the small print.

The cloisters of Iona Abbey

By the time of Columba’s death in the last days of the sixth century, monastic communities had been founded in his name all along the jagged inlets and mountainy heights of windswept Scotland. He had long since passed his self-imposed quota of three thousand and one souls saved—one for each man who had perished in the battle he had instigated all those years before. According to the ancient Irish historian Adomnán, on the day of his death Columba had been writing out Psalm 34. He stopped after completing the words “But they that seek the Lord shall not want any thing that is good”. He set down his quill and whispered: “Let Baithene write the rest”. That night Columba rose as usual from his spartan bed to join the brothers in singing the midnight hymns. As the monks reached the darkened church, they found Columba in ecstasy before the altar, where he blessed them all and then died. Historian James Bulloch has remarked, “All England north of the Thames was indebted to the Celtic mission for its conversion”. And indeed, Columba remains an example for the worldwide church of what great change can be conceived by zealous faithfulness, what happens when the meager span of our lifetimes does not limit our vision of Gospel dominion.

The Isle of Iona and Iona Abbey as seen today

Image Credits: 1 Panoramic view of Scotland (wikipedia.org) 2 Columba (wikipedia.org) 3 Columba converts a pict king (wikipedia.org) 4 Location of Gartan (wikipedia.org) 5 Gartan Lough (wikipedia.org) 6 Columba’s Church at Uidh (wikipedia.org) 7 Finnian of Moville (wikipedia.org) 8 Psalter page (wikipedia.org) 9 Cumdach of the Cathach of Columba (wikipedia.org) 10 Point of Departure (wikipedia.org) 11 Iona in 1899 (wikipedia.org) 12 Location of Iona (wikipedia.org) 13 Iona Cloisters (wikipedia.org) 14 Crozier of Columba (wikipedia.org) 15 Iona today (wikipedia.org)