Columbanus

Before Columbanus

• Early 400s - Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland.

• When Europe slipped into the so-called dark Ages, knowledge and faith were preserved in Ireland.

Columbanus

• c543 - Columbanus born in Ireland.

• Columbanus became a monk at Bangor Monastery in Ireland, submitting to a severe form of monasticism. The monks were scholars of many disciplines. The abbot was Comgall.

• In his 40s he goes, as a missionary, to Europe, going first to Brittany in France.

• He travelled to Annegray, France, where he built his first monastery.

• He established a second monastery in Luxeuil, France. There he possibly discovered a Christian community already existing. He introduced a new spiritual energy and the monastic way of life.

  • It became a centre of scholarship, education and art.

  • The scriptorium produced illuminated manuscripts.

  • Those trained there became the abbots, bishops and kings of Europe.

• He established a third monastery at Fontaine.

• Over 50 monasteries were founded throughout Europe.

• Columbanus taught that people could receive forgiveness repeatedly if they confessed to a spiritual advisor. This contrasted with the Roman Church's doctrine that public penance was needed and sins could be forgiven only once. It was a message of hope based on the belief of a God of love.

  • Columbanus wrote a penitential, later adopted by the wider Christian church.

  • He also taught a different date for celebrating Easter.

  • With his teaching he angered the bishops of the established church. Plus he established the monasteries without their permission. And he objected to the lavish ways some were living.

  • The bishops summoned him to account for his ways. 

    • Columbanus challenged people to focus on what united them rather than what divided them. He taught about unity that included diversity and about respect for people who were different. He used the image of polyphony (choir members singing different parts to create a rich whole) to illustrate.

• Columbanus was not willing to compromise his principles for the leaders. He refused to condone the king's use of mistresses. The king captured him and the monks from Luxeil and marched them 800 miles to Nantes to be shipped back to Ireland. In his cell at Nantes, Columbanus wrote a farewell letter urging unity and forgiveness, including forgiveness for the king who had seized him.

  • A storm in Nantes prevented the ship from leaving. The captain, believing it was a sign from God, released the monks.

• Columbanus and his monks trekked across Europe to Brigantium (now Bregenz) on the shores of Lake Constance, where he founded his fourth monastery after negotiations with the local king.

  • The locals rejected him and his Christianity.

  • Two of his monks were murdered so Columbanus left.

• Columbanus, now in his 60s, felt called to cross the Alps to get to Italy.

• One of his disciples, Gallus, stayed and built a hermitage in the wilderness on the shores of Lake Constance. That became the monastic town of St Gallen in Switzerland which, in time, became another major centre of spirituality and scholarship.

• Columbanus and his monks reintroduced Christianity and classical scholarship to Europe.

• 612/13 - Columbanus established his fifth monastery in Bobbio, Italy. - a major centre of spirituality and culture.

• He was determined to build a united Europe. That meant challenging king and leaders, including the Pope.

• 23 November 615 - Columbanus died in Bobbio, Italy. he was buried in the crypt at Bobbio.

Columbanus' Legacy

• July 1950, European leaders gathered in Luxeuil and re-heard Columbanus' vision of unity that included diversity. It is said that that meeting gave rise to the European Union.