St Columban

Columban was born into a rich family in Ireland and he received a good education. He knew that he wanted to live his life for Jesus from the time that he was a young boy, but he found it very hard to leave behind the good things that the world wanted to give him. He knew that if he was really going to give his life to Jesus, then he would have to leave his home. He became a monk in Ireland and studied about Jesus. Then he felt called to leave Ireland and spread the Gospel in other lands. He went to the big country of Gaul, which is now many countries in Europe including France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany. People had heard of Jesus there, but they were not living their lives the way Jesus would want. Columban worked with the other monks that had journeyed with him, to teach the people about how Jesus wanted them to live. He gave a good example to everyone he met, living with great charity and humility with his community of monks, sharing everything they had. Although his community was given great castles to live in wherever they went, Columban preferred to live in the forest in caves, with only the things that he could find there to wear and to eat. It is said that all the animals of the forest listened to him and obeyed his commands. He started many large monasteries wherever he went, because so many people wanted to live the way that Columban taught so that they would be close to Jesus. He made all those that joined the monastery work hard and pray always, telling them that they should go to bed so tired that they would fall asleep on the way there and that they should get up before they had fully rested, so that they would always rely on God’s strength to get them through the day. Some of the Kings and Queens did not like what Columban preached and others thought that the way he lived was too strict. After 20 years of serving God in the land of Gaul, he and his monks were kicked out by the King and sent back to Ireland. Instead of returning to Ireland, he and his monks went to other lands to tell the people about Jesus and they ended up in Italy, where they built his last monastery. He found a cave which he made into a Chapel dedicated to Mary and he spent most of his days there in the cave, praying. Many miracles were said to have happened for those who visited his tomb after he died.