Life of St Columba 2 part 1/2

Chapter 1: Concerning the Wine which was Made from Water. At another time, when the venerable man was abiding in Ireland with the holy bishop Findbarr, while still a youth, learning the wisdom of Sacred Scripture, on a certain solemn day wine for the sacrificial mystery was by some chance nowhere to be found: when he heard the ministers of the altar complaining among themselves of its lack, he goes to the spring with a pitcher he had taken, that he might draw spring-water for the ministry of the sacred Eucharist, as a deacon: for in those days he was administering in the rank of the diaconate. And so the blessed man faithfully blessed the watery element, which he had drawn from the liquid, having invoked the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who at Cana of Galilee turned water into wine:

by whom also, working this miracle, the lower nature — that is, the watery — was, through the hands of the praiseworthy man, converted into the more pleasing kind, namely the vinous. And so the holy man, returned from the spring and entering the church, sets down beside the altar a pitcher having within itself such a liquor; and to the ministers he said: 'You have wine, which the Lord Jesus has sent for performing His mysteries.' When this was known, the holy bishop with the ministers render exceeding thanks to God. But the holy youth ascribed this not to himself, but to the holy bishop Vinnian. And so this first proof of power Christ the Lord declared through His disciple, the same thing which, placing the beginning of signs at Cana of Galilee, He had wrought through Himself.

Let this miracle, I say, which was manifested through our Columba by divine power, like some lamp, illumine the beginning of this little book; that thereafter we may pass on to the rest of the miracles of powers which were shown through him. Chapter 2: Concerning the Bitter Fruit of a Certain Tree Turned into Sweetness by the Saint's Blessing. There was a certain very fruitful tree near the monastery of Robur of the Plain, in its southern part; concerning which, when the inhabitants of the place had a certain complaint on account of the excessive bitterness of its fruit, on a certain day the Saint approached it in the autumn season, and seeing the tree to have its abundant fruit in vain, since those who tasted of them were more harmed than delighted;

raising his holy hand, blessing it, he said: 'In the name of almighty God, O bitter tree, let all your bitterness depart from you; and let your fruits, hitherto most bitter, now be turned into sweetest.' Wonderful to tell, swifter than the word, and in that same moment, all the fruits of that tree, their bitterness lost, were turned, according to the Saint's word, into a marvellous sweetness. Chapter 3: Concerning the Crop Sown after Midsummer Time and, at the Beginning of the Month of August, Reaped at the Saint's Prayer, while He was Dwelling on the Island of Iona. At another time the Saint sent his monks to bring bundles of rods from the little field of a certain commoner for the building of a lodging.

When they came back to the Saint, the cargo ship filled with the aforesaid materials of rods, and said that the commoner was greatly grieved on account of that loss; the Saint accordingly, giving command, says: 'Lest then we cause that man to stumble, let twice three measures of barley be carried to him from us, and let him himself sow them in these days in plowed land.' When these had been sent to the commoner, named Findchan, according to the Saint's command, and assigned in his presence with such a charge, gladly receiving them, he says: 'How will a crop sown after midsummer time, contrary to the nature of this land, prosper?' His wife, on the contrary, said: 'Do according to the Saint's command, to whom the Lord will grant whatever he asks of Him.'

But those who were sent also added this, saying: 'Saint Columba, who sent us to you with this gift, gave this command through us concerning your crop, saying: "Let that man trust in the omnipotence of God: his crop, although sown twelve days after the beginning of the month of June, will be reaped at the beginning of the month of August."' The commoner complies, plowing and sowing; and the harvest, which he had sown at the aforesaid time against hope, with the wonder of all his neighbours he reaped ripe at the beginning of the month of August, according to the Saint's word, in the place of land which is called Delcros. Chapter 4:

Concerning the Disease-Bearing Cloud, and the Healing of Very Many. At yet another time, when the Saint was staying on the island of Iona, sitting on a little hill which is in Latin called Munitio Magna (the Great Fortress), he sees from the north a dense and rainy cloud, risen from the sea on a clear day: which, when seen ascending, the Saint said to a certain monk of his sitting beside him, named Silnan, son of Neman-don Mocusogin: 'This cloud will be very harmful to men and cattle; and on this day, flying swiftly over a certain part of Ireland — that is, from that little river which is called Ailbine as far as the Ford of Clied — in the evening it will distil a disease-bearing rain, which will cause grievous and festering ulcers to arise on human bodies and on the udders of cattle;

by which men, diseased, and cattle, troubled by that venomous oppression even unto death, will suffer. But we, having pity on them, ought, the Lord taking pity, to come to the aid of their sicknesses. You therefore, Silnan, now descending with me from the mountain, prepare a voyage for tomorrow — life accompanying and God willing — having received from me bread blessed with the invocation of the name of God, by which, dipped in water, men sprinkled with it, and cattle, will quickly recover health.' Why do we delay? On the morrow, the necessary things being quickly prepared, Silnan, having received from the Saint's hand the blessed bread, sailed away in peace.

To him, departing from him at that same hour, the Saint adds this comforting word, saying: 'Trust, son, you will have favourable and prosperous winds day and night, until you arrive at that region which is called Ard Ceannachte, that you may the more quickly come to the aid of the sick there with the health-giving bread.' What more? Silnan, obeying the Saint's word, by a prosperous and swift voyage, the Lord helping, arriving at the aforementioned part of that region, found the people of whom the Saint had foretold devastated by the disease-bearing rain of the aforesaid cloud raining down, swiftly running on ahead.

And first of all twice three men, found in a house near that same sea, placed in extremity with death approaching, sprinkled by the same Silnan with the water of blessing, were on that same day more opportunely healed. The report of whose sudden healing, quickly spread abroad through that whole region devastated by the more pestilential disease, summoned every sick person to the legate of Saint Columba; who, according to the Saint's command, sprinkled men and cattle with bread dipped in blessed water, and immediately recovering full health, the men, together with the cattle, being saved, praised Christ in Saint Columba with exceeding thanksgiving. And so in this above-written narration, as I reckon, these two things manifestly accompany each other together;

that is, the grace of prophecy concerning the cloud, and the miracle of power in the healing of the sick. That these things were in every respect most true, the aforesaid Silnan, soldier of Christ, legate of Saint Columba, testified in the presence of Abbot Segine and the other elders. Chapter 5: Concerning Saint Maugina the Virgin, Daughter of Daimen, who Dwelt in Clochur of the Sons of Daimen. At another time the Saint, when he was staying on the island of Iona, at the first hour of the day, calling a certain brother named Lugaid, whose surname in Irish is called Lathir, addresses him thus, saying: 'Prepare quickly a swift voyage to Ireland, for it is very necessary to me to send you as legate as far as Cocher of the sons of Daimen.

For on this past night, by some chance, Maugina, the holy virgin, daughter of Daimen, returning home from the oratory after Mass, fell and broke her hip-bone, and now lying down, crying out, calls upon my name, hoping to receive from the Lord consolation through me.' What more? To Lugaid, complying and accordingly departing, the Saint hands over a pinewood little casket with a blessing, saying: 'The blessing which is contained in this little casket, when you arrive to visit Maugina, let it be dipped in a vessel of water, and let that same water of blessing be poured upon her hip; and immediately, the name of God being invoked, the hip-bone will be joined and will knit; and the holy virgin will recover full health.'

And this the Saint adds: 'Behold, I here describe on the lid of this casket the number of twenty-three years, during which the sacred virgin is to live in this present life after that same healing.' All which things were so fully fulfilled, just as had been foretold by the Saint: for as soon as Lugaid arrived to the holy virgin, the hip being drenched with blessed water as the Saint had charged, without any delay, the bone being knit together, she was fully healed; and at the arrival of the legate of Saint Columba, rejoicing with immense thanksgiving, for twenty-three years, according to the Saint's prophecy, after her healing, remaining in good works, she lived. Chapter 6:

Concerning Those Things which were Accomplished on the Ridge of Cete in the Healings of Various Diseases. The man of praiseworthy life, as has been handed down to us by those who experienced it, in those days healed, with the name of Christ invoked, the sicknesses of various infirm persons, during which days, going to the conference of the kings on the Ridge of Cete, he stayed a short time. For either by the stretching out of his holy hand, or by water blessed by him, very many sick people sprinkled, or even by the touch of the fringe of his cloak, or by the blessing received of some thing — namely of salt or of bread — and dipped in water, believing, recovered full health. Chapter 7:

Concerning the Lump of Salt Blessed by the Saint, which Fire Could Not Consume. At yet another time, Colgu son of Cellach received from the Saint a blessed lump of salt that he had requested, to benefit his sister and his nurse, who was suffering from ophthalmia, a very grievous sickness. Receiving such a gift of grace from her brother's hand, that same sister and nurse hung it on the wall above her bed; and by chance it happened after some days that the same hamlet, with the little house of the aforesaid woman, was wholly burnt up by a devastating flame. Wonderful to tell, that little portion of the wall, lest the blessing of the blessed man hung upon it should perish, after the whole house was burnt down, stood unharmed and remained;

nor did the fire dare to touch the twin stakes on which hung such a lump of salt. Chapter 8: Concerning the Leaf of a Book Written by the Saint's Hand, which Water Could Not Corrupt. I reckon another miracle ought not to be passed over in silence, which once was wrought by means of a contrary element. For after the circuits of many years had passed following the blessed man's passing to the Lord, a certain youth, fallen from a horse into the river which in Irish is called Boend, submerged and dead, remained twenty days under the water; who, as he was falling, had books stored under his armpit in a leathern satchel, and so likewise, after the aforementioned number of days, he was found holding the satchel with the books between his arm and his side;

and when his corpse had also been carried back to dry land, and the satchel opened, a leaf written by the holy fingers of Saint Columba was found, among the leaves of the other books not only corrupted but even putrefied, dry and in no way corrupted, as if it had been stored away in a little chest. Concerning Another Miracle Wrought in a Similar Matter. At another time, a book of hymns for the week, written by the hand of Saint Columba, fell submerged in a certain river of the parts of the Lagini, from the shoulders of a certain boy slipping from a bridge, together with the leathern satchel in which it was.

This little book, namely, having remained in the waters from the Lord's Nativity until the completion of the Paschal days, was afterwards found on the bank of the river by certain women walking there, and was carried in its bag — a bag not only soaked but even rotted — to a certain priest named Iogenan, a Pict by race, to whom it had formerly belonged. When this same Iogenan opened the bag, he found his little book uncorrupted, and so clean and dry as if it had remained that whole time in a book-chest and had never fallen into the waters. Moreover, we have likewise learned without doubt from those who knew, that other such things befell, in various places, books written by the hand of holy Columba: namely, that these books, though submerged in waters, could in no way be corrupted.

Concerning the aforementioned book of Iogenan we received the account from certain truthful and upright men of good testimony, without any ambiguity; they beheld that same little book, after so many days of submersion as mentioned, perfectly white and bright. These two events, though wrought in small matters and shown by contrary elements, namely fire and water, bear witness to the honor of the blessed man, and how great and of what merit he is held to be before the Lord. Chapter 9: Of the Water Which Was Brought Forth from Hard Rock at the Saint's Prayer. And since a little above mention has been made of the element of water, we ought not to keep silent about other miracles which the Lord performed through the Saint in that same created thing, though at different times and places.

For at another time, when the Saint was journeying in his pilgrimage, an infant was brought to him by its parents to be baptized as he went on his way; and because no water could be found in the nearby places, the Saint, turning aside to a nearby rock, knelt down and prayed for a little while; and rising after his prayer, he blessed the face of that rock; from which thereupon water gushed forth abundantly and flowed; and in it he immediately baptized the infant. Concerning this baptized child too he uttered these prophetic words, saying: This little boy shall live long, even to extreme old age; in his youthful years he will serve fleshly desires enough, and thereafter, given over to the warfare of Christ until his end, he will depart to the Lord in good old age.

All these things befell that same man according to the Saint's prophecy. This was Lugucencalad, whose parents had dwelt in Artdaib Muirchol, where to this day a little spring, famed by the name of holy Columba, may be seen. Chapter 10: Of Another Malignant Spring-Water Which the Blessed Man Blessed in the Region of the Picts. At another time, the blessed man, while he was tarrying for some days in the province of the Picts, heard a rumor noised abroad among the heathen people about another spring, which foolish men, the devil blinding their senses, venerated as if it were a god;

for those who drank of that little spring, or deliberately washed their hands or feet in it, would return — by God's permission — smitten by demonic art, either leprous, or blind in one eye, or even crippled, or beset by whatever other infirmities. On account of all which the deluded heathen paid divine honor to the spring. Having learned of this, the Saint on another day approached the spring fearlessly. Seeing this, the magicians — whom he himself often drove off confounded and vanquished by him — greatly rejoiced, supposing of course that he would suffer the like effects from the touch of that harmful water. But he first of all, raising his holy hand, with the invocation of the name of Christ, washed his hands and feet; then thereafter, together with his companions, drank of that same water which he had blessed.

And from that day the demons departed from that spring, and not only was it permitted to harm no one, but moreover, after the Saint's blessing and his washing in it, many infirmities among the people were healed through that same spring. Chapter 11: Of the Blessed Man's Peril at Sea, and of the Sudden Calming of the Tempest at His Prayer. At another time, the holy man began to be in peril at sea; for the whole vessel of the ship, violently shaken, was being mightily battered by great heaps of waves, with a huge storm of winds pressing in on every side. The sailors then, when the Saint was trying to bail out the bilge-water with them, said to him: What you are now doing is of no great profit to us in our peril; you ought rather to pray for us who are perishing.

Hearing this, he ceased to bail out the bitter water — hininglas — and began to pour out a sweet and earnest prayer to the Lord. Wondrous to tell, at that very moment of the hour in which the Saint, standing on the prow, with hands stretched out to heaven, entreated the Almighty, the whole tempest of the air and the fury of the sea, calmed quicker than it can be told, ceased, and at once a most serene tranquility followed. But those who were in the ship, astonished, with great wonder, giving thanks, glorified the Lord in His holy and praiseworthy man. Chapter 12: Of Another Like Peril of His at Sea. At another time also, when an exceedingly fierce and perilous tempest was pressing in, and his companions were crying aloud that the Saint should entreat the Lord for them;

he gave them this answer, saying: It is not for me this day to pray for you who are set in this peril, but for Cainnech the abbot, a holy man. I am about to tell wondrous things. At that same hour holy Cainnech, dwelling in his monastery — which in Latin is called Campulus Bovis (the Little Field of the Ox), but in Irish Ached-bou — heard the aforesaid voice of holy Columba with the inner ear of his heart, the Spirit revealing it. And when he had perchance, after the ninth hour, begun to break the blessed bread in the refectory, he straightway left the little table, and with one shoe clinging to one foot and the other left off through too great haste, he hastened to the church with these words: It is no time for us now to dine, when the ship of holy Columba is in peril at sea.

For at that moment he, repeating this name of Cainnech, was making mention of him, that he might entreat Christ for him and his companions in peril. After these words, entering the oratory, he knelt down and prayed for a little while; and the Lord hearing his prayer, the tempest immediately ceased, and the sea became very calm. Then thereafter holy Columba, seeing in the spirit Cainnech's hastening to the church, though he was dwelling far off, wondrously uttered this word from a pure heart, saying: Now I have known, O Cainnech, that God has heard your prayer; now your swift running to the church with one shoe profits us greatly. In this miracle, therefore, the prayer of both Saints, as we believe, worked together. Chapter 13:

Of the Staff of Holy Cainnech, Left Behind in the Harbor. At another time, the same Cainnech mentioned above, beginning to sail from the harbor of the island of Iona to Ireland, forgot to carry his staff with him; which staff of his, found on the shore after his departure, was delivered into the hand of holy Columba; and he, having returned home, carried it into the oratory, and there remained alone in prayer for a rather long while. Cainnech accordingly, drawing near to the island of Oidecha, suddenly stung with remorse for his forgetfulness, was inwardly pricked. But after a little, bending down, he found before him, upon the turf of the little ground of Aithche, the staff which he had forgotten in the harbor of the island of Iona and left behind him.

At its conveyance, divinely effected, he marveled greatly, with thanksgiving to God. Chapter 14: Of Baithene and Columban Son of Beogna, Holy Priests, Asking on the Same Day That a Prosperous Wind Be Granted Them by the Lord Through the Blessed Man's Prayer, Although Sailing by Different Routes. At another time, the holy men mentioned above, coming to the Saint, with one accord asked of him together that he himself, asking of the Lord, might obtain that a prosperous wind be given them on the morrow, as they were about to set out by different routes. To whom the Saint replied, giving this answer: Tomorrow morning, Baithene, sailing out from the harbor of the island of Iona, shall have a favorable wind until he reaches the harbor of Campus Lunge (the Plain of Lunge).

And so, according to the Saint's word, the Lord granted it: for Baithene, with full sails, on that same day crossed the great and entire sea even to the land of Ethica. But at the third hour of the same day, the venerable man called Columban the priest, saying: Now Baithene has reached the desired harbor prosperously; prepare yourself to sail today; soon the Lord will turn the wind to the north. At this word of the blessed man thus uttered, at that same hour the favorable south wind turned itself into a northerly blast; and so on that same day both holy men, the one parted from the other in peace, Baithene in the morning to the land of Ethica, Columban in the afternoon beginning to make for Ireland, sailed out with full sails and favorable winds.

This miracle was wrought by the virtue of the illustrious man's prayers, the Lord granting it; because, as it is written, All things are possible to him that believeth. After holy Columban's departure on that day, holy Columba uttered this prophetic word about him: The holy man Columban, whom we blessed as he set out, shall nowhere in this world see my face. And so it was fulfilled afterwards, for in that same year holy Columba passed over to the Lord. Chapter 15: Of the Repelling of the Demon That Lurked in a Milk-Pail. At another time, a certain young man, Columban by name, grandson of Briun, suddenly arriving at the door of the little hut in which the blessed man was writing, stood still.

This same man, returning after the milking of the cows, carrying on his back a pail full of new milk, said to the Saint that, according to custom, he might bless such a load. The Saint then, from opposite at a distance, with his raised hand traced in the air the sign of salvation; whereupon that load was straightway violently shaken, and the peg of the lid, thrust back through its two holes, was cast far off, the lid fell to the ground, and the milk in its greater part was spilled upon the earth. The young man set the pail, with the little milk that remained, upon its bottom on the ground, and suppliantly bent his knees.

To him the Saint said: Rise, Columban; today you have acted negligently in your work, for you did not, by impressing the sign of the Lord's cross before the pouring of the milk, drive out the demon lurking in the bottom of the empty pail: which demon, namely, now not enduring the power of that sign, trembling, fled away swiftly with the spilling of the milk, the whole vessel being likewise disturbed. Bring therefore the pail nearer here to me, that I may bless it. When this was done, the half-empty vessel which the Saint had blessed was at that same moment found divinely refilled; and the little that had before remained at the bottom of the vessel, under the blessing of the holy hand, had quickly grown up even to the brim. Chapter 16:

Of the Pail Which a Certain Sorcerer Named Silnan Had Filled with Milk Pressed from a Male Ox. This is related to have happened in the house of a certain wealthy commoner named Foirtgirn, who dwelt on Mount Cainle. When the Saint was lodging there, between two quarreling country-folk — whose coming he had foreknown beforehand — he gave righteous judgment: and one of them, who was a sorcerer, was bidden by the Saint to press milk by diabolical art from a male ox that was nearby: which the Saint bade be done, not to confirm those sorceries — far be it! — but to destroy them before the multitude. The blessed man therefore demanded that the vessel, seemingly full of such milk, be given to him quickly;

and with this judgment he blessed it, saying: Now it shall be proven that this is not true milk, as is supposed, but blood discolored by the fraud of demons, to deceive men: and immediately that milky color was turned back into its proper nature, that is, into blood. The ox too, which in the space of one hour had become wasted and emaciated with foul leanness and was near to death, when sprinkled with water blessed by the Saint, was healed with marvelous swiftness. Chapter 17: Of Lugne Mocumin. On a certain day a young man of good disposition, Lugne by name, who afterwards as an old man was prior in the monastery of the island of Elena, coming to the Saint, complained of a flow of blood, which frequently for many months flowed immoderately from his nostrils.

Having called him nearer, the Saint, pressing both his nostrils with two little fingers of his right hand, blessed him. From that hour of the blessing, blood never again dripped from his nose until his last day. Chapter 18: Of the Fishes Specially Prepared for the Blessed Man by God. At another time, when the companions of the praiseworthy man, sturdy fishermen, had caught five fishes in the net in the fish-rich river Sale, the Saint said to them again: Cast the net into the river, and you shall straightway find a great fish which the Lord has prepared for me. They, obeying the word of the Saint, drew up in the little net a salmon of wondrous size, prepared for them by God.

Chapter 19. At another time also, when the Saint was tarrying for some days beside the Lake of Cei, he held back his companions who wished to go fishing, saying: Today and tomorrow no fish will be found in the river: on the third day I will send you, and you shall find two great river-salmon caught in the net. And so, after two short days, casting the net, finding two of most rare size in the river called Bo, they drew them to land. In these two fishings mentioned, the power of the miracle appears, accompanied at the same time by prophetic foreknowledge, for which the Saint and his companions rendered exceeding thanks to God. Chapter 20:

Of Nesan the Crooked, Who Dwelt in That Region Which Borders on the Lake of the Aporis. This Nesan, when he was exceedingly poor, joyfully received the holy man into his hospitality at another time. When he had ministered to him hospitably according to his means for the space of one night, the Saint inquired of him how many little cows he had: he said, Five. The Saint accordingly said: Bring them to me, that I may bless them. When they were brought and blessed with his raised holy hand, From this day, said the Saint, your few five little cows shall increase, up to the number of a hundred and five cows.

And because this same Nesan was a common man, with a wife and sons, the blessed man bestowed on him also this increase of blessing, saying: Your seed shall be blessed in sons and grandsons. All which things were fully fulfilled, according to the Saint's word, without any diminution. Chapter 21. Concerning a certain very stingy rich man named Uigen, who had despised holy Columba and did not receive him into his hospitality, he uttered on the contrary this prophetic sentence, saying: But the riches of that miser, who spurned Christ in his pilgrim guests, shall from this day be little by little diminished, and shall be reduced to nothing; and he himself shall beg; and his son shall run about from house to house with a half-empty bag;