Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/178

 COLUMBANUS

138

COLUMBANUS

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, ex- cept in flight." He thereupon decided to act on this advice and retire from the world. He encountered opposition, especially from his mother, who strove to detain him by casting herself before hun on the thresh- old of the door. But, conquering the feelings of nature, he passed over the prostrate form and left his home forever. His first master w;is Sinell, Abbot of Gluaninis in Lough Erne. Under his tuition he com- posed a commentarj' on the Psalms. He then betook himself to the celebrated monastery of Bangor on the coast of Down, which at that time had for its abbot St. Comgall. There he embraced the monastic state, and for many years led a life conspicuous for fervour, regularity, and learning. At about the age of forty he seemed to hear incessantly the voice of God bidding him preach the Gospel in foreign lands. At first his abbot declined to let him go, but at length he gave consent.

Columbanus set sail with twelve companions; their names have thus come down to us: St. Attala, Colum- banus the Younger, Cimimain, Domgal, Eogain, Eunan, St. Gall, Gurgano, Libran, Lua, Sigisbert, and Waldoleno (Stokes, "Apennines", p. 112). The little band passed over to Britain, landing probably on the Scottish coast. They remained but a short time in England, and then crossed over to France, where they arrived probably in 585. At once they began their apostolic mission. Wherever they went the people were struck by their modesty, patience, and humility. France at that period needed such a band of monks and preachers. Owing partly to the incursions of barbarians, and partly to the remissness of the clerg)', vice and impiety were prevalent. Columbanus, by his holiness, zeal, and learning, was eminently fitted for the work that lay before him. He and his fol- lowers soon made their way to the court of Gontram, King of Burgundy. Jonas calls it the court of Sigis- bert, Iving of Austrasia and Burgundy, but this is manifestly a blunder, for Sigisbert had been slain in 575. The fame of Columbanus had preceded him. Gontram gave him a gracious reception, inviting him to remain in his kingdom. The saint complied, and selected for his abode the half-ruined Roman fortress of Annegray in the solitudes of the Vosges Mountains. Here the abbot and his monks led the simplest of lives, their food oftentimes consisting of nothing but forest herbs, berries, and the bark of yoimg trees. The fame of Columbanus's sanctity drew crowds to his monastery. Many, both nobles and rustics, asked to be admitted into the community. Sick persons came to be cured through his prayers. But Columbanus loved solitude. Often he would withdraw to a cave seven miles distant, with a single companion, who acted as messenger between himself and his brethren. After a few years the ever-increasing number of his disciples obliged him to build another monastery. Columbanus accordingly obtained from King Gontram the Gallo-Roman castle named Luxeuil, some eight miles distant from .\nnegray. It was in a wild dis- trict, thickly covered with pine forests and brushwood. This foundation of the celebrated Abbey of Luxeuil took place in 590. But these two monasteries did not suffice for the numbers who came, and a third had to be erected at Fontaines. The superiors of thesehouses always remained subordinate to Cohnnbanus. It is said that at this time he was able to institute a per- petual service of praise, known as Laus perennis, by which choir succeeded choir, both day and night (Montalembert, Monks of t-he West, II, 405). For these flourishing comnmnities he wrote his rule, which embodies the customs of Bangor and other Celtic monasteries.

For welhiigh twenty years Columbanus resided in France and during that time observed the unreformed

paschal computation. But a dispute arose. The Frankish bishops were not too well disposed towards this stranger abbot, because of his ever-increasing in- fluence; and at last they showed their hostility. They objected to his Celtic Easter and his exclusion of men as well as women from the precincts of his monasteries. The councils of Gaul held in the first half of the sixth century had given to bishops absolute authority over religious communities, even going so far as to order the abbots to appear periodically before their respective bishops to receive reproof or advice, as might be considered necessarj'. These enactments, being contrary to the custom of the Celtic monasteries, were not readily accepted by Columbanus. In 602 the bishops assembled to judge him. He did not appear, lest, as he tells us, "he might contend in words", but instead addressed a letter to the prelates in which he speaks with a strange mixture of freedom, reverence, and charity. In it he admonishes them to hold synods more frequently, and advises that they pay attention to matters equally important with that of the date of Easter. As to his paschal cycle he says: " I am not the author of this divergence. I came as a poor stranger into these parts for the cause of Christ, Our Saviour. One thing alone I ask of you, holy Fathers, permit me to live in silence in these forests, near the bones of seventeen of my brethren now dead." AVhen the Frankish bishops still insisted that the abbot was wrong, then, in obedience to St. Pat- rick's canon, he laid the question before Pope St. Gregory. He dispatched two letters to that pontiff, but they never reached him, "through Satan's inter- vention". The third letter is extant, but no trace of an answer appears in St. Gregory's correspondence, owing probably to the fact that the pope died in 604, about the time it reached Rome. In this letter he de- fends the Celtic custom with considerable freedom, but the tone is affectionate. He prays "the holy Pope, his Father", to direct towards him "the strong support of his authority, to transmit the verdict of his favour". Moreover, he apologizes "for presuming to argue, as it were, with him who sits in the Chair of Peter, Apostle and Bearer of the Keys". He directed another epistle to Pope Boniface IV, in which he prays that, if it be not eontraiy to the Faith, he confirm the tradition of his elders, so that by the pajial decision (judicium) he and his monks may be enabled to follow the rites of their ancestors. Before Pope Boniface's answer (which has been lost) was given, Columbanus was outside the jurisdiction of the Frankish bishops. As we hear no further accusations on the Easter ques- tion — not even in those brought against his successor, Eustasius of Luxeuil in 624 — it would appear that after Columbanus had removed into Italy he gave up the Celtic Easter (cf. Acta SS. O. S. B., II, p. 7).

In addition to the Easter question Columbanus had to wage war against vice in the royal household. The young King Thierry, to whose kingdom Luxeuil be- longed, was living a life of debauchery. He was com- pletely in the hands of his grandmother. Queen Brune- hault"(Brunehild). On the death of King Gontram the succession passed to his nephew, Childebert II, son of Brunehault. At his death the latter left two sons, Theodebert II and Thierry II, both minors. Theode- bert succeeded to .\ustrasia, Thierry to Burgundy, but Brunehault constituted herself their guardian, and held in her own power the government of the two kingdoms. .\s she advanced in years she sacrificed everything to the passion for sovereignty, hence she encouraged Thierrj' in the practice of concubinage in order that there might be no rival queen. Thierry, however, had a veneration for Cohnnbanus, and often visited him. On these occasions the saint admoni.shed and rebuked him, but in vain. Bruncluuilt became enraged with Cohnnbaiuis, anil stirred up the bishops and nobles to find fault with his rules regarding mon- astic enclosure. Finally, Thierry and his party went