St Columba at 1500: Following in his footsteps
We look at what St Columba can teach us 1500 years on and Sister Imelda Ann Dupuis writes on Corpus Christi.
June the 9th is the Solemnity of St Columba or Colmcille, a Saint revered in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and in other parts of the world where the Gaelic diaspora set down. He is man worth reflecting on - not least because God used him as a pillar in the building of the Christian Church in Scotland. There is much information about him, and below you will find some of that but I just wanted to think about his legacy and example for us in 21st Century Scotland. In 1975 St Pope Paul VI released Evangelii Nuntiandi and at the beginning the document asks us three questions:
1) In our day, what has happened to that hidden energy of the Good News, which is able to have a powerful effect on Man’s conscience?
2) To what extent and in what way is that evangelical force capable of really transforming the people of this century?
3) What methods should be followed in order that the power of the gospel may have its effect?
These are potent and challenging questions to us. When St Columba crossed the Irish Sea he came with the zeal of conversions in mind, the zeal of seeing those living a life without God and an eternity to come in Hell, to hear the beautiful gospel of God. God who has a love that surpasses all knowledge, a mercy that flows freely for all. God had sent St Columba to win souls for heaven. The sad truth is, for many Catholics this same zeal does not exist. Dampened by fear, lack of knowledge and confidence but also because we ourselves struggle with embracing the love of God. Yet, this is a zeal our country needs right now. The words ‘God loves you’ is easy to type, and easy to read - but not easy to really believe. Do you know God had a plan to have you in his family from deep before time? That He died for you because He loves you?
The Gospel of God was fully and finally revealed 500 yrs before St Columba was born because God chose to reveal Himself to Man through Jesus Christ because love always goes out, and man always seeks it; as Fr Aidan Nichols wrote in this week’s Crombie Burn Reader:
…divine revelation answers to a human need – even if that revelation not only fulfils that need but super-fulfils it, going beyond not only the concepts, or even the imaginings, of the human mind, but beyond human aspirations themselves:
God’s revelation fulfills all our needs and this St Columba carried with him to Scotland. On this anniversary year of St Columba, why not use this moment to reflect on your own relationship with God, let us ask ourselves challenging questions, let us run to the deep fountain which is our Lord and drink deeply. Then, let us go out and have a vision for our land. Whether you are in Edinburgh or Stornoway - Jesus is still at work, He still desires to see many more Souls in heaven, and like St Columba - you have been sent to do your part. But do not mistake me, this part we play, we do not do out of obligation or fear but primarily because we are loved by God and that love embraced cannot but spill over into our communities and workplaces.
Eric Hanna
Below you will find a video launching COLMCILLE1500, the official organization that many groups across Ireland and Scotland are partnering with - including the Diocese of Argyll to promote St Columba. There is also an invitation from Bishop Brian McGee of the Diocese of Argyll to join them in Oban (or online) for Mass via Being Catholic TV.
Amen, Come Lord Jesus!
Written by Sister Imelda Ann Dupuis, OP.
In the Chapel of Greyfriars Convent, Elgin.
Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
and behold King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart (Song of Songs 3:11).
In the chapel of Greyfriars Convent in Elgin, there is a marvellous stained-glass window behind the altar. It depicts a procession of virgin saints led by Christ who walks under a brocade canopy carried by four angels. The saints appear as wise virgins who responded to the cry, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” (Mt 25:6). The angels bearing the canopy are dressed in mantles of silvery white embroidered with gold, which cover tunics adorned with golden flowers. Their luminous halos burn with an unearthly light, and their strong golden wings reveal their heavenly origin.
Amid this glorious scene, though, it is Christ whose beauty attracts our attention. Jesus stands dressed in an ivory tunic embroidered with gold. Over this, he wears a similarly coloured mantle, more richly adorned and lined in burgundy. On his head is a crown of white roses, some in full bloom, some still in bud. His hands and feet bear the marks of the nails, yet his wounds appear jewel-like, and keen eyes can detect the rays of light streaming from them. This peculiar iconography mixes the symbols of the crucifixion with those of the resurrection: the red of his death with the white of his rising, as the thorny crown blooms with life, and his wounds shed, not blood, but light.
The mixture of imagery does not stop there. The Eucharistic imagery becomes quite apparent the more one contemplates the scene. Is it not a Corpus Christi procession? We see no priest with a monstrance bearing the Sacred Host, for Christ himself is both Priest and Host. His rich garments bring to mind the cope worn by a priest for Benediction. The red lining of his mantle and the host-like halo surrounding his Sacred Head bespeak the appearance of the Holy Eucharist at Mass. Jesus’ eyes look out at us inviting us to Holy Communion, “Eat, O friends, and drink: drink deeply, O lovers!” (Sg 5:1).
Yet his look, too, hints at an additional invitation: the invitation to belong completely to him. He seems to be waiting, waiting for his chosen bride to join him under the marriage canopy. One may be tempted to ask whether the virgins depicted in the scene were not enough as his gaze beckons to you, “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away” (Sg 2:13). The wedding celebration has begun, the roses strewn by angels are frozen in mid-air, the virgins and attending angels wait in solemn expectation for Christ to continue the procession, yet he stands, peering out from the crowd of faithful followers, and waits for us. “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price” (Rev 22:17). Whether this be a wedding ceremony or Eucharistic procession, the Lord awaits our response to his invitation. “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).
Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
God Bless