Life of St. Columba

St. Fintan, one of the Saint's first companions in Iona, was asked once towards the end of Columba's life to describe him to one who had heard much of his holiness, but who did not know him. "He is a king amongst kings," answered Fintan, "a sage amongst wise men, a monk amongst monks. He is poor with God's poor; a mourner with those who weep, and joyful with those who rejoice. Yet amidst all the gifts of nature and of grace that have been so liberally showered on him by God, the true humility of Christ is as royally rooted in his heart as if it were its natural home." (Chapter IX) “Columbcille was a man of great heart and of determined will; what he set himself to do was sure to be done” (Chapter IX) “To be quick to take offence and slow to forgive an injury is a characteristic of the Celtic race all the world over, and Columba was no exception to the rule. Long and sharp was to be the struggle before that quick and imperious nature was wholly conquered by the grace of God, but great was to be the victory at last.” (Chapter I) “It was Columba’s love of the Church that won for him among his companions the name by which he became famous in after-days– “Columb-cille” or “the dove of the Church.” He would slip away from their games whenever he could, but they always knew where to find him. “He nestles beside the altar like a dove in its nest,” they would say.” (Chapter I) “But God shows His love for His Saints in ways which are not the ways of men, and the chastening fires of sorrow and of suffering were to purify that ardent and impulsive nature.” (Chapter III)