Wendy Claire Barrie

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

This is a prayer of Columba, a saint of the sixth century who converted Scotland “to the faith of Christ by his preaching and example”, according to the Venerable Bede:

Be thou a bright flame before me,

be thou a guiding star above me,

be thou a smooth path below me,

be thou a kindly shepherd behind me,

today, tonight and forever.

Amen.

An Irish monk descended from royalty, as a young man Columba was well-educated in theology, Latin, history, and literature, and he had a passion for poetry. He copied a psalter, a book of psalms, as monks do, except he wanted to keep it for his own devotions, not give it to the abbey where he’d been busily working. Some suggest that a dispute about the ownership of the psalter led to the “Battle of the Book” in which 3,000 men were killed. Others say the battle was over an accidental deathcaused by one of his clansmen in a curling match. Remorse over this battle or perhaps enforced penance took Columba to Scotland with twelve followers, as some sources describe this journey as a pilgrimage, and others call it an exile. In any event they set off in 561 across the Irish Sea in a coracle, a bowl-shaped boat made of wicker covered with hide, and landed on the island of Iona, providentially on the day of Pentecost. Columba was known as a diplomat as well as a missionary, and his biography, written 100 years after his death, contains the first-known appearance of the Loch Ness Monster, which stopped its murderous attack on a human and sank below the waves when Columba made before it the sign of the cross. Iona Abbey, which Columba established and was for centuries a reknowed center of Christian learning, eventually produced the magnificent illuminated manuscript, The Book of Kells, which contains the four Gospels in Latin.

Though Coulumba was not alive during the time that The Book of Kells was created, he would surely be honored in his love for books, learning, and the Gospel by these intergenerational actvities: Watch the animated film The Secret of Kells, view and learn more about The Book of Kells , and invite folks to make their own illuminated letters. All ages will enjoy these Celtic illuminated Gospel book coloring pages.