A story for St Columba Day!
What a fantastic day of celebration we had for St Columba’s Day! From the competitive spirit on the pitches for Soccer Aid to the delicious smells coming from our whole-school lunchtime BBQ, the energy across the campus was incredible.
A major highlight of the day was gathering together for our first-ever full school assembly. During the assembly, Mrs Reilly shared the fascinating history of our school’s namesake. It turns out that St Columba wasn’t just a figure from history books – he was an adventurer, and quite possibly history’s very first “Nessie spotter.”
If you missed the assembly, or just want to revisit the story, here is the Rector’s address to the school.
The Rector’s Address: Who Was St Columba?
St Columba was born in Ireland on 7th December 521 – just over 1,500 years ago. He died on 9th June 597 and that date is now celebrated as St Columba’s Feast Day in some churches.
His name tells us something important about him. In Latin, columba means “dove” which is a symbol of peace. In Irish, his full name meant “dove of the church.”.
His Links to Kilmacolm
Kilmacolm has very strong links with Columba – the word Kilmacolm comes from a Gaelic phrase, meaning “cell or church of Columba,” Two churches in the village are named after him – St Colm’s Catholic Church and the church where we used to meet every Monday morning – St Columba’s Church.
There is also a wonderful local legend that St Columba himself once met St Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow – right here in Kilmacolm.
His Story
Columba grew up in Ireland which was a Christian country at a time when large parts of Scotland – particularly the Picts in the north – had not yet been introduced to Christianity. He was well educated, and at that time being educated mostly meant reading and studying the Bible, so like many educated men of his day he became a monk, and he dedicated his life to prayer and reading. If you look at your blazer pocket you will see our school motto – laborare, orare, literisque studere – meaning to work, to pray and to study literature. This would have been exactly the kind of lifestyle that Columba led.
As a young man he was quite a character – headstrong and determined. He is said to have caused a battle in Ireland when a dispute broke out over a book of Psalms he had copied. In those days it was common for well-educated people to copy text from the bible and to illustrate them. He wanted to keep the copy, but the owner wanted both, and the argument grew into a Battle in which over three thousand men were killed. This could be the world’s first copyright dispute! As a penance for the lives lost, he was sent to Scotland and told to convert as many people to Christianity as had been killed in the battle.
The image of him on your blazer pocket shows Columba sailing towards Scotland. Once here, he committed himself to a life dedicated to spreading the word of the Gospels, teaching people about Christianity and bringing peace to a country in which, at the time, there was a lot of fighting. He lived humbly on the island of Iona and he travelled around Scotland teaching people to read and write at a time when hardly anyone received an education.
The Original “Nessie Spotter”
He is also said to have had a famous encounter with a monster in the River Ness – the river that flows from Loch Ness. According to the legend, Columba came upon a group of people burying a man who had been attacked by a fearsome water creature. When the monster threatened one of Columba’s own followers as he swam across the river, Columba raised his hand, commanded the creature in the name of God to go back, and the monster fled. This is thought to be the very first written account of the Loch Ness Monster – recorded by his biographer over 1,400 years ago. So you could say St Columba is the original Nessie-spotter!
What His Story Means for Us Today
Our School Hymn which we’re going to sing in a minute tells the story of St Columba and I think it is important that we understand why our school was named after him and pause each year to remember and celebrate our namesake – because there are lessons we can learn from his story. So here it is …
Our school bears Colum’s sainted name
And we thereof would worthy be,
Help us in him Thy will for us to see
And feel through him our hearts Aflame …
With purity and truth and love,
Burning to succour others’ need
These are quite difficult words for us to really understand in our school hymn – they don’t make a lot of sense in modern English – but basically it is saying that our school is named after St Columba, and we should try to follow his example. We should show purity and truth – which is the same as our value of integrity – and we should love and help others – which is the same as compassion.
St Columba’s lifestyle reflected our values: he showed integrity by being honest and responsible and living his life according to his beliefs; he showed compassion by caring for other people; and aspiration by committing himself to learning and working hard to teach others and help them to improve their own lives.
