Nov 23 – Memorial for St. Clement I, pope, martyr; Memorial for St. Columban, abbot
St. Clement (d. 101) was the fourth pope, and an apostolic Father. The Basilica of St. Clement in Rome is one of the earliest parish churches in the city, and is probably built on the site of Clement’s home. He is the author of the ‘Epistle to the Corinthians’. His name occurs in the Canon of the Mass. Origen and St. Jerome identify him as working with St. Paul the Apostle.
- Patron Saint Index
St. Columban (543–615) was well-born, handsome, and educated. He was torn between a desire for God and easy access to the pleasures of the world. Acting on advice of a holy anchoress, he decided to withdraw from the world. His family opposed the choice, his mother going so far as to block the door. He became a monk at Lough Erne. He studied Scripture extensively, and wrote a commentary on the Psalms. He became a monk at Bangor under abbot St. Comgall.
At middle age, Columban felt a calling to missionary life. With 12 companions, he travelled to Scotland, England, and then to France in 585. The area, though nominally Christian, had fallen far from the faith, but were ready for missionaries, and they had some success. They were warmly greeted at the court of Gontram, and the king of Burgundy invited the band to stay. They chose the half-ruined Roman fortress of Annegray in the Vosges Mountains for their new home, with Columban as their abbot.
The simple lives and obvious holiness of the group drew disciples to join them, and the sick to be healed by their prayers. Columban, to find solitude for prayer, often lived for long periods in a cave seven miles from the monastery, using a messenger to stay in touch with his brothers. When the number of new monks overcrowded the old fortress, King Gontram gave them the old castle of Luxeuil to found a new house in 590. Soon after, a third house was founded at Fontaines. Columban served as master of them all, and wrote a Rule for them; it incorporated many Celtic practices, and was approved by the Council of Macon in 627, but was superseded by the Benedictine.
Problems arose early in the 7th century. Many Frankish bishops objected to a foreign missionary with so much influence, to the Celtic practices he brought, especially those related to Easter, and his independence from them. In 602, he was summoned to appear before them for judgment; instead of appearing, he sent a letter advising them to hold more synods, and to concern themselves with more important things than which rite he used to celebrate Easter. The dispute over Easter continued for years, with Columban appealing to multiple popes for help, but was only settled when Columban abandoned the Celtic calendar when he moved to Italy.
In addition to his problems with the bishops, Columban spoke out against vice and corruption in the royal household and court, which was in the midst of a series of complex power grabs. Brunehault stirred up the bishops and nobility against the abbot; Thierry ordered him to conform to the local ways, and shut up. Columban refused, and was briefly imprisoned at Besancon, but he escaped and returned to Luxeuil. Thierry and Brunehault sent an armed force to force him and his foreign monks back to Ireland. As soon as his ship set sail, a storm drove them back to shore; the captain took it as a sign, and set the monks free.
They made their way to King Clothaire at Soissons, Neustria and then the court of King Theodebert of Austrasia in 611. He travelled to Metz, France, then Mainz, Germany, Suevi, Alamanni, and finally Lake Zurich. Their evangelisation work there was unsuccessful, and the group passed on to Arbon, then Bregenz, and then Lake Constance. St. Gall, who knew the local language best, took the lead in this region; many were converted to the faith, and the group founded a new monastery as their home and base.
However, a year later, political upheaval caused Columban to cross the Alps into Italy, arriving in Milan in 612. The Christian royal family treated him well, and he preached and wrote against Arianism and Nestorianism. In gratitude, the Lombard king gave him a tract of land call Bobbio between Milan and Genoa in Italy. There, he rebuilt a half-ruined church of St. Peter and around it, he founded an abbey that was to be the source for evangelisation throughout northern Italy for centuries to come.
Columban always enjoyed being in the forests and caves, and as he walked through the woods, birds and squirrels would ride on his shoulders. Toward the end of his life came word that his old enemies were dead, and his brothers wanted him to come back north, but he declined. Knowing that his time was almost done, he retired to a cave for solitude, and died as he had predicted. His influence continued for centuries as those he converted handed on the faith, the brothers he taught evangelised untold numbers more, and his brother monks founded over one hundred monasteries to protect learning and spread the faith.
Apo 11:4-12
Lk 20:27-40
…because they would not dare to ask him any more questions.
Both yesterday’s and today’s gospels remind us that the words Jesus spoke often rendered those listening speechless, not daring to speak.
Have you ever been in the presence of someone so incredibly brilliant, or talented, or good, or holy, that you listened in complete silence, in complete amazement to every word? Or in the presence of a piece of art, whether it be a painting, a symphony, a song, or a poem, that you stood motionless in front of, unable to take in the fullness of what was before you? And you were unable to articulate the thoughts, emotions and questions that were swirling, or floating, in your mind?
I recently was gifted with a trip to Paris and then, three weeks later (this is not my normal life!), I was part of a small group on a pilgrimage to Italy. Both found me in and amongst Catholic churches all day, every day. In America, we think a church – anything for that matter – that is more than 100 years old is ancient.
And then there is Europe.
And I am rendered speechless at what the hands of man have created to honour God the Creator.
No comparison, in fact, there isn’t even an adequate analogy to compare the effects to the mind and body of a European church – especially for a Catholic. These churches, from the simplest to the most grand, were all built for the glory of God. Of God alone. When I think of all the hands that came together over not just years or decades, but literally centuries, to create a place to honour, to worship God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit, I cannot even articulate an explanation. People’s lives, their hands and eyes spent in their entirety of work creating a holy place of unmatched beauty for God. A place they knew they would never see completed. And yet, they laboured on, knowing that every inch of their work — whether it was laying bricks, sweeping, mixing mortar, building the structure or creating the paintings, frescos, mosaics or statues that would inhabit these monuments to the one God Almighty — mattered. Their work shared the gospel with everyone who entered. Nothing was menial. Nothing was assembly line. Everything, even the bricks, were originals, unique, like they (like us), themselves. They worked for beauty to honour God, knowing that no man would see every tiny aspect of the building, but that God alone would see everything.
When such beauty can be created at the hands of man, one must look to what we see that the hand of God has created — as Job says, “Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and show the dawn it’s place?” – and we, too, are rendered speechless, not daring to ask any questions.
In prayer we speak to God, yet if we don’t wait quietly and listen for Him to speak, it isn’t a relationship; in fact, is it even prayer? Our relationship with Christ, with God, with the Holy Spirit begins with our answering His nudging to reach out to Him and speak; and the relationship is formed when we are silent and simply listen to the many ways God speaks.
This practice of listening doesn’t come easy to me, but it makes all the difference.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Gina Ulicny)
Prayer: Father God, oh how awed I am at the works of hands that bring glory to You -– and at the beauty that You created all around.
Thanksgiving: Father God, thank you for the inspiration all around. Thank You for the awareness that You are the Creator of all that is good.
OXYGEN 
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