Columba
Born in 521 CE to Fedlimid and Eithne in what is now County Donegal, Ireland, Columba was privileged to receive a first-rate education. His first studies were with Saint Finnian. Then he went to study at Clonard Abbey, and from this base, Columba and other missionaries traveled around Ireland to set up other monasteries that became famous, including ones at Kells, Derry, and Swords.
In 560, trouble struck. Columba ran afoul of his superiors in the monastery over a psalter. Columba adored books, and upon discovering a gorgeous copy of the psalms, decided to make a copy for himself in secret. Saint Finnian objected to this. Behold, the first recorded copyright dispute in monastic publishing!
The argument escalated until there resulted an actual pitched battle known as the Battle of Cul Dreimhe, in Sligo. Many monks were killed. Soon after, Columba ran afoul of the king. A neighboring royal, Prince Curnan of Connaught, fatally wounded the king’s relative in a hunting accident. Prince Curnan was a cousin to Columba, and he sought sanctuary at the abbey from the angry king. The king, however, ignored this long-honored custom, stormed the abbey, and killed the prince. Infuriated, Columba summoned his clan (Clan Niall, of the bloody Nine Hostages-fame) and urged them to rebel against the king. Many died, including several brother-monks, and Columba realized his life had taken a wrong turn.
As penance, he agreed to exile himself. He sailed away, landing at the island of Iona in 563. There, he built a monastery, which has become a famous and oft-traveled site for pilgrimages. From Iona, Columba launched many missionary journeys into Scotland, establishing churches and monasteries as far away as Aberdeen and Inverness. According to legend, Columba even preached to and converted the Loch Ness monster. He died in 597, at home at Iona. According to his biographer, Columba’s last act was to put down the manuscript he had been copying, after he wrote out, “They that love the Lord shall lack no good thing,” and he remarked, “I must stop here. Let Baithain do the rest.” And so, he died—a book lover to the end.
Collect for Columba
O God, by the preaching of your blessed servant Columba you caused the light of the Gospel to shine in Scotland: Grant, we pray, that, having his life and labors in remembrance, we may show forth our thankfulness to you by following the example of his zeal and patience; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Kateri Tekakwitha
Born in 1656 near Auriesville, New York, Kateri Tekakwitha was the daughter of a Mohawk chief and a Roman Catholic Algonquin woman. Named Tekakwitha, which means, “She who bumps into things,” she had a childhood bout with smallpox that left her with permanent facial scars and diminished eyesight. Known as the Lily of the Mohawks and the Flower of the Algonquians, Tekakwitha was among the first Native Americans canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Her life changed in 1675 when she met Jesuit Father Jacques de Lambertville. She sought an education in Christianity, and she converted to the Roman Catholic faith and was baptized on Easter Day in 1676. She took the name Kateri for Saint Catherine of Sienna and declared a lifelong vow of virginity. Tekakwitha’s family continued to shun her: first for her disfigurement, and then for her adherence to Christianity. In 1677 she took up residence at the Jesuit mission just south of Montreal. There, she prayed tirelessly for the conversion of her people and undertook many forms of penance in the development of her personal piety. Although she didn’t have access to formalized convent life or instruction regarding holy orders, she and her mentor, Anastasia, her close friend, Marie-Therese, and several other young women committed to practicing their faith together as a community.
On Wednesday, April17, 1680, at twenty-four-years-old, Kateri Tekakwitha died during Holy Week. She is believed to have uttered as her last words, “Jesus, Mary, I love you.” It was reported that in death, her smallpox scars disappeared. The cause for her sainthood was initiated in 1884, by Roman Catholics living in Canada. Pope Benedict XVI canonized her on October 21, 2012.
Four US shrines honor Tekakwitha, and numerous churches, schools, and institutions are named for her in the United States and Canada.
Collect for Kateri Tekakwitha
God of grace and glory, your beauty fills the whole of creation, calling lilies to bloom and mountains to bow. Thank you for the life of Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks, who was called to live a life set apart, devoted to penitence and prayer. Create in us a willingness to examine our hearts and be transformed by your love. Amen.
PLEASE NOTE
At 11:02 p.m. EST, two addresses in Vermillion, SD and Medford, OR were blocked. 125 votes for Kateri Tekakwitha were recorded from these two locations, and we do not know of groups participating in Lent Madness in those cities. Not enough votes were cast to affect the outcome, but we have blocked the addresses to prevent further votes. At this point, no votes have been removed from the total cast. Unless we hear from those folks, we will subtract the appropriate number of votes if needed to keep the outcome as determined by fair voting. Remember, vote once only per person!
[poll id="149"]
268 comments on “Columba vs. Kateri Tekakwitha”
Do we have to do this till Easter??
Actually, you don't have to do it even 'till tomorrow. But some of us will do to Holy Week.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing this link. Beautiful, lush singing.
This is the toughest one for me yet.
I come from a family that's Scot. My grandmother always told me that was the heritage. She ended her life on St. Columba's day, in a nursing home down the road from St. Columba's Episcopal Church.
However, Columba loved books so much he stole one, which makes me feel that I should vote the other way.
Kateri is honoring my bicycling heritage. I just happened to be going past a shrine in New York state and stopped to visit, even before she was canonized. Even though no formal outlet was available, she still lived the life she felt God wanted her to lead (I, too, have run up against church politics.).
Difficult, but no matter which way I vote, they're both saints.
The book-lover gets my vote.
Any one who urges war is not a saint to me. I voted for Kateri, Lily of the Mohawks.
Kateri. I'm partial to Native Americans, or 50 % Native American in her case, who were saintly. The Loch Ness bit about Columba makes the whole bio suspect.
BTW, Kateri was 100% Native American...it's just that her parents were from two different nations (Mohawk and Algonquin).
CE and BCE are a little too PC for me even in a secular context, but really a bit offensive when one is writing Christian hagiography. Nonetheless Columba's rejection of his fighting past and adoption of both scholarly and missionary zeal make him my clear choice today.
Thank you, Powers of Lent Madness, for giving me a choice of two saints who are especially dear to my heart. No matter which saint wins today's vote, I win.
I'm glad to know Columba was such a book-lover!
But Kateri gets my vote, as a Native American saint and particularly as patron of the environment and care for the earth, which is such an important cause in our time. I didn't know she had chose Catherine of Siena as her baptismal saint! that's another plus for me.
Several people have commented that they are unimpressed with virgin saints; something to bear in mind is that "virgin" was for centuries the only category in which to put "woman who is not defined by her relationship with a man." So it can be read as more feminist than you might think.
Also, one thing leapt out to this Catholic reader:
"Although she didn’t have access to formalized convent life or instruction regarding holy orders..."
Pretty sure that should have been "regarding religious life". "Holy orders" is for clergy (ie priests), not religious (ie nuns).
Historically, most communities of religious women (nuns) lived according to a rule that had been composed by men, so the fact that she and her sisters defined their own form of religious life was another plus for me.
Not sure why chastity and virginity seem to be getting such a bad name among some of the comments...especially when embraced as a spiritual discipline and act of obedience by some of our Lent Madness saints. Probably by a large number of the modern day "saints" as well. Hmm.
I voted for Columba. Exile and repentance/redemption, book lover, Iona, converting Scots and converting Nessie. Prayers for the students who lost their lives, their families and the university community.
So torn today, but in the end my love for things Celtic and my ancestry won out.
Just read Columba founded many, many more monasteries than just Iona, including Kells.
If Leonard Cohen found her worthy then so do I !
Aside from that there stories are so different but also the same in suffering and faith.
Two worthy saints but my vote and heart goes to Katerina.