In today's Saintly Smackdown matchup we have Columbanus vs. Drogo. 6th century Irish monk and missionary against a 12th century Flemish saint. Patron saint of motorcyclists vs. patron saint of coffee (not that these two things are mutually exclusive).
Yesterday, Theodore James Holly defeated Lydia 63% to 37%. He'll face Kateri Tekakwitha in the Saintly Sixteen.
But on to today's vote!
Columbanus
If you want to know about Saint Columbanus, there is no better source than the Sister Fidelma mysteries of ancient Ireland. But since the novels’ author, Peter Tremayne, isn’t a Lent Madness Celebrity Blogger, you’ll have to settle for this far-less suspenseful biography.
Saint Columbanus was born in Ireland in 540 CE and was well educated in grammar, rhetoric, and the scriptures. He wrote a commentary on the psalms and settled in at Bangor Abbey until the age of forty when he was given permission to travel to the European continent. He took twelve monastic brothers with him on his journey.
The life of Columbanus is that of an iconic missionary in early medieval Europe. He and his brothers were welcomed by various French rulers and given Roman ruins and castles to convert into monasteries. His task was to further the Christianization of Europe and uphold his vision of holy life. Each religious community he founded remained under his guidance and authority, and they followed a monastic rule of life similar to the Irish rule he’d taken as a young man.
Over his twenty years in Gaul, Columbanus became embroiled in various conflicts, from debate about the date of Easter to disputes with the royal family. At one point, he was kidnapped but escaped and fled to the Alps. Several times, he tried to flee by boat, but storms kept him landlocked. In the Alps, he found Christians who also prayed to local deities, and he preached to them, turning them from the practice. Columbanus traveled to Italy and preached against the teachings he considered heretical. In Italy, King Agilulf of the Lombards gave Columbanus isolated land called Bobbio, located south of Milan, and he built the Bobbio Abbey there.
While Columbanus spent much of his life founding monasteries on the European continent, he maintained his Irish identity. Historian Alexander O’Hara points to his importance in Ireland, with Columbanus being “the first Irish person that we have a body of literary work from.”
While the Benedictines celebrate Columbanus’s feast day on November 21, the wider church remembers him on November 23. Perhaps because of his many travels by land instead of by sea, he is the patron saint of motorcyclists.
Collect for Columbanus
Almighty God, whose will it is to be glorified in your saints, and who raised up your servant Columbanus to be a light in the world: Shine, we pray, in our hearts, that we also in our generation may show forth your praise, who called us out of darkness into your marvelous light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Drogo
Until the age of online listicles, the powerful witness of Saint Drogo had been largely overlooked. But thanks to hipster baristas and coffee fiends everywhere, he has been brought back to the forefront of popular culture.
Like many other faithful disciples, Drogo was born into a family of means. However, even before his birth at the beginning of the twelfth century, his path shifted away from the life of ease. Before he was born, his father died. The second blow came soon after, when his mother died in childbirth. With two strikes against him, Drogo came into the world as an orphan, given to the care of family members. At 10 years old, he suffered another blow: Drogo discovered that his mother’s death was directly tied to his birth. A sensitive child, he held himself personally responsible for his mother’s death. As an adult, he renounced the inheritance he was entitled to from his parents and instead became a shepherd.
In the Flemish countryside, Drogo stood out among his peers due to his commitment to holy living. He was industrious and faithful, committed to both his work in the fields and worship of God. So committed, in fact, that he was known to do both at the same time. Locals described seeing Drogo in the fields praying while watching his flocks—at the same time he was also seen attending worship in the village. Perhaps bilocation, the ability to be in two places at once and accomplish twice as much in a day, led to Drogo being the patron saint of baristas and coffee shops.
Like many during this time, Drogo felt called to pilgrimage. And he was, again, an overachiever. He traveled to and from Rome a total of nine times over the course of nine years. At the end of those nine years, Drogo became ill. We don’t know what the illness was, but it caused a deformity in his body and appearance. That change in appearance brought another change in Drogo’s life. People are cruel, and Drogo was well-aware of the discomfort his new appearance caused in others. And, so, he took up the life of a hermit. Drogo lived the rest of his life in a solitary room attached to the local parish church. Drogo died on April 16, 1186, and was buried in the parish church in which he had spent the majority of his life. In addition to coffee, Drogo is the patron of people considered to be unattractive.
Collect for Drogo
Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
149 comments on “Columbanus vs. Drogo”
Not to spoil a blogger's later post, but the Bobbio Abbey that Columbanus founded in in NW Italy was supposedly the basis for the monastery in Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose. Without the murders.
Although Columbanus fits the perception of a model saint, I am called to lift up Drogo who does not fit anyone's ideal. His miserable life makes me meditation on the meaning of Lent.
Thank you so much for highlighting Drogo, the unofficial patron saint of the Index of Medieval Art (believe me, coffee is essential to our work). We're rooting for him!
What a great resource the Index is. Thank you for you work, Pamela!
Coffee! Motorcycles! How? When? not to be swayed, I vote for the Irish!
I am a great fan of the Sister Fidelma books, so I had to vote for Columbanus. Any friend of Fidelma is a friend of mine.
Still not able to vote on ipad ios 15.
I voted for Drogo, the humble shepherd. Although Columbanos was one of the Irish monks who helped save civilization, I want to know more about the ideas he considered heretical- maybe worship led by women, as in Southern France? We don't know enough about the different forms of Christianity in early traditions. History is written by the winners, etc.
Since the changes in voting, I have been unable to vote on my IPad, however, I have been able to easily vote on my phone. Perhaps this would be an option for others finding it a bit more challenging to vote.
Drogo has my vote today, as I drink my coffee. His work behind the scenes, in the fields, etc., is saints’ work too.
Drago gets my vote. Despite the blows he was dealt in his life, and that he could've just led the life of a party boy, he gave it all up and persevered to a life of service and dedication to the Lord.
Don't forget that Drogo was the father of Frodo Baggins. (I still voted for Columbanus because I admire the Irish saints who left their homes to preach the Gospel.)
Drogo- father of Frodo Baggins, and then of course there's Khal Drogo...didn't know he was named for a saintly shepherd. Somebody on GOT had a sense of humor.
Drago gets my vote because of his difficult life and his being the patron saint of coffee! As I read about him I was sipping my own cup of brew.
It seems like he got more than his share of hard luck but did not lose his faith...I admire him for that.
Drago gets my vote because of his difficult life and his being the patron saint of coffee! As I read about him I was sipping my own cup of brew.
It seems like he got more than his share of hard luck but did not lose his faith...I admire him for that.
I voted for Columbanus today, not to put Drogo off but because I love the Sister Fidelma series of stories so much.
In today's world, too much is given to outward beauty and not enough to the beauty within the pure soul.
I like this part which I found onthe website of crisismagazine.com
"Drogo died on the sixteenth of April in either 1186 or 1189, having attained a ripe old age for one whose earthly existence was marked by illness, hardship and self-abnegation. Upon learning of his death, Drogo’s kin from Epinoy claimed the body, wishing to return it to his birthplace. The parishioners of Sebourg acceded to the request in accordance with the custom of those days. The body was thus placed in a fine casket and set on an ox-drawn cart. Yet it appears that God intended Drogo to remain in his adoptive home. Reportedly, as the procession made its way out of Sebourg, the saint’s casket seemed to grow heavier and heavier. At last the cart reached a point at the boundary of the village where it could no longer advance at all, as though obstructed by a supernatural force.
In any event, the attempt to repatriate Drogo’s remains had to be abandoned. The body was brought back to Sebourg to general acclaim and interred in the village church with rustic pomp. The villagers erected a cross on the spot where the ox-cart had been obliged to stop, and although the cross itself has been replaced several times over the centuries, this simple monument still stands today in a field on the outskirts of Sebourg. Each year on Trinity Sunday, the modern-day villagers commemorate the event with a procession in which the saint’s reliquary chasse is borne from the church to St. Drogo’s Cross, preceded by the village children dressed as shepherds and shepherdesses."
Love this! Thanks.
Coffee and sheep what more do you want?!
Another toughie! Coffee and A saint for unattractive people did it for me. I thought of myself unattractive until some kind person told me handsome is as handsome does and told me to focus on my unseen beauty.
There's no way to vote!
My vote goes to Drogo because he is the parton saint of the unattractive.
Aurelio “Reds” Maestri emigrated to Lewes from Austria in the late 1940s at the conclusion of World War II. He roamed the football sidelines of Lewes High School and later Cape Henlopen and his signature cheer was “Let’s go Cape, you bunch of stinking he-haws.” Reds never had a driver’s license, but went to all games, home and away. He would just start walking and someone would pick him up and bring him back. Coach Rob Schroeder instituted the Reds Spirit Award in 1987. Reds was grossly deformed. His face was messed up. At least one arm was deformed. He was grotesque. In other towns people would be afraid of him and the police would make him leave. But, Lewes, DE loved him. He did yard work to survive. Everyone gave him rides, including me. I was fascinated by how erudite he was. Of course Drogo's later years reminded me of Reds and his Spirit Award.
I was pretty sure I should vote for Columbanus - after all, that’s the Latin version of my own name.
But then it turns out that Deogo is the patron saint of coffee!!!
The last time Drogo was in the brackets, I was amazed that he didn't advance -- the patron saint of coffee, for heaven's sake. We know the SEC survives on coffee. Well, looks like he won't make it this time, either. Tis a puzzlement.
How can I not vote for Drogo? As a retired nurse who had my share of night shifts coffee was my blessing to get through the night! Thank you St. Drogo-I raise my coffee cup to you!
This being a week before St. Patrick's Day, I knew I would vote for Columbus - But find Drogo's story very touching. Lent Madness has again introduced me to a saint I did not previously know, and I feel privileged to learn of his faithful response to a life with many sorrows - I'll think of him next time I hit my neighborhood Starbuck's . . .
Can't vote today; Captcha is required. Never saw this before in Lent Madness. Help, please! Thanks.
Feeling a bit torn as I enjoy my coffee and vote for Columbanus.
I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a chance against an Irishman, but the story of Drogos touched my heart. Plus, coffee
For those having trouble voting. I have to press hard and several times on the circle I mean to choose for my voting. It may help to separate those circles with a little more space. Once the circle does fill in, I really appreciate there is a color change, a moving circle, or “thinking” sign, and then the page changes and says thank you for your vote, so you know when it is recorded. I really appreciate that last note, so I am assured my vote registered. Thank you!
Just a note - isn't a person in "a room attached to a church" an anchorite rather than a hermit?
Perhaps Drogo didn't lean out the window and give advice, as Julian of Norwich did.
Bilocation? Voting for Drogo.
Also thinking a lot about how health changes can dramatically change a person’s life. Yes, Drogo it is.