By CHE, licensed under CC BY 4.0
‘One day Broichan addressed St Columba, saying:
“Tell me, Columba, when do you intend to sail?”
“‘God willing and life lasting,” replied Columba, “we plan to start our voyage in three days’ time.”
“You will not be able to,” said Broichan combatively, “for I have the power to produce an adverse wind and to bring down a thick mist.”
“The almighty power of God rules all things,” said the saint, “and all our comings and goings are directed by his governance.”’
So begins the account in Adomnan’s Life of St Columba of the supernatural duel between Columba and Broichan, the chief wizard, or druid of the area of Inverness. In three days’ time a large crowd came to watch what happened as Columba and his team came to the loch at the head of the River Ness. The wizards were celebrating their success with the gods, for a great mist and a stormy wind were against the Apostle of the Highlands. Columba simply ‘called upon Christ the Lord’, boarded the boat, and set sail for the other side. As he did so, the wind changed around dramatically, giving his team favour, so that they reached their destination – much to the indignation of Broichan and his wizards.
Adomnan came to Iona to be a monk in Columba’s order in around AD 640, about 43 years after the death of the famous apostle, later becoming the abbot, and he wrote the above book before AD 700. ‘No one should think I would write anything false about this remarkable man,’ he wrote, ‘nor even anything doubtful or uncertain.’ He tells us that his sources were ‘from what I could find already in writing or from what I heard recounted without a trace of doubt by informed and reliable old men.’ The writing to which he refers may be that of the Life of Columba by Cuimine, a former abbot of Iona, produced about 60 years beforehand.
Columba was born in AD 521 in Donegal, Ireland, being of aristocratic birth. From an early age he showed great interest in the Christian faith and trained at the monastery of Moville under Finnian, who had himself been trained by Ninian of Whithorn in Scotland. In AD 563 Columba led a team of monks from Ireland to establish a community on the island of Iona on Scotland’s west coast. This became his mission base from which he and his monks reached the Northern Picts of the Highlands. Like Martin of Tours he would go right into the heart of pagan territory to preach the message of Christ, and being accompanied by God’s miraculous grace, would see multitudes converted to the Christian faith. His influence as a missionary monk spread far and wide, ranking him alongside Patrick as one of the most influential Christian leaders in western church history.