TO HIS DISCIPLES AND MONKS. To his sweetest sons and dearest learners, his frugal brethren, all his monks together, Columba a sinner in Christ sends greeting. I. 'Peace be to you' (John 20:19-21), as the Lord said, wishing it to His disciples — peace and salvation and everlasting charity be also to you. May the Trinity grant you these three things together with Himself, and keep them among you in accordance with my desire. The greatness of my zeal toward the regard of your salvation He alone knows who gave it, and my longing toward the advancement of your instruction;
but since, according to the word of the Lord, tribulation and persecution have arisen on account of the word, no other admonition now befits you save this: that you beware lest you be that stony ground which cannot, by the thinness of its turf, nourish the seed it has received; lest the Lord say of you also: 'But when tribulation and persecution arose on account of the word, immediately they are scandalized' (Matt. 13:21). We ourselves know that we received the word of the Lord with joy and fervour: let us now beware lest we be of the moment (Ibid., and Mark 4:17). Patience is necessary for us (Heb. 10:36), that the proving of our faith, as it is written, may be more precious than gold (1 Pet. 1:7).
Know that where there is strife over perishable things, it is over the kingdom of heaven: it is no new thing that there should be a battle and strife over the kingdom. And do not suppose that men of themselves persecute you: there are demons in those who envy your good things; against whom snatch up the armour of God which the Apostle shows (Eph. 6:13,17), and make your way to heaven, slaughtering them with the arrows, as it were, of fervent prayers. For whatever you ask in faith and unanimity shall be given you: but see that you be of one heart and one soul, that with present reward you may receive whatever salutary thing you ask from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our common Father of all, according to the promise of our Lord, who says:
'If two of you shall agree upon earth concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father who is in heaven' (Matt. 18:19). Otherwise, if you have not one will and one refusal, it is better that you do not dwell together. Therefore I charge you, that all who from the heart wish to consent to me, and acknowledge and love my mind, be with my true follower Attala, who — whether he be there, or wish to come after me — let it be of his own choosing; for at his own discretion lies the peril of your souls: obey him. But if he wish to come, let Waldolenus be provost, because by God's help he will soon be able to grasp what is sure. But meanwhile beware lest there be among you any who has a single will among you, whoever he be:
for those who were not of one mind among us have done us greater harm. II. You know, most beloved Attala, who are burdensome to your judgment; put them down at once, only that you put them down in peace and in unity of the rule; only honour Libranus, and always hold to Waldolenus, if he be there with the community; may God deal well with him, may he become humble, and give him my kiss, which then in my haste I had not given. But you who are to be steeped in good character — you know my long-standing desire; if you see there an advancement of souls, stand there; if you see perils, come away thence: and by perils I mean the perils of discord; for I fear lest there too, on account of Easter, there be discord, lest perchance, by the devil's snare, they wish to estrange you, if you do not keep peace with them:
for now you seem to stand there but weakly without me. Therefore be wary, considering the time, when they will not endure sound doctrine (2 Tim. 4:3). Teach your own selves, and those who are willing to hear: only let there not be among you any who is not one with you. Above all provide for peace, ever solicitous to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3). For what does it profit to have a body, and not to have a heart? I am broken, I confess, by this cause, in that I wished to help all, who, when I spoke to them, fought against me without cause (Ps. 119:7): and while I trusted all, I was almost made a fool. Therefore be you more prudent: I do not want you to take up so great a burden under which I sweated: you know already the smallness of my little drop, or my knowledge:
you have learned that admonitions must suit all according to each, since characters are diverse and the qualities of men differ far among themselves. But what do I do? Already I provoke you to that immense labour which I myself flee: if I disclose the diversity of the teaching, I shall temper it. Be therefore varied and manifold in the care of those who obey you with faith and love; but fear you also their very love, for it will be perilous to you. III. But straits are on every side, dearest one: peril if they hate, peril if they love. Know that both are true; hence either to hate, or to love: in hate, peace; in love, integrity perishes. Hold yourself therefore to the onrush of one desire, with which you know my heart desires.
You know that I love the salvation of many, and a secret place for my own self; the one for the advancement of the Lord, that is, of His Church; the other for desire of Himself; but these are rather wishes in me than deeds; yet in you, I pray, let them be perfected, since, in my absence, you can know both, at least in part: yet I write not as commanding. Know therefore my command to all, that, since I perceived the diverse wishes of many, in order to retain the firmness of the rule, I have bound to the root the branches which by their own frailty have swerved from my small firmness, that is, have departed from the truth of the teaching. For those who shall have kept my mind, let them so serve God, ever choosing for themselves the wiser and more religious, provided they be humble and merciful.
Whosoever are rebellious, let them go forth; whosoever are obedient, let these become heirs. Observe you these things; and whosoever are wholly mine, and for unity's and humility's sake — however many you be, Christ enlarging and multiplying you — let all look to him who shall serve God at the altar which the holy bishop Aidus blessed. Therefore you also, if the persecution of these men against me..... IV. These things I have written because of the uncertain outcomes of affairs. It was my wish to visit the nations, and that the Gospel should be preached to them by us; but gall, now reporting their lukewarmness, has almost carried off my spirit from there. I wished to write you a tearful letter; but since [I know your heart]
I have used another style, alleging only what is necessary, things hard and arduous, preferring to dam up rather than to provoke tears. So the word was outwardly rendered mild, while within the grief was shut up. Lo, the tears well forth: but it is better to dam up the spring; for it is not the part of a brave soldier to weep in battle. This is no new thing that has befallen us: this above all we daily foretold. A certain philosopher of old, wiser than the rest, because, against the opinion of all, he said that there is one God, was thrust into prison. The Gospels are full of this matter, and chiefly for this were they written: for this is the truth of the Gospel, that the true disciples of Christ crucified should follow Him with the cross.
A great example has been shown, a great mystery declared: the Son of God, of His own will (for He was offered up because He Himself willed it [Isa. 53:7]), ascended the cross as a guilty one, leaving to us (as it is written) an example, that we may follow His footsteps (1 Pet. 2:21). Blessed therefore is he who is made a partaker of this passion and of this confusion. For there is something hidden therein that is wonderful: 'For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men' (1 Cor. 1:25). In wondrous wise is beheld in foolishness a wisdom innumerable, and in weakness a fortitude incomparable. Therefore there are hidden all desirable refreshments, the mysteries of salvation; but they are hard, that they may be precious;
they are obscure, that they may be worthy of few: worthy indeed of few, because they are exceedingly wonderful. Therefore let us patiently endure all adversities for the truth's sake, that we may be partakers of the Lord's sufferings: 'For if we suffer together, we shall reign together' (2 Tim. 2:12). What is to be added to these things, save perseverance? 'For he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved' (Matt. 10:22). For in the end the judgment is fixed, and at the issue the praise is sung. But, that one may be persevering, let each pray continually for the help of God with all humility of mind: 'For it is not,' he says, 'of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy' (Rom. 9:16); since greater and better is God's mercy beyond life (Ps. 62:4), however good a man's be;
for none are worthy of mercy save those who confess themselves wretched before God, and feel themselves unworthy of salvation through themselves, unless by the Lord's mercy alone they be rescued from such great perils. Such men, though conscious to themselves of good works, yet fearing the judgments of God and groaning that they have perpetrated many unjust deeds, humbly trust in the mercy of God alone: whose perfect fear is the more pleasing, the more it is zealous for humility: 'For the Lord is well pleased with them that fear Him, and in them that hope upon His mercy' (Ps. 146:11). V. None therefore shall his own right hand save, according to the word of the Lord to Job (whereby He in a manner mocked his self-justification by certain trials of power, saying:
'And then will I confess that thy right hand can save thee' [Job 40:9 (Vulg. 40:14)]) — none, that is, save him who has humbly exercised his own ability, and that very ability given to him, with fear and trembling in the will of God, praying frequently: 'Cast me not away from thy face' (Ps. 51:13); and 'Drive me not from thy commandments' (Ps. 119:10): because often, as a certain one says, greatness of virtue has been to some the occasion of perdition; for they, being fairer in virtues, descend from the step of humility. Hence it is written: 'The fairer thou art, go down, arise, and sleep with the uncircumcised' (Ezek. 32:19); as if in other words He said to the proud soul:
because by thy holiness thou hast lifted thyself up into pride, go down now from thence, and be reckoned among sinners, because there is nothing with me that is wrought with pride. Narrow, thou seest, is the gate, and trodden by few is the way of perfection, which turns aside from the vices on the left, and from the evils of vanity and pride on the right. We must therefore walk by the royal road to the city of the living God, through affliction of the flesh, and contrition of heart; through labour of the body, and humiliation of the spirit; through our own endeavour, the matter of a lawful office, not the dignity of merit; and, what is greater than these, through the grace of Christ, faith, hope and charity. Many are the perils of the flesh;
learn the cause of the war, the greatness of the glory; be not ignorant that the foe is strong, and that liberty lies in the midst of choice; understand that the gate is open to the enemies from the North; therefore Jerusalem too is opened from the North; thence on that side the enemy that dwells in the North keeps watch. Hence it is written: 'From the North shall evils break forth upon all the earth' (Jer. 1:14). If thou take away the foe, thou takest away the fight too; if thou take away the fight, thou takest away the crown too: if these be present, where they shall be, it is needful that there be virtue, vigilance, fervour, patience, fidelity, wisdom, stability, prudence; if not, ruin. And to bring it home: if thou take away liberty, thou takest away dignity. VI. Behold by what diversities we are encompassed; and by what we are washed about; as if by the crashes of whirlpools
dearest learner — apart from those which lurk within, and daily war against us within our very selves. Therefore amid such great perils, to will and to run is, though it be thine, not thine: for human weakness does not suffice, amid such great contrarieties, to arrive at what it wills, unless the mercy of the Lord both make the will to accomplish the vows of one rejoicing, and make the running to be finished unobstructed in prosperity, evading the slips and stumbling-blocks and adverse falls. Wherefore humility of mind is the cause of merit, for without help it cannot be helped; the proud man earns nothing, the forsaken is hardened; the ungrateful, not praying, is an undevout servant. The sluggard is scourged in life, his service is despised;
the despairing one too, by reason of his loathing, is reckoned least worthy to be among men. What then shall we say to these things, O we wretched ones, who, before we merit to be free from evils, flatter ourselves with good things, and before the laying aside of baser things, hope to have perfection! We desire to know everything, it irks us to do all that we know, hoping to repay words for deeds. Perhaps this is so here; for that it cannot be so there is manifest before the Lord, because there not he who shall have spoken, but he who shall have done, shall be saved. VII. Now, as I write, a messenger has come upon me, telling me that a ship is being made ready in which I am to be carried, unwilling, into my own region; but if I flee, no guard forbids: for they seem to wish that I should flee.
If I be cast into the sea after the manner of Jonah — who in Hebrew is himself called 'Dove' — pray that some safe concealer with happy oar may serve in place of the whale, calling back and restoring your Jonah to the longed-for land. But now the letter is constrained to take its end on parchment, though by the greatness of the matter it is compelled to be stretched out longer: love keeps no order; hence this letter has become confused. I wished to say all in brief; all I could not. The things I wished to write, I wished not, by reason of the diversity of wills. My will perhaps is not without allurement; let the will of God be done in all things: if He shall will it, let it be my desire. Look you to your consciences, whether they be purer and holier in my absence:
do not seek me out of love, but only out of necessity. Be not on this occasion forsakers, nor by this separation seek a liberty which would reduce you into the bondage of vices. He is mine who loves unity; he is not mine who separates: 'For he that gathers not,' says my Lord, 'scatters' (Luke 11:23). Otherwise, if you should see perfection drawn farther from you than before, and lot should separate me from you, and Attala should not suffice for your governance, because your brethren here are in the neighbourhood of the Britons; gather you all together in one part which shall be the better, that you may the more easily fight against the vices and snares of the devil: and let him whom you all shall have chosen meanwhile preside over you:
for if I be free, God willing, it will pertain to me concerning you. But if the places please you, and God build with you there, grow there in blessing into a thousand thousands (Gen. 24:60). Pray for me, my bowels, that I may live unto God.