Blessed Columba Marmion
Irish Benedictine, abbot of Maredsous and author of spiritual works
- Rank
- Blessed
- Kind
- Priest, Religious, Mystic
- Life
- 1858 – 1923
- Era
- 20th century
- Feast
- 3 October
- Countries
- Ireland, Belgium
Life story
Joseph Aloysius Marmion was born on 1 April 1858 in Dublin, Ireland, to an Irish father and a French mother. He entered the Dublin diocesan seminary in 1874 and then studied theology at the College of the Propagation of the Faith in Rome. He was ordained a priest on 16 June 1881.
From 1881 to 1886 he was a curate at Dundrum, a professor at the Clonliffe seminary and chaplain to a convent and a women's prison. In 1886, with his bishop's permission, he entered the Benedictine abbey of Maredsous in Belgium. In 1899 he was among the monks who founded the abbey of Mont César at Louvain, where he served as prior and taught and guided the young monks. He also preached retreats in Belgium and the United Kingdom and gave spiritual direction to many communities, especially Carmelite nuns. He became confessor to Mgr Joseph Mercier, later a cardinal.
On 28 September 1909 he was elected the third abbot of Maredsous, leading a community of more than a hundred monks. His conferences were prepared for publication by his secretary, Dom Raymond Thibaut, as Christ, the Life of the Soul (1917), Christ in His Mysteries (1919) and Christ the Ideal of the Monk (1922). He died on 30 January 1923 at Maredsous during an influenza epidemic. Pope John Paul II beatified him on 3 September 2000.
Works and witness
- Ordained a priest in Rome in 1881 and served in Dublin
- Entered Maredsous in 1886
- Served as prior of the abbey of Mont César at Louvain from 1899
- Abbot of Maredsous from 1909; his conferences were published as books
- Beatified on 3 September 2000
Saints from the same country
References
- Vatican, biography of Bl. Columba Marmion for his beatification of 3 September 2000 (vatican.va, liturgy/saints)
- Maredsous postulation site, Dom Columba Marmion (marmion.be)
- Catholic Archives of Ireland, papers relating to Dom Columba Marmion
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.