Blessed Columba Marmion

Columba Marmion O.S.B, born Joseph Aloysius Marmion (1 April 1858 – 30 January 1923) was an Irish Benedictine monk and the third Abbot of Maredsous Abbey in Belgium. Beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 2000, Columba was one of the most popular and influential Catholic authors of the 20th century. His books are considered spiritual classics. Columba was born in Queen Street, Dublin, Ireland on 1 April 1858, into a large and very religious family; three of his sisters became nuns. His father, William Marmion was from Clane, County Kildare. His mother, Herminie Cordier, was French. He was baptised on 6 April with the name "Joseph Aloysius". From a very early age he was seemingly "consumed with some kind of inner fire or enthusiasm for the things of God". He received his secondary education at the Jesuit Belvedere College in Dublin. At the age of 16, Marmion entered the diocesan seminary at Holy Cross College in Clonliffe. At the time he entered the seminary, his "faith was very strong"; he perceived "something more than simple theoretical theses" in Catholic doctrine, in particular "that a man's love for God is measured by his love for his neighbor". A "very important moment in Dom Marmion's inner life" occurred while he was still in seminary. He travelled to Rome in December 1879 to complete his studies at the Pontifical Irish College. In September 1880, he visited the Benedictine abbey at Monte Cassino. It was during this trip that he first considered becoming a Benedictine. However, his bishop thought it would be better for him to work as a secular priest for a time before making a decision. He was ordained in Rome on 16 June 1881, and celebrated his first Mass the next day. On his journey back to Ireland, he passed through Maredsous, Belgium – a monastery founded in 1872 by Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Beuron, Germany. He was impressed with the community and considered whether his vocation might lie there.