Saint Columban

Columban (c. 543–615) was born in Leinster, Ireland, and became a monk at the great monastery of Bangor. Around 590 he set out with twelve companions for Gaul, where he founded the monasteries of Annegray, Luxeuil and Fontaine under a strict rule of prayer, work and penance. He boldly rebuked the immorality of the royal court, was expelled, and continued his mission along the Rhine and in the Alps. He finished his journey in northern Italy, where he founded the abbey of Bobbio and died in 615.

His tomb is in the crypt of the abbey church of Bobbio. The Missionary Society of Saint Columban, founded in 1918, carries his name to missions in Latin America and Asia, and to the United States.