The Life of Saint Columba, Apostle of Scotland

								

pursue his studies under another St. Finnian--Finnian the Wise, the
"Tutor of the Saints of Erin." Clonard was the most famous school in
Ireland at the time, and even bishops and abbots, old in years and
experience, did not disdain to come to learn wisdom at the feet of its
holy founder. St. Finnian of Clonard had been himself the pupil of
three great saints, St. David, St. Gildas, and St. Cadoc, at the
College of Llancarvan in Wales. When Columba came to the school of
Clonard it numbered, as the old writers tell us, three thousand
scholars.
The problem of accommodation was very simple in an Irish school of the
sixth century. A few precious manuscripts formed the whole library. The
instruction was mostly oral, and given in the green fields round the
moat of Clonard. A little hill or eminence formed the professor's
chair, and the scholars sat on the slopes about his feet. They built
their own little huts of clay and wattles in the surrounding meadows,
and took their turn at herding the sheep and grinding in the quern, or
handmill, the corn for the daily bread. They prayed and studied, learnt
the exquisitely fine transcription that gave to the world the only
books that were then to be had, and listened to the interpretation of
the Holy Scriptures expounded by St. Finnian with a power and eloquence
that drew men from all parts of Ireland to listen.
The son of the Hy-Nialls took his turn with the rest at grinding the
corn in the quern and in the humble daily labours, but he accomplished
his task so rapidly and skilfully that his fellow-scholars, who may
have heard the story of the celestial companion of his boyhood, would
assert that he had been helped by an angel. When the daily work was
finished, he was always to be found, as of old, before the altar,
absorbed in prayer. Even the elders treated him with deference. There
was something so noble and commanding in his bearing, so high and holy
in the glance of his keen grey eyes, so strong and compelling in the
clear tones of his voice, that half unconsciously men bowed before him.
But there was one at Clonard who long withstood his influence. To the
gentle-hearted Ciaran "Mac In Tsair," or the son of the carpenter,
temptation had come in the shape of an envious thought.
Why should Columba, he asked himself resentfully, be loved and
privileged above all the other scholars? He was the son of the Prince
of Tir-Connell it was true, but in a monastic community such as Clonard
were not they all equal before God? He began to be jealous of the
influence exercised so unconsciously by his young companion, and
harboured bitterness in his heart. Ciaran's guardian angel grieved over
the havoc that was being wrought in that pure and gentle soul. He
appeared to him one day in a radiant vision, carrying the tools of a
carpenter in his hands.
"See, Ciaran," said he, "what thou hast left for the love of God, to
give thyself to Christ in the monastic life; but Columba has sacrificed