The Sermons (Instructiones) of St. Columban (543-614), one of the greatest men born in Ireland, were intended for his monks. Western monasticism was refounded through them, and everything we know about Catholic principles governing abbeys can be found in them. In this sense, these short texts are absolute classics.

When you've forgotten what fundamental Catholicism is, and are beginning to argue from modern political and philosophical traditions, it's a good idea to read or reread these Instructions, which are far more authentic than the speculations of relatively self-interested parties.

There's little in them that's marvellous, but there are some fundamental ideas: firstly, that it's pointless to argue about the mysteries of faith on the basis of abstract concepts, of words moved by the intellect. For Saint Columban, it is impossible to understand the Trinity through reason.

We can only rely on faith, on the feeling of love that radiates from this Trinity, and that blazes, beyond the stars, with the cosmic fire of charity! Still, there are a few images, and God is a person.

Angels are sometimes mentioned. Among other things, Colomban says that clear ideas about the mysteries can only be established by starting from Sacred Scripture, which is the fundamental doctrine of the Catholic religion already enunciated by Saint Augustine.

But Colomban adds that the Holy Spirit, or angel, can also deliver divine communications - as he did, in principle, when writing the Bible. The prophets remind us, however, that angels express themselves through mysterious figures.

Colomban readily employs comparisons with ordinary life: the efforts made by peasants for their harvests are projected into the future; similarly, monks must live a painful life on Earth in anticipation of the graces of Heaven.

We must die to the perishable world below, in order to live the eternal life that awaits human beings," he reminds us. This perspective lends grandeur and beauty to these Sermons. He makes the beyond of the stars, the beyond of the sensible universe, the fountain of life, the eternal source of the soul, of the spirit, of everything. To her we must devote ourselves!

Comparisons with the military art also recur frequently. These are the seven inner breaths - the seven sins, if you like, but the point is not to annihilate them, only to tame them, to turn them into virtues.

Behind the apparently smooth sermons, we must undoubtedly conjecture esoteric knowledge. Colomban only hints at it: in writing, the clarity of admonition was maintained.

These Sermons are reminiscent of the writings of François de Sales. The same fundamental principles are found there, but the Bishop of Geneva is more explicit about what was reserved, it seems, for religious: the true means of penetrating the mysteries, and of meditating on them, and thus purifying oneself.

The Trinity, he said, could be apprehended in its truth through love of God, without any real science; and the first threshold of initiation into God passed through the imagination, the inner representation of angels and other biblical figures - the Dove of the Holy Spirit, the Last Judgment, and so on.

François de Sales was criticized for revealing these indications, which were reserved for priests. It may have been demeaning, but it gave rise to Baroque art. Irish medieval art is, admittedly, more hieratic. More allusive. Bigger, perhaps. But also less adapted to modern man.

By the time of François de Sales, people were no longer as submissive to priests as they had been in the past; they demanded the freedom to choose and act for themselves. This secularization of the inner life undoubtedly paved the way for Joseph de Maistre and later Romanticism.

Saint Columban's writings remained within the rules of monasticism: they were addressed solely to other religious. He demanded excellence from them. It was another time, glorious in itself.

We also have a number of letters from Saint Columban. They are generally addressed to the Pope. Yet, beneath their apparent submission, they are full of reproaches.

In particular, he accuses the Bishop of Rome of remaining inactive in the face of heretics and troublemakers, among whom he places the Franks and their bishops. He was, in fact, in conflict with them, at the time when he lived with his monks in their empire, because he did not celebrate Easter according to the same rules and on the same dates as they did.

The venerable Bede has discussed this debate in detail: we'll come back to it later. Indeed, it continued a century later in England. On one side were the supporters of Columban, the Bretons and the Irish, on the other those of Rome and the French.

For English Christianity was originally sponsored by both the Irish and the French, whose influences intersected - and often clashed.

Colomban suggests that if the Pope followed the advice of the Franks, or at least did not prevent them from persecuting the Irish monks settled in Gaul, it was out of weakness, and because he needed them for his own political interests.

He claims to be right, holding, he says, his tradition from St. Peter and St. Paul, while the Franks only hold their principles from a low-level thinker whose only motivation is to distance himself from the Jews and their own Passover: a concern he in no way shares!

The Pope's accusation of meddling too much in politics, and therefore supporting the Frankish kings, was taken up, curiously enough, by Dante, who did not mince his words in this respect.

Like the Irish sage, he did not blame the Merovingian kings, but the Capetians, to whom he collectively condemned - in particular Philip the Fair, persecutor of the Knights Templar, to whom Dante was attached. He did, however, place the Carolingians in paradise, in keeping with medieval tradition: the hero Roland is to be found on Mars!

It's worth noting that, fed up with Frankish persecution, Columban and his monks fled to Italy. This may explain their ultimate influence on Dante.

The wise man from Ireland often refers to the Church of the West, i.e. the Celtic Church, which he says is pure because it is linked only to the Rome of the apostles, and not involved in Roman politics, since Ireland was never part of the Roman Empire.

This is heavy with innuendo. Dante, again, went in the same direction, reproaching the Pope for his politicization, and lamenting Emperor Constantine's stranglehold on the Church.

In truth, Colomban's difficult style is very allusive, full of convolutions and long sentences. Nevertheless, it reveals a strong personality captured in an exciting period.

Despite what we sometimes hear, Colomban does not claim to be particularly influenced by Eastern theologians, even if the principles he follows for the Easter celebrations are based on Greek authorities. He classically attacks heretics such as St. Augustine, and quotes the Church Fathers liberally, giving them an authority superior to his own.

He is even astonished that the Pope did not fulminate more against the followers of Arius, who were infesting Italy at the time (through the Lombards). We shouldn't imagine that his Irish origin made him particularly close to Gnosis, or the Neoplatonists, that sort of thing: in his letters, it doesn't appear.

The Irish are more Latin than we think, no doubt. Besides, Saint Patrice was a Breton who learned almost everything from the Gauls (in particular Saint Germain d'Auxerre). They were indeed part of the West.
 

Rémi Mogenet (12 février 2024).

Extracts from Saint Columban's letters

(...) Do not expect men to persecute you of their own accord; it is the devils who put in their hearts the envy of your goods, and it is against them that you must put on the armor of which the apostle speaks (Paul, Eph, 6, 13-1?).(...)

See below

Many misconceptions surround the appearance and duties of angels in the modern day. With the angel craze that was in the 1990s, many people were left with a faulty view of angels.

Despite the media presenting angels in one light, the Bible tells us what angels are really like, how they appear to people, and how they serve God. It is good to be aware of what angels are and what angels aren't according to biblical standards.

Bible Verses about Angels

Isaiah 6:2 - Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Psalm 91:11 - For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

Matthew 18:10 - “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 24:31 - And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 26:53 - Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

Read more: Bible Verses About Angels

Biblical Descriptions of Angels

As portrayed in traditional art, angels are not chubby, flying babies with wings. Rather, angels are spirit beings created by God to serve Him. Similarly, the Book of Hebrews tells us, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14).

Angels are ministering spirits who are sent to do God's will. While many people believe in the existence of guardian angels, nowhere in the Bible are we told that we have guardian angels.

The angels we are told about in the Bible are Michael and Gabriel. Catholic tradition also includes Rafael; however, the Bible has no record of this angel. Therefore, the only two angels that are given a name in the Bible are Michael and Gabriel. 

Both are seen as obeying God, serving God, and helping those who God sends them to help. As in the case of Daniel the prophet, God sent Gabriel to talk with him (Daniel 9:20-23).

Gabriel is a messenger angel, which means he works as God's messenger to the people. We also see Gabriel fulfill this role when he appears to Mary (Luke 1:26-38). Michael is an archangel who fulfills his role to God of keeping humans safe at God's command.

While Gabriel and Michael are the only angels listed by name, many angels are recorded in the Book of Revelation. These angels are pouring out judgment on the people during the time of the tribulation; however, we are not given their names.

It could be we are not given their names for us not to worship or become obsessed with them. There are hundreds to thousands of angels, and one cannot be dogmatic in saying how many angels there are since God never gives us an exact number.

Seraphim is another type of angel that is recorded in the Bible, in the Book of Isaiah. While we are never told the names of the seraphim, we are told what they look like.

Isaiah 6:2 says, "Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying."

From this description, we can ascertain that seraphim are not the traditional look of the way culture presents angels.

Seraphim is unique among the angels because never are we told Gabriel, Michael, or the other unnamed angels in the Bible look like this. From all practical standpoints, the angels who descend to earth and who are spoken of in the Bible look like men.

This has been a difficult teaching to grasp since angels are spirit beings and not physical beings. It is also important to mention that nowhere in the Bible are we told that angels possess human bodies. As it is, angels are spirit beings, yet they do seem to appear like a man.

There is another misnomer that angels are both females and males. This is not true, as the only angels presented in the Bible are males and have masculine pronouns. As much as we like to think that there are male and female angels, this isn't biblical and does not adhere to a sound doctrine.

As the Bible tells us, Eve was the first woman and is the mother of all the living. Since this is true, this further proves there were no females before the creation of Eve. Some could even argue that angels don't have genders; however, the Bible does refer to angels as "he," "his," and "him."

In addition to Gabriel and Michael, we are also told about Lucifer, who is known to us as Satan, the deceiver, and the enemy. Satan was an angel before he led the rebellion against God, so he and all of the angels who chose to follow him were expelled from heaven.

The Lord tells us Himself that he saw Satan fall as lightning (Luke 10:18). Satan and his demons are no longer defined as God's angels since they rebelled against Him. Never again will they be given a chance to re-enter heaven.

The Appearance of Angels

As mentioned, angels normally look like men, yet the seraphim have a unique appearance. Despite appearing as human men, they are said to be mighty, awe-inspiring, and normally leave the person feeling fearful.

Since those whom angels visit usually fall down in worship or awe, we can imagine how wonderful yet fearful-looking they are. There have been many accounts of people seeing angels in the modern day; however, we cannot be certain if these are angels or not.

Angels are intimidating, and as John tells us in Revelation, he falls down in worship of an angel, only for the angel to command him to get up and worship God (Revelation 22:9). The angel is glorious, beautiful, and brilliant, yet he reminds John that he is but an angel. All of the worship, praise, and glory belongs to God alone. The angel doesn't want to take credit for what needs to be given to God.

This shows us how humble, loyal, and loving angels are. They love God and desire all respect, glory, and praise to go to Him.

Therefore, angels have been misinterpreted in the modern day. As Christians, it is important for us to educate ourselves on the appearance of angels in order for us to know what angels are and what is not.

While the angels in drawings and artwork may appear cute, real angels don't look this way. Angels are spirit beings God created to serve Him and make His will be done on earth.

They are not dead loved ones, nor do we become angels when we die. There are many false beliefs surrounding angels, their appearance, and their purpose, and it is our responsibility to help share the truth about angels.

Why Does This Matter?

Rather than going along with the trend of guardian angels or misrepresenting angels in artwork, we need to turn back to a biblically accurate depiction of angels.

To lie about what angels look like is to go against God. Angels are beautiful creations of God, and it is right for us to see them as such.

They are mighty, powerful, and strong, yet they are not as mighty, powerful, and strong as God. We should not worship them, nor should we give them praise. Like the angel tells John, all glory, praise, and worship must be given to God alone.

Vivian Bricker obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Ministry, followed by a Master of Arts with an emphasis in theology. She loves all things theology, mission work, and helping others learn about Jesus. Find more of her content at C

For further reading:
What Do Angels Look Like?
Are There Different Types of Angels in the Bible?
What Are All the Names of Angels in the Bible?