COLUMBA MARMION, O.S.B. — Ascetical writer and Benedictine, born Giuseppe, at Dublin on 1 April 1858, died at Maresdous on 30 January 1923, held in repute for holiness. Ordained priest in Rome on 16 June 1881, he served as curate at Dundrum and then as professor of philosophy at Clonliffe. He entered the Benedictine abbey of Maresdous on 21 November 1886. In 1899 he became prior of Mont-César at Louvain, and on 28 September 1909 was elected abbot of Maresdous. He helped renew within the Church an understanding of the mystery of Jesus Christ through his now-classic spiritual works, especially shaped by the teaching of St Paul.
His publications include:
Le Christ vie de l'âme (Maredsous 1914; Italian ed., Milan 1921);
Le Christ dans ses mystères (Tremelo 1919; Italian ed., Turin 1941);
Le Christ idéal du moine (Paris 1922; Italian ed., Padua 1931);
Sponsa Verbi (Bruges 1923; Italian ed., Padua 1924).
These volumes were translated into seven languages. Pope Benedict XV declared that he used them for his own spiritual life and advised Msgr Szepeticky: “Read them; they contain pure Church doctrine.” Dom Thibaut later published a number of Marmion’s letters.