Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

  - James 4.7

He was a terror to the devil...
By his mighty skill, he kept the law firm...

  - Dallán Forgaill, Amra Choluimb Chille, Irish, 6th century[1]

On occasion I’ve asked a men’s group to write down on a sheet of paper what they’d like to have written on their tombstone, or what memorable line they hope someone will pen in their obituary.

As you might imagine, it’s an interesting exercise.

How about this: “He was a terror to the devil”?

That’s how his contemporaries saw Colum Cille, the founder of the great center of missions, scholarship, and piety on the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland.

How did Colum get that way?

He loved God and hated his own sin. He pored over the Word of God, giving special attention to the Law and the Gospels. He spent long hours praying and contemplating the unseen realm, so that Dallán described him as being wise about both the apostles and the angels. He studied the creation to discover the glory of God revealed there.

And he was a diligent student of Church history, knowing the debt he owed to the martyrs and theologians of the past.

Plus, he loved his contemporaries and students so much that he exercised great care so as not to be a cause of stumbling to any of them – a lesson he learned the hard way early in his preparation for ministry, when missteps of his own plunged him into disfavor with the Church.

Colum was a great man by any measure. But his greatest attribute by far is that he struck terror in the devil, who feared that this man would be used of God to lift the blindness, expose the devilish folly, and re-sow the Gospel of the Kingdom into the weed-strewn fields of benighted Europe.

Turns out, he was right.

Colum was a terror to the devil, as his monastery on Iona became the flagship and forerunner of numerous other Irish monasteries which, together, sent thousands of missionaries to re-evangelize the moribund churches of the continent.

Oh yeah, Colum Cille was a terror to the devil.

Are we?

Psalm 91.1-3 (Lauda Anima: “Praise My Soul the King of Heaven”)
All who dwell within God’s shelter in His shadow will reside.
He our Tow’r our Fortress ever, in Him we our trust confide.
From the trapper’s snares He saves us; safe from sickness we abide.

Thanks for Sharing
Thanks to those of you who have shared financial gifts with us. We rejoice to see the Lord moving in you this way, and praise Him for your kindness and generosity. I pray many more of you might also be led to support The Fellowship of Ailbe with your gifts, as well as your prayers and referrals. You can use the donate button her or at the website, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Dr., Essex Junction, VT 05452

Psalms to Pray for Today, Saturday, and Sunday
Today
Morning: Psalm 119.33-40; Psalm 146
Evening: Psalm 71

Saturday
Morning: Psalm 119.41-48; Psalm 147
Evening: Psalm 72

Sunday
Morning: Psalm 119.49-56; Psalm 148
Evening: Psalm 73

T. M. Moore, Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.