Irishman to be beatified on Sunday

Any official pronouncement or decision made by the Vatican is sure to meet with mixed reaction, even in Catholic circles. Often there is a suspicion of a triumphant element hovering in the background. This is especially so when Rome declares someone to be worthy of beatification or canonisation.

It is well known that the present Pope has raised more saints to the altars than any of his predecessors. For the most part we in Ireland have not been too concerned about this as the number of Irish saints (those canonised) or beati (those beatified) have been few and far between.

Not that there has been any shortage of candidates. One thinks immediately of Matt Talbot, Catherine McAuley and Edel Quinn, all of whom are waiting in the wings for Rome to make a decision about their sanctity.

It may, therefore, come as a surprise to many to hear that on Sunday next, September 3rd, Pope John Paul will preside at a ceremony in St Peter's Square when an Irishman, Columba Marmion, will be declared Blessed. Columba Marmion will be in good company. Being beatified alongside him will be one Pope John XXIII. All of Italy will applaud this honour to Pope John, perhaps the most beloved pope of all time. But how many Irish people will applaud the honour given to a Dublin-born Benedictine monk soon to be known as Blessed Columba Marmion?

He was born of an Irish father and French mother on April 1st, 1858, and died as abbot of the Benedictine abbey at Maredsous in Belgium on January 30th, 1923. After completing his secondary education at Belvedere College, he entered Holy Cross seminary, Clonliffe, with the intention of becoming a Dublin diocesan priest.

Sent to Rome to complete his theological studies, he was ordained there in 1881. On returning to Dublin that year, he was appointed a curate in Dundrum parish. During his one year in the parish he built up a considerable reputation for himself as a saintly pastor.

Today in Dundrum village his memory is perpetuated in a day centre called Dom Marmion House. Senior citizens and people with special needs are cared for there by a voluntary group known as the Marmion Society. All the evidence points to him being a very saintly diocesan priest, a man seeking God. He later proclaimed that his mission was simple and clear: "To bring God to people and to bring people to God."

During the next four years (18821886), he held the position of professor of philosophy at Holy Cross College, Clonliffe. All this time he felt called to a deeper religious life and made his wishes known to the archbishop of Dublin that he hoped one day to become a Benedictine monk.

As there were no Benedictine monasteries in Ireland at the time he chose the newly-established abbey at Maredsous, Belgium, where he entered as a novice in November 1886.

It is not necessary here to outline his early career as a monk except to say that he kept a detailed account of his spiritual career, written in a series of copy-books and entitled Intimate Notes.

In 1889 he was sent to Louvain to help establish a newly-founded Benedictine monastery in that university city. He held the position of prior there for 10 years before being appointed abbot of Maredsous in 1909. He ruled this monastery, with its 130 monks, until his death in 1923.

When the first World War broke out in 1914 he brought 20 of his younger monks to Ireland, mainly to avoid capture and internment by the Germans. They found a home at Edermine near Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. He himself returned to Belgium in the summer of 1916.

During his final years as abbot he produced three volumes of spiritual writings, which were later translated into 15 languages. These were titled Christ, The Life of the Soul; Christ, in His Mysteries; and Christ, The Ideal of The Monk. These eventually became best-sellers and spiritual classics.

Almost immediately after his death people from all over the world began to pray to Dom Columba for favours. In 1933, just 10 years after his death, a Benedictine monastery was established at Aurora, Illinois, US, and was called Marmion Abbey in his memory.

THE first evidence of a request for his beatification comes from a letter written to Rome by Father J.M. O'Connor SJ in 1937 and signed by all the pupils at Belvedere. The advent of the second World War prevented any further steps to promote the cause of his beatification.

In 1957 the Bishop of Namur in Belgium undertook the diocesan inquiry into the life and virtues of Dom Marmion, which was the first real step to beatification. More than 47 people who had known him were interviewed. On March 27th, 1962, the canonical proceedings opened in Rome to study his life, work and writings. By then he had been given the title "Servant of God".

In 1966 a miracle was recorded at his tomb in Maredsous when a US woman from St Cloud, Minnesota, who was in the advanced stages of terminal cancer was cured. Her case was thoroughly documented and after lengthy investigation it was finally accepted in Rome as authentic.

It was only in February this year, however, that it was announced that Dom Marmion would be beatified on Sunday. A large number of pilgrims will be in Rome for the event, many of them Irish. And among them will be over 100 members of the Marmion family.

Father Mark Tierney OSB, of Glenstal Abbey, Co Limerick, is vice-postulator for the cause of the beatification of Dom Columba Marmion. His book, Blessed Columba Marmion - A Short Biography, has recently been published by Columba Press (£8.99)