Before entering the Benedictine Order, Columba Marmion spent some years in the pastoral care of souls as a priest of his native Archdiocese of Dublin. Throughout his life Bl. Columba was an outstanding spiritual director, having particular care for the interior life of priests and religious. To a young man preparing for ordination he once wrote:  "The best of all preparations for the priesthood is to live each day with love, wherever obedience and Providence place us" (Letter, 27 December 1915). May a widespread rediscovery of the spiritual writings of Bl. Columba Marmion help priests, religious and laity to grow in union with Christ and bear faithful witness to him through ardent love of God and generous service of their brothers and sisters."

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There is an online sermon of the Holy Father on Bl. Marmion, and information on PetersNet. A bibliography of the works of Bl Marmion is presented on the Benedictine web site.

The miracle that made possible the Beatification of Abbot Marmion came to a woman in the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA. Their newspaper, The Visitor, wrote:

"One of the five [to be declared blessed on Sept. 3, 2000] is Dublin-born, Irish-French monk Columba Marmion, who lived a century ago and headed the Benedictine Abbey of Maredsous in Belgium. The woman from St. Cloud is Pat Bitzan, who is living today because she was cured of terminal cancer in 1966 after praying to the monk.

Earlier this year, the pontiff approved a final report by the Vatican's Congregation for Sainthood Causes which documented Bitzan's cure as a miracle. The process of beatification requires proof that an authentic miracle has been invoked in prayer, then worked posthumously by one who is to be declared blessed...

In 1966, Bitzan was diagnosed with breast cancer and had surgery, but the prognosis was poor. On the advice of a family friend, a Benedictine priest, she and her husband, Don, made a pilgrimage to Maredsous, the Belgian monastery Abbot Marmion called home. There she visited his tomb, celebrated daily Mass and prayed for his intercession. A month after returning to Minnesota her doctors saw signs of improvement and, ever since, Bitzan has had no signs of cancer."

Additional material authored by The Abbot can be found searching the EWTN document library.

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