Blessed Columba Marmion : A Short Biography

Columba Marmion (1858-1923) was an influential spiritual writer of the early twentieth century. His trilogy, Christ the Life of the Soul, Christ in His Mysteries, and Christ the Life of the Monk, has been translated into thirteen languages. Marmion's one aim in his life and in his writings was to bring people to God and God to people. A Dublin-born, Irish-French monk, Marmion was one of the best-known and best-loved figures in Ireland, England, and Belgium. But his connection to the United States is special as well, for in September of 2000 he was beatified by Pope John Paul II for a miracle of healing to a Minnesota woman in 1966, performed through his intercession. In Blessed Columba Marmion, Mark Tierney, O.S.B., focuses on Marmion's life lived in heroic virtue and on his beatification. Fr. Tierney shows the very human side to this saintly man. For those who relish a good mixture of history and spirituality, the human and the divine, Fr. Tierney gives us this extraordinary story of a contemporary saint in the making. Chapters under part one are "The Early Years (1858-1873)," "The Long Road to the Cloister (1874- 1886)," "The Young Monk (1886-1899)," and "Louvain (1899-1909)." Chapters under part two are "Election as Abbot of Maredsous in 1909," "First Years as Abbot (1909-1912)," "The Caldey Affair (1913-1914)," and "The War Years (1914-1918)." Chapters under part three are "The Occupation of Dormition Abbey (1918- 1920)," "Formation of the Belgian Congregation (1911-1922)," "The Last Years (1920-1923)," "Marmion as Abbot," and "Marmion: Spiritual Writer Par Excellence."