Saint Columbanus, patron Saint of motorcyclist.

 

Saint Columbanus is a remarkably interesting Saint for me.  I stumbled across his existence purely by accident.  I was looking to see who the patron saint for motorcyclists might be if there even was one. I am a rider myself.  Like most bikers I know, we all have some type of superstition.  Some it is a pre-ride ritual.  Others it is gremlin bells.  For me it is a prayer and quietly ask for a blessing for all those riding with me and on the road at the time I ride. 

 It turned out that Saint Columbanus was designated as the patron saint in 2002 by The Vatican.  His patronage was suggested by an Anglican Bishop named John Oliver.  John Oliver was an avid motorcyclist and tied that into his love of traveling.  To him, Saint Columbanus just made sense.

So, who was our patron saint?  That was my question once I found out we had one. 

Let us start with the basics.  He lived between 540 and 615 CE.  He was born in Ireland in the Kingdom of Meath.  He was born to a prominent family.  This allowed him to attend a higher-quality school in what is now Northern Ireland.   According to the legend and history of the church, he was handsome and attracted the attention of the women he was around during his schooling.   This led to a warning by an older pious lady in the city.  He chose to heed this warning from her and chose to forsake his worldly life and became a monk. He entered the Bangor Abbey to study and become more educated.

He left the Abbey after many years and headed to the Burgundy region of France.   Saint Columbanus made his way with a small party to Annegray where they founded a monastery.  This led to him founding several more monasteries.  Do you see the connection between him and traveling?  He eventually ended his traveling in Bobbio Italy where he found his last monastery.  He died at Bobbio and his relics are still maintain at the abbey there.  Of course, he is also buried at the abbey. 

So for me, I see it as another layer of protection during riding.  Everyone out there on their bike, keep your knees in the wind, your heart belonging to God, and thank the traveling monk for become a motorcycle patron.