Columbanus of Luxeuil
c. 543 AD — November 23, 615 AD · Feast day: November 23
Columbanus left Ireland in 590 with twelve companions and never looked back — walking into the crumbling Frankish kingdom to plant monasteries that would become the seedbeds of European civilization. The Irish abbot whose name meant 'little dove' carried a ferocity that rattled kings and popes alike, yet his Rule shaped Western monasticism for generations.