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 Columba is called the Apostle to Scotland. He sailed from Ireland in 563 with twelve disciples and settled on the small tidal island of Iona off the coast of western Scotland. From this base proceeded the evangelizing of the nation.
Columba was born in 519 to a royal Irish family. He dedicated his life to God at an early age and joined a monastery. Around 560, he became embroiled in a dispute with another monk over a copy of the book of Psalms. The dispute escalated to the point of a heated battle in which several men were killed.
Columba was deeply grieved by the loss of life and, at the advice of another monk, left Ireland to preach the Gospel to a pagan nation and gain as many souls to Christ as lives were lost in battle.
Iona provided a convenient base for missionary labors among the Scots, who were already Christian in name, but needed confirmation, and among the Picts who were unconverted. Columba directed his zeal first to the Picts, a barbaric tribe so named by the Romans because they painted their bodies for war.
He visited their King Brude in his fortress at Inverness, and won his esteem and co-operation in planting Christianity among his people. He converted them by example as well as by word. He founded a large number of churches and monasteries in Ireland and Scotland directly or through his disciples.
His biography (written around 704) contains the first reference to the Loch Ness monster. Apparently, Columba came upon the monster as he was about to devour a swimmer. He shouted, “You shall go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed.” The monster retreated, and the swimmer was saved. The pagan Picts who witnessed this event glorified God and accepted baptism. (You can determine for yourself if the story is valid or not.)
The monastery at Iona became a training ground for missionaries. Much of Northern England and parts of Europe were evangelized from this tiny and inhospitable island.
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