198 ST. COLUMBA Mabillon, Vetera Analecta, p. 669, quoted at the end of the English Martyr- ology, London, 1761. Perhaps same as Colnmba (6 St Columba (10), June 24. Sister of SS. Peoinna and Magrina. (See Pecinna.) St. Columba (11), Sept. 17, V. M. 853. Patron of Cordova and Zamora. The much younger sister of Elizabeth, who, with her husband St. Jeremia founded the double monastery of Tabanos. Elizabeth presided over the nuns, and her brother Martin over the monks. They persuaded Columba not to marry, rather to the annoyance of her mother ; but on her death Columba went to her brother and sister, and attained to great holiness as a nun in the monastery of Tabanos. She was charged with the instruction of the young nuns. When the persecution obliged them to leave Tabanos they fled to Cordova. Not finding the same quiet and leisure for devotion, she determined to be a martyr. She was beheaded in a persecution of Christians by the Moors. The Moors had so much respect for her character that they did not expose her body on a gibbet after death, but allowed it to be wrapped in linen, and thrown into the Guadalquiver. It was recovered six days afterwards by the monks. B.M. Baillet. Butler. Martin. Mesenguy. St. Columba (12), or CombaOsobbz, Feb. 19, V. M. Probably about V»82. Abbess of the Benedictine monastery of Archas, which is supposed to have been founded in the 6 th century. Put to death with all her nuns for the sake of their religion and innocence, by a band of Saracens under Almanzor. The bar- barians utterly destroyed the house, of which no vestige remains. Tradition says it was three leagues east of the city of Lamego, in Portugal. If this Almanzor was the famous warrior-king of Cordova, the date is probably i)82, when he de- stroyed many religious houses in that region. Cardoso, A(fiolo<jio Lusitano, It is possible that the incident hap- pened one hundred and thirty years earlier, during the persecution of the Christians under Abdcrrahman. The martyrdom of St. Columba is mentioned in a deed of donation from Tendon or Tedone Fasir to the Cistercian monks of St. John at Arouca, on the Douro, in the diocese of Lamego, April 4, 1129. BoUandus, AA.SS,, in the Prsetermissi^ regards her worship as uncertain, and cannot tell whether this is the Columba ranked among the saints of Portugal or not. St Columba (13) of Greville. Once upon a time there was a pretty girl named Columba, who lived at GrevUle, in Normandy. She was a great favourite with old and young. Every youth in the village wished to be her partner in the dance, or to carry her milking-pail. Though pleasant with all, she gave en- couragement to no one. Columba worked hard ; but she was fond of reading, and this was the cause of her downfall. The priest of the parish was a handsome young man, who preached like a saint and sang like an angel ; he lent her books, and when she went to return them and get others, he used to invite her to walk in his garden, and give her some of the beautiful roses and delicious figs and peaches which he cultivated. Gos- sips, indeed, made a few remarks about these visits to the parsonage, but Columba was so modest, so pious, so amiable to all except her lovers, that no one conld say anything against her. One day, however, she disappeared. People re- membered that she was last seen going to the parsonage. After a week of un- certainty, some of the young villagers went to the curate. He and his house- keeper admitted that she had been there some days ago, but said they did not know what had become of her, and in- vited the young men to come in and search the premises. With some apologies they did so, and found no trace of their missing companion. What had happened was thi& The handsome cure and his pretty parishioner suddenly discovered that they had fallen in love, and when Columba attempted to leave the par- sonage as usual, the cur6 forcibly de- tained her. The housekeeper's one desire was to keep everything quiet and avert scandal. Columba, driven to despair, bolted herself in a little room where there was firewood and a hatchet, and in
