Below are stories from past issues of Columban Mission magazine. The Columban Fathers publish Columban Mission magazine eight times a year. Subscriptions are available for just $15 per year. Sign up to receive our next issue. Read more about Columban Mission magazine.
During the national convention of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians (LAOH) in St. Louis two years ago, I encountered many participants who had a strong connection not only with my native country, Ireland, but also with various Columban missionaries scattered across the world.
During the 122 year history of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians (LAOH), there has been a special relationship with various Catholic institutions. The Order has also promoted Irish, Irish American and Catholic history.
When we think of the missionary work of the Columbans in Japan, we must not forget the Trojan work done by the Japanese catechists. Very often they were the right hand Samurais of the trail blazing Columban missionaries. One such lady catechist is Miss Tsuneko Hinata.
Editor’s Note: In November 2015, Julia Corcoran spent a week with Columban lay missionaries from Chile and the Philippines who are working in Britain. The following is her account as told to Columban Fr. Denis Carter.
We rejoice in the great gift of life. But as we grow older this gift is overshadowed by experiences of illness, pain, and loss. The certainty of an ever-approaching death often makes life itself seem meaningless.
I came to live in Fujisawa after getting married 58 years ago. I have been fortunate with my health. I have never even had a cold, and last year I had my first visit to a hospital.
Fiji for me will always be one of the most wonderful places in the world. I never expected to end up in Fiji, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean surrounded only by a vast expanse of water. It’s almost impossible to get further away from Ireland, my home country.
Editor’s Note: On Monday, November, 23, 2015, Columban Fr. YoungIn Kim celebrated the Feast Day of St. Columban in Cuzco, Peru. He described the experience in the article below.
In 2007 my father talked to me about the possibility of going overseas as a lay missionary. When I began to attend, with 20 others, the orientation program in Suva I had no idea what being a missionary might be about.
My name is Nilton Iman, and I am a priest of the Diocese of Chimbote, a land blessed with the blood of the first martyrs of my country, Peru.
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.