e
Columbanian rule[182] and this afforded a pretext for the royal
vengeance. Theodoric attempted to violate the sanctuary in person; but
though he was surrounded by soldiers, he had to encounter one whose
powers were of another and more invincible character. The saint remained
in the sanctuary, and when the king approached addressed him sternly:

"If thou, sire," he exclaimed, "art come hither to violate the
discipline already established, or to destroy the dwellings of the
servants of God, know that in heaven there is a just and avenging power;
thy kingdom shall be taken from thee, and both thou and thy royal race
shall be cut off and destroyed on the earth."

The undaunted bearing of Columbanus, and, perhaps, some lingering light
of conscience, not yet altogether extinguished, had its effect upon the
angry monarch. He withdrew; but he left to others the task he dared not
attempt in person. The saint was compelled by armed men to leave his
monastery, and only his Irish and British subjects were permitted to
bear him company. They departed in deep grief, not for the cruel
treatment they suffered, but for their brethren from whom they were thus
rudely torn. As the monks who were left behind clung weeping to their
father, he consoled them with these memorable words: "God will be to you
a Father, and reward you with mansions where the workers of sacrilege
can never enter."

Nantes was the destination of the exiled religious. Here they were put
on board a vessel bound for Ireland; but scarcely had they reached the
open sea, when a violent storm arose, by which the vessel was driven
back and stranded on the shore, where it lay all night. The captain
attributed the misfortune to his travelling companions, and refused to
carry them any farther. Columbanus, perceiving in this accident an
indication of the will of heaven in their regard, determined to seek a
settlement in some other part of the Continent. In the third year after
his expulsion from Luxeuil, he arrived at Milan, where he was hospitably
received by the Lombard king, A.D. 612. On his journey thither he had
evangelised Austrasia, then governed by Theodebert. This prince, though
a brother of the monarch by whom he had been expelled, entertained him
with the utmost courtesy. At Mentz, the bishop vainly endeavoured to
detain him. Zeal for the conversion of souls led the saint to desire a
less cultivated field of labour. As he passed along the Lake of Zurich,
and in t