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St. Columbkille School has been serving the South Central Los Angeles community for over eighty years. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles established the parish and school in 1923 and in September of that year the school opened under the direction of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. On December 16, 1923 the school plant was blessed and the school was off and running. The years have seen a dramatic change in the student make up of St. Columbkille. The school primarily catered to working-class European-American families when it first opened, then shifted to a predominantly African-American student population in the middle part of last century and now is primarily comprised of Hispanics.
St. Columbkille School served students in first through eighth grades until 1969 when the seventh and eighth grades were transferred to the newly established Holy Cross Middle School. This was done to provide students with more educational opportunities. In September 1981, with the addition of a kindergarten, St. Columbkille School served students in kindergarten through sixth grades.
In the spring of 1998, it was announced that Holy Cross Middle School would close and they did not accept incoming seventh graders. At this time the pastor and principal knew that a plan needed to be developed and began to consult with the Department of Catholic Schools at the Archdiocese.
In the spring of 1999, the pastor interviewed each sixth grade parent individually and as a group and learned that the parents wanted their children to complete seventh and eighth grades at St. Columbkille. Plans began immediately to add a seventh grade in the fall of 1999 and to secure plans and funding for additional classroom space. The first eighth grade class in over 30 years at St. Columbkille graduated in 2001 without having formal classroom space. Yet, with hope and determination, the school community was able to raise the money for new seventh and eighth grade classrooms and a learning center to serve both students and the wider community. Construction began in the summer of 2001 and in January 2002 the seventh and eighth grade students moved into their new classrooms. The learning center was named after the foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, St. Julie Billiart, in honor of the dedication and effort of the sisters to St. Columbkille School. The Sisters still assist at the school and continue to provide a strong spiritual presence for the entire St. Columbkille community.
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Saint Columbkille
A Legend Among His Peers
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Over the centuries, Ireland has produced many saints including the great Saint Patrick, Bridget, and Columba. Out of these three, Saint Columba (also known as St. Columbkille) has the reputation of being the most ‘Irish.’
Columbkille was born as Colm, meaning dove, in Donegal, Ireland in 521 A.D. to a family of Irish aristocracy. Since he was a direct descendant of Niall of the Nine Hostages, Columba was part of a lineage of kings who had ruled Ireland for six centuries. Columba, himself, might have had succeeded the throne if he had not found a calling in the Church.
At an early age, Colm was introduced to a religious life since he was given in fosterage to a priest. During this time it was Irish custom to entrust a child to foster parents, and under his fosterage, Colm’s faith grew immensely. He studied with two different saints and became a monk, which led to his ordination. Colm then used his wealth to establish 27 monasteries and 40 different churches. He had done all this before he had turned 25, thus he acquired the name Columbkille, Colm of the Church.
Despite all of his achievements, Columbkille did not escape the political infighting that had ensued. During this time, war had broken out between Ireland’s clans. And because he had fiercely protected refugees and denounced King Diarmaid, Columbkille was put into self-exile in 563 A.D.
With the situation worsening in Ireland, Columbkille experienced a religious awakening and found himself called to preaching. He traveled to a desolate island, only 3 miles long, where he established the monastery of Iona. From this monastery, he began to work to introduce Christianity to Scotland. Columbkille’s monastery eventually became “heart of Celtic Christianity and the most potent factor in the conversation of the Picts, Scots, and Northern English,” according to the website, www.stcolumbkille.org.
St. Columbkille died in 597 A.D., having a great influence over Christianity in Western Europe. Because the monks who had trained at his monastery traveled all over Europe, the monastic rules he developed were widely practiced. Although the Rule of St. Benedict ultimately supplanted many of his practices, Columbkille’s influence can still be felt today. Thanks to the work of Columbkille, among others, Britain has a largely Christian population. Columbkille is also the patron of the Knights of Columbus, a worldwide group of men dedicated to living a Christian life. The feast of St. Columbkille is celebrated on June 9.
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St. Julie Billiart
Our Preserving Foundress
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Julie Billiart, foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, was born into a poor family on July 12th 1751, in Cuvilly, a small village in France. At the age of twenty-three, Julie became a cripple as the result of an accident, but this did not prevent her from continuing her work as an ardent lay apostle. This work nearly cost Julie her life during the French Revolution. By the age of thirty, Julie was almost completely paralyzed, even to the loss of her speech. In spite of these apparently insurmountable obstacles, this woman founded a religious congregation for world wide educational work. After the founding of the Congregation of Notre Dame in 1804, God saw fit to cure Julie and until her death in 1816 she lived only to love and proclaim the "good God."
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"HOW GOOD IS THE GOOD GOD"
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St. Columbkille School - 145 W 64th St - Los Angeles CA 90003 - Phone 323.758.2284 - Fax 323.750.7141
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