Italy , described Columbanus as a giant Irish Saint . Bobbio , a natural cross-road of the most important communications path-ways during the Middle Ages , became with Columbanus the capital of monastic culture and the centre , for many centuries , of religious , philosophical , scientific , artistic & social life .
Petrarch , at the beginning of Renaissance , and Muratori found in Bobbio Capitular Archive150 Latin manuscripts , written before the 7th century , among which Cicero ’ s De Re Publica , works by Virgil and Frontone , the Biblical Codex K , only to name a few . The majority of these codex can now be admired in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan , in the Royal Library in Turin , in Naples and Vienna . The codex of these illuminators and their style of writing were the treasure of these libraries . Many classics would have been lost if not were for the patient work of these monks in their land and abroad .
Poggio Bracciolini , the prince of Florentine humanism , discovered many completely new orations by Cicero , Argonautica by Flaccus , Silvae by Statious and an entire Quintilian in the libraries of the monasteries of Cluny and St . Gall .
If Columbanus was the great European monk , Cathaldus was the most commemorated and venerated Irish Saint in Italy and other parts of Europe , though we haven ’ t historical documents about him . Towns , villages , churches , hospitals , monasteries , ports , have been named after him .
The Cathedral of Taranto , where , according to the tradition , he is buried , is dedicated to him . Mosaics of the Saint can be admired in the Basilica of the Nativity , Betlem , in the Palatine Chapel of Palermo , in the Cathedral of Monreale ( 12th century ). In the County of Caltanissetta there is S . Cataldo town , and he is also the Patron of various cities , as Taranto , Gangi and many others .
The contribution given by the Irish monks to the various countries of Europe was incalculable . They brought perennial values and Christian hope in a decadent world . The Irish clergy enjoyed great prestige everywhere throughout Europe , Arthur Kingsley Porter wrote . And the Bishop Milner : They were the luminaries of the western world and to them we owe the Bible , the Fathers and the Classics . Card . Henry Newman stated : Their monasteries became the storehouse of the past and the birthplace of the future . This is a lot for a small country like Ireland .
To build the EU upon solid basis , it is not enough to appeal only to a mere economical and commercial union or to economical interests , which , if sometimes unite , other times divide . It is necessary instead to aim at authentic values , based upon the universal moral law , written in the heart of every human being and ,