Millions of sheep live in Ireland and the eight other countries that the Via Columbani pilgrimage route traverses in the footsteps of the Irish monks. And in the summer of 2022, it felt like most of them were staring and bleating at Johannes Maria Schwarz, walking from Ireland to Italy. The 44 year old Catholic priest had already been to Santiago, Rome and Jerusalem on foot. He had visited 200 of the highest, oldest and most curious shrines in the Alps. On the 30,000 kilometres (19,000 miles) of his pilgrimages, he has fled from Romanian sheep dogs, fought (and lost) against Ukrainian mosquitoes, survived bull runs far from Pamplona, decisively rebuked slugs and, thanks to this present book, is known to have had lively conversations with countless rams, ewes and lambs.
On this new European pilgrimage route, called 'The Columban Way' or 'Via Columbani', Schwarz followed in the footsteps of the Irish monk St. Columban and his twelve companions, who in the year 590 embarked for the mainland to win half a continent back to faith and reason in the chaos following the migration period.
Between the covers of this book the reader will not only find the humorous diary of a 21st century pilgrim, but also a historical search for traces of Irish monasticism and explanations of its legacy in Europe - a legacy that comes with a mission. For 1,400 years after Columban had held his head into the stormy winds of the Irish Sea, never to return to his homeland, his spiritual sons may, according to the author, also be able to answer some the big questions of our own time.