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.