OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Month: February 2016

  • On Fasting: From a Homily in the Leabhar Breac

    ‘It is by food that Esau lost his birthright, and sold it to his brother; through fasting the noble prophet acquired a victory, and was rescued from the lions’ den; through fasting Moses, the son of Amri, received the written law; through it the people of God were rescued from the Amalecites through fasting the people of Ninive were saved; through fasting Elias wrought such miracles, on earth; through it David did penance, so as to have his sins forgiven; through it the people of Juda saved Jerusalem in the time of Ezechias, King of Juda, from the Assyrians, so that over 175,000 were destroyed; through it Peter was loosed from prison; Cornelius, the Centurion, received the Holy Ghost before baptism, and Paul vouchsafed revelations through prayer and alms and the fruit of fasting; through fasting the people of God came through the Red Sea with dry feet; through it Moses merited the love of God: through it the manna was got from heaven in the desert for ten years; through it Moses received the written law face to face with God; through it Moses was fifty days and nights without food on Mount Sinai; through it Moses acquired victory over the Amalecites; through it the Jordan opened a passage for the people of God; through it Jesse, the son of Nun, conquered the seven districts of Canaan and tumbled Jericho; through it Jonas was saved in the whale’s belly; through it the youths in the fiery furnace were preserved unhurt; through it Nebuchodonosor was freed from the visitation with which he had been afflicted; through it fifteen years were added to the life of Ezechias; through it the sun went back in its course for him; through it people are preserved from the power of the evil one, by having Christ remain fifty days and nights without food for the children of Adam; through it one is directed to the road to heaven, and God’s grace is increased; through it, when properly observed, there is an increase of love and charity, and the wonders that are wrought in the world and all the plagues staved off from man and all are the result of fasting.’

    Homily XXXVII ‘On Fasting’ – Original Irish text in R. Atkinson, ed., The Passions and Homilies from Leabhar Breac, 274. Translation from Rev. Sylvester Malone, Church History of Ireland from the Anglo-Norman Invasion to the Reformation, Vol. II, (London, 1880), 54-55.


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  • An Irish Church in Germany

    February 9 is the feast of the Blessed Marianus Scotus, an 11th-century Donegal man who was a monastic and scribe in Germany. I have already reprinted the paper by Bishop William Reeves on the life of this holy man and below is another paper on the Church of Saint Peter at Ratisbon where Blessed Marianus laboured. It was published posthumously in 1876 and the author, Father James Gaffney, tells us of the history of both the saint and his monastery. Like many Irish commentators before and since, the writer is rather indignant that these Irish foundations or Schottenklöster were later given over to monks from Scotland and, although money from Ireland had endowed the great Abbey of Saint James at Ratisbon, compensation was paid to the Scottish bishops when the monastery was suppressed. This confusion arose due to the fact that in the earlier middle ages Ireland was known as Scotia and the Irish as Scotti, hence Marianus Scotus meant ‘Marianus the Irishman’. Later however, Scotland acquired the exclusive use of the name Scotia and retrospectively claimed the saints and the foundations which bore this title abroad, much to the annoyance of the Irish. So we will have to forgive the rather aggrieved note on which the paper ends and enjoy this account of the Irish church at Ratisbon and its most famous son, Muiredhach MacRobartaigh, Marianus Scotus.

    AN IRISH CHURCH IN GERMANY.

    BY THE LATE REV. JAMES GAFFNEY.

    [The readers of the obituary in our February issue are aware that Father Gaffney drew up this paper in the form of a lecture for the Catholic Union. In transcribing, his notes for our pages he would, no doubt, have made many changes and additions. We have not attempted to follow out references or fill up blanks, but have been obliged to content ourselves with only an imperfect fragment of what Father Gaffney intended to be the first of many contributions to the Irish Monthly. R.I.P.]

    THE broad and stately Danube rolls its swift waters by the ancient walls of Ratisbon. This city of northern Bavaria — known in Germany as Regensburg — is famous in modern history as a base of operations for Davoust, one of the bravest marshals of the first Napoleon, in that war in which France swept before her the armies of Austria and Prussia like chaff before the wind.

    Travelling last year with two brother priests in search of relaxation from laborious duties, we stayed a few days at Ratisbon. Among other objects of interest, we visited what is put down in the best guide-books and in the best local histories as the Scottish Church of St. James. We found it to be a very fine building, a basilica of the later Romanesque style of the twelfth century, recently restored at the sole expense of the Bishop of Ratisbon. On examining the very remarkable capitals of the square pillars in the chancel, the circular columns in the nave and the gorgeous western portal, we observed that the interlacing on all these was distinctively Irish. The interlacing of small ribbon-bands, which is well known to antiquarians as “Celtic ornamentation” peculiar to Ireland, was as plainly defined as on the Irish crosses at Monasterboice or the carvings in the chapel of King Cormac on the Rock of Cashel.

    Immediately after our inspection of the church we were introduced to the historian of Ratisbon. In reply to our inquiries he stated that the church was Scottish, not Irish. When we urged the Celtic character of its sculptured decorations, he opposed the fact that on its suppression as a religious foundation at the end of the last century, the Scottish bishops claimed and received compensation from the government .We nevertheless retained our opinion, which was fully confirmed and proved by the authorities we were able to consult upon our return to Ireland. One of the most important of these is the distinguished German antiquarian, Wattenbach, whose dissertation on Irish Monasteries in Germany has been translated by the Rev. Dr. Reeves of Armagh, and published in the seventh volume of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology.

    At the very outset we require an explanation of the name. We must not indeed understand Scotchmen by the “Scoti ;” but the inhabitants of Ireland, who are of the same race. The latter were almost exclusively known by the name of Scots in the earlier centuries of the middle ages; but by degrees, together with the people, this name extended over Scotland likewise.

    This name of “Scotus” occurs at the very beginning of the history of this church and monastery of Ratisbon. Marianus Scotus of Ratisbon is not to be confounded with Marianus Scotus, the Chronicler who was a native also of Ulster and almost a contemporary. Their real names were different, and their labours lay in different fields. Marianus Scotus of Ratisbon, whose original name was Muiredhach MacRobartaigh (now anglicised into McGroarty, McGerty, O’Rafferty, &c.) was born in Tirconnell, the modern county of Donegal. He left Ireland in 1067, that is, eleven years after his namesake the Chronicler. In his youth he had been carefully instructed by his parents in sacred and secular literature, with a view to his entering the priesthood. In process of time he assumed the monastic habit, but seemingly without entering any regular Order; and, taking two companions, called John and Candidus, he set out from home, having as his ultimate object a pilgrimage to Rome. Arriving on their way at Bamberg, they were kindly received, and, after a year’s sojourn, were admitted to the Order of St. Benedict in the Monastery of St. Michaelsberg. But, being unacquainted with the language of the country, they preferred retirement; and a small cell at the foot of the hill was assigned them for their use. After a short stay, they received the permission of their Superior to proceed on their way; and arriving at Ratisbon they met a friendly reception at the convent of the Upper Monastery [Obermünster] where Marianus was employed by the Abbess, Emma, in the transcription of some books. From this he removed to the Lower Monastery [Niedermünster] where a cell was assigned to him and his companions, in which he diligently continued his occupation of writing, his companions preparing the membranes for his use. After some time he was minded to continue his original journey; but a brother Irishman called Muircertach, who was then living as a recluse at the Obermünster, urged him to let the Divine guidance determine whether he should proceed on his way, or settle for life at Ratisbon. He passed the night in Muircertach’s cell, and in the hours of darkness it was intimated to him that, wherever on the next day he should first behold the rising sun, he should remain and fix his abode. Starting before day, he entered St. Peter’s Church, outside the walls, to implore the Divine blessing on his journey. But scarcely had he come forth, when he beheld the sun stealing above the horizon. “Here, then,” said he, ” I shall rest, and here shall be my resurrection.” His determination was hailed with joy by the whole population. The Abbess granted him this Church of St. Peter, commonly known as Weich-Sanct-Peter, with an adjacent plot, where in 1076, a citizen called Bethselinus built for the Irish at his own cost a little monastery, which the Emperor Henry IV. soon after took under his protection, at the solicitation of the Abbess Hazecha. The fame of Marianus, and the news of his prosperity, presently reached Ireland, and numbers of his kindred were induced to come out and enter his Society. The early connections of the monastery were chiefly with Ulster, his own native province, and the six Abbots who succeeded him were all from the north. From Weich-Sanct-Peter, another Irish monastery called St. James’s of Ratisbon, took its rise in 1090. Domnus, a native of the south of Ireland, was its first Abbot.

    Of Marianus himself nothing more is recorded except his great skill and industry as a scribe. “Such,” says the old memoir, was the grace of writing which Divine Providence bestowed on the blessed Marianus, that he wrote many and lengthy volumes with a rapid pen, both in the Upper and Lower Monasteries. For, to speak the truth, without any colouring of language, among all the acts which Divine Providence deigned to perform through him, I deem this most worthy of praise and admiration, that the holy man wrote from beginning to end, with his own hand, the Old and New Testament, with explanatory comments on the same books, and that not once or twice, but over and over again, with a view to the eternal reward; all the while clad in sorry garb, living on slender diet, attended and aided by his brethren, both in the Upper and Lower Monasteries, who prepared the parchments for his use. Besides, he also wrote many smaller books, and manual psalters, for distressed widows, and poor clerics of the same city, towards the health of his soul, without any prospect of earthly gain. Furthermore, through the mercy of God, many congregations of the monastic order, which in faith and charity, and imitation of the blessed Marianus, are derived from the aforesaid Ireland, and inhabit Bavaria and Franconia, are sustained by the writings of the blessed Marianus. He died on the 9th of February, 1088. Aventimus, the Bavarian Annalist, styles him: ”Poeta et Theologus insignis, nullique suo seculo secundus.” Before we part with our distinguished countryman, one of the greatest Irish scribes of the middle ages, let me mention that there is preserved at the present day in the Imperial Library of Vienna, a copy of the Epistles of S. Paul written by Marianus, for his “exiled brethren.” I had the happiness (during the past summer) of examining this precious relic of Celtic zeal and religious patriotism. At the end of the MS. are these words : — “In honore individuae Trinitatis, Marianus Scotus [Muiredach MacRobertaig] scripsit hunc librum suis fratribus pererinis. Anima ejus requiescat in pace. Propter Deum devote dicite. Amen” The Irish letters giving us the real name of the writer prove his race and kindred.

    From the church and monastery of Weich-Sanct-Peter, founded by this Marianus, came the Church of St. James of Ratisbon, built soon after, which became the focus of Irish propagandism whence light and gospel-truth radiated through central Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. From this monastery of St. James went forth colonies of Irish monks to Wurtzburg in honour of St. Kilian, an Irish bishop and martyr, profoundly venerated to the present day in that ancient city. Offshoots also sprung up at Nuremberg, at Memmingen, at Eichstadt, at Erfurt, at Constance, and at the beautiful capital of Austria, Vienna.

    Not only were the skill and devotedness of Irish monks expended on these Irish foundations in Germany, but also the treasures of those who remained at home in Ireland. Stephen White, the well-known Irish Jesuit, had in his possession an old chronicle of the monastery at Ratisbon, from which he made some extracts that are painted by Lynch in his ” Cambrensis Eversus.” In this record it is stated Isaac and Gervase, two Irishmen of noble birth, accompanied by Conrad and William, two other Irishmen, who were sent to Ireland by Dionysius, Abbot of St. Peter’s at Ratisbon, where they were kindly received by Conchobar O’Brien, and having being loaded with rich presents, were sent back to Germany. With the money obtained from Ireland a more commodious site for a monastery was purchased on the western side of Ratisbon, and a building erected which the chronicle describes in glowing terms. “Now, be it known, that neither before nor since were there a monastery equal to this in the beauty of its towers, columns and vaultings, erected and completed in so short a time, because the plenteousness of riches and of money bestowed by the king and princes of Ireland was without bound.”

    A Christian, Abbot of the Irish monastery of St. James at Ratisbon, who was descended from the McCarthys in Ireland, finding that the treasures sent by the king of Ireland to Ratisbon were exhausted, and being unable to obtain help elsewhere, at the request of his brethren undertook a journey to his native country, Ireland, to seek the aid of Donnchadh O’Brien, as Conchobar O’Brien, the founder of the consecrated St. Peter’s was now dead. He was very successful in his mission, and having received great treasures, was preparing to return when he sickened and died, and was buried before St Patrick’s altar at the Cathedral of Cashel.

    What became of those “great treasures ” so liberally bestowed? Did they go to beautify the most beautiful of all our Irish ecclesiastical remains — the buildings on the Rock of Cashel, and that altar of St Patrick’s at the feet of which sleeps the zealous Irish abbot Christian, who had collected them? By no means. They were spent in rebuilding, enlarging, and ornamenting the Church of St. James at Ratisbon, and purchasing land for the support of the Irish monks attached thereto.

    Christian was succeeded as Abbot of St. James by Gregory, who had governed the monastery during his absence in Ireland. Gregory was also an Irishman. The Ratisbon Chronicle says of him: “A man of great virtue, Irish by birth, named Gregory, of the Order of the Regular Canons of St. Augustine, was admitted by Christian into the Order of St. Benedict; upon the death of Christian he became Abbot of St. James’s, and was consecrated by Pope Adrian at Rome.” The new Abbot soon after travelled to Ireland, where he received the money which had been collected by Christian, with considerable sums in addition, wherewith he purchased lands, sumptuously rebuilt the church and added cloisters to it. He died in October, 1204.

    Wattenbach informs us that conflagrations repeatedly consumed all that was destructible by fire; but Gregory’s square tower, and the almost too richly decorated portal of the church, stood out firmly against every assault. The monastery suffered thus especially in 1278, and again in 1453; but it was rebuilt after each fire.

    In the year 1515 it passed out of Irish hands into the possession of Scottish monks. The transfer made by Pope Leo IV. in the year just named was confirmed in 1653 by Innocent X. When the convent was suppressed at the beginning of this century, compensation (as we have already mentioned) was made to the Scotch bishops; and amongst other uses a new facade was built to the Scotch College at Rome out of the money given for the loss of an establishment built by Irish monks, decorated by Irish skill and zeal, out of resources obtained from Ireland and contributed chiefly by the O’Briens and MacCarthys and their generous Irish clansmen.

    Irish Monthly, Vol. 4 (1876), 266-270

  • Saint Brigid of Fiesole, February 1

    M. Stokes, Six Months in the Apennines (1892)

    February 1 is chiefly remembered in Ireland as the feast day of our national patroness Saint Brigid of Kildare. Curiously, it is also the date of commemoration of a ninth-century namesake, Brigid of Fiesole. This holy lady was said to be sister to the Irish saint Andrew who had travelled to Italy with another Irishman, Donatus, later Bishop of Fiesole. There are reasons to believe that rather than being a separate individual, Brigid of Fiesole represents the transference of the cult of the Irish patroness to an Italian setting. This was certainly the view of the author of the classic work Irish Saints in Italy, Fra Anselmo Tommasini. Canon O’Hanlon himself had raised doubts about the coincidence of both of these saints Brigid sharing the same feast in an entry he made on another reputed feast of the Italian Brigid which can be read here. There is also the fact that Saint Donatus was known for his devotion to the Irish patroness and built a church dedicated to her in Piacenza and also authored a Life of Saint Brigid. In the Italian hagiography, however, Brigid is said to be the sister of the deacon Andrew and is miraculously transported from Ireland to Italy to be with him in his final hours. She then stays on in Italy, living a hermit’s life in a cave. It’s a very beautiful story and Canon O’Hanlon narrates it below in this account from Volume II of his Lives of the Irish Saints:

    Saint Brigid, Virgin, Patroness of the Church of Opacum, at Fiesole, Italy.
    [Ninth Century.]

    In a minor degree to the celebrated Abbess of Kildare, yet with great relative honour, another very distinguished St. Brigid, an Irish virgin, who belonged in course of time to Fesule, in Hetruria, is commemorated on this day. Her Acts are given in the Bollandist collection. There is a historic commentary, comprised in three sections, and in thirteen paragraphs. The Italic Life of this holy religious is given, likewise, in seven paragraphs. Our own Colgan has introduced notices of her, extracted from various sources, at the present date. Her life, however, is best drawn from that of her brother, St. Andrew, and which Filippo Villani compiled. We do not learn from it, notwithstanding, in what part of the Island of Hibernia, also called Scotia, either had been born. Nor has their pedigree been transmitted, by our native genealogists, to the foreign biographer. We are only told, their parents were people of great wealth and distinction.

    Towards the beginning of the ninth century, in the reign of Aedh Oirdnidhe, King of Ireland, there lived in that country a noble virgin, called Brigid. This, too, was probably the period of her birth. The splendour of her virtues far outshone that of her illustrious descent. This maiden had a brother, named Andrew, for whom she entertained a most sisterly affection, and ties of blood were more than strengthened by that sympathy, which binds pious souls. She was younger than her brother, and she regarded him as a wise guide and counsellor. Both had early felt a desire to embrace a life of celibacy. Andrew placed himself, as a disciple, under the teaching and protection of a holy bishop, St. Donat, or Donatus, whom he accompanied on a pilgrimage to Rome. Having received the Pope’s blessing, both settled at Fiesole, where Andrew became a deacon. Here he remained for several years. Fiesole was an ancient city, and situated on a mountain, about three miles from Florence. It was once famous for its power and extent; but, now it has nothing of a city, saving the name. Some remains of its Cyclopean walls, and ancient Christian memoirs, attest its remote antiquity, and the ardour with which its people early embraced the Christian religion.

    The mountain slopes there were thickly covered with churches, monasteries, palaces and villas, while a luxuriant country around it has all the aspect of a vast garden. The Fiesole hills are the delight of Florentines, who resort thither to breathe their balmy air. The origin of Fiesole is lost in the darkness of ages. We can say with certainty, that it was among the first of towns, built in Italy, and probably it was one of the twelve Etruscan cities. By order of St. Donatus, who was elected bishop of this city, St. Andrew re-established the Church of St. Martin, near the River Mensola. There he founded a monastery at the base of the Fiesole hills. There, too, he spent the rest of a life, singularly illustrated by piety and renowned for miracles. St. Andrew had made a perfect sacrifice, by abandoning home and the society of his relations and friends. But, a greater privation than all other losses was parting companionship with his beloved sister. She devoted herself wholly to pious exercises in Ireland, living either with her parents, or, more likely, as a member of one among the many religious institutes there existing. Nor does she appear even to have known where or how her brother lived. He survived St. Donatus, however, and after a lapse of some time, age and infirmity growing upon himself, it was deemed well to bestow his earnest admonition on the monks, who stood around his bed in tears. Then, the thought of his dear sister Brigid came into his mind, and he most vehemently wished to see her, ere he should die. The Omnipotent was graciously pleased to regard this feeling, which the dying saint had concealed from the bystanders. The pious Brigid, at the time, had been seated at her frugal meal, consisting of some small fishes and a salad. She lived at a retired place in Ireland. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to her, and miraculously was she brought before St. Andrew and his brethren. All, who were engaged rendering kind offices to their dying superior, were struck with astonishment and admiration, at the unlooked-for arrival of St. Brigid. A greater number soon appeared to witness her presence. Meantime, the virgin herself trembled with fear and reverence; for, instead of a reality, she thought the sick man lying on the bed, with those men standing around in a strange costume, as also the place and objects near her, represented only a vision. St. Andrew had a clear intuition of the whole matter, and in a tender tone of voice, he thus spoke: “My dearly beloved sister Brigid, finding my end approaching, I conceived a most earnest desire to behold you before my death, and the immense fountain of charity and of mercy from on high hath yielded to my prayers, as you see, and hath indulged the wishes of a sinner. Therefore, fear not, for so it hath pleased God, that you should behold your own brother Andrew, during his last agony, and hoping through your present merits, that the Creator of all things will be propitious, although you had long since thought me removed from this earth. For, in this place, far apart from our natal soil, I, a feeble athlete and soldier, have spent my days, while you, in like manner, shall end your life, supplying the complement of my warfare, by great austerity and penance. Now, set aside all dread, leaning on Divine mercy, and set your mind at rest, being assured, that you see and feel only what is real; while for me, I entreat you to become, with the fear of God, and with fervour of soul, an intercessor before our Lord, as the hour of my dissolution now arrives.” As if awaking from torpor and coming to herself, with great sensibility and devotion, Brigid wept then, tenderly clasping the hand of her brother, she kissed it, and deep sighs almost choked her power of utterance. Sorrow afflicted her for more than an hour, when on bended knees, she thus exclaimed: “O Almighty God, the sole worker of wonders, whom the powers of Heaven serve, whom the elements obey, and to whom every creature is subject, to thee be praise and benediction, honour and glory, who hath deigned this supernatural favour to thy handmaid, that she should behold her holy brother here present.” Then addressing St. Andrew, she said: “Oh, most pious brother, the first faithful director and guardian of my youth, I rejoice with thee, and I am glad and shall be glad, during the short time it may be granted me to behold thee; although, I suffer pain with you, and all the more keenly, because I clearly foresee, when you depart, I shall be alone in this miserable life, and that I shall survive, afflicted, desolate and deprived of your holy conversation. Nevertheless, the deeply impressed traces of thy praiseworthy deeds and pious works, as also the memorials you shall have left, must increase my rejoicing before God, and again bring a festive day. Doubtless, intuitively knowing such matters, you shall happily sleep in Christ. Of this I feel assured, and especially in your case. So long as the usury of life be left to me, I shall not fail in this place, whither angels have brought me, to follow in thy footsteps with penitential exercises, so far as the infirmity of my feeble body will permit, and so far as Divine grace may assist me. Oh, my dearest brother, aid me by thy holy prayers, while you supply to a woman’s weakness, that manly strength, which has supported you. But now, have courage, and be comforted, in Christ and in His holy cross; for, as hitherto you were accustomed to contend with great vigour of mind and indomitable fortitude, give still further proofs of resolution, during this your last agony.” With such consoling words, she cheered the parting soul of her dear brother, and she soon saw his remains reverently consigned to the earth. Then Brigid sought a dense wood, near Fiesole, where she resolved to live a solitary life, and to spend it, in a rigorous course of penance.

    This desert place, called Opacum or Opacus, was at the foot of certain high and steep mountains, where wild beasts alone had their lairs. Here, she subsisted on fruits and roots, which grew about, and thus almost removed from human associations and conversation, engaged in constant vigils, fasts and austerities, old age grew upon her. Yet, would rustics, when hunting, frequently come to her hermitage, which seems to have been a sort of cave. Sometimes, they offered the holy woman products of their chase, which she often refused to accept, as being too great a luxury for her manner of life. As her years wore on, many holy matrons and men visited St. Brigid, while they alleviated her infirmities. This charitable help the Almighty inspired. At length, spent with old age, after miracles and merits had crowned her life, this holy virgin was called to her heavenly nuptials, on the 1st day of February, about the year of Christ, 870. She died —it is incorrectly stated—towards the close of Charlemagne’s reign. Then, after her death, all the country inhabitants, venerating her as a saint, interred her remains; and, on an elevated spot among the mountains, where she had lived, they built a church, which was dedicated to her memory. This was called, Piave St. Martin in Baco, and afterwards her natal day was celebrated there with great solemnity. The desert, which in her time, had been rugged, wild and uncultivated, subsequently assumed an almost miraculous change; for, settlers on the spot soon rendered it attractive and populous. Several writers have celebrated the praises of this holy virgin, while pious pilgrimages were made to her shrine, for ages long past after her death.