Pictorial Lives of the Saints (1878)

November 14 is the commemoration of a twelfth-century saint, Laurence (Lorcán) O’Toole, whose life and career I have only recently begun to research. It seems that there is much to unpack as he has a European dimension and also played a part in both ecclesiastical and secular politics. Unlike the vast majority of the Irish saints who feature in this blog, Saint Laurence was one of the very few to have gone through the official canonisation process, having been canonised by Pope Honorius III on December 11, 1225.  The year 1880 marked the seventh hundred anniversary of the death of Saint Laurence in Eu in Normandy and below is an address delivered to mark the occasion by the then Bishop of Ossory, the future Cardinal Patrick Francis Moran. In his homily the Bishop presents a stirring account of Saint Laurence as a heroic and patriotic figure, standing up to arrogant Normans, treacherous Irish leaders and English kings alike in defence of the rights of the Church. He is shown as someone who can give the English saint, Thomas of Canterbury (Thomas Becket), whose contemporary Laurence was, a run for his money. Interestingly, Pádraig O’Riain’s entry for Saint Laurence in his Dictionary of Irish Saints points to the silence of the Irish sources on his career. The Annals of Ulster mistakenly attribute martyrdom to Lorcán whilst the Annals of Clonmacnoise report his death as having taken place in England. No other Irish Annals record his death and the sole annalistic mention of Saint Laurence during his lifetime comes again from the Annals of Clonmacnoise which notes his presence at the Synod of Clonfert. The only major Irish calendar to record the feast of Saint Laurence is the seventeenth-century Martyrology of Donegal which notes:

14. C. DECIMO OCTAVO KAL. DECEMBRIS. 14. 

LABHRAS, Archbishop of Ath-cliath. Lorcan O Tuathail was his first name. He was of the race of Cathaoir Mór.

SEVENTH CENTENARY OF ST. LAURENCE
O’TOOLE.

 “St. Laurence O’Toole was born about the year, 1125. His
father was chieftain of the Hy-Murray territory, which embraced
all those fertile and picturesque districts now comprised in the
southern half of the County Kildare. St. Bridget was the patron
of the family, and her protecting mantle, and her blessing, were in
a particular manner extended to the whole of that rich territory.
The infant was sent to St. Bridget’s shrine at Kildare to receive
the waters of Baptism. Many signs and wonders foreshadowed
his future greatness. The holy man who baptized him gave him
the name of Lorcan, that is to say, one valiant and renowned,
foretelling at the same time, that he would one day be magnified
on earth and glorified in heaven. From his early years
St. Laurence was trained in the school of adversity. He was
given as a hostage to Dermod MacMurrough, King of Leinster,
who threw him into a dreary dungeon and subjected him to the
greatest hardships.” 

“From the fortress of Dermod, St. Laurence in his twelfth year
passed to the monastery of Glendalough, and within its hallowed
walls he every day advanced in piety as in years. It would seem
as if nature itself had destined the singularly interesting valley of
Glendalough, to be a tranquil retreat for religious seclusion and
for prayer. The high mountains that arise to the North and West
and South, present impassable barriers against the intrusion of the
world on its solitude. Towards the East alone the valley expands
to welcome the first rays of the rising sun. The still waters of its
lakes mirror the glory of the Creator, and the varied beauty of
nature and the grandeur of the surrounding scenery raise up the
mind to the contemplation of heavenly things. No wonder that as
far back as the sixth century St. Kevin and so many other saints
should have loved to dwell there. No wonder that it should be
known to our early Fathers as the valley of God, the Rome of the
isles of the west. Glendalough has long lain desolate. To the
sight-seeing visitor of the present day it looks little better than a
dreary and deserted solitude. And yet who is there not dead to
the spiritual life, whose piety will not grow warm as he meditates
amid its ruins. What must it have been when the lamp of Faith
shone brightly before its shrines, when the spirit of God dwelt
there, and the incense of prayer ascended from its altars, and its
cloisters resounded with the joyous anthems of piety, and its hills
echoed to the praises of God. The affections of the youthful
Laurence were at once fixed on that hallowed spot, and full of joy
he chose it for his lasting dwelling place. His father would wish
to have lots cast to see which of his sons he would devote to the
service of God. But Laurence would allow no such hazard to
decide his choice. My resolution is already formed, he said, the
voice of God calls me to serve Him, and it is my only desire to
abide here in His holy love. For twenty years Glendalough was
the constant abode of our Saint. As student and religious, and
priest and abbot, he lived there, advancing from virtue to virtue,
till he attained the sublimest perfection of the Saints.”

 “Thus St. Laurence was a great saint. But he was also a
great and illustrious prelate of the Church, full of zeal for the
cause of God, and for the interests of all who were entrusted to
his care. In season and out of season he laboured to remedy
abuses, to promote peace, to strengthen the bonds of charity, to
heal the wounds of past disorders, to revive piety and renew the
ancient splendour of Ireland’s sanctity. He convened or took part in several Synods, not only in his own diocese, but at Athboy, and
Clane, and Clonfert, and Cashel and Lismore, the better to revive
the vigour of discipline throughout the whole Irish Church.
Of him it may be truly said that he loved the beauty of God’s
house. He added the choir and the chapel of Our Lady to the
Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, and he left nothing undone
to perfect the comeliness of that sacred edifice. The outward
form of that venerable church has been renovated in latter times.
Its inner life has long since departed, its altar and its sacrifice are
gone; but its aisles and its arches, its rood screen and its Lady
Chapel remain to attest the faith and the munificence of him who
seven centuries ago merited to be styled its second founder.

” His care extended also to the churches and other religious
buildings in Glendalough. The ruins of that venerable spot still
excite the admiration. of men of cultivated taste. Its Cathedral
and Round Tower, the Lady Chapel, and Teampull-na-Skellig,
and the Ivy Church, and St. Kevin’s cell, and its other monuments, form a group of sacred ruins unsurpassed in Great Britain.
Many of these monuments, indeed, belong to an earlier period of
Irish art, but the crowning beauty of them all was added by the
munificence of St. Laurence. Under his care religious institutions
were multiplied. He introduced into his cathedral the Aroasian
Canons, whose fame for religious discipline and whose fragrance
of virtue had in a few years spread throughout the whole church.
He built for them the monastery of St. Patrick adjoining the
cathedral, and he wished himself to live with them, to wear their
habit, to be numbered among the brethren, and to be foremost in
all their religious observances.  

 “During a period of famine, which lasted for four years, he
was untiring in his exertions to assist his people Throughout the
whole of that time he took to himself the care of five hundred
sufferers, and every day at least fifty persons received their food at
his hands. The orphans he regarded as his special charge. No
matter how many of them presented themselves, he took to himself
the burden of providing for them all, and when his resources were
exhausted he sent some of the orphans into the country parts,
bearing aloft a crucifix, and soliciting aid for the little children
who were so dear to our Blessed Lord. 

 “At the invitation of Dermod MacMurrough, the worthless
King of Leinster, who for his crimes had been driven from his
sovereignty, a number of Anglo-Norman adventurers, brave but
unscrupulous and reckless men, landed upon our shores, and with their advent began a long series of oppressions, and cruelties, and
miseries, which have no parallel in the history of the Christian
States. The military skill of the invaders, their armour, their
method of warfare, gave them many advantages in the battle-field,
and yet, all this, when confronting Irish bravery, often failed to
secure them the victory. There were other arms, however, which
seldom failed of success. These were craft and treachery and
deceit, for where interest was at stake the Normans allowed no
usages of civilized states, no principles of justice, or integrity, or
honour, to stand in their way.  

“The troops of Dermod and the Anglo-Normans laid siege to
Dublin. St. Laurence was deputed by the citizens to negociate
terms of peace, but whilst the negociations were being carried on,
some of the Anglo-Norman Knights crept into the city unobserved.
The Danish garrison at once sought safety in their ships, and
then ensued a merciless slaughter of the defenceless citizens.
St. Laurence as a good shepherd fearlessly braved every danger
when the safety of his flock was imperilled. He threw himself
into the midst of the carnage, he snatched the bleeding victims
from the hands of their murderers, and himself bandaged their
wounds. To the dying he imparted the consolations of religion.
Even the slain were not forsaken by him. When there were none
to inter them, he did not hesitate to bear them to the cemetery on
his own shoulders, and to dig their graves, that in their repose they
might not be deprived of Christian burial. 

“During the following years we find him making repeated
journeys between the contending parties to secure peace for his
suffering people. But when his efforts at times proved unavailing,
he with true patriotism endeavoured to rouse his countrymen to
arms and to combine their united strength against the merciless
enemy. Some seem to imagine that love of country and true
patriotism cannot go hand in hand with piety and holiness.
Never was there a greater fallacy than this. The noblest aspirations of our nature flow from the same heavenly source from which
Religion comes to us. It is not the mission of Divine Faith to
destroy or to impair those faculties which nature has implanted in
the soul, but rather to elevate and to ennoble and to perfect
them.

“St. Laurence was the model of a true patriot. He impressed
upon the Irish chieftains the dangers that impended over them.
He entreated them to lay aside their petty jealousies, and to
combine together to renew the glory that was shed upon their
country on the plains of Clontarf. He even sought the aid of
friendly chieftains in the neighbouring islands, the better to ensure
success. A national army assembled at his summons, and for a
time it seemed as if his patriotism was to be crowned with victory. The invaders were hemmed in on every side, and could no longer
venture outside the walls of the capital. The confederacy, however, of the Irish chieftains was soon dissolved, and thenceforward
all the efforts of our saint were directed to promote peace, to
diffuse the blessings of charity, and to cement its hallowed bonds.
Throughout the entire length and breadth of the land he was
revered by all, and posterity has ratified the verdict of his
grateful contemporaries when they wished him to be styled Pater
Patriae, the true lover of his country and the father of his
people.” 

 “It was in the same year that St. Thomas and St. Laurence
entered on their high duties as Archbishops of Canterbury and
Dublin. Both alike became illustrious champions of the Church’s
liberties, and both received the honours of the altar, and yet in
many respects how different was their whole career.

” St. Thomas, without any nobility of birth to commend him,
engaged in the pursuits of ambition, and won for himself the highest
honours and the richest emoluments of the kingdom. St. Laurence,
though of princely birth, chose for his portion the lowly service of
God, and faithfully walked in the paths of piety in the silence and
seclusion of the cloister.  

“Till he ascended the See of Canterbury, St. Thomas rivalled
the monarch in the splendour of his state and the luxury of his
table. He appeared at tilts and tournaments, in gorgeous attire,
at the head of the chivalry of England, and he partook of all the
pleasures of the Court. St. Laurence passed his days in penitential
austerities: it was his delight to bestow everything he had upon
the poor, and he made himself all to all that he might win souls to
Christ.    

“Even as successor of St. Augustine, St. Thomas seemed for
a time to waver between the duty which he owed to the Church
and his affection for his royal master. Strengthened, however, by
God’s grace, he at length displayed the very heroism of fortitude,
and won the martyr’s bright aureola as his prize. St. Laurence never deviated for an instant from the paths of holiness. Like the
sun in the heavens he steadily pursued his onward course, and, with
the palm of the confessors of Christ, he merited to unite the reward
of the martyrs. He is styled a Martyr in our Annals, for, though
he did not shed his blood for the faith, yet through his desire of
martyrdom and his sufferings for justice sake, he ensured its eternal
reward.  

“St. Thomas’s martyrdom gave victory at once to the cause
for which he died. It rolled back the tide of aggression in England,
and peace once more smiled upon the Church. This lasted only
for a time however. The Norman assaults were soon renewed,
the liberties of the Church were again trampled on, the Church was
treated as a mere handmaid of the State, and religion became
enslaved. No wonder that the so called Reformation should ensue;
no wonder that centuries of gloom, of error, and schism, and heresy,
should settle down on the once glorious churches of England. It
is only in our own day, through the blessing of the Sovereign Pontiff,
and through the fruitfulness of Irish piety, that a second spring-time has dawned upon her, and that the sunshine of peace and
the blessings of Divine Faith have begun to be restored to that fair
land.” 

 “It was on a twofold mission, a mission of peace and a mission
in defence of the church’s rights, that St. Laurence sailed for the
last time from our shores. Having landed in England, he was
informed that by royal order, the ports of the kingdom were closed
against his return to Ireland, and thenceforward in the cause of
peace and in the cause of the liberties of the Church he was to be
an exile from his native land. Hearing that the king was in
Normandy, he after a time set out for France, but worn out by his
labours and anxieties, fell sick upon the way. Journeying along
the smiling valley of the Bresle which then formed the southern
boundary of Normandy, he came to an elevated spot now marked
by a little chapel which bears his name, and as he saw in the distance the Church of Our Lady of Eu, he cried out ” Haec requies
mea: This is my resting place for ever: here shall I dwell, because
I have chosen it.” Entering the Abbey he was welcomed by the
religious as an Angel from heaven. In his last moments he was
heard to repeat the words : “Oh my people, who now will defend
you, who will pour balm upon your wounds!” and closing his eyes in
peace he could well exclaim, ” I have loved justice, I have laboured
to promote peace, and to defend the freedom of God’s Church,
therefore, I die in exile from the land of my birth.”  

“No immediate triumph of God’s Church in Ireland marked
the death of St. Laurence O’Toole. But it was something more,
perhaps, that through God’s blessing the mantle of his heroism fell upon our whole nation. From his day the union of the Irish
clergy and people has become indissoluble, and true patriotism and
piety, love of country, and love of the Church have been inseparably blended together in the Irish Catholic heart. The contest of
Satan and of the powers of this world against the freedom of
religion did not cease, on the contrary their attacks became every
day more fierce and more frequent ; and yet that liberty of the
Church for which St. Laurence died in exile has never been for a
moment surrendered. What nation ever suffered as Ireland has
suffered to assert her liberty of serving God? The blood of her
sons was poured out in torrents, her sanctuaries that crowned her
hills and sanctified her vallies were reduced to ruin, a price was
set upon the head of her priests: and even while the sword of
persecution was said to be sheathed, was it not merely permitted to
our people to drag out a sorrowing existence amid all the poverty
and humiliation, and misery of slaves! 

” Six centenaries of St. Laurence’s feast have seen the struggle
against our Church’s freedom still prolonged. The first three
centenaries witnessed the Church of Ireland humbled amid all
the miseries of national dissensions and of civic strife. The
fourth centenary found Ireland suffering from the persecution of
Queen Elizabeth, and sending countless children to join the
white-robed army of the martyrs of Christ. The fifth centenary
saw the Archbishop of Armagh mount the scaffold at Tyburn
with the serenity of an angel, and with the heroism of a
true martyr to die for the faith; whilst the successor of St.
Laurence in this See, with the like serenity and the like
heroism, at a few paces from where we are assembled, was
laying down his life for the same holy cause in prison. Another
centenary came on, and the faithful were seen gathered together
in the garrets or in the stables of the back lanes of this city, to
assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. At length, however, the
day of victory and peace has dawned, and as St. Laurence on this
seventh centenary of his festival looks down from his heavenly
throne on the Church which he so loved, what will he behold?
He will see his worthy successor walking in his footsteps, and free
from every fetter, be it of gold or be it of steel, that could lessen
his independence or prevent him from ministering to the flock of
Christ entrusted to his care. He will see his faithful people serving God in accordance with the dictates of their conscience, whilst
their faith and piety, and charity, are commended throughout the
whole Christain world. He will behold the Church for which he
laboured, not in the infirmity and decrepitude of old age, but in
the full vigour and freshness of youth, her brow adorned with the
laurels of victory, and her garments of virtue, bright and fragrant
as the threshold of Paradise.”