OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Author: Michele Ainley

  • Saint Dympna of Gheel, May 15

    May 15 is the feast of the virgin and martyr Dympna, traditionally held to be the daughter of an Irish pagan ruler, who was forced to flee to Belgium to escape her incestuous father. There she was martyred, along with her holy confessor, the priest Gerebern. Although this saint is missing from the earliest Irish calendars and her various Vitae date to the later medieval period, her cult remains very much alive in her reputed homeland. The picture on the left shows a popular holy card widely available in Ireland, which depicts Dympna as a beautiful maiden whose Irish credentials are established by the use of the shamrock and of her green dress. Like Saint Brigid, the cult of Saint Dympna has spread worldwide and she is invoked as a patroness of those suffering from mental illness. Canon O’Hanlon has a lengthy and enthusiastic account of this virgin martyr’s life in Volume 5 of his Lives of the Irish Saints from which the following has been condensed:

    ST. DYMPNA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR, AND PATRONESS
     OF GHEEL, BELGIUM.

    [SIXTH OR SEVENTH CENTURY.]

    The existing Acts of St. Dympna, virgin and martyr, are meagre and unsatisfactory, in reference to many particulars. The life of this glorious saint was written by one Peter, a Canon Regular of St. Autbert’s church, in the city of Cambray. The author informs us, in a short preface, prefixed to his narrative of her Acts, and those miracles, wrought through the intercession of our noble virgin and martyr, that he wrote this account in obedience to a request preferred by a pious layman of Gheel, and also urged by the exemplary bishop of Cambray, who is named Guido. This biographer of our saint appears to have availed himself of an earlier Life, written in the common idiom, and which Peter afterwards rendered into the Latin language. According to the Bollandist editor, the ” Legenda S. Dympnae, Virginis et Martyris,” had been printed about two hundred years before he wrote, or towards the close of the fifteenth century, and another edition of that legend appeared in the year 1496. Various hagiographers published compendious Acts of St. Dympna, which appear to have been compiled from a more considerable amount of matter, extant in Manuscripts. But, the Bollandists resolved on the publication of a more complete life, having procured materials for their task, by acquiring a MS. Bearing on this subject, and which belonged to the church of Gheel. The two first chapters of this Life, already in their possession, had been obtained from a MS. of Red Cross Monastery, in the forest of Soigny, near Brussels. Another abridged life of St. Dympna, taken from MSS. belonging to the church of St. Saviour, in the city of Utrecht, Holland, enabled the Bollandist editor of our saint’s Acts to publish those interesting memorials of her virtues and glorious martyrdom, in that great encyclopaedia of hagiological biography — the “Acta Sanctorum.”
    This holy virgin, a most stainless vessel of election, is said to have been daughter to one of those petty kings, who ruled in Ireland, and that he was also an idolater. The wife of this prince was descended from a noble family and her husband became devotedly attached to his companion. It had been remarked by all, that the young and graceful Dympna bore a striking resemblance to her mother.
    At a very early age, St, Dympna was left without the protecting care of a mother, and she is said to have been placed under the tutelage of certain Christian women, who were her nurses and guardians. After being prepared in a proper manner for the reception of the Sacrament of Baptism, it was conferred on the noble maiden, by an old and a venerable priest, named Gerebern. After a lapse of some time, the king resolved on alleviating his sorrows by sending messengers to find some noble lady, exactly resembling his deceased wife. Many countries were visited, but in vain; so on entering their sovereign’s court, they remarked, how exceedingly like her mother Dympna appeared. Nor could her father, they declared, more perfectly revive the recollection of his past happiness and affection, than by persuading his charming daughter, to give her consent to nuptials, such as they suggested. Dympna declared her loathing and horror of this base and abominable proposition. She had long felt a growing inclination, as her years progressed, to consecrate her virginity to God. He told Dympna she must yield to his wishes, whether he succeeded in obtaining her consent, or forced her to compliance. She asked her father for a respite of forty days, to consider his proposals. At this time, the old and venerable priest, Gerebern, lived in Ireland. He advised St. Dympna, to fly from her native country to a more distant one and, as danger was now imminent, he urged her to make no delay. The small band of exiles was composed of St. Dympna, her venerable companion Gerebern, her father’s court jester, and his wife. At length, after a generally favourable passage, they arrived on a coast, near the present city of Antwerp. Through one community or another, they arrived with little delay at a village, which was named Ghele, by the old inhabitants of that place. They at length found an oratory, dedicated to St. Martin [of Tours]and they retired to the desert there.
    While the wicked king allowed all the worst forms of detestable passion to take possession of his heart, word was brought him, that his child had escaped from her father’s house, and that she was already beyond the reach of his power. The news of her flight soon spread through the court. Orders were at once issued to his messengers, that they must return with an account, as to whether she might be found living or dead. But, the king himself felt a desire, to participate personally in that search; word was brought that those messengers despatched in quest of his daughter had returned and it was rumoured amongst his household that their young mistress had been discovered. Little time elapsed until the wicked king reached the dwelling of his virtuous daughter. All the beauty and grace of her deceased mother seemed to reappear in the child’s face and figure, and to return with renewed force to the king’s imagination, when he ventured to address his daughter:
    “O my dearly beloved daughter, Dympna, my delight, my passion, and my desire, what wish or necessity forced you to despise the honours attending on your noble station, or to prefer, as a mendicant, unknown and foreign lands, to the country of your nativity ? What wise or foolish persuasion seduced you to forget filial duty and a royal parent, and to adopt as your father this old and decrepid priest, whose behests you obey in all matters ? Had you remained with me, you should have dwelt in a royal court, and enjoyed a kingdom after my death, instead of a miserable hut, buried in the midst of a thicket and presenting every external appearance of neglect and poverty. Wherefore, prepare to obey my orders immediately, and wisely seek that country, which you so foolishly abandoned. If you willingly assent to your father’s wishes, you shall hold a first rank in his estimation, above all the noble matrons and maidens of his kingdom. Crowned with a royal diadem, I shall direct a fine temple to be constructed of marble, where you shall be venerated as a goddess, and I shall order a superb statue representing you to be erected therein, which will be ornamented with gold and precious stones. If a free person or slave of any sex or condition neglect to worship you, or offer the homage of due veneration, as my decree shall prescribe and direct, just punishment shall inevitably await such a dereliction of duty.”
    While the holy virgin was preparing to reply, the blessed servant of God, Gerebern, anticipated her wishes, with the spirit and virtue of another Elias:
    “O most wicked king, .. I rest satisfied and convinced, that your daughter Dympna’s pure and faithful mind has already despised whatever evil pleasures or promises the world might offer, through her love for God ; nor will she be terrified by threats, nor allured by blandishments or seduction. And, probably, you would be restrained from this base passion, had you dreaded the sword of Phinees, who, led by a zeal for justice, punished wicked sinners against the Divine law, who were both run through with the sword.”
    Those words of sage counsel had hardly been spoken, when the tyrant king gave orders to his willing adherents, that they should behead the venerable Gerebern…They rushed upon the holy and innocent priest, and laying violent hands on him, the head fell from his shoulders with a stroke of the sword. Like John the Baptist, the just man of God was now beheaded. Notwithstanding that cruel death, inflicted on the good priest, Gerebern, such cruelty did not appease the passion of Dympna’s father. He then ordered the holy virgin, to be brought into his presence. Then, kindling into anger, he said : ” Perverse daughter, do not wrong my patience, I beseech you, grant instantly what I demand, or you shall feel the weight of a father’s indignation…” But, the holy virgin fearlessly replied : ” O detestable tyrant, why have you dared to butcher the ordained priest of God, in whom no fault could be found?…exercise whatever tyranny you design against me; for the Lord’s sake, I am prepared to bear with a contented mind whatever punishment you wish to inflict”. Drawing a skein from his side, he furiously struck off the head of this noble daughter, while she continued imploring the divine mercy, on behalf of her immortal soul. It is generally supposed, that St. Dympna received the crown of martyrdom, in the fifteenth year of her age.
    Her feast is celebrated with an Ecclesiastical Office, in the ancient Breviary of the churches of Gheel, and of Antwerp; and, to it is appended her invocation. In the Legend of St. Dympna, already mentioned, the same prayer is found, with another to St. Gerebern. From the foregoing and other sources. Bishop De Burgo compiled an office of Three Nocturns and Nine Lessons for this holy Virgin and Martyr, at the 15th of May. The Legend and Office of St. Dympna are preserved among the Manuscripts of Trinity College, Dublin. There are proper Lessons for the Office of St. Dympna, in that collection of Irish Saints’ Offices, printed at Paris, in 1769. In the supplement to the Mechlin and Irish editions of the Roman Missal is found a Collect, at the 15th of May, in honour of this holy Virgin and Martyr. It can be thus rendered into English, for the Mass of her festival : “O God, the lover of purity, grant to us, entreating Thee, that as we celebrate the festival of blessed Dympna, Thy virgin and martyr, we may obtain Thy assistance, through her merits and prayers.” The Roman Martyrology honours St. Dympna, on the 15th of May, by the notice of her principal feast. At the 15th of May, her feast is entered by the O’Clerys, in the Martyrology of Donegal. There is no notice of St. Dympna in the Martyrologies of Tamlacht, or Marianus Gorman, at the 15th of May.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.

  • Saint Carthage of Lismore, May 14

    The Story of St Carthage (1937)

    May 14 marks the feast of another important monastic saint, Carthage (Carthach)  or Mochuda of Lismore. The various Lives portray Saint Carthage as a master of the ascetic life who, attracting the envy of others, was forced to leave his home of 40 years, the monastery of Raithin, and to undertake a ‘long march’, before founding the monastery at Lismore. A surviving monastic rule is attributed to Saint Carthage, which I hope to make available on the blog in the future. The Irish calendars agree in listing his feast day at May 14 and the entry in the Martyrology of Donegal pays tribute to his reputation for penitence:

    14. A. PRIDIE IDUS MAII 14.

    MOCHUDA, Bishop, of Lis-mor; and he was also abbot of Raithin at first. He was of the race of Ciar, son of Fergus, son of Ross, son of Rudhraighe, and of the progeny of Ir, son of Miledh.Carthach was another name for him. It was he that had the famous congregation consisting of seven hundred and ten persons, when he was abbot at Raithin; an angel used to address every third man of them. Cuimin, of Condeire, in the poem beginning, “Patrick of the fort of Macha loves”, states that no one that ever lived before him had shed half as many tears. Thus he says:

    “Mochuda loves the piety;
    Famous is every story of his stories ;
    Before him no one had shed
    Half what he shed of tears.”

    A.D. 636

    Canon O’Hanlon has a very full account of the life and miracles of Saint Carthage, but I reproduce below a shorter piece written by Irish Jesuit scholar, Father John Ryan, best known for his seminal work Irish Monasticism, first published in 1931 but still used as a reference source today. He contributed an introduction to a 1937 book, issued to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of the saint’s death. Father Ryan is in fine form as he introduces the life of Saint Carthach, but first, let us turn to the synopsis of “The Story of St. Carthage” given in the book to get the basic facts of the saint’s career:

    St. Carthage or Mochuda was born in vicinity of Castlemaine 564; as a boy while herding his father’s flocks he forms a friendship with Maoltuile, Chieftain of Ciarraighe Luchra; at age of twelve he meets Bishop Carthage, the Elder. After some opposition on part of his father, the boy becomes a disciple of the Bishop. He makes religious profession at age of twenty, 584; is ordained priest and founds monastery of Kiltullagh 590-592. Compelled to leave Kiltullagh, he visits Bangor, where he spends a year. Various other visits. At last he founds Rahan 594-595. Spends forty years at Rahan during which he occasionally journeys to Kerry and the South. Expulsion from Rahan, Foundation of Lismore 635 or 636. Death 637.

    Introduction

    by Father John Ryan, S.J.

    St. Carthach’s life belongs so much to the seventh century that he is usually not numbered among the great monastic founders. Legend relates that St. Columcille visited him at Rahan, but the celebrated Saint of Iona was about to enter on the way of eternity when first settled in the midlands, and it is not recorded, nor is it likely, that he left his island home in the closing days of his earthly pilgrimage. Whilst St. Carthach was still young Monasterboice had entered on the the second century of its existence. Before his death Iona had been ruled for fourteen years by its fifth abbot, and no less than six successors of St. Ciaran had sat in the abbatial chair of Clonmacnoise. His appearance is thus at the end rather than at the beginning of Irish monastic origins.

    Yet the life of St. Carthach differs in no substantial feature from the lives of the distinguished founders of the sixth century. The tragedy of his expulsion from Rahan, which has given him a place apart in monastic history, which was not the consequence of any personal eccentricity. He had come from Kerry to Meath, but hundreds of monks before him had left their native heath and had been acclaimed enthusiastically by the people among whom they settled. Thus St. Enda though born in Meath was welcomed in Arran; St. Bairre, a Conachtman, was welcomed in Cork; St. Brendan came from Kerry to Clonfert, St. Cainnech from Ulster and St. Molua from Limerick to Ossory; and so on. That St. Carthach fell a victim to regional jealousy is a phenomenon so strange that it calls for special explanation. Some light is thrown upon it by the politics of the day, on which a word will be said presently.

    To assure proper balance and proportion it is of supreme importance to note that the expulsion from Rahan has a very small place in the record of St. Carthach’s doings and sufferings. Attention should be fixed on the life led by him and his monks and on the good done by their example and teaching during the forty years of their activity in the midlands. This is what Father Carthage’s simple, sincere, and devotional biography so effectively helps to achieve. Those who read this book will find themselves deeply moved by the ascetic earnestness of those early days. St. Carthach’s Rule tended, if anything, on the side of strictness. The Saint refused at first to acquire even an ox or plough, so that tillage had to be done by the spade alone. The land about Rahan, rich and fertile beyond what would be expected in that relatively barren countryside, still bears witness to the enrichment of the soil by many generations of monastic toilers. In old age as in youth St. Carthach remained rigid in his preventative measures against relaxation, to such an extent that some Britons among his monks, distraught by the stern discipline, determined to drown him in the neighbouring Cloddagh! But pleasant memories also survived of the Saint’s kindliness and charity, and there can be no doubt that Rahan and Lismore, like the countless other monasteries of the country, were homes of prayer and work and tender selfless piety, replete with the spirit of gladness that springs from the love of Christ our Saviour, verdant oases in the dreary waste of human pride and cruelty.

    To return to the expulsion from Rahan. The early seventh century was a period of rapid advance of the Eoghanacht power of Munster and of Uí Néill power in Central Ireland. In the clash between the dynasts of these proud, ambitious septs, St. Carthach came unwittingly to figure. We must recollect that men whose names the passage of time has clothed in a romance of legend were to their contemporaries just ordinary beings of flesh and blood who controlled political destinies. Such a prince in Carthach’s childhood was Diamait, son of Fergus Cerrbeóil, son of Conall, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Diarmait’s chief fortress seems to have been at Kells. His son Aed Sláine, and his son Colman Mór, became ancestors of the ruling families in the eastern and western midlands. Rahan was founded within ancient Mide territory when Aed Sláine was Joint-King of Ireland. After that monarch’s death the policy of Uí Néill expansion was pursued vigorously by five of his sons. At this time too, the Eoghanachts of Munster were adding day by day to their strength in the South. Munster territory, moreover, happened to include a section of Éile which was later transferred to Leinster. Through this small state Munster extended so far north that Rahan might also be regarded as a frontier monastery. Now St. Carthach was a Munsterman and many of his monks were doubtless drawn from the same province. Rahan might thus be looked upon as a Munster foundation just within the Mide border. As such it was obnoxious to the sons of Aed Sláine, who in 636, in a time of extreme political tension, compelled the aged abbot to return to his own people. The episode was so dramatic that the storytellers seized on it avidly as the ground-work for a tale. Thanks to their expert hands the romance of the expulsion makes good reading, but who can tell how much of it is history? Thus, the sinister role, as instigators, assigned to the abbots of Clonard, Durrow and Clonmacnoise, must be considered doubtful; all the more so as the abbot of the last mentioned monastery, Crónán Derg, was himself a Munsterman. What can be said with certainty is that St. Carthach was expelled from Rahan by local overkings, the sons of Aed Sláine, and that the blow was borne bravely by the outraged abbot and his faithful community.

    Man proposes but God disposes. What was meant to be a humiliating retreat, became, in fact, a triumphal march; and what appeared to be a catastrophic end became, in fact, a glorious beginning. St. Carthach’s misfortunes brought him generous sympathy in his own Déise country, and before his death he had seen arise a new foundation that was to outshine Rahan in brilliance. For the jewel that had been snatched away a brighter jewel was providentially substituted. All that Lismore did to promote the honour of God and to perpetuate the memory of St. Carthach is described delightfully in Father Carthage’s pages.

    Father Carthage O.C.S.O., The Story of Saint Carthage, (Browne and Nolan, 1937), ix-xii.

    Canon O’Hanlon depicts the repose of Saint Carthage in his diseart as the crowning of a long and fruitful life:

    After this, finding his strength failing him, on account of his labours and extreme age, the holy bishop began to feel a great disinclination for interruptions caused by people, who flocked to him from every side. Having taken council with the brethren, and obtained their unanimous consent, he went to a certain secret and safe place. Here, there was a renowned monastery, in a valley. It lay eastwards from his own greater monastery, and yet, not far removed from it. Here, too, with a few attendants, he remained during a year and six months, leading an eremitical life, and being wholly occupied, in the contemplation of holy things. After some time spent in this place, he was visited by his monks, and by some of the older and more decrepid brethren. To these, he addressed religious discourses, full of instruction, on dogmas of the Church. His homilies also contained admonitions, suitable for the lives of those, to whom they were directed. The author of his Life represents Carthage, as a solace to the aged; as safety, for the infirm; as a source of consolation, for the sorrowful; as a foundation, for those in despair; as abounding in faith, for those in doubt; and, as a firm guide, for those who were young. St. Carthage saw, that the holy old men and many of his monks had much trouble in ascending and descending the steeps, leading to that valley, where he dwelt, and when coming to visit him. Finding that his end was fast approaching, he called the brothers, and then ordered, that he should be brought to the parent house, so that he might not be an occasion of further trouble to them. But, the merciful and omnipotent God had now intended to remove his illustrious servant, from the scene of his labours. The Heavens were suddenly opened. Then, an army of Angels was sent, and it seemed as if these blessed spirits were moving in triumph to welcome him. On seeing the Heavens open, and the Angels advancing towards him, St. Carthage caused himself to be brought into the middle of the valley. Telling the holy seniors what he beheld, he ordered the Body and Blood of our Lord to be brought, and towards a place, where a fountain was afterwards seen. Here, a cross was also erected, and it was called, in future time, “the cross of migration.” Having then given many pious admonitions, and having received the Body and Blood of our Lord, in the Most Holy Sacrament, being surrounded by his holy seniors, and a multitude of brothers, he bade them all farewell. Then, kissing each one in order, with great piety and affection, he ascended with the Angels from earth to Heaven.

    The holy Abbot departed this life, on the second of the May Ides 7—corresponding with the 14th of this month—the date assigned for his feast. His death is placed, so early as 631, in the Bodleian copy of the Annals of Inisfallen; but, at 636, by Duald Mac Firbiss, as also in the Annals of Ulster, of Innisfallen, and of the Four Masters. The feast of St. Carthach is commemorated, in the “Feilire” of St. Oengus, at the 14th of May. At the 14th of May, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, his name is set down as Carthaigh, /.., Mochutta Lis-moir. On the 14th of May, the Kalendar of Drummond inserts the Natalis of St. Carthach, Bishop and Confessor, in Ireland, with an encomium on his virtues. This day, the Martyrology of Donegal enters the name of Mochuda, Bishop, of Lis-mor ; and, as it notes, he was also abbot of Raithin, at first. Under the head of Lis-mor, Duald Mac Firbis enters, Mochuda, bishop, quievit 636, May 14th.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.

  • Saint Tighernach of Boirche, May 13

     

    May 13 is the feast of an 11th-century saint associated with the County Down Kingdom of the Mournes, or Boirche, as it was originally called. Saint Tighernach was tutor to the famous chronicler monk Marianus Scottus and rejoiced in the title of ‘chief anamchara of Ireland.’ The following account of his life has been distilled from Canon O’Hanlon’s Lives of the Irish Saints, Volume 5:

    This distinguished and holy teacher was universally esteemed and beloved by the clergy of Ireland. The scene of his labours was but a small island, set in the bosom of the Atlantic; but, the seed he had sowed was destined to produce a harvest of souls among his pupils. This pious doctor is supposed to have been master to Marianus Scotus, and he is called the chief anmchara of Ireland. St. Tighernach—or as styled also by his disciple Tigernach Borchech—probably belonged to the eleventh century. Marianus Scotus declares, that from his superior Tigernach, he learned the cause of Amnchad’s or Anmchad’s exile, on the occasion of his having committed a slight fault. That superior of the celebrated chronologist is supposed to be identical with the present holy man. We are told, he was one of the Abbots of Bangor; yet, I cannot find his name on the list of Archdall, of Rev. Dr. Reeves, or of Dr. O’Donovan, when treating about that place. The Annals of the Four Masters relate, that a certain Tighernach Boircheach, chief anmchara of Ireland, was an anchoret and a successor of Finnen, Abbot of Clonard. By the postfix to the name Tighearnach, we are to understand, that he was of Beanna-Boirche Mountains, near the source of the Upper Bann, in the county of Down… Colgan states, that this Tighearnach was abbot over Clonard, where a celebrated monastery had been founded, in the sixth century. He was an anchoret, likewise, and a successor of St. Finnen, in that place.

    We read from the Irish Annals, that in 1059, great diseases prevailed in Laighin, and which caused the death of a great number of persons there. This holy and learned servant of Christ died of the plague, in A.D. 1061. This is the date assigned by Tighernach, the Irish Annalist, for the great pestilence, which raged in Leinster, and which seems to have extended its ravages to other parts of Ireland. At the 13th of May, the Natalis of St. Tighernach, Anchoret and Confessor, in Ireland, is entered in the Kalendar of Drummond. On this day was venerated, as we find set down, in the Martyrologies of Marianus O’Gorman, and of Donegal, St. Tighernach, of Boirche.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.