OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Irish saints in Europe

  • Saint Rumoldus of Dublin, June 24

     

    Below is a paper published in 1922 on the Life of Saint Rumoldus of Dublin, in which the writer admits that he is a saint not well-known in the land of his birth. 1922 was a rather momentous year for Ireland, and the writer, J.B. Cullen, cannot contain his nationalist enthusiasm from spilling over into the text at various points. Indeed, Cullen presents the lack of martyrs at home as an act of divine providence, for we were a ‘chosen people’ destined to spread light and learning to other nations, and for that some heroic Irish saints, like Rumold of Dublin, had to embrace martyrdom. The sources record June 24 as the date of Saint Rumold’s martyrdom, but due to the clash with the feast of Saint John the Baptist, Pope Alexander IV transferred his feastday to July 1.

    ST. RUMOLDUS OF DUBLIN-BISHOP AND MARTYR
    BY J. B. CULLEN

    IN the accounts handed down to us of the first centuries of the Irish Church, and in the several calendars in which the names of our national saints are preserved, it is very remarkable how few martyrs are commemorated. Writers of ecclesiastical history, alluding to this fact, frequently notice that Ireland was the only spot, in the whole of Christendom, where the Gospel took possession without resistance or bloodshed. The introduction of the faith, which in other countries brought Christians to martyrdom, in Ireland led them into monasteries and sanctuaries of peace. This justifies us in thinking that Divine Providence facilitated in a special manner the conversion of this chosen people, whom He destined to carry the light of faith and learning over land and sea, and to regenerate whole nations, whose children were steeped in the darkness of paganism, superstition, and idolatry. The limited number of our early saints who were privileged to clasp the palm of martyrdom, for the same reason, were, it would seem, forced to seek the prize they coveted in lands far beyond the encircling seas of their native isle. St. Rumoldus was one of these. The name of the Saint takes various forms : Rumoldus (Latin), Romoel (Irish), Rombaut (Flemish), etc.

    St. Rumoldus was born about the close of the seventh century. His father, Datha, was then King of Leinster, his mother being daughter of the King of Cashel. The faith of Christ was well established throughout Ireland at the period of the Saint’s birth, an event which was attributed to the miraculous efficacy of prayer. His parents were advanced in years, and had long abandoned the hope that one of their line should succeed to the throne of Leinster. Both were excellent Christians and, through the influence of their position, rendered, in these remote times, great services to religion. Gaulafer, the saintly Bishop who then occupied the See, which then represented that of Dublin at the present day, was the fastest friend of the worthy King and Queen. In his efforts to promote the moral and religious welfare of his people they were always ready to aid him. The saintly prelate, consequently, often thought within himself how great a change might take place, in religious matters, after the death of King Datha. The laws of tanistry regarding the succession might, he foresaw, possibly transfer to less worthy hands the sceptre of his kingdom. The fervent and constant prayer of the zealous Bishop was that this misfortune if God’s Will might be averted. His petitions were heard, and great was the surprise and joy throughout the province when the birth of a prince was announced. The infant prince received baptism at the hands of the saintly Bishop who like Holy Simeon of old rejoiced that he had lived to see the auspicious day he had so ardently longed and prayed for. When our future saint came to the years of reason, his parents entrusted his spiritual training and education to Bishop Gaulafer. In addition to the training in the ways of religion and virtue, instructions in the science of war and government were not neglected. The boy, on his part, gave early promise of being a wise and capable ruler. But, as we shall see, the ways of men are very often not the designs of Divine Providence.

    When his education was completed, Rumoldus passed the remainder of his early life in his royal home. The comeliness of his person and the excellence of his disposition had more than ever endeared him to his parents, no less than to his tribesmen, who looked forward to the day when he should be their king.

    However, in his inmost heart, Romoel craved not the honours of the world nor the wearing of a royal crown. To the surprise of his countrymen, and despite the tearful remonstrances of his loving parents, the young prince determined to forsake his beloved home and embrace the religious life.

    We are indebted to foreign sources for most of the particulars that weave around our pen in this brief sketch of our Saint’s career. His wonderful sanctity, humility, and austerities are spoken of with lavish admiration by all his biographers. On the death of Gaulafer, Rumoldus, being then a priest, was unanimously chosen as his successor, and so conspicuous were his wisdom and talents that, when his royal father died, the chieftains and people of Leinster determined to accept no other than the Prince-Bishop of Ath-Cliath for their king.

    However, Rumoldus, who at his ordination had renounced his claims to earthly honours, would not hear of the popular demand. The people, on their side, insisted that he should fill jointly the office of king and bishop. It was an hour of great trial to the Saint, during which, it is related, he was frequently sustained and comforted by miraculous visions, and was often favoured by visits from the ministering angels of God.

    Casting his cares on God and fervently invoking the Divine guidance, at length a life’s decision was made. Rumoldus determined to steal away from his native country, whose people, in their boundless admiration for his holiness and virtue, compelled him to chose exile in order to escape the dignity they would fain force upon him. Disposing of such personal possessions as he had, and without making known his intentions to anyone, he left Ireland for ever. Crossing the dividing seas between Ireland and the Continent, he directed his footsteps along the usual route of pilgrims in those days through Flanders and along the banks of the Rhine till, at last, he reached Rome. His visit to the Eternal City was made for the purpose of laying his future projects before the Vicar of Christ. Moreover, we must remember that he was still Bishop of an Irish diocese, and then, as now, he could not renounce his sacred office without the sanction of the Holy See. Stephen III was, at that time, the reigning Pontiff (752-757), by whom Rumoldus was received with paternal affection and veneration. Divesting himself of the insignia conferred upon him at his consecration, he laid them at the feet of the Pope, whom he besought to release from his episcopal charge. Having fully explained the motives that impelled him to come to this resolve, he humbly petitioned the Pope that he might be granted the apostolic commission to retrace his steps to Central Europe, and there preach the Gospel in some of those countries where in his Romeward journey he found the inhabitants practising the darkest forms of paganism. Realizing that the holy man was evidently inspired to do great things for the sake of Christ, the Holy Father yielded to his entreaties, and, furthermore, gave him permission to choose the place of his future mission, wheresoever he felt himself called upon by Almighty God to labour for the salvation of souls.

    Rumoldus, giving thanks to Divine Providence, earnestly besought Heaven that the scenes of his future career might be made known to him. In answer to the Saint’s prayers it was revealed to him that his mission would lie in that part of Belgic Gaul (now the Netherlands) where the rivers Scheldt and Dyle, in their final course, enter the sea (at present the harbour of Flushing). When he had paid his final visits to the shrines of the Apostles, and the tombs of many martyrs, Rumoldus, with the blessing of the Vicar of Christ, set out on his return journey till he reached the Province of Brabant. Here, as he came in sight of the river Scheldt, he recognized, by Divine intuition, the scene of his future mission and ‘ the place of his resurrection.’ Not far from the banks of the river Dyle (a tributary of the Scheldt) he took up his abode, forming a little wicker cell, and beside it a tiny oratory, on the spot now marked by his cathedral tomb. This was the origin of the city of Mechlin (or Malines), whose site was then but a dreary scene. Away from the river sides stretched a waste of desolate moorlands. The district was then scarcely inhabited, and the melancholy silence of the surroundings was broken only by the shrieking of water-fowls or the nightly howlings of wolves and other beasts of prey.

    The province of Brabant was, at this time, governed by an excellent ruler, Count Ado, who came of the race of the famous Pepin of Heristal. Although Ado’s subjects were almost entirely pagans, the Count himself was a Christian. When, after some time, the advent of Rumoldus became known in Brabant, and the news reached the ears of the ruler of the province, the latter’s heart was filled with joy. Losing no time, Ado and his worthy consort hastened to seek the Saint and testify their happiness at his arrival. When Rumoldus unfolded to them the heaven-directed object of his mission, both gave thanks to Almighty God for the blessing vouchsafed their people, and for which they had long ardently prayed. Moreover, the worthy pair promised to do all that lay in their power to aid and promote the work our Saint had at heart. From the day of their meeting till the close of Rumold’s life, Ado became his dearest friend.

    The charity and generosity of the Count and his spouse found favour with Heaven, and, as a proof of this, Almighty God vouchsafed them a great earthly and unexpected joy. Though married for many years their union was not blessed with children ; but shortly after the time of which we write a son was born to them. Beyond the happy parents themselves no one rejoiced more than the grateful Rumoldus, and it was the pious belief of all that the child was the gift of his prayers. The ceremony of holy baptism was performed by our Saint, who conferred on the little boy the name of Libertus. In gratitude for the goodness of God, in their regard, the zeal of Ado and his wife was doubly increased in promoting Christianity throughout Brabant.

    Like most of the tribes of Northern Europe, the people of Brabant were, at this period of history, worshippers of the pagan god Woden. The Danes, as we know ourselves, were ardently devoted to the service of this false deity in Ireland, before they embraced Christianity. It is noteworthy in history that among the followers of this form of superstition many were possessed of evil spirits ; and in his missionary labours Rumoldus, it is related, was often called upon to do battle with them. The miracles that crowd upon the pages of the Saint’s life, if enumerated here, would carry our pen far beyond the limit of this cursory narrative. Many and beautiful are the legends still preserved in the pious traditions of the Netherlands of the wondrous events that marked the foreign mission of our Irish Saint. They form the subject of many an artist whose works adorn the walls of the churches dedicated in his honour, or fill the pictured windows of those noble temples of God. The one, perhaps, oftenest portrayed is the miracle of ‘ Count Ado’s drowned child.’ Thus the legend runs :

    Not far from the abode of St. Rumoldus was the hermitage of Gundemar, a venerable recluse. There was much communion of spirit between the two holy men. Often when, perhaps, wearied with his toils, our Saint would stray across the dreary waste to meet his friend at a spot marked by a spreading oak tree, beneath which both conversed on heavenly things. It was here, one summer’s evening, that the news reached them of a great calamity that had befallen Count Ado. Libertus, the joy and hope of his parents’ hearts, was accidentally drowned, and his body borne away by the fatal waters of the Scheldt !

    Rumoldus was grief-stricken when he heard the sad tale. He dearly loved Libertus ; and as few more than he rejoiced at the child’s birth, none, save his bereaved parents, sorrowed more at his untimely end. Hurrying to the scene of the accident, where crowds of mourners had gathered and were seeking for the body, Rumoldus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed that the sullen waters might yield up the beloved dead. Suddenly, to the joy of all present, the child arose and stood before the multitude, says the old chronicler, ‘ alive and unharmed’! This miracle received an everlasting remembrance in Belgium, and in the ancient liturgy of the Church it finds commemoration in the Votive Mass of St. Rumold.

    The report of the miraculous occurrence was soon spread far and wide the calling of the dead to life, as in Galilee of old, through the power of the living God, in answer to the prayer of His servant, and was followed by the wholesale conversion of the peoples among whom Rumoldus laboured. Unspeakable was the gratitude of Ado and his countess. Gifts of gold and silver, as well as grants of land, were placed at the disposal of the Saint, whom they regarded as their intercessor before the throne of God for the restoration of their child from death to life. The Saint, however, declined to accept those earthly gifts as personal favours, but suggested that all might be devoted to the erection of a church and the founding and endowment of a monastery. Needless to say, the holy desire of Rumoldus was unhesitatingly granted. Being always full of veneration for the martyrs of the early Christian Church, our Saint dedicated his new foundation in honour of St. Stephen. Soon numbers of aspirants entered the monastery, and in later years it is not surprising to find on the roll of Rumold’s community, the name of the child of prayer Brother Libertus.

    Rumoldus, who was instrumental to such an extraordinary degree in fulfilling the designs of God, was, alas ! destined to close his marvellous career with the seal of martyrdom. His powerful remonstrances and denunciations of immorality aroused a fierce animosity against him on the part of one of the nobles of the province. Blinded with the desire of revenge, he plotted the death of the holy man. Hiring some accomplices, wicked as himself, they watched their opportunity to waylay the saintly abbot, and, one evening, finding him in a lonely place, as he was returning to his monastery, they seized him, and carrying him into the depths of a neighbouring forest, murdered him! In order to conceal their crime the miscreants then brought the body to the riverside and sunk it with heavy weights at a spot overhung by spreading trees. However, when the darkness of night set in, a mysterious flame of light was seen to hover above the spot, which attracted the notice of some fishermen. Night after night the light appeared at the same part of the river. The report of the occurrence soon spread.

    In the meantime, the unacccountable disappearance of the abbot from his monastery gave rise to various misgivings as to what might have happened him. One night Count Ado, accompanied probably by some of the monks, having elicited the willing services of a few fishermen, rowed out to the spot over which the light appeared, for the purpose of dredging the river’s bed. The sad conjectures they entertained proved, alas ! too true. In the very place, the body of the Saint was drawn up to the surface of the water ! The precious remains, followed by his sorrowing monks and his beloved friend Ado, were at once borne to the church of St. Stephen, where they were eventually laid to rest. In the sacred calendars of the Church his death is registered under date June 24, 775. It is remarkable that the death of St. Rumoldus, who always had so much devotion to the early Christian martyrs, fell on the feast of the ‘beheading of St. John the Baptist’. Since the martyrdom of St. Rumoldus the people of the Netherlands have been faithful to his memory. In century after century his jubilees have been celebrated with becoming splendour and devotion, and were observed as national festivals. In his native Ireland his existence is almost forgotten.

    The cathedral of Mechlin is the noblest, and probably the costliest, monument ever erected to the memory of an Irishman. The present structure, on the original site of St. Rumold’s monastery, was begun in the thirteenth century, but was, to a great extent, rebuilt in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, and it has been the archiepiscopal metropolitan church since 1560. Above the great altar of the cathedral the relics of the Saint rest in a costly shrine. Despite the outbreaks of revolution which have so frequently desolated Belgium, the remains of the Patron of Mechlin were never desecrated. Whenever the hour of danger was at hand, faithful sentinels were always ready to secure and conceal those treasures of a nation’s faith. The various shrines in which the relics were preserved were objects of strange vicissitudes from time to time. In the year 1528 the Reformers, under the Prince of Orange, despoiled the reliquary of its costly jewels. Again, in 1793, another casket, more beautiful than the first, was carried oft to Brussels, by the French, and there melted down. The present casket, an exquisite work of art, was wrought by a celebrated goldsmith of Mechlin, and rests, as we have already said, over the high altar of the church. In the south aisle of the cathedral a series of twenty-five panel paintings adorn the walls. These were executed by famous Flemish artists (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries), and having been removed to Paris by the French, were restored in 1813.

    The chimes of the cathedral tower rival those of Bruges, as the finest and most perfect in Belgium. It may be noted that St. Rumold’s cathedral, among the many works of religious art that adorn it, contains, in the south transept,’ The Crucifixion,’ by Van Dyck, which is admitted to be the great artist’s masterpiece. It is a marvellous composition every detail of the picture bears the closest inspection.

    In an earlier part of this essay we remarked that St. Rumoldus is seldom thought of in Ireland, and perhaps we might add that only a limited amount of veneration is accorded him in the land of his birth. But, in touching upon this subject, it is pleasing to note that in one church of the metropolitan city of Ath-Cliath (the ancient territory over which he once ruled as Prince-Bishop), the church of Rathgar, a fine life-size statue of this royal saint and martyr may be seen in one of the niches of the triforium of the sanctuary. It stands at the extreme right, facing the figure of St. Laurence O’Toole. The three intervening recesses are fitly occupied by the figures of the ‘Three Patrons of Ireland,’ to whom the parish is dedicated. This shows that our Irish Saint had not escaped the thought of the learned and venerable Dean Maher, P.P., through whose zeal the fine classic church of Rathgar as well as that of Rathmines were erected just a century ago (1822).

    It is regrettable that the names of the saints of Ireland are not remembered by Irish parents when giving names to their children at baptism. Perhaps, this suggestion might be more effectively carried out if children were given names chosen from the Irish calendar of saints on the festal day of Confirmation. This custom, if more generally adopted, would give the youth of Ireland a deeper interest in the lives and virtues of the saints of the land that bore them.

    In the advent of the brighter times that are dawning over the destinies of Ireland, the history of the country will need to be re-cast or re-written. Hitherto, for centuries past, it was the policy of alien rulers to stifle the national aspirations of our nation, to suppress the use of its native language, and blot away the memories of the glorious achievements of saints and sages, heroes and scholars, who once won for Ireland the right of being styled ‘ the light of Western Europe.’ That day is happily gone. The story of Ireland, her glories and sorrows, and the speaking of her native tongue will be no longer

    . . . bann’d and barred forbidden fare.

    Let us hope that in the near future a full and impartial history of Ireland will be compiled by competent scholars and willing pens. Manuscript materials for such a task are available in abundance. In days of political troubles and of religious persecution these national treasures were scattered through the libraries of the Continent Rome, Milan, Vienna, Salamanca, Switzerland, Brussels, Louvain, and other university centres. Not a few may be found nearer home, at Oxford, the British Museum, London, and in Trinity College, the R.I. Academy, and the Franciscan Library, Dublin.

    Over many of these vellum pages, in far-off times, our ancient scribes spent long years of incessant labour and literary toil. May we hope they may be yet, and soon, unfolded and their contents brought to light. Speramus.

    JOHN B. CULLEN.

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

  • Saint Deodatus of Nevers, June 19

     

     

     

     

     

    June 19th is the commemoration of a 6th/7th century bishop of Nevers, Deodatus (Saint Dié). The evidence that this saint was an Irishman is at best sketchy, but as a disciple of the Irish missionaries Argobast (Arbogast) and Floratius (Florentius), I am pleased to reproduce Canon O’Hanlon’s account of his life. I found the latter two saints most interesting, they seem to have brought a devotion to Saint Brigid of Kildare with them to continental Europe as the church of Saint Thomas, associated with the pair, had an altar dedicated to Ireland’s patroness. Whether or not he was a countryman, Deodatus of Nevers was one of their fellow-strugglers in the ascetical life before he too was called to the episcopate.

    St. Deodatus, Adeodatus, or Theodatus, Bishop of Nevers, France. [Sixth and Seventh Centuries]

    We know not, on what sufficient authority this holy prelate has been classed among the Irish Saints, except it arose from his having been a disciple and companion of St. Argobast and of St. Floratius. At this date, Colgan had intended to publish a Life of St. Deodatus, as we find from the posthumous list of his writings. This is probably the saint, elsewhere called Adeodatus, or Theodatus, bishop of Nevers, and thought to have been an Irishman by birth. This, too, is stated, by Father Stephen White. A Life of the present holy man was composed by a monk of St. Dié, in the ninth or tenth century. This was afterwards amplified by an Abbot of Mayenne, in the eleventh century. This Life was approved of by Pope Leo IX., in the year 1049. Surins has published his Acts, at the 19th of June. These are said to have become vitiated in some passages, through the carelessness of copyists. The Bollandists have published the old Life of St. Deodatus, at the same date; and this is supposed to have been written from collections, made by the holy man’s own disciples, by a learned and pious man, who had been inspired to compose the memoir of such a distinguished patron. Different copies of this biography have come down to our times. Before his death, Father Godefrid Henschenn had prepared this Life for publication, and Father Daniel Papebroke afterwards edited it for the press. A previous commentary accompanies it, and several notes are appended. This Life had been previously edited at Nancy, in the year 1619, and it was afterwards translated into French, by Jean Ruyr or Ruer, in 1624, and printed at Trecis. The Petits Bollandistes have a Life of this holy man, whom they designate as St. Dié, Didier, Deodat, Adeodat, or Dieudonne, Bishop of Nevers. There are notices of St. Deodatus by Rev. Alban Butler, and by Rev. S. Baring-Gould.

    The old Life of St. Deodatus informs us, that he belonged to an illustrious family of Western France. In French, the name has been rendered into Didier, Did or Dieudonne. He was born about the year 590.From early youth, he was distinguished for his virtues. While he made progress in learning, the fear of God was continually before his mind. About his youth and manhood little is found recorded, but that he was dear to the Almighty, and loved by all who knew him. After the death of Eucherius, he was elected bishop of Nevers, about the year 655. He fulfilled all the duties of this pastoral charge, but with great fear and trembling, knowing the responsibility he had assumed. He assisted at the Council of Sens, a.d. 657, under the presidency of Archbishop Emmon, and there he met St. Ouen, Bishop of Rouen, St. Faro, Bishop of Meaux, St. Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, St. Amandus, Bishop of Maestricht, St. Palladius, Bishop of Auxerre, and St. Leucon, Bishop of Troyes. This holy bishop occupied the See of Nevers for three years, when he resolved on a life of solitude. He recommended a successor to his clergy, lest the ship of Christ’s Church should be left without a skilful pilot. However, in retiring from the more busy scenes of episcopal life, St. Deodatus found companions in St. Argobast and St. Florentius, who were the first bishops of Strasburgh. The first of these holy companions had his dwelling in the sacred grove, which in the German language is called Heilgestorst, and there he passed an eremitical life, until he was called upon to preside as bishop. In another desert, and near a rivulet known as Hasale, in Alsace, the second holy man had built an oratory, and from this he was removed to succeed St. Argobast, when the See of Strasburgh became vacant. Taking with him three companions, Villigod, Domnole and another Dieudonne, St. Deodatus left Nevers, to seek a place among the Vosges Mountains, and he went to Romont, and afterwards to Argentelle. There he thought to have rested and to have built a monastery. He had even begun to raise its walls, when the people of that district, conceiving a jealousy towards the saint, excited distrust and persecutions. Foremost among his enemies appears to have been the lord of the soil, who would not suffer him to reside on the banks of the Arrentelle. Whereupon, the holy man left that place, and then directed his course through a broken and desert country, until he reached Alsace. At length, he reached the forest of Haguenau, among the Vosges Mountains. There, he lived an eremitical life, with St. Argobast, until the latter was elected bishop of Strasburgh. Even here, Deodatus did not escape contradictions and illwill, manifested by the foresters; so that, for the sake of peace, he was obliged to look elsewhere for a settlement. Afterwards, Deodatus moved to the Island of Novientum, afterwards known as Ebersheim. It is situated on the Ill, about two leagues below Schelestadt, and seven leagues from Strasburgh. In 661, St. Deodatus associated with some solitaries there, and he was elected their superior. His virtues attracted many pious persons to live under his rule. The lord of that territory, Val de Galilee, was Hun, who bestowed it on the saint. It was near the Vosges Mountains. Such was the origin of the monastery of Ebersmunster, in the diocese of Strasburgh. The King of Austrasia, Childeric II., aided him to found the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul, in that place. This he is said to have placed under the rule of St. Columban, which was subsequently changed to that of St. Benedict. There he left some relics of St. Maurice, chief of the Theban Legion, while the consecration of our holy bishop took place in presence of a great concourse of persons. However, Deodatus found, that the resort of persons to his new habitation did not admit of sufficient leisure to indulge in his favourite exercise of contemplation, and he resolved once more to select some other place for a life of solitude. He retired from the companionship of his monks, and finding a lonely spot in the diocese of Basle, he built a hermitage at Ongiville. Finding, however, that these solitudes were infested by marauders and disturbed by petty warfare, he resolved to leave that part of the country, and return to the Vosges Mountains. He traversed the valley of Kaisersburgh, and for some time, he dwelt in a place, which afterwards took its denomination from him, and it was called Diedolshofen or Diedolshausen, affixing the epithet of “good man” to his name. At length, he settled in a quiet valley, where he built in 669 the Abbey of Jointures. It was so called, because it was at the junction of the Rothbach and Meurthe Rivers. From him, that place was afterwards known as Val S. Didier. King Childeric II. Bestowed on our saint a large property near this valley. Here a most fervent family of religious collected around him; and, as his example, morals, and dispositions were so perfect, they deemed it a great happiness to live under his rule. The vigils of Deodatus were frequent, his prayers were continuous, while religious exercises and singing the Divine praises occupied much of his time. So great was his reputation for the mastery of a spiritual life, that his disciples daily increased; and after a little time, they had attained to such perfection, that they separated into different places through the adjoining forests, where they led contemplative lives. In certain situations through the valley of Galilee, Deodatus constructed cells, in which they dwelt; he found the people willing to assist their labours in building and in agriculture. Then, villages sprung up, which subsequently were converted into parishes. Around the Abbey of Jointures, a town grew in process of time, and from the founder it was called St. Dié. It was afterwards converted into a collegiate church. When St. Hildulph had left his See of Treves and had retired to Moyen-Moutier, a holy friendship with our saint was the result. Whenever St. Deodatus visited St. Hildulph, the latter came out to meet him with all his monks, and then taking him by the hand, he was led into the church, where both prayed together. Afterwards, on entering the monastery, both of them spent the night conversing on heavenly subjects and in singing the Divine praises. The same acts of courtesy and of piety were imitated, whenever St. Hildulph came to Jointures.

    When he grew very old and feeble, St. Deodatus left his Abbey and retired to a little cell, which was near a chapel he had built and had dedicated to St. Martin. Thence he continued to govern his religious with as much care and devotion, as if he had been living among them. At length, having attained nearly the ninetieth year of his age, a mortal illness fell upon St. Deodatus, and his friend St. Hildulph had a heavenly admonition, that the end was drawing near. He was visited in his cell by St. Hildulph during his last illness. From him, Deodatus received the last Sacraments, and by him were his eyes closed in death. During this illness, he recommended the care of his disciples to St. Hildulph, who charged himself with such a duty, and it gave great consolation to the dying saint. The death of this holy man is said to have taken place on the 19th of June, in 679. In a Manuscript Florarius, the date for his Deposition is set down at the 2nd of January. Afterwards, his monks carried the sacred remains to the Church of the Holy Mother of God. They shed abundance of tears for the the loss they had experienced. St. Hildulph offered up the sacrifice of propitiation, according to the rites of the holy Catholic Church, when the body of the venerable defunct Deodatus was committed to the earth. During the year after his death, St. Hildulph often visited the monastery of Galilee, to offer Mass for the repose of his deceased friend. The monks there resumed their ordinary exercises and celebrations; and recollecting the former practices of both saints, they wished to continue the custom of bringing to St. Hildulph the tunic of St. Deodatus. When owing to his great age, St. Hildulph could no longer leave Moyen-Moutier, the tunic of St. Deodatus was brought to him in like manner. Such was his veneration for that relic, the holy Archbishop went down on his knees to kiss it, and he applied it devoutly to his weak limbs. After his death, the religious of St. Hildulph and of St Dié were accustomed to visit each other alternately in solemn procession, and carrying the tunics of their respective patrons, while their bodies had been consigned to the earth, and even while they had been encased in their proper shrines. Great miracles were wrought afterwards, at the tombs of these holy men. In 787, the monks of St. Dié brought the remains of their holy patron in the same coffin, in which they had been deposed by St. Hildulph, and placed them before the altar of the Holy Cross, in the church dedicated to St. Maurice. Not only through the Vosges Mountains, but throughout France, the veneration for St. Deodatus was extended.

    At the 19th of June, the festival of St. Deodatus is commemorated in an ancient Manuscript Martyrology of the Monastery of Hilariac, in Lotharingia, and in that of Usuard, enlarged by Greven, as also, in the works of Trithemius, of Saussay, of Wion, of Dorgan, of Menard, and of Bucelin. In his Irish Kalendar, Father Henry Fitzsimon, at this date, calls him Theodatus. In his Scottish Kalendar, Camerarius refers the feast of St. Adeodatus, Bishop of Nevers, to the 23rd of March, and to the 19th of June. Thomas Dempster also records the feast of St. Adeodatus, at the latter date.

    The abbey of Dié was secularized in 954, and to it a chapter of Canons was attached. In some engravings, St. Did is represented as holding a church on his hand; in others, he is represented as reaching his hand towards thunder clouds; while again, he is shown as healing a woman possessed. These pictures have reference to incidents related about this holy man. In the year 1003, Beatrix, Duchess of Lorraine, caused another Translation to take place, when the remains of St. Deodatus were put in a more convenient place, in the church of St. Maurice. When Pope St. Leo IX. Visited the Val de Galilee, in 1049, he there consecrated some altars near the tomb of St. Dié, and notably those altars of the Transept, which were built after the translation of his relics. In the year 1540, on the 1st of October, the chapter reverently opened the shrine of St. Die, and then removed three joints from one of his hands, together with a tooth from the jaw-bone. One of those joints, with the tooth, they sent to Lambert, bishop of Caserte, who was then in Rome. The other two joints were deposed in the sacristy, and in 1618, these were place in a reliquary of pure silver. In the year 1635, the Swedish army burned the shrine of St. Dié, with a portion of his relics, while the rest was miraculously saved. By a Bull of Pope Pius VI., and dated July 21st, 1777, St. Dié was erected into the seat of a bishop. During the French Revolution, the relics of Deodatus were profaned. This See was suppressed in 1801, but it was re-established in 1817. Later still, on the 19th of June 1851, Mgr. Louis-Marie Caverot transferred the sacred relics of St. Dié to a precious shrine made in a pure Catholic style of art. This is also a monument of that respectable prelate’s pious liberality, and of his taste, which is manifested in the design.

     

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

  • Saint Beoc of Wexford, June 15

     

    Below is a paper by the nineteenth-century scholar, Margaret Stokes, on an Irish saint, Beoc, who is linked to both Wexford and Brittany. His name, however, does not appear in any of the ancient Irish calendars. Modern scholar, Gwenael le Duc, has written a paper on ‘Irish saints in Brittany: Myth or Reality?’ in which he subjects the idea that Brittany was awash with Irish saints to critical examination. His conclusion is that the numbers have, for all sorts of reasons, been highly exaggerated and that Brittany was not a favoured European destination for the Irish at all. He believes that St Beoc (also known as Veoc and Vouagy) is a conflation of a Breton saint, Bee’heu and Vouga, an Irishman celebrated on June 15. As Stokes’ paper below shows, however, whatever the truth of his origins, the saint had a flourishing cult:

    ST. BEOC OF WEXFORD, AND LAN VEOC IN BRITTANY, JUNE 15. (DIED 585.)

    BY Miss MARGARET STOKES, HON. FELLOW.

    By the beginning of the fifth century there dwelt two brothers in the county of Wexford, Bishop Cairpre, [1] and Beoc, [2] now called Veoc. He is said to have been first a priest, and then a bishop, in Armagh. [3] But, seeking a desert place where he could devote his life to contemplation, he left that country and journeyed southwards till he reached the south-eastern point of Ireland, where he remained for some time studying the word of God with prayer and working miracles in healing. He enclosed a small tract of land upon the sandy shore near Carnsore point, and there he built a little cell and oratory, consecrating a holy well close by, whose waters are still held to be possessed of healing virtues.

    The wide sands near Beoc’s cashel are strewn with huge dark boulders rounded by the Atlantic waves. Standing on one of these, Beoc longed to reach the continent that he knew lay beyond the far horizon, but he could see no boat to bear him thither. Then, as he prayed, the stone on which he stood began to move, and gliding down the shore, floated with him out to sea. In a night and a day it bore him to the shore of Brittany and leaving the saint at a place to the south of the bay of Douarnenez, called Lan Veoc, the stone returned whence it came. One fragment, however, that bearing the impress of the saint’s head, was broken off and left behind in Brittany. Albert le Grand thus continues this legend : At the port of Comouaille, the name of which was Penmarch, many who at that time were walking on the shore, and sailors of ships which were standing at anchor in the harbour, when they saw this huge mass floating to them from afar, thought that some great ship was being driven to land by the force of the waves, the storm having broken over it and having destroyed its mast. But when it entered the harbour, they all stood terrified, because that huge rock, like a ship, was carrying towards them a man seated on its summit. The saint descended to land, and immediately the rock turned back to sea, and all the crowd who were present looking on it directed its course towards Ireland whence it came.

    That miracle being noised abroad among the surrounding villages, called up a great multitude of men desirous of seeing the saint. The Penmarchian citizens, also moved by so great a miracle, offered thanks to God, because he had sent to them so holy a man, and receiving him with great hospitality, they assigned him a house wherein to dwell. There he often preached the word of God and miraculously healed the sick, winning many souls to Jesus Christ.

    Subsequently the saint erected a hermitage half a-mile from the city, into which he betook himself to live quietly to God ; but when the people flocked to him daily in great crowds he resolved to change his abode.

    On a certain day, the saint going forth from his hut met a woman upon his way who, inspired by an evil spirit, sang insulting songs before him. The saint gently reproved her, but when nothing availed, leaving her, he silently went his way ; yet she, unhappy woman, soon felt the divine condemnation of her wickedness, for, seized with great internal pain, she fell dead on the earth. Beholding her punishment, St. Veoc ordered the corpse to be carried into the church, and unmindful of the injuries he received from her, he knelt upon the ground, and with tears besought the Lord that he would permit the soul of that wretched woman to return to her body, lest, dying impenitent, she should at the same time forfeit eternal life. The saint had scarcely finished his prayers when she flung herself at his feet, beseeching forgiveness. This being granted, she went home praising God, who had shown himself wonderful in his servant St. Veoc.

    Immediately the fame of so great a miracle spread abroad through all Cornouaille, and called forth very many from all the places around to his hermitage. But he, fearing lest so great a crowd of men should disturb the quiet of his devotion, determined to carry out the scheme he had long proposed to himself. He therefore went across an arm of the sea from LAN VEOC, and came to Brest, where he was unwilling to stay ; but crossing over through the district of Lesneven, he buried himself in a very dense wood, where, having erected an oratory with a little hut beside it, he was joined by some religious men, with whom he spent his time in holy works until it pleased God to call him away to the reward of his pious labours. He died on the 15th of June, about the year 585. His disciples buried him under the altar of his chapel, in which place God afterwards wrought so many miracles through his intercession that, the wood being cut down, a chapel was built in the same place, and dedicated to his name, which St. Tenenan, Bishop of Leon, subsequently raised to the rank of a parochial church. The revered relics of St. Beoc were honourably preserved here until the arrival of the Northmen in Brittany, at which time this country was desolated, and his remains were transferred elsewhere. However, his missal is religiously preserved in his sacred church, by touching which fever patients think themselves relieved. Many of his relics are also preserved in the chapel called after his name, erected on the shore of the great ocean, one mile from Penmarch, in the parish of Treguenec, in the diocese of Cornouuille, which chapel is constantly visited by persons suffering from fever, who gradually regain their health there.

    Some part also of the rock remained which had brought him over, and it stands to this day in the parish of Treguenec, a mile from Penmarch, in a cemetery of a chapel called from the Saint, and on it is seen, even now, the impress of the saint’s head. Wherefore pilgrims who visit the chapel for the sake of religion, in order that they may be relieved from fevers, are wont to recline their head upon the rock, and to carry away with them water blessed by contact with the sacred relics, which is drunk by those suffering from fever, or is sprinkled on their forehead.

    The vestiges of St. Beoc which still remain in the County of “Wexford are to be found on the seashore, in the parish of Cam. They consist of a ruined church, and cashel, enclosing an ancient cemetery, a holy well, and a huge boulder-stone just above tide-mark, on which a cross is incised.

    [Please refer to the original volume for details and illustrations of this church]

    The holy well of St. Beoc is in the field between the church and shore. Here steps may be seen leading down to a natural spring of clear water about two feet in depth. A semicircular enclosure of strong masonry confines three sides of the well, which is open in front, and shadowed by briars and creepers, a tangle of quick and bryony and wild rose-bush threatening to hide the steps from view by which the pilgrims still descend to the healing waters, said by the poor in the neighbourhood to be an unfailing cure for toothache. The stone of St. Beoc, on which he is said to have sailed from Carnsore point to Brittany, and which returned after depositing its burthen on a foreign shore, is still shown upon the seashore. It is a huge boulder, well rounded by the action of the waves. At the sides are two deep cuttings, apparently meant for iron stanchions, by means of which the stone appears to have once been fixed, so as to stand upright. A rude cross is deeply incised on the front of the stone, which, having fallen on its face, only reveals its back to view. However, by kneeling down and peering under the stone a portion of this cross may be discerned. It is possible that at one time it may have been fixed up on end and marked to commemorate the departure of some remarkable person from the shore.

    “The county of Wexford, being the gate of the Kingdom of Ireland” as Colonel Richards, writing in 1656, has termed it, is probably a rich field for the explorer or pilgrim in search of vestiges of the first missionaries to and from the continent in the early Christian period ; yet it will be difficult to find any of greater interest than the view we have here described. As seen from the summit of the casbel or enclosing wall which surrounds its cemetery, it would form a good subject for a landscape painter. To the north-east lies the bright village of Churchtown, its low headland stretching far into the sea, the sandy reaches of the shore to the south scattered with huge dark boulders of granite, whose grey tones, broken by the rich bronze and umber of the sea weed, form a solemn contrast to the dancing wavelets and blue distant sea. Such is the fresh and charming background to the pathetic little ruin, the Irish home of our Breton saint, now overgrown with ivy and brambles, sea-pink, blue scabious, and other sea-side plants.

    Notes

    [1] Cairpre, patron of Cill Carbrey in Wexford, near the meeting of the rivers Boro and Slaney.

    [2] Beoc. The name of this saint has gone through many changes and corruptions, and is now printed Vaugh on the Ordnance Survey Map. He is sometimes styled Mobioc or Dabioc Vake, Vogues, Vauk, Vouga.

    [3] Father Shearman traces his origin to Tennon Dabeog, at Loch Derg in Ulster “Loca Patriciana,” p. 158.

    [Authorities “Boll. AA. SS.,” June 15, p. 1061, par. 4. ” De S. Vouga seu Veo, episc. in Britannia Annorica . . . ab Alberto le Grand.” Lobineau, “Les Vies des SS. de Bretagne,” ed. M. L’Abbe Tresvaux, Paris, 1836, vol. i. Shearman, ” Loca Patriciana,” p. 157. O’Hanlon, ” Lives of Irish SS.,” vol. vi., p. 668.]

    Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1893, 380-385.

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