OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Female Saints

  • A Hymn in Honour of Saint Moninne

    July 6 is the Feast of Saint Moninne of Killeevy, one of three women saints along with Brigid and Bronagh important to the people of the historic kingdom of Oriel in south-east Ulster. She is also one of the handful of Irish female saints with an extant written Life. There are many fascinating aspects to Saint Moninne. One was her reputation for asceticism, the Life of Monenna preserved in the Codex Salamanticensis calling her ‘the daughter of John the Baptist and the prophet Elias’. Whilst asceticism was certainly a feature of the Early Irish Church, it is unusual to see a female saint being described in this way. The other was her ‘manly spirit’ for her female body is no barrier to Moninne’s wholehearted pursuit of the eremetical way of life. There is thus a distinct flavour of the desert spirituality of Saint Anthony the Great to the life of this County Armagh abbess. In addition to the Salamanca Life there is also a Vita Sanctae Monennae compiled by a tenth or eleventh-century Irish monk called Conchubranus. He takes Moninne out of her Irish hermitage and portrays her as a pilgrim to Rome and founder of  churches in England and Scotland. The twelfth-century Abbot Geoffrey of Burton was convinced that Conchubranus was writing about his own abbey’s founder and expanded the Irish monk’s text into The Life and Miracles of Saint Modwenna. There has been a great deal of research into Saint Moninne and fresh translations of her various Lives in recent years. Mario Esposito (1887-1975) first published the text of the Life by Conchubranus in 1910 and included two abcderarian hymns in honour of the saint as an appendix. As a tribute to Saint Moninne on this her feast day I reproduce the opening verse from the first hymn and the closing verse of the second:

    Deum deorum dominum,
    Autorem vite omnium,
    Regem et sponsum uirginum
    Sempiternum infinitum,
    Invocemus perualidum
    Sancte Monenne meritum,
    Ut nos ducat post obitum
    In regni refrigerium.

    Let us invoke God, Lord of gods,
    Creator of the life of all,
    King and spouse of virgins,
    everlasting, infinite,
    and the very strong
    merit of holy Monenna
    that she may guide us after death
    to the refreshing of the kingdom.

    Sancta Monenna,
    lux huius mundi ascendit,
    in candilabro nitidum sponsum
    sicut sol in meridie.
    Qui regnas in secula seculorum. Amen.

    The holy Monenna,
    light of this world,
    ascended to her shining spouse
    in a candelabrum like the midday sun.
    Who reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

    Mario Esposito,  Ymnus Sancte Monenne Virginis in Appendix to “Conchubrani Vita Sanctae Monennae.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 28 (1910), 202-51.

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  • St Ita : Second St Bridget of Ireland

     

    Yesterday I was reflecting on the use of Irish saints as a vehicle to promote a sense of national pride and dignity among Irish immigrant communities. I continue this theme today, the feast of Saint Ita of Kileedy, with another newspaper article aimed at Irish expatriates, this time from the Australian press of the 1920s.  The female writer begins by summarizing the career of Saint Ita but then goes on to make a plea for the heritage she represents to be better-known and for Irish writers to step up and embrace the task. Now there was hardly a dearth of publications on the Irish saints available at home and abroad during the nineteenth century, so I am a little surprised by this. Australia claimed Cardinal Moran as Archbishop of Sydney and he wrote pamphlets on Irish saints for the Australian Catholic Truth Society as well as serious, scholarly volumes on the early Irish Church. Yet I have noticed myself that there appears to be a tailing-off of interest in the Irish saints once the high-point of the Victorian ‘Celtic Revival’ has passed and Irish independence has been achieved. I therefore won’t quibble too much with this lady’s perceptions from 1925 and am delighted that on the other side of the world she didn’t forget Saint Ita:
     
    ST. ITA.


     
    Second St. Bridget of Ireland.
     
    (By Helene Cleary, 320 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Vic.).
     
    This wonderful Irish saint was born at Nandesi, in the County of Waterford, and died as early as January 15, 569. She was of royal birth, but earthly royalty counted as naught to her— she left her worldly life, and lived an austere
    and retired life, in a small habitation at the foot of a mountain
    called Luach, in Limerick. Here she founded a monastery which became
    famous. The order she installed and founded was called
    Cluain-cred-hail. She consecrated her virginity to God, and mortified
    herself in every possible way. By these acts of love, and her constant
    attention to God and His divine love, she was gifted with numerous
    graces. She always impressed upon her followers that the greatest aid
    to perfection was to be perpetually recollected in God. Her feast was
    at one time solemnised in the church founded by her at Cluain-cred-hail, in all the territory of Hua-Conail, and at Rosmide, in her native territory, at Nandesi, in County Waterford.
     
    “What
    glorious reading these lives and history of Saints such as St. Ita
    would make, a history for the Irish people and their descendants in Australia
    and America to-be proud of. Yet how little is written, how little
    known, of these wonderful Irish people who have lived through the centuries, and who made the faith in Ireland what it is today. 
     
    It
    is a strange fact, but true, that while Ireland is deluged with
    writings foreign to her thought and her ideals, she has not striven
    to keep pace; by blazoning before the world a wonderful wealth of
    literature founded upon the glories of her saints and of her ruins. We
    have some, yea; but what country possesses the vast wealth of material
    that Ireland has?
     
    Look at the brilliant writers that Oxford and
    Cambridge have given to the English-speaking world. What wonderful
    leaders of thought and action. Catholicism in England owes its existence
    to men like Newman, Chesterton, Manning, and many others too numerous
    to mention. The Church owes them a great debt.
     
    Irishmen are
    naturally gifted as writers. Why do they not write and give to the
    world some of this sainted past?  A brother of the Most Rev. Dr. Phelan
    (Rev. Michael Phelan, S.J.) says:—”Every child should be made
    acquainted with the life of the leading saint, and history of the most
    memorable ruin, in the locality. Those hoary prophets, now so mute,
    would then speak with tongues of fire out of the dim past, telling the
    story of our fathers’ faith and heroic achievements.”
     

     Southern Cross (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1954), Friday 23 January 1925, page 20
     

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  • The Women Saints of Ireland: A Schoolgirl's View

    As November is the month to remember all the saints I cannot allow it to close without an acknowledgment of our Irish women saints. Below is a charming view of them as seen through the eyes of a 1920s Australian schoolgirl winner of an essay competition. The victorious Miss Ena Dalton provided short accounts of six of our best-known holy women – Saints Brigid, Ita, Attracta, Fanchea, Dympna and Lelia – and I note that her presentation of Saint Brigid is entirely a Christian one, without a single mention of a goddess. She concludes with a clarion call for “Irish and Australian maidens” to “revive the ancient glory” and carry the “faith and fame” of both countries to distant lands. I can think of no better illustration to accompany this essay than a post by another Irish woman blogger on the saints, Finola at Roaringwater Journal, whose Rejecting those Earthly Dignities: Irish Women Saints by Harry Clarke provides a visual feast. Read it here.

    PRIZE WINNER

    THE WOMEN SAINTS OF IRELAND

    By Ena Dalton, Baddaginnie.

    (Certified by F. Carroll, teacher.)

    As the people of Ireland are noted throughout the world for their great faith and piety, Ireland can boast of a great number of women saints. Among these the best known are St. Brigid, St. Ita, St. Attracta, St. Fanchea, St. Lelia, and St. Dympna.

    St. Brigid was born in Fochard, Ulster, about the year 453. She shares with St. Patrick the glory and sanctity of being first to form a community of nuns. Her success was miraculous, for many religious establishments were soon extended over the land.

    She received her religious veil very early in life from the hands of St. Mel, nephew and disciple of St. Patrick. She built herself a cell under a large oak, thence called Killdara. Being joined soon after by several pious young virgins, she was at once acknowledged as their mother and founder. Like St. Patrick, Brigid spent much of her time travelling through Ireland, converting and instructing the people.

    The fame of her miracles, her virtues. and her piety soon spread over the land, and many voung girls, inspired with similar religious zeal, hastened to join her in her great mission. Thus, there sprang up numerous religions communities, which were primitive in their manner of living, as also in the severity of their rules and discipline. Their time was spent in prayer, acts of charity, and acts of mortification.

    Innumerable traditions of St. Brigid’s charity and generosity have been handed down to us. The holy attainment she sought on earth was to do the will of God. His grace was her staff through life. All her labours and her sacrifices were rewarded, as the love of her Saviour alone filled her heart. She died in 525, after a very holy life. St. Brigid had the privilege of outward resemblance to Our Blessed Lady, and her great purity merits for her the title of “The Mary of Erin.”

    St. Ita, called the Brigid of Munster, is the Patroness of Limerick, where her memory is fondly cherished to this day. Immense crowds of people still assemble on her feast day at  Kileedy, where the ruins of her ancient church are still to be seen.

    Ita was a direct descendant of Con of the Hundred Battles. She was born in A.D. 480 in County Waterford. The name conferred on her at baptism was Deirdre, or Dorothea; but owing to her longing desire for the gift of Divine love, she came to be called Ita, which signifies thirst, or longing. Even in her infancy, many miracles attested her sanctity. Once, we are told, the room in which she slept was filled with a flood of supernatural radiance. For some time after this the child’s features were lighted up by a marked angelic beauty.

    When Ita founded her convent at Hy-Connail, she was soon joined by many holy maidens eager to imitate her. Her whole life presents an example of affection and charity, which, we may say, are the most beautiful traits of our Irish saints. She died on the 15th January, A.D. 569, and was laid to rest within the little church of the monastery which she had chosen as her earthly habitation.

    St Fanchea was the sister of St. Enda, and the daughter of Conall of Orriell. She lived about the fifth or sixth century, and was the abbess of her monastery. Being warmly attached to her brother, Fanchea had him to visit her constantly. Once, it is related, when Enda passed her convent with his clansmen she refused to see him till he assured her that he would never shed the blood of any man. Finally, she was the means of converting him, and he then entered religion.

    When once he was visiting Fanchea’s convent, he saw a beautiful young lady, who was under his sister’s care. He immediately wished to marry her. Fanchea spoke to the young girl, and advised her to enter religion, and take a heavenly path in life. This she did, and this was the first step to Enda’s conversion.

     St. Attracta, whose feast is on the 11th of August, was one of the numerous band of holy virgins who consecrated their lives to God while St. Patrick still lived. She devoted her time to the poor and the infirm. Even during her life, she worked many wonders. Among others, by her prayers she freed Connaught, her native province, from a wild beast, which was the terror of the inhabitants. Once, as the monster was rushing towards the sanctuary. Attracta went on her knees, prayed earnestly to God, and the wild beast was suddenly struck dead,

    St. Dympna—The virgin, Dympna, born in Ireland of royal heathen parents, grew “as a rose amongst thorns.” Despising the allurements of a pagan court, she secretly received baptism, and devoted herself to Christ.

    Fleeing from a wicked man, who desired to be her lover, Dympna, in company with the blessed Gerebernus and others, took ship to Antwerp. From there they proceeded to Ghela, where, establishing a home, she gave herself up to Divine contemplation, and lived an angelic life.

    After three months, the King, her father, followed her, and, after giving orders for the execution of Gerebernus. himself beheaded Dympna.

    St. Lelia, so well known in the Diocese of Limerick, her native place, was a young virgin, whose feast is celebrated in her native county on the 12th of August.

    Echoes of the lives of the women saints of Ireland still resound, not only through Ireland, but in our own Australia. Bride and Brigid, Ita, Fanchea, Lelia and Dympna are favourite names in many Catholic families. Colleges and schools are dedicated to St. Brigid and St. Ita, for these virgin saints excelled in learning as well as in sanctity. May Irish and Australian maidens revive the ancient glory, and carry the faith and fame of Erin and Australia to distant lands!

    PRIZE-WINNER. (1923, April 12). Advocate (Melbourne, Vic. : 1868 – 1954), p. 37. Retrieved April 25, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article171248198

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