OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Irish saints in Europe

  • Blessed Marianus Scotus of Ratisbon, February 9

    February 9 is the feast of the blessed Marianus Scotus of Ratisbon. It may not be immediately apparent but behind this Latin name is an 11th-century Donegal man, Muiredhach Mac Robartaigh, a monastic scholar and scribe. Below is a paper which was read to the Royal Irish Academy in 1862 by the learned Anglican bishop, William Reeves. In his paper Dr Reeves describes the life and work of Marianus and explains the rather arbitrary Latinizations of Irish names which has led to some confusion between our saint and another 11th-century Marianus Scotus, the chronicler. I have omitted some of the author’s discussion of the manuscript of the Epistles of Saint Paul as it was too difficult to accurately reproduce the Latin and Irish texts. 

    Rev. Dr. Reeves read a paper—
    ON MARIANUS SCOTTUS, OF RATISBON.
    It is worthy of observation, that our native annals, which are so full and minute in recording the names of ecclesiastics who became distinguished at home, utterly ignore the existence of those who went abroad. The memory of St. Gall, St. Columbanus, and St. Cataldus are engraved on the map of Continental Europe; St. Fiacra is stereotyped in the language of France; St. Fridolin is blazoned on the banners and arms of Glarus; St. Coloman, an Irish monarch’s son, is patron saint of Lower Austria; Franconia glories in the Irish Kilian: yet not one of these worthies finds a place in the Annals of Tighernach, of Ulster, or the Four Masters. For this silence of the annalists there are two ways of accounting. In the first place, the early tide of missionary emigration from Ireland was entirely eastwards, and for centuries there was little or no reflux. The pilgrims found in central Europe abundant occupation for the residue of their lives, and there established a home for themselves, either in the martyr’s grave or in the hearts of the people. In this manner, having abandoned their native country in early life, ere they had made a name, and all intercourse with it being at an end, they were soon forgotten.
    In the second place, the nature of our annals demanded such silence, and thus what at first might be judged a defect becomes an internal testimony of their truth. They admitted nothing on hearsay. I do not, indeed, mean to assert that Tighernach, Cathal Maguire, or the O’Clerys were not copyists, or that they witnessed all which they record. But this I say, that each successive compiler transferred and embodied the matter of various collateral and well-authenticated originals, in which generations of scribes had in the great monasteries noted down, as in a day-book, particular events as they occurred; which records were preserved on the spot where they were written. We can easily draw the picture of an enterprising and diligent scribe, starting from his monastery with his leathern wallet on his back, to take a circuit of the kindred institutions of his province, in order to make an authentic compilation from original entries, for the benefit of his own institution, either with a view to increase its literary stores, or repair the damage done by that minister of oblivion—fire. In such compilations the names or acts of those who had abandoned their country were not likely to find a place. And, even in the middle ages, when the diffusion of Christianity, with its attendant civilization, brought round a closer connexion and increased intercourse between the pilgrims and their brethren at home, the old principle continued to operate, and the annals ran on, not as records of the Irish, but of Ireland; so much so that, among all the Irish foundations on the Continent, and all their exclusive congregations, I can discover but three names that have found their way into our domestic records, and these, of individuals who were high in office and celebrity before their departure.
    At 784 the Four Masters record the death of ” Ferghil, the Geometer, Abbot of Achadhbo, in Germany, in the 13th year of his episcopate.” This was the celebrated Virgilius, who became Bishop of Salzburg. The Annals of Ulster, at 788, simply say: —Feirgil abb Acaidboo moritur.
    At 1042 the Annals of Ulster and Four Masters relate that “Ailell, of Mucnomh, Superior of the Irish monks in Colonia, died.”
    Lastly, at 1085, according to the Four Masters, ” Gilla-na-naemh-Laighen, illustrious Bishop of Glenndaloch, and afterwards Superior of the monks in Wurzburg, died on the 7th of April.”
    High in honour abroad, though forgotten at home, were the two Mariani, each of whom bore the designation of Scotus, and who, on account of the identity of their assumed names, have by many distinguished writers been treated of as but an individual. Their real names, however, were different, and though nearly contemporary, and natives of the same province, their labours lay in different fields, and their literary remains vary in their character. Marianus Scotus the Chronicler was born in 1028, and educated under Tighernach Boirceach, of Moville. In 1056 he withdrew to Cologne; in 1058 he removed to Fulda; in 1069 he retired to Mentz; and in 1082 he died. His Chronicle is his great monument, but it has long been well known to the learned of Europe; and Florence of Worcester, one of England’s worthies, is glad to make the Irishman’s work the basis of his compilation. Marianus’ autograph, with his assumed name, containing also a memorandum of his native, name, Maelbrigde, has been edited in Pertz’s Monnmenta by G. Waitz from a Vatican MS. formerly belonging to St. Martin’s of Mayence. With this Marianus we have nothing further to do.
    The other Marianus Scotus, whose own name was Muiredhach Mac Robartaigh, was a native of Tir Conaill, the modern county of Donegal. He left Ireland in 1067, that is, eleven years after the Chronicler. A memoir of him and his successors, composed by an Irish monk of Ratisbon, and carefully edited by John Bollandus, in the second volume, for February, of the Acta Sanctorum, from a manuscript preserved in the Carthusian monastery of Gaming, in Lower Austria, furnishes the following particulars concerning the history of this good man:—
    “Marianus was a native of the north of Ireland, and remarkable as well for the beauty of his countenance as the strength of his body. In his youth he was carefully instructed by his parents in sacred and secular literature, with a view to his entering the clerical office. In process of time he assumed the monastic habit, but seemingly without entering any regular order; and, taking two companions, called John and Candidus, he set out from home, having as his ultimate object a pilgrimage to Rome. Arriving, on their way, at Bamberg, they were kindly received, and, after a year’s sojourn, were admitted to the order of St. Benedict in the monastery of Michelsberg. But, being unacquainted with the language of the country, they preferred retirement, and a small cell at the foot of the hill was assigned them for their use. After a short stay, they received the license of their Superior to proceed on their way; arriving at Ratisbon, they met a friendly reception at the nunnery of the Upper Monastery (Obermunster), where Marianus was employed by the Abbess Emma, in the transcription of some books. From this he removed to the Lower Monastery (Niedermunster), where a cell was assigned to himself and his companions, in which he diligently continued his occupation of writing, his companions preparing the membranes for his use. After some time he was minded to resume his original journey; but a countryman called Muircertach, who was then living as a recluse at the Obermunster, urged him to submit to the Divine guidance the determining whether he should proceed on his way, or settle for life at Ratisbon. He passed the night in Muircertach’s cell; and in the hours of darkness it was intimated to him that, where on the next day he should first behold the rising sun, he should remain and fix his abode. Starting before day, he entered St. Peter’s Church, outside the walls, to implore the Divine blessing on his journey. But scarcely had he come forth, when he beheld the sun stealing above the horizon. “Here then, said he, “I shall rest, and here shall be my resurrection.” His determination was hailed with joy by the whole population. The Abbess granted him this Church of St. Peter, commonly known as “Weich-Sanct-Peter, with an adjacent plot, where, in 1076, a citizen called Bethselinus (Bezelin) built for the Irish, at his own cost, a little monastery, which the Emperor Henry IV. soon after took under his protection, at the solicitation of the Abbess Hazecha. The fame of Marianus, and the news of his prosperity, presently reached Ireland, and numbers of his kindred were induced to come out, and enter his society. The early connexions of the monastery were chiefly with Ulster, his own native province, and the six Abbots who succeeded him were all from the north. The seventh was a southern. From Weich-Sanct-Peter, another Irish monastery, called St. James’s of Ratisbon, took its rise in 1090. Marianus’ original companions, however, did not continue with him, for John went to Gottweich, in Lower Austria, where he became a recluse under Bishop Altmann. Clemens proceeded on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he ended his days. Of Marianus himself, nothing more is recorded in this memoir, except his great skill and industry as a scribe. ” Such,” says the memoir, ” was the grace of writing which Divine Providence bestowed on the blessed Marianus, that he wrote many and lengthy volumes, with a rapid pen, both in the Upper and Lower Monasteries. For, to speak the truth, without any colouring of language, among all the acts which Divine Providence deigned to perform through this same man, I deem this most worthy of praise and admiration, that the holy man wrote from beginning to end, with his own hand, the Old and New Testament, with explanatory comments on the same books, and that, not once or twice, but over and over again, with a view to the eternal reward; all the while clad in sorry garb, living on slender diet, attended and aided by his brethren, both in the Upper and Lower Monasteries, who prepared the membranes for his use. Besides, he also wrote many smaller books and Manual Psalters, for distressed widows, and poor clerics of the same city, towards the health of his soul, without any prospect of earthly gain. Furthermore, through the mercy of God, many congregations of the Monastic Order, which, in faith and charity, and imitation of the blessed Marianus, are derived from the aforesaid Ireland, and inhabit Bavaria and Franconia, are sustained by the writings of the blessed Marianus.”
    He died on the 9th of February, 1088.
    Aventinus, the Bavarian annalist, styles him, “Poeta et Theologus insignis, nullique suo seculo secundus,” and thus describes one of Marianus’ compilations:—
    “Extant Reginoburgii in inferiori Monasterio, Divini Davidis Hymni, cum commentariis in membranis scripti, opus Mariani. Ejus prafationem, ut fides fiat, subtexo de verbo ad verbum: Anno dominicae incarnationis, Mlxxiv, Hainrico juvene Imp., Machtylda Abbatissa S. Maria, et S. Herhardi Abbateam regente, decern novalis Cycli xi. anno Indict, xii. Marianus Scotus, septimo peregrinationis suae anno collegit modicas istas undas, de profundo sanctorum Patrum pelago, scilicet Hieronymi, Augustini, Cassiodori, Arnobii, et de opusculis S. Gregorii: et pro suae animae salute, in honorem salvatoris Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et ejus genitricis, semperque Virginis Mariae, et S. Herhardi confessoris, scripsit, et in unum librum perstrinxit. Prolixas enim et salubres Catholicorum Patrum expositiones non omnes avido cordis amore petunt. Multi sunt etiam, qui etsi tales legere vel habere vellent, tamen minori censu, vel intellectu, vel aliqua causa existente occupati, illas invenire et legere non possunt. Nunquam tribuatur ad transcribendum extra Monasterium, nisi pro eo congruum relinquatur vadimonium. Georgii feriis coepit, Mathaei et Hemerami finivit.”
    2. Liber Mariani genere Scoti, excerptus de Evangelistarum voluminibus sive doctoribus.
    3. The third manuscript of our countryman, Marianus, is the most interesting, not only on account of the beauty of its execution, but also as supplying the Irish name of the writer; for I may here observe that the use of Latin forms to represent Irish names is very arbitrary; thus, Malachias stands for Maelmaedhog, as in the case of Malachy O’Morgair; for Maeliosa, as in the case of Maeliosa, bishop of Down (1152): Gelasius represents several compounds of Gilla, as Gillamacliag, Gilladomhnaill; so also Marianus represents Maelbrigde, as in the case of Marianus, the Chronist; Muiredhach, as in the case of the present Marianus ; and Maelmuire, as in the case of Marian Gorman, the Martyrologist.
    The existence of this manuscript has been known to the literary public since 1679, when Lambecius’ catalogue of the Imperial Library of Vienna was finished. Prom it Cave, Harris, Oudin, Lanigan, and Zcuas have drawn information. And, in later times, Denis, in his catalogue of the MSS. in that collection, has given fuller and more interesting details. But it requires an Irish eye to discern, and Irish wit to unfold, the essential points and beauties of our exquisite MSS.; and both of these qualifications are possessed in an eminent degree by our former associate, Mr. Charles P. Mac Donnell, who, during a residence in Vienna, spent some time in the examination of Marianus’ principal manuscript, and kindly intrusted me with the carriage of the following communication:—
    ” Among the literary treasures stored in the Imperial Library at Vienna, there is an autograph (unedited) manuscript of our illustrious and venerable fellow-countryman, Marianus Scotus, the Chronographer, being a copy of the Epistles of St. Paul, with an interlinear gloss, apparently an original production of Marianus himself, and a copious marginal commentary, consisting of extracts from the Fathers and theological writers popular in his day—a commentary which attests the patristic learning and research of that truly eminent man. Harris, in his edition of ‘Ware’s Writers of Ireland,’ notices this Codex; as does also Lanigan in his ‘Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,’ both referring to the authority of Lambecius. Lanigan says that those notes of Marianus, ‘ although well worthy of the light, have not, as far as I know, been as yet published’—a statement in which he merely follows Lambecius, whose words, in reference to this MS. are, that it contains: ‘ Omnes Epistolae Sancti Pauli Apostoli, celeberrimi Chronographi Mariani Scoti, monachi Fuldensis, propria manu, anno 1079, exaratae, et ab eodem annotationibus marginalibus et interlinearibus, hactenus quidem nondum editis, editu tamen dignissimis, illustratae: in quarum fine haec ipsius legitur subscriptio: Explicit Epistola ad Hebroeos, habens versus Dccc. In honore Individuae Trinitatis, Marianus Scottus scripsit hunc librum suis fratribus peregrinis. Anima ejus requiescat in pace, propter Deum devote dicite Amen. xvi. Kal. Junii hodie feria vi. anno Domini MLXXVIII.’ “
    The learned and laborious Denis, one of those highly cultivated and gifted men whom the dispersion of the old society of the Jesuits threw upon the world, and who, in these circumstances, was made chief librarian in Vienna in the latter part of the last century, has given a more detailed analysis of this valuable manuscript. In this notice I shall mainly follow his guidance, taking care, however, to give the extracts exactly as they stand in the manuscript itself. The MS. is a large quarto, consisting of 160 folia of vellum; the text in a fine clear hand of the eleventh century, in letters of moderate size; the gloss, both lineal and marginal, being written in small, delicate characters, but evidently by the same pen. Fol. 136 is written only on one side; ff. 146 and 154 were cut away to one-half their original size, after having been written, as is manifest from some of the letters on the remaining halves being partly cut away.
    The Codex contains all the Epistles of Saint Paul, strictly according to the text of the Vulgate, and in the same order in which they now stand in our Bibles, except that, between those to the Colossians and to the Thessalonians, the apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans is introduced, with this marginal observation, however: ” Laodicensium epistola ab alio sub nomine pauli putatur edita.” With the exception of the last-mentioned, which is left uncommented, the Epistles are all accompanied with an interlinear gloss, and are elucidated by ample marginal quotations from the following Fathers and theological writers: St Gregory, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, Fulgentius, Origen, Cassian, Haimon, Leo, and Alcuin; and also from the Liber Pastoralis, Petrus Diaconus, Ambrosiaster (now rejected in tom.ii., ed. Maur. Paris, Append, p. 21), and Pelagius (whose Commentarii in Paulinas may be seen, tom. xi., Opp. S. Hieronymi, edit. Vallars. col. 835). As far as the Epistle to the Colossians, the prevailing extracts are from St. Gregory; and from that to the end the most frequent are from the false Ambrosius. Denis suggests that improved readings of the text of the Fathers might be, perhaps, obtained by a collation of their works as printed, with the passages quoted from their writings in this MS., which exhibit in many instances considerable variations from the usually accepted readings…. [please refer to the original volume for further details of this MS]…The last folio concludes with in the gloss, the Christian and family name of the illustrious chronographer, written with his own hand in his mother tongue—Muiredach mac Robartaig.
    The family of Mac Robhartaigh were the hereditary guardians of the venerable Cathach of St. Columbkill, and, as such, herenachs in Tyrconnell, and vassals of the O’Donells, the ancient princely rulers of that region. As guardians of that reliquary, they are mentioned in the “Annals of the Four Masters.” In 1497 one of the events of a battle at the pass of Ballaghboy, between the O’Donells and the Mac Dermots, which proved disastrous to the former, is thus recorded: —
    Translated by our learned fellow-countryman, O’Donovan: —
    The Cathach of Columbkille was also taken from them, and Magroarty, the keeper of it, was slain.
    Two years after this battle the Cathach was restored to the O’Donells (ad an. 1499); and in 1567 the same annalists chronicle a battle between the O’Neills and O’Donells at Farsetmore, a low-water ford near Letterkenny, in which, amongst those that fell, was—Rendered in O’Donovan’s translation—
    ” Magroarty, who had the custody of the Cathach of St. Columbkille.”
    Almost contemporary with this Marianus was Donnall Mac Robartaigh, St. Columba’s successor at Kells, whose name is engraved on the silver case of the Cathach, and whose death is recorded by the Four Masters at 1098. By them he is called O’Robhartaigh; but this interchange of Mac and O’ is common in early records. Dermot O’Robhartaigh, Abbot of Durrow, died in 1190. Ballymagroarty, in the parish of Drumhome, county of Donegal, is so called from Baile-mecc-Robhartaich, being originally the possession of Mac Robhartach, keeper of the Cathach; and Ballymagrorty, in the parish of Templemore or Deny, has the same origin. In 1609, the Inquisition of Donegal finds the “Island of Torro [Tory], whereof O’Rohertye is both herenagh and corbe.” Among the general pardons in the same year, various members of the clan are mentioned under the forms McRuertie, Magroertie, Mcgroertie, Magrertee, and Roertie. At the present time the name has been moulded into O’Rafferty, Rafferty, and Mc Grotty.
    Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Volume 7 (1862), 290-301.

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  • Saint Tressan of Mareuil, February 7

    February 7 is the commemoration of an early Irish missionary saint who laboured in France in the sixth century. Canon O’Hanlon bases his entry in the Lives of the Irish Saints on the Acts of the Saint used by the 17th-century hagiologist Father John  Colgan, which testify to Saint Tressan’s humility, sanctity and miracles. They include some motifs which occur in the lives of other saints, for example, water is made to flow from a dry place through the staff of the saint and his ultimate resting place has to be decided by heavenly intervention. Canon O’Hanlon takes up the story:

    ARTICLE I.— ST. TRESSAN, OR TRESAN, CONFESSOR, AT AVENAY, FRANCE.

    [FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES.]

    The Acts of Tressan are compiled from a MS., which belonged to the monastery of St. Remigius, at Rheims. Colgan thinks it was at least a document old as the tenth century. Flodoard, a writer, who lived in that century, treats of this holy man and of his brothers, in the history of Rheims. He seems also, to have read these Acts. St. Tressan’s old Life is included in Colgan’s work, and this is followed by an appendix, comprising three chapters.

    St. Tressan had six holy brothers, viz. : Saints Gibrian, Helan, German, Veran, Aleran, Petran, and three sisters, Fracla, Promptia, and Posemna. All of these were very devout persons, who despised the things of earth, that they might aspire only to those of Heaven. Elsewhere, the names of those brothers and sisters are spelled in a different manner. They are mentioned, also, by Flodoard. They were natives of Hibernia, where Tressan heard the voice of God proclaiming to him these words, formerly addressed to Abraham “Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s house, and come into the land, which I shall show thee.” Afterwards, Tressan sought a secret place for his dwelling, where he might more freely serve God in solitude; but, whether this was in Ireland, or in France, his Acts do not render sufficiently plain.

    Suspicions are entertained by Colgan, that the present saint, his brothers and sisters were the children of a certain Goill or Gallus. It is mentioned, in the Life of St. Ailbhe, that when returning from Rome to Hibernia, he left some of his disciples, the sons of Guill, in a monastery he had erected in Gaul. Now, the time is thought well to accord; for, St. Ailbhe was a contemporary with St. Patrick, and he is calculated to have lived, from A.D. 450 to 520. He was also contemporaneous with St. Tressan, his brothers and sisters. These holy persons, too, settled in Gaul. Another circumstance is somewhat remarkable; for, one of these brothers was named German, and we actually have a German, son of Gaill or Goill, noticed in our Calendars. Yet, although those brothers and sisters were distinguished for their sanctity, all are not noticed separately, in our Irish Martyrologies.

    Wishing to lead the life of a pilgim, Tressan went to France, taking along with him six brothers and three sisters, whose names have been already given. But, being simple-minded and ignorant to a degree, this pious man was regarded as an idiot; and, when resolved to earn his livelihood, by some kind of menial service, he retired to a village, supposed to be Murigny, in the Duchy of Rheims, on the banks of the River Marne.

    Here, a native of the place, finding him to be an Irishman born, and quite ignorant of the Frankish language, set him to the humble occupation of tending swine. According to Sigebert’s chronicle, Tressan was in France A.D. 509. Faithful to his charge, and mindful of the Apostolic mandate, “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear,” the lowly swineherd carefully governed all the movements of his soul. This happened, it is stated, while St. Remigius lived in that part of the country.

    According to his Acts, Tressan was an illiterate man; yet, he was a very religious and a very good Christian. A church, dedicated to St. Martin, happened to be in the village of Murigny; and here, a priest had been engaged reciting matins, and in celebrating the solemnities of Mass. Not loosing sight of his herd, Tressan would steal towards the doors of the church, while he endeavoured to learn all he could regarding the sacred rites. And the Lord was pleased miraculously to reward this holy thirst for science, by filling his mind with a knowledge of letters. It would appear, Tressan had unwittingly excited the prejudice of certain rustics, in that place, known as Ay; for, when St. Remigius visited a village near it, and which was called Villare in Silva, or Villiers en Selue, these peasants accused the poor Scottish swineherd, for having caused their vineyards to be injured, their fields and meadows to be grazed and trodden down, through his neglect. But, St. Remigius was not the bishop, to hear a one-sided accusation, without sifting its truth : he sent a messenger for Tressan to appear, and when he did so, the holy prelate, fully convinced of his innocence, consoled him with gentle words, while he drove the malignant accusers away from his presence. The old author of our saint’s Acts relates, that unjustly accused man afterwards stood on an elevated spot, known thenceforward as St. Tressan’s Mount, where he had collected the herd of swine together, with a view of bringing them to the homes of their owners. Looking towards Ay, in the spirit of prophecy, he exclaimed: “You, who have falsely accused me to the high priest of our Lord, shall pass out of this life, when you have lived to the age of thirty years, nor will your worldly substance increase; thus, it shall be better, that you receive punishment here, rather than suffering without end, in the other world.” The Almighty was pleased to make good these words of his faithful servant; and, to the time when his ancient Acts were written, the people remarked, how the descendants of St. Tressan’s accusers never lived beyond the thirtieth year, that they were obliged to subsist by manual labour, to be in want, and even to beg for the necessaries of life. Returning the swine to their rightful master, Tressan, thenceforth, devoted himself entirely to God’s service.

    After some years, having acquired sufficient learning, he went to the town of Laon, in the province of Picardy. Genebald or Genebaud had been ordained its first bishop by St. Remigius. On the recommendation of St. Genebaldus, Bishop of Laon, who admired the humility, good dispositions, and progress he had made in learning, Tressan was ordained priest by St. Remigius, when the requirements of the canons had been fulfilled. Thus was he chosen, by one of God’s elect, and blest, by a saint. St. Remigius, before taking leave of Tressan, exhorted him regarding the manner in which he should serve at the altar; he also comforted and encouraged this disciple. In our saint, he found a truly good subject; for, Tressan fasted and prayed almost continuously, while he crucified the flesh, with its vices and concupiscences. He avoided all snares of the enemy; he despised the things of this world; he gave alms to the poor, and spent much time in vigil. So closely did Tressan adhere to God’s law and to the works ordered by Christ, that he might be regarded as being with him, both in soul and body.

    After his ordination, Tressan chose for a place of residence Marogillus, or Marville, where a church had been dedicated to St. Hilary, Bishop of Poictiers. Tressan stopped in the territory of Rheims, near the Marne, during the time of Bishop Retnigius. He preached with great zeal, while in France. Serving the Lord most faithfully, at the church of St. Hilary; he had a church near it, which had been consecrated in honour of St. Martin, the holy Bishop of Tours. He was wholly intent on the worship of God, and his manner of life was extremely simple. While there, an inhabitant of the place came to make a confession to him, and then devoutly asked the saint to offer prayers for his salvation. Knowing, likewise, that the Lord would return, hereafter, and in a hundred-fold measure, whatsoever should be given to his holy minister, the devout penitent besought his confessor to receive a small gift. Knowing his earnestness and sincerity, Tressan assented to a request he made, for bestowing a meadow that was near, to serve as pasture for an ass. This meadow lay within the bounds of Ay village, and afterwards it went by the name of our saint.

    One day, having celebrated the Matins, Office and Mass, in the church of St. Martin at Murigny, and while returning to Mareville, he felt wearied, and he sat down on the side of a dry hill, from which water had never flowed. Fixing his staff in the ground, the wearied saint fell asleep; but, on awaking, he found the staff had grown into a tree, which was covered with a bark and green leaves. At the same time, a fountain of most delicious water ran from the root of this tree, to the very foot of the mount. When the holy priest, Tressan, witnessed this, he drank from the well, and he asked of the Almighty, that no injustice or turpitude should there occur. It was regarded as a “holy well,” while several persons, troubled with tertian and quartan agues, came thither, drank of its waters, and were cured. After the Lord had manifested these and other wonders of His glory, through this humble servant, Tressan was seized with a fever. He then called various priests and clerics around him, confessing that he was a sinner and an unworthy priest, having offended God, and having injured his fellow-men. Lying on the bed, in his last agony, he was consoled by his visitors, while with great humility and contrition, he received the sacraments of reconciliation. Then he cried out : “Dearly beloved brethren, be ye comforted in the Lord, and. in the power of his virtue, according to that word of our Redeemer, “Walk whilst you have the light,” and according to that saying of the Prophet David, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Then he added : “Meditation on death is the beginning of wisdom.” He afterwards asked for Holy Viaticum. Rising from the bed, and lying prostrate on the ground, he exclaimed with heartfelt devotion :

    “Hail, our most happy Hope! hail, our holy Redemption! Hail, most holy Body of Christ, more precious and dear to me than gold or topaz, and sweeter than the honey or the honeycomb. Hail! most adorable Blood of Christ, mercifully shed for our sins, and given as the price of our redemption. Hail! Jesus Christ, son of God, may thy power defend me from the snares of my old enemy, and may the prince of darkness meet me not. As thy servant, I pray you make me appear the last in order among your saints.”

    Saying these words, he received the Body and Blood of Christ. Then, when lifted into bed, with eyes and heart directed towards Heaven, where all his hopes were centred, his happy soul flew to bliss. There for ever his spirit shall enjoy the beatific vision of God.

    Tressan seems to have spent a great part of his life, in the diocese of Rheims, near the River Marne. And, at the very moment, when his spirit was exhaled to Heaven, a most fragrant odour spread around, so that those who were present declared, nothing they had a sense of before could be compared to it.

    Having thus distinguished himself by his great piety and various miracles, on the Ides or 7th day of February, the priest of Christ, Tressan, finished his temporal agony, to receive a good and an eternal reward, from the Supreme Remunerator. The priests and others, who were present at his death, began to arrange for his interment. It was proposed to deposit his remains in the Church of St.Hilary, at Mareville, as he had so long served the Lord in that place. Yet, when the attempt was made to lift his corpse, all efforts proved vain. Again, it was thought well to have the coffin brought to the monastery of Altovillarense or Haultvilliers -yet, the trial proved unavailing. Then, it was resolved, to yoke a pair of bullocks to a waggon, and to leave the disposal of Tressan’s holy remains to the direction of Providence.

    We read in the Old Testament, that the satraps of the Philistines placed the Ark of the Lord on a new waggon, and then yoked kine to it that had sucking calves. The Ark was brought thus in a direct line to Bethsames. Now, as the Ark represents the Church of Christ, and the kine its doctors, so was a holy son, and servant of the Church, brought with tears and requiem psalms, by doctors of the Church, to the very spot the Lord Himself had designated. When the yoked oxen brought that waggon to a certain spot, they were not able to proceed further, and there it was determined to inter the remains of St. Tressan. He died curate of Mareuil, and he was buried at Avenay, in Champagne. This the attendants regarded as decreed by supernatural agency. The Bollandists justly observe, certain writers are wrong in saying, that the bodies of St. Tressan and of his holy brothers and sisters rest in Rheims. The Acts of our saint place his relics at Avenay; and, there is no authentic account of their having been removed. The relics of this holy man are said to be in Pont-aux-Dames, in Brie. In art, he is represented with a budding staff, to indicate the miracle contained in his Acts.

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  • Saint Columbanus of Ghent, February 2


    February 2 is the commemoration of a tenth-century Irish recluse at Ghent in Belgium. It seems, to judge from the footnotes to Canon O’Hanlon’s entry for Saint Columban, that he has been confused with his more famous namesake, Saint Columban (Columbanus) of Bobbio. It also seems that the saint is commemorated on the day of his enclosure as a hermit, February 2 in the the year 957, rather than on the day of his death, February 15. Canon O’Hanlon relies on the efforts of the seventeenth-century hagiologist, Father John Colgan, to uncover what was known about the Belgian Saint Columban and does not hesitate to give the Scottish calendarist, Thomas Dempster, short shrift for his attempts to claim our saint for his own country:

    ST. COLUMBAN, ABBOT AND RECLUSE, AT GHENT, BELGIUM.
    [TENTH CENTURY.]
    AS during his wanderings, the Trojan exile found the fame of his country extended, by the valour and toil of her chiefs, in far distant lands so, may the Irish pilgrim trace the labours of our saints, not alone on their own soil, but in the remote places of their adoption. At the 2nd of February, Colgan and the Bollandists have given St. Columban’s Acts, compiled from various sources and authorities. This saint, there can be little doubt, was a native of Ireland; and the Belgian writers agree on this matter Yet,  Dempster, with his usual effrontery, tries to make him a Scotchman, and he also assumes Columban was a writer. He says, that this saint always lived in Scotland, and he refers to Molanus, who has not a single word of what Dempster pretended to quote from him. So much for the credibility of Dempster’s statements. Regarding the family and origin of Columban, we have no authentic accounts. He is supposed to have been an emigrant from Ireland, either about the time when Forannan, with his twelve companions, left it for Belgium; or, subsequently, in the year 946, when it has been supposed, Saints Cathroe and Maccallan abandoned their native island, for the shores of the Continent. Yet, it is thought to be still more probable, that our saint had been the responsible leader of a missionary band. Colgan remarks, that as the mission of the two saints, already named, took place, about A.D. 946, as our saint was called an abbot, and as he became a recluse A.D. 957, it seems probable, he was rather the leader of a new missionary band, than a member of that circle of disciples, who followed Saints Cathroe and Macallan. Columban is related to have fled away from worldly honours. Neither does Colgan conceive it probable, that our saint remained as a private individual, under the rule of those holy men, for eleven intervening years, during which Macallan and Cathroe successively ruled over Wasor Monastery.  
    Columban was an abbot, either before leaving Ireland, or after his arrival on the Continent; however, having resigned that dignity, the holy man shut himself up as a recluse, in a cemetery, attached to a monastery at Ghent, on the 2nd of February, A.D. 957. He lived here, exercising most austere penance, for the short space of two years, in this city. His death took place, on the 15th day of February, A.D. 959, according to Sanders. He was buried in the Blessed Virgin’s crypt, before the altar of St. Andrew, at Ghent and, his tomb was a little retired from the entrance, under a stone arch. The name of this saint was invoked as a confessor, but not as a bishop, amongst other patrons of Belgium, in litanies, which were recited, during times of public necessity or calamity. It appears not possible to state more particulars regarding this saint; for, his Acts have either perished, or have not been published. Besides some few notices, recorded of Columban, and drawn from Belgian authors cited by him,  Colgan found other writers, relating matters respecting our saint, which were conformable neither to truth nor to credibility. Like the Apostle St. Paul, this holy man gloried in the testimony of a good conscience, living in simplicity of heart and in the grace of God. He passed away from the world, for which he felt no attachment, to enjoy the happiness of eternal life.


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