OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Irish Saints

  • Saint David in Irish Sources

    March 1 is the feastday of the patron of Wales, Saint David, a saint much honoured and loved in Ireland. A modern scholar summarizes below some of the links to the Welsh patron in the Irish sources:

    In the first millennium A.D., prior to the promotion of St David’s cult by Rhygyfarch, St David already can be seen to have enjoyed a significant reputation not only in Wales, but across the Irish Sea. Dauid Cille Muni features amongst three Welsh saints whose feasts are recorded in the Latin Martyrology of Tallaght and the Irish Martyrology Félire Óengusso in the early ninth century – both probably the work of the same author, and certainly of the community of the Céli Dé of Tallaght. David also appears in another early list of saints, the Catalogus sanctorum Hiberniae, where he features amongst the British saints from whom the ‘second order’ of early Irish saints are held to have accepted their ritual of the mass. His obit appears in Irish annal collections, probably entered at some time in during first millennium. These references would appear to speak to the relations between the westernmost part of Wales and its closeness to Ireland – the same relationship, perhaps, as is evinced by Armes Prydain Fawr.

    The kingdom of Dyfed, the early medieval polity in which the region of the modern St Davids is located, was itself, of course, originally under an Irish dynasty – a fact that appears to have been still known in Rhygyfarch’s time – but it would be unwise to place much weight upon this early Irish connection of St Davids. The association of David’s cult with Irish saints are as likely to reflect later as earlier connections between these closely adjacent countries. Most of the dedications to the saint in Ireland can be shown with certainty to have been made under Cambro- or Anglo-Norman patronage. The appearance of David in the Irish Martyrologies, however, speaks to exchange of cults between Ireland and Wales before A.D. 800. Irish uitae add further detail to this testimony. St David features in the Vita of St Molua of Clonfert-Mullow and in the Vita of Ailbe of Emly. In both cases he appears in the versions of these uitae that are preserved in the Salamanticensis collection amongst the subset (the ‘O’Donohue group’) which Richard Sharpe has identified as preserving a putatively eighth-century form.

    The arguably early reference in the cult of St Ailbe is thus of especial interest for the fact that Ailbe (Elvis) is a saint with a cult near St Davids. In Rhygyfarch’s Vita S. David Ailbe is joined by more Irish saints: SS. Patrick, Brendan, Maedóc, Bairre, Modomnóc and Scoithín. Patrick and Ailbe are given the most significant roles in Rhygyfarch’s Vita. The role of St Patrick – who has a dedication near St Davids, at Whitesands Bay – is to be the previous denizen of Vallis Rosina, the place that will later be the site of St David’s monastery. St Ailbe’s role is to baptize David. These roles reflect the significance of these saints in Irish history: Patrick as apostle to the Irish; Ailbe as patron to Munster, whose church was second only in status to Patrick. Pádraig Ó Riain is right to argue that these ‘facilitating’ roles are intended to establish St David’s status as superior to that of other major insular churches. They are products of a time when these saint’s cults had already achieved their existing status in Ireland, not of the time of the historical David. How early or late this period of exchange of information may be placed is a point of contention by Ó Riain.

    Jonathan M. Wooding, ‘The Figure of David’ in J. W. Evans and J.M. Wooding, eds., St David of Wales: cult, church and nation (Boydell, 2007), 11-12.

  • Saint Fechin at Poulaphouca Waterfall

    It was the afternoon of Sunday when Fechin and his monks arrived at Poulaphouca Falls, and the glorious Twenty-Eighth Psalm was part of the Lauds for Monday, which they were reciting that evening, and no other Psalm could so voice the feelings of the enraptured hearts of those “sons of God” in the midst of “the many waters” and “the thunders of the Lord” and “the cedars.”

    “Afferte Domino, filii Dei, gloriam et honorem : afferte Domino gloriam nomini Ejus : adorate Dominum in atrio sancto Ejus ! 


    Vox Domini super aquas, Deus majestatis intonuit : Dominus super aquas multas ! 


    Vox Domini in virtute : Vox Domini in magnificentia. 


    Vox Domini confringentis cedros. . . . 


    Dominus virtutem populo suo dabit : Dominus benedicet populo suo in pace.” 

    ” Bring to the Lord, O ye sons of God, . . . glory and honour ! bring to the Lord glory to His name ! Adore ye the Lord in His holy Church !

    The voice of the Lord upon the waters : the God of majesty hath thundered ! The Lord upon many waters !

    The voice of the Lord in power, the voice of the Lord in magnificence !

    The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars ! . . . The Lord will give strength to His people ; the Lord will bless His people with peace.” (Ps. xxviii).

    Not for a few minutes only but for hours did holy Fechin and his disciples pray here and sing their Psalms and hymns. At last some of the monks completely tired and physically exhausted said to Fechin that it was time for all to rest. “No,” answered the Saint, ” I cannot cease. The Falls never cease, but are continually offering the sublime melody of their music to their Creator. I must not be a debtor to my God.” Behold then God wrought a great wonder to reward His devout servant. The waters of the Falls ceased to flow down, and, piling themselves above, seemed to listen to the chanting of the Psalms of Fechin and his choir, a heavenlier music than their own! This prodigy lasted till the third hour. Then the Saint was given to understand that he and his tired brethren might themselves take a little rest and refresh their exhausted bodies, and so they ceased their psalmody.

    The Life of St Fechin of Fore: The Apostle of Connemara by Father J.B. Coyle (Dublin, 1915).

    Note: January 20 is the feast day of Saint Fechin of Fore and previous posts on his life can be found here and here.

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  • Prayer of Saint Aireran the Wise

    December 29 is the feast of Saint Aireran the Wise, a scholarly saint associated with the monastery of Clonard. Below is a paper from the Irish Ecclesiastical Record taken from a series on the legacy of Professor Eugene O’Curry, a nineteenth century scholar of the Irish Church. One of the items which O’Curry published in translation was a prayer ascribed to Saint Aireran the Wise and I reproduce the text and its introduction below. The prayer is a wonderful litany of praise in honour of the Holy Trinity. The ‘great work’ to which the writer of the introduction refers is O’Curry’s Manuscript Materials of Early Irish History, published in 1861 and available to read online.

    THE MSS. REMAINS OF PROFESSOR O’CURRY IN THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

    NO. II

    Prayer of St. Aireran the Wise, ob. 664.

    [In the first number of the RECORD we published from the manuscripts of the late Professor O’Curry the Prayer of St. Colga of Clonmacnoise. We now publish another beautiful devotional piece from the same collection.

    Speaking of ancient Irish religious works now remaining, O’Curry says (at page 378 of his great work): “The fifth class of these religious remains consists of the prayers, invocations, and litanies, which have come down to us”. The Prayer of St. Colga, published in our last number, is placed by O’Curry in the second place among these documents, which he sets down in chronological order.

    “The first piece of this class (adopting the chronological order) is the prayer of St. Aireran the Wise (often called Aileron, Eleran, and Airenan), who was a classical professor in the great school of Clonard, and died of the plague in the year 664. St. Aireran’s prayer or litany is addressed, respectively, to God the Father, to God the Son, and to God the Holy Spirit, invoking them for mercy by various titles indicative of their power, glory, and attributes. The prayer consists of five invocations to the Father, eighteen invocations to the Son, and five to the Holy Spirit; and commences in Latin thus: ‘O Deus Pater, Omnipotens Deus, exerci misericordiam nobis’. This is followed by the same invocation in the Gaedhlic; and the petitions to the end are continued in the same language. The invocation of the Son begins thus: ‘ Have mercy on us, Almighty God! Jesus Christ! Son of the living God! Son, born twice! O only born of God the Father’. The petition to the Holy Spirit begins : ‘ Have mercy on us, Almighty God ! Holy Spirit! Spirit the noblest of all spirits!’ (See original in APPENDIX, No. CXX.)

    “When I first discovered this prayer in the Leabhar Buidhe Lecain (or Yellow Book of Lecain), in the library of Trinity College, many years ago, I had no means of ascertaining or fixing its date ; but in my subsequent readings in the same library, for my collection of ancient glossaries, I met the word Oirchis set down with explanation and illustration, as follows:

    “‘Oirchis. id est, Mercy ; as it is said in the prayers of Airinan the Wise’ : Have mercy on us, God the Father Almighty I” See original in APPENDIX, No. CXXI.

    “I think it is unnecessary to say more on the identity of the author of this prayer with the distinguished Aireran of Clonard. Nor is this the only specimen of his devout works that has come down to us. Fleming, in his Collecta Sacra, has published a fragment of a Latin tract discovered in the ancient monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland, which is entitled ‘The Mystical Interpretation of the Ancestry of our Lord Jesus Christ’. A perfect copy of this curious tract, and one of high antiquity, has, I believe, been lately discovered on the continent.

    “There was another Airenan, also called ‘the wise’, who was abbot of Tamhlacht [Tallaght] in the latter part of the ninth century; but he has not been distinguished as an author, as far as we know”.

    It seems to us that there are three things specially worthy of our consideration in this beautiful prayer.

    In the first place, we find in it an explicit and most clear declaration of the Catholic Faith regarding the Blessed Trinity, especially the distinction of three persons, and the Divinity of each of these Divine Persons. ” God the Father Almighty, O God of Hosts, help us! Help us, Almighty God! O Jesus Christ! Help us, Almighty God, Holy Spirit!”

    We are in the next place struck by the extraordinary familiarity with the Holy Scripture which the writer evinces. There is scarcely one of the epithets which is not found in the sacred pages, almost in the precise words used by him, beginning with the first words, addressed to the Eternal Father. ” O God of Hosts”, the Deus Sabaoth of the Prophets, and going on to the last invocation of the Holy Ghost, ” Spirit of love”, which comprises in itself the two inspired phrases : ” Spiritus est Deus”, and “Deus Charitas est” We may also remark the coincidence between Saint Aireran and the liturgical prayers of the Church, especially in the invocations of the Holy Ghost found in the office of Whitsuntide and in the administration of the Sacrament of Confirmation. “Tu septiformis munere: Digitus Paternae dexterae”. ” Finger of God! Spirit of Seven Forms”.

    In fine, we find our Irish saint applying to the Son of God the vision of the Prophet Ezechiel regarding the four mysterious animals: “0 true Man! Lion! young Ox! Eagle!”

    The prophecy is commonly interpreted of the Four Evangelists. Saint Augustine and Saint Jerome are quoted as authorities for this interpretation. But it is worthy of remark, that Saint Gregory the Great, whilst giving the same interpretation, applies the mysterious vision also to God the Son [Hom. iv. in Ezech.]. And Saint Aireran, by adopting this opinion, seems to afford us another proof of the great familiarity of our Irish scholars with the writings of the great Pontiff and Father of the Church. And this familiarity is rendered still more remarkable, and serves to give another proof of the constant communication between Rome and Ireland, from the close proximity of the times of our Saint and of Saint Gregory.]

    Prayer of St. Aireran the Wise.

    O Deus Pater omnipotens Deus exerce tuam misericordiam nobis!

    O God the Father Almighty! O God of Hosts, help us.

    O illustrious God! O Lord of the world! O Creator of all creatures, help us.

    O indescribable God! O Creator of all creatures, help us.

    O invisible God! O incorporeal God! O unseen God! O unimaginable God! O patient God! O uncorrupted God! O unchangeable God! O eternal God! O perfect God! O merciful God! O admirable God! O Golden Goodness! O Heavenly Father, who art in Heaven, help us.

    Help us, O Almighty God! O Jesus Christ! O Son of the living God! O Son twice born! O only begotten of the Father! O first-born of Mary the Virgin! O Son of David! O Son of Abraham, beginning of all things! O End of the World! O Word of God! O Jewel of the Heavenly Kingdom! O Life of all (things)! O Eternal Truth! O Image, O Likeness, O Form of God the Father! O Arm of God! O Hand of God! O Strength of God! O right (hand) of God! O true Wisdom! O true Light, which enlightens all men! O Light-giver! O Sun of Righteousness! O Star of the Morning! O Lustre of the Divinity! O Sheen of the Eternal Light! O Fountain of Immortal Life! O Pacificator between God and Man! O Foretold of the Church! O Faithful Shepherd of the flock! O Hope of the Faithful! O Angel of the Great Council! O True Prophet! O True Apostle! O True Preacher! O Master! O Friend of Souls (Spiritual Director)! O Thou of the shining hair! O Immortal Food! O Tree of Life! O Righteous of Heaven! O Wand from the Stem of Moses! O King of Israel! O Saviour! O Door of Life! O Splendid Flower of the Plain! O Cornerstone! O Heavenly Zion! O Foundation of the Faith! O Spotless Lamb! O Diadem! O Gentle Sheep! O Redeemer of mankind! O true God! O True Man! O Lion! O young Ox! O Eagle! O Crucified Christ! O Judge of the Judgment Day! help us.

    Help us, O Almighty God! O Holy Spirit! O Spirit more noble than all Spirits! O Finger of God! O Guardian of the Christians! O Protector of the Distressed! O Co-partner of the True Wisdom! O Author of the Holy Scripture! O Spirit of Righteousness! O Spirit of Seven Forms! O Spirit of the Intellect! O Spirit of the Counsel! O Spirit of Fortitude! O Spirit of Knowledge! O Spirit of Love! help us.

    Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Vol.1 (1865), 63-4.

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