OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Tag: Martyrdom

  • 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 Cunera, June 12

     

    On June 12  Canon O’Hanlon brings us an account of a saint from one of the most popular hagiographical romances of the Middle Ages – The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula and her Companions. I have found myself increasingly interested in the tale of the British princess who set sail for the continent accompanied by her maidens, only for all of them to meet a martyr’s death. Some of the companions were said to have been of Irish or Scottish origin and it is on this basis that Canon O’Hanlon has noted a number of their feastdays in his Lives of the Irish Saints. The virgin martyr Cunera, commemorated on this day is one such saint, the 17th-century Irish hagiologist Father John Colgan had investigated her life. It is one of the strengths of O’Hanlon’s work that he is able to access the European sources for such saints and thus he is able to bring us a detailed account of Saint Cunera and her relics. As I read his account I couldn’t help feeling that hagiography of this type must have been the medieval equivalent of the blockbuster movie, our saintly heroine is the product of a romantic elopement between two people caught up in the Crusades, saved initially from the martyr’s fate of her companions by a dashing ruler, she falls foul of his jealous wife and ends up being strangled on the orders of her rival. The wicked queen, needless to say, comes to a sticky end herself whereas her victim’s remains are discovered through divine intervention and go on to work many miracles. The picture above shows a 16th-century reliquary bust from the Netherlands of an unknown saint who is probably a companion of Saint Ursula. It formed part of the ‘Treasures of Heaven: Saints Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe Exhibition’ held at the British Museum in 2011.

    St. Cunera, Virgin and Martyr.

    We are not able to understand, on what grounds the present holy woman has been classed among our Irish saints. Her personality, as also her period, has raised various historic doubts. A wonderful combination of impossibilities and improbabilities, it is stated, must be found in the household tale, adopted for the account of this saint, who is supposed to have been one of St. Ursula’s companions. It is not possible now to say, what foundation of truth may underlie that fabulous character, which the story presents, for it abounds in absurd anachronisms and misstatements. In the very infancy of the typographic art, her Legend had been printed. Thus the “Hystorie plurimorum Sanctorum,” printed at Louvain, a.d. 1485, has a notice of Kunera, Virgo et Martyr. To this Molanus alludes in his work. This St. Cunera is mentioned by Father Hermann Crombach, S.J., in his work on St. Ursula and her companions in martyrdom. He used for this purpose a Manuscript, which belonged to the Cathedral Church of St. Martin, at Utrecht, as also one submitted to him by the Archbishop of Phillipi, who was named Philip, and who was Vicar Apostolic of the Federate States of Holland. It seems to have been Colgan’s intention, that the Acts of St. Cunera, a virgin, should be published, on the 12th day of June. Her name is found in anothei memorandum. In Colgan’s posthumous Calendar he mentions St. Cunera, virgin, at the 12th of June, as one whose Acts he had prepared for publication. The Bollandists have published Acts of this holy virgin and martyr. A previous commentary has been added by Father Daniel Papebroke, who has entered upon a process of difficult investigation to illustrate her history and period. Her Legend is given in a sermon, which was delivered on the day of her festival, and it seems to have been composed about the beginning of the fourteenth century. To this various miracles are added, and which have been attributed to this holy virgin’s and martyr’s intercession. These Acts are illustrated with notes. In the “Acta Sanctorum Belgii Selecta,” the Acts of St. Cunera, virgin and martyr, are given at the 12th of June, in a Historico-critical commentary by Father Daniel Papebroke. A simple notice of this holy woman occurs in the compilation of Mgr. Paul Guerin. The Latin Legend of St. Cunera seems to have been compiled from popular traditions, and to have been incorporated into the Lessons of a Breviary, or of some office, used in the church of Rhenen. Of this Legend there are other versions, but they are all worthless and unreliable.

    The Legend of St. Cunera states, that there is a certain part of Europe, according to Isidore, called the Orcades, consisting of thirty-three islands, which were governed by the King of Orkney. Then it goes on to state, that it was at a future time governed by the King of England, in which land there was a great royal city, anciently called Orcada, but at that time known as Jork. In this city is said to have reigned King Aurelius, who was a Christian. He marched at the head of his armies in a crusade against the Saracens, according to the Legend. He was taken prisoner and carried before the Soldan of Babylon, and by the latter he was condemned to captivity. The Sultan had a daughter named Florentia, who loved the captive, while through him she was instructed in the Christian faith, and afterwards she was baptized. She effected his escape from prison, and to Orkney, together they eloped. In its capital Jork, their daughter Cunera was born. A Jewish astrologer predicted before her birth, that the child should be a paragon of virtue. The astrologer’s wife made advances towards King Aurelius. These he indignantly rejected. Aurelius merited to become a saint, and afterwards he became illustrious on account of his miracles.

    When the celebrated St. Ursula was about to sail from Britain on a pilgrimage to Rome with her eleven thousand virgins, St. Cunera—who is said to have been her kinswoman—joined this company. The object St. Ursula had in view was to visit the shrines of St. Peter and of St. Paul, with those of other holy persons there resting. She had previously sent messengers to the Orkney city of Jorc, entreating permission that her parents might allow their daughter Cunera to leave with her. This permission she obtained, and accordingly Cunera accompanied her to Rome. Having accomplished their pious wishes there, all were on their way home to Britain, and they sailed down the Rhine to Cologne. When the illustrious pilgrims were on their return, the whole party was massacred by the Huns, with the exception of St. Cunera. The exact time when this martyrdom took place, and its special circumstances, have been greatly contested by historians. Some have thought it referable to the Emperor Maximin, who lived in the third century; others again state, it was in the time of the tyrant Maximus, who flourished about A.D. 385; while most writers treating about this occurrence assign it to the middle of the century succeeding, and in the time of Attila. In the year 1156, many tombs, with inscriptions, were discovered at Cologne, which were thought to have been those of St. Ursula and her companions. Among these are said to have been found the names of many bishops and of other holy persons, supposed to have been her companions. At the time of that massacre Radbod, King of Frisia, and a great foe to Pepin of Heristal, is assumed to have been at Cologne. This account, however, is altogether inconsistent with historic indications. Radbod was so struck by the beauty of Cunera, that he saved her from the massacre, and hid her under his mantle, as the Legend states. Thence he carried her off to Rhenen, his capital on the Rhine, and which was in the diocese of Utrecht. This city was formerly on the left bank of the old Rhine, the bed of which is now nearly dried up; but it is on the right bank of the later course of the Rhine, which in those parts is called Lecka. The city was so called, probably because it was situated between the two Rhines. A probable conjecture has been offered, however, that St. Cunera had been a daughter to one of those chiefs who had been baptized in Frisia, by St. Willibrord; that she had deserved the reverence of a king with whom she lived; and that she had been put to death, owing to the jealousy of his wife. Afterwards, when miraculous indications had revealed her sanctity, a church was built over her place of sepulture. In reference to her the popular traditions becoming obscure, she is thought to have been regarded as one of St. Ursula’s contemporaries and companions. However, we have only to pursue the narrative regarding her, as we find it in the Legend.

    Radbod, the King of Rhenen, is said to have brought her into his palace, when she had been rescued from that death which overtook the eleven thousand virgins. While there, she kept herself constantly in the presence of God, serving him day and night, by vigils, abstinence, and other good works. While strictly observing his commandments, she despised the pomps of this life, advancing steadily from virtue to virtue. The poor were constant objects of her care. The king greatly admired her life and works, placing her over his family and giving her influence throughout his kingdom; while these privileges, so far from causing her to feel proud, rather increased her deferential humility to the king, queen, and their whole family. But his wife was displeased that a young and beautiful girl had been thus preserved, and lodged with her under the same roof. Soon did the queen resort to calumnies to tarnish the fair fame of Cunera. However, the king would not believe these stories, as he found Cunera to be so virtuous; and accordingly, he felt angry, enjoining silence on the queen, who also urged that their guest was over prodigal in wasting their substance on the poor. This charge failed, likewise, to effect her object. She was filled with envy and jealousy; so that at last, she prevailed on one of her attendants to strangle St. Cunera, with a towel, while the king was out hunting. The body was afterwards buried in a stable. The queen, who assisted in the murder and also in this attempt at concealment, engaged her waiting-maid to keep it a profound secret. They had prepared a false statement for the king on his return, and the queen told him, that during his absence the parents of Cunera had come to the palace and had hastily removed their daughter. The horse of the king was startled, it seems, and refused to enter that stable, where the corpse had been interred. Having been brought to another stable, however, he readily entered. When the king had retired for rest that evening, his ostler saw a bright light appearing above Cunera’s grave, and which assumed the form of a cross, as if composed of lighted candles. This information was brought to the king, who resolved on finding out the mystery, if possible; but, when his servants were at a distance from that stable those lights appeared, yet, when they arrived at it, suddenly the phenomenon vanished. However, on entering the stable, they noticed where the earth had been recently disturbed, and again removing it, they discovered the body of St. Cunera, having the towel with which she had been strangled around her neck. She was then removed from that pit. Suspecting the queen to have been the perpetrator of this foul murder, the king flew into a violent rage, and he punished her so severely, that between consciousness of guilt and fear, she became a lunatic. Then she ran away raving mad, tearing her hair and clothes for three days, while she wandered over the country. At last, she threw herself headlong from a precipice, and thus ended her miserable life. According to the Latin Legend, this occurred A.D. 339; while it is added, that Radbod, who so greatly admired and lamented Cunera, bestowed his palace as a place, where the holy woman was to receive posthumous honours. It is said, he also richly endowed it. Thus was the place of her deposition, and her great sanctity, manifested to all.

    It is added, that when Pope Sergius sent Willebrord as Archbishop to preside over the See of Utrecht, in 698, with his deacon the Blessed Adalbert, and his sub-deacon the Blessed Werenfrid, it so happened, that they passed through the town of Rhenen. There, the chief inhabitants waited on them, and reported the virtues and acts of St. Cunera. They also suppliantly stated, as the Almighty had wrought great miracles through his holy virgin and martyr, that her remains should be translated with becoming honours. Having joyfully received this testimony, St. Willibrord promised to accomplish that object which they so piously sought, but as his business was then of a pressing nature, he was obliged to postpone his intentions. However, this mission was too long placed in abeyance; and one day, while descending the Rhine with some companions, a great storm arose as they approached the eminence of Heymon, while all feared that their vessel must be submerged. St. Willibrord prayed to the Lord that the tempest might cease, and accordingly it was stilled. This threatened danger, he attributed to his neglecting that promise made to the people of Rhenen; and accordingly he directed the bark to its shore, where he landed, and he then ordered all his people to approach reverently the place, where St. Cunera’s remains were preserved. This command was very cheerfully obeyed, while with religious rites and solemnities, preparations were made for a public Translation, about the commencement of the eighth century. In his Menologium Scotorum, at the 12th of June, Thomas Dempster commemorates the transference and placing of St. Kunera’s relics by Willibrord, Archbishop of the Scots. St. Cunera is venerated chiefly in the diocese of Utrecht, where her beautiful church had been erected at Rhenen, over the spot where she suffered martyrdom, and it was distinguished by a magnificent tower. There, pilgrimages were made to her shrine by the people, who believed in the cures sa wrought through her intercession, and who also brought diseased cattle thither, hoping for their cure. It is stated, likewise, that formerly the people of Cleves and of Gelderland were accustomed to swear on the relics of St. Cunera. Females in that part of Holland frequently assumed the name Cunera, contracted to Knera or Knertje. Her festival is set down in the Cologne and Lubeck Martyrologies; as also, in some ancient Dutch Breviaries at the 12th of June. Molanus in his additions to Usuard has notices of this saint and her festival, at this date. There are other festivals of this holy virgin and martyr assigned to the 28th of October, said by one authority to have been the date for her Passion, while it may have been only the date for the Translation of her Relics; while again, in the Florarium Sanctorum, the Finding of the Relics of St. Cunera, Virgin and Martyr, is set down at the 19th December. From what has been already stated, and from what has been related regarding her relics, it is possible, there may have been two distinct Cuneras, both of them set down as a single individual. The head of a St. Cunera is preserved at Cologne, in the monastery of St. Vincent, according to the Catalogue of Ursuline Relics, which have been venerated in other churches of Cologne, besides the church of St. Ursula. Among other relics brought to Portugal in 1565, and presented to King Emanuel, by Margaret of Austria, who then ruled over Belgium, were those of St. Cunera; and while he distributed a portion of these to his niece, the rest he kept for his own kingdom. These were afterwards conveyed to France, by Antonio Notho, and bestowed on the son of Emanuel, a religious of the Cistercian order, in the year 1594.

    On the 16th of May, 1615, old style, there was an inspection made of St. Cunera’s relics, kept at Rhenen, by the Very Rev. Dean D. Wilger a Moerendael, of St. Peter’s church, Utrecht, by the Very Rev. Victor Schorelius, vicar and senior priest of the same church, and by Jacob Boelius, prebend of the church of the Blessed Virgin. In a wooden case they found those relics, enclosed in four different swathings. In the first of these, surrounded with red linen and wrapped in white linen were two large bones, and these were one palm and a half in length; three other bones one palm in length; five other bones pretty large, but not of the same length. In the second wrapper, formed of black and worn linen on the outside, and having some linen within, were found three portions of a cranium and a little longer than a finger’s length, a large bone apparently belonging to the shoulder, two parts of thicker bones and somewhat larger, seven notable fragments but of lesser size, and four portions of bones, yet still smaller. The third wrapper of red linen, with a gold lace at the opening, contained two fillets or head ornaments of linen, having insignia of the holy virgin, and gold thread intermixed. In the fourth wrapper was the towel which caused her strangulation, and more than two ells in length, by three quarters of an ell in breadth, covered with two other flowered towels, together with an old and a worn corporal over all. The Carmelite Father Damasus a S. Ludovico received a particle of St. Cunera’s relics, from Right Rev. Gaspar Munster, coadjutor Bishop of Osnabruck, for the Carmelites of the Holy Sepulchre of Rennes. There it was enclosed in a precious reliquary. In the year 1602, the Jesuit College of Emmerich obtained several relics of this holy virgin, with a letter describing and authenticating them. Various other relics were kept in Utrecht; and some of these appear to have fallen into the hands of the Calvinists, from whom a wealthy Catholic named Botter purchased them at a high price. A part of these were brought to Berlikum, and again to Bedaf, where they were honoured by the Catholics, who are said to have visited as pilgrims those places where they were kept, and to have received very many spiritual and corporal benefits in consequence. The fame of St. Cunera’s sanctity spread wonderously over the Low Countries, and especially through those provinces adjoining the River Rhine. Many extraordinary miracles are recorded to have been wrought through her intercession. Thus, the dead were raised to life, the sick were restored to health, the blind recovered their sight, the dumb their use of speech, paralytics were released from their debility, and captives from their prison, owing to faith in the efficacy of prayer to her. Epileptics and possessed persons were cured. Various incidents with details of names and places may be found in her Acts, which prove not only the extension of popular devotion towards this holy Virgin and Martyr, but likewise the continuous tradition, which, notwithstanding the mystery attaching to her, has brought her veneration down through long past ages even to our own times.

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  • Saint Dympna of Gheel, May 15

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

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

    [SIXTH OR SEVENTH CENTURY.]

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

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