January 15 is the commemoration of Saint Ite of Kileedy, ‘the shining light of the women of Mumhan’, as Saint Oengus the Martyrologist calls her. She is one of a handful of Irish female saints who have surviving Lives and in his account of Saint Ite below, Father Albert Barry has drawn on this rich hagiographical tradition to present a picture of her sanctity and her miracles:
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Saint Ite was
born in the year 480, and was of the Deise
family. St. Patrick
had preached the
Gospel to the Deise a few
years before
her birth. ” Patrick then
went into the southern Deise (Co. Limerick), and began
to build a Church at
Ard-Patrick”, Tripartite. The Deise
afterwards went southwards towards the sea (Co. Waterford).
Ite was fond
of fasting and prayer
whilst she was still
a child. The room where
she slept seemed one night
to be on fire, but
when the inmates of the house rushed into it, they beheld a wonderful light shining from
the face of the sleeping
girl: and she looked like an Angel.
An Angel gave
her three precious gems,
telling her that
the three Persons of the
blessed Trinity would in
future watch over her.
Her father wished
her to marry, but she would
not, because she had consecrated her virginity to God. He was very
angry with her, but she
said to her mother, “Although my father now forbids me
to give myself to Jesus Christ,
he will one day tell
me to go where I
wish in order to give myself to God”. She
fasted and prayed for three days that
the holy will of God might be done
in her. On the third
day the devil came
and said to her, “Alas, you will withdraw
yourself and many
others from me”. And an
Angel at the same time said to her
father, ”Why do
you hinder your daughter
taking the veil of virginity? Ite will be a great and
holy virgin before God
and His saints. You ought
to let her go wherever she wishes. She will serve
God in another part of
this land.” Her father, therefore, at once allowed her to go away.
Ite left her
father’s house, and
on her way heard the
devils saying: “Woe to us, the Angels
of God help her: she
will snatch many souls from
us.” She went to
a neighbouring church and there
got the veil of virginity from a Priest,
and, led by an Angel,
went to the west
of Hy-Connail and built
a house for herself
and some companions at Cluain Creadhail,
at the foot of Sliabh-Luachra (Killeedy,
Co. Limerick.)
Ite and her
Nuns prayed daily for the
people of the place, and
many blessings thereby flowed upon them. They,
in turn, gave many
gifts to her Convent.
She had the gifts
of prophecy and of working miracles,
and she healed many sick persons by
her prayers. She once told a
holy friend that she had got these
gifts from God, because from her youth
she had always thought on holy things,
and because she had so often prayed
to the Blessed Trinity.
Ite spent many
days at a time without food,
prayed much, and earnestly strove to bring
up young maidens in the fear and
love of God. Cuinnen of
Conneire says of her:
Ite loved much
the bringing up of youth
Humility without sadness:
Her cheek to
the floor she laid not:
Ever, ever for the
love of the Lord.
Since she bound the
girdle on her body.
And I know it since I’ve heard
it,
She ate not
a full or sufficing meal,
Such was Mide.
Aenghus, in his
lives of the Irish Saints, also thus writes of her: ”Ite ever
bore great sufferings, and
was much given to fasting,
and was the shining light of the women
of Mumhan.”
She was not
only a teacher of youth, but
even gave wise counsel to
holy and learned men.
S. Breanan and S. Mochoemoc owed much to
her teaching. S. Breanan one
day asked her to tell him
what were the three works most pleasing
to God. She said: ”Trustful resignation to God of a sinless heart: a guileless
religious life: generosity
with charity. These three
works are most pleasing to God.” He then asked
her to say what
were the three things most
hateful to Him. She answered: “Hatred of men: wickedness in the heart: too
great love of money. These three things are very hateful to
God.”
A Nun one
day saw three bright balls of light over
Ite’s head as she was praying
to the Blessed Trinity.
Ite prayed to
God that she might, on a coming feast-day,
get Holy Communion
at the hands of a very holy Priest. Her prayer
was heard, and she was
led by an Angel to
Clonmacnois, and there ate
the heavenly Bread. The holy
Priest who gave her Communion afterwards set out for Ite’s
Convent, and when he
had come to it, asked her
to give sight to a blind Monk then
with him. She did
so, and asked the holy
Priest to sing Mass
for her. After Mass she gave
him a present of the vestments, but he would not
take them, saying that he had been
forbidden by his Abbot to take any
gift from her. Ite then said, “Your holy
Abbot will not be angry if you take this
towel as a gift from
me; I will tell you
why. One day he came
to the Convent of the holy
virgin Caireche and she
asked to be allowed to wash his feet.
Then this holy virgin
washed the feet of your Abbot and
wiped them with a towel.
I give it now to you, and he
will be glad to get it when reminded
of this fact”. The holy Priest
then took the gift, and having
got her blessing, went back to
Clonmacnois.
A man, broken-hearted,
through the death of his son, came to
the Convent, and weeping very much, begged her
to bring him back to
life. He said: “I
will not give over weeping,
nor will I leave this house
until you bring him back to life.” She answered gently: “What you ask is
above my merits, and
is a work fit only
for the Apostles and holy
men like them”. But he
said: ” I am, above all,
sorry because my son lost
the use of his speech,
so that he was not
able to confess his sins;
I, therefore, beseech you to
get from the Holy Trinity that he may come back
to life even for one day.”
Ite then said: ” How long do you want him to live if
the good God should
have pity on you and bring back your son to
life?” The father answered: “I will be glad if he lives even
for one day.” Ite
said: ” He will live for more
than seven years from this
time.” She prayed earnestly
to God, and her prayer
was heard, and the child
came to life again.
Her uncle died,
and his sons by her wish
came to the Convent. She said to them:
“My uncle, your father,
is dead. Alas, he
is now suffering for his sins. We ought
to do something to lessen
his sufferings. Let each
one of you give bread
and meat and butter to the poor every day for the next
year for the good of
his soul. Then come back to me.” They did as she bade them
and then came back to
see her. Ite said to them:
”Your father has been
freed from much suffering
through your alms and my prayers.
Now go and do the same
thing during the coming year
and then come back again.”
When they had come
back at the end of
the year Ite said: ”Your
father is now freed from
his sufferings, but give
clothing to the poor
and come back once
more. They did so, and having come
to her again, she told them that their
father had at last gone to heaven:
” Your father now enjoys everlasting
happiness through your alms, my prayers,
but above all through
the mercy of God; keep always from
the sinful pleasures of this world, that you may not
suffer for your sins
as he did.” They thanked God
and their holy cousin
and went home.
In the year
546 the clan of the Corcoiche of
Hy-Figeinte (Co. Limerick),
made war on the people of Hy-Connaill. Ite told the
soldiers to do penance for their
sins before going to battle.
They did so, and
she prayed whilst they
fought, and the small and weak army of Hy-Connaill,
through her prayers, won the battle.
One of her nuns fell
into sin and God made
it known to Ite. She
said: “Today one of
our family has fallen
into sin; I wish to
know who among you has become the
prey of the ravening
wolf?” Each denied it, but
Ite drove the guilty
one from the house. However, she
took her back afterwards, and, helped by Ite, this nun,
led henceforth a blameless life, and did great
penance until her death.
Ite suffered great agony from a
cancer that ate away her side,
but she bore it gladly from
her love for Jesus Christ.
In the year
569, Ite became very sick, and
crowds flocked from all sides
to the Convent on hearing of
her illness, and, kneeling
outside, prayed for
a happy death for her whom
they loved so much.
When she was
dying she prayed earnestly to the holy Trinity
to bless the Priests
and people of Hy-Connaill, and with a
prayer to the blessed Trinity
on her lips she slept in
the Lord.
Holy Mass was
solemnly sung for
her, and she was buried in
presence of a great
crowd of weeping people. Many
miracles were worked by
her both then and afterwards, and she was
taken by the people
of Hy-Connaill as their patron
and protector. She has ever since been called
“The Brigid of Munster.”
OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE 