Lanigan, who
questions
their accuracy in stating the time and place, is of opinion, that this second capture ought to be assigned to a period, after our saint had spent his four years of
study
Hymn states,
angel
at Tours.
study
Hymn states,
angel
at Tours.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
, p.
51.
'*^
language,
St. Patrick designates him by the title
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
499
Patrick
:
** What is the matter with O Christian ? You you,
God is
say your greatandpowerful; whydoyounot,therefore,praytohimforus? Begfor us, as we are perishing with hunger, and scarcely shall we see mortal man
: anymore. "|But,St. Patrickconfidentlysaidtothem "Beconvertedtothe
:
Lord, my God, with your whole heart, for there is nothing impossible to him. He will send us meat this day, on our journey, until we are comforted, since abundance belongs to him. " By the assistance of God, it so happened ; for, behold, a herd of swine came before them on the road, and they killed some. There they remained two nights, with abundance of refreshment ; their dogs were surfeited, and many of them were left half dead upon the road. After all this, the wanderers gave great thanks to God, and St. Patrick became very estimable in their sight. From that time forward, they had abundance of meat. '^3 They found even wild honey, which one of them offered to the saint, with the words
" This has been immolated to God, give thanks. " '^^ But, Patrick then refused to partake of it ; probably, because that man meant to say, that he considered it as a libation, offered, in the first instance, to his God, which was only an idol. '^s On this occasion, the holy youth ad- hered to the injunction of St. Paul,^^^ St. Patrick does not state, indeed, that his companions sacrificed the swine's flesh to idols, although this is mentioned, by some writers of his Acts. ^^7 This same night, Satan assailed him with violent temptations, which he long remembered. While dreaming, a huge
fragment of a rock seemed to fall upon him,^^^ and to paralyse all his limbs. But, he called, Elias, Elias,'^9 with all his might, and behold the brightness of
the sun fell upon him,^7o and dispersed all uneasiness. ^7^
He therefore
of "gubernator. " This was also the
epithet applied to the head man of the ship, who at first had refused to take him on board.
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. iii. March xvii.
'*9 The Second Life relates this matter in
'*3 The stories, told of St. Patrick's in-
'** " £t unus ex illis dixit, hoc immolati-
tavi. " Confessio S. Patricii," p. 8. From
the context, it would appear, that "
immo-
latitium was relative to the honey. The and sequence can be supplied from other
term may be used, either for sacrifices, or for libations.
'*5 Probus has given a strange turn to the
narrative. He says, that our saint's fellow-
sources. See n. 22, p. 17.
'7° There are some very interesting re-
marks, in connexion with this subject, in Dr.
Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland,"
travellers asked him to take some wild chap, ii. , pp. 370 to 373. A Hymn, in
honey, whereas he used not to eat flesh-
meat. See Fifth Life, lib. i. , cap. vii.
praise of Christ, has been published by Muratori, from the Irish Antiphonary of
'**
Although he teaches, that idols are
Bangor, and it occurs, also, in Dr. Todd's
nothing,
and
that,
without
asking questions,
" Liber It has been Hymnorum," p. 152.
it is lawful to eat whatever is sold in the
attributed to St. Hilary of Poictiers, and
market or laid before us ; yet, the Apostle there this word El is applied to Christ. St.
of the Gentiles lays down the following
"
Hilary was contemporaneous, too, with the Irish Apostle. In the old Matin lessons of
the ancient Breviary of the church Vales-
pirensis of Catalonia, in Spain, it is stated, that after the birth of a daughter, St. Hilary of Aquitain left the world and its enjoy- ments, to become initiated in sacred orders.
But if any man say : This has been
rule :
sacrificed to idols ; eat not of it for his sake that told it, and for conscience' sake ; Con- s—cience, I say, not thy own, but another's. "
I Cor. X. , 28, 29.
'*7 See Jocelyn, or the Sixth Life, cap.
xviii. ,p. 68,theTripartiteLife,cap. xxvii. , SeethatverylearnedandscarceworkofJohn
p. 121.
'**
Tamayo De Salazar, Priest, and intituled
•'
Butler was much mistaken, in making
Anamnesis sive Commemoratio Omnium a great stone really fall upon him. See Sanctorum Hispanorum, Pontificum, Mar-
''
the Irish sentence following
:
" Dar in ligh
tromligi foir, corod muich fri thalmhuin e : and of his from will ro Eli — comdia in mud
fancy, escape Ireland,
" ***
be found related, more at length, in Irish Folk Lore," by Lageniensis, chap, xxxiii. Saint Legends, pp. 295 to 299.
tium —est : Deo gratias. Exinde nihil gus- "
''
Cap. xx. , p. 1 3. In a note, Colgan remarks, that this imperfect sentence proves the writer to have been an Irishman. A Latin translation is then
given ; and, we are told, that in the St. Hubert and Alen Codices, the passage is found to be defective, although its meaning
guidh indarput uadh,
rigail. "
500 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
trusted that Christ, in reality, had regard for his prayers, and that the Holy Spirit cried out, and assisted him. As the Lord had said to his Apostles,
"
For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you ;" '72 so St. Patrick believed, that aid came from heaven, in the hour of his tribulation/73
Our Apostle speaks of his journey, in such a manner as to insinuate, that
he had some companions during the whole way. It seems probable, that these fellow-travellers of the saint were not sailors, in our acceptation of the
word. Accordingtothegeneralcustomofancienttraders,thosenavigators had gone themselves to Ireland, with the view, there to dispose of their goods.
After having purchased some articles in exchange, it is likely they were return- ing to their homes. We may easily suppose, their vessel had been a hired one ; while the managers and directors of its course were those roving merchants. It would seem, that some of those navigators belonged to our saint's own native place. '74 According to his own narrative, it seems clear,
and these are corroborated, likewise, by his own narrative.
that they received him as a friend, and brought him as a fellow-passenger
; hence, it is incorrect to state as some have done that St. Patrick had been ————
er in his own
which means that in which his friends dwelt are variously related. Thus, while some of his Acts simply relate a return to his parents,'7s others state, that he endured a second captivity before he reached them. '76 That his parents were then living, and tliat they received Patrick with great joy, on his escape from Ireland, are accounts, which we find in some of his biographies,
sold to these merchants. His adventures, aft arriving country
tyram, Confessorum, Virginum, Viduanim,
ac Sanctarum Mulieruni," «S:c. , lomus i. ,
Januar. , Dies xiii. , p. 143.
'7' "Et dum clamarem Heliam, Heliam,
viribus meis, ecce splendor soils decidit super me, et s—tatim discussit a me omnem gravitu- dinem. " "ConfessioS. Patricii,"p. 8.
'7=^ See Matt. x. 20.
*73 See the foregoing accomit in the Second Life, cap. xx. , p. 13 ; the Third Life, cap. xvii. , p. 22 ; the Fourth Life, cap. xxiv. , p. 38 ; the Fiftli Life, lib. i. , cap. viii. , p. 51 ; the Sixth Life, cap. xix. , p. 68 ; the Seventh Life, pars, i. , cap, xxviii. , p. 121.
'75 See the Second Life, cap. xxi. , p. 13, and the Fourth Life, cap. xxv. , p. 38.
''^ See the Third Life, cap. xviii. , p. 22. It slates, he was then a prisoner for two months. The Fifth Life has it, that this
occurred, many years after his first capture, and that he was then brought into a very distant country, to the language of which he
the — where he lived but, detained him two subjugate country, they only months,
'74 See Dr.
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, viii. , nn. 50, 51, 52, pp. 151 to 153.
was altogether a stranger
—"It is like the miracle of St. Patrick, who heaped an oven with snow. " The Tripartite Life makes our saint endure a third captivity, after he re- turned to his country, and had remained there three months. The Britons were his captors, and the devastators of his country ;
Lanigan's
applied,
within became, until it was quite congealed.
; that a heavenly message was conveyed to him, which announced he should only be in slavery for two months, and that he should then return to his country, where a third captivity was destined for him ; afterwards, he was to visit Rome, and thence returning, he was —to
parts
" Ecclesiastical His-
when the Angel Victor procured his release. and princes were to obey him. He was to See lib. i. , cap, xxix. , p. 121. His own
apparently Ireland to the Gospel. Kings
baptize people, in Scotia, Britain, Anglia, Normandy, and in other islands. On the sixtieth day, he was released from the hands of those barbarians ; and, flying, with other captives, the Providence of God supplied them with food, fire, and dry weather, until on the tenth day, they came among the people of their o%vn country. See lib. i. , cap. X. , pp. 47, 48. As usual, Jocelynadds something to the previous account, as that the Angel Victor was the messenger em- ployed to announce his release. Then, we are told, that the saint was sold for a chal- dron, which afterwards could not receive heat from the fire, and the more of this latter was the colder the water
Then the seller of our saint demanded the return of St. Patrick to captivity ; but, when the chaldron boiled beneath fire again ap- plied, this miracle was acknowledged, and thesaintthusobtainedhisliberty. Seecap. XX. , pp. 68, 69. It is probable, in reference to this legend, the following curious popular adage remains : When a man uses foolish means to effect an end, they say of him in some of France
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 501
CHAPTER V.
ST. Patrick's age and the time when he escaped to gaul—his second captivity —HIS VISION—his resolution TO EMBRACE THE CLERICAL STATE—HE SEEKS THE MONASTERYOFTOURS,TOPREPAREFORIT—LIFEATMARMOUTIER—ST. PATRICK'S promotion to HOLY ORDERS—HIS HEAVENLY INSPIRATIONS—HE STUDIES UNDER ST. GERMANUS OF AUXERRE—HIS LIFE IN ITALY—THE TYRRHENE ISLANDS—THE STAFF OF JESUS.
Our saint is generally considered to have attained the age of twenty-two, at the time of his return to Gaul from Ireland, which must have occurred about the close of the first decade in the fifth century. There, his sad experiences had rather matured his judgment, although they militated against his literary improvement. Hisparentsandfriendsweregreatlyrejoiced,athisrestora- tion to them, and they desired, that he should no more leave them. How- ever, Patrick had certain internal illuminations, that called him to a higher destiny. He seems to have resolved on embracing the clerical state, as one of choice. He did not enjoy, perhaps, for any great length of time the society of his parents^ or friends. ^ It is probable, St. Patrick had been carried off the second time, by some marauding Franks, who captured prisoners, for the purpose of selling them as slaves, or of extorting money from friends, for their ransom. 3 But, it is not easy to determine the exact period,tobeassignedforsuchdetention. Aftersixtydays,heescapedfrom his captors. From his own Confession, and from various old Acts, several modern writers have supposed, that all the vicissitudes of St. Patrick's cap- tivitiess preceded those periods, when his education and preparation for the sacred ministry had seriously commenced. Following the Tripartite Life,^ his second captivity is referred, by the Bollandists, to the period of three months, after returning to his own country. 7 Dr.
Lanigan, who questions their accuracy in stating the time and place, is of opinion, that this second capture ought to be assigned to a period, after our saint had spent his four years of
study
Hymn states,
angel
at Tours. ^ A comment on St. Fiach's
how an having declared to St. Patrick, that he must cross the sea to study, the place
Confession seems to insinuate, that after
having been some years, at home, he was captured a second time. An inspiration was
given him, on the first night, that he should note,
be two months a and after prisoner, sixty
days he escaped from his captors. See
"
Opuscula S. Patricii. "
Father Villanueva's
"
Sancti Patricii, Iber-
"
himself speaks, in Epistola ad Coroti-
cum. "
St. Patrick says, "Nocte ilia sexagessima
norum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opus-
cula," &c. Confessio S. Patricii, cap. ii. , liberavit me Dominus de manibus eorum. "
num. — —
10, pp. 193, 194. "Opuscula
S. After these Patricii," p. 9.
Chapter v. 'Whether the saint in-
tended to state, many years, or, not many years, seems somewhat doubtful. Ussher
words, a few lines succeed, in Ware's edition,
Evidently these have been displaced. What is contained in them belongs to an account
" annos mul- of the saint's from his Irish Armagh reading, return,
followed the
"
tos. " See
Yet, strange to say, he reckons annos multos" at two years. See also the "In- dex Chronologicus," at A. D. 395, andat A. D. 397. The Bollandists, too, leave this a doubtful reading.
captivity, The whole of this text is much better edited.
by the Bollandists.
s in Probus' Acts, there is a confused ac-
count of a third captivity endured by St. Patrick. But, although this has been called he third, in reality it was the first bondage, SeeUssher's*' Primordia,"cap. xvii. ,p. 833.
Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 834. "
* In his Confession, the saint
says,
" Et
* See " Vita S. Septima
annos non multos adhuc Probus has "post multos an-
iterum
ram dedi. "
nos," when describing St. Patrick's second
Patricii,"
lib.
post
captu-
i. ,
captivity by strangers.
S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. x. , p. 51. It is to
Episcopo,"
See " Vita Quinta
Martii xvii. " De S. Patricio
&c. Commentanus Prsevius, sect, v. , p.
be observed, that " non " was wanting in the Armagh MS. of the Confession, con- suited by Sir James Ware. See his marginal
^ Qf such men, St. Patrick unprincipled
cap. xxix. , p. 121.
^ See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
502 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
intendedforhisinstructionwasGaul. 9 Here,itwouldseem,hehadavery
remarkable vision, which indicated the will of heaven, in reference to his
future Apostolate. The saint himself relates it, as occurring after his return
to his parents. Then, one night, he had a clear revelation of that glorious
mission,forwhichhewasdestined. Hebeheld,inavision,amanpresentinga
comely appearance, as we are told in his Confessions. He is called Victri-
cius,'° or in some texts, Victor," or Victorious. " This ghostly visitant
seemed to bring many letters from Ireland. 's Giving St. Patrick one to read,
our holy Apostle recognised a proof of God's Providence, for his future
direction. When he began to read this letter, he found written, in the very
"
beginning of it :
Hasc est vox Hibernigenarum," which may be interpreted
in English, "This is the voice of the Irish nation. " ^4 Having read this
opening announcement, and intending to go on with the rest, it seemed to
Patrick, that he understood in spirit, how the Irish people, from the wood of roclut,'S near the western sea, cried out to*him with a loud voice :^^ " We
522. This event is referred by them to A. D. 398. They have even recounted a third captivity, at Bordeaux.
* See " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, x. , p. 159.
9 See "Scholia Veteris Scholiastre," nn.
9/. , 10 >^, pp. 4, 5.
'° we here understand St. Perhaps may
time of our saint's escape, and he is said to have been a French Briton.
'3 It has been appropriately remarked, that this passage, from a very authentic
period of antiquity, strongly supports the claim of the Irish to an early knowledge of the art of writing. See Mrs. M. C. Ferguson's " of the Irish before the
Story Victricius, who was a great missionary of 134-
Conquest," p.
the Morini, at the end of tlie fourth century, ^* and he afterwards became Bishop of Rouen.
''
Rogamus te sancte puer, ut venias et
See
Malbrancq,
" De Morinis. " lib. ii.
Patricii," Ware's edition. It would
Again, Franciscus Pommerseus, in his His-
tory of the Bishops of Rouen, says, that St.
Victricius was also sometimes called Victorl- cus and Victoricius. He had been preceded, as
an Apostolic man, by St. Victoricius, who suffered martyrdom, with Saints Fuscien
and Firmin, at Amiens, in the year 286.
" A favourite disciple of St. Martin, and
p. 9,
seem, that instead of "puer," some of the
called Victor, was sent to St. Paulinus of infants. See Scholia Veteris Scholiastae,"
Nola. See S. Paulini Nolani "Opera," n. 15, p. 5. The Fourth Life, cap. xxv. , p. """
Epistola xxiii. , in the Patrologise Cursus 38, for sancte puer," has sancte Patrici,"
Complctus" of J. P. Migne, vol. Ixi. Paris, 1847, See, also, the two epistles of St. Vic- tricius, who with St. Martin persuaded Paulinus to withdraw from the world. Mr. John Cashel Hoey has a suspicion, that the disciple of St. Victricius, named in these
now as Paschasius, now as
epistles, — Tytichus,
printed, but there being no doubt, as the
BoUandists say, that the —two names refer to
oneandthesameperson mayhavebeenin
reality St. Patrick. St. Paulinus refers to
the accounts he had heard from this young
priest, regarding the anxiety of St. Victricius,
for the evangelization of the most remote 8. 110 bo chobAi^ Tjont) e^inn ciclini parts of the globe, and then speaks of him as
Hymn
or Tytius the name being evidently mis- vision alluded to, in these lines following :
—
a disciple, in every way worthy of his master:
pAC^AAic ]:oi\ochlA'o ;
Uo clof ciAn i^on a ^a^wia, iiiac
"
dam virtutum gratiarumque tuarum lineas
In cujus gratia et humanitate, quasi quas-
velut speculo reddente collegimus. "—Epis- tola xvii.
" The person, referred to in the Confession, more probably is St. Victricius, who was an exact contcmporai7 of St. Patrick. He was
engaged op the piissio^i of Boulogne, at the
adhuc ambules inter nos. "—" Confessio S.
"" old writers read pueri," as if it were, we,
boys, intreat thee, O saint. " St. Fiach's
Hymn, strophe 8, p. i, the Third Life, cap. XX. , p. 22, Probus, lib. i. , cap. xviii. , p. 48, and the Tripartite Life, lib. i. , cap. xxx. , p. 121, speak of the voice, as if it came from
children. Some of the accounts have it "
and so has Probus. See lib. i. , cap. xviii. ,
p. 48.
'5 The Scholiast says, that it was in Hy-
Amalgaidh, now Tirawley, in the county of
"
'° In the of St. Fiach, we see this
Mayo. See n. 15, p. 5-
Scholia Veteris Scholiastse,"
7. "Oochuin ne^enn •oot)i:eci]', ^Mngil t)e
hipchip
memcc Acchichi hi ppb, •oopuc^Tct)
;
^AAioe CAitle pochtAt). They are thus Englished :—
7. "To Ireland he was brought back in visions by the angels of God :
Often was he in vision solicited to return thither again,
A]\ichip.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 503
pray thee, O holy youth Patrick, that thou come, walk among us and set us free. " ^^ The saint could not read any further, but awaking out of sleep, he
was sensibly touched with the earnest prayer of those unbaptized persons. ^^ HerenderedthankstoGod. Byreasonofthisvision,hewaspersuadedthat our Lord called him to convert the Irish nation. Its inhabitants seemed to crave and most earnestly to desire his presence, and he longed to return as a missionary of the people, among whom he had lived as a slave. ^9 Being desirous to know further the Divine pleasure, touching this matter, he con- sulted his own heart, his relations and friends, while he had special recourse to God, in prayer. A union of influences confirmed his devout purposes. By the Angel Victor, the Almighty commanded him to prepare himself for a seminary of ecclesiastical discipline, there to be trained up in Christian learn-
ing and piety.
In almost all his biographies, the saint is said to have been a nephew to
St. MartinofTours. ^° ThisfineoldcityofFranceisontheRiverLoire,in
the present Department of Touraine. ^^ As generally believed, by various writers, St. Martin was a near relation to our Irish Apostle. This, if true, was probably an additional inducement for his parents to entrust their child, during his tender years, to the care of teachers, who had been St. Martin's dis- ciples. Although stated to have been a Celt of Pannonia, during his military and early ecclesiastical career, Martin was certainly stationed, at one time, in ornearBoulogne. Thewell-knownlegend,aboutdividinghiscloakwiththe beggar, is alleged to have taken place, at Amiens. It is recorded, that he was baptized at Therouanne, where the first church was raised to his honour. The principal missionaries, in that district, are said to have been his disciples. Evidently the people there entertained a deep devotion towards
8.
"
Salvation to Ireland was the comeing of Patrick to Fochlaidh ;
Afar was heard the sound of the ca 1 of the youths of Caill Fochladh.
'*^
language,
St. Patrick designates him by the title
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
499
Patrick
:
** What is the matter with O Christian ? You you,
God is
say your greatandpowerful; whydoyounot,therefore,praytohimforus? Begfor us, as we are perishing with hunger, and scarcely shall we see mortal man
: anymore. "|But,St. Patrickconfidentlysaidtothem "Beconvertedtothe
:
Lord, my God, with your whole heart, for there is nothing impossible to him. He will send us meat this day, on our journey, until we are comforted, since abundance belongs to him. " By the assistance of God, it so happened ; for, behold, a herd of swine came before them on the road, and they killed some. There they remained two nights, with abundance of refreshment ; their dogs were surfeited, and many of them were left half dead upon the road. After all this, the wanderers gave great thanks to God, and St. Patrick became very estimable in their sight. From that time forward, they had abundance of meat. '^3 They found even wild honey, which one of them offered to the saint, with the words
" This has been immolated to God, give thanks. " '^^ But, Patrick then refused to partake of it ; probably, because that man meant to say, that he considered it as a libation, offered, in the first instance, to his God, which was only an idol. '^s On this occasion, the holy youth ad- hered to the injunction of St. Paul,^^^ St. Patrick does not state, indeed, that his companions sacrificed the swine's flesh to idols, although this is mentioned, by some writers of his Acts. ^^7 This same night, Satan assailed him with violent temptations, which he long remembered. While dreaming, a huge
fragment of a rock seemed to fall upon him,^^^ and to paralyse all his limbs. But, he called, Elias, Elias,'^9 with all his might, and behold the brightness of
the sun fell upon him,^7o and dispersed all uneasiness. ^7^
He therefore
of "gubernator. " This was also the
epithet applied to the head man of the ship, who at first had refused to take him on board.
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. iii. March xvii.
'*9 The Second Life relates this matter in
'*3 The stories, told of St. Patrick's in-
'** " £t unus ex illis dixit, hoc immolati-
tavi. " Confessio S. Patricii," p. 8. From
the context, it would appear, that "
immo-
latitium was relative to the honey. The and sequence can be supplied from other
term may be used, either for sacrifices, or for libations.
'*5 Probus has given a strange turn to the
narrative. He says, that our saint's fellow-
sources. See n. 22, p. 17.
'7° There are some very interesting re-
marks, in connexion with this subject, in Dr.
Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland,"
travellers asked him to take some wild chap, ii. , pp. 370 to 373. A Hymn, in
honey, whereas he used not to eat flesh-
meat. See Fifth Life, lib. i. , cap. vii.
praise of Christ, has been published by Muratori, from the Irish Antiphonary of
'**
Although he teaches, that idols are
Bangor, and it occurs, also, in Dr. Todd's
nothing,
and
that,
without
asking questions,
" Liber It has been Hymnorum," p. 152.
it is lawful to eat whatever is sold in the
attributed to St. Hilary of Poictiers, and
market or laid before us ; yet, the Apostle there this word El is applied to Christ. St.
of the Gentiles lays down the following
"
Hilary was contemporaneous, too, with the Irish Apostle. In the old Matin lessons of
the ancient Breviary of the church Vales-
pirensis of Catalonia, in Spain, it is stated, that after the birth of a daughter, St. Hilary of Aquitain left the world and its enjoy- ments, to become initiated in sacred orders.
But if any man say : This has been
rule :
sacrificed to idols ; eat not of it for his sake that told it, and for conscience' sake ; Con- s—cience, I say, not thy own, but another's. "
I Cor. X. , 28, 29.
'*7 See Jocelyn, or the Sixth Life, cap.
xviii. ,p. 68,theTripartiteLife,cap. xxvii. , SeethatverylearnedandscarceworkofJohn
p. 121.
'**
Tamayo De Salazar, Priest, and intituled
•'
Butler was much mistaken, in making
Anamnesis sive Commemoratio Omnium a great stone really fall upon him. See Sanctorum Hispanorum, Pontificum, Mar-
''
the Irish sentence following
:
" Dar in ligh
tromligi foir, corod muich fri thalmhuin e : and of his from will ro Eli — comdia in mud
fancy, escape Ireland,
" ***
be found related, more at length, in Irish Folk Lore," by Lageniensis, chap, xxxiii. Saint Legends, pp. 295 to 299.
tium —est : Deo gratias. Exinde nihil gus- "
''
Cap. xx. , p. 1 3. In a note, Colgan remarks, that this imperfect sentence proves the writer to have been an Irishman. A Latin translation is then
given ; and, we are told, that in the St. Hubert and Alen Codices, the passage is found to be defective, although its meaning
guidh indarput uadh,
rigail. "
500 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
trusted that Christ, in reality, had regard for his prayers, and that the Holy Spirit cried out, and assisted him. As the Lord had said to his Apostles,
"
For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you ;" '72 so St. Patrick believed, that aid came from heaven, in the hour of his tribulation/73
Our Apostle speaks of his journey, in such a manner as to insinuate, that
he had some companions during the whole way. It seems probable, that these fellow-travellers of the saint were not sailors, in our acceptation of the
word. Accordingtothegeneralcustomofancienttraders,thosenavigators had gone themselves to Ireland, with the view, there to dispose of their goods.
After having purchased some articles in exchange, it is likely they were return- ing to their homes. We may easily suppose, their vessel had been a hired one ; while the managers and directors of its course were those roving merchants. It would seem, that some of those navigators belonged to our saint's own native place. '74 According to his own narrative, it seems clear,
and these are corroborated, likewise, by his own narrative.
that they received him as a friend, and brought him as a fellow-passenger
; hence, it is incorrect to state as some have done that St. Patrick had been ————
er in his own
which means that in which his friends dwelt are variously related. Thus, while some of his Acts simply relate a return to his parents,'7s others state, that he endured a second captivity before he reached them. '76 That his parents were then living, and tliat they received Patrick with great joy, on his escape from Ireland, are accounts, which we find in some of his biographies,
sold to these merchants. His adventures, aft arriving country
tyram, Confessorum, Virginum, Viduanim,
ac Sanctarum Mulieruni," «S:c. , lomus i. ,
Januar. , Dies xiii. , p. 143.
'7' "Et dum clamarem Heliam, Heliam,
viribus meis, ecce splendor soils decidit super me, et s—tatim discussit a me omnem gravitu- dinem. " "ConfessioS. Patricii,"p. 8.
'7=^ See Matt. x. 20.
*73 See the foregoing accomit in the Second Life, cap. xx. , p. 13 ; the Third Life, cap. xvii. , p. 22 ; the Fourth Life, cap. xxiv. , p. 38 ; the Fiftli Life, lib. i. , cap. viii. , p. 51 ; the Sixth Life, cap. xix. , p. 68 ; the Seventh Life, pars, i. , cap, xxviii. , p. 121.
'75 See the Second Life, cap. xxi. , p. 13, and the Fourth Life, cap. xxv. , p. 38.
''^ See the Third Life, cap. xviii. , p. 22. It slates, he was then a prisoner for two months. The Fifth Life has it, that this
occurred, many years after his first capture, and that he was then brought into a very distant country, to the language of which he
the — where he lived but, detained him two subjugate country, they only months,
'74 See Dr.
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, viii. , nn. 50, 51, 52, pp. 151 to 153.
was altogether a stranger
—"It is like the miracle of St. Patrick, who heaped an oven with snow. " The Tripartite Life makes our saint endure a third captivity, after he re- turned to his country, and had remained there three months. The Britons were his captors, and the devastators of his country ;
Lanigan's
applied,
within became, until it was quite congealed.
; that a heavenly message was conveyed to him, which announced he should only be in slavery for two months, and that he should then return to his country, where a third captivity was destined for him ; afterwards, he was to visit Rome, and thence returning, he was —to
parts
" Ecclesiastical His-
when the Angel Victor procured his release. and princes were to obey him. He was to See lib. i. , cap, xxix. , p. 121. His own
apparently Ireland to the Gospel. Kings
baptize people, in Scotia, Britain, Anglia, Normandy, and in other islands. On the sixtieth day, he was released from the hands of those barbarians ; and, flying, with other captives, the Providence of God supplied them with food, fire, and dry weather, until on the tenth day, they came among the people of their o%vn country. See lib. i. , cap. X. , pp. 47, 48. As usual, Jocelynadds something to the previous account, as that the Angel Victor was the messenger em- ployed to announce his release. Then, we are told, that the saint was sold for a chal- dron, which afterwards could not receive heat from the fire, and the more of this latter was the colder the water
Then the seller of our saint demanded the return of St. Patrick to captivity ; but, when the chaldron boiled beneath fire again ap- plied, this miracle was acknowledged, and thesaintthusobtainedhisliberty. Seecap. XX. , pp. 68, 69. It is probable, in reference to this legend, the following curious popular adage remains : When a man uses foolish means to effect an end, they say of him in some of France
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 501
CHAPTER V.
ST. Patrick's age and the time when he escaped to gaul—his second captivity —HIS VISION—his resolution TO EMBRACE THE CLERICAL STATE—HE SEEKS THE MONASTERYOFTOURS,TOPREPAREFORIT—LIFEATMARMOUTIER—ST. PATRICK'S promotion to HOLY ORDERS—HIS HEAVENLY INSPIRATIONS—HE STUDIES UNDER ST. GERMANUS OF AUXERRE—HIS LIFE IN ITALY—THE TYRRHENE ISLANDS—THE STAFF OF JESUS.
Our saint is generally considered to have attained the age of twenty-two, at the time of his return to Gaul from Ireland, which must have occurred about the close of the first decade in the fifth century. There, his sad experiences had rather matured his judgment, although they militated against his literary improvement. Hisparentsandfriendsweregreatlyrejoiced,athisrestora- tion to them, and they desired, that he should no more leave them. How- ever, Patrick had certain internal illuminations, that called him to a higher destiny. He seems to have resolved on embracing the clerical state, as one of choice. He did not enjoy, perhaps, for any great length of time the society of his parents^ or friends. ^ It is probable, St. Patrick had been carried off the second time, by some marauding Franks, who captured prisoners, for the purpose of selling them as slaves, or of extorting money from friends, for their ransom. 3 But, it is not easy to determine the exact period,tobeassignedforsuchdetention. Aftersixtydays,heescapedfrom his captors. From his own Confession, and from various old Acts, several modern writers have supposed, that all the vicissitudes of St. Patrick's cap- tivitiess preceded those periods, when his education and preparation for the sacred ministry had seriously commenced. Following the Tripartite Life,^ his second captivity is referred, by the Bollandists, to the period of three months, after returning to his own country. 7 Dr.
Lanigan, who questions their accuracy in stating the time and place, is of opinion, that this second capture ought to be assigned to a period, after our saint had spent his four years of
study
Hymn states,
angel
at Tours. ^ A comment on St. Fiach's
how an having declared to St. Patrick, that he must cross the sea to study, the place
Confession seems to insinuate, that after
having been some years, at home, he was captured a second time. An inspiration was
given him, on the first night, that he should note,
be two months a and after prisoner, sixty
days he escaped from his captors. See
"
Opuscula S. Patricii. "
Father Villanueva's
"
Sancti Patricii, Iber-
"
himself speaks, in Epistola ad Coroti-
cum. "
St. Patrick says, "Nocte ilia sexagessima
norum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opus-
cula," &c. Confessio S. Patricii, cap. ii. , liberavit me Dominus de manibus eorum. "
num. — —
10, pp. 193, 194. "Opuscula
S. After these Patricii," p. 9.
Chapter v. 'Whether the saint in-
tended to state, many years, or, not many years, seems somewhat doubtful. Ussher
words, a few lines succeed, in Ware's edition,
Evidently these have been displaced. What is contained in them belongs to an account
" annos mul- of the saint's from his Irish Armagh reading, return,
followed the
"
tos. " See
Yet, strange to say, he reckons annos multos" at two years. See also the "In- dex Chronologicus," at A. D. 395, andat A. D. 397. The Bollandists, too, leave this a doubtful reading.
captivity, The whole of this text is much better edited.
by the Bollandists.
s in Probus' Acts, there is a confused ac-
count of a third captivity endured by St. Patrick. But, although this has been called he third, in reality it was the first bondage, SeeUssher's*' Primordia,"cap. xvii. ,p. 833.
Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 834. "
* In his Confession, the saint
says,
" Et
* See " Vita S. Septima
annos non multos adhuc Probus has "post multos an-
iterum
ram dedi. "
nos," when describing St. Patrick's second
Patricii,"
lib.
post
captu-
i. ,
captivity by strangers.
S. Patricii," lib. i. , cap. x. , p. 51. It is to
Episcopo,"
See " Vita Quinta
Martii xvii. " De S. Patricio
&c. Commentanus Prsevius, sect, v. , p.
be observed, that " non " was wanting in the Armagh MS. of the Confession, con- suited by Sir James Ware. See his marginal
^ Qf such men, St. Patrick unprincipled
cap. xxix. , p. 121.
^ See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
502 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
intendedforhisinstructionwasGaul. 9 Here,itwouldseem,hehadavery
remarkable vision, which indicated the will of heaven, in reference to his
future Apostolate. The saint himself relates it, as occurring after his return
to his parents. Then, one night, he had a clear revelation of that glorious
mission,forwhichhewasdestined. Hebeheld,inavision,amanpresentinga
comely appearance, as we are told in his Confessions. He is called Victri-
cius,'° or in some texts, Victor," or Victorious. " This ghostly visitant
seemed to bring many letters from Ireland. 's Giving St. Patrick one to read,
our holy Apostle recognised a proof of God's Providence, for his future
direction. When he began to read this letter, he found written, in the very
"
beginning of it :
Hasc est vox Hibernigenarum," which may be interpreted
in English, "This is the voice of the Irish nation. " ^4 Having read this
opening announcement, and intending to go on with the rest, it seemed to
Patrick, that he understood in spirit, how the Irish people, from the wood of roclut,'S near the western sea, cried out to*him with a loud voice :^^ " We
522. This event is referred by them to A. D. 398. They have even recounted a third captivity, at Bordeaux.
* See " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, x. , p. 159.
9 See "Scholia Veteris Scholiastre," nn.
9/. , 10 >^, pp. 4, 5.
'° we here understand St. Perhaps may
time of our saint's escape, and he is said to have been a French Briton.
'3 It has been appropriately remarked, that this passage, from a very authentic
period of antiquity, strongly supports the claim of the Irish to an early knowledge of the art of writing. See Mrs. M. C. Ferguson's " of the Irish before the
Story Victricius, who was a great missionary of 134-
Conquest," p.
the Morini, at the end of tlie fourth century, ^* and he afterwards became Bishop of Rouen.
''
Rogamus te sancte puer, ut venias et
See
Malbrancq,
" De Morinis. " lib. ii.
Patricii," Ware's edition. It would
Again, Franciscus Pommerseus, in his His-
tory of the Bishops of Rouen, says, that St.
Victricius was also sometimes called Victorl- cus and Victoricius. He had been preceded, as
an Apostolic man, by St. Victoricius, who suffered martyrdom, with Saints Fuscien
and Firmin, at Amiens, in the year 286.
" A favourite disciple of St. Martin, and
p. 9,
seem, that instead of "puer," some of the
called Victor, was sent to St. Paulinus of infants. See Scholia Veteris Scholiastae,"
Nola. See S. Paulini Nolani "Opera," n. 15, p. 5. The Fourth Life, cap. xxv. , p. """
Epistola xxiii. , in the Patrologise Cursus 38, for sancte puer," has sancte Patrici,"
Complctus" of J. P. Migne, vol. Ixi. Paris, 1847, See, also, the two epistles of St. Vic- tricius, who with St. Martin persuaded Paulinus to withdraw from the world. Mr. John Cashel Hoey has a suspicion, that the disciple of St. Victricius, named in these
now as Paschasius, now as
epistles, — Tytichus,
printed, but there being no doubt, as the
BoUandists say, that the —two names refer to
oneandthesameperson mayhavebeenin
reality St. Patrick. St. Paulinus refers to
the accounts he had heard from this young
priest, regarding the anxiety of St. Victricius,
for the evangelization of the most remote 8. 110 bo chobAi^ Tjont) e^inn ciclini parts of the globe, and then speaks of him as
Hymn
or Tytius the name being evidently mis- vision alluded to, in these lines following :
—
a disciple, in every way worthy of his master:
pAC^AAic ]:oi\ochlA'o ;
Uo clof ciAn i^on a ^a^wia, iiiac
"
dam virtutum gratiarumque tuarum lineas
In cujus gratia et humanitate, quasi quas-
velut speculo reddente collegimus. "—Epis- tola xvii.
" The person, referred to in the Confession, more probably is St. Victricius, who was an exact contcmporai7 of St. Patrick. He was
engaged op the piissio^i of Boulogne, at the
adhuc ambules inter nos. "—" Confessio S.
"" old writers read pueri," as if it were, we,
boys, intreat thee, O saint. " St. Fiach's
Hymn, strophe 8, p. i, the Third Life, cap. XX. , p. 22, Probus, lib. i. , cap. xviii. , p. 48, and the Tripartite Life, lib. i. , cap. xxx. , p. 121, speak of the voice, as if it came from
children. Some of the accounts have it "
and so has Probus. See lib. i. , cap. xviii. ,
p. 48.
'5 The Scholiast says, that it was in Hy-
Amalgaidh, now Tirawley, in the county of
"
'° In the of St. Fiach, we see this
Mayo. See n. 15, p. 5-
Scholia Veteris Scholiastse,"
7. "Oochuin ne^enn •oot)i:eci]', ^Mngil t)e
hipchip
memcc Acchichi hi ppb, •oopuc^Tct)
;
^AAioe CAitle pochtAt). They are thus Englished :—
7. "To Ireland he was brought back in visions by the angels of God :
Often was he in vision solicited to return thither again,
A]\ichip.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 503
pray thee, O holy youth Patrick, that thou come, walk among us and set us free. " ^^ The saint could not read any further, but awaking out of sleep, he
was sensibly touched with the earnest prayer of those unbaptized persons. ^^ HerenderedthankstoGod. Byreasonofthisvision,hewaspersuadedthat our Lord called him to convert the Irish nation. Its inhabitants seemed to crave and most earnestly to desire his presence, and he longed to return as a missionary of the people, among whom he had lived as a slave. ^9 Being desirous to know further the Divine pleasure, touching this matter, he con- sulted his own heart, his relations and friends, while he had special recourse to God, in prayer. A union of influences confirmed his devout purposes. By the Angel Victor, the Almighty commanded him to prepare himself for a seminary of ecclesiastical discipline, there to be trained up in Christian learn-
ing and piety.
In almost all his biographies, the saint is said to have been a nephew to
St. MartinofTours. ^° ThisfineoldcityofFranceisontheRiverLoire,in
the present Department of Touraine. ^^ As generally believed, by various writers, St. Martin was a near relation to our Irish Apostle. This, if true, was probably an additional inducement for his parents to entrust their child, during his tender years, to the care of teachers, who had been St. Martin's dis- ciples. Although stated to have been a Celt of Pannonia, during his military and early ecclesiastical career, Martin was certainly stationed, at one time, in ornearBoulogne. Thewell-knownlegend,aboutdividinghiscloakwiththe beggar, is alleged to have taken place, at Amiens. It is recorded, that he was baptized at Therouanne, where the first church was raised to his honour. The principal missionaries, in that district, are said to have been his disciples. Evidently the people there entertained a deep devotion towards
8.
"
Salvation to Ireland was the comeing of Patrick to Fochlaidh ;
Afar was heard the sound of the ca 1 of the youths of Caill Fochladh.
