Columba pub-
celebrity
as a scrib—e is thus com- :
1n crvicet) bu
celebrity
as a scrib—e is thus com- :
1n crvicet) bu
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
iii.
, p.
325, in Colgan.
How- ever, there is a manifest clerical inaccuracy in the text.
Truly,"
" We are three
relates this
34 See "Les Moines d'Occident," tome
story.
36 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. i. , cap. xxxvii. , P- 394-
37 See ibid. , cap. xxxvm. , p. 395.
38 In "The Life of St. Columkille," by an eminent Divine of the Roman Catholic
Church, chap, i. , we have the fol—lowing
"
Reeves' Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down,
Connor and Dromore," p. 151. Besides Movilla, he was the founder of Druim-fionn, now Dromin, in the county of Louth. This is called Ecclesia S. Fintani de Droming, in the Registry of Fleming, fol. 44a.
42 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
lines translated from an Irish Poem
:
penance, on the
Vita Quinta S. Columbae, lib. i. , P- 395-
cap. xxxix. ,
" As a
religious ground
43
Finnian of Movilla, it renders very impro-
Lay youthful Columb-kille, through his clothes
while
— between him and St.
His meagre bones humble cell
appeared ; his
to be related
Was always open to the inclement
wind,
Which blew with violence through
the unplastered walls. "
39 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life
of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. I, n. (e),
p. 105.
40 His festival occurs, on the 10th of Sep-
tember. The Irish Vmnen, pnoen, and "
reign.
44 See Rev. Dr.
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[June 9.
and declared, that Christ had given him the selection of the place, the period, and the sort of death, he might chose. * Then," said the holy youth, " I desire to die a natural death, which abstinence and a voluntary restraint of the flesh may procure ; I wish it may come after youth has long passed, and yet before I attain the decrepitude of years ; for, I do not chose to de- cline in the dangerous time, when passion is strong, neither do I chose to be- come senile and morose, when indulgence is required and a relaxation from toil. Lastly, with regard to the place, I do not wish to die in my own country, but, as an exile and a stranger in a distant land, in penitence and in
tears; for,theexileismorepronetolament,andtoweanhisthoughtsatthe
same time, from vain and transitory things. "** This holy saint constantly spent
hnVearly days, in acts of devotion, austerity, self-denial, abstinence, and mor-
8
3
tification.
been
sent—when about twenty years of age to the school of St. Finnian,* son
Having
fully qualified
for the— St. Columba was higher studies,
3?
to 1 of 2 This wasinthe of Cairbre,* Maghbile. * place present county
Down, at the head of Strangford Lough. It was then very celebrated, and much resorted to, as a religious house, At this school, Columkille applied himself sedulously, not alone to the acquirement of learnings but he desired also to imitate the virtues of his holy teacher. ** Here Columba especially addicted himself to a study of ecclesiastical science. *5 There was another celebrated Abbot of Clonard,*6 who bore the same name, and who at a later period seems to have been St. Columkille's preceptor ;*7 this has caused some con-
sans doute aussi celtique (car on le retrouve ITittniA, are diminutives of prm, albus," chez les Gallois) que les enfants fussent
equivalent to Albinus, and they appear in the Latin forms Finnianus, Findianus, Fin- nio, Vinnio, and Vinnianus ; to which the Italians add Fridanus and Frigidianus. Findbar r is a compound name, formed from
eleves dans une autre famille ou par des
" " 47
However, he desired on this occasion— learn wisdom, from the illustrious bishop namely, Finghin of Magh-bile. See Dermod
"
O'Conor's Keating's
saint of the Ultonians. See Rev. William Ketenn, as quoted by Colgan, in his Lifeot
—vertex," pulcher
propter can-
to
£inn barvr*
dorem capillorum. " Colgan's
torum Hiberniae," Martii xviii. , Vita S. Fri- diani, cap. i. , p. 638.
"
Acta
Sanc-
General History of 41 He was one of the Dal-Fiatach, the Ireland," part ii. , p. 384, Duffy's edition. royal family of Ulster, and he became patron With this agree the Lives of SS. Ere, Callin,
If this anecdote refer to the teaching of
bable that legend of the quarrel
hereafter Colum- For the legend, see O'Donnell, or Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. ii. , cap. i. , in "Trias Thau- maturga," p. 408, also in Keating's "History of Ireland," part ii. , at Aodh's
viii. , p. 117.
45 " C'etait un ancien usage irlandais et
—
ba, both as to cause and effect.
" Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect,
Strangers. " Alphabetiques. "
Lanigan's
—H. Gaidoz, "Les Gateaux
46 His feast was held, on the 23rd of Feb- ruary, and on the 1 2th of December.
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 289
fusion of narrative, in the details of our saint's life. *
been the Bishop St. Finian of Maghbile,49 that saw a guardian Angel with St. Columba, while he was young, and on the occasion of approaching his master. s° The latter called out to his monks who were near him
the saintly Columba coming, and he deserves to have the companionship of a heavenly spirit with him. "5I At this period of his life, the holy youth was en- gaged in studying the Sacred Scriptures,52 and this was always a favourite occupation of our early Irish ecclesiastics, as—their old writings left to us clearly demons—trate. Among his acquired arts and we may suppose at his early schools St. Columba became an accomplished and afterwards a
laborious scribe. ^ He remained for several years, as a student at Moville.
He became a deacon,54 likewise, according to some accounts, before he left. It has been thought, he was still very young, when that order was obtained. 55 While he was officiating as such, on the occasion of some great festival, it chanced, tiat wine for the Holy Sacrifice could not be found. Whereupon, Columba went to the fountain, to procure water for Divine service. 56 His officeofdeaconfortheMassobligedhimtoprepareitforthepriest. " Hav- ing put seme into a vessel, he blessed it, and invoked the name of Jesus Christ, who had changed water into wine, at the marriage feast of Cana in Galilee. His prayer was heard, and a similar miracle took place. Returning
St. Fridian, Bishop of Lucca, at the i8thof Columba," Additional Notes N, p, 365,
March.
48 At the Acts of St. Finian of Clonard,
Colgan
him, at the 23rd of February, Appendix, cap. ii. , p. 403. Elsewhere, at the 18th of March, these are ascribed to St. Finian of Moville. See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," Vita. S. Fridiani, Appendix, cap. iii. , p. 644.
49 In his annotations to this anecdote, Colgan seems to be undecided, as to whether it refers to the present holy Bishop, or to his namesake, St. Finian, Abbot of Clonard.
50 This anecdote is told of our saint, in the First Life which the Bollandists conjecture may have been by Cummian ; while it is substantially repeated by Adamnan, as in the text. See "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Prima S. Columbae, cap. iii. , and n. 2, pp. 321, 324, and Quarta Vita S. Columbae, lib. and n.
note (p).
54 Ttiis, however, is not stated in O'Don-
nell's Life. See " Trias Thauma- Colgan's
turga," Vita Quinta S. Columba? , lib. i. , cap. xxxix. , p. 395.
55 The Rev. Dr. Lanigan remarks, that although the discipline of most ancient churches required twenty-five years, when it should follow, that Columba was under Finian's direction, a. d. 547; still it seems probable enough, that he was nearer to twenty-two years at this time, as the func- tions of Deacon included the duties of Aco- lyte. He cites from Tillemont, tome xvi. , p. 481, the instance of St. Ephihanius of Pavia having been ordained Deacon, about A. D. 458, at the age of twenty years. See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect, viii. , n. 87, pp. 118, 119.
s° The custom of water with the mingling
wine in the Eucharist was a very ancient one. See Martene, " De Antiquis Ecclesise Riti- bus," tomusi. , lib. i. , cap. 3, 7, p. 118.
57 " The duty here performed by the
notes occurrences in connexion witii
iii. , cap. iv. ,
51 See, also, Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
" Life of St. Columba," lib. iii. , cap. 4, pp. 195, 196, and nn. (a, b, c, d), ibid.
53 According to Adamnan, " Findbarrum
adhuc — sacra? episcopum, juvenis, sapientiam
deacon "
which
says
Rev. Dr. Reeves, " was that
Scripturse addiscens. " Ibid. , lib. ii. , cap. i. , p. 103. The same is stated in the Second Life. See " Trias
in
the Western Church was usually as-
Colgan's Thaumaturga," cap. iv. , pp. 135, 326.
signed to the acolyte. " He adds, that the
fourth Council of when Carthage prescribed,
an acolyte was ordained he should receive
53 His
memorated in his Irish Life
urceolum vacuum ad — vinum suggerendum
have their respective functions prescribed in the Ritual, regarding the cruet and the water it contains. —
s8 The short Life of St.
Columba pub-
celebrity
as a scrib—e is thus com- :
1n crvicet) bu
'. ' Andthreehundredgifted,lasting, Illuminated, noble books, he wrote. "
"
—Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St.
lished by the Bollandists,
and
which they T
5, pp. 364, 385.
"
8
It is thought to have
:
" You now behold
in eucharistiam
"Concilia," tomus ii. , p. 1200. It should be explained, however, that in the Western Church, both the Deacon and the Acolyte
sanguinis
Christi. "
Labbe's
290
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[June 9.
bishop.
church,
clergy :
you,
at lib. hi. , cap. 4. 60 See Rev. Dr.
he said to the
" Here is wine for
which the Lord They and the
to the
Jesus has sent, for the perfect celebration of his mysteries. "58
bishop St. Finnian returned thanks to God for this extraordinary favour, which Columba ascribed, not to any merit of his own but to that of the
5?
It has been supposed, moreover, that our saint had not left the school of
Finnian, Bishop of Maghbile, until a. d. 544, or a little after that date. 60 The
latter has often been confounded by writers, with his namesake of Clonard,
in reference to Acts of our saint. 01 The Irish Life states, that leaving St.
Finnian of — Columba himself under a who Maghbile, placed holy senior,
probably
the old man, named Gemmanus, who was master to St. Columba. He was
reading in the plain, and to him she made with all haste possible for rescue.
Suddenly excited, that old man called on St. Columba, who was reading at
some distance, to the end, that they might both jointly defend the girl from
her cruel 1 No sooner had the wretch come to that than persecutor. ? place,
before their eyes, he slew her with a lance, while under their very cloaks, and
without regarding their presence. Whereupon, the good old monk was so grieved and struck with anguish, that turning to St. Columba he said : "How
is called German 02 but more correctly Gemman.
6
3 Another
that the true name was Gorman,64 and he is said to have been abbot,6s at a place called Kilgorman,66 in the western °? part of Leinster. The true name, a Christian bard,69 who had been educated intheschoolofSt. Finnian,AbbotofClonard. Beinganinhabitant? °ofthe Meathianplain,hewasbroughtintocommunicationwithSt. Finnian,whose church was then the principal one, in that territory. While St. Columba was studying theology with Gemman, and being trained in wisdom and learning, it happened that a wicked and a cruel persecutor of the good pursued over a certain plain a young damsel, who fled from him. By chance, she beheld
however, was Gemman,68
think— have been the work of Cum- " may
mian relates this miracle, as if it had taken
place in Iona. However, in a note appended, the editor Baert alludes to the statement of
"
Beatus juvenis," as throwing discredit on such a supposition. See "Acta Sanctorum,"
in his text.
Colgan proposes "Gormanum" as an
tomus ii. , Junii ix.
Brevior, cap. i. , (c), p. 187.
De Sancto Columba,
383.
6s Asaint thisnameis bearing
at the 25th day of October.
Vita
num.
2, p. 186,
and n.
reverenced,
59 The Life Cummian
by subjoins pre-
66 This has not been identified. place
67 The O'Clerys have it, in the east of Leinster.
68 An Enen mac Gemmain is found in the
Calendar of Donegal, at January 30th. This proves the existence of such a name, among the Irish.
69 He belonged to the same class of poets
as Dalian who was St. Columba's Forgaill,
the sent anecdote to one, recorded by Adamnan,
" Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect,
Lanigan's viii. , n. 87, p. 119.
61
Thus, Finian of Clonard is incorrectly thought to have ordained Columba as Dea-
con. See Rev. S.
the Saints," vol. vi. , June 9, p. 92.
62
" Lives of
Baring-Gould's
In the Book of Lismore Seaman ""
;
7° The
following passage,
from the Life of
while in O'Donnell's Life, as abridged St. Finnian of Clonard, and which refers to
by Colgan, we read Germanus. See this veiy individual, shows that he was thus
Trias Thaumaturga," lib. i. , cap. xl. , p.
Item quodam alio tempore venit
In his " Canisius 395. Antique Lecliones,"
called.
carminator nomine Gemanus ad S. Finnia- num habens —secum quoddam carmen magni-
also reads Germanum, which Rev. Dr.
Lanigan adopts, in his " Ecclesiastical His- ficum," &c. Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum
Hibernise. " xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Fin- niani, cap. xxiii. , p. 395.
63 The old Irish Life in the Leabhar
Breac reads JemriiAtt, but in the Highland Vita Quinta S. Columbre, lib. i. , cap. xl. ,
tory of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect, viii. , p. 117, and n. 89, p. 119.
Soc. MS. Soman. Notwithstanding his P-395-
different conjecture, yet Colgan retains 73 The expression Scotix provincias of
Gemmanum," 64
emendation, and chiefly, because the name of Gemman does not appear in the Calendars.
See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Vita S.
Columbae, lib. ii. , cap. xxv. , n. 25, p.
panegyrist.
71 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
"
.
. . .
conjecture is,
June 9. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
291
long, holy youth Columba, will God the true judge suffer such wickedness,
joined with our dishonour, to pass unavenged? " The saint pronounced his
:
just though dreadful sentence, against the flagitious murderer " This self
same hour, and while the maiden's soul shall ascend to Heaven, his soul shall descend down to hell. " And lo ! without delay, the monster fell dead before the holy youth. The report of this fearful and sudden chastisement was soon spread through many churches and provinces ? 2 in Ireland, to the great honour and veneration of our holy Deacon. How long St. Columba remained with Gemmanus cannot be ascertained. It is probable, however, that his stay with this teacher was only for a short time. Finding himself unable to edu- cate so comprehensive a genius, as that of his pupil, and foreseeing, from Colum-kille's endowments, both mental and corporal, that he was destined to act upon a more extensive theatre, the holy preceptor earnestly entreated of him to enter as a student the college of Clonard. " Following his advice, thither our saint went. There he remained, until he had altogether completed hisstudent'spreparatorycourseofsa—credandprofaneeducation. There,too, the celebrated St. Finian of Clonard —who must be distinguished from St. FinianofMoville,hisformerteacher wasAbbotoveraflourishingmonas-
tery. ? *
Our saint now directed his course to the province of Meath, where Clonard ? s
was pleasantly situated, near the banks of the River Boyne. So prolific andsoproductiveofholymenwasthismonasticinstitute,thatit hasbeen called the repository of saints, the hive of Christian wisdom, and the cradle of
6 After the establishment of in several Christianity Ireland,
sanctity. '
ricswereestablishedinMeath. AmongthesearereckonedClonard,Dam-
liag, now Duleek, Ceananus, now Kells, Trim, Ardbraccan, Dunshaughlin, Fore,Slane,andothersoflessnote. ? ? AtClonardwasfoundedagreatsemi- nary by St. Finnian, in connexion with his monastery. Some brief account of this early Irish university may not be displaced, if here introduced. It is
8
said, that St. Kieran,? son of the carpenter, gave the site for his religious
buildings to St. Finian, who soon collected to his school some of the most remarkable and distinguished saints and scholars of Ireland. To this ancient seat of learning students resorted, not only from all parts of the British Isles, butalsofromArmoricaandGermany. 79 St. Finianwasofnobleparentage, a great philosopher, and an eminent divine f° so that he became superior over this band of disciples, and they were most renowned, even among the many eminent scholastics then prosecuting their studies, in other celebrated monasteriesthroughoutIreland. 81 Themostprobableyearforhisfirstsettle-
82
ment, in this locality, seems to have been about 530.
Adamnan shows in [what a'r limited sense,
76 No less than three thousand monks are represented to have issued from those classes, under the tuition or direction of St. Finian. See Thomas Moore's " History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, xii. , p. 242, n.
77 With the exception of Duleek and Kells, all of these were consolidated to form the See of Clonard, before a. d. 1 152. See
the term " in his time.
" was used by the Irish,
provincia
« A bishop's See is said to have been here
established, so early as a. d. 520, and that St. Finian became its first bishop. See Harris' Ware, vol. i , "Bishops of Meath," p, 136.
7* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Vita Quinta S. Columboe, lib. i. , cap. xli. ,
p. 395.
" Its name is said to have been derived
from Cluain, "a meadow," and Eraird, a man's name. Eraird may have been the pagan chief who lived here, ages before the time of St. Finian. See Dr. P. W. Joyce's " Origin and History of Irish Names of Places," part ii. , chap, vii. , p. 225.
Harris' Ware, vol.
Truly,"
" We are three
relates this
34 See "Les Moines d'Occident," tome
story.
36 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. i. , cap. xxxvii. , P- 394-
37 See ibid. , cap. xxxvm. , p. 395.
38 In "The Life of St. Columkille," by an eminent Divine of the Roman Catholic
Church, chap, i. , we have the fol—lowing
"
Reeves' Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down,
Connor and Dromore," p. 151. Besides Movilla, he was the founder of Druim-fionn, now Dromin, in the county of Louth. This is called Ecclesia S. Fintani de Droming, in the Registry of Fleming, fol. 44a.
42 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
lines translated from an Irish Poem
:
penance, on the
Vita Quinta S. Columbae, lib. i. , P- 395-
cap. xxxix. ,
" As a
religious ground
43
Finnian of Movilla, it renders very impro-
Lay youthful Columb-kille, through his clothes
while
— between him and St.
His meagre bones humble cell
appeared ; his
to be related
Was always open to the inclement
wind,
Which blew with violence through
the unplastered walls. "
39 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life
of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. I, n. (e),
p. 105.
40 His festival occurs, on the 10th of Sep-
tember. The Irish Vmnen, pnoen, and "
reign.
44 See Rev. Dr.
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[June 9.
and declared, that Christ had given him the selection of the place, the period, and the sort of death, he might chose. * Then," said the holy youth, " I desire to die a natural death, which abstinence and a voluntary restraint of the flesh may procure ; I wish it may come after youth has long passed, and yet before I attain the decrepitude of years ; for, I do not chose to de- cline in the dangerous time, when passion is strong, neither do I chose to be- come senile and morose, when indulgence is required and a relaxation from toil. Lastly, with regard to the place, I do not wish to die in my own country, but, as an exile and a stranger in a distant land, in penitence and in
tears; for,theexileismorepronetolament,andtoweanhisthoughtsatthe
same time, from vain and transitory things. "** This holy saint constantly spent
hnVearly days, in acts of devotion, austerity, self-denial, abstinence, and mor-
8
3
tification.
been
sent—when about twenty years of age to the school of St. Finnian,* son
Having
fully qualified
for the— St. Columba was higher studies,
3?
to 1 of 2 This wasinthe of Cairbre,* Maghbile. * place present county
Down, at the head of Strangford Lough. It was then very celebrated, and much resorted to, as a religious house, At this school, Columkille applied himself sedulously, not alone to the acquirement of learnings but he desired also to imitate the virtues of his holy teacher. ** Here Columba especially addicted himself to a study of ecclesiastical science. *5 There was another celebrated Abbot of Clonard,*6 who bore the same name, and who at a later period seems to have been St. Columkille's preceptor ;*7 this has caused some con-
sans doute aussi celtique (car on le retrouve ITittniA, are diminutives of prm, albus," chez les Gallois) que les enfants fussent
equivalent to Albinus, and they appear in the Latin forms Finnianus, Findianus, Fin- nio, Vinnio, and Vinnianus ; to which the Italians add Fridanus and Frigidianus. Findbar r is a compound name, formed from
eleves dans une autre famille ou par des
" " 47
However, he desired on this occasion— learn wisdom, from the illustrious bishop namely, Finghin of Magh-bile. See Dermod
"
O'Conor's Keating's
saint of the Ultonians. See Rev. William Ketenn, as quoted by Colgan, in his Lifeot
—vertex," pulcher
propter can-
to
£inn barvr*
dorem capillorum. " Colgan's
torum Hiberniae," Martii xviii. , Vita S. Fri- diani, cap. i. , p. 638.
"
Acta
Sanc-
General History of 41 He was one of the Dal-Fiatach, the Ireland," part ii. , p. 384, Duffy's edition. royal family of Ulster, and he became patron With this agree the Lives of SS. Ere, Callin,
If this anecdote refer to the teaching of
bable that legend of the quarrel
hereafter Colum- For the legend, see O'Donnell, or Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. ii. , cap. i. , in "Trias Thau- maturga," p. 408, also in Keating's "History of Ireland," part ii. , at Aodh's
viii. , p. 117.
45 " C'etait un ancien usage irlandais et
—
ba, both as to cause and effect.
" Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect,
Strangers. " Alphabetiques. "
Lanigan's
—H. Gaidoz, "Les Gateaux
46 His feast was held, on the 23rd of Feb- ruary, and on the 1 2th of December.
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 289
fusion of narrative, in the details of our saint's life. *
been the Bishop St. Finian of Maghbile,49 that saw a guardian Angel with St. Columba, while he was young, and on the occasion of approaching his master. s° The latter called out to his monks who were near him
the saintly Columba coming, and he deserves to have the companionship of a heavenly spirit with him. "5I At this period of his life, the holy youth was en- gaged in studying the Sacred Scriptures,52 and this was always a favourite occupation of our early Irish ecclesiastics, as—their old writings left to us clearly demons—trate. Among his acquired arts and we may suppose at his early schools St. Columba became an accomplished and afterwards a
laborious scribe. ^ He remained for several years, as a student at Moville.
He became a deacon,54 likewise, according to some accounts, before he left. It has been thought, he was still very young, when that order was obtained. 55 While he was officiating as such, on the occasion of some great festival, it chanced, tiat wine for the Holy Sacrifice could not be found. Whereupon, Columba went to the fountain, to procure water for Divine service. 56 His officeofdeaconfortheMassobligedhimtoprepareitforthepriest. " Hav- ing put seme into a vessel, he blessed it, and invoked the name of Jesus Christ, who had changed water into wine, at the marriage feast of Cana in Galilee. His prayer was heard, and a similar miracle took place. Returning
St. Fridian, Bishop of Lucca, at the i8thof Columba," Additional Notes N, p, 365,
March.
48 At the Acts of St. Finian of Clonard,
Colgan
him, at the 23rd of February, Appendix, cap. ii. , p. 403. Elsewhere, at the 18th of March, these are ascribed to St. Finian of Moville. See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," Vita. S. Fridiani, Appendix, cap. iii. , p. 644.
49 In his annotations to this anecdote, Colgan seems to be undecided, as to whether it refers to the present holy Bishop, or to his namesake, St. Finian, Abbot of Clonard.
50 This anecdote is told of our saint, in the First Life which the Bollandists conjecture may have been by Cummian ; while it is substantially repeated by Adamnan, as in the text. See "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Prima S. Columbae, cap. iii. , and n. 2, pp. 321, 324, and Quarta Vita S. Columbae, lib. and n.
note (p).
54 Ttiis, however, is not stated in O'Don-
nell's Life. See " Trias Thauma- Colgan's
turga," Vita Quinta S. Columba? , lib. i. , cap. xxxix. , p. 395.
55 The Rev. Dr. Lanigan remarks, that although the discipline of most ancient churches required twenty-five years, when it should follow, that Columba was under Finian's direction, a. d. 547; still it seems probable enough, that he was nearer to twenty-two years at this time, as the func- tions of Deacon included the duties of Aco- lyte. He cites from Tillemont, tome xvi. , p. 481, the instance of St. Ephihanius of Pavia having been ordained Deacon, about A. D. 458, at the age of twenty years. See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect, viii. , n. 87, pp. 118, 119.
s° The custom of water with the mingling
wine in the Eucharist was a very ancient one. See Martene, " De Antiquis Ecclesise Riti- bus," tomusi. , lib. i. , cap. 3, 7, p. 118.
57 " The duty here performed by the
notes occurrences in connexion witii
iii. , cap. iv. ,
51 See, also, Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
" Life of St. Columba," lib. iii. , cap. 4, pp. 195, 196, and nn. (a, b, c, d), ibid.
53 According to Adamnan, " Findbarrum
adhuc — sacra? episcopum, juvenis, sapientiam
deacon "
which
says
Rev. Dr. Reeves, " was that
Scripturse addiscens. " Ibid. , lib. ii. , cap. i. , p. 103. The same is stated in the Second Life. See " Trias
in
the Western Church was usually as-
Colgan's Thaumaturga," cap. iv. , pp. 135, 326.
signed to the acolyte. " He adds, that the
fourth Council of when Carthage prescribed,
an acolyte was ordained he should receive
53 His
memorated in his Irish Life
urceolum vacuum ad — vinum suggerendum
have their respective functions prescribed in the Ritual, regarding the cruet and the water it contains. —
s8 The short Life of St.
Columba pub-
celebrity
as a scrib—e is thus com- :
1n crvicet) bu
'. ' Andthreehundredgifted,lasting, Illuminated, noble books, he wrote. "
"
—Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St.
lished by the Bollandists,
and
which they T
5, pp. 364, 385.
"
8
It is thought to have
:
" You now behold
in eucharistiam
"Concilia," tomus ii. , p. 1200. It should be explained, however, that in the Western Church, both the Deacon and the Acolyte
sanguinis
Christi. "
Labbe's
290
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[June 9.
bishop.
church,
clergy :
you,
at lib. hi. , cap. 4. 60 See Rev. Dr.
he said to the
" Here is wine for
which the Lord They and the
to the
Jesus has sent, for the perfect celebration of his mysteries. "58
bishop St. Finnian returned thanks to God for this extraordinary favour, which Columba ascribed, not to any merit of his own but to that of the
5?
It has been supposed, moreover, that our saint had not left the school of
Finnian, Bishop of Maghbile, until a. d. 544, or a little after that date. 60 The
latter has often been confounded by writers, with his namesake of Clonard,
in reference to Acts of our saint. 01 The Irish Life states, that leaving St.
Finnian of — Columba himself under a who Maghbile, placed holy senior,
probably
the old man, named Gemmanus, who was master to St. Columba. He was
reading in the plain, and to him she made with all haste possible for rescue.
Suddenly excited, that old man called on St. Columba, who was reading at
some distance, to the end, that they might both jointly defend the girl from
her cruel 1 No sooner had the wretch come to that than persecutor. ? place,
before their eyes, he slew her with a lance, while under their very cloaks, and
without regarding their presence. Whereupon, the good old monk was so grieved and struck with anguish, that turning to St. Columba he said : "How
is called German 02 but more correctly Gemman.
6
3 Another
that the true name was Gorman,64 and he is said to have been abbot,6s at a place called Kilgorman,66 in the western °? part of Leinster. The true name, a Christian bard,69 who had been educated intheschoolofSt. Finnian,AbbotofClonard. Beinganinhabitant? °ofthe Meathianplain,hewasbroughtintocommunicationwithSt. Finnian,whose church was then the principal one, in that territory. While St. Columba was studying theology with Gemman, and being trained in wisdom and learning, it happened that a wicked and a cruel persecutor of the good pursued over a certain plain a young damsel, who fled from him. By chance, she beheld
however, was Gemman,68
think— have been the work of Cum- " may
mian relates this miracle, as if it had taken
place in Iona. However, in a note appended, the editor Baert alludes to the statement of
"
Beatus juvenis," as throwing discredit on such a supposition. See "Acta Sanctorum,"
in his text.
Colgan proposes "Gormanum" as an
tomus ii. , Junii ix.
Brevior, cap. i. , (c), p. 187.
De Sancto Columba,
383.
6s Asaint thisnameis bearing
at the 25th day of October.
Vita
num.
2, p. 186,
and n.
reverenced,
59 The Life Cummian
by subjoins pre-
66 This has not been identified. place
67 The O'Clerys have it, in the east of Leinster.
68 An Enen mac Gemmain is found in the
Calendar of Donegal, at January 30th. This proves the existence of such a name, among the Irish.
69 He belonged to the same class of poets
as Dalian who was St. Columba's Forgaill,
the sent anecdote to one, recorded by Adamnan,
" Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect,
Lanigan's viii. , n. 87, p. 119.
61
Thus, Finian of Clonard is incorrectly thought to have ordained Columba as Dea-
con. See Rev. S.
the Saints," vol. vi. , June 9, p. 92.
62
" Lives of
Baring-Gould's
In the Book of Lismore Seaman ""
;
7° The
following passage,
from the Life of
while in O'Donnell's Life, as abridged St. Finnian of Clonard, and which refers to
by Colgan, we read Germanus. See this veiy individual, shows that he was thus
Trias Thaumaturga," lib. i. , cap. xl. , p.
Item quodam alio tempore venit
In his " Canisius 395. Antique Lecliones,"
called.
carminator nomine Gemanus ad S. Finnia- num habens —secum quoddam carmen magni-
also reads Germanum, which Rev. Dr.
Lanigan adopts, in his " Ecclesiastical His- ficum," &c. Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum
Hibernise. " xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Fin- niani, cap. xxiii. , p. 395.
63 The old Irish Life in the Leabhar
Breac reads JemriiAtt, but in the Highland Vita Quinta S. Columbre, lib. i. , cap. xl. ,
tory of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect, viii. , p. 117, and n. 89, p. 119.
Soc. MS. Soman. Notwithstanding his P-395-
different conjecture, yet Colgan retains 73 The expression Scotix provincias of
Gemmanum," 64
emendation, and chiefly, because the name of Gemman does not appear in the Calendars.
See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Vita S.
Columbae, lib. ii. , cap. xxv. , n. 25, p.
panegyrist.
71 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
"
.
. . .
conjecture is,
June 9. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
291
long, holy youth Columba, will God the true judge suffer such wickedness,
joined with our dishonour, to pass unavenged? " The saint pronounced his
:
just though dreadful sentence, against the flagitious murderer " This self
same hour, and while the maiden's soul shall ascend to Heaven, his soul shall descend down to hell. " And lo ! without delay, the monster fell dead before the holy youth. The report of this fearful and sudden chastisement was soon spread through many churches and provinces ? 2 in Ireland, to the great honour and veneration of our holy Deacon. How long St. Columba remained with Gemmanus cannot be ascertained. It is probable, however, that his stay with this teacher was only for a short time. Finding himself unable to edu- cate so comprehensive a genius, as that of his pupil, and foreseeing, from Colum-kille's endowments, both mental and corporal, that he was destined to act upon a more extensive theatre, the holy preceptor earnestly entreated of him to enter as a student the college of Clonard. " Following his advice, thither our saint went. There he remained, until he had altogether completed hisstudent'spreparatorycourseofsa—credandprofaneeducation. There,too, the celebrated St. Finian of Clonard —who must be distinguished from St. FinianofMoville,hisformerteacher wasAbbotoveraflourishingmonas-
tery. ? *
Our saint now directed his course to the province of Meath, where Clonard ? s
was pleasantly situated, near the banks of the River Boyne. So prolific andsoproductiveofholymenwasthismonasticinstitute,thatit hasbeen called the repository of saints, the hive of Christian wisdom, and the cradle of
6 After the establishment of in several Christianity Ireland,
sanctity. '
ricswereestablishedinMeath. AmongthesearereckonedClonard,Dam-
liag, now Duleek, Ceananus, now Kells, Trim, Ardbraccan, Dunshaughlin, Fore,Slane,andothersoflessnote. ? ? AtClonardwasfoundedagreatsemi- nary by St. Finnian, in connexion with his monastery. Some brief account of this early Irish university may not be displaced, if here introduced. It is
8
said, that St. Kieran,? son of the carpenter, gave the site for his religious
buildings to St. Finian, who soon collected to his school some of the most remarkable and distinguished saints and scholars of Ireland. To this ancient seat of learning students resorted, not only from all parts of the British Isles, butalsofromArmoricaandGermany. 79 St. Finianwasofnobleparentage, a great philosopher, and an eminent divine f° so that he became superior over this band of disciples, and they were most renowned, even among the many eminent scholastics then prosecuting their studies, in other celebrated monasteriesthroughoutIreland. 81 Themostprobableyearforhisfirstsettle-
82
ment, in this locality, seems to have been about 530.
Adamnan shows in [what a'r limited sense,
76 No less than three thousand monks are represented to have issued from those classes, under the tuition or direction of St. Finian. See Thomas Moore's " History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, xii. , p. 242, n.
77 With the exception of Duleek and Kells, all of these were consolidated to form the See of Clonard, before a. d. 1 152. See
the term " in his time.
" was used by the Irish,
provincia
« A bishop's See is said to have been here
established, so early as a. d. 520, and that St. Finian became its first bishop. See Harris' Ware, vol. i , "Bishops of Meath," p, 136.
7* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Vita Quinta S. Columboe, lib. i. , cap. xli. ,
p. 395.
" Its name is said to have been derived
from Cluain, "a meadow," and Eraird, a man's name. Eraird may have been the pagan chief who lived here, ages before the time of St. Finian. See Dr. P. W. Joyce's " Origin and History of Irish Names of Places," part ii. , chap, vii. , p. 225.
Harris' Ware, vol.