^ In
Ibemiae," Cathuberis, Abbatissa, is specially noticed, but no date has been assigned for her festival?
Ibemiae," Cathuberis, Abbatissa, is specially noticed, but no date has been assigned for her festival?
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v1
"S'
Article III. —Saints Scoth, Feammor, Blath and Ana, Four Virgins of Cluain-Greanach. While unable to identify the place where these virgins Hved, it seems equally difficult to determine their period. It is
notlikely,however,thatallwerecontemporaries. InreadingtheMartyrology of Donegal,' we find mentioned, as having festivals celebrated on this day,
Scoth,= Feammor, Blath, and Ana, four virgins of Cluain-greanach. In the table this place is printed Cluain-grencha. An entry of these saints is found in the Martyrology of Tallagh,3 at the i8th of January ; but the two foremost ones, Scoth and Femmair, are united in- one passage, without mention of any locality, while after the entry of two other saints, the names of Blath and Ana of Cluain Grenaich follow. However separated during life's days or by residence they may have been, in heaven they are united, and their charity for sojourners yet on earth is exerted in joint intercession on this their common festival.
Article IV. —St. Coppa or Cobba, Virgin, Daughter of Baedan.
\Possibly in the Fifth Century. ] The silence of history has obscured many a career,whichifbetterknownmustcommandtherespectofthegood. A
festival in honour of Cobba, daughter toBaetan, is recorded in the Martyrology of Tallagh,' at the i8th of January. Nor do we find further notices of her inthelatercalendars. Coppa,virgin,andadaughterofBaedan,isentered intheMartyrologyofDonegal,^onthisdayofthemonth. Intheactsof
it is said he left a
the mother of
—at the Bishop Bite,
holy
Article V. —St. Mochua. In the Martyrology of Donegal,* Mochua is simply recorded, as being venerated on this day. Chua was probably the
St.
Patrick,
Cipia,3
churchofElphin. '* Colganseemstodoubtwhe
woman whom
—therthis
he classed among those veiled by St. Patrick was not identical with the present St. Coppa or Cobba. s
s° See tdtd. , pp. 79, 80.
S' Rediriva. Quoted by O'Shea in his "Guide to Spain. "
Art. III. —'Edited by Drs. Todd and
Reeves, pp. 20, 21.
'In the table superadded to this work,
her name has affixed the Latin appellation J'lora, as the Irish word ScotA means a Aower. SeeI'^ii/. , pp. 472,473.
Art. IV. —' Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii. In the Franciscan copy we
findCobbA, i. e. becAiri.
' Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
20, 21.
3 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturg:a. "
Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. xxxix. , pp. 134, 135.
* The parish of Elphin, with its various
townland denominations, is represented in thebaronyandcountyofRoscommon. See "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Roscommon," Sheets 22, 23.
3 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii. In
the Franciscan copy we find these four
names separated, thus in one line we read
Scoch /Jjuf pe"i»^<5'it^i and apart we Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. have bLAch Aguf AriA id. . . . jyveriAich.
s See " Trias Thaumaturga,"n. 78, p. 176,
xxiii. , p. 270.
Art. v. —' Edited by Drs. Todd and
Reeves, pp, 20, 21.
324
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January i8.
Confession. In Father Henry Fitzsimon's
while
addicting
d. u. X, kl.
**
:
The magnification of Peter the Apostle
most — saying noble,
"mo"
been
1 8th of January. Nothing more seems on record regarding his family or the place where he was venerated.
Article VI. —St. Rottan. \Possibly in the Fifth Century,] The Lord is our advocate and he asks for us, are words used by holy St. Patrick in his
"
Catalogus aliquorum Sanctorum Hiberniae,"Rodanus,abishop,isfoundclassed. ^ WereadintheMartyrologies of Tallagh^ and of Donegal3 that Rottan had a festival on this day. Who he was has not clearly transpired. There is a Rodan,4 said to have been St. Patrick's shepherd or herdsman, who was afterwards consecrated bishop. s He led a very holy life, while tending his herds in the fields. His occupa- tion lefi; him time for prayers and retirement. His herds grazed quietly too
Article VII. —Feast of St. Peter's Chair at Rome, and Feast of THE Death of the Blessed Virgin Mary, observed in the Ancient Irish Church. In the Leabhar Breac version of St. —the
following festivals are noted, in connexion with our early Irish Church o. «. X. ki. tnoixATo pecAi|\ ApfCAlL
ofhis
endearment. Mochua is mentioned in the Martyrology of Tallagh,^ at the
original
name,
the
epithet
having
prefixed,
as a term of
he was — for a
study, preparing higher pastoral
himself to
charge. —There is a noticed saint of the name and he does not appear to be identical who is alluded to in St. Patrick's Tripartite Life, as a presbyter, left at the church of Sencheall Dumhaige, in the territory of Hua-Nolella. * The last-named of these holy men is said to have been a noble. The region in which his church was placed is better known under the designation of Tir-oilill, situated in the county of Sligo. 7 This was so called from a Prince Oilill,^ and it is the district now represented by the barony of Tirerrill. 9
:
The foregoing Irish stanza, whic—h he supplied, has thus been rendered into
English, by Professor O'Looney
01XU La|' in ticVi If UAH\liu X)A]' ino]\ tnAc1iAi\ IfU.
1|VUAim ^A"0 11"
In
The death of the Mother of Jesus.
itisa
With the still nobler solemnity
Rome,
From the foregoing it is manifest, that the Irish Church of the eighth century had observed that festival, which commemorates the foundation of
' Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii. In the Franciscan copy, his commemoration is united with that of the succeeding saint, thus, mochuA •Aguf tlocAti.
Art. VI. —'SeeO'SullevanBeare's"His- torise Catholicae Ibemiae Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 56.
"Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii.
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
20, 21.
O'Sullevan mentions him, lib. viii. , cap.
viii. Colgan remarks that, according to the Martyrology of Tallagh, his feast was cele- brated on this day; alihoagh, according to
Marianus O'Gorman—and more truly—it must be assigned to the 24th of August.
5 See Colgan's
"
Trias Thaumaturga,"
Angus' Felire,
Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cxlii. , and n.
150, pp. 96, 115.
"*
See j/J/</. , Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars, 11, cap. xli. , xliii. , and nn. 80, 83, pp. 135, 176.
' See Dr. O'Donovan's " Leabhar nag- Ceart, or Book of Rights," p. 185, n.
^
See O'Flaherty's "Ogygia," pars, iii. , cap. Ixxix. , p. 374.
'See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (n), p. 32.
January i8. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 325
the Chair of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, at Rome. In the riiost ancient of martyrologies, now known to exist,' and attributed to St. Jerome, the feast of St. Peter's Chair is entered. From this, too, our early ecclesiastics noted remarkable festivals, besides those peculiar to their own country. Besides such a festival, the Death, Deposition, or Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was kept on this day,^ as distinguished from the feast of the Assumption,3 on the 15th day of August. '^ Some of the Fathers reverenced her memory to that degree, they denied she died at all,5 and asserted she was transferred to eternal life, God thus crowning His other favours to her, by exempting her from the common lot of humanity. But this opinion is generally deemed wholly inadmissible ; for it can hardly be supposed, she obtained a privilege, denied to her Divine Son. ^ It is universally admitted by all Catholic divines, and believed by the faithful at large, that after the Holy Virgin's death, her immaculate soul was immediately transferred to bliss eternal.
Article VIII. —St. Aedamair, Virgin, Daughter of Aedh. {Pos^ sihly in the Fifth Century^ The manners and morals of the Irish people were chastened and refined most rapidly, after the introduction of Christi- anity. Schools in which science and learning were cultivated grew on all sides, while monasteries and convents fostered religious discipline and piety. Eadhamair, virgin, daughter of Aedh, is recorded in the Martyrology of Donegal,'onthis*dayofthemonth. Anearlysimilarentryisregistered,in theMartyrologyofTallagh,^atthe18thofJanuary. Jocelynmentionsa St. Cathuberis, an abbess. She is said to have been the first of all the Irish ladies who took the veil from St. Patrick. 3 She had a nunnery at a place denominated Cruim Duchan,4 where many holy virgins were subject to her rule. To her charge, St, Patrick commended Cynnia, a holy virgin, s In a subsequent passage of his work, Jocelyn calls Cathuberis by the name of Ethemoria, and she is represented as having been present with St. Brigid and St. Patrick, at a place near Downpatrick, shortly before the apostle's death. She appears to have survived him. Colgan thinks the Endambria or Edamaria, commemorated in our Calendars, on this day, may be the holy
Fitzsimon's " Sanctorum Catalogus aliquorum
indicated.
^ In
Ibemiae," Cathuberis, Abbatissa, is specially noticed, but no date has been assigned for her festival? In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, this virgin's name is written Cetamaria,^ of Drom-Dubhain. Again we find her called
Henry
Art. VII. —'A copy, referred to the time, if not to the pen, of St. Willibrord, is preserved at Eptemac. This may have been taken from Ireland in the seventh century, when Willibrord left it to under- take his mission to the Prisons.
* The exact place and time of her death are not yet determined.
3 Likewise called the "transitus," or
Passage.
< This has been a very ancient feast in the
Church, although the date of its institution has not been discovered.
* See an admirable article on " The Feast of the Assumption," in the "Catholic Cabinet and Chronicle of Religious Intel-
ligence," vol. i. , n. 4, pp. 218 to 225.
^ Art. VIII. —'Edited by Drs. Todd and
virgin
s Among these was St. Epiphanius.
Reeves, pp. 20, 21.
' Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii.
In the Franciscan copy, we find at this date
the entry Ae^AmmAifv, i. e. -Ae'OA.
3 See "Trias Thaumaturga," Sexta Vita
S. Patricii, cap, Ixxix. , p. 83. Again, he seems to confound het with an Ethembria.
See ibid. , cap. clxxxviii. , p. 107.
'*This place cannot be identified, under
such a form, which from the sequel appears to be incorrect.
s See her acts at the 1st of February,
* See ibid. , n. 83, p. 1X2, and n. 181, p. 116.
^ See O'Sullevan Beare's " Historise Ca- tholicae Ibernise Compendium," tomus i,, lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 53.
^See "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars iii. , cap. vii. , p. 150.
326
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 19,
Cectumbria and Cectamaria. Under these forms, the name does not occur in our calendars ; but it has been conjectured, that errors may have crept into the old codices,^ which have served to disguise or distort her real appellation. Elsewhere Colgan identifies Drum-Dubhain with a Church, near Clogher," where the remains of seven holy bishops reposed.
Biwteentft J3ap of 3ainiarp*
ARTICLE I. —ST. BLAITMAIC OR BLATHMAC, OF lONA, MARTYR. [EIGHTH AND NINTH CENTURIES. '^
individuals are heroic in action : others in patient suffering. This
noble saint, whose memory is held in honour on the 19th day of SOME
January, justly deserves the meed of praise for his fortitude under both
aspects. Blaitmaic's biography has been elegantly composed, in Latin hexa- meter verses, by Walafridus or Galafridas Strabo,' a learned Benedictine monk, who died a. d. 847. This celebrated writer was an accomplished mediaeval poet. " His greatly admired composition was written at the insti- gation of a venerable superior, Felix, and it appeared, most probably, some short time after the tragic but glorious death of the noble subject, suggesting Strabo's fine poem. 3 We are unable to state, on whose authority events associated with the life of Blaitmaic depend, as they are metrically narrated by Strabo ; but, it is probable, they had been taken from some relation given by monks connected with lona monastery. • These informants, too, might have had a personal knowledge concerning the martyred Christian hero, and even of the circumstances attending his death. His interesting acts have been frequently \vritten, in various forms, as well in proses as in verse. ^
St. Blaitmaic or Brah Mac, which name, according to Strabo and Bol-
"
landus, means the beautiful son,"7 seems to have been gifted with singular
graces, even from his very infancy. ^ 9 See ibid. , n. 83, p. 112.
This child, the delight of his parents, notwithstanding quite incorrect.
"See "Acta Sanctorum
*
Benedict! " occurs the life of St. Blaithmaic,
Februarii.
12, p. 235. Art. I.
Hibernise," i. Vita S. Cinnise sive Kinnise, n,
'
— He was a monk of Fulda,
In the "Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Martyr, with companions, in Latin hexa-
afterwards a dean at St. Gall, then he be- came abbot at Richenaw or Ringau, near Lake Constance. All of the foregoing re- ligious houses were founded by holy Irish- men, who were missionaries on the continent of Europe.
442. Likewise, in the great BoUandist collection, " Acta Sanctorum," Januarii, tomus ii. , pp.
'See Bishop Challoner's Sancta," part i. , p. 67.
"Britannia
babilis illo
meritoque pro-
Patremqui Deum quaesivit
sec. ii.
3 In the
Cursus Completus Patrilogiae,"
"
dignus tipotentem
erat,
the works of Walafridus Strabo will be "
Elegit, pulchroque
found printed. The second tome of these — amore. "
works contain
Strabo, Vita S. Blaitmaici,
—s the tract in
1043101046. See tomus cxiii.
The life of Blaithmaic is given by
Pinkerton in his " Vitse Antiquse Sancto- parte ii. , p. 201, as also in Messingham's
question, pp.
rum," p. 459.
sin Butler's "Lives of the Saints," we
find at January the 19th some notices of St. Blaithmaic, abbot. These are brief, and
* " Lectiones" of Cani- In the Antiquas
meter verse, tomus iv. , to pp. 439
236 to 238.
'"Cujus honorandum nomen sermone
'*
Latino,
Pulcher natus adest :
" Nomine
cunc-
sius, tomus vi. , and "nova editio," tomus ii. ,
"
Florilegium Insulas Sanctorum," p. 399, such particulars are stated, in the metrical acts of this saint, by Strabo.
January 19. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 327
was of royal extraction and of noble birth. ? He was bom in Ireland, most
probably about, or after, the middle of the eighth century. "* St. Blaithmaic was prospective heir to his father's possessions;" the ornament and hope of
his family and country. At an early age, he was distinguished for almost every virtue and merit. He is described as being of sound judgment,
prudent, a great lover of holy purity, and humble, notwithstanding his exalted birth. " The innate nobiUty of his soul surpassed that of his race. 's
Accomplishments were not wanting, to add a royal grace to his character : sober and circumspect, he was pleasing in mien and agreeable in disposition. Although remaining in the world, he was not one of this world's votaries. '4
He had resolved upon devoting himself wholly to reHgious services, but kept this secret locked up within his own breast, until such time as he could most
conveniently put his resolution into practice. Without his father's knowledge, Blaitmaic withdrew privately to a monastery, where he practised all exercises of a monastic life, until his retreat was discovered. Hereupon, the fond parent, who loved his son according to the instinct of worldlings, repaired to this monastery, and he brought a band of friends and acquaintances, whose exertions and entreaties, it had been supposed, must have exercised great influence in changing Blaitmaic's purpose. Besides the chiefs and people, a bishop and several abbots united their persuasions with those of his father, to induce the saint to resume his former rank. But the pious prince resisted all these solicitations, and persevered in his happy course of life. '^
He looked upon himself as the servant to all religious in the monastery,
although esteemed beyond expression by his fellow-cenobites. He was dis-
tinguished by religious silence, and by the observance of monastic discipline ;
by attentive study of the Sacred Scriptures and books of ecclesiastical
science he edified all with his conduct and conversation. In due time he ;
was made superior of the religious community ;'^ and this band of religious he governed more by example than by precept. Christ Jesus was the sole object of his praise and glory, as of his discourse and allusions. Peace was hisshield,prayerswerehiscoatofmail; patiencewashisfieldforvictory, and the Word of God his sword : mildness characterized his conduct towards the monks ; he became all things to all of them, that he might gain all to
Christ. Hewaseverhopefulandloving; practisingeveryvirtueandavoiding every imperfection ; and ever referring his actions to the great Author of our
9 Without
the date of his — giving festival,
"
Hibemise. " The Annals of Clonmacnoise
ConviBus thus refers to this saint:
S.
and of Seuat at A. D. mac-Magnus,
concur.
823,
Blaithmac, princeps, hseres regni, et incly-
tus martyr, in insula Eo. " See O'SulIevan "
'3 The Martyrologies of Tallagh and of Marianus O'Gorman, as also St. . fEngus' commentator on the Felire, represent him
Beare's Histpriae Catholicae Ibernise Com- pendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. x. , p. 48. "Henry Fitzsimon, citing "Antique
—"
as the son of Flann. See Colgan's Acta
Lectiones,"tom. vi. ,p. 575,states,th—atSt. SanctorumHibernise,"xix. Januarii,n. 2,
p. 129. — 'The poem of Strabo states:
"Tractabat laicus, quod clericusefficiebat. " —'* Vita S. Blaitmaici. "
'S See Mabillon's " Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus ii. , lib. xxvi. , sec, xxvil. ,
Blaithmac lived about tlie year 912.
See ibid. , cap. xii. , p. 52. This date is later, however, than has been allowed by other writers, and long after the period when Strabo, the biographer of St. Blaithmaic,
died.
" " In the Irish annals and calendars his
pp. 309, 310. '*This is stated
"
nitore,
" Agmina multorum rexit veneranda vi-
rorum. "
—" Vita S. Blaitmaici. "
Where this religious institute was has not
been stated, but it seems to have been in some part of Ireland.
father is called Flaun
;
but it is not stated
—
what he had. principality
Colgan conjee- tures that he was one of the southern Neills,
princes of Meath, because the names Flaun and Blaithmaic were rather common in that family. "—Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. iii. , chap, xx. , sec. xi. , n.
121, p.
Article III. —Saints Scoth, Feammor, Blath and Ana, Four Virgins of Cluain-Greanach. While unable to identify the place where these virgins Hved, it seems equally difficult to determine their period. It is
notlikely,however,thatallwerecontemporaries. InreadingtheMartyrology of Donegal,' we find mentioned, as having festivals celebrated on this day,
Scoth,= Feammor, Blath, and Ana, four virgins of Cluain-greanach. In the table this place is printed Cluain-grencha. An entry of these saints is found in the Martyrology of Tallagh,3 at the i8th of January ; but the two foremost ones, Scoth and Femmair, are united in- one passage, without mention of any locality, while after the entry of two other saints, the names of Blath and Ana of Cluain Grenaich follow. However separated during life's days or by residence they may have been, in heaven they are united, and their charity for sojourners yet on earth is exerted in joint intercession on this their common festival.
Article IV. —St. Coppa or Cobba, Virgin, Daughter of Baedan.
\Possibly in the Fifth Century. ] The silence of history has obscured many a career,whichifbetterknownmustcommandtherespectofthegood. A
festival in honour of Cobba, daughter toBaetan, is recorded in the Martyrology of Tallagh,' at the i8th of January. Nor do we find further notices of her inthelatercalendars. Coppa,virgin,andadaughterofBaedan,isentered intheMartyrologyofDonegal,^onthisdayofthemonth. Intheactsof
it is said he left a
the mother of
—at the Bishop Bite,
holy
Article V. —St. Mochua. In the Martyrology of Donegal,* Mochua is simply recorded, as being venerated on this day. Chua was probably the
St.
Patrick,
Cipia,3
churchofElphin. '* Colganseemstodoubtwhe
woman whom
—therthis
he classed among those veiled by St. Patrick was not identical with the present St. Coppa or Cobba. s
s° See tdtd. , pp. 79, 80.
S' Rediriva. Quoted by O'Shea in his "Guide to Spain. "
Art. III. —'Edited by Drs. Todd and
Reeves, pp. 20, 21.
'In the table superadded to this work,
her name has affixed the Latin appellation J'lora, as the Irish word ScotA means a Aower. SeeI'^ii/. , pp. 472,473.
Art. IV. —' Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii. In the Franciscan copy we
findCobbA, i. e. becAiri.
' Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
20, 21.
3 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturg:a. "
Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. xxxix. , pp. 134, 135.
* The parish of Elphin, with its various
townland denominations, is represented in thebaronyandcountyofRoscommon. See "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Roscommon," Sheets 22, 23.
3 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii. In
the Franciscan copy we find these four
names separated, thus in one line we read
Scoch /Jjuf pe"i»^<5'it^i and apart we Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. have bLAch Aguf AriA id. . . . jyveriAich.
s See " Trias Thaumaturga,"n. 78, p. 176,
xxiii. , p. 270.
Art. v. —' Edited by Drs. Todd and
Reeves, pp, 20, 21.
324
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January i8.
Confession. In Father Henry Fitzsimon's
while
addicting
d. u. X, kl.
**
:
The magnification of Peter the Apostle
most — saying noble,
"mo"
been
1 8th of January. Nothing more seems on record regarding his family or the place where he was venerated.
Article VI. —St. Rottan. \Possibly in the Fifth Century,] The Lord is our advocate and he asks for us, are words used by holy St. Patrick in his
"
Catalogus aliquorum Sanctorum Hiberniae,"Rodanus,abishop,isfoundclassed. ^ WereadintheMartyrologies of Tallagh^ and of Donegal3 that Rottan had a festival on this day. Who he was has not clearly transpired. There is a Rodan,4 said to have been St. Patrick's shepherd or herdsman, who was afterwards consecrated bishop. s He led a very holy life, while tending his herds in the fields. His occupa- tion lefi; him time for prayers and retirement. His herds grazed quietly too
Article VII. —Feast of St. Peter's Chair at Rome, and Feast of THE Death of the Blessed Virgin Mary, observed in the Ancient Irish Church. In the Leabhar Breac version of St. —the
following festivals are noted, in connexion with our early Irish Church o. «. X. ki. tnoixATo pecAi|\ ApfCAlL
ofhis
endearment. Mochua is mentioned in the Martyrology of Tallagh,^ at the
original
name,
the
epithet
having
prefixed,
as a term of
he was — for a
study, preparing higher pastoral
himself to
charge. —There is a noticed saint of the name and he does not appear to be identical who is alluded to in St. Patrick's Tripartite Life, as a presbyter, left at the church of Sencheall Dumhaige, in the territory of Hua-Nolella. * The last-named of these holy men is said to have been a noble. The region in which his church was placed is better known under the designation of Tir-oilill, situated in the county of Sligo. 7 This was so called from a Prince Oilill,^ and it is the district now represented by the barony of Tirerrill. 9
:
The foregoing Irish stanza, whic—h he supplied, has thus been rendered into
English, by Professor O'Looney
01XU La|' in ticVi If UAH\liu X)A]' ino]\ tnAc1iAi\ IfU.
1|VUAim ^A"0 11"
In
The death of the Mother of Jesus.
itisa
With the still nobler solemnity
Rome,
From the foregoing it is manifest, that the Irish Church of the eighth century had observed that festival, which commemorates the foundation of
' Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii. In the Franciscan copy, his commemoration is united with that of the succeeding saint, thus, mochuA •Aguf tlocAti.
Art. VI. —'SeeO'SullevanBeare's"His- torise Catholicae Ibemiae Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 56.
"Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii.
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
20, 21.
O'Sullevan mentions him, lib. viii. , cap.
viii. Colgan remarks that, according to the Martyrology of Tallagh, his feast was cele- brated on this day; alihoagh, according to
Marianus O'Gorman—and more truly—it must be assigned to the 24th of August.
5 See Colgan's
"
Trias Thaumaturga,"
Angus' Felire,
Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cxlii. , and n.
150, pp. 96, 115.
"*
See j/J/</. , Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars, 11, cap. xli. , xliii. , and nn. 80, 83, pp. 135, 176.
' See Dr. O'Donovan's " Leabhar nag- Ceart, or Book of Rights," p. 185, n.
^
See O'Flaherty's "Ogygia," pars, iii. , cap. Ixxix. , p. 374.
'See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (n), p. 32.
January i8. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 325
the Chair of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, at Rome. In the riiost ancient of martyrologies, now known to exist,' and attributed to St. Jerome, the feast of St. Peter's Chair is entered. From this, too, our early ecclesiastics noted remarkable festivals, besides those peculiar to their own country. Besides such a festival, the Death, Deposition, or Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was kept on this day,^ as distinguished from the feast of the Assumption,3 on the 15th day of August. '^ Some of the Fathers reverenced her memory to that degree, they denied she died at all,5 and asserted she was transferred to eternal life, God thus crowning His other favours to her, by exempting her from the common lot of humanity. But this opinion is generally deemed wholly inadmissible ; for it can hardly be supposed, she obtained a privilege, denied to her Divine Son. ^ It is universally admitted by all Catholic divines, and believed by the faithful at large, that after the Holy Virgin's death, her immaculate soul was immediately transferred to bliss eternal.
Article VIII. —St. Aedamair, Virgin, Daughter of Aedh. {Pos^ sihly in the Fifth Century^ The manners and morals of the Irish people were chastened and refined most rapidly, after the introduction of Christi- anity. Schools in which science and learning were cultivated grew on all sides, while monasteries and convents fostered religious discipline and piety. Eadhamair, virgin, daughter of Aedh, is recorded in the Martyrology of Donegal,'onthis*dayofthemonth. Anearlysimilarentryisregistered,in theMartyrologyofTallagh,^atthe18thofJanuary. Jocelynmentionsa St. Cathuberis, an abbess. She is said to have been the first of all the Irish ladies who took the veil from St. Patrick. 3 She had a nunnery at a place denominated Cruim Duchan,4 where many holy virgins were subject to her rule. To her charge, St, Patrick commended Cynnia, a holy virgin, s In a subsequent passage of his work, Jocelyn calls Cathuberis by the name of Ethemoria, and she is represented as having been present with St. Brigid and St. Patrick, at a place near Downpatrick, shortly before the apostle's death. She appears to have survived him. Colgan thinks the Endambria or Edamaria, commemorated in our Calendars, on this day, may be the holy
Fitzsimon's " Sanctorum Catalogus aliquorum
indicated.
^ In
Ibemiae," Cathuberis, Abbatissa, is specially noticed, but no date has been assigned for her festival? In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, this virgin's name is written Cetamaria,^ of Drom-Dubhain. Again we find her called
Henry
Art. VII. —'A copy, referred to the time, if not to the pen, of St. Willibrord, is preserved at Eptemac. This may have been taken from Ireland in the seventh century, when Willibrord left it to under- take his mission to the Prisons.
* The exact place and time of her death are not yet determined.
3 Likewise called the "transitus," or
Passage.
< This has been a very ancient feast in the
Church, although the date of its institution has not been discovered.
* See an admirable article on " The Feast of the Assumption," in the "Catholic Cabinet and Chronicle of Religious Intel-
ligence," vol. i. , n. 4, pp. 218 to 225.
^ Art. VIII. —'Edited by Drs. Todd and
virgin
s Among these was St. Epiphanius.
Reeves, pp. 20, 21.
' Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii.
In the Franciscan copy, we find at this date
the entry Ae^AmmAifv, i. e. -Ae'OA.
3 See "Trias Thaumaturga," Sexta Vita
S. Patricii, cap, Ixxix. , p. 83. Again, he seems to confound het with an Ethembria.
See ibid. , cap. clxxxviii. , p. 107.
'*This place cannot be identified, under
such a form, which from the sequel appears to be incorrect.
s See her acts at the 1st of February,
* See ibid. , n. 83, p. 1X2, and n. 181, p. 116.
^ See O'Sullevan Beare's " Historise Ca- tholicae Ibernise Compendium," tomus i,, lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 53.
^See "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars iii. , cap. vii. , p. 150.
326
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 19,
Cectumbria and Cectamaria. Under these forms, the name does not occur in our calendars ; but it has been conjectured, that errors may have crept into the old codices,^ which have served to disguise or distort her real appellation. Elsewhere Colgan identifies Drum-Dubhain with a Church, near Clogher," where the remains of seven holy bishops reposed.
Biwteentft J3ap of 3ainiarp*
ARTICLE I. —ST. BLAITMAIC OR BLATHMAC, OF lONA, MARTYR. [EIGHTH AND NINTH CENTURIES. '^
individuals are heroic in action : others in patient suffering. This
noble saint, whose memory is held in honour on the 19th day of SOME
January, justly deserves the meed of praise for his fortitude under both
aspects. Blaitmaic's biography has been elegantly composed, in Latin hexa- meter verses, by Walafridus or Galafridas Strabo,' a learned Benedictine monk, who died a. d. 847. This celebrated writer was an accomplished mediaeval poet. " His greatly admired composition was written at the insti- gation of a venerable superior, Felix, and it appeared, most probably, some short time after the tragic but glorious death of the noble subject, suggesting Strabo's fine poem. 3 We are unable to state, on whose authority events associated with the life of Blaitmaic depend, as they are metrically narrated by Strabo ; but, it is probable, they had been taken from some relation given by monks connected with lona monastery. • These informants, too, might have had a personal knowledge concerning the martyred Christian hero, and even of the circumstances attending his death. His interesting acts have been frequently \vritten, in various forms, as well in proses as in verse. ^
St. Blaitmaic or Brah Mac, which name, according to Strabo and Bol-
"
landus, means the beautiful son,"7 seems to have been gifted with singular
graces, even from his very infancy. ^ 9 See ibid. , n. 83, p. 112.
This child, the delight of his parents, notwithstanding quite incorrect.
"See "Acta Sanctorum
*
Benedict! " occurs the life of St. Blaithmaic,
Februarii.
12, p. 235. Art. I.
Hibernise," i. Vita S. Cinnise sive Kinnise, n,
'
— He was a monk of Fulda,
In the "Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Martyr, with companions, in Latin hexa-
afterwards a dean at St. Gall, then he be- came abbot at Richenaw or Ringau, near Lake Constance. All of the foregoing re- ligious houses were founded by holy Irish- men, who were missionaries on the continent of Europe.
442. Likewise, in the great BoUandist collection, " Acta Sanctorum," Januarii, tomus ii. , pp.
'See Bishop Challoner's Sancta," part i. , p. 67.
"Britannia
babilis illo
meritoque pro-
Patremqui Deum quaesivit
sec. ii.
3 In the
Cursus Completus Patrilogiae,"
"
dignus tipotentem
erat,
the works of Walafridus Strabo will be "
Elegit, pulchroque
found printed. The second tome of these — amore. "
works contain
Strabo, Vita S. Blaitmaici,
—s the tract in
1043101046. See tomus cxiii.
The life of Blaithmaic is given by
Pinkerton in his " Vitse Antiquse Sancto- parte ii. , p. 201, as also in Messingham's
question, pp.
rum," p. 459.
sin Butler's "Lives of the Saints," we
find at January the 19th some notices of St. Blaithmaic, abbot. These are brief, and
* " Lectiones" of Cani- In the Antiquas
meter verse, tomus iv. , to pp. 439
236 to 238.
'"Cujus honorandum nomen sermone
'*
Latino,
Pulcher natus adest :
" Nomine
cunc-
sius, tomus vi. , and "nova editio," tomus ii. ,
"
Florilegium Insulas Sanctorum," p. 399, such particulars are stated, in the metrical acts of this saint, by Strabo.
January 19. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 327
was of royal extraction and of noble birth. ? He was bom in Ireland, most
probably about, or after, the middle of the eighth century. "* St. Blaithmaic was prospective heir to his father's possessions;" the ornament and hope of
his family and country. At an early age, he was distinguished for almost every virtue and merit. He is described as being of sound judgment,
prudent, a great lover of holy purity, and humble, notwithstanding his exalted birth. " The innate nobiUty of his soul surpassed that of his race. 's
Accomplishments were not wanting, to add a royal grace to his character : sober and circumspect, he was pleasing in mien and agreeable in disposition. Although remaining in the world, he was not one of this world's votaries. '4
He had resolved upon devoting himself wholly to reHgious services, but kept this secret locked up within his own breast, until such time as he could most
conveniently put his resolution into practice. Without his father's knowledge, Blaitmaic withdrew privately to a monastery, where he practised all exercises of a monastic life, until his retreat was discovered. Hereupon, the fond parent, who loved his son according to the instinct of worldlings, repaired to this monastery, and he brought a band of friends and acquaintances, whose exertions and entreaties, it had been supposed, must have exercised great influence in changing Blaitmaic's purpose. Besides the chiefs and people, a bishop and several abbots united their persuasions with those of his father, to induce the saint to resume his former rank. But the pious prince resisted all these solicitations, and persevered in his happy course of life. '^
He looked upon himself as the servant to all religious in the monastery,
although esteemed beyond expression by his fellow-cenobites. He was dis-
tinguished by religious silence, and by the observance of monastic discipline ;
by attentive study of the Sacred Scriptures and books of ecclesiastical
science he edified all with his conduct and conversation. In due time he ;
was made superior of the religious community ;'^ and this band of religious he governed more by example than by precept. Christ Jesus was the sole object of his praise and glory, as of his discourse and allusions. Peace was hisshield,prayerswerehiscoatofmail; patiencewashisfieldforvictory, and the Word of God his sword : mildness characterized his conduct towards the monks ; he became all things to all of them, that he might gain all to
Christ. Hewaseverhopefulandloving; practisingeveryvirtueandavoiding every imperfection ; and ever referring his actions to the great Author of our
9 Without
the date of his — giving festival,
"
Hibemise. " The Annals of Clonmacnoise
ConviBus thus refers to this saint:
S.
and of Seuat at A. D. mac-Magnus,
concur.
823,
Blaithmac, princeps, hseres regni, et incly-
tus martyr, in insula Eo. " See O'SulIevan "
'3 The Martyrologies of Tallagh and of Marianus O'Gorman, as also St. . fEngus' commentator on the Felire, represent him
Beare's Histpriae Catholicae Ibernise Com- pendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. x. , p. 48. "Henry Fitzsimon, citing "Antique
—"
as the son of Flann. See Colgan's Acta
Lectiones,"tom. vi. ,p. 575,states,th—atSt. SanctorumHibernise,"xix. Januarii,n. 2,
p. 129. — 'The poem of Strabo states:
"Tractabat laicus, quod clericusefficiebat. " —'* Vita S. Blaitmaici. "
'S See Mabillon's " Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus ii. , lib. xxvi. , sec, xxvil. ,
Blaithmac lived about tlie year 912.
See ibid. , cap. xii. , p. 52. This date is later, however, than has been allowed by other writers, and long after the period when Strabo, the biographer of St. Blaithmaic,
died.
" " In the Irish annals and calendars his
pp. 309, 310. '*This is stated
"
nitore,
" Agmina multorum rexit veneranda vi-
rorum. "
—" Vita S. Blaitmaici. "
Where this religious institute was has not
been stated, but it seems to have been in some part of Ireland.
father is called Flaun
;
but it is not stated
—
what he had. principality
Colgan conjee- tures that he was one of the southern Neills,
princes of Meath, because the names Flaun and Blaithmaic were rather common in that family. "—Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. iii. , chap, xx. , sec. xi. , n.
121, p.
