Similar
incorrect
ideas his Epistle to Coroticus, p.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
These relics of Lelha are said to have been miraculously abstracted from St.
Patrick, =^5 who then sent messengers, to the AbbotofRome.
^^ Therelicswereafterwardsrestored.
^?
—
Notwithstanding theforegoingverycircumstantialnarrative,St. Patrick'sConfession generally allowed to have—been composed towards the close of his life, in the opinion ofDr. Lanigan seemstodisprovetheidea,"^thatheleftIreland,afterthe foundation of Armagh. In the scene of his labours, and among the Irish people, the Lord had commanded him to remain, for the remainder of his
Patrick makes him of the Briton race of
Dumbarton, born at Nemthur, and it states, that he went to Rome for the third time.
See pp. 4, 5, 36, 37. It inverts very much, the received accounts of the Apostle's Acts. It tells us, that Brigit was with Patrick, at Essruaid, or Assaroe.
" The Latin Tripartite Life calls him these miraculously disappeared, and could
Accordingly, the visit of our saint, to the Eternal City, should not have been later
than 446, or 447.
'9 As to what Jocelyn says, regarding the
Pallium, it is quite sufficient to observe, that no such ornament, as granted to arch- bishops or bishops, was used in the Western Church, until the sixth century.
^ Respecting the legatine authority, such
as understood by Jocelyn, Dr. Lanigan Armagh," chap, i. , p. 84.
argues, that St. Patrick had no occasion for ^5 The Latin Tripartite Life states, that its being conferred on him. through the carelessness of the keepers,
Legate of the West.
^' The Irish Tripartite Life very foolishly relates, that sleep came over the inhabitants
of Rome, so that Patrick brought away a sufficiency of the relics. The Latin Tripar- tite Life states, "Nee diii Romse substitit dum pio astu, furtove sacrorum locorum custodibusnescientibusetdormientibus,sed summo, ut creditur, connivente Pontifice, accepit ingentem sanctarum reliquiarum multitudinem : quas secum in Hiberniam asportavit, et in Ecclesia Ardmachana pre- tiosis thecis, gemmis et auro caslatis, in- clusasconstituit. "
not be found, in the shrine. St. Patrick had an admonition, that they were taken back to Rome.
" The messengers, on stating the circum- stances—for the relics had gone to Rome—
brought an Epistle from him, as we are told, directing that the clerics and people of Armaghshouldwatchtherel—icswithlamps andtorchesbynightforever fortherelics were returned by the Sovereign Pontiff. Wiih Mass and Psalmody by day, and with prayers by night, those relics were to be honoured, and it was prescribed, that—the clericsshouldelevatethemeveryyear for multitudes desired to see and venerate them.
'3 The Tripartite Lives mention the relics
of three hundred and sixty-five various These instructions were faithfully carried
saints, with the relics of the Apostles Peter
out, by the Irish Apostle. It was the custom in the church at Armagh every year, to expose those relics at Easter, and at W'hitsuntide, to be seen, and to be honoured, by all the people.
and Paul, and of the Martyrs Laurence,
and Stephen, with similar precious remains ;
as also a cloth on which was the blood of
Christ, and, besides, he procured the hair
oftheBlessedVirginMary. Patrick,in-
structed by the Angel, with the holy Synod p. 28. Also, Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. of Ireland approving, left this precious col- clxvi. , clxvii. , pp. loi, I02, and Septima lection in Armagh, according to the ^^ili of Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. Ixxxi. , Ixxxii. , God. Lately has appeared, in Calcutta, a Ixxxiv. , p. 164, and nn. 107, loS, p. 187.
work, edited by \\ hitley Stokes, and privately printed, "Three Middle-Irish Homilies on the Lives of Saints Patrick, Brigid and Columba," 1877, 8vo. These are given from the "Leabliar Breac," the Irish on one side, and an English transla- tion en the other. The Homily on St.
^* Had it taken place, it must have been mentioned, in some of the Roman or other documents of the day. But most records of thai date are unfortunately now lost or missing. The Rev. Dr. Todd adopts the s. ime opinion as Dr. Lanigan, in his "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," &c. , chap, iii. , pp. 481, 482.
' This happened A. D. 463, according to Stuart's " Historical Memoirs of the City of
*'SeeTertiaVitaS. ratricii,cap. Ixxxiv. ,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 74t
life. *9 Moreover, having been already invested with full powerSjS* such as those Palladius had enjoyed, for propagating the Gospel, and for establishing those means, necessary to preserve the Christian Faith in Ireland, our Apostle was not under any necessity of applying to Rome, for a confirma- tion of those privileges annexed to his Metropolitan See. 3» Besides, it must be stated, that Ireland was then, from Rome, the remotest corner of Christian Europe. Intercourse between Ireland and Rome was particularly difficult and most perilous, at that time. 3* Some writers have not only im- pugned this visit of St. Patrick to Rome,33 but they have even denied his communion with the Roman See. 3+ These assumptions, however, have been most satisfactorily dealt with, by learned Catholic divines3S and historians. 3^ A few divergencies of discipline and rites form no sufficient grounds for sup- posing, that the Irish National Church differed, in doctrinal and moral teach- ing, from the Universal Catholic Church, elsewhere, from the times of St. Patrick, through all succeeding ages, and down to the present age. 37 His- torical evidence is so very clear, and even from well-known Protestant sources,38 that it must only require a little investigation of records, which are now readily accessible, to enlighten most students regarding modern contro-
=9 See " Confessio S. Patricii," p. 17.
3°
St. Patrick's right of selecting a metro- polis flowed, it is supposed, from the exten- sive nature of his mission. For, he had been sent, not to a part, but to the whole island. Dr.
Sketches of Ancient Irish Saints," sect, i. , p. 12.
3^ See, among others, Henry J. Monck Mason's "Testimony of St. Patrick against the false pretensions of Rome to Primitive
Worcester Oxford. London College,
Lanigan maintains,
being no other bishop in the country, when
Antiquity
Compendious Ecclesiastical History from the earliest period to the present Time. " By the Rev. William Palmer, M. A. , of
St. Patrick arrived, there was, in point of fact, originally no bishop over all Ireland.
of time
3' The whom in bishops,
that there
in Ireland," " A Dublin, 1846.
process
he appointed to various Sees, having de- 1840. The Rev. Dr. Todd, more parti-
rived their authority from him, became, cularly, has endeavoured to sustain by
ipso facto, his suffragans. See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect, i. , and nn. i, 2, 3, 4, pp. 318 to 322. But, there can be no doubt, such appointments had been sanc- tioned or approved of, either directly or in-
theory and argument, that the Irish Apostle did not receive his mission and authority from Rome. See " St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," &c. , chap, i. , pp. 265 to 338.
35 On this subject, the reader is especially
referred to Rt. Rev. Bishop Moran's work,
" on the and Essays Origin, Doctrines,
the Pontiff. Sovereign
directly, by
3* " How natural, therefore, that Cele-
Discipline of the Early Irish Church," part stine, when sending Patrick to so distant a i. , chap. i. to iv. , and part ii. , chap. i. to
land, should give him plenaiy powers as to vii. , pp. I to 79.
the appointment of bishops, the confirming ^^ See " Dissertations chiefly on Irish of abbots, the making of disciplinary laws Church History. " By the Rev. Dr. and decrees in national and provincial Matthew Kelly. Edited by Rev. Daniel Synods, with authority to continue the same MacCarthy, D. D. , pp. 220 to 335. Rev. ecclesiastical system, until the Sovereign James Gaffney's "Ancient Irisli Church:
Pontiff should find it wise and practicable to
alter that arrangement. What other settle-
ment, in fact, could we conceive Celestine,
in the circumstances, to have made with St.
Patrick, w—hen sending him to convert this
island? " Most Rev. Dr. Donnelly's Christians, he returned to Ireland, and " Lecture on the
Protestantism of the Irish Primitive Church, and the Anglo- Norman Theory. " Delivered on Tue-day evening, April 15th, 1879, for the Catholic
Young Men's Society, Monaghan. Re- Patrick derive his mission, from Pope Cele-
alleged
"
sea. "History People,"
ported in the Peopl/s Advocate, of April 19th, 1879.
MThus, the Rev. Hubert M'Loughlin
'"
stme I , at Rome. See Britaiuiicaruni
Ecclesiarum Aniiquitalex," at the clo. -. e of cap. xvi. , and at tJie beginning oi c. ip. xvii.
" From tlie time of his arrival as a missionary in Iiel. Tud, h—e never k-fl the
of his "
country adoption. " Biographical
" Historical . \ccount ofCluuch Govenuneiit, as it was in (Jieat
states
:
Ai>o, Bishop Lloyd's
"
37 See R—ev. A. O'Conor—a Protestant
was it Catholic or Protestant ?
passim.
clergyman
thus in reference to . St. writes,
" Fully instructed, formally autho-
Patrick
rized, and attended by numerous Irish
:
— the of the Cross from sea to planted religion
of the Irish Booki. 38 Thus, the learned Archbisho]i Ussher. quoting ancient authorities, makes St.
Britain and
Ireland,
when first received they
:
na LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
versies on this question. 39 We shall proceed, therefore, with the biographical series of our saint's Acts.
A wicked king among the Britons, who is called Corthec,^° Coritic, Caro- ticus,4i Chairtic,** or CereticuSj-^^ lived in the time of St. Patrick ; and, while some accounts seem to make him a pagan,"* yet from circumstances detailed, regarding him, we may probably infer, that he was a nominal Christian,<5 but a remorseless tyrant. ^^ St. Patrick himself alludes to t—hose raiders he
as infamous and — Picts. 47 The Bollandists although not led, apostate
drawing any certain conclusion have a conjecture,'*^ that his name signified, he had been king of Ceretica, the part of Wales,49 now known as Cardigan- shire. Some have thought he was a Cornish ruler. That he reigned in Cornwall would seem probable enough,s° if the martyrdom of St. Fingar and of his companions^' there could be traced to his wicked agency. We are told, that the impious chief mocked the teaching and salutary admonitionsS"
the Christian Rehgion. " Also Harris' siecles, avec une Chronologic et Notes,"
"
tome xvi. , p. 462.
** In terms of loathing yet not calling
mission, the opinion of Archbishop Ussher, 360.
on this point, is not to be allowed. See *^ See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , " A Primer of the History of the Holy Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo, Catholic Church in Ireland," vol. i. , book Apostolo et Primate Hibernise. Prelude to i. , chap, iv. , p. 30.
Similar incorrect ideas his Epistle to Coroticus, p. 538.
Ware, vol. i. , pp. 10, II.
Archbishops of Armagh,"
—
39 In quoting Mr. Phelan's book, the
" Case of the Church of Ireland stated by
Declan," the Rev. Robert King asserts,
that regarding St. Patrick's Roman com- Apostle of Ireland," chap, ii. , pp. 359,
pervade his " Memoir introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," Preface, and p. 68,
*° According to the Tripartite Life.
^9 Jocelyn stales, that Cereticus was a native of that part of Brittany, called Wales. It seems probable, that the name Coroticus or Cereticus is the same, being no other than Caraduc. So it appears, as written in the Welsh, or, Caradeuc, as spelled by the
*' Under different forms, this was a veiy
common name, among the ancient Britons.
It was originally the same as that of the Bretons. The name Corotic, Caretic, great Caractacus, or Caratacus, whose ex-
ploits are to be found recorded, in John
" ofGreatBritaine. " The Speed's History
Ceretic, Cerdic, was one usual, among the Britons, not alone in Ceretica, but wherever there were of that race.
people
Fifth BooUe, chap, vi. , pp. 175, 176. A 50 There is a statement in the Life of S—t.
wicked British king. Careticus, is mentioned, as living in the sixth century. See Ranul-
Crantock—
venerated at the i6'hof
phus in his
"
Polychronicon," in Gale's
May that the territory of Ceredig, a king of Cornwall, was in his old age devastated by hordes of Irish. What else could have been expected, but that fierce retribution would be sought by the people, whom he
" at
Scriptores XV. ," p. 225. Cereticus,
another British king, who lived about a. d.
620, is spoken of by Camden, in his
"
Bri-
—col. 862. We find in Bede a tannia,"
had so
that the great Irish Apostle had terrified the soldiers of Ceredig, by denouncing God's
—who flourished towards the latter end of the
"
Hisioria Ecclesias- tica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. xxiii. ,
p. 324.
*- He is so designated, by Probus.
<3 So he is called, by Joc^lyn, in the Sixth
Life, cap. cl. , p. 98.
** Thus do we read, in the Third Life :
"Nunciata sunt S. Patricio mala opera cu-
? And grievously wronged seeing
a British
Cerclic likewise prince
seventh century. See
judgments upon them and upon their chief, stigmatizing them as "fellow-citizens of devils, and murderers of the brethren of the Lord," what more likely to have happened, according to the Rev. John Adams, than that Crantock, being fully aware of the enormity of the crimes committed by his father's troops, and of the terror which the saint's scathing denunciation had struck into their hearts, should have fled for niercy to
jusdam regis Britonum, Coritic crudelis, et
immitis tyranni, ut converteret eum ad viam
veritatis. Hie Coritic namque erat perse- St. Patrick, rather than lead those guilty
cutor, et interfector Christianorum, misitque Patricius ad eum epistolam ; sed rex ille deridebat doctiinam Patricii. " See Tertia Vim . S. Patricii," cap. Ixxii. , p. 27.
*5 See Tillemonts " Memoirs pour servir a I'Histoire Ecclesiabtique des six premiers
soldiers against the avenging host ? See "Journal of the Royal Institution of Corn- wall," 1874. Num. XV. S. Crantock.
5' Their, feast has been assigned, to the 23rd of February.
him an infidel
—
does this Jocelyn mention
king. See Sixth Life, "cap. cl. , p. 98.
7 See Rev. Dr. Todd's " St. Patrick,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 743
of St. Patrick. However this may be, he was a noted marauder, and he is
thought to have conducted an expedition against the Irish,53 landing ap- parently on some part of the southernS4 or eastern coast. Here, his bands
plundered the inhabitants, while they committed still greater excesses and even murders. He brought away numbers of captives, whom he sold to the Picts and Scots jSs and, among the rest were many of St. Patrick's neophytes. From an epistle^^ written to him, by the holy Apostle, we learn, that several of these were foully murdered soon after their baptism,^? and on the very day following their confirmation, while the chrism was yet shining on their foreheads. ss A few words of it give an exact description of that ancient ritualistic practice or discipline, according to which, the sacrament of confir- mation or chrism used to be administered immediately after baptism, by the bishop, in case he were the baptizer, or that he happened to be present on the occasion. 59 We learn, also, that the white garment of newly baptized persons was then in use. ^° Such practices continued, for some hundreds of years, even with regard to infants, Alcuin writes, in illustration of the custom, when treating about infant baptism. ^^ St. Patrick gives the epithet of apos- tates to those Picts,°'' who had purchased the captives ; and, it seems probable enough, that those lawless bands, with some roving Scots, had then penetrated into the southern parts of Britain, for the purpose of gaining booty, towards the middle of the fifth century. ^3 Probably, Coroticus and his followers carried on a trade in making slaves, and in bringing them as captives to Great Britain. The Saxons engaged those troublesome invaders
5^ See Probus, or Quinta Vita S. Patricii,
lib. ii. , cap. xxvii. , p. 59.
53 We find it written : "a latrunculis
of Epiphania, it seems, that this canon must be very ancient ; and. Dr. Lanigan finds no reason for denying, that St. Patrick himself was the author of it.
jubente Corotico," &c. It has been sup-
posed, Corotic in person formed one of the
armed party, that landed in Ireland. See
Tillemont, as ah-eady cited. It is, however, administering baptism, it happened ; or, difficult to determine, from the Epistle, whether it occurred at Easter, Whitsuntide, whetlier he was so, or had only ordered his or the Epiphany. On this last festival, soldiers on that wicked expedition. also, baptism used to be administered
Whether this were the case or not, for the re-
sults he was no doubt responsible. The text
is so obscure, and many parts of it are so cor-
rupt, that minor questions of this kind in Christo confirmari, postera die qua
cannot be easily decided. At any rate, whatever occurred was perpetrated, in con- sequence of his directions.
chrisma neophyti in veste Candida flagrabat
in froute ipsorum. "
^ A similar passage occurs, where we
5* The Rev. Dr. is of Lanigan opinion,
he read: " Maximinus episcopus Baptizavit
landedinMunster,whichSt. Patrickleft, BasiliumetEubulum,etvestivital—bis,atque
A. D.
55 By Scots are here meant those of that
ungens eos sancto chrismate" &c. lochius, Vita S. Basilii, cap. v.
"
^^ Picts had em- Many of the Southern
braced the Christian faith, on the preaching of Ninian. It seems, afterwards, that some of them had apostatized. The Northern Pictscouldnothavebeencalledapostatesin St. Patrick's time. These people were first converted by Columkille, in the sixth century. To the epithet, apostates, the saint adds, that the Picts were most un- worthy and al:)andoned.
*3 To oppose such rovers, Vortigern,
452. ^
Amphi-
who still remained and of pagans,
*' In his " De Officiis,"
nation,
whom, generally speaking, a smaller num-
Treatise,
Sabbato Paschae," we read :
cap.
ber in proportion had been converted, than of the other inhabitant—s.
5" T—his is the best and indeed the only
good authority, with regard to what con- cerns Coroticus.
57 In the Epistle against Coroticus, St. Patrick alludes to rules and ceremonies re- lativetotheadministrationofbaptism. He speaks of the white garment, of chrism, &c. The 19th canon of what is called St. Patrick's Synod runs thus " Octovo die
:
Catechumeni sunt ; postea solemuitatibus Domini baptizantur, id est, Pascha, Pente- coste, et Epiphania. " From the mention
5* We find nothing, that may lead us to ascertain, on which of the solemn times for
solemnly in Ireland.
59 " De sanguine innoceotium Christian-
orum, quos ego numeros Deo genui, atque
de Postea ves- tiatur infans. " * * » " Si vero episco- pus adest, statim confirmari eum oportet
chrismate. "
744 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March i 7.
near Stamford, defeated,^* and obliged them to fly from Southern Britain. ^s Nor do we find the Scots and Picts again united against the Britons, whereas not long after, the Picts became allied to the Saxons. Such historic co- incidences are supposed to establish the genuineness, accuracy, and antiquity of St. Patrick's Epistle ; for, none other than a contemporary could have written with such exactness, and so very conformable to the state of that country and of those times. St. Patrick sent a comminatory epistle, by a holy priest, who had been a disciple from his younger days. ^^ It required the marauders to restore the baptized captives, with a part of their booty. It must not be understood, from a word, used by him in this letter, that />/- fantia^^ really meant, what we usually call infancy^'^ as it has been supposed to be, by the learned author Tillemont. ^9 Some clerics or younger eccle- siastics also accompanied the priest, and these must have been natives of Ireland. It has been conjectured, St. Benignus might have been that holy priest,7° entrusted with St. Patrick's message. ? ' The original letter of St. Patrick seems to have been lost, in the wreck of time ; but, we may infer, that die priest and his attendant ecclesiastics were received contumeliously, for their object could not be attained. Tliis urged the Apostle to address a minatory letter, against Coroticus and his wicked companions. He pro- nounced solemnly a sentence of excommunication against them, thus hoping to reclaim these wicked persons from their evil courses. This denuncia- tion seems to include Coroticus, together with his associates. On that account, St. Patrick gave directions, that the Epistle should be read in the presence, not only of his subjects, but also of Coroticus himself Had he not been a Christian, he could not have been excommunicated. The saint
expresses his wish, that those robbers and murderers, of whom Coroticus wasthechief,mayreturntoGod. ? " Thisplainlyalludestosomeprofession
of Christianity. We are told, by Jocelyn, that instead of repenting, Coroti- cus derided the saint, and became more obstinate in perpetrating mischief
and iniquity. When the saint understood this, he prayed to God, and Jocelyn likewise relates, that Cereticus was chastised by God, in a very remarkable nianner. 73 It may be true, that soon afterwards he disappeared from this
King of Britain, invited over to his aid the
Anglo-Saxons, about A. D. 450. See Ussher's "Index Chronologicus," at A. D. CCCCL.
'* See Venerable Bede's " Historia Ec- clesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. i. , cap.
shows, that these were supposed to have arrived, at a certain age of discretion. See Ducange's "Glossarium Medice et Infimse Latinitatis," at the word Infantes.
in some
perplexity, chronological points, relative to St. Patrick, and at that age, at which boys used to be dedicated to the ecclesiastical grade. See "Memoirs pour servir a I'Histoire Eccle-
siastique," tome xvi. , pp. 462 and 784.
? ° Supposing liim to have joined the Irish
Apostle, as a mere youth, in 433, he could have been entitled to the name of a holy
priest, about A. D. 450.
? ' It is not improbable. Dr. Lanigan
thinks, that Benignus was the person. Were it necessary, we may recur to another
explanation, by sujiposing, that the said priest had been one of those persons, who
had accompanied our Apostle to Ireland, and that he had been under his care when
on the continent,
? ' "
Quod si Deus inspirat illos, et quan- doque Deo resipiscant, et vel sero poeuit- eant," &c,
^3 See Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cl. , p. 98,
XV. , pp. 57 to 59.
'5 See Warrington's
"
History of Wales. " vol. i. , book ii. , pp. 67,68.
** " Et misi epistolam cum sancto presby- tero, quem ego ex infantia docui, cum clericis," &c.
Notwithstanding theforegoingverycircumstantialnarrative,St. Patrick'sConfession generally allowed to have—been composed towards the close of his life, in the opinion ofDr. Lanigan seemstodisprovetheidea,"^thatheleftIreland,afterthe foundation of Armagh. In the scene of his labours, and among the Irish people, the Lord had commanded him to remain, for the remainder of his
Patrick makes him of the Briton race of
Dumbarton, born at Nemthur, and it states, that he went to Rome for the third time.
See pp. 4, 5, 36, 37. It inverts very much, the received accounts of the Apostle's Acts. It tells us, that Brigit was with Patrick, at Essruaid, or Assaroe.
" The Latin Tripartite Life calls him these miraculously disappeared, and could
Accordingly, the visit of our saint, to the Eternal City, should not have been later
than 446, or 447.
'9 As to what Jocelyn says, regarding the
Pallium, it is quite sufficient to observe, that no such ornament, as granted to arch- bishops or bishops, was used in the Western Church, until the sixth century.
^ Respecting the legatine authority, such
as understood by Jocelyn, Dr. Lanigan Armagh," chap, i. , p. 84.
argues, that St. Patrick had no occasion for ^5 The Latin Tripartite Life states, that its being conferred on him. through the carelessness of the keepers,
Legate of the West.
^' The Irish Tripartite Life very foolishly relates, that sleep came over the inhabitants
of Rome, so that Patrick brought away a sufficiency of the relics. The Latin Tripar- tite Life states, "Nee diii Romse substitit dum pio astu, furtove sacrorum locorum custodibusnescientibusetdormientibus,sed summo, ut creditur, connivente Pontifice, accepit ingentem sanctarum reliquiarum multitudinem : quas secum in Hiberniam asportavit, et in Ecclesia Ardmachana pre- tiosis thecis, gemmis et auro caslatis, in- clusasconstituit. "
not be found, in the shrine. St. Patrick had an admonition, that they were taken back to Rome.
" The messengers, on stating the circum- stances—for the relics had gone to Rome—
brought an Epistle from him, as we are told, directing that the clerics and people of Armaghshouldwatchtherel—icswithlamps andtorchesbynightforever fortherelics were returned by the Sovereign Pontiff. Wiih Mass and Psalmody by day, and with prayers by night, those relics were to be honoured, and it was prescribed, that—the clericsshouldelevatethemeveryyear for multitudes desired to see and venerate them.
'3 The Tripartite Lives mention the relics
of three hundred and sixty-five various These instructions were faithfully carried
saints, with the relics of the Apostles Peter
out, by the Irish Apostle. It was the custom in the church at Armagh every year, to expose those relics at Easter, and at W'hitsuntide, to be seen, and to be honoured, by all the people.
and Paul, and of the Martyrs Laurence,
and Stephen, with similar precious remains ;
as also a cloth on which was the blood of
Christ, and, besides, he procured the hair
oftheBlessedVirginMary. Patrick,in-
structed by the Angel, with the holy Synod p. 28. Also, Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. of Ireland approving, left this precious col- clxvi. , clxvii. , pp. loi, I02, and Septima lection in Armagh, according to the ^^ili of Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. Ixxxi. , Ixxxii. , God. Lately has appeared, in Calcutta, a Ixxxiv. , p. 164, and nn. 107, loS, p. 187.
work, edited by \\ hitley Stokes, and privately printed, "Three Middle-Irish Homilies on the Lives of Saints Patrick, Brigid and Columba," 1877, 8vo. These are given from the "Leabliar Breac," the Irish on one side, and an English transla- tion en the other. The Homily on St.
^* Had it taken place, it must have been mentioned, in some of the Roman or other documents of the day. But most records of thai date are unfortunately now lost or missing. The Rev. Dr. Todd adopts the s. ime opinion as Dr. Lanigan, in his "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," &c. , chap, iii. , pp. 481, 482.
' This happened A. D. 463, according to Stuart's " Historical Memoirs of the City of
*'SeeTertiaVitaS. ratricii,cap. Ixxxiv. ,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 74t
life. *9 Moreover, having been already invested with full powerSjS* such as those Palladius had enjoyed, for propagating the Gospel, and for establishing those means, necessary to preserve the Christian Faith in Ireland, our Apostle was not under any necessity of applying to Rome, for a confirma- tion of those privileges annexed to his Metropolitan See. 3» Besides, it must be stated, that Ireland was then, from Rome, the remotest corner of Christian Europe. Intercourse between Ireland and Rome was particularly difficult and most perilous, at that time. 3* Some writers have not only im- pugned this visit of St. Patrick to Rome,33 but they have even denied his communion with the Roman See. 3+ These assumptions, however, have been most satisfactorily dealt with, by learned Catholic divines3S and historians. 3^ A few divergencies of discipline and rites form no sufficient grounds for sup- posing, that the Irish National Church differed, in doctrinal and moral teach- ing, from the Universal Catholic Church, elsewhere, from the times of St. Patrick, through all succeeding ages, and down to the present age. 37 His- torical evidence is so very clear, and even from well-known Protestant sources,38 that it must only require a little investigation of records, which are now readily accessible, to enlighten most students regarding modern contro-
=9 See " Confessio S. Patricii," p. 17.
3°
St. Patrick's right of selecting a metro- polis flowed, it is supposed, from the exten- sive nature of his mission. For, he had been sent, not to a part, but to the whole island. Dr.
Sketches of Ancient Irish Saints," sect, i. , p. 12.
3^ See, among others, Henry J. Monck Mason's "Testimony of St. Patrick against the false pretensions of Rome to Primitive
Worcester Oxford. London College,
Lanigan maintains,
being no other bishop in the country, when
Antiquity
Compendious Ecclesiastical History from the earliest period to the present Time. " By the Rev. William Palmer, M. A. , of
St. Patrick arrived, there was, in point of fact, originally no bishop over all Ireland.
of time
3' The whom in bishops,
that there
in Ireland," " A Dublin, 1846.
process
he appointed to various Sees, having de- 1840. The Rev. Dr. Todd, more parti-
rived their authority from him, became, cularly, has endeavoured to sustain by
ipso facto, his suffragans. See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect, i. , and nn. i, 2, 3, 4, pp. 318 to 322. But, there can be no doubt, such appointments had been sanc- tioned or approved of, either directly or in-
theory and argument, that the Irish Apostle did not receive his mission and authority from Rome. See " St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," &c. , chap, i. , pp. 265 to 338.
35 On this subject, the reader is especially
referred to Rt. Rev. Bishop Moran's work,
" on the and Essays Origin, Doctrines,
the Pontiff. Sovereign
directly, by
3* " How natural, therefore, that Cele-
Discipline of the Early Irish Church," part stine, when sending Patrick to so distant a i. , chap. i. to iv. , and part ii. , chap. i. to
land, should give him plenaiy powers as to vii. , pp. I to 79.
the appointment of bishops, the confirming ^^ See " Dissertations chiefly on Irish of abbots, the making of disciplinary laws Church History. " By the Rev. Dr. and decrees in national and provincial Matthew Kelly. Edited by Rev. Daniel Synods, with authority to continue the same MacCarthy, D. D. , pp. 220 to 335. Rev. ecclesiastical system, until the Sovereign James Gaffney's "Ancient Irisli Church:
Pontiff should find it wise and practicable to
alter that arrangement. What other settle-
ment, in fact, could we conceive Celestine,
in the circumstances, to have made with St.
Patrick, w—hen sending him to convert this
island? " Most Rev. Dr. Donnelly's Christians, he returned to Ireland, and " Lecture on the
Protestantism of the Irish Primitive Church, and the Anglo- Norman Theory. " Delivered on Tue-day evening, April 15th, 1879, for the Catholic
Young Men's Society, Monaghan. Re- Patrick derive his mission, from Pope Cele-
alleged
"
sea. "History People,"
ported in the Peopl/s Advocate, of April 19th, 1879.
MThus, the Rev. Hubert M'Loughlin
'"
stme I , at Rome. See Britaiuiicaruni
Ecclesiarum Aniiquitalex," at the clo. -. e of cap. xvi. , and at tJie beginning oi c. ip. xvii.
" From tlie time of his arrival as a missionary in Iiel. Tud, h—e never k-fl the
of his "
country adoption. " Biographical
" Historical . \ccount ofCluuch Govenuneiit, as it was in (Jieat
states
:
Ai>o, Bishop Lloyd's
"
37 See R—ev. A. O'Conor—a Protestant
was it Catholic or Protestant ?
passim.
clergyman
thus in reference to . St. writes,
" Fully instructed, formally autho-
Patrick
rized, and attended by numerous Irish
:
— the of the Cross from sea to planted religion
of the Irish Booki. 38 Thus, the learned Archbisho]i Ussher. quoting ancient authorities, makes St.
Britain and
Ireland,
when first received they
:
na LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
versies on this question. 39 We shall proceed, therefore, with the biographical series of our saint's Acts.
A wicked king among the Britons, who is called Corthec,^° Coritic, Caro- ticus,4i Chairtic,** or CereticuSj-^^ lived in the time of St. Patrick ; and, while some accounts seem to make him a pagan,"* yet from circumstances detailed, regarding him, we may probably infer, that he was a nominal Christian,<5 but a remorseless tyrant. ^^ St. Patrick himself alludes to t—hose raiders he
as infamous and — Picts. 47 The Bollandists although not led, apostate
drawing any certain conclusion have a conjecture,'*^ that his name signified, he had been king of Ceretica, the part of Wales,49 now known as Cardigan- shire. Some have thought he was a Cornish ruler. That he reigned in Cornwall would seem probable enough,s° if the martyrdom of St. Fingar and of his companions^' there could be traced to his wicked agency. We are told, that the impious chief mocked the teaching and salutary admonitionsS"
the Christian Rehgion. " Also Harris' siecles, avec une Chronologic et Notes,"
"
tome xvi. , p. 462.
** In terms of loathing yet not calling
mission, the opinion of Archbishop Ussher, 360.
on this point, is not to be allowed. See *^ See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , " A Primer of the History of the Holy Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo, Catholic Church in Ireland," vol. i. , book Apostolo et Primate Hibernise. Prelude to i. , chap, iv. , p. 30.
Similar incorrect ideas his Epistle to Coroticus, p. 538.
Ware, vol. i. , pp. 10, II.
Archbishops of Armagh,"
—
39 In quoting Mr. Phelan's book, the
" Case of the Church of Ireland stated by
Declan," the Rev. Robert King asserts,
that regarding St. Patrick's Roman com- Apostle of Ireland," chap, ii. , pp. 359,
pervade his " Memoir introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," Preface, and p. 68,
*° According to the Tripartite Life.
^9 Jocelyn stales, that Cereticus was a native of that part of Brittany, called Wales. It seems probable, that the name Coroticus or Cereticus is the same, being no other than Caraduc. So it appears, as written in the Welsh, or, Caradeuc, as spelled by the
*' Under different forms, this was a veiy
common name, among the ancient Britons.
It was originally the same as that of the Bretons. The name Corotic, Caretic, great Caractacus, or Caratacus, whose ex-
ploits are to be found recorded, in John
" ofGreatBritaine. " The Speed's History
Ceretic, Cerdic, was one usual, among the Britons, not alone in Ceretica, but wherever there were of that race.
people
Fifth BooUe, chap, vi. , pp. 175, 176. A 50 There is a statement in the Life of S—t.
wicked British king. Careticus, is mentioned, as living in the sixth century. See Ranul-
Crantock—
venerated at the i6'hof
phus in his
"
Polychronicon," in Gale's
May that the territory of Ceredig, a king of Cornwall, was in his old age devastated by hordes of Irish. What else could have been expected, but that fierce retribution would be sought by the people, whom he
" at
Scriptores XV. ," p. 225. Cereticus,
another British king, who lived about a. d.
620, is spoken of by Camden, in his
"
Bri-
—col. 862. We find in Bede a tannia,"
had so
that the great Irish Apostle had terrified the soldiers of Ceredig, by denouncing God's
—who flourished towards the latter end of the
"
Hisioria Ecclesias- tica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. xxiii. ,
p. 324.
*- He is so designated, by Probus.
<3 So he is called, by Joc^lyn, in the Sixth
Life, cap. cl. , p. 98.
** Thus do we read, in the Third Life :
"Nunciata sunt S. Patricio mala opera cu-
? And grievously wronged seeing
a British
Cerclic likewise prince
seventh century. See
judgments upon them and upon their chief, stigmatizing them as "fellow-citizens of devils, and murderers of the brethren of the Lord," what more likely to have happened, according to the Rev. John Adams, than that Crantock, being fully aware of the enormity of the crimes committed by his father's troops, and of the terror which the saint's scathing denunciation had struck into their hearts, should have fled for niercy to
jusdam regis Britonum, Coritic crudelis, et
immitis tyranni, ut converteret eum ad viam
veritatis. Hie Coritic namque erat perse- St. Patrick, rather than lead those guilty
cutor, et interfector Christianorum, misitque Patricius ad eum epistolam ; sed rex ille deridebat doctiinam Patricii. " See Tertia Vim . S. Patricii," cap. Ixxii. , p. 27.
*5 See Tillemonts " Memoirs pour servir a I'Histoire Ecclesiabtique des six premiers
soldiers against the avenging host ? See "Journal of the Royal Institution of Corn- wall," 1874. Num. XV. S. Crantock.
5' Their, feast has been assigned, to the 23rd of February.
him an infidel
—
does this Jocelyn mention
king. See Sixth Life, "cap. cl. , p. 98.
7 See Rev. Dr. Todd's " St. Patrick,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 743
of St. Patrick. However this may be, he was a noted marauder, and he is
thought to have conducted an expedition against the Irish,53 landing ap- parently on some part of the southernS4 or eastern coast. Here, his bands
plundered the inhabitants, while they committed still greater excesses and even murders. He brought away numbers of captives, whom he sold to the Picts and Scots jSs and, among the rest were many of St. Patrick's neophytes. From an epistle^^ written to him, by the holy Apostle, we learn, that several of these were foully murdered soon after their baptism,^? and on the very day following their confirmation, while the chrism was yet shining on their foreheads. ss A few words of it give an exact description of that ancient ritualistic practice or discipline, according to which, the sacrament of confir- mation or chrism used to be administered immediately after baptism, by the bishop, in case he were the baptizer, or that he happened to be present on the occasion. 59 We learn, also, that the white garment of newly baptized persons was then in use. ^° Such practices continued, for some hundreds of years, even with regard to infants, Alcuin writes, in illustration of the custom, when treating about infant baptism. ^^ St. Patrick gives the epithet of apos- tates to those Picts,°'' who had purchased the captives ; and, it seems probable enough, that those lawless bands, with some roving Scots, had then penetrated into the southern parts of Britain, for the purpose of gaining booty, towards the middle of the fifth century. ^3 Probably, Coroticus and his followers carried on a trade in making slaves, and in bringing them as captives to Great Britain. The Saxons engaged those troublesome invaders
5^ See Probus, or Quinta Vita S. Patricii,
lib. ii. , cap. xxvii. , p. 59.
53 We find it written : "a latrunculis
of Epiphania, it seems, that this canon must be very ancient ; and. Dr. Lanigan finds no reason for denying, that St. Patrick himself was the author of it.
jubente Corotico," &c. It has been sup-
posed, Corotic in person formed one of the
armed party, that landed in Ireland. See
Tillemont, as ah-eady cited. It is, however, administering baptism, it happened ; or, difficult to determine, from the Epistle, whether it occurred at Easter, Whitsuntide, whetlier he was so, or had only ordered his or the Epiphany. On this last festival, soldiers on that wicked expedition. also, baptism used to be administered
Whether this were the case or not, for the re-
sults he was no doubt responsible. The text
is so obscure, and many parts of it are so cor-
rupt, that minor questions of this kind in Christo confirmari, postera die qua
cannot be easily decided. At any rate, whatever occurred was perpetrated, in con- sequence of his directions.
chrisma neophyti in veste Candida flagrabat
in froute ipsorum. "
^ A similar passage occurs, where we
5* The Rev. Dr. is of Lanigan opinion,
he read: " Maximinus episcopus Baptizavit
landedinMunster,whichSt. Patrickleft, BasiliumetEubulum,etvestivital—bis,atque
A. D.
55 By Scots are here meant those of that
ungens eos sancto chrismate" &c. lochius, Vita S. Basilii, cap. v.
"
^^ Picts had em- Many of the Southern
braced the Christian faith, on the preaching of Ninian. It seems, afterwards, that some of them had apostatized. The Northern Pictscouldnothavebeencalledapostatesin St. Patrick's time. These people were first converted by Columkille, in the sixth century. To the epithet, apostates, the saint adds, that the Picts were most un- worthy and al:)andoned.
*3 To oppose such rovers, Vortigern,
452. ^
Amphi-
who still remained and of pagans,
*' In his " De Officiis,"
nation,
whom, generally speaking, a smaller num-
Treatise,
Sabbato Paschae," we read :
cap.
ber in proportion had been converted, than of the other inhabitant—s.
5" T—his is the best and indeed the only
good authority, with regard to what con- cerns Coroticus.
57 In the Epistle against Coroticus, St. Patrick alludes to rules and ceremonies re- lativetotheadministrationofbaptism. He speaks of the white garment, of chrism, &c. The 19th canon of what is called St. Patrick's Synod runs thus " Octovo die
:
Catechumeni sunt ; postea solemuitatibus Domini baptizantur, id est, Pascha, Pente- coste, et Epiphania. " From the mention
5* We find nothing, that may lead us to ascertain, on which of the solemn times for
solemnly in Ireland.
59 " De sanguine innoceotium Christian-
orum, quos ego numeros Deo genui, atque
de Postea ves- tiatur infans. " * * » " Si vero episco- pus adest, statim confirmari eum oportet
chrismate. "
744 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March i 7.
near Stamford, defeated,^* and obliged them to fly from Southern Britain. ^s Nor do we find the Scots and Picts again united against the Britons, whereas not long after, the Picts became allied to the Saxons. Such historic co- incidences are supposed to establish the genuineness, accuracy, and antiquity of St. Patrick's Epistle ; for, none other than a contemporary could have written with such exactness, and so very conformable to the state of that country and of those times. St. Patrick sent a comminatory epistle, by a holy priest, who had been a disciple from his younger days. ^^ It required the marauders to restore the baptized captives, with a part of their booty. It must not be understood, from a word, used by him in this letter, that />/- fantia^^ really meant, what we usually call infancy^'^ as it has been supposed to be, by the learned author Tillemont. ^9 Some clerics or younger eccle- siastics also accompanied the priest, and these must have been natives of Ireland. It has been conjectured, St. Benignus might have been that holy priest,7° entrusted with St. Patrick's message. ? ' The original letter of St. Patrick seems to have been lost, in the wreck of time ; but, we may infer, that die priest and his attendant ecclesiastics were received contumeliously, for their object could not be attained. Tliis urged the Apostle to address a minatory letter, against Coroticus and his wicked companions. He pro- nounced solemnly a sentence of excommunication against them, thus hoping to reclaim these wicked persons from their evil courses. This denuncia- tion seems to include Coroticus, together with his associates. On that account, St. Patrick gave directions, that the Epistle should be read in the presence, not only of his subjects, but also of Coroticus himself Had he not been a Christian, he could not have been excommunicated. The saint
expresses his wish, that those robbers and murderers, of whom Coroticus wasthechief,mayreturntoGod. ? " Thisplainlyalludestosomeprofession
of Christianity. We are told, by Jocelyn, that instead of repenting, Coroti- cus derided the saint, and became more obstinate in perpetrating mischief
and iniquity. When the saint understood this, he prayed to God, and Jocelyn likewise relates, that Cereticus was chastised by God, in a very remarkable nianner. 73 It may be true, that soon afterwards he disappeared from this
King of Britain, invited over to his aid the
Anglo-Saxons, about A. D. 450. See Ussher's "Index Chronologicus," at A. D. CCCCL.
'* See Venerable Bede's " Historia Ec- clesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. i. , cap.
shows, that these were supposed to have arrived, at a certain age of discretion. See Ducange's "Glossarium Medice et Infimse Latinitatis," at the word Infantes.
in some
perplexity, chronological points, relative to St. Patrick, and at that age, at which boys used to be dedicated to the ecclesiastical grade. See "Memoirs pour servir a I'Histoire Eccle-
siastique," tome xvi. , pp. 462 and 784.
? ° Supposing liim to have joined the Irish
Apostle, as a mere youth, in 433, he could have been entitled to the name of a holy
priest, about A. D. 450.
? ' It is not improbable. Dr. Lanigan
thinks, that Benignus was the person. Were it necessary, we may recur to another
explanation, by sujiposing, that the said priest had been one of those persons, who
had accompanied our Apostle to Ireland, and that he had been under his care when
on the continent,
? ' "
Quod si Deus inspirat illos, et quan- doque Deo resipiscant, et vel sero poeuit- eant," &c,
^3 See Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cl. , p. 98,
XV. , pp. 57 to 59.
'5 See Warrington's
"
History of Wales. " vol. i. , book ii. , pp. 67,68.
** " Et misi epistolam cum sancto presby- tero, quem ego ex infantia docui, cum clericis," &c.
