tive gloom of earlier times—ought to be among the studies of Catholics, who rejoice in the growth of the Universal Church, and in her triumphs over the powers of
sinfulness
and error.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v5
WhenastudentatNaples,thatwritersawsucha document in the possession of Adrian William Spataphori, a learned antiqua- rian.
The same document was found by a Friar, in the Aracseli Library, at Rome, and thence it was sent to him for insertion is his Life of our saint.
5' In the year 1600, John de Castro, s^ a noble Spaniard, who had been Arch- bishop of Tarentum, added another cross to the silver statue of Cataldus, much larger in size, than that one formerly placed upon the figure.
This cross wasmadeofgold,likewise,ornamentedwithemeralds,andit wasexquisitely wrought.
S3
Manytowns and parishes in Italy are called after St. Cataldus. 54 At Venice, in Umbria, and Sicily, he was venerated. At Coralti in Apulia, permission was given to the Minorite Fathers in 1506, to build a church, in honour of Blessed Cataldus, so that a plague which broke out might cease. ss In the Island of Malta, and near its chief city, there was a crypt and ceme- tery, dedicated to St. CatalduSjS^ in the middle of the seventeenth century. There, also, was a small church dedicated to him, and it was frequented by a great number of devoted clients, because of the graces they received, through
bus minores coram Deo in facies cadent, et humiliabuntur. Et bonorum supplicationibus placabitur Omnipotens et Orientalis rabies
;
magno apparatu petetur. Bonum ex malo nascetur ingens ; quoniam apparebit Ange- lus cumgladio, et magna minabitur. Insur- gent multi et potentissimi ; et renovabitur mundus. Erit homo super mensam plum- beam comedens in una de quatuor civitati- bus, qui omnibus istis remedium affert. " Moroni's " Vita S. Cataldi," lib. i. , cap. xvii. , xviii.
^* Although we read in Alexander ab Alexandro, lib. iii. , cap. 15, " Cum florente fortuna Ferdinandi Primi Regis Aragonii Urbs Neapolitana," &c. , yet, Colgan re- marks, that this prophecy appears referable to Ferdinand the first King of Naples, bearing this name, but, he was not the first King of Aragon.
47 Ferdinand, son of Alphonsus, King of Arragon, who died A. D. 1494, was the first King of Naples, bearing such name, and the second King of Arragon known by this name, as will be found, on referring to histo- ries of those respective countries. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," viii. Martii, n. 17, p. 556.
^^ A printed Tract, on the Finding of this Prophecy, has stated, however, that it came to light anno 1362. See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibernice," viii. Martii, n. 16, P- 556.
^9 Dr. Richard R. Madden, when alluding to St. Cataldus, says, " Enquiries into this subject have led the author to the acquisi- tion of information of a very singular nature, respecting the alleged fabrications of metallic
plates with an inscription, in apparently an- cient characters, purporting to be prophe- cies of St. Cathaldus, which had been ful- filled after his death. "—"Shrines and Sepulchres of the Old and New World," vol. ii,, chap, v. , pp. 154, 155. In a note to this passage, the author promised this infor- mation in his Appendix, under the heading " Pretended Prophecies of St. Cathaldus. " Yet, we search there in vain for this matter, which the author seems to have overlooked.
5° In his work, " Genialium Dierum," lib. iii. , cap. 15.
5' ItwasextractedfromtheworkofPetrus Galatinus, " De Ecclesia destituta," lib. viii. , cap. i.
5^ He was elected the seventy-fifth bishop over this See, on the 20th of March, A. D. 1600. " Sedit plus minus annis tribus,"&c. —Ughelli's "Italia Sacra," tomus ix. Tarentina Metropolis, col. 147.
53 See Moroni's " Vita S. Cataldi," lib. i. , cap. xxii.
54 According to Joannes Juvenis, " De Antiquitate et Varia Tarentinorum For- tuna," lib. viii. , cap. 3.
55 See " Malta Antica Illustrata co' Monu- menti, e coll' Istoria," dal Prelato Onorafo Bres, &c. , lib. vi. , cap. xvi. , pp. 447, 448. Roma, 1816, 4to.
5^ This is stated, by Joannes F'ranciscus de Abela, Vicecancellarius, in a work " De- scriptio InsulcE Melitne," lib. i,, Notitia iv. De Coemeteriis. He states, that it was "prope cryptam S. Pauli et contigua cryptae a S. Maria de spe noncupatae," &c. —See p. 47. This work was issued, at Malta, A. D. 1647.
57 See Les Petits Bollandists, "Vies des Saints,"&c. ,tomev. , xe. jourdeMai,n. 2. p. 425.
cap. i. , p. 8. ^^See"HistoricCatholicseIbemiseCom-
pendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. x. , p. 48. '^Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
5* The Decree is dated thus: "Datum
Romse in palatio Apostolico, in loco 124, 125.
nostrse solita: residentise v. Nonas Julii MDLXXX.
59 This is thought, by some writers, to have been the aniversary for his death. However, we can find no mention of his name, in the ancient Irish calendars, at that date, nor even at the 8th of May.
*" See Rev. Dr. Kelly's "Calendar of Irish Saints," &c. , pp. xvii. , xviii.
*' At the loth of May we read Tarentum S. Cataldi Episcopi, miraculis clari. " —" Martyrologium Romanum," p. 210. Edition of Baronius.
'' In "Natales Sanctorum Canonicorum. "
*^ See "Vita S. CatalJi," lib. i. , cap. xxi.
** "Cujus Nalalis Dies celebratur 8 Id. Mail. Inventio 6 Id. ejusdem. "—Ughelli's " Italia Sacra," tomus ix. Tarentina Metro- polis, col. 121.
*5 See " Apologia pro Hibernia," cap. ii. , p. 15. Also, cap. iv. , p. 37.
**Sec "DeScriptoribus Ilibernix," lib. i. ,
*' In a note, Dr. Todd here says, "The paragraph within brackets is in the more recent hand. Letha is the Irish name for Italy. "
'" It is thus entered, in the " Menologium Scoticum :" "Tarenti inventio pretiosi corporis Cataldi Episcopi. "—Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 199.
'' In his Note (h) to the Roman Martyr- ology, p. 211.
'= . see '• Britannia Sancta," parti. . May x. , pp. 285, 2S6.
" See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. v. , May x.
7^ See p. 131.
" This is expressed, in that versicle sung in the church of Tarentum, and from a remote period :
" Felix Ilibemia, sed magis Taren- tum,
Qux claudis in tumulo grandc talen- tum. "
:
"Apud
—
2o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May io.
his intercession. In it, too, Masses were almost daily celebrated. Formerly, he was honoured, at Genoa, at Mondovi, and at Sens, where the parish of Saint-Cartaud has evidently borrowed its name from St. Cataldus. s? Espe- cially to commemorate the Feast for the Finding and Translation of St. Catald's Relics, at the earnest request of Laelius Brancarius, Archbishop of Naples, Pope Gregory XIII. granted a Plenary Indulgence, for the solemn celebration on May loth. From about this period, the Office of St. Cataldus was sanctioned by the Sovereign Pontiff, s^ and it began to be recited by the Archbishop and clergy of Tarentum, in choir, after the form in the Roman Breviary. The office of this saint is recited as a double, by the Irish clergy, on the 8th of March. 59 The published Martyrology of Tallagh has no festi- val occurring, in honour of this saint. ^ But, we often find, in cases of Irish saints, who died on the Continent, that there is no record of their names, in our domestic Calendars or Martyrologies. According to the Roman Martyr- ology,^' Constantinus Ghinius,^^ and Bartholomew Moroni,^3 the loth of May is a festival, commemorating the Translation of Cathaldus' relics. ^4 Father Stephen Whitens has notices of this saint, and Sir James Ware*^ places his festival, at the present date. In Convseus' List of Irish Saints, Cathaldus Epis.
and Patron of Tarentum, in Italy, may be found, in the pages of O'SuUevan Beare, at the loth of May. ^7 The Martyrology of Donegal,^^ on this day, registers a festival, in honour of [Cathaldus,^? Bishop of Tarentum, in Letha]. Thomas Dempster, quoting Constantinus Ghinius, has the Festival of Finding the precious Body of Bishop Cataldus, at the loth of May. 7° Cardinal BaroniushastheFindingofhisrelics,atthissamedate. 7' Again,theFestival is noted, by Bishop Challoner,? ^ by Rev. Alban Butler,73 and in the Circle of the Seasons. 74
Not alone was Ireland honoured, in giving birth and education to this holy prelate, but still more did the citizens of Tarentum deem themselves blessed, by his ministrations among them. 75 The career of a great saint is at all times of interest to posterity, and the lives of the great teachers, or doctors of Catholicity—the men who towered like beacon fires in the compara-
—
May io. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
tive gloom of earlier times—ought to be among the studies of Catholics, who rejoice in the growth of the Universal Church, and in her triumphs over the powers of sinfulness and error.
Article III. Cormac or Connachtach, Abbot of Iona. {Eighth and Ninth Centuries. '] On the authority of the Martyrology of Tallagh, which enters Cormac^ at the loth of May, Colgan assigns to this day, the festivalofthepresentholyman. * Thisauthorityisfollowed,likewise,bythe Bollandists,3 who remark on the number of Irish Saints so called, as enume- ratedbyColgan,4whentreatingaboutseveralbearingthatname. Connach- tach—a name substituted for Cormac—is said to have been a select scribe, and he became Abbot of Iona, most probably, after the demise of Bersal Mac Seghine, which is given, at the year 8oi, ha. 'ing been incumbent for thirty-one years. Connachtach followed his predecessor to the tomb, after a veryshorttermofrule. s Hedied,accordingtosomeaccounts,in797—but rede 802—assuming the corrected chronology found, in Dr. O'Donovan's AnnalsoftheFourMasters. ^ ThecauseassignedforConnachtach'sdeath, is not recorded ; but as Hy-Columcille was burned by the Gentiles, a. d. 802,7 it is probable enough, that our Abbot met with a violent death, at their hands, having perished during the calamity inflicted on his religious community.
Article IV. —Barban the Wise. In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick,' there is mention made of Barbanus Sapiens, or Barban the Wise. Colgan indicates, that his feast is referable to this day. * Here, too, the Bollandistss insert a notice of him.
Article V. Reputed Festival of Hildebert, Archbishop of the Scots. Wehaveanaccount,bytheAbbot,JohnofTrittenheim,'ofHilde- bertus, bishop of Mans, and also Archbishop of Tours, as a celebrated eccle- siastical writer. According to Dempster,* he had for his disciple Caius Cselius Sedulius,3 the Senior, or Presbyter,* who in like manner—to follow his account—belonged to the Scottish nation. If such be the case, Hildebert must have flourished, at a very early period. However, as the Bollandists, who
Article III. — ' That copy, published by the Rev. Matthew Kelly, D. D. , has by mis- take Conmac ; the Franciscan copy more correctly CoyviriAc.
^ See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Ap- pendix ad Acta S. Columbte, cap. iii. , sect. iv. , v. , pp. 500, 501.
3 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Maii X. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 492.
* See "Acta Sanctorum HiberniEC," xvii.
Februarii, Appendix ad Acta S. Cormaci under Henry IV. , A. D. , MXC.
Episcopi Athtrumensi, et postea Archiepis- copi Ardmachani, cap. i. , pp. 360, 361.
5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba. " Additional Notes (O), p. 388.
® See vol. i. , pp. 404, 405.
^ See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Sco-
torum," tomus ii. , lib. viii. , num. 671, p.
353.
^ See what has been stated already re-
garding him, in Second Vol. of this work, and at the 12th day of February, Art. i. , chap. ii.
Trithemius places him, as having flourished under Theodosius, the Emperor, at a. d. ccccxxx. See "Calalogus Script©-
7 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba," Additional Notes (O), p. 388.
Article iv. —' See vol. iii. of this work,
at the 17th of March, in his Life there given.
' See " Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars, ii. , cap. Ixvii.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
Maii x. Among the pretermitted saints, p.
492,
Article v. — ' In his work, " Catalogus
Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum," &c. , at fol.
Ixviii. , he is set down, as having flourished,
1
1
—
io8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May i6.
notice him at the loth of May. remark,s that author^ bestows upon neither the Master nor the Disciple the title Beatus or Sanctus. A modern Cata- logue of the Saints of Scotland mentions St. Hildebert, Archbishop, and Blessed Sedulius, Priest, at this date. Again, Camerarius, in his Menology of the Scottish Saints, gives to both the title of Sanctity, at the loth of May; while, Hildebert, called Abbot in Scotia, is praised for his wonderful holiness and for his remarkable learning. He is stated, to have been living in the year309; but,thisaccountwillnotagreewiththestatementsofotherScottish writers. 7 Now,Dempster'sHildebert,Archbishop,flourishedduringthereign of the Emperor Theodosius the Great,^ and while Pope St. Innocent I. was in the Roman See. 9 The latter governed the Church from a. d. 402 to 417 ;'° so that we see here and hereafter how conflicting, and even how contradictory, becomesthechronology. Notwithstanding,theoriginalbentofThomasDemp- ster's inventive genius dispenses altogether with the accordance of date, and the contemporaneousness of persons ; for, while he makes St. Hildebert
Archbishop of the Scots, the preceptor of Sedulius the Scot and bishop of the Greeks "—to preside as bishop over Mans,'^ in Gaul, and afterwards to have become Archbishop of Tours '3—the death of Hildebert is set down, also, at the 1 8th day of December, a. d. 1136. '* In reality, he died, November i8th, a. d.
33. '5 Dempster also cites William of Malmesbury, for support of his state- ment. However, if an earlier St. Hildebert, Archbishop of the Scots, flourished, and had Sedulius for his disciple, it seems more likely, that he belonged to Ireland, rather than to Scotland.
ArticleVI. Aedh,orAedus. TheMartyrologyofTallagh,'atthe lothofMay,simplyrecordsAedha; but,asinthenextline,Conmac'follows, it is possible—but not probable—this had been intended to indicate his father's name. In the Franciscan copy, we have on the same line, in the third column, Aedo. Cormac. 3 The Bollandists * quote this entry, at the same date, calling him Aedus, and stating, that no less than twenty-five, bearing a similar name, are enumerated among the Irish Saints. 5 Considerable doubt seems to exist, regarding the proper identification of this saint. Colgan
Scotorum," tomus ii. , lib. viii. , num. 671,
PP- 353 to 355.
'= The chief city of Maine, in France.
'^ No doubt alkision is made to Hildebert,
who was born at Lavardin in Vendome, in 1057, who was chosen as Bishop of Mans, at first, and who was elected to succeed Gil- bert, Archbishop of Tours, a. d. 11 25, at the age of sixty-eight. See Abbe Fleury's " Histoire Ecclesiastique," tome xiv. , liv. Ixvii. , sect, xlii. , p. 336.
'* See the Bollandiats' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Maii x. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 492.
'5 See Abbe Fleury's " Histoire Ecclesias- tique," tome xiv. , liv. lxviii. , sect, xix. , pp. 424,425.
Article vi— ' Edited by the Rev. Matthew Kelly, D. D. . p. xxiii.
' (? ) Cormac. We believe this should be referred to Conmac or Connachtach, Abbot of lona, already noticed.
^ Thus given in the Irish characters Ac'oo. " See " Historia Ecclcsiastica Gcntis CoptriAC.
rum Ecclesiasticorum," fol. xxxiiii.
5 See "Acta Sanctorum,"' tomus ii. , Mail X. Among the pretermitted saints,
p_ AM.
' Viz. Trithemius.
7 In the " Scotichronicon " of Rev. Ur. J.
F. S. Gordon, his notice is set down thus, among the Early Bishops in Scotland, " Hildebert, a. d. 490. "— Vol. i. , p. 43-
^ He reigned from a. d. 379 to 394, when he became sole Emperor, and he died a. d. ^915. See Rev. John Alzog's "Manual of Universal Church History," translated by Rev. F T. P. ibisch and Rev. Thomas S. Byrne, vol. i. . Period i. . Epoch 2, chap. ii. sect. loi, pp.
Manytowns and parishes in Italy are called after St. Cataldus. 54 At Venice, in Umbria, and Sicily, he was venerated. At Coralti in Apulia, permission was given to the Minorite Fathers in 1506, to build a church, in honour of Blessed Cataldus, so that a plague which broke out might cease. ss In the Island of Malta, and near its chief city, there was a crypt and ceme- tery, dedicated to St. CatalduSjS^ in the middle of the seventeenth century. There, also, was a small church dedicated to him, and it was frequented by a great number of devoted clients, because of the graces they received, through
bus minores coram Deo in facies cadent, et humiliabuntur. Et bonorum supplicationibus placabitur Omnipotens et Orientalis rabies
;
magno apparatu petetur. Bonum ex malo nascetur ingens ; quoniam apparebit Ange- lus cumgladio, et magna minabitur. Insur- gent multi et potentissimi ; et renovabitur mundus. Erit homo super mensam plum- beam comedens in una de quatuor civitati- bus, qui omnibus istis remedium affert. " Moroni's " Vita S. Cataldi," lib. i. , cap. xvii. , xviii.
^* Although we read in Alexander ab Alexandro, lib. iii. , cap. 15, " Cum florente fortuna Ferdinandi Primi Regis Aragonii Urbs Neapolitana," &c. , yet, Colgan re- marks, that this prophecy appears referable to Ferdinand the first King of Naples, bearing this name, but, he was not the first King of Aragon.
47 Ferdinand, son of Alphonsus, King of Arragon, who died A. D. 1494, was the first King of Naples, bearing such name, and the second King of Arragon known by this name, as will be found, on referring to histo- ries of those respective countries. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," viii. Martii, n. 17, p. 556.
^^ A printed Tract, on the Finding of this Prophecy, has stated, however, that it came to light anno 1362. See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibernice," viii. Martii, n. 16, P- 556.
^9 Dr. Richard R. Madden, when alluding to St. Cataldus, says, " Enquiries into this subject have led the author to the acquisi- tion of information of a very singular nature, respecting the alleged fabrications of metallic
plates with an inscription, in apparently an- cient characters, purporting to be prophe- cies of St. Cathaldus, which had been ful- filled after his death. "—"Shrines and Sepulchres of the Old and New World," vol. ii,, chap, v. , pp. 154, 155. In a note to this passage, the author promised this infor- mation in his Appendix, under the heading " Pretended Prophecies of St. Cathaldus. " Yet, we search there in vain for this matter, which the author seems to have overlooked.
5° In his work, " Genialium Dierum," lib. iii. , cap. 15.
5' ItwasextractedfromtheworkofPetrus Galatinus, " De Ecclesia destituta," lib. viii. , cap. i.
5^ He was elected the seventy-fifth bishop over this See, on the 20th of March, A. D. 1600. " Sedit plus minus annis tribus,"&c. —Ughelli's "Italia Sacra," tomus ix. Tarentina Metropolis, col. 147.
53 See Moroni's " Vita S. Cataldi," lib. i. , cap. xxii.
54 According to Joannes Juvenis, " De Antiquitate et Varia Tarentinorum For- tuna," lib. viii. , cap. 3.
55 See " Malta Antica Illustrata co' Monu- menti, e coll' Istoria," dal Prelato Onorafo Bres, &c. , lib. vi. , cap. xvi. , pp. 447, 448. Roma, 1816, 4to.
5^ This is stated, by Joannes F'ranciscus de Abela, Vicecancellarius, in a work " De- scriptio InsulcE Melitne," lib. i,, Notitia iv. De Coemeteriis. He states, that it was "prope cryptam S. Pauli et contigua cryptae a S. Maria de spe noncupatae," &c. —See p. 47. This work was issued, at Malta, A. D. 1647.
57 See Les Petits Bollandists, "Vies des Saints,"&c. ,tomev. , xe. jourdeMai,n. 2. p. 425.
cap. i. , p. 8. ^^See"HistoricCatholicseIbemiseCom-
pendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. x. , p. 48. '^Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
5* The Decree is dated thus: "Datum
Romse in palatio Apostolico, in loco 124, 125.
nostrse solita: residentise v. Nonas Julii MDLXXX.
59 This is thought, by some writers, to have been the aniversary for his death. However, we can find no mention of his name, in the ancient Irish calendars, at that date, nor even at the 8th of May.
*" See Rev. Dr. Kelly's "Calendar of Irish Saints," &c. , pp. xvii. , xviii.
*' At the loth of May we read Tarentum S. Cataldi Episcopi, miraculis clari. " —" Martyrologium Romanum," p. 210. Edition of Baronius.
'' In "Natales Sanctorum Canonicorum. "
*^ See "Vita S. CatalJi," lib. i. , cap. xxi.
** "Cujus Nalalis Dies celebratur 8 Id. Mail. Inventio 6 Id. ejusdem. "—Ughelli's " Italia Sacra," tomus ix. Tarentina Metro- polis, col. 121.
*5 See " Apologia pro Hibernia," cap. ii. , p. 15. Also, cap. iv. , p. 37.
**Sec "DeScriptoribus Ilibernix," lib. i. ,
*' In a note, Dr. Todd here says, "The paragraph within brackets is in the more recent hand. Letha is the Irish name for Italy. "
'" It is thus entered, in the " Menologium Scoticum :" "Tarenti inventio pretiosi corporis Cataldi Episcopi. "—Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 199.
'' In his Note (h) to the Roman Martyr- ology, p. 211.
'= . see '• Britannia Sancta," parti. . May x. , pp. 285, 2S6.
" See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. v. , May x.
7^ See p. 131.
" This is expressed, in that versicle sung in the church of Tarentum, and from a remote period :
" Felix Ilibemia, sed magis Taren- tum,
Qux claudis in tumulo grandc talen- tum. "
:
"Apud
—
2o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May io.
his intercession. In it, too, Masses were almost daily celebrated. Formerly, he was honoured, at Genoa, at Mondovi, and at Sens, where the parish of Saint-Cartaud has evidently borrowed its name from St. Cataldus. s? Espe- cially to commemorate the Feast for the Finding and Translation of St. Catald's Relics, at the earnest request of Laelius Brancarius, Archbishop of Naples, Pope Gregory XIII. granted a Plenary Indulgence, for the solemn celebration on May loth. From about this period, the Office of St. Cataldus was sanctioned by the Sovereign Pontiff, s^ and it began to be recited by the Archbishop and clergy of Tarentum, in choir, after the form in the Roman Breviary. The office of this saint is recited as a double, by the Irish clergy, on the 8th of March. 59 The published Martyrology of Tallagh has no festi- val occurring, in honour of this saint. ^ But, we often find, in cases of Irish saints, who died on the Continent, that there is no record of their names, in our domestic Calendars or Martyrologies. According to the Roman Martyr- ology,^' Constantinus Ghinius,^^ and Bartholomew Moroni,^3 the loth of May is a festival, commemorating the Translation of Cathaldus' relics. ^4 Father Stephen Whitens has notices of this saint, and Sir James Ware*^ places his festival, at the present date. In Convseus' List of Irish Saints, Cathaldus Epis.
and Patron of Tarentum, in Italy, may be found, in the pages of O'SuUevan Beare, at the loth of May. ^7 The Martyrology of Donegal,^^ on this day, registers a festival, in honour of [Cathaldus,^? Bishop of Tarentum, in Letha]. Thomas Dempster, quoting Constantinus Ghinius, has the Festival of Finding the precious Body of Bishop Cataldus, at the loth of May. 7° Cardinal BaroniushastheFindingofhisrelics,atthissamedate. 7' Again,theFestival is noted, by Bishop Challoner,? ^ by Rev. Alban Butler,73 and in the Circle of the Seasons. 74
Not alone was Ireland honoured, in giving birth and education to this holy prelate, but still more did the citizens of Tarentum deem themselves blessed, by his ministrations among them. 75 The career of a great saint is at all times of interest to posterity, and the lives of the great teachers, or doctors of Catholicity—the men who towered like beacon fires in the compara-
—
May io. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
tive gloom of earlier times—ought to be among the studies of Catholics, who rejoice in the growth of the Universal Church, and in her triumphs over the powers of sinfulness and error.
Article III. Cormac or Connachtach, Abbot of Iona. {Eighth and Ninth Centuries. '] On the authority of the Martyrology of Tallagh, which enters Cormac^ at the loth of May, Colgan assigns to this day, the festivalofthepresentholyman. * Thisauthorityisfollowed,likewise,bythe Bollandists,3 who remark on the number of Irish Saints so called, as enume- ratedbyColgan,4whentreatingaboutseveralbearingthatname. Connach- tach—a name substituted for Cormac—is said to have been a select scribe, and he became Abbot of Iona, most probably, after the demise of Bersal Mac Seghine, which is given, at the year 8oi, ha. 'ing been incumbent for thirty-one years. Connachtach followed his predecessor to the tomb, after a veryshorttermofrule. s Hedied,accordingtosomeaccounts,in797—but rede 802—assuming the corrected chronology found, in Dr. O'Donovan's AnnalsoftheFourMasters. ^ ThecauseassignedforConnachtach'sdeath, is not recorded ; but as Hy-Columcille was burned by the Gentiles, a. d. 802,7 it is probable enough, that our Abbot met with a violent death, at their hands, having perished during the calamity inflicted on his religious community.
Article IV. —Barban the Wise. In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick,' there is mention made of Barbanus Sapiens, or Barban the Wise. Colgan indicates, that his feast is referable to this day. * Here, too, the Bollandistss insert a notice of him.
Article V. Reputed Festival of Hildebert, Archbishop of the Scots. Wehaveanaccount,bytheAbbot,JohnofTrittenheim,'ofHilde- bertus, bishop of Mans, and also Archbishop of Tours, as a celebrated eccle- siastical writer. According to Dempster,* he had for his disciple Caius Cselius Sedulius,3 the Senior, or Presbyter,* who in like manner—to follow his account—belonged to the Scottish nation. If such be the case, Hildebert must have flourished, at a very early period. However, as the Bollandists, who
Article III. — ' That copy, published by the Rev. Matthew Kelly, D. D. , has by mis- take Conmac ; the Franciscan copy more correctly CoyviriAc.
^ See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Ap- pendix ad Acta S. Columbte, cap. iii. , sect. iv. , v. , pp. 500, 501.
3 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Maii X. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 492.
* See "Acta Sanctorum HiberniEC," xvii.
Februarii, Appendix ad Acta S. Cormaci under Henry IV. , A. D. , MXC.
Episcopi Athtrumensi, et postea Archiepis- copi Ardmachani, cap. i. , pp. 360, 361.
5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba. " Additional Notes (O), p. 388.
® See vol. i. , pp. 404, 405.
^ See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Sco-
torum," tomus ii. , lib. viii. , num. 671, p.
353.
^ See what has been stated already re-
garding him, in Second Vol. of this work, and at the 12th day of February, Art. i. , chap. ii.
Trithemius places him, as having flourished under Theodosius, the Emperor, at a. d. ccccxxx. See "Calalogus Script©-
7 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba," Additional Notes (O), p. 388.
Article iv. —' See vol. iii. of this work,
at the 17th of March, in his Life there given.
' See " Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars, ii. , cap. Ixvii.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
Maii x. Among the pretermitted saints, p.
492,
Article v. — ' In his work, " Catalogus
Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum," &c. , at fol.
Ixviii. , he is set down, as having flourished,
1
1
—
io8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May i6.
notice him at the loth of May. remark,s that author^ bestows upon neither the Master nor the Disciple the title Beatus or Sanctus. A modern Cata- logue of the Saints of Scotland mentions St. Hildebert, Archbishop, and Blessed Sedulius, Priest, at this date. Again, Camerarius, in his Menology of the Scottish Saints, gives to both the title of Sanctity, at the loth of May; while, Hildebert, called Abbot in Scotia, is praised for his wonderful holiness and for his remarkable learning. He is stated, to have been living in the year309; but,thisaccountwillnotagreewiththestatementsofotherScottish writers. 7 Now,Dempster'sHildebert,Archbishop,flourishedduringthereign of the Emperor Theodosius the Great,^ and while Pope St. Innocent I. was in the Roman See. 9 The latter governed the Church from a. d. 402 to 417 ;'° so that we see here and hereafter how conflicting, and even how contradictory, becomesthechronology. Notwithstanding,theoriginalbentofThomasDemp- ster's inventive genius dispenses altogether with the accordance of date, and the contemporaneousness of persons ; for, while he makes St. Hildebert
Archbishop of the Scots, the preceptor of Sedulius the Scot and bishop of the Greeks "—to preside as bishop over Mans,'^ in Gaul, and afterwards to have become Archbishop of Tours '3—the death of Hildebert is set down, also, at the 1 8th day of December, a. d. 1136. '* In reality, he died, November i8th, a. d.
33. '5 Dempster also cites William of Malmesbury, for support of his state- ment. However, if an earlier St. Hildebert, Archbishop of the Scots, flourished, and had Sedulius for his disciple, it seems more likely, that he belonged to Ireland, rather than to Scotland.
ArticleVI. Aedh,orAedus. TheMartyrologyofTallagh,'atthe lothofMay,simplyrecordsAedha; but,asinthenextline,Conmac'follows, it is possible—but not probable—this had been intended to indicate his father's name. In the Franciscan copy, we have on the same line, in the third column, Aedo. Cormac. 3 The Bollandists * quote this entry, at the same date, calling him Aedus, and stating, that no less than twenty-five, bearing a similar name, are enumerated among the Irish Saints. 5 Considerable doubt seems to exist, regarding the proper identification of this saint. Colgan
Scotorum," tomus ii. , lib. viii. , num. 671,
PP- 353 to 355.
'= The chief city of Maine, in France.
'^ No doubt alkision is made to Hildebert,
who was born at Lavardin in Vendome, in 1057, who was chosen as Bishop of Mans, at first, and who was elected to succeed Gil- bert, Archbishop of Tours, a. d. 11 25, at the age of sixty-eight. See Abbe Fleury's " Histoire Ecclesiastique," tome xiv. , liv. Ixvii. , sect, xlii. , p. 336.
'* See the Bollandiats' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Maii x. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 492.
'5 See Abbe Fleury's " Histoire Ecclesias- tique," tome xiv. , liv. lxviii. , sect, xix. , pp. 424,425.
Article vi— ' Edited by the Rev. Matthew Kelly, D. D. . p. xxiii.
' (? ) Cormac. We believe this should be referred to Conmac or Connachtach, Abbot of lona, already noticed.
^ Thus given in the Irish characters Ac'oo. " See " Historia Ecclcsiastica Gcntis CoptriAC.
rum Ecclesiasticorum," fol. xxxiiii.
5 See "Acta Sanctorum,"' tomus ii. , Mail X. Among the pretermitted saints,
p_ AM.
' Viz. Trithemius.
7 In the " Scotichronicon " of Rev. Ur. J.
F. S. Gordon, his notice is set down thus, among the Early Bishops in Scotland, " Hildebert, a. d. 490. "— Vol. i. , p. 43-
^ He reigned from a. d. 379 to 394, when he became sole Emperor, and he died a. d. ^915. See Rev. John Alzog's "Manual of Universal Church History," translated by Rev. F T. P. ibisch and Rev. Thomas S. Byrne, vol. i. . Period i. . Epoch 2, chap. ii. sect. loi, pp.
