Mac Hale " the Bedside," intituled, By
as found in " The I—llustrated Monitor," vol.
as found in " The I—llustrated Monitor," vol.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v2
D.
596, in the seventy-seventh year of his age, and as he i» related to have been bom on the 7th of December, St.
Columba's nativity must have been cast about the end of A.
D.
519.
The fourth year after such a date would be A.
D.
523, and consequently that assigned for St.
Brigid's death.
Thirdly, According to certain Irish tracts, St.
Brigid was veiled and died on Wednesday ; while, all autho-
"
John Capgrave in his "Vita S. Brigidse," cap.
Felix in his
Martyrology," at 1st February,
"
Hibemica," dist. iii,, cap. 17, "Annales rities agree, she departed this life on the ist
ult. , Giraldus Cambrensis, in
Topographia
Vawerliensis,"&c. , date her demise.
3' Yet, Dr. Lanigan does not consider 458 to have been the true date for St. Patrick's
of Februar}'. Now, if we admit her being contemporaneous with the Emperor Justin, Pope Hormisdas and Murchertach, King of
death ; and, as the antecedent is false, so Ireland, the 1st of February fell on Wednes-
must be the consequent, viz. , that St. Brigid day, in the year 523. The hymn in praise "
Cloen, must have been written in this case soon after her death ; for, Alild, son of
Dunlang, reigned in Leinster, when it was written. This prince died A. D. 526. See
"Trias Thaumaturga. " Appendix Qu. irta ad Acta S. Brigidre, cap. vii. , p. 619. The learned Dr. O'Conor also agrees in this opinion with Colgan, in his edition of the
died A. D. 518. See Ecclesiastical History of St^ Brigid, composed by St. Brogan
of Ireland," vol, i. , chap, ix. , sec. vi. , and n. 84, pp. 455, 457.
3^ The " Chronicon Rudimentum Novi- tiorum," at A. D. 520, has noted St. Brigid's death. It states, during the second year of the Emperor Justin, that our saint died in Scotia, being bom there, and of noble pa- rents.
33
Thus, Marianus Scotus, Florence of Worcester, Baronius, Masseus, Spondanus, Gordon, Rosweyde, Mirseus, Ware. The "Annales Cambriae," edited by Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, concur, p. 3.
34 Ussher, Colgan and Bollandus prefer it. See, also. Rev. Thomas Innes* "Civil and Ecclesiastical of book
p. 128.
35 He prefers this, for various reasons.
First, Henry of Marlborough, Ussher, Ware, &c. , are of accord regarding it. And, St. Brigid lived thirty years after St. Patrick's deat—h ; accordingly, St. Patrick, dying in
" Rerum Hibemicarum Scriptores," tomus iv.
History Scotland," ii. ,
3* Thus, Tillemont justly remarks, that Henschennius and Papebrochius have not adduced any weighty proof for these dates. See "Memoires P9ur servir a I'Histoire Ecclesiastique," tome xvi. , p. 470.
37 See Dr. "Ecclesiastical His- Lanigan's
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sec. ii. , n. 25, pp. 382, 383, chap, ix. , sec. vi. , n. 87, P- 457-
38 See Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibemi- camm Scriptores," tomus iv. , p. 3. At A. D. 523 is noted, likewise, the "Bellum Cainri ^\\\Neili:'
butas —
thinks vi^as the true
591 Colgan 593
"
clesiarum," cap. xvii. , p. 884.
year of his decease
should place the death of St. Brigid at A. D.
39 See
De Primordia Britannicamm Ec-
this latter conclusion
"Annals of Ulster," n. 3, p. 13.
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. I8l
of the Four Masters," quoting some other old chronicles, and the " Annals of Ulster," referring to more ancient authorities, have a. d. 525. 4° Ussher observes, that some books referred to in the Ulster Annals mark St. Brigid's death, as occurring at 525, which date has been followed by the Four Masters. This latter year seems to agree best, with what Nennius relates, regarding St. Columkille's birth, which took place four years before St. Brigid's departure. *^ The "Annals of Ulster," citing the book of Mochod, again give a. d. 527. This latest mentioned date is omitted in Colgan, but instead of it, he pro-
"
duces the same authority, noticing
monachorum,"a. d. 528. Theoriginalauthorityseemstohavebeenidentical, in both the latter instances, with the difference of a date, in distinct copies.
The English Martyrology, at the ist of February, has a. d. 540. The author of St. Brigid's Fourth Life enters a. d. 548, as Colgan thinks, through a copyisfs error, and from the mention of contemporaneous persons. With the angels, present at her couch, and waiting to bear her soul to Paradise, the holy abbess was prepared for her final summons. 4^ She earnestly desired to receive the sacraments for the dying. Finding her final hour fast approaching, Holy Viaticum-^s was administered to her by an attendant priest, named Nennidh,44 whoappearstohavebeenattachedtotheserviceofhernunnery. 45 Hebe-
longed probably to the clergy residing at Kildare. ^^ Muriertach Mac Erc,47 KingofIreland,thenlivedatTara,astheFourthLifestates. Irishhistorians state this monarch to have died in the year 527, after a reign of twenty-four years. 48 He was succeeded in the sovereignity of Ir—eland by Tuathal Mael- garbh, who was slain—after a reign of eleven years in the year 538. St. Brigid's death took place, it is noted, during the first year of the Emperor Justinian's reign. 49 Hormisdas is said to have been Pope at the time, and he sat in the chair of St. Peter, from a. d. 514 to a. d. 523,5° when he died. s^
4° See Dr. O'Donovan's
*'
Annals of the
ii. , No. 30, p. 70 *'
Swiftly, swiftly '
:
now the soul is
flying,
Dying, dying,'
Are the words the watchers speak,
While the shade of death is shading
All the patient face, and fading All the rose-tints from the cheek. Yet, there comes no sound of wailing,
No blinding burst of hopeless grief ; The soul is calm, if strength be failing,
Dormitio S. Brigidae secundum codicum
582. Quarta Vita S. Brigidce, lib. ii. , cap.
Ixiii. , p. 559.
4° See Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sec. vi. , n. 82, p. 456.
47 Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four
Masters," vol. to 180, 181. i. , pp. 174 177,
4^ A very curious account, regarding this
will monarch and his family connexions, be
found in " The Irish Version of the Historia Britonum of Nennius," edited by Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd, and the Hon. Alger- non Herbert, pp. 178 to 193, with accom-
panying notes.
49 Justinian began his reign in the year
527, according to Baronius, and most other authors. Colgan thinks rather the name of
Justin, who began to reign in 518, should
The Lord Himself hath sent reUef. "
«See Rev. M. J. Brenan's "Ecclesi- "Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita Quarta S.
astical History of Ireland. " Fifth Century,
chap, iii. , p. 51.
^ See Rev. P. J. Carew's *' Ecclesiastical
Histoi-y of Ireland," chap, vi. , p. 241.
4S He is called simply vir and sacerdos in
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 170 to 173.
4' See ' ' Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 467.
42 Applicable to the calm tranquillity of
that departure are these lines by the Rev.
M. J.
Mac Hale " the Bedside," intituled, By
as found in " The I—llustrated Monitor," vol.
.
the Fifth Life of St. Brigid, without any assigned to the 6th of August. See pp. 40,
allusion to his having embraced the monastic profession. IntheFourthLifeofourSaint, it is said, he went to Britain, while another account tells us he journeyed to Rome. See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quinta Vita S. Brigidae," cap. Ivii. , Iviii. , pp. 581,
41, and n. 4, ibid.
s^Wherefore,ifSt. Brigiddepartedduring his time, she must have died, rather during
the first year of the Emperor Justin's reign, A. D. 518, than during the first year of the
Emperor Justinian's rule, A. D. 527.
be substituted for that of Justinian. See
Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. xcix. , p. 562. "
5° Yet, in William M. Hennessy's Chroni- cum Scotomm" his death is placed at A. D. 520. This, however, is corrected in a note by O'Flaherty to A. D. 523, and his death is
l82 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February i.
It has been stated, likewise, that twice six Sovereign Pontiffs of Rome lived contemporaneously with St. Brigid. s^ This statement, however, does not
hardly adjusts the inaccuracy. 54 It is possible, and even probable, St. Brigid lived in the time of eight successive Popes, supposing her to have died a. d. 518 or 523, and in the seventieth year of her age. 55 The Fourth Life of St.
Brigidunpardonablyasserts,thattheholyabbessdieda. d. 548. Thisdate, if not the error of a scribe, defers her death to nearly the middle of the sixth
century.
Nearly all the holy woman's Acts are concurrent, that the illustrious
Patroness of Ireland departed this hfe on the ist of February. s^ It is an honoured day in the Irish Church. 57 After having obtained a glorious victory, over the powers of darkness and the illusions of this world, she now reigns eternally and conspicuously among the celestial choirs of Heavenly Jerusalem, with the Patriarchs and Prophets, the Apostles, Martyrs, and spotless Virgins, with the Angels and Archangels of God. 5^ Crowned with a diadem of effulgent
seem to accord with exact chronology. 53 An attempt to correct it
5=" It is set down in these lines : —
" Illis temporibus bis senos legimus esse
Pontifices summos Roma vivente puella,"
St. Brigid to have died in the eightieth year of her age, and of Christ 518, as the authors of her Fourth and Sixth Lives seem to indi- cate, she must have been born, about A. D. 439, during the Pontificate of St. Sixtus III. This Pontiff sat in the chair of St. Peter, from 432 to 440. If we join the latter to the other eight, already enumerated, we shall have the number thrice three or nine Pontiffs, reign- ing, during St. Brigid's life-time ; and fol- lowing the last computation. Colgan thinks the emendation he makes must represent the true meaning of the author who com- posed her Sixth Life. He followed the writer of the Fourth Life. If this latter were Animosus' work, it is indicated as hav- ingbeenreadintheMetricalPrologue. See ibid. , n. 15, p. 598.
56Seethevariousoflficesofoursaint. The Roman Breviary of, 1522, Petrus de Natali- bus, and "Chronica Generalis Mundi," state, that St. Brigid flourished during the Emperor Justin's rule. See "The Life of St. Brigid," by an Irish Priest, chap, x. , p. '33.
57 "Decessit autem venerabilis Brigida
prima die mensis Februarii, suae benignitatis &misericordiarum remunerationem in per-
petuum possidens Deum : Qui in unitate trinus, & unus in trinitate, vivit & gaudet &
gloriatur, ipse quidem vita gaudium & gloria sanctorum omnium, per omnia saecula saecu-
See Sexta Vita S. Brigidse, sec. Ivi. , p. 594. *'"
Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga.
**
53 See Berti's
Breviarium," pars i. Quintum Ecclesise
Seculum, cap. i. , pp. 131, 132. Sextum Ecclesiae Seculum, cap. i. , pp. 149, 150.
5* Instead of the words "bis senos," Col- gan thinks we should read, "Bis ternos Pontifices. " For, he says, St. Brigid died in the seventieth year of her age, according to authorities, cited in the Fourth Appendix to her Acts (cap. vii. ), or in the eightieth year of her age, according to her Fourth Life (lib. ii. , cap. xcix. ), and other authorities; which latter tract Colgan thinks the author of her Metrical or Sixth Life followed. Ac- cording to the author of her Fourth Life and others, she died in the time of Pope Hormisdas, and in the first year of the Emperor Justin's reign (a. d. 518) ; or more truly, periiaps, in a. d. 523, as Colgan en- deavours to show, in the Fourth Appendix
"
to our Saint's Acts. See
turga. " Sexta Vita S. Brigidae, n, 15, p.
598. Also, Appendix Quarta ad Acta S. Brigidse, cap. vii. , p. 619.
Ecclesiasticae Historiae
Trias Thauma-
55 If it be supposed, that she died in the
seventieth year of her age and A. D. 518, St.
Brigid must have been born, about the year lorum. Amen. " Quinta Vita S. Brigidae,
of Christ 449. If she died in the seventieth cap. Ivii. , Iviii. , pp. 581, 582. Colgan's "
year of her age, and A. D. 523, she should Trias Thaumaturga. " This great feast of have come into this world, about the year St. Brigid appears from remote times to 454. In either case, she must have been have been celebrated with solemn public
born during the Pontificate of St. Leo the
Great. But, from this latter Pontiff to the
dates 518 or 523, while Hormisdas was
Pope, including both of these Sovereign
Pontiffs, in the chair of St. Peter sat Leo, death, at February i. , Cogitosus concludes
Ve- niam peto a fratribus et lectoribus qui causa obedentise coactus, nulla praerogativa scientiffi who flourished a. d. 498. But, if we suppose suffultus, pelagus immensum virtutum S.
Hilary, Simplicius, Felix, Gelasius, Ana- stasius, Symmachus, and Hormisdas— eight in all ; not including the Anti-pope Laurence,
his Acts, in the following sentences :
services and panegyrics in the ancient Irish churches. See Professor O'Looney's Irish Life of St. Brigid, pp. I to 4, 49, 50.
58 After having given the day of our saint's
"
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 183
glory, and rejoicing in the possession of those eternal rewards, she had so richly merited after her departure from earth ; she beholds for ever the in-
effable presence of the Godhead, unceasingly and effectually interceding for her favoured island, and for her devout clients, with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, world without end. s9
An Irish Life of St. Brigid, and also the " Annals of Roscrea," state, that this holy woman died on a Wednesday. It has been remarked,^ that the circumstance of our saint's decease occurring on such a day, if true, should bring her death in all probability into a. d. 523. The ist of February fell on that day, during this year. ^^ It has been added, that St. Brigid took the veil, also, on a Wednesday, and building on this notation, which Ussher was either ignorant of, or overlooked, Colgan argues, that the death of our pious abbess cannot be appHed to any year, later than 523. This, however, rests op a passage,^^ not very trustworthy, as found in the Fourth Life of St. Brigid. ^3 Yet, Dr. Lanigan doubts the accuracy of this relation, which appears to have been an imitation of certain presumed coincidences in St. Patrick's Life and in her own Acts. He thinks a. d. 525, a still more pro- bable date for her death, than 523 ; which latter year, however, he says is the only one that can stand any competition with it. But, between both these dates, he leaves the reader free to form an opinion. Any other dates proposed, he deems not worthy of serious consideration. ^^
The place, whence our holy abbess departed to her true country and
home,hasbeendiverselyrepresented. ^s Especiallytowardstheclosingyears ofherlife, Kildarewasthepermanentplaceforherresidence,andthealmost unanimous echo of tradition declares it to have witnessed her exit from this world. Our historic records furnish sufftcient evidence in attestation. Not- withstanding a contrary assertion, hazarded by the author of St. Brigid's Fourth Life, that she died in the northern province ; this mooted question hardly admits of controversy. ^^ Such a statement, regarding her first interment at
"
Brigidse, et viris fortissimis formidandum, See Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga. " Vit. a
his paucis rustico sermone dictis virtutibus de maximis et innumerabilibus cucurrerim.
Orate pro me Cogitoso nepote culpabili et ut oratione vestra pio Domino me commen-
detis exoro, et Deus vos pacem Evangelicam
Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. 99. p. 562.
"
Ecclesiastical His- tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sec. vi. , and nn. 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90,
91, pp. 454 to 458.
sectantes, exaudiat. " See Colgan's
^s
dith Hanmer's statement regarding St.
Trias Thaumaturga. " Secunda Vita S. Brigidai,
Vita Secunda S. Brigidis, cap. xxxvi,, p.
524. Vita Tertia S. Brigidse, cap. cxxxi. ,
p. 542. Vita Quarta S. Brigidse, lib.
"
John Capgrave in his "Vita S. Brigidse," cap.
Felix in his
Martyrology," at 1st February,
"
Hibemica," dist. iii,, cap. 17, "Annales rities agree, she departed this life on the ist
ult. , Giraldus Cambrensis, in
Topographia
Vawerliensis,"&c. , date her demise.
3' Yet, Dr. Lanigan does not consider 458 to have been the true date for St. Patrick's
of Februar}'. Now, if we admit her being contemporaneous with the Emperor Justin, Pope Hormisdas and Murchertach, King of
death ; and, as the antecedent is false, so Ireland, the 1st of February fell on Wednes-
must be the consequent, viz. , that St. Brigid day, in the year 523. The hymn in praise "
Cloen, must have been written in this case soon after her death ; for, Alild, son of
Dunlang, reigned in Leinster, when it was written. This prince died A. D. 526. See
"Trias Thaumaturga. " Appendix Qu. irta ad Acta S. Brigidre, cap. vii. , p. 619. The learned Dr. O'Conor also agrees in this opinion with Colgan, in his edition of the
died A. D. 518. See Ecclesiastical History of St^ Brigid, composed by St. Brogan
of Ireland," vol, i. , chap, ix. , sec. vi. , and n. 84, pp. 455, 457.
3^ The " Chronicon Rudimentum Novi- tiorum," at A. D. 520, has noted St. Brigid's death. It states, during the second year of the Emperor Justin, that our saint died in Scotia, being bom there, and of noble pa- rents.
33
Thus, Marianus Scotus, Florence of Worcester, Baronius, Masseus, Spondanus, Gordon, Rosweyde, Mirseus, Ware. The "Annales Cambriae," edited by Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, concur, p. 3.
34 Ussher, Colgan and Bollandus prefer it. See, also. Rev. Thomas Innes* "Civil and Ecclesiastical of book
p. 128.
35 He prefers this, for various reasons.
First, Henry of Marlborough, Ussher, Ware, &c. , are of accord regarding it. And, St. Brigid lived thirty years after St. Patrick's deat—h ; accordingly, St. Patrick, dying in
" Rerum Hibemicarum Scriptores," tomus iv.
History Scotland," ii. ,
3* Thus, Tillemont justly remarks, that Henschennius and Papebrochius have not adduced any weighty proof for these dates. See "Memoires P9ur servir a I'Histoire Ecclesiastique," tome xvi. , p. 470.
37 See Dr. "Ecclesiastical His- Lanigan's
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sec. ii. , n. 25, pp. 382, 383, chap, ix. , sec. vi. , n. 87, P- 457-
38 See Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibemi- camm Scriptores," tomus iv. , p. 3. At A. D. 523 is noted, likewise, the "Bellum Cainri ^\\\Neili:'
butas —
thinks vi^as the true
591 Colgan 593
"
clesiarum," cap. xvii. , p. 884.
year of his decease
should place the death of St. Brigid at A. D.
39 See
De Primordia Britannicamm Ec-
this latter conclusion
"Annals of Ulster," n. 3, p. 13.
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. I8l
of the Four Masters," quoting some other old chronicles, and the " Annals of Ulster," referring to more ancient authorities, have a. d. 525. 4° Ussher observes, that some books referred to in the Ulster Annals mark St. Brigid's death, as occurring at 525, which date has been followed by the Four Masters. This latter year seems to agree best, with what Nennius relates, regarding St. Columkille's birth, which took place four years before St. Brigid's departure. *^ The "Annals of Ulster," citing the book of Mochod, again give a. d. 527. This latest mentioned date is omitted in Colgan, but instead of it, he pro-
"
duces the same authority, noticing
monachorum,"a. d. 528. Theoriginalauthorityseemstohavebeenidentical, in both the latter instances, with the difference of a date, in distinct copies.
The English Martyrology, at the ist of February, has a. d. 540. The author of St. Brigid's Fourth Life enters a. d. 548, as Colgan thinks, through a copyisfs error, and from the mention of contemporaneous persons. With the angels, present at her couch, and waiting to bear her soul to Paradise, the holy abbess was prepared for her final summons. 4^ She earnestly desired to receive the sacraments for the dying. Finding her final hour fast approaching, Holy Viaticum-^s was administered to her by an attendant priest, named Nennidh,44 whoappearstohavebeenattachedtotheserviceofhernunnery. 45 Hebe-
longed probably to the clergy residing at Kildare. ^^ Muriertach Mac Erc,47 KingofIreland,thenlivedatTara,astheFourthLifestates. Irishhistorians state this monarch to have died in the year 527, after a reign of twenty-four years. 48 He was succeeded in the sovereignity of Ir—eland by Tuathal Mael- garbh, who was slain—after a reign of eleven years in the year 538. St. Brigid's death took place, it is noted, during the first year of the Emperor Justinian's reign. 49 Hormisdas is said to have been Pope at the time, and he sat in the chair of St. Peter, from a. d. 514 to a. d. 523,5° when he died. s^
4° See Dr. O'Donovan's
*'
Annals of the
ii. , No. 30, p. 70 *'
Swiftly, swiftly '
:
now the soul is
flying,
Dying, dying,'
Are the words the watchers speak,
While the shade of death is shading
All the patient face, and fading All the rose-tints from the cheek. Yet, there comes no sound of wailing,
No blinding burst of hopeless grief ; The soul is calm, if strength be failing,
Dormitio S. Brigidae secundum codicum
582. Quarta Vita S. Brigidce, lib. ii. , cap.
Ixiii. , p. 559.
4° See Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sec. vi. , n. 82, p. 456.
47 Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four
Masters," vol. to 180, 181. i. , pp. 174 177,
4^ A very curious account, regarding this
will monarch and his family connexions, be
found in " The Irish Version of the Historia Britonum of Nennius," edited by Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd, and the Hon. Alger- non Herbert, pp. 178 to 193, with accom-
panying notes.
49 Justinian began his reign in the year
527, according to Baronius, and most other authors. Colgan thinks rather the name of
Justin, who began to reign in 518, should
The Lord Himself hath sent reUef. "
«See Rev. M. J. Brenan's "Ecclesi- "Trias Thaumaturga. " Vita Quarta S.
astical History of Ireland. " Fifth Century,
chap, iii. , p. 51.
^ See Rev. P. J. Carew's *' Ecclesiastical
Histoi-y of Ireland," chap, vi. , p. 241.
4S He is called simply vir and sacerdos in
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 170 to 173.
4' See ' ' Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 467.
42 Applicable to the calm tranquillity of
that departure are these lines by the Rev.
M. J.
Mac Hale " the Bedside," intituled, By
as found in " The I—llustrated Monitor," vol.
.
the Fifth Life of St. Brigid, without any assigned to the 6th of August. See pp. 40,
allusion to his having embraced the monastic profession. IntheFourthLifeofourSaint, it is said, he went to Britain, while another account tells us he journeyed to Rome. See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quinta Vita S. Brigidae," cap. Ivii. , Iviii. , pp. 581,
41, and n. 4, ibid.
s^Wherefore,ifSt. Brigiddepartedduring his time, she must have died, rather during
the first year of the Emperor Justin's reign, A. D. 518, than during the first year of the
Emperor Justinian's rule, A. D. 527.
be substituted for that of Justinian. See
Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. xcix. , p. 562. "
5° Yet, in William M. Hennessy's Chroni- cum Scotomm" his death is placed at A. D. 520. This, however, is corrected in a note by O'Flaherty to A. D. 523, and his death is
l82 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February i.
It has been stated, likewise, that twice six Sovereign Pontiffs of Rome lived contemporaneously with St. Brigid. s^ This statement, however, does not
hardly adjusts the inaccuracy. 54 It is possible, and even probable, St. Brigid lived in the time of eight successive Popes, supposing her to have died a. d. 518 or 523, and in the seventieth year of her age. 55 The Fourth Life of St.
Brigidunpardonablyasserts,thattheholyabbessdieda. d. 548. Thisdate, if not the error of a scribe, defers her death to nearly the middle of the sixth
century.
Nearly all the holy woman's Acts are concurrent, that the illustrious
Patroness of Ireland departed this hfe on the ist of February. s^ It is an honoured day in the Irish Church. 57 After having obtained a glorious victory, over the powers of darkness and the illusions of this world, she now reigns eternally and conspicuously among the celestial choirs of Heavenly Jerusalem, with the Patriarchs and Prophets, the Apostles, Martyrs, and spotless Virgins, with the Angels and Archangels of God. 5^ Crowned with a diadem of effulgent
seem to accord with exact chronology. 53 An attempt to correct it
5=" It is set down in these lines : —
" Illis temporibus bis senos legimus esse
Pontifices summos Roma vivente puella,"
St. Brigid to have died in the eightieth year of her age, and of Christ 518, as the authors of her Fourth and Sixth Lives seem to indi- cate, she must have been born, about A. D. 439, during the Pontificate of St. Sixtus III. This Pontiff sat in the chair of St. Peter, from 432 to 440. If we join the latter to the other eight, already enumerated, we shall have the number thrice three or nine Pontiffs, reign- ing, during St. Brigid's life-time ; and fol- lowing the last computation. Colgan thinks the emendation he makes must represent the true meaning of the author who com- posed her Sixth Life. He followed the writer of the Fourth Life. If this latter were Animosus' work, it is indicated as hav- ingbeenreadintheMetricalPrologue. See ibid. , n. 15, p. 598.
56Seethevariousoflficesofoursaint. The Roman Breviary of, 1522, Petrus de Natali- bus, and "Chronica Generalis Mundi," state, that St. Brigid flourished during the Emperor Justin's rule. See "The Life of St. Brigid," by an Irish Priest, chap, x. , p. '33.
57 "Decessit autem venerabilis Brigida
prima die mensis Februarii, suae benignitatis &misericordiarum remunerationem in per-
petuum possidens Deum : Qui in unitate trinus, & unus in trinitate, vivit & gaudet &
gloriatur, ipse quidem vita gaudium & gloria sanctorum omnium, per omnia saecula saecu-
See Sexta Vita S. Brigidse, sec. Ivi. , p. 594. *'"
Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga.
**
53 See Berti's
Breviarium," pars i. Quintum Ecclesise
Seculum, cap. i. , pp. 131, 132. Sextum Ecclesiae Seculum, cap. i. , pp. 149, 150.
5* Instead of the words "bis senos," Col- gan thinks we should read, "Bis ternos Pontifices. " For, he says, St. Brigid died in the seventieth year of her age, according to authorities, cited in the Fourth Appendix to her Acts (cap. vii. ), or in the eightieth year of her age, according to her Fourth Life (lib. ii. , cap. xcix. ), and other authorities; which latter tract Colgan thinks the author of her Metrical or Sixth Life followed. Ac- cording to the author of her Fourth Life and others, she died in the time of Pope Hormisdas, and in the first year of the Emperor Justin's reign (a. d. 518) ; or more truly, periiaps, in a. d. 523, as Colgan en- deavours to show, in the Fourth Appendix
"
to our Saint's Acts. See
turga. " Sexta Vita S. Brigidae, n, 15, p.
598. Also, Appendix Quarta ad Acta S. Brigidse, cap. vii. , p. 619.
Ecclesiasticae Historiae
Trias Thauma-
55 If it be supposed, that she died in the
seventieth year of her age and A. D. 518, St.
Brigid must have been born, about the year lorum. Amen. " Quinta Vita S. Brigidae,
of Christ 449. If she died in the seventieth cap. Ivii. , Iviii. , pp. 581, 582. Colgan's "
year of her age, and A. D. 523, she should Trias Thaumaturga. " This great feast of have come into this world, about the year St. Brigid appears from remote times to 454. In either case, she must have been have been celebrated with solemn public
born during the Pontificate of St. Leo the
Great. But, from this latter Pontiff to the
dates 518 or 523, while Hormisdas was
Pope, including both of these Sovereign
Pontiffs, in the chair of St. Peter sat Leo, death, at February i. , Cogitosus concludes
Ve- niam peto a fratribus et lectoribus qui causa obedentise coactus, nulla praerogativa scientiffi who flourished a. d. 498. But, if we suppose suffultus, pelagus immensum virtutum S.
Hilary, Simplicius, Felix, Gelasius, Ana- stasius, Symmachus, and Hormisdas— eight in all ; not including the Anti-pope Laurence,
his Acts, in the following sentences :
services and panegyrics in the ancient Irish churches. See Professor O'Looney's Irish Life of St. Brigid, pp. I to 4, 49, 50.
58 After having given the day of our saint's
"
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 183
glory, and rejoicing in the possession of those eternal rewards, she had so richly merited after her departure from earth ; she beholds for ever the in-
effable presence of the Godhead, unceasingly and effectually interceding for her favoured island, and for her devout clients, with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, world without end. s9
An Irish Life of St. Brigid, and also the " Annals of Roscrea," state, that this holy woman died on a Wednesday. It has been remarked,^ that the circumstance of our saint's decease occurring on such a day, if true, should bring her death in all probability into a. d. 523. The ist of February fell on that day, during this year. ^^ It has been added, that St. Brigid took the veil, also, on a Wednesday, and building on this notation, which Ussher was either ignorant of, or overlooked, Colgan argues, that the death of our pious abbess cannot be appHed to any year, later than 523. This, however, rests op a passage,^^ not very trustworthy, as found in the Fourth Life of St. Brigid. ^3 Yet, Dr. Lanigan doubts the accuracy of this relation, which appears to have been an imitation of certain presumed coincidences in St. Patrick's Life and in her own Acts. He thinks a. d. 525, a still more pro- bable date for her death, than 523 ; which latter year, however, he says is the only one that can stand any competition with it. But, between both these dates, he leaves the reader free to form an opinion. Any other dates proposed, he deems not worthy of serious consideration. ^^
The place, whence our holy abbess departed to her true country and
home,hasbeendiverselyrepresented. ^s Especiallytowardstheclosingyears ofherlife, Kildarewasthepermanentplaceforherresidence,andthealmost unanimous echo of tradition declares it to have witnessed her exit from this world. Our historic records furnish sufftcient evidence in attestation. Not- withstanding a contrary assertion, hazarded by the author of St. Brigid's Fourth Life, that she died in the northern province ; this mooted question hardly admits of controversy. ^^ Such a statement, regarding her first interment at
"
Brigidse, et viris fortissimis formidandum, See Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga. " Vit. a
his paucis rustico sermone dictis virtutibus de maximis et innumerabilibus cucurrerim.
Orate pro me Cogitoso nepote culpabili et ut oratione vestra pio Domino me commen-
detis exoro, et Deus vos pacem Evangelicam
Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. 99. p. 562.
"
Ecclesiastical His- tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sec. vi. , and nn. 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90,
91, pp. 454 to 458.
sectantes, exaudiat. " See Colgan's
^s
dith Hanmer's statement regarding St.
Trias Thaumaturga. " Secunda Vita S. Brigidai,
Vita Secunda S. Brigidis, cap. xxxvi,, p.
524. Vita Tertia S. Brigidse, cap. cxxxi. ,
p. 542. Vita Quarta S. Brigidse, lib.
