s
Especially
after the apostolate of St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v7
6.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , Julii xviii. De S. Thenna seu Thenew Ma- tiona Matre S. Kentigerni. This has been compiled by Father John Baptist Soller in three paragraphs, pp. 422, 423. The autho- rities cited are the Aberdeen Breviary and more recent Scottish Calendars.
4 For the original and a translation of this Tract, the reader is referred to the "Lives
in the twelfth century, edited from the best
Manuscripts. By Alexander Penrose Forbes, D. C. L. , Bishop of Brechin. See "The Historians of Scotland," vol. v. , Edinburgh, 1874, 8vo.
5 This is now preserved in the British Museum among the Cottonian Manuscripts, A. xix. , fol. 76. It has been translated and published, also, by the Bishop of Brechin, Alexander Penrose Forbes, D. C. L.
6 See "Vies des Saints," tome viii. ,
xviii e Jour de Juillet, p. 413.
7 See " Kalendars of Scottish Saints,"
pp. 451, 452.
8
See "Lives of the Saints," vol. vii. , July xviii. , pp. 433, 434.
of St. Ninian and St.
Kentigern," compiled
Bollandistes,
by
Right
Bishop
July t8 LIVES 01 THE IRISH SAINTS. ]
263
baptized. Bat, Camerarius states, that St. Thametis or Thennat was queen of the Scots, and very celebrated in Glottiana, a province of the Scots. Again, Father Thomas Innes has it, that she was a daughter to the King of the Mid- land Britons. 9 However, among the various opinions afloat, this holy woman
10 since it has been stated that she was of Scotia. Notwithstanding all that has been written about her, nothing can be deter- mined with certainty regarding her origin or place of birth. We can only
briefly allude to popular traditions, for the following narrative of what con- cerns her earlier years. She was sought in marriage by Ewen, who was son to Urien Rheged, King of Cumbria, and a very beautiful youth; but she refused all his solicitations, while this so incensed her father, that he sent her to a swineherd, who was in secret a Christian. This good man preserved her honour, and taught her the practices of religion, which, united with her naturally fine disposition, caused her to be innocent and guileless as a maiden. Shewasengagedinveryhumbleoccupationswhileundertheroof of her protector, and she was often employed at work in the open fields.
SheiscalledThanesbyFordun. " IntheWelshlanguagesheisnamed
DwynwenorDenyw. " WhileArchbishopUssherstylesherThem's,Themi or Thenna ; the Metrical Chronicle of Scotland gives her the name of Cemeda. J 3 While under care of the swineherd, a malicious woman is s;iid to have laid a snare for her innocence, and that beingdecoyed into a wood, she was violently oppressed by a youth, who conceived a passion for the unsuspecting maiden. According to various Legends of his Life, the result ofthisintercoursewasherconceptionofKentigern. Soontheangerofher father was aroused, that his daughter should have presented signs of her approaching maternity. Other accounts have it, that this pious woman became acquainted with some Christian friends. From these she learned to enter- tain a great respect for religious truths and a love for the Blessed Virgin. It is stated, that at an early age, she had made a vow of chastity. On the other hand, she is represented as having been married, and after the death of her husband, she is said to have renounced her position in the kingdom, and to have given herself entirely to heavenly contemplation. In a story, greatly flavoured with romance, it is stated, that she was accused of a-grievous crime, of which, however, she is held to have been altogether innocent. Her father deemed her to have been disgraced, in consequence of it, and had decreed an exemplary punishment. She was sentenced to be cast down from a steep rock, called Kep-duff—said to have been in the Lammermoor—
The story of St. Thenog's adventures, when she was cast on the shore of Fife, is very romantic. It is said, that the chieftain of the place where she
is said to have been
Irish,
according
Fragmentary
9 See " Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book ii. , sec. vii. , p. 125.
Kentigern," compiled in the twelfth cen- tury, edited from the best Manuscripts. By Alexander Penrose Forbes, Bishop of Bie-
10
"
See Right Rev. Patrick F. Moran's
Life of St. x< while, in that by Kentigern j
to the
Jocelyn,^itiscalledDumpelder. Notwithstandingthisactofviolence;she was miraculously preserved from death, owing to the aid of our Blessed Lady. She was cast on the shores of Fife. She landed, in most providential manner, at Culross. She had not professed the Christian religion, at this time, according to some accounts.
Irish Saints in Great Britain,"chap. v. ,p. 142. chin. Vita S. Kentigerni, cap. iv. , pp. 11 "
See Scotichronicon," vol. i. , lib. iii. ,
128,248.
IS See ibid. , "Historians of Scotland,"
vol. v. , cap. iii. , pp. 38, 166.
l0
This is stated to have been made of twigs and pitch, covered with leather.
I? See Riirht Rev. Patrick F. Moran's
cap. 24. Goodall's edition, p. 128. 12 "
See Rees' Essay on the Welsh Saints,"
p. 261, and the Mabinogion, parti. , p. 17. 13 See vol. ii. , p. 221.
14 See the "Lives of St. Ninian and St.
264 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 18.
16
at the mouth of Aber- lassigRiver; afterwards,shewasconductedoutbeyondtheIsleofMayand towards the open ocean, where without sail or oar Thenog was abandoned to her fate. " If she be worthy of life," said the chieftain, " the God whom she in- vokes can free her, if He will it, from the perils of the sea. " Accordingly, Divine Providence guarded her from danger, and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary afforded the medium of escape. By the force of the waves, the little boat was driven near to St. Servan's cell, at Culross. At this time, she was about to give birth to a child. Seeking the retirement of a cave near the shore, St. Kentigern was there born. Some shepherds who lived in the neighbourhood, soon discovered the mother and child, to whom they brought food and clothing. Afterwards, hearing of those circumstances, St. ServantookThenogandKentigernunderhisprotection. Achapelwasafter-
wards built near that spot where the latter was born, and the ruins of a
T mediaeval church are to be seen in that place. ?
As the Almighty had decreed, her innocence was vindicated, and Thenog
lived had ordered her to be placed in a small boat,
was received in a kind St. manner, by
Servan,
18 when she was
unjustly
persecuted. Her protectress, the Blessed Virgin Mary, procured for her the 1
grace of baptism, at St. Servan's hands, ? and at the same time her son Ken- tigern was baptized. St. Thenna, having thus become the mother of St.
20 at her care was now directed towards his Kentigern, Culross, great
proper instruction. Afterwards, St. Servan became her spiritual director, as also the instructor of her illustrious son, St. Kentigern. When he grew up, the British church founded in Strathclyde by St. Ninian had faded, owing to the influences exercised by the pagan population, that made inroads into the Christian dis- tricts, and it remained for St. Kentigern to re-found it in that same century,
21
when St. Columba arrived in Scotland.
Thenog lived a most retired, peniten-
tial,andholylife,notfarfromGlasgow. Herfastsandabstinencewerecon-
tinuous, while in prayer and vigils her time was mostly spent. She often held
pious conferences, with her illustrious son, from whom she never chose to be separated,duringthewholecourseofhervirtuousandexemplarylife. When
this life in the year 445, and during the reign of Eugene II. ; whereas, it is altogether certain, her son, St. Kentigern, prolonged his life beyond the middle
22 are nearer to the when date,
buried in St. Mungo's church, in the city of Glasgow, however, as has been most generally believed.
At an early period, a church was dedicated to her, in this city ; and it was
inaveryconspicuouspartofGlasgow. Thatfinechurchwasdemolished, during the Reformation. The popular name of her church at Glasgow, at
the time of the Reformation, was San Theneukes Kirk; afterwards, by a furthercorruption,itwentbythenameofSt. P2noch's33 Herfestivalisplaced
of the sixth The Petits century.
Bollandistes, they set down a. d. 580, as that for her death.
•* O Lord Jesus, I have left the kingdom,
her death drew near, she cried out
which I received from you, and for your sake, but place me, I earnestly beseech, in your own kingdom. " One absurd statement has it, that she departed
:
According to Dempster and those who follow him, her remains were deposed at Dalgarnoch. She was
"Irish Saints in Great Britain," chap, v. ,
pp. 143, 144.
18 His feast occurs at the 1st ofJuly, where
notices of him may be found in the present
volume, Art. ii.
'9 Such is the account contained in the
Breviarium Aberdonense, Pars Estivalis, fol. xxxiv. b.
Sancta," part ii. ( p. 36.
2I
Sec "Chronicles of the Picts, Chroni- cles of the Scots, and other early Memorials of Scottish History," edited by William F. Skene, Preface, sect, viii. , p. cliv.
22 See " Vies des Saints," tome viii. ,
xviii e Jour de Juillet, p. 413.
2? See " Origines Parochiales Scotire,"
part i. , pp. 5, 16.
20 See Bishop Challenor's " Brittannia
July 18. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 265 at the 181I1 of July, in the Aberdeen Breviary. She is commemorated as a
Thomas 2 5 at this same date. Dempster,
Adam
24 and also
Also, in the Scottish Entries in the Kalendarof David Camerarius,26 her festi-
widow, by
King,
by
val is noted. Divesting her story of the mythological narratives with which it has been clouded, we may well conclude, that St. Thenna loved God ardently 110111 her earliest years, nor was she one of those negligent worship- pers, who bide their time and opportunities, when turning only to Him in the decline of their days, after a career in which everything—pleasure, avarice,
ambition—has had its share ; everything, on which, constitute true wisdom.
Article II. —Minnborinus, Abbot of St. Martin's Monastery,
Cologne. \TenthCentury-. ] Itseemsveryprobable,thatthepresentholy man was born in Ireland, about or a little later than the beginning of the tenth century. The form of his name is an unusual one in our early Annals, but it may have been somewhat transformed when he went to the Continent. Where he had been educated has not transpired, nor when he left the shores of Ireland. In his early days, however, the country had been woefully harassed by the Danes and other Northmen, so that it is not unlikely, many Irishmen betook themselves to more distant countries, where greater protec- tion had been afforded than c—ould be enjoyed at home. The city —of Cologne,
1
on the left bank of the Rhine at first known as Ara Ubiorum had been
2
founded by Claudia Agrippina Augusta, wife of the Emperor Claudius,3 in
the first century of the Christian era ; and, in succeeding ages/ the church was well established there, with numerous pious votaries. Several fine churches were erected in it, and other religious institutions. It suffered greatly during the ravages of Attila and the Huns, in the fifth century.
s Especially after the apostolate of St. Boniface 6 in Germany, the church was placed on a secure foundation in Cologne. It was erected at first into an episcopal See, and afterwards it became the See of an archbishop,? who possessed very
but
be kept in mind—a practical knowledge of which, and a constant meditation
24 Thus
:
" 18. S. Thennow vidow mother
the Rhine, Switzerland, and Holland,'' vol. i. , chap, xiii. , pp. 210, 21 1.
of S. — vnder mungo King
Eugenius 2. In
Scot. 445. Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars
Scottish Saints," p. 158.
25 In his " Menologium Scotorum " thus
3 See "The
Conversations Lexicon," vol. ii. , p. 315.
4 In the beginning of the fourth century, A. D. 313, Maternus, Bishop of Cologne, assisted at a council held in Rome. See
"Apud Dalgarnoch, Thennae vidua; S. Kentige—rni matris, miraculosse mulieris.
B. K. " Ibid. , p. 206.
26 "
Thus : 18 Die. Sancta Thametis, aliis
Thennat Scotorum Regina, et in Glottiana p—raesertim Scotia? prouincia celeberrima. "
"
Histoire
Ecclesiastique," tome
Ibid. , p. 239. —
Article II.
an entrepot for commerce of the Ubii, an ancient German tribe. See Elisee Reclus' " Nouvelle Geographie Universelle," tome iii. , liv. iii. , chap. Hi. , sect, iii. , p. 606.
Epoch
sect.
i. , part i. , chap, i. , 152, p. 24,
'
then as It was regarded
and sect. 80. 157, p.
of
Popular Encyclopedia; or,
:
2 "The circuit of the outer walls is nearly
seven miles, so that it is a place of consider-
able extent. These walls are flanked by a
number of towers ; and the entry on the land
side is through strongly fortified gateways,
of which there are altogether twenty-four,
and in some of these the initials C. C. A. A. "Manual of Church History," vol. ii. ,
Colonia —Claudia Agrippina Augusta, are still Period ii. , Epoch i. , part i. , chap. 4, sect. 200,
visible. " J. S. Buckingham's "Belgium, p.
266.
Fleury's
that one thing, which ought to
iii. , liv. x. , sect, xi. , p. 25.
5"
See Rev. Dr. John Alzog's Manual of
Church History," vol. ii. , Period ii. ,
Translated by Rev. F. J. Pabisch, and Rev. Professor Thomas
S. Byrne.
6 The Life of this holy Apostle has been
^ The suffragan Sees were Tongres, after- wards called Maestricht until a. d. 708, and now Liege, Utrecht, Miinster, Minden and Osnabriick. See Rev. Dr. John Alzog's
written already and published at the 5th of June, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. i.
266 LIVESOF7HEIRISHSAINTS. [July iS,
This city became likewise a great emporium of commerce, and there ships sailing Up and down the Rhine reached the most distant countries of the known world. On account of the power, influence, and numbers of its clergy, as also owing to the variety of its churches, chapels, monasteries, nunneries, and relics, Cologne has been
" —8 ofthe
the Rome of Germany. " One great glories of this ancient
extensive powers during the middle ages.
_
styl—
c ity
p.
621.
ed
indeed of the
world
is the
magnificent
Gothic
cathedral,
in course of
rathedral of
amazing height. 9 Several massive buttresses surround the ex- terior of the building : while arc-boutan! s stretch along its transepts,andfromthe outer walls of the aisles to the inner ones of the nave. Crocketted pinnacles arise in profusion over the roofs. The choir has an elevation of 200 feet. For nearly six hundred years since its commencement, this grand structure remained incom- plete, and the portions built were even becoming
ruinous, until the late King of Prussia, and afterwards First Emperor of Germany, Frederick William, resolved on its completion and, in the year 1 843, he laid with great ceremony,
;
the first stone, exclaiming as he rung on it the silver trowel, u Alaf Kceln,"
or "
for ever. " At enormous cost, it has now been finished, within and without. 10 The interior has a truly noble and solemn appearance, with its ranges of massive and stately columns supporting the spandiil arches beneath the roof, which is accessible through a winding stone stairs within
Cologne
8 10 See" Gazetteer of the World," vol. iv. ,
Before its completion in 1863, the writer
first saw this noble cathedral at a disadvan-
9 In the accompanying illustration, a rcre
view of the choir pnrt is presented from an
approved engraving. It was drawn by for the second time, when all seemcl com- William F. Wakeman on the wood, en- pleted, but the re flagging and tiling of the graved by Mrs Millard, floors.
erection from a. d. 1248, and
only completed with all its
chief details, in our own day. It is in the form of a
cross, 404 feet in length by 180 feet in width, an ad- mitted defect of proportion. The front entrance of noble elevation is flanked with two superb towers, which are again surmounted with spires, crocketted to the pinmcles on which are floriated crosses. These latter are of
tage, scaffolding having been erected w'itliin
and without ; in the year 1886, he visited it
July i 8. ] . LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 2 6 7
the flanking towers. The four central columns, dividing the nave and tran- septs, are 40 feet in circumference and clustered. The groined roofs are truly magnificent, and all the shafts of columns and windows finely carved, have gracefulness and massiveness wonderfully combined. When the Blessed Bruno, brother to the Emperor Otho I. , died as Archbishop of Cologne on the nth of October, a. d. 965, " he was succeeded in the See by Folcmar, deacon and economus of St. Pantaleon's church, and who afterwards wrote his Life. This prelate did not long survive. It seems most likely, that Minnborinus professed the religious life in Cologne, or at some place near it, after the middle of the tenth century. We have not been able, however, to ascertain such particulars. Ebergerus, who was then Archbishop of Cologne, bestowed the monastery of St. Martin in that city, for use of the Scots, as the Irish were
whichwas anIslandontheRiver originally
then in I2 Onthe called, 975.
site,
Rhine, a church had been built, but this has long disappeared. In its place
arose the Gross St. Martin, which was dedicated a. d. 1172, but its lofty tower
was not until the of the fifteenth 1 ^ The lines of added, beginning century.
that church assume the form of a Greek cross. The first abbot placed over
the first monastery here founded was Minnborinus, a Scot, i. e. , an Irishman, and lie was chosen for the position, on account of his eminent piety and character. The holy Minnborinus presided happily over St. Martin's house twelve years. He died on 15th Kal. , Aug. a. d. 986. I4 He was succeeded by his countryman Kilian, an Irish Scot, who ruled over that establishment as Abbot for sixteen years, when he departed this life on 19th of the January
i
Kalends, a. d. ioo3. Afterwards, supply
of Irish inmates seems — to
Tallagh,
1 thatCronanMach hada atthe18thof Lugada festival,
July. By 2 In the
nearly
greatly
spelling.
"'
Histoire Ecclesiastique," tome xii. , liv. Ivi. , sect, xii. , pp. 138, 139.
5 See ibid.
,6 "
In Murray's Handbook for Travellers
on the Continent,'' it is stated and most in-
correctly, that in 980, Bishop Warin gave St. Martin's to the Scotch Benedictines. See
12
Scotti "Chronicon," at the corrected chrono-
Thus does the entry read in Mariani
logy of a. d. 975 f
"
s the
have declined. In of — consequence misconceiving
as formerly solely applicable to Ireland
been surrendered in the middle ages to a community of Scotch Benedictines. ' The interior of the fine church there was modernized in 1790, and the place is still one of special interest and curiosity for most Irish and Scottish Catholic tourists.
Article III. —St. Cronan Mac Ualach, or Mac h. Lugada, Abbot of Clonmacnoise, King's County. It is mentioned in the Martyrology of
all our authorities his name is
varied in
Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman he is called Mac Ua Luagada, Abbot of
Clonmacnoise. ButinMr. O'Curry'scopyoftheMartyrologyofMarianus O'Gorman, he is called Mac Ua Laigde, abb. Cluan mic Nois. 3 He is also
11 He was buried in the church of St. Pan- rica," tomus v. , Mariani Scotti Chronicon.
taleon, which he had founded. See Fleury's Edited by Professor G. Waitz, p. 555.
Ebergerus archiepisco-
Coloniensis immolavit Scottis in ternum —monasterium sancti Martini, in Colonia. " "MonumentaGermaniseHisto- rica," tomus v. , edidit Georgius Heinricus Pertz, p. 555.
''
Handbook for Travellers on the Continent," sect, iv. , Route 36,
p. 251.
14 See " Monumenta Germanise Histc-
Route —
36, p. 251.
pus
sempi-
sect,
Article hi.
13 See Murray's
the historic name Scotia this house and its possessions had
Kelly, p. 2
iv. ,
'
Edited
by
Rev. Dr.
xxix.
See Dr. O' Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters," vol.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , Julii xviii. De S. Thenna seu Thenew Ma- tiona Matre S. Kentigerni. This has been compiled by Father John Baptist Soller in three paragraphs, pp. 422, 423. The autho- rities cited are the Aberdeen Breviary and more recent Scottish Calendars.
4 For the original and a translation of this Tract, the reader is referred to the "Lives
in the twelfth century, edited from the best
Manuscripts. By Alexander Penrose Forbes, D. C. L. , Bishop of Brechin. See "The Historians of Scotland," vol. v. , Edinburgh, 1874, 8vo.
5 This is now preserved in the British Museum among the Cottonian Manuscripts, A. xix. , fol. 76. It has been translated and published, also, by the Bishop of Brechin, Alexander Penrose Forbes, D. C. L.
6 See "Vies des Saints," tome viii. ,
xviii e Jour de Juillet, p. 413.
7 See " Kalendars of Scottish Saints,"
pp. 451, 452.
8
See "Lives of the Saints," vol. vii. , July xviii. , pp. 433, 434.
of St. Ninian and St.
Kentigern," compiled
Bollandistes,
by
Right
Bishop
July t8 LIVES 01 THE IRISH SAINTS. ]
263
baptized. Bat, Camerarius states, that St. Thametis or Thennat was queen of the Scots, and very celebrated in Glottiana, a province of the Scots. Again, Father Thomas Innes has it, that she was a daughter to the King of the Mid- land Britons. 9 However, among the various opinions afloat, this holy woman
10 since it has been stated that she was of Scotia. Notwithstanding all that has been written about her, nothing can be deter- mined with certainty regarding her origin or place of birth. We can only
briefly allude to popular traditions, for the following narrative of what con- cerns her earlier years. She was sought in marriage by Ewen, who was son to Urien Rheged, King of Cumbria, and a very beautiful youth; but she refused all his solicitations, while this so incensed her father, that he sent her to a swineherd, who was in secret a Christian. This good man preserved her honour, and taught her the practices of religion, which, united with her naturally fine disposition, caused her to be innocent and guileless as a maiden. Shewasengagedinveryhumbleoccupationswhileundertheroof of her protector, and she was often employed at work in the open fields.
SheiscalledThanesbyFordun. " IntheWelshlanguagesheisnamed
DwynwenorDenyw. " WhileArchbishopUssherstylesherThem's,Themi or Thenna ; the Metrical Chronicle of Scotland gives her the name of Cemeda. J 3 While under care of the swineherd, a malicious woman is s;iid to have laid a snare for her innocence, and that beingdecoyed into a wood, she was violently oppressed by a youth, who conceived a passion for the unsuspecting maiden. According to various Legends of his Life, the result ofthisintercoursewasherconceptionofKentigern. Soontheangerofher father was aroused, that his daughter should have presented signs of her approaching maternity. Other accounts have it, that this pious woman became acquainted with some Christian friends. From these she learned to enter- tain a great respect for religious truths and a love for the Blessed Virgin. It is stated, that at an early age, she had made a vow of chastity. On the other hand, she is represented as having been married, and after the death of her husband, she is said to have renounced her position in the kingdom, and to have given herself entirely to heavenly contemplation. In a story, greatly flavoured with romance, it is stated, that she was accused of a-grievous crime, of which, however, she is held to have been altogether innocent. Her father deemed her to have been disgraced, in consequence of it, and had decreed an exemplary punishment. She was sentenced to be cast down from a steep rock, called Kep-duff—said to have been in the Lammermoor—
The story of St. Thenog's adventures, when she was cast on the shore of Fife, is very romantic. It is said, that the chieftain of the place where she
is said to have been
Irish,
according
Fragmentary
9 See " Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book ii. , sec. vii. , p. 125.
Kentigern," compiled in the twelfth cen- tury, edited from the best Manuscripts. By Alexander Penrose Forbes, Bishop of Bie-
10
"
See Right Rev. Patrick F. Moran's
Life of St. x< while, in that by Kentigern j
to the
Jocelyn,^itiscalledDumpelder. Notwithstandingthisactofviolence;she was miraculously preserved from death, owing to the aid of our Blessed Lady. She was cast on the shores of Fife. She landed, in most providential manner, at Culross. She had not professed the Christian religion, at this time, according to some accounts.
Irish Saints in Great Britain,"chap. v. ,p. 142. chin. Vita S. Kentigerni, cap. iv. , pp. 11 "
See Scotichronicon," vol. i. , lib. iii. ,
128,248.
IS See ibid. , "Historians of Scotland,"
vol. v. , cap. iii. , pp. 38, 166.
l0
This is stated to have been made of twigs and pitch, covered with leather.
I? See Riirht Rev. Patrick F. Moran's
cap. 24. Goodall's edition, p. 128. 12 "
See Rees' Essay on the Welsh Saints,"
p. 261, and the Mabinogion, parti. , p. 17. 13 See vol. ii. , p. 221.
14 See the "Lives of St. Ninian and St.
264 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 18.
16
at the mouth of Aber- lassigRiver; afterwards,shewasconductedoutbeyondtheIsleofMayand towards the open ocean, where without sail or oar Thenog was abandoned to her fate. " If she be worthy of life," said the chieftain, " the God whom she in- vokes can free her, if He will it, from the perils of the sea. " Accordingly, Divine Providence guarded her from danger, and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary afforded the medium of escape. By the force of the waves, the little boat was driven near to St. Servan's cell, at Culross. At this time, she was about to give birth to a child. Seeking the retirement of a cave near the shore, St. Kentigern was there born. Some shepherds who lived in the neighbourhood, soon discovered the mother and child, to whom they brought food and clothing. Afterwards, hearing of those circumstances, St. ServantookThenogandKentigernunderhisprotection. Achapelwasafter-
wards built near that spot where the latter was born, and the ruins of a
T mediaeval church are to be seen in that place. ?
As the Almighty had decreed, her innocence was vindicated, and Thenog
lived had ordered her to be placed in a small boat,
was received in a kind St. manner, by
Servan,
18 when she was
unjustly
persecuted. Her protectress, the Blessed Virgin Mary, procured for her the 1
grace of baptism, at St. Servan's hands, ? and at the same time her son Ken- tigern was baptized. St. Thenna, having thus become the mother of St.
20 at her care was now directed towards his Kentigern, Culross, great
proper instruction. Afterwards, St. Servan became her spiritual director, as also the instructor of her illustrious son, St. Kentigern. When he grew up, the British church founded in Strathclyde by St. Ninian had faded, owing to the influences exercised by the pagan population, that made inroads into the Christian dis- tricts, and it remained for St. Kentigern to re-found it in that same century,
21
when St. Columba arrived in Scotland.
Thenog lived a most retired, peniten-
tial,andholylife,notfarfromGlasgow. Herfastsandabstinencewerecon-
tinuous, while in prayer and vigils her time was mostly spent. She often held
pious conferences, with her illustrious son, from whom she never chose to be separated,duringthewholecourseofhervirtuousandexemplarylife. When
this life in the year 445, and during the reign of Eugene II. ; whereas, it is altogether certain, her son, St. Kentigern, prolonged his life beyond the middle
22 are nearer to the when date,
buried in St. Mungo's church, in the city of Glasgow, however, as has been most generally believed.
At an early period, a church was dedicated to her, in this city ; and it was
inaveryconspicuouspartofGlasgow. Thatfinechurchwasdemolished, during the Reformation. The popular name of her church at Glasgow, at
the time of the Reformation, was San Theneukes Kirk; afterwards, by a furthercorruption,itwentbythenameofSt. P2noch's33 Herfestivalisplaced
of the sixth The Petits century.
Bollandistes, they set down a. d. 580, as that for her death.
•* O Lord Jesus, I have left the kingdom,
her death drew near, she cried out
which I received from you, and for your sake, but place me, I earnestly beseech, in your own kingdom. " One absurd statement has it, that she departed
:
According to Dempster and those who follow him, her remains were deposed at Dalgarnoch. She was
"Irish Saints in Great Britain," chap, v. ,
pp. 143, 144.
18 His feast occurs at the 1st ofJuly, where
notices of him may be found in the present
volume, Art. ii.
'9 Such is the account contained in the
Breviarium Aberdonense, Pars Estivalis, fol. xxxiv. b.
Sancta," part ii. ( p. 36.
2I
Sec "Chronicles of the Picts, Chroni- cles of the Scots, and other early Memorials of Scottish History," edited by William F. Skene, Preface, sect, viii. , p. cliv.
22 See " Vies des Saints," tome viii. ,
xviii e Jour de Juillet, p. 413.
2? See " Origines Parochiales Scotire,"
part i. , pp. 5, 16.
20 See Bishop Challenor's " Brittannia
July 18. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 265 at the 181I1 of July, in the Aberdeen Breviary. She is commemorated as a
Thomas 2 5 at this same date. Dempster,
Adam
24 and also
Also, in the Scottish Entries in the Kalendarof David Camerarius,26 her festi-
widow, by
King,
by
val is noted. Divesting her story of the mythological narratives with which it has been clouded, we may well conclude, that St. Thenna loved God ardently 110111 her earliest years, nor was she one of those negligent worship- pers, who bide their time and opportunities, when turning only to Him in the decline of their days, after a career in which everything—pleasure, avarice,
ambition—has had its share ; everything, on which, constitute true wisdom.
Article II. —Minnborinus, Abbot of St. Martin's Monastery,
Cologne. \TenthCentury-. ] Itseemsveryprobable,thatthepresentholy man was born in Ireland, about or a little later than the beginning of the tenth century. The form of his name is an unusual one in our early Annals, but it may have been somewhat transformed when he went to the Continent. Where he had been educated has not transpired, nor when he left the shores of Ireland. In his early days, however, the country had been woefully harassed by the Danes and other Northmen, so that it is not unlikely, many Irishmen betook themselves to more distant countries, where greater protec- tion had been afforded than c—ould be enjoyed at home. The city —of Cologne,
1
on the left bank of the Rhine at first known as Ara Ubiorum had been
2
founded by Claudia Agrippina Augusta, wife of the Emperor Claudius,3 in
the first century of the Christian era ; and, in succeeding ages/ the church was well established there, with numerous pious votaries. Several fine churches were erected in it, and other religious institutions. It suffered greatly during the ravages of Attila and the Huns, in the fifth century.
s Especially after the apostolate of St. Boniface 6 in Germany, the church was placed on a secure foundation in Cologne. It was erected at first into an episcopal See, and afterwards it became the See of an archbishop,? who possessed very
but
be kept in mind—a practical knowledge of which, and a constant meditation
24 Thus
:
" 18. S. Thennow vidow mother
the Rhine, Switzerland, and Holland,'' vol. i. , chap, xiii. , pp. 210, 21 1.
of S. — vnder mungo King
Eugenius 2. In
Scot. 445. Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars
Scottish Saints," p. 158.
25 In his " Menologium Scotorum " thus
3 See "The
Conversations Lexicon," vol. ii. , p. 315.
4 In the beginning of the fourth century, A. D. 313, Maternus, Bishop of Cologne, assisted at a council held in Rome. See
"Apud Dalgarnoch, Thennae vidua; S. Kentige—rni matris, miraculosse mulieris.
B. K. " Ibid. , p. 206.
26 "
Thus : 18 Die. Sancta Thametis, aliis
Thennat Scotorum Regina, et in Glottiana p—raesertim Scotia? prouincia celeberrima. "
"
Histoire
Ecclesiastique," tome
Ibid. , p. 239. —
Article II.
an entrepot for commerce of the Ubii, an ancient German tribe. See Elisee Reclus' " Nouvelle Geographie Universelle," tome iii. , liv. iii. , chap. Hi. , sect, iii. , p. 606.
Epoch
sect.
i. , part i. , chap, i. , 152, p. 24,
'
then as It was regarded
and sect. 80. 157, p.
of
Popular Encyclopedia; or,
:
2 "The circuit of the outer walls is nearly
seven miles, so that it is a place of consider-
able extent. These walls are flanked by a
number of towers ; and the entry on the land
side is through strongly fortified gateways,
of which there are altogether twenty-four,
and in some of these the initials C. C. A. A. "Manual of Church History," vol. ii. ,
Colonia —Claudia Agrippina Augusta, are still Period ii. , Epoch i. , part i. , chap. 4, sect. 200,
visible. " J. S. Buckingham's "Belgium, p.
266.
Fleury's
that one thing, which ought to
iii. , liv. x. , sect, xi. , p. 25.
5"
See Rev. Dr. John Alzog's Manual of
Church History," vol. ii. , Period ii. ,
Translated by Rev. F. J. Pabisch, and Rev. Professor Thomas
S. Byrne.
6 The Life of this holy Apostle has been
^ The suffragan Sees were Tongres, after- wards called Maestricht until a. d. 708, and now Liege, Utrecht, Miinster, Minden and Osnabriick. See Rev. Dr. John Alzog's
written already and published at the 5th of June, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. i.
266 LIVESOF7HEIRISHSAINTS. [July iS,
This city became likewise a great emporium of commerce, and there ships sailing Up and down the Rhine reached the most distant countries of the known world. On account of the power, influence, and numbers of its clergy, as also owing to the variety of its churches, chapels, monasteries, nunneries, and relics, Cologne has been
" —8 ofthe
the Rome of Germany. " One great glories of this ancient
extensive powers during the middle ages.
_
styl—
c ity
p.
621.
ed
indeed of the
world
is the
magnificent
Gothic
cathedral,
in course of
rathedral of
amazing height. 9 Several massive buttresses surround the ex- terior of the building : while arc-boutan! s stretch along its transepts,andfromthe outer walls of the aisles to the inner ones of the nave. Crocketted pinnacles arise in profusion over the roofs. The choir has an elevation of 200 feet. For nearly six hundred years since its commencement, this grand structure remained incom- plete, and the portions built were even becoming
ruinous, until the late King of Prussia, and afterwards First Emperor of Germany, Frederick William, resolved on its completion and, in the year 1 843, he laid with great ceremony,
;
the first stone, exclaiming as he rung on it the silver trowel, u Alaf Kceln,"
or "
for ever. " At enormous cost, it has now been finished, within and without. 10 The interior has a truly noble and solemn appearance, with its ranges of massive and stately columns supporting the spandiil arches beneath the roof, which is accessible through a winding stone stairs within
Cologne
8 10 See" Gazetteer of the World," vol. iv. ,
Before its completion in 1863, the writer
first saw this noble cathedral at a disadvan-
9 In the accompanying illustration, a rcre
view of the choir pnrt is presented from an
approved engraving. It was drawn by for the second time, when all seemcl com- William F. Wakeman on the wood, en- pleted, but the re flagging and tiling of the graved by Mrs Millard, floors.
erection from a. d. 1248, and
only completed with all its
chief details, in our own day. It is in the form of a
cross, 404 feet in length by 180 feet in width, an ad- mitted defect of proportion. The front entrance of noble elevation is flanked with two superb towers, which are again surmounted with spires, crocketted to the pinmcles on which are floriated crosses. These latter are of
tage, scaffolding having been erected w'itliin
and without ; in the year 1886, he visited it
July i 8. ] . LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 2 6 7
the flanking towers. The four central columns, dividing the nave and tran- septs, are 40 feet in circumference and clustered. The groined roofs are truly magnificent, and all the shafts of columns and windows finely carved, have gracefulness and massiveness wonderfully combined. When the Blessed Bruno, brother to the Emperor Otho I. , died as Archbishop of Cologne on the nth of October, a. d. 965, " he was succeeded in the See by Folcmar, deacon and economus of St. Pantaleon's church, and who afterwards wrote his Life. This prelate did not long survive. It seems most likely, that Minnborinus professed the religious life in Cologne, or at some place near it, after the middle of the tenth century. We have not been able, however, to ascertain such particulars. Ebergerus, who was then Archbishop of Cologne, bestowed the monastery of St. Martin in that city, for use of the Scots, as the Irish were
whichwas anIslandontheRiver originally
then in I2 Onthe called, 975.
site,
Rhine, a church had been built, but this has long disappeared. In its place
arose the Gross St. Martin, which was dedicated a. d. 1172, but its lofty tower
was not until the of the fifteenth 1 ^ The lines of added, beginning century.
that church assume the form of a Greek cross. The first abbot placed over
the first monastery here founded was Minnborinus, a Scot, i. e. , an Irishman, and lie was chosen for the position, on account of his eminent piety and character. The holy Minnborinus presided happily over St. Martin's house twelve years. He died on 15th Kal. , Aug. a. d. 986. I4 He was succeeded by his countryman Kilian, an Irish Scot, who ruled over that establishment as Abbot for sixteen years, when he departed this life on 19th of the January
i
Kalends, a. d. ioo3. Afterwards, supply
of Irish inmates seems — to
Tallagh,
1 thatCronanMach hada atthe18thof Lugada festival,
July. By 2 In the
nearly
greatly
spelling.
"'
Histoire Ecclesiastique," tome xii. , liv. Ivi. , sect, xii. , pp. 138, 139.
5 See ibid.
,6 "
In Murray's Handbook for Travellers
on the Continent,'' it is stated and most in-
correctly, that in 980, Bishop Warin gave St. Martin's to the Scotch Benedictines. See
12
Scotti "Chronicon," at the corrected chrono-
Thus does the entry read in Mariani
logy of a. d. 975 f
"
s the
have declined. In of — consequence misconceiving
as formerly solely applicable to Ireland
been surrendered in the middle ages to a community of Scotch Benedictines. ' The interior of the fine church there was modernized in 1790, and the place is still one of special interest and curiosity for most Irish and Scottish Catholic tourists.
Article III. —St. Cronan Mac Ualach, or Mac h. Lugada, Abbot of Clonmacnoise, King's County. It is mentioned in the Martyrology of
all our authorities his name is
varied in
Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman he is called Mac Ua Luagada, Abbot of
Clonmacnoise. ButinMr. O'Curry'scopyoftheMartyrologyofMarianus O'Gorman, he is called Mac Ua Laigde, abb. Cluan mic Nois. 3 He is also
11 He was buried in the church of St. Pan- rica," tomus v. , Mariani Scotti Chronicon.
taleon, which he had founded. See Fleury's Edited by Professor G. Waitz, p. 555.
Ebergerus archiepisco-
Coloniensis immolavit Scottis in ternum —monasterium sancti Martini, in Colonia. " "MonumentaGermaniseHisto- rica," tomus v. , edidit Georgius Heinricus Pertz, p. 555.
''
Handbook for Travellers on the Continent," sect, iv. , Route 36,
p. 251.
14 See " Monumenta Germanise Histc-
Route —
36, p. 251.
pus
sempi-
sect,
Article hi.
13 See Murray's
the historic name Scotia this house and its possessions had
Kelly, p. 2
iv. ,
'
Edited
by
Rev. Dr.
xxix.
See Dr. O' Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters," vol.
