Samsonis
Epis-
copi.
copi.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v7
1
are
Bucelin quotes this writer, for his allusion to the Blessed Marianus. He seems not to have been different from that Blessed Marianus Scotus or St. Muiredhac Mac Roburtach, the Benedictine Abbot of Ratisbon, in Bavaria, and whose Acts have at the
appeared
of 2 The Bollandists February.
9th
have notices of the Blessed Marianus at the 27th of July, —and stating, that he
was a distinct personage from Marianus Chronographus 3
otherwise known
About him, we have already treated, at the 30th of
as Marianus Scotus. 4
January. s The present Marianus Beatus is said to have died a. d. 1070 f but, it seems more probable, that he lived to a later period, and that he died a. d. 1088. 7
"
£JAitnc1iiu Semeoin mAiiAig
OAtriorxSiMAn •ooucAlmxvm l-acefa-o fUiAig inniAin
1n ^ncuAig arvo AT>b<Ml.
tomus ii. , p. 117.
The bed-death of Simeon the monk: a great sun was he to the earth : with the passion of a —loveable host in Antioch high (and) vast. " "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series,
PP- 35°» 35 l - — Article xii.
•
See "Bavaria Sancta,"
:
"Semeoin,
the Benedictine Annals have been brought down to a. d. 1116, yet there does not appear to have been any mention
in that work of this holy man.
7 According to Rader's "Bavaria Sancta,"
tomus ii. , p. 117.
On the Calendar of Oengus,
vol. i. , part i. p. cxii.
a T—hus
est. " Ibid. , p. exxi.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts,
*
3 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 351.
4 He was born A. D. 1028, and he died at Mayence, A. D. 1086. See Michaud's " Bio- graphie Universelle Ancienne et Moderne," tome xxvi. , pp. 576, 577.
s See the First Volume of this work, at that date, Art. xi.
in antiochia 6
passus Although
2
at that date, Art. i.
See the Second Volume of this work,
4o4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 28.
Ctoentg*etff6tB Sag of 3ulj>.
ARTICLE I. —ST. SAMSON OR SAMPSON, BISHOP OF DOL, OR DOLA, IN ARMORICA, FRANCE.
{FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—SOURCES FOR ST. SAMSON'S BIOGRAPHY—HIS PARENTAGE AND BIRTH —HIS EARLY TRAINING—HE STUDIES AT THE SCHOOL OF ST. ILTUT—HIS LIFE WHILE THERE—HE IS ORDAINED DEACON AND AFTERWARDS HE IS RAISED TO THE PRIESTHOOD—HIS MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION FROM A MALICIOUS ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE—HIS FASTS AND AUSTERITIES.
OUR
Island justly classes among her saints many holy men, who were not born within her when their education had been
shores, religious
received in our country. We have good reason for adopting them, as their
residence here and their culture reflect credit and character on the places where they dwelt. Nearly all hagiographers have treated in some shape or manner about St. Samson, who was greatly celebrated among the Celtic races. Some writers have pretended, indeed, that there were two British saints bearingthisname,andwhosucceededeachotherintheSeeofDole. Ithas been asserted, likewise, that the former had been Archbishop of York, while the latter had ruled over the See of Menevia. These assertions, however, have
1
no sufficient grounds to support them.
by most modern critics as untenable, and as not deserving the attention of those engaged in the study of ecclesiastical history.
The most ancient Life of this holy man was one written at the request of
a certain named 2 The author is supposed to have Bishop, Tigerinomalus.
been a Gallicanmonk, and who lived in a generation immediately succeeding that of the saint. There are reasonable grounds for supposing this narrative
to contain authentic facts j although undoubtedly they are mingled with a mass of traditional fictions. 3 From the statements found in it, we are left to infer, that this biography had been written at the beginning of the seventh century, and within a few years of Samson's death, embodying too an older
Article 1. —J See Bishop Challenor's " Britannia Sancta," part ii. , pp. 43, 44.
2
It has been thought, by Mabillon, that he differed not from Tirnomalus, whom St. Paul after Jehovius had placed in the See of Laon, not as his successor, but rather as his coadjutor, and which may be seen in Vita S. Pauli, cap. xvii.
3 " I wish it to be understood," he says,
had founded beyond the sea (*. <? . , in Britain), living a Catholic and religious life, in times most approximate to those of the Saint, and which his mother had transmitted to her uncle, named Henoch, being himself a cousin of St. Samson, and a deacon. . . . That no doubt may be thrown upon the veracity of my words, I call Christ, the Saviour of us all, to witness that 1 have not under-
in the
" that these words are not
taken to hand down brief narrative to thisvery
preface,
put together thoughtlessly and rashly, or
from confused and unauthorized rumours, but
that they consist of information which I de-
rived from a certain religious and venerable
man, who resided for about eighty years
in a monastery which St. Samson himself monastery, written in a true and Catholic
Therefore, they have been rejected
posterity from any fallible or uncertain con- jecture of its truth, but from the statements
of most holy and thoroughly competent men, and also from most accurate and elabo- rate documents, which I found in the same
July 28. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 40$
document, drawn up by a kinsman and fellow-labourer of the saint. How- ever, those fictions it contains do not invalidate the genuine basis of the nar- rative. They are probably additions of a later age ; for, if one may judge from the smooth and flowing style in which they are written, those narratives could not have proceeded from the same unskilled hand, which penned the rugged Latin of the Preface and some historical parts of the biography. As the Gallican monk adopted and expanded the document which he found in
his monastery, so, in a subsequent generation, we may suppose some hagiolo- gist clothed the rude work of the old monk with such traditional or fictitious matter, as should give it a place among the current literature of the middle ages. In the Life before us, we may probably regard the supernatural stories as a mere excrescence, or as resembling those fanciful pictures which illustrate many a modern book, without detracting from the veracity of its genuine narrative/ Another Life of St. Samson had been written by his successor in the See of Dol, named Balderic, and who lived in the twelfth century. s A Life has also been published by Du Bosc. 6
From very early times, the Acts of St. Sampson appear to have been extensively circulated, since many copies yet remain, among various Manuscript collections,? in the different public libraries. Besides those copies preserved in Oxford and in the British Museum, others are to be found in Paris, Rome, as also, in several of the Continental libraries. There are different versions,
moreover, as we can glean from the headings and endings printed. a Vita Antiqua Sancti Samsonis Dolensi Episcopi lately published.
There is
8
Among those writers who have compiled Lives of St. Samson, the follow- ing is an imperfect list, so many have treated in church history as in hagic-
graphy regarding him. We may instance, however, John Capgrave,9 Arch-
10
bishopUssher, Boscius,Vincentius,Alford,
12 and Lobineau. '3 the old Gallican writer.
Father 1 * has Mabillon,
given
his
Acts,
as
spirit, by the above-mentioned deacon. "
4 See the Rev. John Adams' " Life of St.
Samson. "
5 A copy of this is in the National Library,
Paris, and classed Bibl. du Roi. 5350. No. 417. It is stated by Oudinus that Mabillon has printed it. See vol. i. , p. 1068. How- ever, that statement is erroneous. It has also been asserted, by Lelong, that it has been printed by Michel Cosnier, in the " Gesta Pontificum Dolensium. " Thisasser- tion is contradicted by the editor of his work in a note.
6 Biblioth. Floriac, 464-484.
i The following copies exist and may be
here enumerated Vita S. Samsonis,
: Epis-
copi Dolensis, in Armorica, auctore anony-
mo. This has been printed in Mabillon, and
by the Bollandists. De Sancto Sampsone
Episcopo et Confessore, MS. Cott. Tiber.
E. Ff. 210. b-212. veil, folio. Vita S. i. ,
Sampsonis MS. Bodl. Tanner, 15. Ff. 494 b- 497. Vita S. Samsonis. MS. Hengurt. 83. Vita S. Samsonis, Confessoris. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 3789, 35. veil. xii. cent, olim Col- bert. Vita S. Samsonis, Episcopi. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5280. 69. veil. xiii. cent, olim Bigot. Vita S. Samsonis Episcopi. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5296. 59. veil. xiii. cent, olim Colbert. Vita S. Samsonis Episcopi. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5323. 73. veil. xiii. cent, olim Bigot.
Vita S. Samsonis. MS. Coll. Jesu Oxon cxii. paper fol. xvii. cent. Sancti Samsonis
Episcopi et Confessoris, auctore anonymo.
MS. Floriacensis. Vita S.
Samsonis Epis-
copi. MS. Reginse Christinoe, Roma? , 465.
Vita S. Samsonis, auctore Baldrico, Dolen. -i
Episcopo. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5350. veil. xiv.
cent. Vita S. Samsonis, Confessoris. MS
Regina Christina. 479. Ff. 9. 24. veil. 4to.
x. cent. Vita S. Samsonis Episcopi et Con-
fessoris. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5565. 8 veil. xii.
cent, olim Putean. See Sir Thomas Duffus
Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of Mate- rials relating to the History of Great Britain
and Ireland," vol. i. , part i. , pp. 141 to 144. 8 See " Analecta Bollandiana," tomus vi. ,
pp. 78 to 150.
9 See "Nova Legenda Anglia? ," fol.
cclxxvi. ,cclxxvii. , cclxxviii. , for quinto Kal.
Augusti.
I0 See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates," cap. xiv. , pp. 274 to 278.
" In his learned work. "Fides Regia Bri- tannica, sive Annales Ecclesiae Biitannicse,"
&c, tomus ii.
I2 See " Church History of Brittany,"
book xi. , chap. xxviii. ,pp. 252, 253.
I3 See " Les Saints de Bretagne," vol. i. ,
pp. 202 to 239, A. D. 565, at July 28th.
I4 See " Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Bene-
dicti," tomus i. , ssec. i. , p. 165.
11 Dean compiled by
Cressy,
A o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 2$.
The Bollandists *s have republished the old Acts of St. Samson from the text of Mabillon, but in a corrected form. These Acts have been edited by Father John Baptist Soller. There is a previous Commentary, in three sec- tions, containing twenty-eight paragraphs. The ancient Life commences with a preface addressed to Bishop Tigerinomal, in four paragraphs, while the Life itself is in six chapters and sixty-one paragraphs. Then follows a second
Book, relating several miracles, and comprised in sixteen paragraphs. After- wards, we have extracts from an old Missal and having reference to the Mass for his festival. An Appendix is then given, which conveys imformation regarding the relics of St. Samson. Several notes are interspersed in his
6
Acts, by the learned editor. In the works of Baillet,'
is noted. The
has an account of him.
Also,
Baring-Gould,
''
See " Britannia
Sancta," part ii. , pp. 41
Emyr
18
of Bishop Challenor,^ and of other hagiographers, the Life of St. Samson
of Rev. Alban Butler,
21 his Acts are to be found. The Rev. John Adams, M. A. , Vicar of Stockross, Berks, hasalsowrittenaLifeofSt. Samson. 22 Theforegoinglistofhisbiographers might easily be extended. Indeed, a host of pious writers, have specially
treated concerning this primitive and apostolic bishop.
From those respective treatises, and from other historic sources, the follow-
ing account is chiefly drawn. The parents of St. Samson were nobly descended. These were called Amon or Amwn Dhu,23 his father, and Anna,2* his mother. His father is thought to have been a petty prince in Armorica, or perhapshewasonlyasontooneoftheArmoricanchiefs. Itisstated,that
2
he crossed over to Wales, where he married Anna. s In Wales, likewise, he
appears
a younger brother, named Umbrafel, and Anna had a younger sister, named Afrella, who were also married, and by desire of virtuous parents. That couple had three sons. For a considerable time, however, Amnion and Anna were childless j but, they were addicted to the devout exercises of fast-
ing and of alms-giving. At length, it pleased the Almighty to bestow on them one of the Christian family's greatest treasures, the birth of an infant, destined at a future time to become a great light in the Church. The writer of St. Samson's Life relates, that while the pious couple were attending to their devotions on a certain festival, they heard about a holy prophet, who lived in a distant northern country, and who was able to predict what should happen to those consulting hip. Accordingly, with many other persons in company, Amnion and Anna went to that prophet, and before they had time
to explain their reasons for their coming, he was able to signify that he alreadyknewwhatmostconcernedthem. Thenherecommendedthemto
of Liber Landavensis T 9 in Les Petits Bollandistes,20 and in Rev. S.
compiler
to have settled. A curious account is left us,26 that Amnion had
15 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. ,
Julii xxviii. Dc S. Samsone Episcopo Conf.
Dolae in Britannia Armorica, pp. 568 to
593.
16 See Les Vies des Saints,' tome ii. , at
2I "
See Lives of the Saints,'' vol. vii. , pp.
602 to 609.
" This appeared in a series, intituled, Chronicles of Cornish Saints, No. iv. S.
Samson, published in the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, 1869, No. x.
*3 He is said to have been son of
"
28th of July, pp. 399 to 405.
:
to 44.
>ee "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and
other principal Saints," vol. vii. , July 28th. In the "Lives of the Irish Saints," com- piled by the Cistercian Monk, the same no-
lices occur. See pp. 145, 146.
See Les£Vies des Saints," &c, tome In the Bollandist Life of St. Samson. XI. , xxviiie Jour de Juillet, pp. 80 to 90. lib. i. , cap. i. , sect. i.
'9 See lib. viii. , cap. xxv.
" -6
Llydaw.
2* She is said to have been daughter of
Meurigap Tewdrig, Prince of Glamorgan. *s The published Life of our saint, by the Bollandists, states that she belonged to a province, noted as Dementia, but corrected
to Deventia.
July 28. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 407'
present a bar of silver, as a thank-offering, and he assured them, that their earnest desires should be gratified. It is said, that Amwn presented most cheerfully even three bars of silver, as on offering to the church. This gift he trusted should prove acceptable to the Almighty ; and indeed, the wishes of the devoted husband and wife were graciously accomplished. They rested for that night in the hospice, attached to the prophet's dwelling; and,
fatigued with their long journey, both husband and wife slept soundly. How- ever, the Almighty sent an Angel to Anna, and she heard announced to her in a dream, that a child should be born, that he should prove to be seven times more precious than the bars of silvergiven for him, that he should become a great saint and a priest, while he was to be named Samson. On awaking, Anna relatedthisvisiontoherhusband. Theyweremutuallyrejoiced,andafter- wards on taking leave of their host, the latter assured them, he had a revela- tion regarding their future son's sanctity, and that he should be venerated as one of the greatest men among the Britons. St. Samson is said to have first seen the
about a. d.
* 8
Ushered into the
with such
and
light,
in the 2? year 480,
while, according
to other it was accounts,
490.
world,
promises
expecta-
tions, he was baptized as had been directed by the Angel. The early records
ofWales29 makeSt. SamsonthebrotherofSt. Tathai,3°anIrishman. It
seems very probable, that there must be a mistake, on this head, since the
statement occurs not in our saint's early Lives. St. Sampson is said to have
been a native of 1 in ancient
2 a southern or western
Demetia,3
province of Wales. The people of that country rejoiced at his birth among
them. From his very infancy, Anna took care to train her child in every good practice, and especially was she careful to guard him from any com-
pany or conversation, that might tend to pollute his mind. She recited many edifying passages of holy Scripture for him, and she taught him to read and writewholesomemaximsforhisspiritualimprovement. Attheearlyageof five, Samson expressed an earnest wish to retire from worldly pursuits, and to study in the school of Christ. His father, urged by some of his friends and evil councillors, wished Samson to pursue a worldly career; while his mother desired him to follow God's holy will. 33 This difference of aim caused some
discussion between them, until at length, Ammon was warned in a vision, no
longer to dispute the Divine will in his son's regard. Whereupon, all objec- tions ceased on his part, and yielding to the pious wishes of Anna, both resolved on placing their child under the care of a holy master, who should prepare him for the ecclesiastical state.
At seven years of age, and after a previous direction in the pursuit of good- ness, his parents deemed it advisable to have him receive instruction in that famous school, established by St. Iltut,3* also called Eltutus 35 and Hildutus.
Glamorganshire^
2J See Les Petits Bollandistes' " Vies des
Saints," tome ix. , xxviiie Jour de Juillet, p. 81.
32 Called Dimetia, by Mabillon. The Bol- landists add a note "Difed hodiea Britannis vocitatur, mutato M in F pro lingua: idio-
28 "
See Bishop Challenor's Brittannia tismo. "
Sancta," part ii. , p. 41.
29 Such as the Book of Llandaff and other
authorities.
30
See Rees' "Lives ofthe Cambro-British Saints," p. 591.
31 His native district bordered on that of the Wenetes, who inhabited Guent, as called by the ancient Britons, now Monmouth-
"
33 See Right Rev. Patrick F. Moran's " Early Irish Missions," No.
are
Bucelin quotes this writer, for his allusion to the Blessed Marianus. He seems not to have been different from that Blessed Marianus Scotus or St. Muiredhac Mac Roburtach, the Benedictine Abbot of Ratisbon, in Bavaria, and whose Acts have at the
appeared
of 2 The Bollandists February.
9th
have notices of the Blessed Marianus at the 27th of July, —and stating, that he
was a distinct personage from Marianus Chronographus 3
otherwise known
About him, we have already treated, at the 30th of
as Marianus Scotus. 4
January. s The present Marianus Beatus is said to have died a. d. 1070 f but, it seems more probable, that he lived to a later period, and that he died a. d. 1088. 7
"
£JAitnc1iiu Semeoin mAiiAig
OAtriorxSiMAn •ooucAlmxvm l-acefa-o fUiAig inniAin
1n ^ncuAig arvo AT>b<Ml.
tomus ii. , p. 117.
The bed-death of Simeon the monk: a great sun was he to the earth : with the passion of a —loveable host in Antioch high (and) vast. " "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series,
PP- 35°» 35 l - — Article xii.
•
See "Bavaria Sancta,"
:
"Semeoin,
the Benedictine Annals have been brought down to a. d. 1116, yet there does not appear to have been any mention
in that work of this holy man.
7 According to Rader's "Bavaria Sancta,"
tomus ii. , p. 117.
On the Calendar of Oengus,
vol. i. , part i. p. cxii.
a T—hus
est. " Ibid. , p. exxi.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts,
*
3 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 351.
4 He was born A. D. 1028, and he died at Mayence, A. D. 1086. See Michaud's " Bio- graphie Universelle Ancienne et Moderne," tome xxvi. , pp. 576, 577.
s See the First Volume of this work, at that date, Art. xi.
in antiochia 6
passus Although
2
at that date, Art. i.
See the Second Volume of this work,
4o4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 28.
Ctoentg*etff6tB Sag of 3ulj>.
ARTICLE I. —ST. SAMSON OR SAMPSON, BISHOP OF DOL, OR DOLA, IN ARMORICA, FRANCE.
{FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—SOURCES FOR ST. SAMSON'S BIOGRAPHY—HIS PARENTAGE AND BIRTH —HIS EARLY TRAINING—HE STUDIES AT THE SCHOOL OF ST. ILTUT—HIS LIFE WHILE THERE—HE IS ORDAINED DEACON AND AFTERWARDS HE IS RAISED TO THE PRIESTHOOD—HIS MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION FROM A MALICIOUS ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE—HIS FASTS AND AUSTERITIES.
OUR
Island justly classes among her saints many holy men, who were not born within her when their education had been
shores, religious
received in our country. We have good reason for adopting them, as their
residence here and their culture reflect credit and character on the places where they dwelt. Nearly all hagiographers have treated in some shape or manner about St. Samson, who was greatly celebrated among the Celtic races. Some writers have pretended, indeed, that there were two British saints bearingthisname,andwhosucceededeachotherintheSeeofDole. Ithas been asserted, likewise, that the former had been Archbishop of York, while the latter had ruled over the See of Menevia. These assertions, however, have
1
no sufficient grounds to support them.
by most modern critics as untenable, and as not deserving the attention of those engaged in the study of ecclesiastical history.
The most ancient Life of this holy man was one written at the request of
a certain named 2 The author is supposed to have Bishop, Tigerinomalus.
been a Gallicanmonk, and who lived in a generation immediately succeeding that of the saint. There are reasonable grounds for supposing this narrative
to contain authentic facts j although undoubtedly they are mingled with a mass of traditional fictions. 3 From the statements found in it, we are left to infer, that this biography had been written at the beginning of the seventh century, and within a few years of Samson's death, embodying too an older
Article 1. —J See Bishop Challenor's " Britannia Sancta," part ii. , pp. 43, 44.
2
It has been thought, by Mabillon, that he differed not from Tirnomalus, whom St. Paul after Jehovius had placed in the See of Laon, not as his successor, but rather as his coadjutor, and which may be seen in Vita S. Pauli, cap. xvii.
3 " I wish it to be understood," he says,
had founded beyond the sea (*. <? . , in Britain), living a Catholic and religious life, in times most approximate to those of the Saint, and which his mother had transmitted to her uncle, named Henoch, being himself a cousin of St. Samson, and a deacon. . . . That no doubt may be thrown upon the veracity of my words, I call Christ, the Saviour of us all, to witness that 1 have not under-
in the
" that these words are not
taken to hand down brief narrative to thisvery
preface,
put together thoughtlessly and rashly, or
from confused and unauthorized rumours, but
that they consist of information which I de-
rived from a certain religious and venerable
man, who resided for about eighty years
in a monastery which St. Samson himself monastery, written in a true and Catholic
Therefore, they have been rejected
posterity from any fallible or uncertain con- jecture of its truth, but from the statements
of most holy and thoroughly competent men, and also from most accurate and elabo- rate documents, which I found in the same
July 28. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 40$
document, drawn up by a kinsman and fellow-labourer of the saint. How- ever, those fictions it contains do not invalidate the genuine basis of the nar- rative. They are probably additions of a later age ; for, if one may judge from the smooth and flowing style in which they are written, those narratives could not have proceeded from the same unskilled hand, which penned the rugged Latin of the Preface and some historical parts of the biography. As the Gallican monk adopted and expanded the document which he found in
his monastery, so, in a subsequent generation, we may suppose some hagiolo- gist clothed the rude work of the old monk with such traditional or fictitious matter, as should give it a place among the current literature of the middle ages. In the Life before us, we may probably regard the supernatural stories as a mere excrescence, or as resembling those fanciful pictures which illustrate many a modern book, without detracting from the veracity of its genuine narrative/ Another Life of St. Samson had been written by his successor in the See of Dol, named Balderic, and who lived in the twelfth century. s A Life has also been published by Du Bosc. 6
From very early times, the Acts of St. Sampson appear to have been extensively circulated, since many copies yet remain, among various Manuscript collections,? in the different public libraries. Besides those copies preserved in Oxford and in the British Museum, others are to be found in Paris, Rome, as also, in several of the Continental libraries. There are different versions,
moreover, as we can glean from the headings and endings printed. a Vita Antiqua Sancti Samsonis Dolensi Episcopi lately published.
There is
8
Among those writers who have compiled Lives of St. Samson, the follow- ing is an imperfect list, so many have treated in church history as in hagic-
graphy regarding him. We may instance, however, John Capgrave,9 Arch-
10
bishopUssher, Boscius,Vincentius,Alford,
12 and Lobineau. '3 the old Gallican writer.
Father 1 * has Mabillon,
given
his
Acts,
as
spirit, by the above-mentioned deacon. "
4 See the Rev. John Adams' " Life of St.
Samson. "
5 A copy of this is in the National Library,
Paris, and classed Bibl. du Roi. 5350. No. 417. It is stated by Oudinus that Mabillon has printed it. See vol. i. , p. 1068. How- ever, that statement is erroneous. It has also been asserted, by Lelong, that it has been printed by Michel Cosnier, in the " Gesta Pontificum Dolensium. " Thisasser- tion is contradicted by the editor of his work in a note.
6 Biblioth. Floriac, 464-484.
i The following copies exist and may be
here enumerated Vita S. Samsonis,
: Epis-
copi Dolensis, in Armorica, auctore anony-
mo. This has been printed in Mabillon, and
by the Bollandists. De Sancto Sampsone
Episcopo et Confessore, MS. Cott. Tiber.
E. Ff. 210. b-212. veil, folio. Vita S. i. ,
Sampsonis MS. Bodl. Tanner, 15. Ff. 494 b- 497. Vita S. Samsonis. MS. Hengurt. 83. Vita S. Samsonis, Confessoris. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 3789, 35. veil. xii. cent, olim Col- bert. Vita S. Samsonis, Episcopi. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5280. 69. veil. xiii. cent, olim Bigot. Vita S. Samsonis Episcopi. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5296. 59. veil. xiii. cent, olim Colbert. Vita S. Samsonis Episcopi. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5323. 73. veil. xiii. cent, olim Bigot.
Vita S. Samsonis. MS. Coll. Jesu Oxon cxii. paper fol. xvii. cent. Sancti Samsonis
Episcopi et Confessoris, auctore anonymo.
MS. Floriacensis. Vita S.
Samsonis Epis-
copi. MS. Reginse Christinoe, Roma? , 465.
Vita S. Samsonis, auctore Baldrico, Dolen. -i
Episcopo. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5350. veil. xiv.
cent. Vita S. Samsonis, Confessoris. MS
Regina Christina. 479. Ff. 9. 24. veil. 4to.
x. cent. Vita S. Samsonis Episcopi et Con-
fessoris. MS. Bibl. du Roi. 5565. 8 veil. xii.
cent, olim Putean. See Sir Thomas Duffus
Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of Mate- rials relating to the History of Great Britain
and Ireland," vol. i. , part i. , pp. 141 to 144. 8 See " Analecta Bollandiana," tomus vi. ,
pp. 78 to 150.
9 See "Nova Legenda Anglia? ," fol.
cclxxvi. ,cclxxvii. , cclxxviii. , for quinto Kal.
Augusti.
I0 See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates," cap. xiv. , pp. 274 to 278.
" In his learned work. "Fides Regia Bri- tannica, sive Annales Ecclesiae Biitannicse,"
&c, tomus ii.
I2 See " Church History of Brittany,"
book xi. , chap. xxviii. ,pp. 252, 253.
I3 See " Les Saints de Bretagne," vol. i. ,
pp. 202 to 239, A. D. 565, at July 28th.
I4 See " Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Bene-
dicti," tomus i. , ssec. i. , p. 165.
11 Dean compiled by
Cressy,
A o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 2$.
The Bollandists *s have republished the old Acts of St. Samson from the text of Mabillon, but in a corrected form. These Acts have been edited by Father John Baptist Soller. There is a previous Commentary, in three sec- tions, containing twenty-eight paragraphs. The ancient Life commences with a preface addressed to Bishop Tigerinomal, in four paragraphs, while the Life itself is in six chapters and sixty-one paragraphs. Then follows a second
Book, relating several miracles, and comprised in sixteen paragraphs. After- wards, we have extracts from an old Missal and having reference to the Mass for his festival. An Appendix is then given, which conveys imformation regarding the relics of St. Samson. Several notes are interspersed in his
6
Acts, by the learned editor. In the works of Baillet,'
is noted. The
has an account of him.
Also,
Baring-Gould,
''
See " Britannia
Sancta," part ii. , pp. 41
Emyr
18
of Bishop Challenor,^ and of other hagiographers, the Life of St. Samson
of Rev. Alban Butler,
21 his Acts are to be found. The Rev. John Adams, M. A. , Vicar of Stockross, Berks, hasalsowrittenaLifeofSt. Samson. 22 Theforegoinglistofhisbiographers might easily be extended. Indeed, a host of pious writers, have specially
treated concerning this primitive and apostolic bishop.
From those respective treatises, and from other historic sources, the follow-
ing account is chiefly drawn. The parents of St. Samson were nobly descended. These were called Amon or Amwn Dhu,23 his father, and Anna,2* his mother. His father is thought to have been a petty prince in Armorica, or perhapshewasonlyasontooneoftheArmoricanchiefs. Itisstated,that
2
he crossed over to Wales, where he married Anna. s In Wales, likewise, he
appears
a younger brother, named Umbrafel, and Anna had a younger sister, named Afrella, who were also married, and by desire of virtuous parents. That couple had three sons. For a considerable time, however, Amnion and Anna were childless j but, they were addicted to the devout exercises of fast-
ing and of alms-giving. At length, it pleased the Almighty to bestow on them one of the Christian family's greatest treasures, the birth of an infant, destined at a future time to become a great light in the Church. The writer of St. Samson's Life relates, that while the pious couple were attending to their devotions on a certain festival, they heard about a holy prophet, who lived in a distant northern country, and who was able to predict what should happen to those consulting hip. Accordingly, with many other persons in company, Amnion and Anna went to that prophet, and before they had time
to explain their reasons for their coming, he was able to signify that he alreadyknewwhatmostconcernedthem. Thenherecommendedthemto
of Liber Landavensis T 9 in Les Petits Bollandistes,20 and in Rev. S.
compiler
to have settled. A curious account is left us,26 that Amnion had
15 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. ,
Julii xxviii. Dc S. Samsone Episcopo Conf.
Dolae in Britannia Armorica, pp. 568 to
593.
16 See Les Vies des Saints,' tome ii. , at
2I "
See Lives of the Saints,'' vol. vii. , pp.
602 to 609.
" This appeared in a series, intituled, Chronicles of Cornish Saints, No. iv. S.
Samson, published in the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, 1869, No. x.
*3 He is said to have been son of
"
28th of July, pp. 399 to 405.
:
to 44.
>ee "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and
other principal Saints," vol. vii. , July 28th. In the "Lives of the Irish Saints," com- piled by the Cistercian Monk, the same no-
lices occur. See pp. 145, 146.
See Les£Vies des Saints," &c, tome In the Bollandist Life of St. Samson. XI. , xxviiie Jour de Juillet, pp. 80 to 90. lib. i. , cap. i. , sect. i.
'9 See lib. viii. , cap. xxv.
" -6
Llydaw.
2* She is said to have been daughter of
Meurigap Tewdrig, Prince of Glamorgan. *s The published Life of our saint, by the Bollandists, states that she belonged to a province, noted as Dementia, but corrected
to Deventia.
July 28. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 407'
present a bar of silver, as a thank-offering, and he assured them, that their earnest desires should be gratified. It is said, that Amwn presented most cheerfully even three bars of silver, as on offering to the church. This gift he trusted should prove acceptable to the Almighty ; and indeed, the wishes of the devoted husband and wife were graciously accomplished. They rested for that night in the hospice, attached to the prophet's dwelling; and,
fatigued with their long journey, both husband and wife slept soundly. How- ever, the Almighty sent an Angel to Anna, and she heard announced to her in a dream, that a child should be born, that he should prove to be seven times more precious than the bars of silvergiven for him, that he should become a great saint and a priest, while he was to be named Samson. On awaking, Anna relatedthisvisiontoherhusband. Theyweremutuallyrejoiced,andafter- wards on taking leave of their host, the latter assured them, he had a revela- tion regarding their future son's sanctity, and that he should be venerated as one of the greatest men among the Britons. St. Samson is said to have first seen the
about a. d.
* 8
Ushered into the
with such
and
light,
in the 2? year 480,
while, according
to other it was accounts,
490.
world,
promises
expecta-
tions, he was baptized as had been directed by the Angel. The early records
ofWales29 makeSt. SamsonthebrotherofSt. Tathai,3°anIrishman. It
seems very probable, that there must be a mistake, on this head, since the
statement occurs not in our saint's early Lives. St. Sampson is said to have
been a native of 1 in ancient
2 a southern or western
Demetia,3
province of Wales. The people of that country rejoiced at his birth among
them. From his very infancy, Anna took care to train her child in every good practice, and especially was she careful to guard him from any com-
pany or conversation, that might tend to pollute his mind. She recited many edifying passages of holy Scripture for him, and she taught him to read and writewholesomemaximsforhisspiritualimprovement. Attheearlyageof five, Samson expressed an earnest wish to retire from worldly pursuits, and to study in the school of Christ. His father, urged by some of his friends and evil councillors, wished Samson to pursue a worldly career; while his mother desired him to follow God's holy will. 33 This difference of aim caused some
discussion between them, until at length, Ammon was warned in a vision, no
longer to dispute the Divine will in his son's regard. Whereupon, all objec- tions ceased on his part, and yielding to the pious wishes of Anna, both resolved on placing their child under the care of a holy master, who should prepare him for the ecclesiastical state.
At seven years of age, and after a previous direction in the pursuit of good- ness, his parents deemed it advisable to have him receive instruction in that famous school, established by St. Iltut,3* also called Eltutus 35 and Hildutus.
Glamorganshire^
2J See Les Petits Bollandistes' " Vies des
Saints," tome ix. , xxviiie Jour de Juillet, p. 81.
32 Called Dimetia, by Mabillon. The Bol- landists add a note "Difed hodiea Britannis vocitatur, mutato M in F pro lingua: idio-
28 "
See Bishop Challenor's Brittannia tismo. "
Sancta," part ii. , p. 41.
29 Such as the Book of Llandaff and other
authorities.
30
See Rees' "Lives ofthe Cambro-British Saints," p. 591.
31 His native district bordered on that of the Wenetes, who inhabited Guent, as called by the ancient Britons, now Monmouth-
"
33 See Right Rev. Patrick F. Moran's " Early Irish Missions," No.
