No More Learning

3 gee "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Feb-
by
manuscripts,
Article
—
'^
Thus
^Eneas:
February 2. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. ^47
various sources and authorities. This saint, there can be little doubt, was a native of Ireland ; and the Belgian writers agree on this matter. '* Yet, Dempster,5 with his usual effrontery, tries to make him a Scotchman, and he also assumes Columban was a writer. ^ He says, that this saint always lived in Scotland, and he refers to Molanus,^ who has not a single word of what Dempster pretended to quote from him. ^ So much for the credibility of Dempster's statements. Regarding the family and origin of Columban, we have no authentic accounts. He is supposed to have been an emigrant from Ireland, either about the time when Forannan, with his twelve companions, left it for Belgium ;9 or, subsequently, in the year 946, when it has been
'° Saints Cathroe" and Maccallan" abandoned their native fortheshoresoftheContinent. ^3 Yet,itisthoughttobestillmoreprobable, thatoursainthadbeentheresponsibleleaderofamissionaryband. Colgan remarks, that as the mission of the two saints, already named, took place, about A. D. 946, as our saint was called an abbot, and as he became a recluse A. D. 957, "^ it seems probable, he was rather the leader of a new missionary band, than a member of that circle of disciples, who followed Saints Cathroe and Macallan. Columban is related to have fled away from worldly honours. ^s Neither does Colgan conceive it probable, that our saint re- mained as a private individual, under the rule of those holy men, for eleven intervening years, during which Macallan and Cathroe successively ruled
supposed,
island,
ruarii ii. Among the Proetermissi et in
alios dies rejecti, p. 269. In tomus ii. , Februarii xv. , there are four short paragraphs
referring to this saint, pp. 847, 848.
4 By them he is called abbas Hibernicus^ without telling us whether in Ireland or else- where ; but Menard understood that appel- that he had been an abbot
shut up in a cell, for two years, at Ghent, where he died. Nor is there any authority for the statement, that he composed a book of pious sentences. Again, the year of his death, or that of his entire seclusion, is not uncertain ; for, many authors agree, he be- came a recluse A. D. 957, and died A. D.
lation as — meaning
In fine, on what authority, but his own,
hold our saint was venerated on the 13th of February, when so many re- spectable writers agree in stating, that St. Columbanus became a recluse, on the 2nd day of that month, his natalis occurring on
the 15 th of February ?
9 See the Acts of St. Forannan, at the
30th of April.
'°
By Colgan.
" The Acts of St. Cathroe or Cadroe oc-
cur, at the 6th of March.
" The Life of St. Maccallan is at given,
the 2 1 St of January.
'3 Colgan endeavours to show, that their
mission took place during the year named in his Acts of both these saints, and in his notes there, to Lives published, at the 21st of January, and at the 6th of March. See
Dr.
5 In his " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. ii. , sect. 28. By Dempster, our saint is made a Benedictine
abbot, and he is distinguished from others
bearing the same name and previously no- ticed.
* We are told, that St. Columban wrote a book of Pious Sentences in verse, and that
he was called a
of his silence and rules.
in Ireland. "
History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xxiii. , sect, iv. , n. 21, p. 404.
Lanigan's
Ecclesiastical
Dempster
recluse, owing
7 Dempster expressly alludes to John Mo-
lanus,
"
In Natalibus Sanctorum Belgii. "
We are also told, that the date for St. Co-
lumban's feast was the 13th of February,
although the year of his death is uncertain.
Molanus mentions Columban at the 2nd of
February.
^
In pointing out these errors, Colgan re- marks, in the first place, Molanus has none of those statements for which he is cited as authority, except that he says, Columbanus was an abbot and a recluse. Again, our saint could not have always lived in Scotia, as he died at Ghent. Nor does any other writer say that he was from Scotia Minor or
Alba. Neither was he called a recluse, on account of the rigorous silence and disci- pline he observed ; but, because he remained
their respective Lives, in Hibernian," xxi. Januarii.
"
Acta Sanctorum
Vita S. Malcal-
"
959. does
to the
rigour
lani, and n. 4, pp. 152, 153. Also, ii. Fe-
bruarii. Vita S. Columbani, cap. ii. , and n. 2, pp. 238, 239. Also, vi. Martii, Vita B. Cadroe, Abb. , Valciodorensis, nn. 59 and 61, pp. 503, 504.
"
densium," lib. iv. This he found in an old
^* According to Sanders,
Reruni Gan-
manuscript, belonging to the monastery of St. Bavo, at Ghent.
**
''S See the Bollandists'
rum," tomus ii. , Februarii xv. , p. 847.
Acta Sancto^
248 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [February 2.
^^
Columban was an abbot, either before leaving Ireland, or after his arrival on the Continent ; however, having resigned that dignity, the holy man shut himself up as a recluse, in a cemetery,"? attached to a monastery at Ghent,"^ on the 2nd of February, a. d. 95 7. '9 He lived here, exercising most austere penance, for the short space of two years, in
this city. =^° His death took place, on the 15th day of February, a. d. 959,=^^ according to Sanders. =^=^ He was buried in the Blessed Virgin's crypt, before the altar of St. Andrew,=3 at Ghent f^ and, his tomb was a little retired from the entrance, under a stone arch. The name of this saint was invoked as a confessor, but not as a bishop, amongst other patrons of Belgium, in litanies,=s which were recited, during times of public necessity or calamity. '^ It ap- pears not possible to state more particulars regarding this saint ; for, his Acts haveeitherperished,orhavenotbeenpublished. ^'? Besidessomefewnotices, recorded of Columban, and drawn from Belgian authors cited by him,^^ Colgan found other writers, relating matters respecting our saint, which were
over Wasor Monastery.
"^ See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernioe," ii.
Februarii, n. 3, p. 239.
^^ Such is a statement made by Balduin
Willot. ^^
XV. De S. Columbano Abbate, incluso
Gandavi in Flandria, sect. 3, p. 847.
^^ " The constitution of the city was very
free. It was a little republic in all but
Ghent was, in all respects," says John name. Its population was divided into
"
tant cities of Europe. . . . The activity
one of the most impor- —and wealth of its burghers were proverbial. "
fifty-two guilds of manufacturers and into thirty-twotribesofweavers; eachfraternity
electing annually or biennially its own deans
and subordinate officers. The which senate,
exercised functions legislative, judicial, and administrative, subject of course to the grand council of Mechlin and to the sovereign au- thority, consisted of twenty-six members.
These were appointed partly from the upper class, or the men who lived upon their
Lothrop Motley,
John Lothrop Motley's Dutch Republic," vol. i.
Rise of the Historical Intro-
duction, sect, xi. , p. 59.
^5 Colgan cites for proof of this statement,
Sanders, " De Rebus Gandanensibus," lib.
"
gium Benedictinum," lib. ii. , and Molanus,
'*
iv. , cap. 4. Hugo Menard,
Martyrolo-
*'
In Natalibus Sanctorum Belgii," ex chro-
nicis Gandensis Monasterii. See **Acta
Sanctorum Hibemise," ii. Februarii. Vita were chosen by a college of eight electors,
S. Columbani, cap. ii. , iii. , pp. 238, 239. who were appointed by the sovereign on ^^ "The origin of Ghent is ascribed by nomination by the citizens. The whole city
tradition to the Vandals, who in their irrup- tion into Belgium in the fifth century built a fort, named from them Vanda, which name was afterwards changed to Ganda, or Gan- davum Castrum. "—"The English Cyclo- paedia. " Geography, vol. iii. , col. 20.
in its collective capacity, constituted one of the four estates (Membra) of the province of
Flanders,"— John Lothrop Motley's "Rise of the Dutch Republic," vol. i. Historical
Introduction, sect, xi,, pp. 60, 61.
=^s Inaprocessionalaccommodatedtothe Roman Rite, and compiled by direction of gan, in corroboration of this statement. See Matthias Hove, Archbishop of Mechlin,
=' The previous authors are cited by Col-
ibid. , cap. iv. , p. 239.
" For this statement, he quotes the St.
Bavo Manuscript. Rosweyd and Mudsard in the Flemish work, the Ecclesiastical An-
nals of Belgium, Molanus, and other writers, inform us that St. Columban died on the fifteenth kalends of March or on the 1 5th of February. This is found in manuscripts of a place, which, in English, has for its mean- ing the Red Valley.
this Major Litany was prescribed to be sung on Rogation Monday.
"3 "In Bel- Rayssius, Hierogazophilacio
"7 In the anonymous Catalogue of Irish Saints, published by O'Sullivan Beare, at the 3rd of February, we find entered, " Re- clusio Columbani. " See "Historic Ca- tholics IberniiE tomus
gico," alludes to this saint, when treating about the Cathedral Church of St. Bavo at Ghent. However,thissaintwasnotanin- clusus nor buried in either or
Compendium," lib, iv. , cap. xi. , p. 49.
i. ,
" Fasti
there, crypt cemetery, but in a spot consecrated in his day to St. Bavo, and where afterwards a tower had been built. See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Februarii
Ant. in " Sanderus,
means, partly from the manufacturers in general, and partly from the weavers. They
^^
The foregoing work was recommended,
in an epistle appended, for use in the Bel-
gian churches, and it was printed at Ant-
" Plantinianis anno CIOIDCII. " werp, typis
'^'^
Among these are, Miraeus, in
"
Vita Hiltrudis," Hagiologio Flandriae," Augustine Wiemans in "Brabantia Mariana,"
lib. iii. , cap. 52, Vernulaeus " De Propa- ganda Fide in Belgio per Hibemos," cap. iii. , &c.
Belgici et Burgundici," in
February 2. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 249
conformable neither to truth nor to credibility. ^9 Like the Apostle St. Paul,
this holy man gloried in the testimony of a good conscience, living in sim- plicityofheartandinthegraceofGod. 3° Hepassedawayfromtheworld, for which he felt no attachment, to enjoy the happiness of eternal life.
Article II. —St. Jollathan, of the Desert. It does not seem to have been found, at what particular time this saint flourished.
Jollathan, or lUadhon, of the Desert, is recorded in the Martyrologies of Tallagh^ and of Donegal,^' on the present day. The place, with which he was connected, was afterwards known, it is said, as Desert-Iolladain, or Disert Dillon,3—in the barony of Salt, and county of Kildare. ^ Here, an ancient cemetery
Castle Dillon Graveyard, County Kildare.
now almost disused—is yet to be seen and enclosed with a fence rail-work, in an open field. s Castledillon graveyard^ lies south of the road, which skirts the beautiful demesne of Straffan, in a picturesque situation, and near the
=9 Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibemise," ii. Februarii. Vica S. Columbani, cap. v. ,
p. 239. Inn. 16, p. 239, Colganadds, Sander in his writers of Flanders states, that this
^ Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
36, 37-
3 This name seems to have been changed
into Castledillon, a small parish, having only anareaofii33acres. Seeitsextentdefined, on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps
saint wrote an epistle to Hunaldus, but by
Sirmund, Pithseus, Binius and others, this
epistle is attributed to St. Columbanus of for the County of Kildare. " Sheets lo, ii,
*'
Luxeu. Camerarius says of our saint,
19 Februarii S. Columbanus Abbas re-
clusus ; alii ejus diem festum ponunt 13.
Februarii ; de eo Molanus & alii. " But,
neither Molanus, nor any other writer, treats
ofoursaint,ateitherofthosedays,see"De anoriginalsketch,takenonthescene,by
die
Statu Hominis, Veteris simul ac novas Ec- clesise," &c. , lib. i,, pars ii. , cap. iii.
14, 15.
4 William M. Hennessy's identification.
3° — ii. Cor. i. , 12.
it is shown
land, and on the "Ordnance
Article ii. edition,p. xiv.
*
See Rev. Dr. Kelly's
Townland Kildare. " Sheet14.
5 The accompanying engraving of this spot, by George A. Hanlon, and drawn on the wood, by William F. Wakeman, is from
Mr. John O'C. Robinson.
^
It lies within Upper Castledillon Town-
Survey
Maps for the County of
2^0 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February
southern bank of the River Liffey. Here, probably, stood the former paro- chial church of Castledillon parish, in the barony of South Salt, in the county of Kildare.
Article III. — St. Erlulph, Bishop of Verden and Martyr, in Saxony.
[Ninth Century? ^ This holy missionary and martyr proved himself to have been themostunselfishofmen. HisfirstthoughtwasforGodandforthedutiesof his sacred office, his second was ever an offering at the shrine of friendship towards his fellow-man ; but, of himself, his own ease, his own interest, or his own pleasure, he seemed to take no account. His life and career, however, are little known. At the 2nd of February,^ the Bollandists have a short notice of this saint, in two paragraphs. ^ These are included in a history of several martyrs. Other accounts, given of him, are rather obscure ; and, theyarehardlywellsupported,byancientdocuments. St. Erlulphisclassed among our Irish saints,3 by Father John Colgan. 4 The place of his birth and his descent cannot now be recovered ; nor, is it an easy task, to recon- cile the varied statements regarding him, with exact chronological dates. The few facts of his history preserved are derived from ancient popular tra- ditions. In imitation of so many other apostolic labourers, Erkilph, a holy Scot, went towards Saxony. s He followed in the footsteps of Irish and English missionaries, who had already sowed the seeds of God's word, among a Pagan people. *^ Ties of blood and of sympathy, as well as religious zeal, urged the Anglo-Saxon preachers to spread the Faith, where might also be sought the cradle of their race ; the Irish ecclesiastics, who went thither, were destined, perhaps, to encounter even more prejudice and hostiUty, before obtaining at the hands of heathens their glorious crowns of martyrdom.
The origin of the Saxons is involved in much obscurity. 7 The Scythian Getae are said to have given rise to the Goths, in Europe. Their language was Celtic in its roots. ^ The Goths passed from Sweden into Germany. The Saxons are thought to have been a tribe among those people, and they are known to have been worshippers of idols. 9 Their superstitions had,
Article hi. —' By Dempster, his feast has been assigned to the 22nd of January. See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scoto- rum," tomus i. , lib. v. , sect. 447, p. 244. See an account of St. Erlulph in a work of
Mone's " Geschichte des Heidenthums im nordlichen Europa," published in two 8vo
vols. , 1822-23; as also Jacob Grimm's "Deutsche Mythologie," the second en-
larged edition, published at Gottingen, 1844.
^ Their origin and history are examined with great ability and research in Albert ruarii ii. De Sanctis Martyribus Ebbeck- Krantz's learned work, "Saxonia. " De
"
In Catalogo Episcoporum
Demochares,
Verdensium," lib. De Sacrificio Missae.
'See"ActaSanctorum,"tomusi. , Feb-
esdorphiensibus, &c. There is a historic
commentary of six sections relating to them, pp. 309 to 316. Old edition.
3 That our saint was a Scot, and an Irish Scot, seems probable ; because, at, or after, the time of Charlemagne, many Irishmen went over to the Continent.
*• "
See Acta Sanctorum Hibemise," Feb-
ruarii ii. De S. Erlulpho Episcopo Ver-
densi et Martyre, pp. 240, 241.
5 The position of ancient Saxony is defined
Saxonicae gentis origine, longinquis expedi- tionibus susceptis, et bellis domi pro liber-
tatediufortiterquegestis. SeePraefatio,pp. I to 4. The folio edition of this work used is that of D. Nicolas Cisner, published at Francfort-on-the-Maine, a. d. 1580; and pro- fessing to be more accurately and carefully edited than a former one.
^ This is shown by the learned Dr. Hicks, who has published the English Saxon, Mae- sogothic, and other grammars, and who was
so distinguished as a philologist.
» See Albert Krantz, "Ecclesiastica His-
toria, sive Metropolis," lib. i. , p. I. In this work, he treats about the origin of the Christian religion in Saxony, and about its bishops, their lives, morals, learning and
"
Antiquitates," cap. xii. , pp. 209, 210.
^
Regarding their ancient modes of wor- ship and belief, much interesting information will be found, in Gbrres' "Mythengeschichte
"
der alten Welt, published, in 1810 ; F. J.
by Ussher in
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
February 2. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 251
likewise,agreataffinitywiththoseofthenorthernEuropeannations. They were a warlike and a nomadic race. It is thought probable, the Saxons had colonized the eastern shores of England, long before the time generally as- sumed for their advent. '° They were hardy, brave and adventurous. But, especially the early Saxons, had an inveterate hatred for the principles and laws of Christianity. " Yet, before its dawn upon the world, those ferocious barbarians seem to have been unrecognised, as a distinct power. In the graphic page of Tacitus, we have probably the most reliable—yet still imper- fect—description of the condition and manners of the ancient Germans. '^ However, he has omitted all mention of the Saxons ; and, the geographer, Ptolomy,isthefirstknownwriter,whotreatsaboutthem. Apeople,called Saxones, before a. d. 141, inhabited a territory, at the north side of the Elbe, on the neck of the Cimbric Chersonesus, and three small islands,^3 at the mouth of that river. ^-^ But, they were of no great importance, in the time of Ptolemy ; for, in that peninsula noted, and now divided into Jutland, Sles- wick and Holstein, besides the Saxons, and the remnants of the Cimbri, no fewer than six other nations were stationed. ^s After the lapse of some cen- turies,theSaxonsbecameformidableamongtheirneighbours. TheVandals gave place to them, in the north of Germany. '^ The celebrated Charle- magne,'7 towards the close of the eighth century, having waged war against the Saxons, obtained several signal victories over them. Being finally sub- dued, with their king and leader Wedekind, the Christian faith was intro- duced into Saxony, by that great and zealous emperor, about the year 780. ^^ At that time, when Charlemagne subdued the Saxons,^9 he founded new bishoprics at Minden and Verden. *° Several pious and zealous Scottish or Irish missionaries passed into the northern parts of Germany, to sow there the seeds of Divine Faith. Some of these had undoubtedly preceded Er- lulph," and had evangelized the Saxons, before his arrival. They had then
actions. Likewise he reviews the deeds of various nations, their kings and princes, re- ferring the reader frequently to passages in his other works.
forty-eighth of his reign. See L. P- An-
See Albert Krantz,
" See John Mitchell Kemble's "Saxons i. , cap. i, 2, 3, pp. 3 to 5. Charlemagne in England," vol. i. , book i. , chap, i. , p. is said, by Camerarius, to have entered into li_ a treaty with Achaius, King of the Scots, to
"See M. Capefigue, "Charlemagne," procure missionaries for the Saxons ; and, tome i. , chap, ii. , p. 40. following the example of many among his
'=* See "De Situ, Moribus et Populis countrymen, Erlulph left Scotia, to labour
Germanise Libellus. " C. Cornelii Taciti '*
Opera.
^3 Ptolomy calls them, ^albvtjiv vrjaoi
TOEtg.
^4 See the Map of the Territory, inhabited
among them. See " De Statu Hominis, Veteris simul ac novae Ecclesiae, et Sanctis Regni Scotias," lib. i. , pars 11. , cap. 111. , sect. 2, p. 147-
^sSee ii>td. , book ii. , chap, i. , pp. 87, gg
^6 See Albert Krantz's " Wandalia. " De
Wandalorum vera origine, variis gentibus,
crebris e patria migrationibus, regnis item,
quorum vel autores vel eversores fuerunt.
Prsefacio pp. 3, 4. This folio work was Minden. There is another Verden in Ba-
published at Francfort-on-the-Maine, A. d.
1580.
'7 This great emperor died a. d. 814, in
the
varia, on the Danube, between Ingoldstadt and Ulm. There is a third Verden, in Westphalia, at the River Ruhe.
seventy-second year
of his age and in the
=' Krante says, that he was either a Scot
"
Race dite des Carlovingiens, p. 65.
quetil's
Histoire de France. " Deuxieme
'^
"
Metropolis," lib.
. ,,,, ,^^ '9 Their province extended along the
shores of the Baltic Sea, and it was situated to the first volume of Sharon in the more northern part of Germany. Its
by the Ancient Saxons north of the Elbe,
prefixed
Turner's " History of the Anglo-Saxons. " Fourth edition : London, 1823, 8vo.
position in reference to the adjoining dis- tricts is shown on Wilkinsons V^tlas Classica. " Map 52. The Empire of Char- lemagne, A. D. D. ccc.
'° These cities were situated on or near the River Weser. Verden is built near the confluence of the Aller River with the Weser. It is situated between Bremen and
2! 52 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February 2.