Aidan succeeded in establishing
Christianity
throughout the whole of Northumberland ; although, doubtless, in his time, many of its inhabitants were not entirely reclaimed from their errors ot paganism.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
51
Henry Morley's
English Writers,"
of
became bishop of Lindsey.
69 He was educated by the Scots, and most
probably in Lindisfarne.
7° See Venerable Bede's " Historia Eccle-
March, the date for his festival, in the Third
Volume of this work, Art. i.
62
See his Acts, on the day of his festival, siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap.
January 7th, in the First Volume of this work, Art. i.
xxvii. , xxix.
71 Afterwards, he became bishop of Lindis-
farne, succeeding St. Colman. See Vener-
able Bede's " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. xxvi.
73 It is probable, these were designed for
the priesthood.
63
cluded a Lenten fast commenced by his brother Cedd, Bishop of the East Saxons, before the monastery of Lestignau was built. There, too, the religious customs of Lindis-
Venerable Bede states, that he con-
bishop
Wilfrid^
held,
29th
July.
on the
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 485
fourteen, and while St. Aidan himself was living, to receive his early instruc- tion. There, too, he remained as a student for some years,? * before he went to Rome, whence he afterwards returned, and succeeded in changing the Scottish usages of Lindisfarne for the Roman discipline and observance. 75
St. Aidan made preparation to commence his mission, by engaging the services of many monks and priests. These Scottish missionaries chiefly arrived from Ireland, as seems probable, and formed his staff of auxiliaries. ? 6 With great zeal and earnestness, they preached truths of Divine faith to the subjects of King Oswald. Their gentleness, their humility and simplicity, their diligent study of Scripture, their freedom from all selfishness and avarice, their honest boldness in dealing with the great, their tenderness and charity towards the poor, as also their strict and self-denying lives, are especially commended. ? ? By some writers, they have been styled Culdees, or Servants of God, which is only a generic designation for a term applied to Monks, Servi Dei, in the Latin Church, as Antilles Dei had been reserved for nuns. ? 8 It is stated, by the learned Dr. Reeves, that to Pope Gregory the Great may be referred the introduction of such meaning and expression into Ireland, which created the Celtic compound of C£le-D£, that possessed all the latitude of its model. In the lapse of ages, it underwent all the modifications or limitations of meaning, which the changes of time and circumstances, or local usages, produced in the class to whom the epithet had referenced All of those writers,80 who have studied these subjects impartially, speak of the illustrious missionaries, who preached to the Anglo- Saxons during the seventh century, under the general denominatton of Irish. Wherefore, when treating on this subject of ecclesiastical history, the Abbe Fleury takes care to make the Scots mentioned as being. . identical with the Irish. 81 After their early impress on the religion of Northumbria had been in a great measure obliterated in that Saxon province, the Colidei were con- nected with its churches ; while in Wales, likewise, the Ccelibes or Colidei,
82
are mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis, as existing there late in the twelfth
century.
83 The British in the time of St. Aidan, were not Scots,
sufficiently
73 His feast occurs on the 1 2th of October.
74 See Vita S. Wilfridi Episcopi Ebora-
censis, auctore Eddio Stephano, cap. ii. , iii. Thomas Gale's " Historian Britannicse, Sax-
onicse, Anglo- Danicse, Scriptores xv. ," vol. i. , p. 41.
life. Thenceforward, the terms were ad- mitted into the familiar language of the Church ; and, we observe it in this limita- tion of sense, running through the works of the Latin Fathers, the Acts of Councils, and the biographies of saints.
? 9 See the Rev. Dr. William Reeves, " The Culdees of the British Islands, as they appear inHistory: withanAppendixofEvidences,"
75 See Les Petits Bollandistes, " Vies des
Saints," tome xii. , xii
e
d'Octobre,
jour
p. 296.
? 6 Bede writes :" Exin coepere plures per part i. , sect, i. , pp. I, 2, and Evidences,
dies de Scotorum regione venire Britanniam
A. Servus Dei, &c, pp. 64, 65.
8l
atque illis Anglorum provinciis, quibus reg-
navit rex Oswaldus, magna devotione ver-
bum fidei prsedicare et credentibus gratiam
baptismi, quicunque sacerdotali erant gradu missioners, il envoya aux anciens des prsediti, ministrare. * * * Nammonachi Eccossois, cet a dire, des Irlandois, ch—ez
erant maxime, qui ad predicandum venerant. " —" Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglo-
rum," lib. iii. , cap. iii.
77 See Rev. James Craigie Robertson's
" History of the Christian Church from the election of Pope Gregory the Great to the Concordat of Worms," a. d. 590-1122, vol. ii. , book i. , chap, iii. , p. 63.
78 Thus, in the writings of St. Augustine, the expressions in the text are frequently used, and applied to those leading a Monastic
8o
Ussher, Sir James Ware, &c.
Such as William Camden, Archbishop
Writing about Oswald's desire to have "
avoit recu
" Histoire Ecclesiastique," tome viii. , liv.
See Itinerarium Cambriae," lib. ii. , cap. 6, p. 824. See "Opera," vol. vi. , edited by James F. Dimock, M. A.
83 On this whole subject, the writer is indebted for enlightenment to the learned and lamented historian of the Culdees. We are greatly pleased to know, that his friend, Lady Ferguson, has written an interesting
lesquels il
xxxviii. , sect, xviii. , p. 345. 8z "
le bapteme," &c.
486 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 3 i.
settledtocultivatesacredorotherstudies. Theyreceivedtheirchiefclericsand
teachers either from Hy or from the Columbian monasteries of Ireland. 8* As
those preachers came over from the land of the Scots to England, it is plain that
they arrived there from Ireland,8* for the land of the British Scots was itself
in Britain. 86 There is no ancient authority for styling St. Aidan's monks at
Lindisfarne Culdees, as the term has had a great diversity in its application,
during the range of time in which it is on record : sometimes it was borne by
hermits, sometimes by conventuals ; in one situation it implies the condition
ofcelibacy,inanotherit isunderstoodofmarriedmen;insomeinstances
it denotes regulars, in others seculars ; some bearing the name were bound
by obligations of poverty, while others were free to accumulate property ; at
one period, it was held high in honour as implying self-denial, at another it
was regarded with contempt as a designation for the loose and worldly-
minded. Some,whowouldcontendfortheuniformityofanorderhaving
the name Celi-d^ endeavour to reconcile those incompatibilities by supposing
the existence of two classes in the order, the one of stricter, and the other
of laxer discipline. However, this expedient is unsupported by any record
Antiquaries
On this question of the Irish Culdees,
8? A
deal of
ignorance
has been writers displayed by many
great
authority of Rev. Dr. Reeves, that only one solitary passage in the page of
8
history records the existence of Culdees in that Island. ? Without a precise
knowledge, and with a direct misrepresentation, of what is here treated about, a certain write—r states, that those assistants who arrived daily from Ireland were Culdees and he absurdly imagines these to have been an order of monks, who existed there, nearly a hundred years before the mission of St. Patrick, and independent of the See of Rome,9° However, one who has thoroughly examined this subject, and who has investigated it so learnedly and impartially, states, that the earliest instance in which he has observed the
1
adoption of the Latin term, Servus Dei? by an Irish writer, is in Tirechan's
Memoirs of St. 2 written in the half of the In Patrick,? early eighth century.
" 8<s"
Life of the Right Rev. William Reeves, See Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
D. D. , Lord Bishop of Down, Connor, and vol. ii. , chap, xv. , sect, xii. , n. 103, p, 421. Dromore, President of the Royal Irish 87 See Rev. Dr. William Reeves' "The Academy ; LL. D. of the Universities of Culdees of the British Islands, as they Dublin and Edinburgh, Honoris Causa ;
Hon. Member of the Zurich Society of
Hon. Member of the Society
of Antiquaries, Scotland, M. B. ; Hon. the Rev. Edward Ledwich treats at some
authority.
regarding the Culdees,88 who are supposed to have been brought by St. Aidan into Lindisfarne from Iona. Now, it appears, from the unquestioned
;
Fellow, Royal College of Physicians, Ire- land," Dublin, 1893, 8vo.
84 The Rev. Dr. Lanigan remarks : "Mr. Lingard would have done well in his short sketch of the proceedings of those mission- aries, to have explained what he meant by the name of Scottish monks, as he usually calls them, ex. c. ch. i. and iv. He should have let the reader know, that those Scots or Scot- tish monks, so often mentioned by Bede, were the Irish Scots. "—" Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xvi. , sect. xii. ,n. 101, p. 420.
length, and quite unrestrained by any cor- rect knowledge of the subject, in his so- called "Antiquities of Ireland," pp. 102 to 120.
** See " The Culdees of the British Islands, as they appear in History : with an Appendix of Evidences," Preface, p. v.
*> For this absurd statement, the authority of O'Connor is given, but without any reference to his identity or work. See the Very Rev. Dr. Richard Murray's " Outlines of the History of the Catholic Church in Ireland," chap, ii. , pp. 32, 43, London, 1840, i2mo.
85
ofAedancame out of Ireland. See "His-
torical Accounts of Church Government,"
chap, v. , sect. 5. Thus, also, Fleury calls
them "missionaries Irelandois. "—•' His- Dei, socius Patricii. Book of Armagh, fol. toire Ecclesiastique," tome viii. , liv. nba.
xxxviii. , sect, xix. , p. 347. * In another part of this ancient and
Thus, Lloyd states, that these auxiliaries
appear in History : with an Appendix of
Evidences," part i. , sect, i. , pp. 2, 3. 88
»» When the bishop, from whom Killes-
pugbrone, in the County of Sligo, derives its name is called Bronus, filius lent, servus
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 487
after times, the word Cele is of frequent recurrence in the earliest Irish manuscripts, and it is used to designate the words socius and maritus, where these occur. 93 The cognate Welsh word cilid, the Cornish gele, and the Breton §7'/<f, are only found in the secondary pronominal use of alius, alter, and the adverbial of seorsum. ^ From Ireland, the term Culdee had been imported to Scotland, and later still to England.
. During St. Aidan's missionary career, it is stated, that the good King Oswald, who understood Irish very wellss, often acted for his chiefs and
6 before the latter had a acquired
servants as to the interpreter
Bishop,*
sufficient knowledge of the British or Saxon language. " Their united
exertions were attended with marked success. *
8
After many apostolic labours,
St.
Aidan succeeded in establishing Christianity throughout the whole of Northumberland ; although, doubtless, in his time, many of its inhabitants were not entirely reclaimed from their errors ot paganism.
CHAPTER III.
MISSIONARY QUALIFICATIONS OF ST. AIDAN—HE IS CHARGED WITH THE ADMINISTRA- TION OF YORK DIOCESE, DURING THE ABSENCE OF ST. PAULINUS—ST. AIDAN'S VIRTUES AND MANNER OF LIVING—HIS RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT FORMED AT LINDISFARNE ON THE IRISH MODEL—FEMALE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS IN NORTHUMBRIA.
The Angles of Northumbria were still mostly pagan, when St. Aidan
came amongst them * but as their Apostle, God gave him very great graces,
and blessed his labours with admirable fruits. 2 He afforded most examples of abstinence and purity to the clergy, over whom he was placed. Suchpracticalobservanceshadtheirusualeffect,byinducingall underhis rule, to conform themselves to his saintly example. Above all things, he loved and sought not human considerations, or things of this world.
valuable compilation, there is an example of the Irish term—one of the earliest instances
M. A. , vol. i. , p. 278.
perfect
"
Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen," who had lost his life, Tirechan states, vol. i. , part, i. , Ecclesiastical and Literary
found by Rev. Dr. Reeves. Speaking of a lad
£ot\OT\choti5Aj\c fop CeXe nDe* oia mum- ci]\ . 1. mAlAch Ojucc a chooiufcu, which is'thus rendered into English : "He ordered a c£le-de of his family, namely, Malach the Briton, to restore him to life. "
« As in an Irish Manuscript copy of St.
Priscian, belonging to St. Gall.
** See Rev. Dr. William Reeves, " The
Culdeesofthe British Islands, as they ap-
in with an of pear History: Appendix
Evidences," parti. , sect, i. , ii. , pp. 3, 4, and Evidences, B. , pp. 63, 64.
95 As Bede remarks, "quia nimirum tam
longo exilii sui tempore linguam Scotorum jam plene didicerat. "—" Historia Ecclesi-
astica Gentis Anglorum," lib. Hi. , cap. iii. ,p. 268.
Series, First Period, p. 135.
*• In his own quaint manner, Fuller adds :
"Thus, these two, put together, made a perfect preacher ; and, although some may say, sermons thus at second hand must lose much of their life and lustre, yet the same
spirit working in both, the ordinance a copy of an Irish Manuscript copy of proved effectual to the salvation of many
Paul's Epistles, kept at Wurtzburg ; and in
*' Chronica Majora/' edited by Henry Richards Luard,
2 See Challoner's " Memorial of Bishop
»6 Matthew of See
Paris,
9? See Rev. Wills' James
souls. "—Fuller's " Church - History of Britain, from the Birth of Jesus Christ until the year mdcxlviii. " vol. i. , p. 122.
Chapter hi. —* See "A Catholic Die-
tionary containing some Account of the Doc-
trine, Discipline, Rites, Ceremonies, Councils
and Religious Orders of the Catholic Church,"
by William E. Addis and Thomas Arnold,
M. A. , F. R. U. I. , p. 500. New edition, revised and enlarged with the assistance of the Rev.
T. B. Scannell,B. D. London,1893. 8vo-
British Piety," p. 122
488 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 31,
Although he received many gifts from princes and other powerful patrons, all these were cheerfully given to those poor persons whom he found to be most in need ofthem. 3
The diocese of Lindisfame was of great extent, stretching into Scotland on the north ? and probably, in those early times, when Aidan ruled over it, no well-defined limits had been prescribed. But, another heavy charge en- gaged his care. Under the Northumbrian kings, Christianity had been in- troduced among the pagan inhabitants at first by Paulinus from Kent, and afterwards' more successfully by Aidan from lona. s Driven from his see of York, St. Paulinus was actually Bishop of Eochester, for about two years before Aidan went to Northumberland. 6 He had been Archbishop of York for six years. 7 Then he was obliged to retire into Kent, in order to avoid the fury of a British King named Caedwalla, and Penda, King of the Mercians. In 633, this latter, in the battle at Heathfield, had slain his patron, Edwin, the first Christian King of Northumberland, who had previously
8
exercised a supremacy alike over Teutons and Britons.
to a great extent, during the intestine broils, which troubled that kingdom. When Aidan arrived in Northumberland, he was obliged to supply the wants of the widowed Archdiocese of York, besides providing for those of his new mission. 9
In the Life of St.
Wilfrid,
10 the writer calls Colman
metropolitan bishop
of York n and he would have so ;
styled
his
predecessors,
if occasion
required. " TheArchbishopricofYorkwasplacedundertheruleofAidan x
and his successors, for thirty whole years. 3 It may be, that Oswald was not inclined to invite Paulinus to return and occupy his See of York, as he had been attached to the family of Edwin, x * during whose whole reign,
1
Oswald, his brothers and friends, were obliged to live in exile. * However,
had Paulinus returned to York, we may be sure, that Aedan would have
willingly given up to him the charge of his diocese ; but, as he did not, Aedan was under the necessity of taking it under his care. Whether he had, or not, any such consideration in view, it is easy to account for Aidan having fixed on Lindisfame, it being a much more retired place than York, and
3 See Venerable Bede's "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. ,
Kembleobserves "Soonaftertheintroduc-
carum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. v. , p. 42.
8 See Edward A. Freeman's " of History
v.
4 It is supposed to have reached from the
cap.
River Humber to the Frith. John Mitchell
the Norman Conquest of England," vol. i. , chap, ii. , p. 36.
:
tion of Christianity into Northumberland, it appears indeed to have been customary to
grant much greater privileges and immuni- ties to chnrch-lands than were found ad- visable at a later period, or than seem to
have been —in the
permitted provinces
9 Simeonof Durham, writes: "Rece-
south
of the Humber. " The Saxons in Epistola ad Hug. de Archiepiscopis Ebor.
"
England," vol. i. , book i. , chap, xi. , p.
Twysden's
302.
s See James Guthrie's
"
,0
See Vita S. Wilfridi, cap. x.
" See Thomas Gale's " Historire Britan-
nicte, Saxonicae, Anglo-Danicce, Scriptores
River Tyne: its.
Newcastle-
xx. 7HavingbaotizedEdwin,KingofNorth-
umbria, a. d. 627, the monarch had him es-
tablished over the newly-founded see of xiii. , xiv. , xvii.
York. See Archbishop Ussher's " Britanni- * See ibid. , lib. iii. , cap. i. , pp. 260, 261.
cap.
,3 As stated Simon of Durham. by
and Resources," 6. p.
xv. ," ex Vetustis Codd. MSS.
History
upon-Tyne, 1880, 8vo.
6
See Venerable
Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. ii. ,
editi, p. 55. See Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical His- tory of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap. xv. , sect, xii. ,
n. 107, p. 423.
Bede's "Historia
dente Paulino, Eboracensis ecclesia per
xxx. annos proprium non habuit episcopum ; sed Lindisfarnensis, ecclesiae prsesules, Aidanus, Finanus, Colmannus, et Tuda,
Nordanhimbro—rum provincio administrarunt
" pontificatum. " Scriptoresx. "
*
18
MSee "Historia^Ecclesiastica Genti
Anglorum," lib. ii. , cap. ix. , x. , xi. , xii. ,
Religion suffered
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 489
also better suited for a monastic establishment. Certain ignorant and pre- judiced writers have laboured to prove, that from such circumstances, Aedan's faith was different from that of the other Anglo-Saxon missionaries, who received their credentials direct from the Roman Pontiff. 16 Notorious among those writers is the Irish Anglican Rector of Aghaboe, who states, that one of Aedan's reasons for choosing Lindisfarne for his See was because had he fixed upon York, he would have acquiesced in the decision of the Roman Pontiff, contrary to the system of the Irish hierarchy. For Paulinus, who came from Rome, had been bishop of that city, and thus York was a Roman See. 1 ? To those strictures, the Rev. Dr. Lanigan replies, that a writer of common honesty, if inquiring into the reason for Aedan's not settling at York, which had been abandoned by Paulinus, would have observed, that Aedan perhaps thought it improper to reside there, while Paulinus was still alive, although it may be said, that he need not have had any scruple on that score. 18
The manner of Aidan's living is thus described. If he received any rich per-
sons as his guests, he gave them entertainment, but never money on any account If he received any sums of money from rich men, those were either distributed
immediately among the poor, or employed in purchasing the manumission of persons, who were unjustly enslaved. In fine, many of those, who were thus
hismeans,afterwardsbecameChristians. 1^ Somewereeven raised to the priesthood, after a suitable course of training and instruction. 20 In his time, it was customary with all religious men and women, to prolong their fast to the ninth hour of each day, during the whole year ; with the exception of fifty days after Easter, or during the time of Pentecost. They weremovedtosuchapractice,bytheexampleoftheirBishop. Through
human respect or fear, he never spared the rich or powerful, when they deserved reproof ; but, he often admonished them for their correction, and with severe invectives. When on his missions, he was accustomed to travel on foot through towns and country places, along his route ; and only, when necessity compelled him, would he ride on horseback. Thus engaged, whenever he bSheld any persons, whether rich or poor, he always turned out ofhiswaytoaccostthem; ifhediscoveredthemtobeinfidels,heexhorted them to embrace the faith, and prepare to receive the Sacraments of the Church. Iftheywerebelievers,hesaidafewwordstostrengthenthemin the practice of alms-giving or of other virtuous actions. All who accom- panied him on his travels, whether clerics or laics, he employed in reading
liberated
through
the Holy Scriptures with himself, and in reciting Psalms.
21
By a learned
English Church historian, we are informed, that the Saxon homilies exhort
the people with great earnestness to the frequent perusal of the Scriptures,
and enforce that advice from the great benefit of such an exercise ; that the mindwasrefinedandthepassionswerepurgedbysuchexpedient; thatit was the way, moreover, to refresh our greatest concern on ourselves, as also to make heaven and hell have their due impression. The writer in question
16
However, it is only necessary to state, that the learned Lloyd proves from Bede, and particularly from the circumstance of Aedan's having been held in veneration by Honorius and Felix, that he was in full
vol. ii. , chap, xv. , sect, xiv. , n. 113, p.
425.
I9 See Thomas Fuller's " Church History
of Britain ; from the Birth of Jesus Christ
until the year m. dc. xlviii. ," vol. i. , book
communion with the bishops that came ii. , cent, vii. , p. 203.
Henry Morley's
English Writers,"
of
became bishop of Lindsey.
69 He was educated by the Scots, and most
probably in Lindisfarne.
7° See Venerable Bede's " Historia Eccle-
March, the date for his festival, in the Third
Volume of this work, Art. i.
62
See his Acts, on the day of his festival, siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap.
January 7th, in the First Volume of this work, Art. i.
xxvii. , xxix.
71 Afterwards, he became bishop of Lindis-
farne, succeeding St. Colman. See Vener-
able Bede's " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. xxvi.
73 It is probable, these were designed for
the priesthood.
63
cluded a Lenten fast commenced by his brother Cedd, Bishop of the East Saxons, before the monastery of Lestignau was built. There, too, the religious customs of Lindis-
Venerable Bede states, that he con-
bishop
Wilfrid^
held,
29th
July.
on the
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 485
fourteen, and while St. Aidan himself was living, to receive his early instruc- tion. There, too, he remained as a student for some years,? * before he went to Rome, whence he afterwards returned, and succeeded in changing the Scottish usages of Lindisfarne for the Roman discipline and observance. 75
St. Aidan made preparation to commence his mission, by engaging the services of many monks and priests. These Scottish missionaries chiefly arrived from Ireland, as seems probable, and formed his staff of auxiliaries. ? 6 With great zeal and earnestness, they preached truths of Divine faith to the subjects of King Oswald. Their gentleness, their humility and simplicity, their diligent study of Scripture, their freedom from all selfishness and avarice, their honest boldness in dealing with the great, their tenderness and charity towards the poor, as also their strict and self-denying lives, are especially commended. ? ? By some writers, they have been styled Culdees, or Servants of God, which is only a generic designation for a term applied to Monks, Servi Dei, in the Latin Church, as Antilles Dei had been reserved for nuns. ? 8 It is stated, by the learned Dr. Reeves, that to Pope Gregory the Great may be referred the introduction of such meaning and expression into Ireland, which created the Celtic compound of C£le-D£, that possessed all the latitude of its model. In the lapse of ages, it underwent all the modifications or limitations of meaning, which the changes of time and circumstances, or local usages, produced in the class to whom the epithet had referenced All of those writers,80 who have studied these subjects impartially, speak of the illustrious missionaries, who preached to the Anglo- Saxons during the seventh century, under the general denominatton of Irish. Wherefore, when treating on this subject of ecclesiastical history, the Abbe Fleury takes care to make the Scots mentioned as being. . identical with the Irish. 81 After their early impress on the religion of Northumbria had been in a great measure obliterated in that Saxon province, the Colidei were con- nected with its churches ; while in Wales, likewise, the Ccelibes or Colidei,
82
are mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis, as existing there late in the twelfth
century.
83 The British in the time of St. Aidan, were not Scots,
sufficiently
73 His feast occurs on the 1 2th of October.
74 See Vita S. Wilfridi Episcopi Ebora-
censis, auctore Eddio Stephano, cap. ii. , iii. Thomas Gale's " Historian Britannicse, Sax-
onicse, Anglo- Danicse, Scriptores xv. ," vol. i. , p. 41.
life. Thenceforward, the terms were ad- mitted into the familiar language of the Church ; and, we observe it in this limita- tion of sense, running through the works of the Latin Fathers, the Acts of Councils, and the biographies of saints.
? 9 See the Rev. Dr. William Reeves, " The Culdees of the British Islands, as they appear inHistory: withanAppendixofEvidences,"
75 See Les Petits Bollandistes, " Vies des
Saints," tome xii. , xii
e
d'Octobre,
jour
p. 296.
? 6 Bede writes :" Exin coepere plures per part i. , sect, i. , pp. I, 2, and Evidences,
dies de Scotorum regione venire Britanniam
A. Servus Dei, &c, pp. 64, 65.
8l
atque illis Anglorum provinciis, quibus reg-
navit rex Oswaldus, magna devotione ver-
bum fidei prsedicare et credentibus gratiam
baptismi, quicunque sacerdotali erant gradu missioners, il envoya aux anciens des prsediti, ministrare. * * * Nammonachi Eccossois, cet a dire, des Irlandois, ch—ez
erant maxime, qui ad predicandum venerant. " —" Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglo-
rum," lib. iii. , cap. iii.
77 See Rev. James Craigie Robertson's
" History of the Christian Church from the election of Pope Gregory the Great to the Concordat of Worms," a. d. 590-1122, vol. ii. , book i. , chap, iii. , p. 63.
78 Thus, in the writings of St. Augustine, the expressions in the text are frequently used, and applied to those leading a Monastic
8o
Ussher, Sir James Ware, &c.
Such as William Camden, Archbishop
Writing about Oswald's desire to have "
avoit recu
" Histoire Ecclesiastique," tome viii. , liv.
See Itinerarium Cambriae," lib. ii. , cap. 6, p. 824. See "Opera," vol. vi. , edited by James F. Dimock, M. A.
83 On this whole subject, the writer is indebted for enlightenment to the learned and lamented historian of the Culdees. We are greatly pleased to know, that his friend, Lady Ferguson, has written an interesting
lesquels il
xxxviii. , sect, xviii. , p. 345. 8z "
le bapteme," &c.
486 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 3 i.
settledtocultivatesacredorotherstudies. Theyreceivedtheirchiefclericsand
teachers either from Hy or from the Columbian monasteries of Ireland. 8* As
those preachers came over from the land of the Scots to England, it is plain that
they arrived there from Ireland,8* for the land of the British Scots was itself
in Britain. 86 There is no ancient authority for styling St. Aidan's monks at
Lindisfarne Culdees, as the term has had a great diversity in its application,
during the range of time in which it is on record : sometimes it was borne by
hermits, sometimes by conventuals ; in one situation it implies the condition
ofcelibacy,inanotherit isunderstoodofmarriedmen;insomeinstances
it denotes regulars, in others seculars ; some bearing the name were bound
by obligations of poverty, while others were free to accumulate property ; at
one period, it was held high in honour as implying self-denial, at another it
was regarded with contempt as a designation for the loose and worldly-
minded. Some,whowouldcontendfortheuniformityofanorderhaving
the name Celi-d^ endeavour to reconcile those incompatibilities by supposing
the existence of two classes in the order, the one of stricter, and the other
of laxer discipline. However, this expedient is unsupported by any record
Antiquaries
On this question of the Irish Culdees,
8? A
deal of
ignorance
has been writers displayed by many
great
authority of Rev. Dr. Reeves, that only one solitary passage in the page of
8
history records the existence of Culdees in that Island. ? Without a precise
knowledge, and with a direct misrepresentation, of what is here treated about, a certain write—r states, that those assistants who arrived daily from Ireland were Culdees and he absurdly imagines these to have been an order of monks, who existed there, nearly a hundred years before the mission of St. Patrick, and independent of the See of Rome,9° However, one who has thoroughly examined this subject, and who has investigated it so learnedly and impartially, states, that the earliest instance in which he has observed the
1
adoption of the Latin term, Servus Dei? by an Irish writer, is in Tirechan's
Memoirs of St. 2 written in the half of the In Patrick,? early eighth century.
" 8<s"
Life of the Right Rev. William Reeves, See Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
D. D. , Lord Bishop of Down, Connor, and vol. ii. , chap, xv. , sect, xii. , n. 103, p, 421. Dromore, President of the Royal Irish 87 See Rev. Dr. William Reeves' "The Academy ; LL. D. of the Universities of Culdees of the British Islands, as they Dublin and Edinburgh, Honoris Causa ;
Hon. Member of the Zurich Society of
Hon. Member of the Society
of Antiquaries, Scotland, M. B. ; Hon. the Rev. Edward Ledwich treats at some
authority.
regarding the Culdees,88 who are supposed to have been brought by St. Aidan into Lindisfarne from Iona. Now, it appears, from the unquestioned
;
Fellow, Royal College of Physicians, Ire- land," Dublin, 1893, 8vo.
84 The Rev. Dr. Lanigan remarks : "Mr. Lingard would have done well in his short sketch of the proceedings of those mission- aries, to have explained what he meant by the name of Scottish monks, as he usually calls them, ex. c. ch. i. and iv. He should have let the reader know, that those Scots or Scot- tish monks, so often mentioned by Bede, were the Irish Scots. "—" Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xvi. , sect. xii. ,n. 101, p. 420.
length, and quite unrestrained by any cor- rect knowledge of the subject, in his so- called "Antiquities of Ireland," pp. 102 to 120.
** See " The Culdees of the British Islands, as they appear in History : with an Appendix of Evidences," Preface, p. v.
*> For this absurd statement, the authority of O'Connor is given, but without any reference to his identity or work. See the Very Rev. Dr. Richard Murray's " Outlines of the History of the Catholic Church in Ireland," chap, ii. , pp. 32, 43, London, 1840, i2mo.
85
ofAedancame out of Ireland. See "His-
torical Accounts of Church Government,"
chap, v. , sect. 5. Thus, also, Fleury calls
them "missionaries Irelandois. "—•' His- Dei, socius Patricii. Book of Armagh, fol. toire Ecclesiastique," tome viii. , liv. nba.
xxxviii. , sect, xix. , p. 347. * In another part of this ancient and
Thus, Lloyd states, that these auxiliaries
appear in History : with an Appendix of
Evidences," part i. , sect, i. , pp. 2, 3. 88
»» When the bishop, from whom Killes-
pugbrone, in the County of Sligo, derives its name is called Bronus, filius lent, servus
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 487
after times, the word Cele is of frequent recurrence in the earliest Irish manuscripts, and it is used to designate the words socius and maritus, where these occur. 93 The cognate Welsh word cilid, the Cornish gele, and the Breton §7'/<f, are only found in the secondary pronominal use of alius, alter, and the adverbial of seorsum. ^ From Ireland, the term Culdee had been imported to Scotland, and later still to England.
. During St. Aidan's missionary career, it is stated, that the good King Oswald, who understood Irish very wellss, often acted for his chiefs and
6 before the latter had a acquired
servants as to the interpreter
Bishop,*
sufficient knowledge of the British or Saxon language. " Their united
exertions were attended with marked success. *
8
After many apostolic labours,
St.
Aidan succeeded in establishing Christianity throughout the whole of Northumberland ; although, doubtless, in his time, many of its inhabitants were not entirely reclaimed from their errors ot paganism.
CHAPTER III.
MISSIONARY QUALIFICATIONS OF ST. AIDAN—HE IS CHARGED WITH THE ADMINISTRA- TION OF YORK DIOCESE, DURING THE ABSENCE OF ST. PAULINUS—ST. AIDAN'S VIRTUES AND MANNER OF LIVING—HIS RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT FORMED AT LINDISFARNE ON THE IRISH MODEL—FEMALE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS IN NORTHUMBRIA.
The Angles of Northumbria were still mostly pagan, when St. Aidan
came amongst them * but as their Apostle, God gave him very great graces,
and blessed his labours with admirable fruits. 2 He afforded most examples of abstinence and purity to the clergy, over whom he was placed. Suchpracticalobservanceshadtheirusualeffect,byinducingall underhis rule, to conform themselves to his saintly example. Above all things, he loved and sought not human considerations, or things of this world.
valuable compilation, there is an example of the Irish term—one of the earliest instances
M. A. , vol. i. , p. 278.
perfect
"
Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen," who had lost his life, Tirechan states, vol. i. , part, i. , Ecclesiastical and Literary
found by Rev. Dr. Reeves. Speaking of a lad
£ot\OT\choti5Aj\c fop CeXe nDe* oia mum- ci]\ . 1. mAlAch Ojucc a chooiufcu, which is'thus rendered into English : "He ordered a c£le-de of his family, namely, Malach the Briton, to restore him to life. "
« As in an Irish Manuscript copy of St.
Priscian, belonging to St. Gall.
** See Rev. Dr. William Reeves, " The
Culdeesofthe British Islands, as they ap-
in with an of pear History: Appendix
Evidences," parti. , sect, i. , ii. , pp. 3, 4, and Evidences, B. , pp. 63, 64.
95 As Bede remarks, "quia nimirum tam
longo exilii sui tempore linguam Scotorum jam plene didicerat. "—" Historia Ecclesi-
astica Gentis Anglorum," lib. Hi. , cap. iii. ,p. 268.
Series, First Period, p. 135.
*• In his own quaint manner, Fuller adds :
"Thus, these two, put together, made a perfect preacher ; and, although some may say, sermons thus at second hand must lose much of their life and lustre, yet the same
spirit working in both, the ordinance a copy of an Irish Manuscript copy of proved effectual to the salvation of many
Paul's Epistles, kept at Wurtzburg ; and in
*' Chronica Majora/' edited by Henry Richards Luard,
2 See Challoner's " Memorial of Bishop
»6 Matthew of See
Paris,
9? See Rev. Wills' James
souls. "—Fuller's " Church - History of Britain, from the Birth of Jesus Christ until the year mdcxlviii. " vol. i. , p. 122.
Chapter hi. —* See "A Catholic Die-
tionary containing some Account of the Doc-
trine, Discipline, Rites, Ceremonies, Councils
and Religious Orders of the Catholic Church,"
by William E. Addis and Thomas Arnold,
M. A. , F. R. U. I. , p. 500. New edition, revised and enlarged with the assistance of the Rev.
T. B. Scannell,B. D. London,1893. 8vo-
British Piety," p. 122
488 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 31,
Although he received many gifts from princes and other powerful patrons, all these were cheerfully given to those poor persons whom he found to be most in need ofthem. 3
The diocese of Lindisfame was of great extent, stretching into Scotland on the north ? and probably, in those early times, when Aidan ruled over it, no well-defined limits had been prescribed. But, another heavy charge en- gaged his care. Under the Northumbrian kings, Christianity had been in- troduced among the pagan inhabitants at first by Paulinus from Kent, and afterwards' more successfully by Aidan from lona. s Driven from his see of York, St. Paulinus was actually Bishop of Eochester, for about two years before Aidan went to Northumberland. 6 He had been Archbishop of York for six years. 7 Then he was obliged to retire into Kent, in order to avoid the fury of a British King named Caedwalla, and Penda, King of the Mercians. In 633, this latter, in the battle at Heathfield, had slain his patron, Edwin, the first Christian King of Northumberland, who had previously
8
exercised a supremacy alike over Teutons and Britons.
to a great extent, during the intestine broils, which troubled that kingdom. When Aidan arrived in Northumberland, he was obliged to supply the wants of the widowed Archdiocese of York, besides providing for those of his new mission. 9
In the Life of St.
Wilfrid,
10 the writer calls Colman
metropolitan bishop
of York n and he would have so ;
styled
his
predecessors,
if occasion
required. " TheArchbishopricofYorkwasplacedundertheruleofAidan x
and his successors, for thirty whole years. 3 It may be, that Oswald was not inclined to invite Paulinus to return and occupy his See of York, as he had been attached to the family of Edwin, x * during whose whole reign,
1
Oswald, his brothers and friends, were obliged to live in exile. * However,
had Paulinus returned to York, we may be sure, that Aedan would have
willingly given up to him the charge of his diocese ; but, as he did not, Aedan was under the necessity of taking it under his care. Whether he had, or not, any such consideration in view, it is easy to account for Aidan having fixed on Lindisfame, it being a much more retired place than York, and
3 See Venerable Bede's "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. ,
Kembleobserves "Soonaftertheintroduc-
carum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. v. , p. 42.
8 See Edward A. Freeman's " of History
v.
4 It is supposed to have reached from the
cap.
River Humber to the Frith. John Mitchell
the Norman Conquest of England," vol. i. , chap, ii. , p. 36.
:
tion of Christianity into Northumberland, it appears indeed to have been customary to
grant much greater privileges and immuni- ties to chnrch-lands than were found ad- visable at a later period, or than seem to
have been —in the
permitted provinces
9 Simeonof Durham, writes: "Rece-
south
of the Humber. " The Saxons in Epistola ad Hug. de Archiepiscopis Ebor.
"
England," vol. i. , book i. , chap, xi. , p.
Twysden's
302.
s See James Guthrie's
"
,0
See Vita S. Wilfridi, cap. x.
" See Thomas Gale's " Historire Britan-
nicte, Saxonicae, Anglo-Danicce, Scriptores
River Tyne: its.
Newcastle-
xx. 7HavingbaotizedEdwin,KingofNorth-
umbria, a. d. 627, the monarch had him es-
tablished over the newly-founded see of xiii. , xiv. , xvii.
York. See Archbishop Ussher's " Britanni- * See ibid. , lib. iii. , cap. i. , pp. 260, 261.
cap.
,3 As stated Simon of Durham. by
and Resources," 6. p.
xv. ," ex Vetustis Codd. MSS.
History
upon-Tyne, 1880, 8vo.
6
See Venerable
Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. ii. ,
editi, p. 55. See Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical His- tory of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap. xv. , sect, xii. ,
n. 107, p. 423.
Bede's "Historia
dente Paulino, Eboracensis ecclesia per
xxx. annos proprium non habuit episcopum ; sed Lindisfarnensis, ecclesiae prsesules, Aidanus, Finanus, Colmannus, et Tuda,
Nordanhimbro—rum provincio administrarunt
" pontificatum. " Scriptoresx. "
*
18
MSee "Historia^Ecclesiastica Genti
Anglorum," lib. ii. , cap. ix. , x. , xi. , xii. ,
Religion suffered
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 489
also better suited for a monastic establishment. Certain ignorant and pre- judiced writers have laboured to prove, that from such circumstances, Aedan's faith was different from that of the other Anglo-Saxon missionaries, who received their credentials direct from the Roman Pontiff. 16 Notorious among those writers is the Irish Anglican Rector of Aghaboe, who states, that one of Aedan's reasons for choosing Lindisfarne for his See was because had he fixed upon York, he would have acquiesced in the decision of the Roman Pontiff, contrary to the system of the Irish hierarchy. For Paulinus, who came from Rome, had been bishop of that city, and thus York was a Roman See. 1 ? To those strictures, the Rev. Dr. Lanigan replies, that a writer of common honesty, if inquiring into the reason for Aedan's not settling at York, which had been abandoned by Paulinus, would have observed, that Aedan perhaps thought it improper to reside there, while Paulinus was still alive, although it may be said, that he need not have had any scruple on that score. 18
The manner of Aidan's living is thus described. If he received any rich per-
sons as his guests, he gave them entertainment, but never money on any account If he received any sums of money from rich men, those were either distributed
immediately among the poor, or employed in purchasing the manumission of persons, who were unjustly enslaved. In fine, many of those, who were thus
hismeans,afterwardsbecameChristians. 1^ Somewereeven raised to the priesthood, after a suitable course of training and instruction. 20 In his time, it was customary with all religious men and women, to prolong their fast to the ninth hour of each day, during the whole year ; with the exception of fifty days after Easter, or during the time of Pentecost. They weremovedtosuchapractice,bytheexampleoftheirBishop. Through
human respect or fear, he never spared the rich or powerful, when they deserved reproof ; but, he often admonished them for their correction, and with severe invectives. When on his missions, he was accustomed to travel on foot through towns and country places, along his route ; and only, when necessity compelled him, would he ride on horseback. Thus engaged, whenever he bSheld any persons, whether rich or poor, he always turned out ofhiswaytoaccostthem; ifhediscoveredthemtobeinfidels,heexhorted them to embrace the faith, and prepare to receive the Sacraments of the Church. Iftheywerebelievers,hesaidafewwordstostrengthenthemin the practice of alms-giving or of other virtuous actions. All who accom- panied him on his travels, whether clerics or laics, he employed in reading
liberated
through
the Holy Scriptures with himself, and in reciting Psalms.
21
By a learned
English Church historian, we are informed, that the Saxon homilies exhort
the people with great earnestness to the frequent perusal of the Scriptures,
and enforce that advice from the great benefit of such an exercise ; that the mindwasrefinedandthepassionswerepurgedbysuchexpedient; thatit was the way, moreover, to refresh our greatest concern on ourselves, as also to make heaven and hell have their due impression. The writer in question
16
However, it is only necessary to state, that the learned Lloyd proves from Bede, and particularly from the circumstance of Aedan's having been held in veneration by Honorius and Felix, that he was in full
vol. ii. , chap, xv. , sect, xiv. , n. 113, p.
425.
I9 See Thomas Fuller's " Church History
of Britain ; from the Birth of Jesus Christ
until the year m. dc. xlviii. ," vol. i. , book
communion with the bishops that came ii. , cent, vii. , p. 203.
