No More Learning

—"Acta Sanctorum Hibernioe," Martii xviii. Vita S. Fridiani. Appendix, cap. iii. , p. 646.
47 See Bishop Challenor's "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , September 10, p. 126.
48 st. Comgall of Bangor survived to about the year 602. See Rev. Dr. Reeves'
:
Lagenii sub patrocinio Brigidse nomine rum," tomus ii. , Maii x. Vita S. Comgalli,
famosse :
cap. ii. ,
num.
27, 28, p. 585.
of Down/6 He
*6 see Dr.
tory of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, x. , sect, vi. , and n. 90, pp. 26, 28.
Lanigan's
" Adamnan's Life of St. Columba," lib.
i. ,
cap. 49, n. (e), p. 93.
49 See the Bollaudists' " Acta Sancto-
" Ecclesiastical His-
262 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [Septemberio.
Confessor. 5° The Annals of Innisfallen refer his death to the year 572 51 ;
and at that date, we find such an entry, as Quies Finniae Moigebile," in the
2
Codex Bodleianus,s yet not in the Codex Dubliniensis. In the Annals of
Ulster at a. d. 578,53 under the form of Vinniani, the rest of this saint is announced. Thisisalsothedatefoundinthe"ChronicumScotorum,"54for FinnianUaFiatuchtheBislfbp. HisobitisrecordedbyTighernach. ssat579. We find no entry in the Annals of the Four Masters, regarding the year when
6
hedied. ColganconfoundsthisFinianwithSt. Frigidianus,sBishopofLucca,
and he our saint had been buried in that 5? The Irish writers supposes city.
maintain, that he was buried, either in the church of Magbile, or in that of Dair
Inis. Cap'grare and John of Tinmouth affirm, that he was interred in
8
Kill-Winning in Cunningham of Scotland.
In the Martyrology of Tallagh,s° we find it mentioned, that a festival was
celebratedatthe10thofSeptember,inhonourofEnniomach. Fiatach. In
the anonymous list of Irish Saints, published by O'Sullivan Beare, the name
Finianus occurs at the same date. 60
Under the head of Magh-Bile, Duald
Mac Firbis 61 enters, Finnen,
Finnia Mac Ui-Fiatach
The Rev. William Reeves also notes him, in that Calendar he compiled, for the three Ulster dioceses, about which he treated, in his very learned and researchful work. 6* In that copy. of the Martyrology of Tallagh, found in the Book of Leinster, there is—an entry of Finnio mac h. Fiatach65 for the vii. of the Ides of September but intended for the 10th of this
month. That notice in the 66 is Ennio mac published Martyrology (Finnio)
was his other as likewise Fionnbar of name,
02 In the
bishop
of
Magh-Bile.
Magh-Bile.
ology of Donegal °^ at this same date, Finnen, Bishop of Magh-bile, is
registered.
h. Fiatach. More correctly than the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the iv. of
the September Ides—10th day—the-O'Clerys enter Finnen, Bishop of Magh- 6
bile. 7 This saint was also venerated in Scotland, and his festival is noticed,
at the 10th of September, in the Kalendarium Drummondiense. 68 At this
6
date Finian, bishop, is noted in the Circle of the Seasons. ^ In Scotland, his
feast used to be observed on the 21st of January, at Kilwinning, and a little
50 See "Nova Legenda Anglise," fol. cxlviii. , cxlix.
51 See Dr. Reeves' " Ecclesiastical Anti-
quities of Down, Connor and Dromore,"
Appendix A, p. 151.
s2 See Rev. Dr. Charles O'Conor's
" Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus
ii. , p. 8.
53 Thus : Quies Vinniani episcopi, unc
[filii] Nepotis fiiatach as in the Dublin MS. ;
though O'Conor's text unmeaningly gives Umaniain as the Saint's name.
54 See William M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 60, 61.
55 Thus: "Quies Finniani episcopi Nepotis Fiatach. " There, Rev. Dr O'Conor cor- ruptly for Finniani reads Mani.
s6 See his Life, at the 18th of November.
has two different Lives of Colgan published
this Saint, at the 18th of March.
57 See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernise/'xviii.
Martii, Vita S. Fridiani, sive, Findiani, Epis. pp. 633 to 651, and especially in the Appendix to St. Frigidian's Acts, cap. vii. ,
p. 650, ibid.
5* ** Wallice nomine Kilwinnin. " —Cap-
" grave's "Nova Legenda Anglise, fol.
cxlvii.
59 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxiv.
^ See " Historic Catholicse Iberniae
Compendium," tomus. i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. ,
p. 51.
6l Finnin is the same as Finnian or Finnia.
William M. Hennessy's note.
63 See " Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish MSS. series, vol. i. , part i. , pp. 120, 121.
^ Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
242, 243.
64 See " Ecclesiastical Antiquities of
Down, Connor and Dromore," Appendix, LL. , p. 380.
6s Thus : pnnio mac h pleach.
*5 See Rev. Dr. Kelly's edition, p. xxxiv. ^ See The " of Donegal,"
Martyrology
edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
242. 243.
68 Thus " Et in Hibernia Natale Beatis- :
simi Episcopi et Confessoris Sancti Fin- niani. "—Bishop Forbes' M Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 24.
6? See p. 254.
Martyr-
September io. J LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 263
south of the manse there is St. Winning's Well. The feast was afterwards representedbyanannualfair,andknownasSt. Winning'sDay. ? AtHoly- wood, in Dumfries-shire, was St. Winning's Well, and the place was anciently
1
called Dercongal. There are ruins of an old abbey in Holywood. ?
There is a hill, with a fort on the top, apparently having had three concentric
3
circles, and it is called Caer-Wmning. 7
Naturalists tell us, that the Aloe plant flourishes in the most rocky and
sandy African soils -p but it only blooms after a long series of years,? * and then a wonderful bud at its crown breaks into a thousand flowers, but the plant often becomes a sacrifice to these flowers and dies. Each one of the flowers, however, as they drop, is said to form a new plant; on the spot, and it lives to produce other blooming buds. Thus dying in a fruitful state of virtue, the saints leave behind them in their places those germs, which in the lives of others perpetuate flowers fit for Heaven.
Article II. —St. Otger or Odger, Deacon, at Rurimond, Bel-
gium. [Eighth Century. '] The holy deacon, St. Otger or Ogder, being the 1
missionary companion of St. Wiro, Bishop in Ireland, and Apostle of Gueldres, as also of St. Plechelmus, Bishop of Odensal and Rurimond, in Belgium ; a reference to their Acts must serve to illustrate his career, and the incidents which were connected with it. At the—10th of September, t—he Bollandists3 have published a Life of St. Odgerus 3 as he is there called
by some unknown writer, who evidently indulges his imagination in a rhetorical fashion, so as to overload those few facts of the saint's history
that are really known. To this has been prefixed the Commentarius Praevius,*
written by Father John Boland, S. J. ; while there is an Appendix to the
Life, added by Father John Stilting, S. J. 5 The anonymous Life of Odger seems to have been chiefly drawn from an older Life of St. Wiro. In the
M Acta Sanctorum
Deacon, who is venerated on the 10th September, republished.
Father
some notices of this saint, at the 10th of September, as we learn from the posthumous list of MSS. ° In various collections of saints' Acts, the festival
previouscommentaryby
and the
8 some Life, by
Belgii Selecta,"
6 we have these same Acts of St.
There is a
JohnBollandus,?
anonymous author. It would seem, that Colgan had intended publishing
70 See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 466.
71 See ibid. Also " New Statistical Ac-
count of Scotland," vol. iv. Dumfries, pp. 553 fo 559-
tembris x. De S. Odgero Diacono Rime- mundse in Belgio, pp. 612 to 616.
3 This is comprised in six paragraphs, and it is taken from a manuscript which formerly belonged to the church of St. Martin at Utrecht; but,afterwards,itwastransferred to the monastery of the Carthusians at Cologne.
* It is comprised in nine paragraphs.
5 This is headed, Appendix de Ecclesia de Berg. SS. Wironi, Plechelmo et Odgero consecrata, tianslatisque in earn illorum Sanctorum reliquiis : ac de distinctione S.
Plechelmi ab alio fere synonymo. This is contained in eight paragraphs.
72 See ibid,, vol. v. Ayr, p. 219.
73 "
See Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire
Naturelle," dirige par. M. Charles d'Orbigny, tome i. , pp. 290, 291.
74 It has been incorrectly supposed, that the great American aloe does not blossom until it is 100 years old. However, its flowering depends almost wholly on the rapidity of its growth, always slower in cold than in warmer climates. See "Popular Encyclopedia," v—ol. i. , p. 124.
6
7 Sections 1 to
Article ii.
•
His Acts have been
See vol. vi. , pp. 219 to 225. 9.
already published,—at the 8th of May—the
8
Sections I to 6.
date for his feast
9 See "
in the Fifth Volume of See Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Sep-
Catalogus Actuum Sanctorum
this work, Art. 1. 3"
quae MS. habentur, ordine Mensium et Dierum. "
Otger,
264
LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [Septemberio.
in the u
at Louvain," at the ioth of September, Molanus has an account of this
holy deacon. 12 Thomas Dempster has a few notices of St. Otgerus '3 and ;
1
he is also mentioned at this date, in the Petits Bollandistes. * His Acts,
which do not mention where he had been born, 1 * only state, that Odgerus
of this
pious
man is entered.
Thus,
Hystoria Sanctorum,"
I0
was of noble birth, and that he lived in Britain.
16
Finding that he was
religiously disposed, and while he was yet young, his parents placed him under the charge of religious brethren, so that he might apply to the
1 ? Then he was remarkable for his
patience, charity, and a desire to imitate those, who were already advanced in the spiritual life. Soon his virtues were extolled by his relations and the people of that province in which he lived. He laboured much, as he
advanced in years, to overcome temptations against purity, by avoiding all
dangerous occasions ; while, by great self-denial and application, he became a
proficient both in sanctity and learning. The bishop of that place, knowing his
happy dispositions and the grace in which he abounded, readily yielded to his wishes, in advancing him from the lowest grade of ecclesiastical orders to
the dignity of deacon. Like all truly great men, he deemed the state he attainedtorequiredstillgreaterexertiononhispart; sothathebecamemost assiduous in prayer, in study, in learning, in wisdom, in moral propriety, in alms-giving, in the love of God and of his neighbour. Having been elected
Bishop among the Scots or Irish, together with the holy Priest, St. Plechel-
study
of sacred
learning.
obedience,
8 St. Wiro'9 had resolved on
Sovereign Pontiff, and to receive his directions for their future course. We are told, that while on their way from Ireland, and while passing through England, they received Otger, then a Levite, which bears the signification of a Deacon. 20 At that time, he had been uncertain, as to whether he should become a religious and settle down permanently under the rule of that house in which he had received his early education, or reserve himself for a missionary career, by leaving his family, friends and country for the sake of Christ. Through the fervent desire of gaining his heavenly country, and of quitting all earthly hopes, he was induced to follow those men of God, and with them, he made a pilgrimage to Rome,21 in his capacity of Deacon,22
mus,'
leaving
their own to visit the country,
10
There we have an account headed, Otgeri diaconis et confessor, fol. cxxvii.
11
*f Arnold Wion, Benedictus Dorganius a S. Joanne, Hugo Menardus, Gabriel Buc- clinus, in their respective Martyrologies ;
a. d. 1485.
12" "
See Natales Sanctorum Belgii," as also, Edward Maihew, in Tropceis
Decima Die Septembris. De Sancto Od- Congregationis Anglicana," tome ii. , not
gero diacono, in two paragraphs, pp. 198,
"
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus ii. , lib. xiv. , num. 970,
only make him a monk, but a member of the Benedictine Order. Constantine Ghinius numbers him among the holy canons ; but all the foregoing statements are not yet proved.
,8 See his Life, at the of in 15th day July,
the Seventh Volume of this work, Art. i.
,9 See his Lite, at the 8th of May, in the
Fifth Volume of this work, Art. i.
2*
199.
13 See
p. 509.
** See " Vies des Saints," tome
xi. ,
xe
Jour
de Septembre, p. 2.
3 For want of contradictory evidence,
and as it seems most probable, it has been
assumed he was a native of Ireland, being
the companion of St. Wiro.
Bishop Challenor considers, that the present St. Oiger was by birth an English Saxon, and that for his virtues he had been already advanced to the degiee of deacon in
16
"
John Wilson, in the first edition of
his
" monachum fuisse in Boreali Angliae plaga,
ubi et natus erat. " However, in the second
edition, he omits the place of St. Otger's
birth, but asserts he was a monk. Never-
theless, neither of these assertions can be him as a bishop. See Les Petits Bolland- admitted, without some better authority, ist'es' "Vies des Saints," tome xi. , xe
nut yet found. de Septembre, p. 2.
Martyrologium Anglicanum," states,
the primitive English Church, 2I "
See Miraeus, P'asti Belgici et Bur- gundici," p. 526.
" Some writers have incorrectly described jour
printed
September io. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 165
There, with great devotion, he visited the monuments of the Apostles and
Martyrs. Being consecrated Bishops by the Pope, Saints Wiro and Plechelm returned home. Otger was still their inseparable com-
panion. With his usual effrontery, Thomas Dempster asserts, that the Deacon Otger wrote a book " Pro Synodo Germanica. " 2 3 Those
holy missionaries, who accompanied him, passed the seas again, and went into Belgic Gaul, to advance by their preaching the Kingdom of Christ. In his capacity of deacon, Otger was authorized to announce the Gospel, and this he did in life with excellent effect. Those apostles of salvation were men of God, and that whole country was edified by their doctrine and
2 * who ruled there, sanctity. Pepin,
them a retired for their abode. place
gave
It lay near Ruremond,25 and, it was formerly called St. Peter's Mount, but now it is known as Mount St. Odilia. There they built an oratory, in honour of the—Blessed Virgin, and a monastery was erected under the name of St. Peter hence was derived its earliest denomination. Here also they led a most heavenly life, and Otger was distinguished among his holy companions
for love of retirement ; as also by his preaching and teaching the truths of Divine wisdom to the people. In all their labours, he most willingly and
faithfully shared, and through humility he had no ambition greater than to learn how he could be of use to second their desires and plans for the salva-
tion of souls. In this solitude, after having by word and example brought
many souls to despise earthly vanities, and to aspire after everlasting goods, St. Otger had a presentiment, that his last hour on earth was approaching, and so informed his religious brethren. Having received this warning, they took care that the Viaticum should be administered, and then he exclaimed
" Into O thy hands,
" bid farewell to Having
I commend hisfellow-religious,hehappilypassedtohiseternalrest. Hediedsometime
in the eighth century, but the exact year is not known ; neither has it been recorded whether he predeceased his companions, Saints Wiro and Plechelm, or survived them. His body was buried on St. Peter's Mount, also known as St. Odilia, or Berg. Afterwards, his relics and intercession were rendered illustrious owing to the miracles there wrought. Already in the Acts of St. Wiro and St. Plechelmus, we have given account of the vicissitudes of time and change, in connexion with their and the relics of St. Otger. When the Church of Berg26 had been rebuilt, through the liberality of the Bishop of Rurimond, the Canons of the Cathedral, and the faithful at large, it was solemnly consecrated, on the 10th of May, 1686. Then a shrine had been there prepared for the reception of their relics. The occasion was a remark- able one, as not only the neighbouring inhabitants, but a great concourse of people from all the adjoining districts, assembled at Rurimond, where with hymns, canticles and magnificent ceremonies, the remains were placed in the new shrine, and solemnly deposited in the church of Berg. So great was the congregation, that the dedicatory sermon had to be preached in the open air. At this celebration, likewise, a remarkable miracle took place. A girl
**
See Ilistoria Ecclesiastica Gentis Pope Pius V. made it an episcopal see,
Scotorum," lib. xiv. , num. 970, p. 509. which was uniied to that of Liege in 1801. 24 See Molanus' •« Natales Sanctorum See Pierre Larousae's " Grand Dictionnaire Belgii," Decima Die Septembris, 2°. p. Universel du xixe Siecle," tome xiii. ,
Lord,
my spirit.
19* ^
25 In Flemish called Roermunde, a town
in the province ot Limburg and Kingdom of
Holland, at the confluence of the rivers*
Meuse and Roer. In 1290, the Count of Universelle," tome iv. , liv. iv. , chap, iv. , Gueldres erected it into a city. In 1561, sect, v. , p. 315.
p. 1527.
•* A commune in the province of Gueldres,
and having over 5,000 inhabitants. See ''•
Elisee Reclus Nouvelle Geographie
266 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September to.
named Catherine, from the adjoining village of Kerchen, and who had two years before contracted a disease, which left her completely blind, having with her pious mother Afra been present, and devoutly imploring the inter- cession of the local patrons, the pains she had previously felt were removed, and she'was restored to the full enjoyment of vision. No trace of shadow or obstruction was afterwards experienced, while her eyes were bright and lustrous as in her youth. About one thousand years having elapsed after the departure of the saints, the Lord Bishop Angelas d'Ongnyes of Rurimond
open at the Church of Bergh, ? in the year 1706. It commenced, on the nthdayofJuly,withanoctave; andduringthatperiod,suchanaffluence of devout worshippers prevailed, that not alone was the church filled, but even the hill upon which it was built resembled the encampment of a large army. Moreover,thebishopadministeredtheSacramentofConfirmationto about five thousand 28 The feast of St. Deacon and
old Manuscript Martyrology of the Church of St. Mary at Utrecht, in the
Manuscript Martyrology of the monastery of St. Martin, at Treves, and printed at Cologne, a. d. 1690, by Herman Greven in his Additions to Usuatd,
printed a. d. 1515, as also in 152 1, by Canisius, in his German Martyrology,
2 and by John Molan, in the first edition of his Auctuarium to Usuard. ^
12 Moreover, Andreas Boeyus,3° Philip Ferrarius^ and Balduin Willot,3 have
notices of this saint, and at the same date. His name has been written
variedly Odgerus, Otgerus, Othgerus and Ogerus. In the Menologium Scoticum of Thomas Dempster is entered the feast of St. Orgerus (recte
Otgerus) on tiie ioih of September. 33 Besides mis-spelling the name, our Saint is here made a bishop, although he was not even advanced to the
priesthood. By nearly all other writers, he is called simply a Deacon. We find Otgerus, in that list of Irish Saints, published by O'Sullivan Beare. 3* On the authority of Molanus, at the same date, Otger Diaconus is entered
by Henry Fitzsimon, at the 10th of September. 35 His festival is kept, on this day, in the Dioceses of Ruremond and Groningen. Both Sees honour him
as their patron. 36 The quaint writer, Fuller, has remarked '* Where there
:
be many priests and little meat, the same dish must go clean through the board; and Divine Providehce ordered it, that in the scarcity of preachers, one eminent man, travelling far, should successively feed many countries. "
obtained Indulgences from the Sovereign Pontiff, and he caused a Jubilee, to 2
persons. — Odgerus, — Confessor, is noted at the iv. Ides of September 10th of the month in the
87 This town at present contains nearly 1,000 inhabitants. See M. Vivien de Saint-
"
Martin's"NouveauDictionnairede phie Universelle," tome i. , p. 415.
G6ogra-
32 In his "
Willot has the notice
et Ruraemondae colitur S. Otgerus diaconus, socius SS. Wironis et Plechelmi. "
28
referred to Joannes Knippenberg's
Historia Ecclesiastica Geldriae, lib. viii. , Thus
For the foregoing particulars, the reader
is
" 33"
:
In Brabantia
Orgeri episcopi, —
apostoli, Ruremundoe patroni. " Bishop 3» In the later additions, Molan more Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish Saints, p.
"
Item S. Otgeri confessoris et 211.
diaconi, qui ex Britannia comes peregrina- 34 See " Histories Catholicoe Iberniae tionis fait Sanctis episcopis Wironi et Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi.
cap. iv.
fully writes :
Plechelmo, atque post multa pietatis exer- citia, sepulturam accepit in ecclesia Montis Petri juxta Ruraemundam.
30 In his " Martyrologium Flandricum,"
he writes " In ecclesia Montis S. Petri, S.
:
Odgerus diaconus et confessor. "
31 ' " In his 'Catalogus Generalis Sanctorum,
3S See ibid. , cap. xii. , p. 56.