No More Learning

has been regarded as among the chief Patrons of Tuscany. The illustrious Bishop of Meaux took a great interest in this saint, and, having read a Life of St. Fiacre,73 presented to him by Dom Mabillon, Bossuet returns it with critiques, and suggested corrections^ with a desire expressed to have it returned to him, as soon as possible, when they should have been made. ? * The oratory and shrine of St. Fiacre, at Breuil, were demolished in the revolutionary storm that swept over France towards the close of the last
century. The greater part of his relics was then scattered. w
The grand Cathedral of Meaux, in the Goth. ic style, was commenced during
the twelfth 6 and it was in the sixteenth. It is century,? partially completed
260 feet in length, and its vaulted roof is 105 feet in height. Its restoration was commenced in 1832 and carried on to 1874. 77 However, it still remains unfinished. In the apse of this cathedral, there is a chapel dedicated to St. Fiacre, constructed in the style of the thirteenth century. A stone altar, standing upon four pillars, was erected in 1866, and it was consecrated in 1870. Thebeautifulrailingwhichenclosesthechapelwasputupin1888. 78
SeveralmemorialsofthisholyHermitareinotherFrenchchurches. The writer has seen79 a painted statue of wood, representing St. Fiacre in a shep- herd's garb, erected within the magnificent old cathedral church of St. Omer in France. It is to be found in position, almost immediately opposite a statue of our Irish St. Bridget,* on the Epistle side in the great nave.
The Bollandists have published many miracles, wrought through invoca- tion of St. Fiacre, in the Duke of Burgundy's Chapel, where some of his
Those miracles were noted down in a Manuscript
cures effected were removals of ulcers, gangrene and tumours, that had baffled the skill of the local physicians ; and, in several instances, the medical practitioners had recommended their patients to have recourse to prayer, at the shrine of St. Fiacre. The names of those healed, their par- ticular diseases, and places of residence, are specially mentioned, and witli great particularity, as so many testimonies to the merits and virtues of the holy hermit during his life-time, and to the efficacy of his intercession before
82
the King of Heaven.
intercession during the first period of the seventeenth century, are related by Du Plessis. The names, places, and several diseases of his proteges are
8 given, in each case. *
St. Fiacre is greatly venerated in France ; with which country his Acts,
i* To it had been appended some prayers. undecayed. See Carro's " Histoire de " This letter is dated A Paris, ce 22 Meaux," 1865.
relics had been preserved.
of 8x Dijon,
who that he had both states,
an
seen and had certain knowledge of what he therein related. Most of the
compiled by
anonymous writer,
Mai, 1703.
74 See the AbW
Meaux. tome xi. , part xiv. , Lettres Diverses. I. et. cccxxii. , col. 1218.
78 See Joseph Casimir O'Meagher's Paper
"
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Third Series,
ee he 'j? » ,"?
Ecclesiastical Re-
vol. ii. , No. 2, sect, xiii. , p. 176.
79 On the occasion of a visit in July, 1863. *> See allusion to this in her at the
Migne's
ipletes" de Bossuet, Eveque de
on St. Fiacre de la Brie in
cord, vol. xii. , June, 1876. S66'
s. denng the length of time elapsed since his interment The beard which he wore was
Life,
1st of February, in the Second Volume of
St. Fiacre, p.
Encyclopaedia. " grand cathedral contains the grave and tomb of Hossuet. During these restora- Uons, the coffin of this illustrious prelate was opened, and Ins remains were found to be in a remarkable state of preservation, con-
this work, Art. i.
'! 5" I
Cham " 5>ers's
«»
This city was the capital of the Duchy
Several other cures, effected through St. Fiacre's
edition,
of Burgundy.
8* SeetheBollandists' "ActaSanctorum,"
tomus vi. , Augusti xxx. De S. Fiacrio Ere- mita Conf. in Territorio Meldensi in Gallia, Appendix I. , cap. i. , ii. , num. I to 26.
8* See • Histoire de l'Eglise de Meaux," pp. 174, 175.
August 30. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 443
for the most part, are connected. There, too, scarcely any other saint is held in greater veneration. 8* Many churches and oratories were founded in France, and were dedicated to him. 8* At present, he is especially venerated as the particular patron of Brie, which is about four miles from the city of Meaux ; while he is also regarded as one of the chief patrons of Mcaui diocese. About three miles from Brie is St. Fiacre's Well. It is enclosed in an oratory, which was rebuilt in 1852. Pilgrims flock to his holy well at Monstrelet,86 which is famed for miraculous cures. The other chief places for pilgrimages in honour of our saint are Aubignan, in the diocese of Avignon ; Buss, in the diocese of Arras ; Ramecourt and Dizy-le- Gros, in the diocese of Soissons ; Ouzoer-les-champs, in the diocese of Orleans ; Bovancourt, in the diocese of Rheims ; Cuy-Saint-Fiacre, in the diocese of Rouen St. Fiacre, in the diocese of Nantes
;; Saint Fiacre, near Guincamp, in the diocese of St. Brieuc ; and Radenac, in the diocese of Vannes. 8? There can hardly be a doubt, but that this is even an imperfect enumeration of the many places having a relic of the blessed anchorite. 88 Father Stephen White 8 9 calls St. Fiacre a patron of Perrone. Andrew Saussay adds, that in a church at Paris, which was, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the jaw-bone of St. Fiacre was pre- served in an ornamental shrine, and that it was an object of devout venera-
tion for the faithful. 9°
As he spent so much of his time in horticultural labour, during his life-
1
time, our holy Hermit is still regarded as the patron of gardeners,? who honour
his memory, even while imperfectly acquainted with the particulars of his his-
3 at St. Fiacre,93 about seven miles from Meaux, on the of tory. 9 Especially 30th
August, his feast-day, numerous pilgrims come provided with a special service- book containing Messe de St. Fiacre, Vespres de St. Fiacre, Litanie de St. Fiacre, together with some hymns composed in his praise. 94 The place of his residence was much frequented by pilgrims, and on the 30th of August, the gardeners, with great pomp and floral decoration, marched to the church of the anchorite, and invoked his patronage and protection. They do so still,
84 See Bishop Challenor's "Memorial of British Piety," p. 122.
85 See Mabillon's " Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. xii. , sect vi. , p. 344.
86
Near Bouffiers.
87 See "The Irish Ecclesiastical Record,"
vol. xii. , June, 1876, St. Fiacre, p. 364.
88 At Paris the religious houses of Val-de-
Grace, of the Barnabites, and of the regular chanoinesof St. Catherine de la Couture, had relics of St. Fiacre. See M. le Dr. Hoefer's "Nouvelle Biographie Generale," tome xvii. ,
See Apologia pro Hibernia," cap. ii. , p. 15, and cap. iv. , p. 39.
"
90
agri, ubi in Dei Genetricis templi ccenobitico sacrario maxilla ejus in decoro lipsanodochio, quod imago ejus profert in manibus, conde- centi cultu asservatur, iisque rutilat gloriosis
experiuntur. Usu enim hactanus compertum tst, si quis tantillum aquae, in quam immer-
gitur sacrum pignus, morbo quocumque laborat, cum fide infuderit, optatam continuo medelam consequi beati confessoris virtute : qua et aqua ipsa, quae hac benedictione donatur, ad longos annos limpida manet,
col. 615. 89 "
9I With the implements and surroundings of thisoccupation. a beautiful chromo-lithograph represents St. Fiacrius, the solitary, in his quaint religious habit,in "Lives of the Saints; enriched with Fifty-one full-page Miniatures, in Gold and Colours, the Text within en- graved Borders, from ancient Books of Devo- tion," p. 260. London, Roy. 4to, 1869.
92 See Le Comte de Montalembert's "Les Moines de l'Occident," tome ii. , livre viii. , chap, iii. , p. 436.
93 This village has a population of about
300 inhabitants.
94 One of these addressed to
In parthenona Hederensi Parisiensis
virtutum corruscationibus,
" Patron des Jardiniers," commences thus
celebrem ibidem illius et memoriam et festivitatis diem reddiderunt; confluentibus undique devotis supplicibus, qui eum benignum sibi suffra- gatorem interpellates, ibidem opitulatorem
St. — Fiacre,
quae
suavis ac
Gallicanum," xxx. Augusti.
incorrupta. "
Martyrologium
" Glorieux patron de la Brie Sois favourable a nos vceus,
P&lerins toute notre vie, Suirons le chemin des cieux. "
—"
:
444
LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 30.
and with great fervour beseech his blessing on their labours. This saint's festival is celebrated in the Church of St. Ferdinand, Vaugirard, in Paris, with great pomp ; the chancel on that day is beautifully decorated with flowers, sent by the master gardeners, who attend the service in evening dress, their wives wearing fashionable costumes, while the working gardeners with their families appear in holiday attire. * Among the Breton horti- culturists, he is grearly honoured, and on the eve of his festival, they present a bouquet of flowers, which has been blessed, in the church of Faouet village.
named Fiacre died there, and so holy was he esteemed, that every person wished to have his portrait. To please the public, the designer of the new carriages caused the figure of St. Fiacre to be painted on their doors. ? It is stated, that the first vehicles which were employed to carry people to hospital were called after the name of our saint, and the word has sinaB become general for public carriages. Wherefore, the Fiacre is a well-known designation for that kind of conveyance in France ; and the saint in conse quence has become the special patron of coachmen. 100
In Scotland, where the tradition has long prevailed that he was a Scots- man born, St. Fiacre's memory has been preserved, under various local forms
and designations. The most important place where the worship of this saint
took place in Scotland was in the parish of Nigg, and it was anciently known
as St. Fiacer Church, on the opposite side of the River De"e from Aber-
A number of
attend on the occasion. 06 The French cab is said to have derived its name fiacre °? from being specially called into requisition, while used for conveying pilgrims in early times to the shrine of St. Fiacre. However, another account prevails, that only indirectly, he has given name
nevertheless how he had been in Paris, popular
to that 8 but vehicle,?
pilgrims
showing as in other parts of France.
According to other etymologists, at the time when that carriage came into use, at the convent of the Petit-Peres, a monk
101
Moreover, it is remarkable, that his original Irish appellation, with
deen.
thehonorificmo,shouldbeappliedtohim. Thereanancientburialground and a well are still called St. Fithoc's, while the adjoining sea-coast is known as St. Ficker's Bay. In the seventeenth century, St. Fiacre's Church was called St. Mussett's or St. Muffeth's, which is the
is none other than the Mofutacus to be found in the Calendar of Camera- rius. '°3 IntheDunkeldLitany,oursaintisnamedFuttach. 10*. InStewart's Metrical Chronicle of Scotland,,05 he is noticed as Sanct Feacar and Fian- corus of Maldosens. He was venerated at Kirkpottie, in Dunbarny, in Perthshire,'06 while there is a chapel at the mouth of Glenfarg, where now
93 See M Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Third Series, vol. No. 2, xiii. Saint Fiacre de la Brie, by Joseph Casimir
O'Mengher, p. 176.
corruption
sous for the hour when driven. The drivers as well as their vehicles were called fiacres. » See M. le Dr. Hoefer's " Nouvelle Bio-
graphie Gdnerale," tome xvii. , col. 615.
,0° celebrate the Feast of Annually they
their Patron, on the 30th of August. An
96 See that
Hersart de la \\\\cma. T<\w, ISarzaz Iheiz, for a beautiful Cornuaille legend regarding this
charming
work of Le Vicomte
anniversary so commemorated is noticed by Saint. It is entitled, Le Pardon de Saint a correspondent of the Irish Times, and
"
Fiacre. " No. xlix. , pp. 350 to 355.
w TheseJfacres have become very common
since the middle of the seventeenth century.
dated from Paris, August 31st, 1875.
,0' See " Statistical Account of Scot-
land," vol. vii. , pp. 211, 212. ,02 In Blaeu's Atlas.
,03 At p. 203,
,0« See "View of the Diocese of Aber-
deen," p. 252.
,0 s.
vol. viii. , p. 404.
98 to Pure Lahat, the According
origin of ihejiacre may be ascribed to a sign-board of St. Fiacre, which distinguished a shop in the Rue Saint Antoine, in Paris, and which
was the kept by
named
The fiacres were also called five-sous car- riages, as they were hired at the rate of five
See vol. iii. , p. 513.
,0<s See " Statistical Survey of Scotland,"
inventor,
Sauvage.
of Mofutack. 102 He
August 30. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 445
10 108 is the mill ot Pottie, in the parish of Dron. ? In the Retours of Kincardine,
100
Notwithstanding the present celebrity of St. Fiacie, it is somewhat remarkable, that his name has not been inscribed on the most ancient
calendars. This is supposed to be accounted for, because his Acts had not been written soon after his death, or, at least, that they had not been in
St. Fiacre appears as St. Musset or St. Muffet.
circulation. However, his feast is commemorated in 110 manuscript
general
and in published copies of Usuard, havebeenanadditiontotheoriginalMartyrology atwhattimeisunknown. The author of the Florarium Sanctorum, who flourished in the fifteenth century,
commemorates St. Fiacre on this same
3 In like manner, Andreas
111
at the 30th o—f August ; but this seems to
day. "
Saussay, in his Martyrologium Gallicanum, and Mabillon in his Acta Sanc-
torum Ordinis S. Benedicti, have set down his festival. The Roman Mar-
1^
to the " Heures de Nostre-Dame a l'usage du Mans," at Aovst 30, is the feast of S. Fiacre. In the anonymous calendar of Irish saints, published by O'SullevanBeare,atthe30thofAugust,wehaveFeacerentered. "* Like- wise, in Convaeus' list, we find St. Fiacer, a prince, in the Meldensian territory,
date. 1 ' 5
Martyrology to Fiachrach, an Eremite. In France, he is also known as Fefre, and in all the modern Lives of Saints, the festival of St. Fiacre is set down at the 30th of August.
11 8
Thus, in the works of Bishop Challenor, ? of Rev. Alban Butler," of Les
tyrology
assigns
his festival to the
present day.
In the
Kalendar, prefixed
commemorated at this
present
We find entered in the
of 110 that at the Donegal,
of
30th August
veneration was
given
Petits
Bollandistes,
110 of Forbes,120 and of Rev. S. his Bishop Baring-Gould,
In the Circle of the Seasons, this saint is likewise com- 3
festival is noted. "1
memorated, at the present day. "
The memory of our holy hermit was also held in Scotland to be vener- able, for his name is recorded in her Fasti. "3 In the Scottish Calendars, the feast of St. Fiacre has been entered at the 30th of August. It is omitted intheKalendarotDrummond,andinsomeotherKalendars. However,it is entered in the Kalendar of the Aberdeen Breviary,"4 and St. Fiacre is
commemorated in the
Lessons of that 13* He is Breviary.
proper
of Aberdeen, at the
107 See "New Statistical Survey of and other principal Saints," vol. viii. ,
specially
also noticed in the
fn the Kalendar of Adam King. "7 In like manner, Thomas Dempster
Scotland," Perth, at pp. 810, 864.
108 At pp. 95, 162.
109 See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
August xxx.
"9 See " Les Vies des Saints," tome x. ,
xxxe jour d'Aout, p. 335.
fessoris et heremitse, adcujus tumulum quasi continue sunt gloriosa miracula. "
113 In these words:
"
In territorio Mel-
Martyrology
of
30th August,"
6 and
,t0 " Scottish Saints," p. 339. See
Kalendars of Scottish Saints,"
110
Sweden, marked No. 428, is read: "In
pago Meldensi, beati Fiacrii confessoris, viri vita et mhaculis gloriosi. "
111 See Father Soller's edition.
1,2
Thus :
"
Item sancti Fiacrii con-
See "Lives of the Saints," vol. viii. , August 30, p. 385.
12a
See p. 243.
"3 See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 338.
I24 Thus, at the iii. of the September
Kalends (August 30), "Fiacrii ab. med. "-— Ibid 120.
In the copy belonging to the Queen of p. 338.
densisanctiFiacriiconfessoris. " Seep. 127.
114" "6"—
Eodem
gee Historise Catholicse Ibernise Thus
Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 50.
"5 See ibid. , cap. x. , p. 48.
116 Edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves,
pp. 228, 229.
"7 See "Britannia Sancta," part 11,
"7 Thus
fess. sone to Eugenius ye 4 King of Scotland
-p. 102.
118 " See
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
he lyis besyd Meaux in France," ibid. , p. 160.
I21
"5InParsEstiva,fol. lxxxxiiii.
: iii. Kl.
die Fiacri abbatis. " See "Proceedings of
the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," vol. ii. , p. 267, and Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars
of Scottish Saints," p. 133.
" S. Fiacre, Abbot and Con-
:
Septembris.
446 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 30.
8
places him in the Menologium Scotorum," while the feast of St. Fiacre is
recorded among the Scottish entries in the Calendar of David Camerarius,"*
but at the 29th of August.
In the English Martyorology, St. Fiacre is celebrated with a lengthened
eulogy, and it mentions a chapel of this holy hermit erected in Rouen, of
Artois, and which had been frequented by a great concourse of people. In many catalogues of Irish saints, in possession of the Bollandists, the name and feast of St. Fiacre occur at this date. In Trinity College, Dublin, there is a Manuscript, classed B. 3. 15, which contains a Kalendar, in which there isaFeastforSt. Fiacre,atthe30thofAugust. ThefestivalofSt. Fiacreis said to have been observed with special devotion in most of the French
11 belonging to the Trinitarians in the last century. *
Dioceses. A Latin
1 * recited in his honour, was to be seen written on parchment, framed and hung up in the Parisian Church of St. Maturin,
:
,a8 Thus " Meldensi territorio Fiacrii
Eremita regis filii qui Eugenio IV. , patre suo defuncto, eadem hora praesciens se ad regnum vocandum, ardentibus precibus lepram impetravit, quae abeuntibus legatis abivit, nee temere ullus Dei sanctns majori- bus signis inclaruit, ml. bt. K. —Ibid. , pp. 209, 210.
Die Sanctus Fiacrius
" Now behold Hibernia shine
With uncommon light divine, And the distant Meld is flames Withthelustreofhisbeams, That Fiacre sent away,
This receives the filial ray, Both partake the common joy, This the father, that the boy. "
"9 Thus
:
Eugcnii filius.
,
Ibid. p. 240.
hymn Florilegium
Messing- Insula Sanctorum"
"
Lucernse novas specula Illustrator Hibernia, liorruscat Meldis insula Tanta- lucis presentia,
Ilia misit Ftacrium,
Haec missum habet radium, Habent commune gaudium, Haec patrem, ilia filium. "
ists, in their "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Augusti xxx. De S. Fiacrio Eremita Conf. in Territorio Meldensi in Gallia. Commen- tarius prsevius, sect, i. , num. 9, pp. 599, 600.
" 29 Scotorum
hymn,
published a more accurate version of this, than had hitherto appeared, in
12
their preface to St. Fiacre's Acts. * In many of the French Breviaries the
Office of St. Fiacre, or a commemoration in their Calendars, is to be found.
Proper Lessons are also given, and several Latin hymns composed to
honour him have been published. In the "Missae Propriae Sanctorum
Hibemiae," collected and published, by Father Nicholas Anthony O'Kenny
at Paris, in 1736; at the 30th of August is placed the Missa S. Facrii con-
fessoris, Hyberniae principis, ecclesiae et dicecesis Meldensis in Gallia
patroni generalis. This also contains an elegant Latin hymn, inserted as a
sequence, and before the Gospel. It enumerates the principal actions of our
1 saint. **
From the sixth, to the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, the missionary spirit of our countrymen was most active in Europe. Truly was Ireland the "Insula Sanctorum," in those days. Within the island itself, nearly every locality had its school of learning and sanctity ; while an impetus was given to the desire of extending such beneficent blessings to more distant lands. Our annals and calendars largely record the number of holy abbots, and religious, venerated as saints. Even foreign writers acknowledge obligations due to Ireland, for the growth and cultivation of literature and
hoc nomine
Regis quarti —'"
is also in given
'*»
"Ecclesiastical and Literary History of Ire-
Campbell, in his Strictures on the land," sect, vii. , p. 117, gives a part of it
Vita S. Fiacrii, p. 392.
I32 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. ,
Augusti xxx. De S. Fiacrio Eremita Conf.
in Commen- Gallia.
which — with its follows,
translation:
metrical
Territorio Meldensi
English
in
tarius pnevius, sect. i.
'3I The ham's
The Bollandists have
num.
133 It has been published by the Bolland-
,
6, p. 599.