By Rev. Columba Edmonds, O.S.B.
St. Patrick's work in Ireland was chiefly concerned with preaching
the faith and establishing monasteries which served as centres of
education. The great success that attended these efforts earned for
Ireland the double title of Island of Saints and a Second Thebaid.
The monastic institutions organized by St. Patrick were characterized
from their commencement by an apostolic zeal that knew no bounds.
Sufficient scope was not to be found at home, so it was impatient to
diffuse itself abroad.
SCOTLAND: Hence in the year 563 St. Columcille, a Donegal native of
royal descent, accompanied by twelve companions, crossed the sea in
currachs of wickerwork and hides, and sought to land in Caledonia.
They reached the desolate Isle of Iona on the day preceding
Whitsunday.
Many years before, colonies of Irishmen had settled along the western
parts of the present Scotland. The settlement north of the Clyde
received the name of the Kingdom of Dalriada. These Dalriadan Irish
were Christian at least in name, but their neighbors in the Pictish
Highlands were still pagans. Columcille's apostolate was to be among
both these peoples. Adamnan says that Columcille came to Caledonia
"for the love of Christ's name", and well did his after-life prove
the truth of this statement. He had attained his forty-fourth year
when King Conall, his kinsman, bestowed Iona upon him and his
brethren. The island, situated between the Dalriadans and the Picts
of the Highlands, was conveniently placed for missionary work. A
numerous community recruited from Ireland, with Columcille as its
Abbot, soon caused Iona to become a flourishing centre from which men
could go forth to preach Christianity. Monasteries and hermitages
rapidly sprang up in the adjacent islands and on the mainland. These,
together with the Columban foundations in Ireland, formed one great
religious federation, in which the Celtic apostles of the northern
races were formed under the influence of the holy founder.
St. Columcille recognized the need of securing permanence for his
work by obtaining the conversion of the Pictish rulers, and thus he
did not hesitate to approach King Brude in his castle on the banks of
the River Ness. St. Comgall and St. Canice were Columcille's
companions on his journey through the great glen, now famous for the
Caledonian Canal. The royal convert Brude was baptized, and by
degrees the people followed the example set them. Opposition,
however, was keen and aggressive, and it came from the official
representatives of Pictish paganism--the Druids.
Success, too, attended Columcille's ministrations among the
Dalriadans, and on the death of their king, Aidan Gabhran, who
succeeded to the throne, sought regal consecration from the hands of
Columcille. In 597 the saint died, but not before he had won a whole
kingdom to Christ and covered the land with churches and monasteries.
Today his name is held in honor not by Irishmen alone, but by the
Catholics and non-Catholics of the land of his adoption.
There are other saints who either labored in person with Columcille
or perpetuated the work he accomplished in Caledonia; and their names
add to the glory of Ireland, their birth-land. Thus St. Moluag (592)
converted the people of Lismore, and afterwards died at Rosemarkie;
St. Drostan, St. Columcille's friend and disciple, established the
faith in Aberdeenshire and became abbot of Deer; St. Kieran (548)
evangelized Kintyre; St. Mun (635) labored in Argyleshire; St. Buite
(521) did the same in Pictland; St. Maelrubha (722) preached in
Ross-shire; St. Modan and St. Machar benefited the dwellers on the
western and eastern coasts respectively; and St. Fergus in the eighth
century became apostle of Forfar, Buchan, and Caithness.
DISTANT ISLANDS: But Irish monks were mariners as well as apostles.
Their hide-covered currachs were often launched in the hope of
discovering solitudes in the ocean. Adamnan records that Baitan set
out with others in search of a desert in the sea. St. Cormac sought a
similar retreat and arrived at the Orkneys. St. Molaise's holy isle
guards Lamlash Bay, off Arran. The island retreats of the Bass,
Inchkeith, May, and Inchcolm, in the Firth of Forth, are associated
with the Irish saints Baldred, Adamnan, Adrian, and Columcille. St.
Maccaldus, a native of Down, became bishop of the Isle of Man.
Remarkable, too, is the fact that Irish monks sailed by way of the
Faroe Islands to distant Iceland. These sailor-clerics, who settled
on the southeast of the island, were spoken of by later Norwegians as
"papar." After their departure--they were probably driven away by
Norwegian pagans--these Icelandic apostles "left behind them Irish
books, bells, and croziers, wherefrom one could understand they were
Irishmen."
But St. Brendan, the voyager, is the most wonderful of the mariner
monks of Ireland. He accomplished apostolic work in both Wales and
Scotland, but his seafaring instincts urged him to make missionary
voyages to regions hitherto unknown. Some writers, not without
reason, have actually maintained that he and his followers traveled
as far as the American shore. Be this as it may, the tradition of the
discoveries of this Irish monk kept in mind the possibly existing
western land, and issued at last in the discovery of the great
continent of America by Columbus.
NORTHUMBRIA: Turn now to Northumbria. Adamnan writes that St.
Columcille's name was honored not only in Gaul, Spain, and Italy, but
in Rome itself. England, however, owes to it a special veneration,
because of the widespread apostolic work accomplished within her
borders by Columcille's Irish disciples. The facts are as follows:
Northumbrian Christianity was well-nigh exterminated through the
victory of Penda the pagan over Edwin the Christian, A.D. 633. St.
Paulinus, its local Roman apostle, was driven permanently from his
newly founded churches. Meanwhile Oswald and his brother Edwith
sought refuge among the Irish monks of lona, and received baptism at
their hands. Edwith died and Oswald became heir to the throne. A
battle was fought. The day before he met the pagan army, between the
Tyne and the Solway, Oswald beheld St. Columcille in vision saying to
him: "Be strong and of good faith; I will be with thee." The result
of this vision of the abbot of Iona was that a considerable part of
England received the true faith. Oswald was victorious; he united the
kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia, and became overlord of practically
all England, with the exception of Kent. There was evangelization to
be done, and St. Oswald turned to Iona. In response to his appeal,
the Irish bishop, St. Aidan, was sent with several companions. They
were established on the island of Lindisfarne, in sight of the royal
residence at Bamborough. These monks labored in union with, and even
seemed to exceed in zeal, the Roman missionaries in the south under
St. Augustine. However great the enthusiasm they had displayed for
conversions in Iona, they displayed still greater on the desolate
isle of Lindisfarne. In the first instance St. Aidan and his monks
evangelized Northumbria. Want of facility in preaching in the
Anglo-Saxon tongue was at first an obstacle, but it was speedily
overcome, for king Oswald himself, who knew both Gaelic and English,
came forward and acted as interpreter.
When St. Aidan died in 651, Iona sent St. Finan, another Irish
bishop, to succeed him. Finan spread the faith beyond the borders of
Northumbria and succeeded so well that he himself baptized Penda,
king of the Mid-Angles, and Sigebert, king of the East Saxons. Diuma
and Cellach, Irish monks, assisted by three Anglo-Saxon disciples of
St. Aidan, consolidated the mission to the Mercians.
ANGLIA: While Christianity was thus being restored in Northumbria,
other Irish apostles were teaching it in East Anglia. St. Fursey,
accompanied by his brother St. Foillan and St. Ultan and the priests
Gobham and Dicuil, landed in England in 633, and began to labor in
the eastern portions of Anglia. In his monastery at Burghcastle, in
Suffolk, the convert king Sigebert made his monastic profession, and
in the same house many heavenly visions were vouchsafed to its
founder.
The South Saxons had in Dicuil an apostle who founded the monastery
of Bosham in Sussex, whence originated the episcopal see of
Chichester. Another Irish monk named Maeldubh settled among the West
Saxons and became the founder of Malmesbury Abbey and the instructor
of the well-known St. Aldhelm.
Thus did Irish monks contribute to the conversion of Great Britain
and its many distant islands. They built up the faith by their holy
lives, their preaching, and their enthusiasm, and wisely provided for
its perpetuation by educating a native clergy and by the founding of
monastic institutions.
They were not yet satisfied, so they turned towards other lands to
bring to other peoples the glad tidings of salvation.
GAUL: In 590 St. Columbanus, a monk of Bangor in Ireland, accompanied
by twelve brethren, arrived in France, having passed through Britain.
After the example of St. Columcille in Caledonia, they traveled to
the court of Gontram, king of Burgundy, in order to secure his help
and protection. During the course of the journey they preached to the
people, and all were impressed with their modesty, patience, and
devotion. At that epoch Gaul was sadly in need of such missionaries,
for, owing partly to the invasion of barbarians and partly to
remissness on the part of the clergy, vice and impiety everywhere
prevailed. Columbanus, because of his zeal, sanctity, and learning,
was well fitted for the task that lay before him. One of his early
works in Burgundy was the founding of the monastery of Luxeuil, which
became the parent of many other monasteries founded either by himself
or by his disciples. Many holy men came from Ireland to join the
community, and so numerous did the monks of Luxeuil become that
separate choirs were formed to keep up perpetual praise--the "laus
perennis". But Columbanus did not remain at Luxeuil. In his strict
uncompromising preaching he spared not even kings, and he preferred
to leave his flourishing monastery rather than pass over in silence
the vices of the Merovingians. He escaped from the malice of
Brunehaut, and, being banished from Burgundy, made his way to
Neustria, and thence to Metz. Full of zeal, he resolved to preach the
faith to the pagans along the Rhine, and with this purpose set out
with a few of his followers. They proceeded as far as the Lake of
Zurich, and finally established themselves at Bregentz, on the Lake
of Constance.
By this time his disciple St. Gall had learned the Alemannian
dialect, which enabled him to push forward the work of
evangelization. But Columbanus felt that he was called to labor in
other lands while vigor remained to him, so, bidding his favorite
follower farewell, he crossed the Alps and arrived at Milan in
northern Italy. King Agilulph and his queen, Theodelinda, gave the
Irish abbot a reverent and kind welcome. His zeal was still unspent,
and he worked much for the conversion of the Lombard Arians. Here he
founded, between Milan and Genoa, the monastery of Bobbio, which as a
centre of knowledge and piety was long the light of northern Italy.
In this monastery he died in the year 615, but not before the arrival
of messengers from King Clothaire, inviting him to return to Luxeuil,
as his enemies were now no more. But he could not go; all he asked
was protection for his dear monks at Luxeuil.
It has been said most truly that Ireland never sent a greater son to
do God's work in foreign lands than Columbanus. The fruit of his
labors remained; and for centuries after his death his influence was
widely felt throughout Europe, especially in France and Italy. His
zeal for the interests of God was unbounded, and this was the secret
of his immense power. Some of his writings have come down to us, and
comprise his Rule for Monks, his Penitential, sixteen short sermons,
six letters, and several poems, all in Latin. His letters are of much
value as evidence of Ireland's ancient belief in papal supremacy.
SWITZERLAND: Gall, Columbanus's disciple, remained in Switzerland. In
a fertile valley, lying between two rivers and surrounded by hills,
he laid the beginnings of the great abbey which afterwards bore his
name and became one of the most famous monasteries in Christendom.
St. Gall spent thirty years of his life in Helvetia, occupying
himself in teaching, preaching, and prayer. He succeeded where others
had failed, and that which was denied to Columbanus was reserved for
Gall, his disciple, and the latter is entitled the Apostle of
Alemannia.
Other districts had their Irish missionaries and apostles. Not far
from St. Gall, at Seckingen, near Basle, St. Fridolin was a pioneer
in the work of evangelization.
Towards the close of the seventh century St. Kilian, an Irishman,
with his companions, Totnan and Colman, arrived in Franconia. He was
martyred in Würtzburg, where he is honored as patron and apostle.
Sigisbert, another Irish follower of St. Columbanus, spread the faith
among the half-pagan people of eastern Helvetia, and founded the
monastery of Dissentis in Rhaetia.
St. Ursanne, a little town on the boundaries of Switzerland, took its
origin from another disciple of St. Columbanus.
OTHER APOSTLES AND FOUNDERS: Desire for solitary life drew St. Fiacre
to a hermitage near Meaux, where he transformed wooded glades into
gardens to provide vegetables for poor people. This charity has
earned for Fiacre the title of patron saint of gardeners.
St. Fursey, the illustrious apostle of East Anglia, crossed over to
France, where he travelled and preached continuously. He built a
monastery at Lagny-sur-Marne, and was about to return to East Anglia
when he died at Mézerolles, near Doullens. St. Gobham followed his
master's example, and like him evangelized and founded monasteries.
St. Etto (Zé) acted in like manner. St. Foillan and St. Ultan,
brothers of St. Fursey, became apostles in southern Brabant.
The monastery of Honau, on an island near Strasburg, and that of
Altomünster, in Bavaria, owe their foundation to the Irish monks
Tuban and Alto, respectively.
Not far from Luxeuil was the Abbey of Lure, another great Irish
foundation, due to Deicolus (Desle, Dichuill), a brother of St. Gall
and a disciple of St. Columbanus. So important was this house
considered in later times that its abbot was numbered among the
princes of the Holy Roman Empire.
Rouen, in Normandy, felt the influence of the Irish monks through the
instrumentality of St. Ouen; and the monasteries of Jouarre, Rebais,
Jumièges, Leuconaus, and St. Vandrille were due at least indirectly
to Columbanus or his disciples.
Turning to Belgium, it is recorded that St. Romold preached the faith
in Mechlin, and St. Livinus in Ghent. Both came from Ireland.
St. Virgilius, a voluntary exile from Erin, "for the love of Christ",
established his monastery at Salzburg, in Austria. He became bishop
there, and died in 781.
Moreover, the Celtic Rule of Columbanus was carried into Picardy by
St. Valery, St. Omer, St. Bertin, St. Mummolin, and St. Valdelenus;
but the Irish Caidoc and Fricor had already preceded them, their work
resulting in the foundation of the Abbey of St. Riquier.
ITALY: Something yet remains to be said of the monks of Ireland in
Italy. Anterior to St. Columbanus's migration, his fellow countryman,
St. Frigidian (or Fridian), had taken up his abode in Italy at Monte
Pisana, not far from the city of Lucca, where he became famed for
sanctity and wisdom. On the death of the bishop of Lucca, Frigidian
was compelled to occupy the vacant see. St. Gregory the Great wrote
of him that "he was a man of rare virtue". His teachings and holy
life not only influenced the lives of his own flock, but brought to
the faith many heretics and pagans. In Lucca this Celtic apostle is
still honored under the name of St. Frediano.
St. Pellegrinus is another Irish saint who sought solitude at
Garfanana in the Apennines; and Cathaldus, a Waterford saint, in 680,
became Bishop of Taranto, which he governed for many years with zeal
and great wisdom. His co-worker was Donatus, his brother, who founded
the church at Lecce in the Kingdom of Naples.
Of the two learned Irishmen, Clemens and Albinus, who resided in
France in the eighth century, Albinus was sent into Italy, where at
Pavia he was placed at the head of the school attached to St.
Augustine's monastery. Dungal, his compatriot, was a famous teacher
in the same city. Lothair thus ordained concerning him: "We desire
that at Pavia, and under the superintendence of Dungal, all students
should assemble from Milan, Brescia, Lodi, Bergamo, Novara, Vercelli,
Tortona, Acqui, Genoa, Asti, Como."
It was this same Dungal who presented the Bangor psalter to Bobbio;
therefore it may be reasonably conjectured that he came from the very
monastery that produced Columbanus, Gall, and Comgall.
Fiesole, in Tuscany, venerates two Irish eighth-century saints,
Donatus and Andrew. The former was educated at Iniscaltra, and Andrew
was his friend and disciple. After visiting Rome, they lingered at
Fiesole. Donatus was received with great honor by clergy and people
and was requested to fill their vacant bishopric. With much
hesitation he took upon himself ihe burden, which he bore for many
years. His biographer says of him that "he was liberal in almsgiving,
sedulous in watching, devout in prayer, excellent in doctrine, ready
in speech, holy in life." Andrew, who was his deacon, founded the
church and monastery of St. Martin in Mensola, and is known in
Fiesole as St. Andrew of Ireland, or St. Andrew the Scot, that is,
the Irishman.
HOSPITALIA: Thus Irish monks were to be found in France, Belgium,
Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, and even in Bulgaria. So numerous
were they and so frequent their travels through the different
countries of Europe that hospices were founded to befriend them.
These institutions were known as "Hospitalia Scottorum" ("Hospices
for the Irish"), and their benefactors were not only pious laymen but
the highest ecclesiastical authorities. Sometimes the hospices were
diverted to purposes other than those originally intended, and then
Church Councils would intervene in favor of the lawful inheritors.
Thus in 845 we read that the Council of Meaux ordered the hospices in
France to be restored to the dispossessed Irishmen. In the twelfth
century Ireland still continued to send forth a constant succession
of monk-pilgrims, renowned for faith, austerity, and piety.
RATISBON: Special monasteries were erected to be peopled by the
Irish. The most renowned of these dates from 1067, when Marianus
Scotus ("Marianus the Irishman"), with his companions, John and
Candidus, left his native land and arrived in Bavaria. These holy men
were welcomed at Ratisbon by the Bishop Otto; and on the advice of
Murcherat, an Irish recluse, took up their residence near St. Peter's
church at the outskirts of the city. Novices flocked from Ireland to
join them and a monastery was erected to receive the community. In a
short time this had to be replaced by a still larger one, which was
known to future ages as the Abbey of St. James's of the Scots (that
is, Irish) at Ratisbon. How prolific was this parent foundation is
evidenced from its many offshoots, the only surviving monasteries on
the continent for many centuries intended for Irish brethren. These,
besides St. James's at Erfurt and St. Peter's at Ratisbon, comprised
St. James's at Würtzburg, St. Giles's at Nuremberg, St. Mary's at
Vienna, St. James's at Constance, St. Nicholas's at Memmingen, Holy
Cross at Eichstatt, a Priory at Kelheim and another at Oels in
Silesia, all of which were founded during the twelfth or thirteenth
century, and formed a Benedictine congregation approved of by Pope
Innocent III., and presided over by the Abbot of Ratisbon. These
Irish houses, with their long lines of Celtic abbots, in the days of
their prosperity did much work that was excellent and civilizing, and
rightly deserve a remembrance in the achievements of Ireland's
ancient missionaries.
Ratisbon and its dependent abbeys, as is set forth in the papal
briefs of 1218, possessed priories in Ireland, and, from these,
novices were usually obtained.
But evil days came for the Congregation of St. James, and now it is
extinct. The subjugation of Ireland to England, says Wattenbach,
contributed no doubt to the rapid decline of the Scotic (that is,
Irish) monasteries. For from Ireland they had up till then been
continually receiving fresh supplies of strength. In this their
fatherland the root of their vitality was to be found. Loss of
independence involved loss of enterprise.
SCHOLARSHIP AND INFLUENCE: Irish monks were not only apostles of
souls, but also masters of intellectual life. Thus in the seventh
century the Celtic monastery of Luxeuil became the most celebrated
school in Christendom. Monks from other houses and sons of the
nobility crowded to it. The latter were clearly not intended for the
cloister, but destined for callings in the world.
There were outstanding men among these missionaries from Ireland. St.
Virgilius of Salzburg in the eighth century taught the sphericity of
the earth and the existence of the Antipodes. It was this same
teaching that Copernicus and later astronomers formulated into the
system now in vogue.
St. Columcille himself was a composer of Latin hymns and a penman of
no mean order, as the Book of Kells, if written by him, sufficiently
proves. In all the monasteries which he founded, provision was made
for the pursuit of sacred learning and the multiplication of books by
transcription. The students of his schools were taught classics,
mechanical arts, law, history, and physics. They improved the methods
of husbandry and gardening; supplied the people, whom they helped to
civilize, with implements of labor; and taught them the use of the
forge, an accomplishment belonging to almost every Irish monk.
The writings of Adamnan, who spent most of his life outside his
native land, show that he was familiar with the best Latin authors,
and had a knowledge of Greek as well. His "Vita S. Columbae" ("Life
of St. Columcille") has made his name immortal as a Latin writer. His
book "De Locis Sanctis" ("On the Holy Places") contains information
he received from the pilgrim bishop Arculfus, who had been driven by
a tempest to take refuge with the monks of Iona. On account of the
importance of the writings of Adamnan and because of his influence in
secular and ecclesiastical affairs of importance, few will question
his right to a distinguished place among the saintly scholars of the
West.
Irish monks, abroad as well as at home, were pre-eminently students
and exponents of Holy Scripture. Sedulius wrote a commentary on the
Epistles of St. Paul; John Scotus Erigena composed a work, "De
Praedestinatione" ("Concerning Predestination"); Dungal was not only
an astronomer, but also an excellent theologian, as is clear from his
defence of Catholic teaching on the invocation of saints and the
veneration of their relics. His knowledge of Sacred Scripture and of
the Fathers is exceedingly remarkable.
St. Columbanus, besides other works, is said to have composed an
exposition of the Psalms, which is mentioned in the catalogue of St.
Gall's library, but which cannot now be identified with certainty.
The writings of this abbot are said to have brought about a more
frequent use of confession both in the world and in monasteries; and
his legislation regarding the Blessed Sacrament fostered eucharistic
devotion.
Marianus Scotus is the author of a commentary on the Psalms, so
precious that rarely was it allowed to pass beyond the walls of the
monastic library. His commentary on St. Paul's Epistles is regarded
as his most famous production. Herein he shows acquaintance with
Saints Jerome, Augustine, Gregory, and Leo, with Cassiodorus, Origen,
Alcuin, Cassian, and Peter the Deacon. He completed the work on the
17th May, 1079, and ends the volume by asking the reader to pray for
the salvation of his soul.
TRANSCRIPTION: In all the monasteries a vast number of scribes were
continually employed in multiplying copies of the Sacred Scriptures.
These masterpieces of calligraphy, written by Irish hands, have been
scattered throughout the libraries of Europe, and many fragments
remain to the present day. The beauty of these manuscripts is praised
by all, and the names of the best transcribers often find mention in
monastic annals. The work was irksome, but it was looked upon as a
privilege and meritorious.
It remains to speak of that glorious monument of the Irish monks, the
abbey of St. Gall, in Switzerland. It was here that Celtic influence
was most felt and endured the longest. Within its walls for centuries
the sacred sciences were taught and classic authors studied. Many of
its monks excelled as musicians and poets, while others were noted
for their skill in calligraphy and the fine arts. The library was
only in its infancy in the eighth century, but gradually it grew, and
eventually became one of the largest and richest in the world. The
brethren were in correspondence with all the learned houses of France
and Italy, and there was constant mutual interchange of books, sacred
and scientific, between them.
They manufactured their own parchment from the hides of the wild
beasts that roamed in the forests around them, and bound their books
in boards of wood clamped with iron or ivory.
Such was the monastery of St. Gall, which owes its inception to the
journey through Europe of the great Columbanus and his
monk-companions--men whose lives, according to Bede, procured for the
religious habit great veneration, so that wherever they appeared they
were received with joy, as God's own servants. "And what will be the
reward," asks the biographer of Marianus Scotus, "of these
pilgrim-monks who left the sweet soil of their native land, its
mountains and hills, its valleys and its groves, its rivers and pure
fountains, and went like the children of Abraham without hesitation
into the land which God had pointed out to them?" He answers thus:
"They will dwell in the house of the Lord with the angels and
archangels of God forever; they will behold the God of gods in Sion,
to whom be honor and glory for ever and ever."