ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT.
"Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day,
For what are men better than sheep and goats,
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God."
(_Lord Tennyson._)
At the time that Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen Harding were laying
the foundation of the Cistercian Order, in the dense forest of Cistercium,
or Citeaux, whence the Order derives its name, or to be more precise, in
1098, a lovely little boy eight years old, with golden hair and dove-like
eyes, and with nobility of birth stamped in every lineament of his
features, was playing in his father's chateau at Fontaines, near Dijon, in
France. This child of predilection was the great St. Bernard, who is
justly styled the Propagator of that Order which was then in a struggling
condition. It has become a proverb, "that the child is father of the man,"
and a very clever writer exclaims--"Blessed is the man whose infancy has
been watched over, kindled, and penetrated by the eyes of a tender and
holy mother." It was St. Bernard's singular privilege to have such a
mother, one who sedulously watched over his youthful days, and inspired
him with a love of all virtues. Hence we are told, that even in early
childhood, he evinced a love of piety that was remarkable, and that he
constituted his mother the grand model which he was bound to copy. He
considered it the summit of his ambition to do all things like his
mother--to pray like her, to give alms and visit the sick poor like her;
for this noble lady was wont to go along the roads unattended, carrying
medicine and nourishment to the indigent. He distinguished himself at the
public school where he received his education, and returned to the
paternal mansion where he soon after experienced his first great sorrow in
the death of his loving mother. He was now approaching manhood, and he
must needs select a state of life befitting his high birth. At that time,
only two professions were worthy of the consideration of young
noblemen--the Church or the Army. With Bernard's distinguished talents, a
bright and rosy future presented itself before his youthful imagination,
and then the eloquent persuasions of his relatives, who promised him their
powerful patronage, were not wanting to arouse his ambition; but, the
image of his saintly mother dispelled all dreams of promotion, and her
pious instructions, which sank deep into his young heart, acted as potent
antidotes against the allurements of worldly pomp and short-lived honours.
After much reflection he made up his mind to renounce all honours, and to
become a monk. By his irresistible pleadings he gained over his four
brothers, with other relatives and friends, to the number of thirty, and
at their head, presented himself at the gate of the Abbey of Citeaux,
where St. Stephen Harding joyfully admitted them. Two years later we find
him leaving that monastery as the Abbot of a new colony, on his way to
found Clairvaux, being then in his twenty-fifth year. Here, his light
could no longer remain hidden, but burst forth into a luminous flame
whose splendour aroused and powerfully influenced the whole Christian
world. The Bishop of Chalons, in whose diocese Clairvaux was situated, was
the first to discover the transcendent abilities and eloquence of the
youthful Abbot. At his request, St. Bernard consented to deliver a course
of sermons in the churches of his diocese, which were productive of
incalculable good, and spread the fame of the zealous preacher. Priests as
well as laymen, attached themselves to him and accompanied him to
Clairvaux on his return from those missions. One of the Saint's
biographers cries out--"How many learned men, how many nobles and great
ones of this earth, how many philosophers have passed from the schools or
academies of the world to Clairvaux to give themselves up to the
meditation of heavenly things and the practice of a divine morality." His
fame reached even to Ireland, and we are told that in this country the
little children were wont to ask for the badge of the Crusaders which the
Saint distributed. In a word, his voice was the most authoritative in
Europe. Kings and princes dreaded him, and accepted him as arbitrator in
their quarrels. Even Popes themselves sought his counsel. In his lifetime,
his own disciple, Bernard of Pisa, occupied the Chair of Peter, as
Eugenius III. It may be truthfully said, that St. Bernard reformed Europe
and infused a new spirit into the monastic orders. Even Luther does not
hesitate to place him in the forefront of all monks who lived in his time;
of him he writes: "Melius nec vixit nec scripsit quis in universo coetu
monachorum."
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 18. _From Photo by W.
Lawrence, Dublin._]
Whilst the Church in France was reaping the benefit of the holy Abbot's
preaching and example, a zealous Irish prelate was actively and
successfully engaged in eradicating vice which sprang up in this country,
as a consequence of the long-protracted wars with the Danes, and the
demoralising effects of intercourse with that people. Nevertheless,
Ireland had then its saints and scholars, and the ancient seats of
learning, such as Armagh, Bangor, Lismore, Clonard, and Clonmacnoise were
once more inhabited by numerous communities. This saintly prelate was St.
Malachy, who, being on his way to Rome, heard of the sanctity of the great
St. Bernard, and would fain pay him a visit. This visit would St. Malachy
have gladly prolonged; for then and there sprang up a mutual affection,
which, writes our own Tom Moore, "reflects credit on both." St. Malachy
was so enamoured with what he witnessed at Clairvaux, and particularly
with the wise discourses of the learned Abbot, that he determined to
become one of his disciples. Innocent II., who then ruled the flock of
Christ, on the Saint seeking his permission to retire to Clairvaux, would
not hearken to his request, but giving him many marks of his esteem,
appointed him his Legate in Ireland, and commanded him to return thither.
If St. Malachy might not live at Clairvaux in the midst of the fervent men
whom he there beheld earnestly intent in the great work of mortification
and expiation, he resolved, at least, to have a colony of them near him in
his own country, that by their prayers and example, they might promote
God's glory, and in a measure, repeat the glorious traditions of the
ancient monastic ages in Ireland. In furtherance of this happy project, he
singled out four of his travelling companions, whom he gave in charge to
St. Bernard, with these words: "I most earnestly conjure you to retain
these disciples, and instruct them in all the duties and observances of
the religious profession, that, hereafter they may be able to teach us."
On receiving an assurance of a hearty compliance from St. Bernard, he
took cordial leave of his friend and returned to Ireland. Not long after
he sent more of his disciples to join those whom he had already left at
Clairvaux, and on their arrival, St. Bernard wrote as follows: "The
Brothers who have come from a distant land, your letter and the staff you
sent me, have afforded me much consolation in the midst of the many
anxieties and cares that harass me.... Meanwhile, according to the wisdom
bestowed on you by the Almighty, select and prepare a place for their
reception, which shall be secluded from the tumults of the world, and
after the model of those localities which you have seen amongst us." The
place selected by St. Malachy as the site of the future monastery, was the
sequestered valley watered by the River Mattock, situated about three and
one half miles from Drogheda, Co. Louth, and much resembling Clairvaux,
which, too, was located in a valley, shut in by little hills on all sides.
Donogh O'Carroll, Prince of Oriel, the lord of the territory, freely
granted the site to God and SS. Peter and Paul, munificently endowed the
monastery with many broad acres, and supplied wood and stone for the
erection of the buildings. This grant was made in either 1140 or 1141. The
charter of endowment by O'Carroll has not been found.
It would appear from another letter of St. Bernard to St. Malachy, that he
had sent some monks from Clairvaux to make preparations for those who were
to immediately follow, and that already their number was augmented at
Mellifont by the accession of new members from the surrounding district,
who had joined them on their appearance in that locality. In this same
letter St. Bernard writes: "We send back to you your dearly-beloved son
and ours, Christian, as fully instructed as was possible in those rules
which regard our Order, hoping, moreover, that he will henceforth prove
solicitous for their observance." This Christian is commonly supposed to
have been archdeacon of the diocese of Down. He was certainly first Abbot
of Mellifont, and his name shall turn up in connection with important
national events later on. With Christian came a certain Brother Robert, a
Frenchman, a skilful architect, who constructed the monastery after the
model of Clairvaux.
That these were the pioneers of the Cistercian Order in Ireland cannot for
one moment be doubted, both from the very important fact, that the Abbot
of Mellifont took precedence of all the Abbots of his Order in this
country, and also, because it is an historical fact, that St. Mary's
Abbey, Dublin, the other claimant for priority, did not exchange the
Benedictine for the Cistercian Rule till, at earliest, 1148, when the
Abbot of Savigni in France, with the thirty houses of his Order
(Benedictine) subject to his jurisdiction, were admitted into the
Cistercian family by Pope Eugenius III., who presided at the General
Chapter of the Cistercians that year. St. Mary's was founded from
Buildewas, in Shropshire, and this latter was subject to Savigni.
Various reasons are assigned for the adoption by these ancient monks of
the name Mellifont, which signifies "The Honey Fountain." Some are of
opinion it had a spiritual signification, and had reference to the
abundance of blessings which would flow, and be diffused over the whole
country from this centre, through the unceasing and fervent intercessory
prayer of its holy inmates; for next to their own sanctification, their
neighbour's wants claimed and received their practical sympathy. Like
divine charity it gushed forth from hearts totally devoted to God's
service and interests, and this zeal would be halting and incomplete did
it not embrace the spiritual and temporal concerns of their fellow
mortals. Others derive the name from a limpid spring which supplied the
monks with a copious, unfailing stream of sweet water, which had its
source in Mellifont Park about one quarter of a mile distant, and which
was conducted by pipes through the various parts of the monastery. This
seems a very plausible account, and as the spring rose at a high level, it
had sufficient pressure to obviate the necessity of a cistern as was
erroneously supposed in connection with the Lavabo.
It was customary with the old Irish Cistercians to give their monasteries
symbolical names at their foundation, and these names often denoted some
local feature or peculiarity. Thus, Newry was called of the "Green Wood,"
from the abundance of yew trees around the monastery there; Corcomroe, Co.
Clare, was known under the title of the "Fertile Rock;" Baltinglas, Co.
Wicklow, as the "Valley of Salvation," etc.
It is said that the "Honey Fountain" had its source in Mellifont Park, but
it seems that few of the present generation living in the vicinity of
Mellifont know or appreciate its virtues. In the Ordnance Survey, it is
stated that it rose in Mellifont Park, which was formerly a wood, and that
to the north of the well, a few trees still remained at the time of the
Survey, when the farm belonged to a Mr. James Curran.