MELLIFONT TAKES ROOT AND FOUNDS NEW HOUSES OF THE ORDER.
"Even thus of old
Our ancestors, within the still domain
Of vast Cathedral or Conventual church,
Their vigils kept; where tapers day and night
On the dim altars burned continually,
In token that the House was evermore
Watching to God. Religious men were they:
Nor would their reason tutored to aspire
Above this transitory world, allow
That there should pass a moment of the year
When in their land the Almighty's service ceased."
(_Wordsworth._)
The history of Mellifont may be justly said to reflect the concurrent
history of Ireland. It is so intimately connected and interwoven with that
of our country, that they touch at many points, and we can collect matter
for both as we travel back along the stream of time and observe the
footprints on the sands, where saint, and king, chieftain, bishop, and
holy monk, have left their impress and disappeared, to be succeeded later
on by the baron and his armed retainers. How different the Ireland of
to-day from the Ireland that Christian, the first Abbot of Mellifont,
beheld when he and his companions settled down in the little valley, in
the land of the O'Carroll! How many changes have passed over it since,
leaving it the poorest country in Europe, though one of the richest in
natural resources! But these considerations appertain to the politician;
they do not lie within the scope of the present writer. Next to building
their church and monastery, the first care of the monks on their immediate
arrival at Mellifont, was to prepare the soil for tillage; for, judging
from the nature of the surroundings, it must have been overrun with dense
brushwood, unbroken, save at distant intervals, by patches of green sward.
Most houses of the Order in Ireland had to contend with similar conditions
at their foundation; of Dunbrody, Co. Wexford, we are expressly told, that
the monk sent by the Abbot of Buildewas to examine the site of the future
monastery, found on it only _a solitary oak surrounded by a swamp_. But
these old monks were adepts in the reclamation of waste lands, and soon
the hills rang with the instruments of husbandry. Pleasant gardens and
fertile meadows rewarded their toil, and their example gave a stimulus to
agriculture, which, till then, was neglected by a pastoral people. At the
same time, they manufactured bricks in the locality, and employed them in
their buildings. Then rumour on her many wings flew far and near, and
spread the fame of the new-comers to that remote valley, and soon the
monastery was crowded with visitors intent on seeing the strangers and
observing closely their manner of life. The sight pleased them. The ways
of these monks accorded with the traditions handed down of the inhabitants
of the ancient monasteries, before the depredations of the Danes, and the
hearts of a highly imaginative race, with quick spiritual instincts, were
attracted towards St. Bernard's children. Immediately began an influx of
postulants for the Cistercian habit, and every day brought more, till the
stalls in the Choir were filled, and Abbot Christian's heart overflowed
with gladness. In consultation with St. Malachy, Abbot Christian decided
on founding another monastery, as his own could no longer contain the now
greatly-increased community. A new colony was sent forth from it, and thus
in two years from the foundation of Mellifont, was established "Bective on
the Boyne." Some say that Newry, which was endowed by Maurice M'Loughlin,
King of Ireland, at St. Malachy's earnest entreaty, was the first
filiation of Mellifont. The charter of its (Newry) foundation happily has
come down to us, but it bears no date. However, O'Donovan, who translated
it into English from the Latin original in MS. in the British Museum, says
it was written in 1160. As it is the only extant charter granted to a
monastery by a native king before the Invasion, a copy of the translation
is given in the Appendix.
Under the patronage, then, of St. Malachy and the native princes, and by
the skill, industry, and piety of its inmates, Mellifont rose and
prospered, and merited an exalted place in popular esteem. The monastery
was in course of construction, and their new church nearing completion,
when a heavy trial befell the monks in the death of their unfailing
friend, wise counsellor, and loved father, St. Malachy, which took place
at Clairvaux, in the arms of St. Bernard, A.D. 1148. St. Bernard delivered
a most pathetic discourse over the remains of his friend, and wrote a
consoling letter to the Irish Cistercians, condoling with them on the loss
they and the whole Irish Church had sustained on the death of St. Malachy.
He, later on, wrote his life, and willed, that as they tenderly loved each
other in life, so in death they should not be separated. Their tombs were
side by side in the church of Clairvaux, till their relics, enshrined in
magnificent altars, with many costly lamps burning before them, were
scattered at the French Revolution, and the rich shrines were smashed and
plundered. Portions of their bodies were, however, preserved by the good,
pious people of the locality, and their heads are now preserved with
honour in the cathedral of Troyes, France. The writers of the Cistercian
Order claim St. Malachy as having belonged to them; for, they say that
being previously a Benedictine, he received the Cistercian habit from St.
Bernard during one of his visits to Clairvaux. They add that St. Bernard
exchanged cowls with him, and that he wore St. Malachy's ever after on
solemn festivals. The Saint's life is so well known that it needs no
further notice here. Before his death, he saw three houses founded from
Mellifont, namely, Bective, Newry, and Boyle.
Two years after St. Malachy's death, that is, in 1150, the monks of
Mellifont experienced another serious loss when their venerated Abbot,
Christian, was appointed Bishop of Lismore, and Legate of the Holy See in
Ireland, by Pope Eugenius III., who had been his fellow-novice in
Clairvaux. Christian's brother, Malchus, was elected to the abbatial
office in his stead. Malchus proved himself a very worthy superior, and
Mellifont continued on her prosperous course, so much so, that in 1151, or
nine years from its own establishment, it could reckon as many as six
important filiations, namely, Bective, Newry, Boyle, Athlone, Baltinglas,
and Manister, or Manisternenay, Co. Limerick.
In 1152, St. Bernard passed to his reward, after having founded 160 houses
of his Order, having edified Christendom by the splendour of his virtues,
and astonished it by his rare natural gifts, which elevated him far above
all his contemporaries. From the moment that he accepted the pastoral
staff as Abbot of Clairvaux, till his death, that is, during the space of
forty years, he was the figurehead of his Order in whom its whole history
was merged during that long period. In fact, he became so identified with
the Order to which he belonged, that it was often called from him,
Bernardine; or, of Claraval, from his famous monastery; and it was in a
great measure owing to his influence, and in grateful acknowledgment of
the splendid services which he rendered the Church in critical times, that
Sovereign Pontiffs heaped so many favours on it. He was the fearless and
successful champion of the oppressed in all grades of society, and all
looked up to him as their guide and instructor. And yet this paragon of
wisdom, this stern judge of the evil-doer, was remarkable for his
naturalness and affectionate disposition. On the occasion of his brother
Gerard's death, he attempted to preach a continuation of his discourses on
the Canticle of Canticles, but his affection for his brother overcame him,
and after giving vent to his grief, he delivered a most touching panegyric
on his beloved Gerard. To the last moment of his life he entertained a
most vivid recollection of his mother, and cherished the tenderest
affection towards her memory. It may be doubted, that any child of the
Church ever defended her cause with such loyalty and success. One stands
amazed on reading what the Rev. Mr. King writes in his _Church History of
Ireland_, where he taxes St. Bernard with superstition, because the Saint
relates in his Life of St. Malachy, how that holy man wrought certain
miracles. So evident were St. Bernard's own miracles, that Luden, a German
Protestant historian, calls them "incontestable." 'Twere supreme folly to
accuse a man of St. Bernard's endowments and culture, of the weakness that
admits or harbours superstition, which generally flows from ignorance, or
incapacity to sift matters, and to test them in their general or
particular bearings. On the whole, Protestant writers speak and write
approvingly of him.
In that year (1152), a Synod was held at Mell, which, according to Ussher,
is identical with Mellifont, though now a suburb of Drogheda is known by
that name. Other Irish writers say that this Synod was held at Kells. At
it Christian, then Bishop of Lismore and Legate of the Holy See, presided.
In the _Annals of the Four Masters_ it is related, that a "Synod was
convened at Drogheda, by the bishops of Ireland, with the successor of
Patrick, and the Cardinal, John Paparo," etc. O'Donovan, quoting Colgan,
tells us that Mellifont was known as the "Monastery at Drogheda."
In this same year occurred the elopement of Dervorgilla, wife of Tiernan
O'Rourke, Prince of Brefny, with Dermod M'Murchad, King of Leinster. She
is styled the Helen of Erin, as it is commonly supposed that her flight
with Dermod occasioned the English Invasion. When O'Rourke heard of her
departure, he was "marvellously troubled and in great choler, but more
grieved for the shame of the fact than for sorrow or hurt, and, therefore,
was fully determined to be avenged." It is mentioned in the _Annals of
Clonmacnois_ that O'Rourke had treated her harshly some time previous, and
that her brother M'Laughlin connived at her conduct. Dervorgilla (which
means in Irish, The True Pledge), was forty-four years of age at the time,
whilst O'Rourke (who was blind of one eye) and M'Murchad, were each of
them sixty-two years old. O'Rourke was the most strenuous opponent of the
English at the Invasion, and was treacherously slain by a nephew of
Maurice Fitzgerald at the Hill of Ward, near Athboy, in 1172. He was
decapitated, and his head hung over the gates of Dublin for some time. It
was afterwards sent to King Henry, in England.
From 1152 to 1157 the monks attracted no attention worth chronicling; for
during these five years they passed by unnoticed in our Annals. It is,
however, certain that they were busily engaged in the completion of their
church and in making preparations for its solemn consecration. And what a
day of rejoicing that memorable day of the consecration was, when
Mellifont beheld the highest and holiest in Church and State assembled to
do her honour! This ceremony far eclipsed any that had been witnessed
before that in Ireland. What commotion and bustle filled the abbey, the
valley, and the surrounding hills! A constantly increasing crowd came
thronging to behold a sight which gladdened their hearts and aroused their
piety and admiration. For, there stood the Ard Righ (High King) of Erin,
surrounded by his princes and nobles in all the pride and pageantry of
state, the Primate Gelasius, and Christian, the Papal Legate, with
seventeen other bishops, and almost all the abbots and priests in Ireland.
Then the solemn rite was performed, and many precious offerings were made
to the monks and to their church--gold and lands, cattle, and sacred
vessels, and ornaments for the altars, were bestowed with a generosity
worthy of the princely donors. O'Melaghlin gave seven-score cows and
three-score ounces of gold to God and the clergy, for the good of his
soul. He granted them, also, a townland, called Finnabhair-na-ninghean, a
piece of land, according to O'Donovan, which lies on the south side of the
Boyne, opposite the mouth of the Mattock, in the parish of Donore, Co.
Meath. O'Carroll gave sixty ounces of gold, and the faithless but now
repentant Dervorgilla presented a gold chalice for the High Altar, and
cloths for the other nine altars of the church.
Mellifont looked charming on that propitious occasion, and presented a
truly delightful picture, with its beautiful church and abbey buildings
glistening in the sun in all the purity and freshness of the white, or
nearly white, sandstone of which they were composed. Yet, beautiful as
were the material buildings, far more so were those stones of the
spiritual edifice, the meek and prayerful cenobites, who were gathered
there to adore and serve their God in spirit and in truth. From that
valley there arose a pleasing incense to the Lord--the prayers, and hymns,
and canticles, which unceasingly resounded in that church from hearts
truly devoted to God's worship, and dead to the world and themselves.