15. For the sake of thy charity, which is the head and the top of all
the testaments, ut dicitur, caritas super exaltat omnia.
16. For the sake of thy royal kingdom, with all its rewards and
glorious gifts and music.
17. For the sake of thy mercy, and thy forgiveness, and thy loving
friendship, thy own bountifulness, which is more extensive than all
wealth, that I may obtain the forgiveness and the annihilation of my
past sins from the beginning of my life to this day, after the words
of David, who said: Beati quorum remissæ sunt iniquitates et quorum
tecta sunt peccata, id est: dispense, and give, and bestow thy holy
grace and thy holy spirit to defend and shelter me from all my present
and future sins; and to light up in me all truth, and to retain me
in that truth to the end of my life, and that thou receive me at the
end of my life into Heaven, in the unity of illustrious patriarchs
and prophets, in the unity of Apostles and Disciples, in the unity of
Angels and Archangels, in the unity which excels all unities, that is,
in the unity of the bright, holy, all-powerful Trinity, Father, and
Son, and Holy Spirit. For I can effect nothing unless I effect it in
the language of the Apostle Paul, who said: Quis me liberavit a corpore
mortis hujus peccati nisi gratia tua Domine Jesu Christe qui regnas in
secula seculorum. Amen.
* * * * *
The dogmatic importance of this document is very great, as showing the
belief of the Church of Ireland on many points, which are now set down
by Protestants as of recent introduction.
We are struck in the first part with the invocation of the saints,
whose powerful intercession is asked, not with God the Father only, but
with the Son of God made man, the Mediator of God and man, Christ our
Lord; and the intercession with Him is asked of the saints of the Old
Testament as well as of the New.
In the nine degrees of the Church on Earth, (3) we find allusion to the
four minor and three greater orders, of which the names are given by
the Council of Trent; and to them are added the office of bishop, which
is the completion of the priesthood, and that of psalm-singer, which,
as we are told by an ancient Irish canon, was given to any clerk, not
by episcopal ordination, but by delegation from a priest.
The nine choirs of blessed spirits (5) are those mentioned by Saint
Gregory (Hom. 34 in Evang. ante med.), and are enumerated almost in
the same order: "Novem Angelorum ordines dicimus, quia videlicet
esse testante sacro eloquio scimus: Angelos, Archangelos, Virtutes,
Potestates, Principatus, Dominationes, Thronos, Cherubim, atque
Seraphim. Esse namque Angelos et Archangelos pene omnes sacri eloquii
paginae testantur. Cherubim vero atque Seraphim saepe, ut notum est,
libri Prophetarum loquuntur. Quatuor quoque ordinum nomina Paulus
Apostolus ad Ephesios enumerat, dicens: Supra omnem Principatum et
Potestatem et Virtutem et Dominationem. Qui rursus ad Colossenses
scribens, ait: Sive Throni, sive Potestates, sive Principatus,
sive Dominationes. Dum ergo illis quatuor, quae ad Ephesios dixit,
conjunguntur Throni, quinque sunt ordines; quibus dum Angeli et
Archangeli, Cherubim atque Seraphim, conjuncta sunt, proculdubio novem
esse Angelorum ordines inveniuntur". We ought, perhaps, to add that
the coincidence with Saint Gregory's enumeration is not, perhaps,
altogether casual, for there is reason to believe that in the eighth
century there was in Ireland a very extensive acquaintance with that
great pontiff's writings.
In the verses (9, 11) St. Colga clearly shows the feeling of the
ancient Church of Ireland with respect to the practice of holy
virginity, and in honouring the ever blessed Mother of God. "I beseech
the intercession with Thee of all thy sons of pure virginity, etc. I
beseech the intercession with Thee of all the perfect virgins of the
world, with the Virgin Mary, Thine own holy Mother, O Son of the truly
perfect Virgin Mary".
In verse (14) our saint seems to allude to the special honour in which
Saint Germanus of Auxerre was held in Ireland, perhaps on account of
his close connection with our holy Apostle, Saint Patrick. Saint Colga
invokes him along with some of the most distinguished saints of the
early Church; and as if to mark the great labours of that apostolic
man, the holy men with whom he joins him are all martyrs.
The honour to be shown to the monastic state is indicated by
associating (15) with all _the holy monks who made battle for thy sake
throughout the whole world_, the great names of Elias and Eliseus under
the Old Law, and of John the Baptist, Paul, the first hermit, and
Anthony, the first founder of the monastic state, in the New Testament.
In the next eight verses the prayer follows a chronological order: our
Saint first invokes the early patriarchs: Abel, Seth, etc., to Jacob.
He then calls upon the _chosen of the written Law_, including Moses,
Josue, etc., and the chosen of the law of the Prophets--Elias, Eliseus,
David, and Solomon. He then passes to the New Testament, begging the
intercession of _thine own holy Apostles_, and all the saints to the
end of the world. Saint James, "Frater Domini", is then mentioned as
first bishop of Jerusalem, which was the earliest of the Churches; then
follow all _the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city in
Rome_. After them mention is made of Mark the Evangelist, the founder
of the Church of Alexandria. And then, as if to sum up under one
heading the whole Church of Christ on Earth, and to indicate its chief
foundation and corner-stone after our Lord Himself, our Saint, still
addressing the Son of God, exclaims "I beseech the intercession with
Thee of all the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city, after
them, with the Apostle Peter". Were it not for this special invocation
of Saint Peter, it might seem strange that his name was omitted when
invoking the holy bishops of the Church of Rome; but our Saint seems
to wish to call upon him here, not in connection with any particular
Church, but in his relation to the whole ecclesiastical edifice, the
city of God, which is the Church.
In indicating the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city in
Rome, St. Colga follows the order of the Canon of the ancient Roman
Liturgy: Linus, Cletus, Clement, showing by this the close connection
of our ancient Church with the other churches of Europe, and especially
with the Church of Rome. Whether this be really the chronological
order, is (as all are aware) a _vexata questio_ among ecclesiastical
historians. Nearly all the monuments and authorities bearing on this
point set down Saint Linus as the immediate successor of the Prince of
the Apostles; and, although Saint Augustine (Epistola ad Generosum) and
Saint Optatus of Milevi (Lib. 2, adv. Parmenianum, cap. 3) give Saint
Clement as next in order to Saint Linus, still the weight of testimony
is in favour of the order followed by our Saint. Eusebius (Hist.
Eccles. lib. 3, cap. 16), says: "Per id tempus Clemens Romanam adhuc
gubernabat Ecclesiam, qui post Paulum et Petrum Episcopalis illius
dignitatis gradum obtinuit: Linus primus erat, secundus Anacletus".
From the concurrent testimony of almost all the ancient writers, Saint
Irenaeus, Eusebius, Saint Epiphanius, Saint Optatus, Saint Augustine,
etc., Anacletus and Cletus were one and the same person. A confirmation
of this ancient tradition, regarding the immediate successors of Saint
Peter, has been found within the last three years in the excavations
made by our indefatigable fellow-countryman, Father Mullooly, O.P.,
under the actual church of Saint Clement in Rome, of which he is
prior. In one of the frescoes which adorned the old church over which
the present basilica is raised, we find a picture of Saint Clement
enthroned by Saint Peter. The apostle has one foot on the step of the
throne upon which he is placing his disciple, while Saint Linus and
Saint Cletus stand by, as if assisting at the installation of one
who was their successor, as well as Saint Peter's. These paintings
were executed in the ninth century, during the pontificate of Pope
Nicholas I., of whom mention is made in another part of them. In this
representation of the enthronement by Saint Peter of Saint Clement,
although not his immediate successor, we seem to have a confirmation
of Tertullian's assertion: That Saint Clement was consecrated bishop
by the Prince of the Apostles. "Edant ergo", he says, speaking of the
heretics of his day, "edant ergo origines Ecclesiarium suarum evolvant
ordinem Episcoporum ita per successionis ab initio decurrentem,
ut primus ille Episcopus aliquem et Apostolis, vel Apostolicis
viris, qui tamen cum Apostolis perseveraverit, habuerit auctorem et
antecessorem. Hoc enim modo Ecclesiae Apostolicae census suos deferunt,
sicut Smyrnaeorum Ecclesia Polycarpum ab Joanne conlocatum refert,
sicut _Romanorum Clementem a Petro ordinatum itidem_, perinde utique
et ceterae exhibent, quos ab Apostolis in Episcopatu constitutos
Apostolici seminis traduces habeant" (Lib. de Praescript. cap. 32).
Linus, Cletus, and Clement were, therefore, the founders of the
ecclesiastical city of Rome after Peter, and as such are invoked by our
Saint; while Peter is the representative, the first of all the holy
bishops who founded the Church throughout the world; the chief of that
episcopacy, of which Saint Cyprian says: "Episcopatus unus est, cujus a
singulis in solidum pars tenetur".