THIS eminent saint of the ancient church of North Britain, was of royal
blood among the Picts, or original inhabitants of that country, and born
about the year 516. He was placed very young under the discipline of St.
Servanus, bishop and abbot of Culros, a monastery, situated upon the
frith which divides Lothian from Fife. By this holy prelate he was
trained up in the perfect spirit of Christian meekness and piety. For
his innocence and great virtues he was beloved by his master, and all
who were acquainted {138} with that religious family, above all his
fellow-disciples, for which reason he was called Munghu, or Mungho,
which in the language of that country signified "one dearly beloved;"
and this is the name which the Scots usually give him to this day. When
he was grown up, by the direction of St. Servanus, he retired to a place
called Glasghu, where he led a solitary life in great abstinence, till
the clergy and people earnestly demanded him for their bishop. He was
consecrated by an Irish bishop, invited over for that purpose, and fixed
his see at Glasghu, or Glasco, where he assembled a numerous company of
religious brethren, who formed their rule of life upon the model of the
primitive Christians at Jerusalem. The saint's diocese was of vast
extent, reaching from sea to sea, and being wild and uncultivated,
afforded continual exercise for his zeal and patience; he travelled
always on foot, sparing no pains to spread the light of the gospel among
the unbelievers, of whom he converted and baptized great numbers. The
Pelagian heresy having taken deep root among the Christians in those
parts, he so vigorously opposed that fatal, growing evil, as entirely to
banish that hydra out of the church of the Picts. Besides the recital of
the whole Psalter, he performed every day several other exercises of
devotion; lived in a constant union of his soul with God, and by
perpetual abstinence, rigorous fasts, and other extraordinary
austerities, he made his whole life an uninterrupted course of penance.
Every Lent he retired from the sight and conversation of men, into some
desert, to hold a close communication with God in solitude. As both in
his virtues and labors he imitated the apostles, so God was pleased to
authorize his preaching, by conferring on him an apostolic grace of the
miraculous powers. Out of his monks and disciples, he sent many
missionaries to preach the faith in the north of Scotland, in the isles
of Orkney, in Norway, and Iceland.
The form of government among the Straith-Cluid Britons and the
Cumbrians, the latter inhabiting the country from the Picts' wall, to
the Ribble in Lancashire, was in part aristocratical; for many petty
lords or princes enjoyed so great authority in their respective
territories, as often to wage war among themselves: yet they all obeyed
one monarch, who usually resided at Alcluyd, or Dunbritton. Besides the
feuds and quarrels of particular chieftains and their clans, there
happened about that time several revolutions in the monarchy. We learn
from the book entitled the Triades, that when St. Kentigern was made
bishop of Glasco, Gurthmel Wledig was king of the North Britons, and
contemporary with Arthur. He was succeeded by Rydderch, surnamed Hael,
i.e. _The Liberal_, who vanquished his enemies and rivals in war,
especially by the great victory of Arderyth, in 577.[1] He was a
religious and deserving prince, and his magnificence, generosity, and
other virtues, are extolled by the ancient author of the Triades, by
Merlin, Taliessin, the old laws of the Britons, and the authors of the
lives of St. Kentigern and St. Asaph. This prince, however, was
afterwards obliged by rebellious subjects, under Morcant Mawr, and
Aeddon, surnamed Uraydog, or _The Treacherous_, to fly into Ireland. The
impious Morcant (as he is styled in the fragment of St. Asaph's life,
extant in Coch-Asaph) usurped the throne of the Straith-Cluid Britons;
but the Cumbrians, who dwelt on the south side of the wall, were
protected by Urien, lord of Rheged, a nobleman who had lived at the
court of king Arthur, and whose great qualities are celebrated by the
pens of Lhowarch-Hen, (his cousin-german,) Taliessin, and the author of
the Triades. In the beginning of the usurpation of Morcant Mawr, St.
Kentigern was obliged to fly into Wales, where he stayed some time with
St. David, at Menevia, {139} till Cathwallain, (uncle to king Maelgun
Gwynedh,[2]) a religious prince of part of Denbighshire, bestowed on him
the land at the meeting of the rivers Elwy and Cluid, on which he built
a famous monastery and school, called from the river Elwy, Llan-Elwy, or
absolutely Elgwy, where a great number of disciples and scholars soon
put themselves under his direction. St. Kentigern was here when St.
David died, in 546, or rather in 544, when the first of March fell on a
Tuesday.[3] After the death of the usurper Morcant, Rydderch returned
from Ireland, and recovered his crown, and St. Kentigern, leaving his
school to the care of St. Asaph, (whose name the town, which was raised
at Elgwy, bears to this day,) went back to Glasco, taking with him
several hundreds of his scholars; their number having probably been much
increased after the death of Daniel, bishop of Bangor, which happened
between the years 542 and 545. The return of St. Kentigern to his see,
is generally placed about the year 560, nor can it be placed later,
since in 565 he had a conference with St. Columbo, when that holy man
came over to Scotland, in order to convert the northern Picts, to whom
St. Kentigern had already sent missionaries.[4] Wharton therefore justly
places the residence of St. Kentigern in Wales, from the year 543 to
560.[5] King Rydderch powerfully seconded the zeal of our saint in all
his undertakings, being his constant friend and protector; as were the
two princes who afterward succeeded him, Guallauc, (who seems to have
been his son,) and Morcant Mwynfawn, (who was certainly his brother.)
The valor of Rydderch, and these two successors, which is highly
commended by an ancient author in Nennius, and other British historians,
was the bulwark of their dominions against the inroads of the Saxons.
St. Kentigern employed his zeal all this time, with wonderful success,
in correcting abuses, reforming the manners of his flock, and
propagating the faith; was favored with a wonderful gift of miracles,
and died in 601, aged eighty-five years. His tomb, in his titular church
at Glasco, was famous for miracles, and his name was always most
illustrious in the Scottish calendars. See his ancient life, Leland de
Scriptor. Usher, Ant. c. 15. Hector Boetius, Leslie, &c.
Footnotes:
1. Vaughn's Dissert. on the British Chron. Carte. t. 1, p. 211.
2. See Notes on St. Gildas and St. David.
3. Usher, Ant. Brit. c. 14.
4. Vit. S. Kentigerni. Usher, Antiqu. c. 15, p. 358.
5. Wharton de Episcopis Asaphensibus, pp. 300, 302.
This is also the Octave of the Epiphany.[1] The principal object of the
devotion of the church on this day is the baptism of our Saviour by St.
John in the Jordan. We learn from the great council of Oxford, in
1222,[2] that it was then kept a holyday of the third class; on which
all were obliged to hear mass, though they might work afterwards. In
France and Germany all servile work was forbidden on it, by the
capitulars of Lewis le Debonnaire.[3] The emperor Theodosius II. forbids
all civil courts and transactions during eight days before the festival
of the Epiphany, and as many after it.
Footnotes:
1. The church prolongs more solemn festivals during eight days, with a
daily continuation of the sacred office proper to each such
festival. This term is called its octave, and the eighth day is
called the octave-day.
2. Can. 8.
3. L. 2, de feriis.
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