ST. CANICE, ABBOT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 40, 4 October 1900, Page 7

ST. CANICE, ABBOT.

St. Canice was a native of the north of Ireland, and was the son of an eminent poet named Laidee. He was sent to Britain while yet a youth, and placed under the care of Docue, under whom he is said to have acquired great learning. He next travelled in Italy, and after some time returned to Ireland. His missionary labors were chiefly confined to Upper C-Bsory, where he founded several monasteries, the principal of which was that of Achad-boe (the field of oxen), where he died about the year 600, in the seventy -second year of his age. St. Canice was not the first Bishop of Ossory, but St. Kairan, who is said to have been contemporary with St. Patrick, whom he met in Italy. The Cathedral of Kilkenny bears the name of St. Canice, though the See was not transferred there until about the end of the reign of Henry 11., under Felix O'Dulany, Bishop of Ossory. This Bishop laid the foundation of the present Cathedral, which was finally completed by Bishop St. Leger, who died in the year 1286. It is said that the shrine of St. Canice was placed in the new Cathedral. Hugh Mapleton, predecessor to Bishop St. Leger, who died in 1257, spaired no pains in building the Cathedral. He put in new windows, among which, that to the east was so elegant and of snch exquisite workmanship that there was nothing like it in Ireland. It was of stained glasp, with the history of the Gospel illustrated upon it. The Pope's Nuncio (Rinuccini) to the Confederation of Kilkenny, in 164,"), offered £700 for it, to carry it to Rome. It was entirely destroyed during the assault by Cromwell in 1650. Milo Baron Fitzgerald was consecrated Bishop of Ossory in 1527, but was deprived of his See during the spoliation of the religious by Henry VIII. In the year IV> % 2, John Bale, the first Protestant Bishop of Ossory, suceeeied him The diocese of Ossory formerly contained the whole county and city of Kilkenny, except the parishes of Kilmochill, bhanakill, Ullard, Powerstown, and Grague. It also contained the parish of Seir-Keran, in the King's County, and the entire barouy of Upper Ot,9ory in the Queen's County. There has been little of interest written about St. Kairan or St. Canice, though they have been noticed by old writers as men eminent for their sanctity and zeal in founding monasteries. St. Kairan first established the Episcopal See of Ossory at Seir-Keran about the close of the fifth century, from whence it was removed to Achad-boe by St. Canice, and finally to Kilkenny by Bishop O'Dulany. The following description of the remains of the Cathedral of Kilkenny is condensed from Ware : — ' It is a large Gothic pile, built in the form of a cross, 226 ft from east to wt\st, and 123 ft from north to south, being the largest church in the kingdom, except St. Patrick's and Christ Church, Dublin, and exceeds both in beauty. It is large, spacious, and magnificent. It hath two lateral and a central aisle. In St. Mary's Chapel there is a monument to David Roth, Catholic Bishop, who, on the flight of the Protestant Bishop in 1641, entered upon the See, under the protection of the Confederation. The monument is of black marble, highly wrought, and having effigies of St. Kairan, with mitre and crozier ; of St. Canice, with mitre, crozier. and monk's hood ; also the representation of Christ on the Cross, with a woman weeping on each side ; upon the top is a marble pedestal, on the side of which is I.H.S.'

BT, EDWARD THE CONI ESSOU. KING O\ ENGLAND.

Among the many saints who have adorned the English Church, no one perhaps has been more beloved and held in greater honor by his countrymen than King Edward, surnamed the Confessor. This great prince was son of Ethelred 11., and was driven into exile by the Danish usurper Canute, who had seized upon the throne of England on the death of Edmund Ironside. For many years Edward wandered from court to court, frequently in danper of his life through the machinations of his enemies, but at length in A.D. 1042, when he had attained the age of 40, he was unexpectedly called to England to occupy the throne of his fathers. Though Edward assumed the sceptre in moat difficult times, and seemed by his piety and simplicity better fitted for a cloister than a crown, yet never was there a reign more blest or a monarch more beloved. Even the turbulent Danes, who considered England their own by right of conquest, cheerfully submitted to his just and gentle rule. He was in fact the father of his people ; Mb only thought was to alleviate their burdens, relieve their miseries, and promote in every way their prosperity and happiness. But Edward wa« not only beloved by his people as a gentle, just, and generous ruler, he was also esteemed and revered by them as a saint. He calmly expired on January 5, a.d. 1060, in the sixty-fourth year of his age and the twenty-fourth of his reign. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, where many miracles were wrought at his shrine, which was the daily resort of innumerable pilgrims until the evil days of the Reformation.